Long Island

July 10, 2012

4:15 AM

Camp Half-Blood

When Kayla walked in, Percy was sitting on his bunk, staring at his hands. Kayla carefully closed the door, wincing as it clicked closed all of her previous bravado fading. She suddenly felt as if everything was too loud for this moment. Kayla walked to Percy's side and sat down gingerly next to him. They sat there for a time, each waiting for the other to speak first.

"We haven't really talked much since I brought you to camp," Percy finally said. Kayla opened her mouth to protest, eyebrows furrowing, but Percy continued before she could. "Before you say anything about us talking every day, I mean about the important stuff. I haven't asked how you've been adjusting, I haven't told you anything about my previous quests, I don't know what you said to your mom when Chiron let you call her, hell, I don't even really know what you went to Juvie for! I've…" Percy trailed off with a sigh and rubbed at the back of his neck. "I've been a pretty bad brother."

"What?" Kayla stared at Percy incredulously. "That's not true! None of those things make you a bad brother. It's not like I've been volunteering any information myse-"

"That's not the point Kayla." Kayla flinched at the sudden forcefulness of Percy's voice. "And there's that too." He waved a hand in Kayla's direction. "The whole flinching when guys yell, the bruises, and yeah, these aren't recent and I noticed it before, but I never thought to say anything because I was too wrapped up in my own problems to actually put together what those things usually end up meaning." Kayla sat up straighter and looked away, clenching her jaw. Percy opened his mouth to say something else and closed it almost immediately. "Kayla," he said, lowering his voice to a whisper as if talking to a spooked animal. "Hey, look at me." Kayla angled her head slightly towards him, but wouldn't make eye contact. "That was a bit out of line wasn't it? You're not ready to talk about that, are you?" Kayla stayed silent, flicked her eyes up so they met Percy's for just a moment before looking away again. "I'll take that as a yes." Percy sighed again and scrubbed a hand over his face before continuing. "Look you don't have to talk, okay? But can I talk at you for a bit? I feel like we kind of need it. Nod for yes, shake your head for no?" Kayla stayed completely still for a good minute before jerkily nodding. "Okay. Thank you."

"So I've actually been kind of conflicted about finding out about you. I'm not mad at you! I'm not. It's just… until recently our dad and our uncles had this pact not to have children, swore on the Styx and everything. All because of this prophecy from, like, right after World War II that said that a child of the big three would either save or destroy Olympus on their sixteenth birthday. That could've been me, Thalia, Nico, or… Anyway, Nico was actually born before the pact, in 1932, and ended up in this casino where you never age when he was ten. Eventually he got out but it had been seventy years so he was still, physically, ten. Thalia is actually older than me, but she was a tree for a bit- long story- and then joined the hunters right before she turned sixteen. Which left me." Percy stopped for a minute and stared at his hands. "There was a war last year. Or, well, the final battle of the war. Kronos came back to life using another demigod, Luke, as a host. He had also bathed in the Styx. There were demigods on both sides. A lot of people died. Annabeth almost… anyway. We ended up winning thanks to Luke. He sacrificed himself to stop Kronos. After the battle ended, Zeus offered me immortality. I turned it down, and instead asked that they nullify their pact, that all demigods would have to be claimed by the time they were thirteenth, and that minor gods also get cabins for their children to stay in, instead of crowding the Hermes cabin. I talked to dad after that and he made a joke about giving me siblings, which until May I had actually thought was a joke. But then that Hellhound attacked, and I thought 'of course Kayla's a demigod, adhd, dyslexia, a penchant for stealing, she's definitely a Hermes kid, looks like we really are cousins, I can't believe I didn't see the signs.' And then dad claimed you. I didn't really know what to think. I'll admit I was a bit upset that dad didn't give me any warning, that he hadn't found some way to get you to camp earlier. A lot of demigods-" Percy stopped, looked at Kayla, took a deep breath, and started again. "A lot of demigods don't make it to camp. They die on the way, or as kids, because of some monster that could smell them and wanted a snack. That's part of why I would get kicked out of schools. Monster attacks. It's worse for us because we're naturally a lot stronger than most other demigods. The stronger you are, the more monsters that want to kill you. So I just- I can't believe that dad would leave you in that kind of danger for so long." Percy looked back down at his hands and took another deep breath. "That I left you in that kind of danger for so long."

"What? Percy-" Kayla started, but Percy interrupted again.

"Quit saying it's not my fault." Percy said. "I should've known you were a demigod. It's so obvious looking back, and you were completely defenseless." Kayla gave Percy a look. "Alright, fine, defenseless against monsters. I still can't believe you beat me in hand-to-hand," He amended begrudgingly.

"Three times!" Kayla said, trying to break the tension that had settled over the room. It worked to a degree. Percy chuckled slightly and smiled kindly at Kayla.

"Sorry I've been going on and on for so long. But I just- you're about to go on a quest and you're nowhere near ready, and maybe if we had more time-"

"But we don't." Kayla said.

"But we don't." Percy repeated, smiling wryly. "Looks like I'll just have to make sure you're prepared. Mind if I help you pack?"

"Not at all."

"Alright." Percy said, watching Kayla zip up her duffle. "Looks like you're all set."

"I mean, except for those." Kayla frowned and gestured to her daggers, propped up against the wall in their scabbards. "How am I gonna be able to take those anywhere? You said it yourself, the Mist only goes so far." Almost as soon as she had finished talking a loud crack echoed through the cabin followed by a thump. Kayla whirled around to find two scabbards and a note had landed on her bed. Percy walked up next to her and picked up the note.

"'Try using these instead,'" Percy read, "signed, 'an admirer of your work' with a caduceus underneath it. Ha! Looks like Hermes is actually a fan of yours!"

"Whelp. Okay then." Kayla picked up the scabbards and studied them closely. "Huh, they don't look any different."

"You should still try them out. Hermes's gifts are usually useful," Percy suggested. Kayla's mind caught on the 'usually' in his sentence.

"Why is that something you know."

"Don't question it, just try those things out."

Kayla rolled her eyes but grabbed her daggers from their spot anyway, and transferred them into the other scabbards. One second her daggers were in her hand, and the next Kayla was scrambling to catch two flash drives on a keychain. Once they were back in her hand, she stared at them for a good minute before popping the caps off of the drives. In an instant, she had her daggers back in her hand, the two scabbards fell to the floor in front of her.

"Holyfuckingshitthat'ssocool." She whispered.

"Language." Percy said half-heartedly. "But looks like that solves your problem." Percy looked out the window and saw the first colors of sunrise coming up over the hill.

"Looks like it's almost time to go." Kayla said, sheathing her daggers once again and putting the flash drives in her pocket.

"Yeah, looks like." Percy looked at Kayla, worry taking over his features for just a moment before he covered it with a fond smile. "Come on, then. I'll walk you over."

OKAY, another short one, but hopefully a good one! Pretty dialogue heavy, and not as sassy as the last few chapters, but Kayla is having a bit of A Day, sooo ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Besides I got a lot of reviews about Kayla and Percy's dynamic in the past, so i figured id show a bit of the emotional crap and not just the sass.

JOIN US NEXT TIME FOR the first day of the quest and ACTUALLY FUCKING MEETING SOME SUPERHEROES

If you liked it, please don't forget to review! ( ﾟヮﾟ)