Michael POV
Percy and I stared at Lee in disbelief.
"He did what?" I repeated.
"He asked out Alexia," Lee said, taking a step away from me and my brother.
"While Lilly's life was argued over?" Percy asked incredulously. "What is he, stupid?"
"It was definitely an inappropriate time to do it," Lee agreed hastily. "But he waited thirty minutes in the pavilion for you guys to come back."
"Did we really take that long?" I asked my brother. He shrugged absentmindedly. "By the way, I may have provoked Ares by tackling him." Lee stared at me for a moment before shaking his head.
"I'm not even going to ask," he muttered. "Don't go hard on Killian. He's just a kid who wants to be loved."
"That I understand," Percy said. "What I don't is why not Lilly? It's obvious that he likes her. Why didn't he ask her out?"
"He still blames himself for her breakup," I pointed out with sighed. "He's been ignoring her for the longest time. Ever since they came back from the quest. Do either of you know what happened?"
"I've asked both Zoe and Alex but neither of them knows," Percy said. "I haven't dared ask Lilly about it, and asking Killian is a little out of the question now."
"Do you think Summer knows?" Lee asked. At our questioning looks, he explained, "Lilly and Summer have been close since they were brought to camp. And Killian is pretty close with Summer, too. I might take a guess and say that one of them told her what had happened."
"I suppose," I said, pondering the situation. "It might be why Theo broke up with Lilly."
"I'll ask Summer later," Percy said. He sighed and ran a hand through his curly, raven black hair. "I need to sleep on this information. Good night guys." He began to walk to the Hermes cabin.
"Maddie put Estelle to bed," Lee called after him. Percy didn't respond but changed course towards the Big House. Lee turned to me. "Let's go to the Apollo cabin. Our siblings will want details."
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The next morning, someone was shaking me awake. I groaned in annoyance and tried to go back to sleep. I had stayed up past midnight telling the Apollo cabin about what had happened on Olympus, leaving out the parts about me changing and Lilly's godly parent. Other than that, I gave them every single detail. The person who was shaking me did so again.
"What?" I groaned out.
"Michael, it's time to get up." I heard Nico say. Of course, it was him.
"Why?"
"Because my sister wants you awake." He said. I sighed and opened my eyes. "She's already at the pavilion." I nodded my thanks and rolled out of bed before heading for the closet. I quickly changed into some jeans, and long sleeve polyester shirt, and a jacket. I walked back out, grabbed my glasses, and headed out. I didn't normally grab my phone if I was just going to be around camp. I sat down by Bianca and kissed her cheek.
"I heard you wanted me," I said. She looked at me and smiled.
"Yes, I did. I wanted to see my boyfriend." She said. "What's got you so happy this morning?"
"Oh, it's just that I've started contemplating your brother's murder for waking me up," I told her, smiling broadly. "And I get to spend the morning with you." She smiled back.
"I guess I'm the lucky one, then," She agreed. Just then I heard a cough. I looked to where the cough had come from to see Nico glaring at me.
"Are you two done?" He asked, annoyed.
"Nico, you are going to have to deal with this for a long time," I said, putting my arm around Bianca's shoulders.
"Yup." Bianca agreed. "Michael, we have archery next and I'm going to head over. Want to come?"
"I'll be there in a bit," I told her. "I need to talk to Nico about some guy stuff." She gave me a weird look and I smiled in response. "It'll be fine."
"Alright, if you say so." She relented after a minute. "Just don't be late." She stood up and left, but not before she gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"I wouldn't dream of it," I called after her. When she was out of earshot I turned to Nico. "Hey Nico, I need your permission for something..."
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I don't understand how I used to be a son of Apollo, have both his and Artemis's blessings, and still be beat by Bianca in an archery competition. Bianca was a natural, and she was a Hunter of Artemis only for a short time.
We walked back to the Dining Pavilion we joked and loved on each other. We did that all through lunch. Nico was there as well but lost in thought the entire time. I fear that I might be the cause of that. I might've given him a heart attack from the way he reacted to what I told him.
Soon, we were walking in different ways. Bianca had sword practice with Nico while I had to take what I like to call 'infirmary 102'. Lee hates it when I call it that but I do it anyways. He was the one who told me to take the course. He said that since I was always getting injured, I might as well know how to treat my injuries.
Speaking of Lee, I needed to talk to him, also. He was in charge of the campfire singalongs.
As I walked up to the infirmary, I saw that I was early and the only people there were Lee and Yew.
"Hey, guys," I said as I walked up.
"Well here's Mr. Big Shot," Yew said, but there was no malice in his voice. Only humor.
I spread my arms like I was receiving something. "Here I am," I said. The action made us all laugh. "Anyways, I needed to talk to you guys about something."
"Yeah, what's up?" Lee asked as he was preparing his equipment for the class.
"It's about the campfire singalongs," I said unsurely. "I was hoping that I could do one next time."
"You can do that," Lee said, turning to look at me, smirking. "What's the catch?"
"There's something I want to do at the end..."
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Finally, the end of the day. I thought this day would never end. All my planning is falling into place. Now I just needed Lee to do his piece and everything will be set.
At the moment, I was sitting at the campfire with Bianca wrapped in my arms. We were just cuddling near the fire as we waited for curfew. We decided that we would spend this evening together with everyone else. After a few hours, and a huge s'mores fight, people started to disperse back to their cabins. I walked Bianca to the Hermes cabin and then we went to sleep. Well, Bianca went to sleep. Once I had left her at the Hermes cabin, I sprinted to the lake. I flashed a spray bottle in my hand and reflected light off of my hand to make a rainbow in the mist I was creating. I fished out a drachma from my pocket, flipped it in, and said the phrase, "O Iris take my offering and show me, Lord Hades, if he is decent," I said. I always say 'if they are decent' because I don't want to be that person who calls when they aren't. Luckily, Hades was. "Hey, uncle Hades," I called into the image. Hades was sitting on his throne, looking bored. He perked up when he saw me.
"Michael, my boy." He said happily. "I was wondering when you'd call."
"It took me long enough didn't it?" I asked amusedly. "Listen, can I talk to you and Maria Di Angelo?" Hades looked startled at my request.
"I suppose so." He said and waved his hand. A dark-haired older woman appeared in the image.
"Great, I'll be down in a moment," I said and cut the connection. I flashed down to the underworld. When I popped back into reality I was face to face with Bianca's Mom. "Hi, I'm Michael Triest," I said and stuck out my hand. She took it.
"I'm Maria Di Angelo." She said kindly. "Hades said that you had something to ask us?"
"Yes, Hades if you could shrink down please," I asked of the god and he complied. He shrunk down to about my height and came over to us. "Thank you. Now, it's about Bianca..."
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Oh my gods, I'm terrified of Hades now. He is protective of his only living daughter. Very protective. I mean, Nico was more willing to listen to what I had to say then they were. I spent ten minutes trying to convince Hades, which was shorter than I thought it would take, of letting me do this. He finally approved, and I went on my way, now completely terrified by the god of the underworld. Bianca still has no idea what I'm planning, and I plan to keep it that way until it can be set into action.
As for now, Bianca and I were snuggled (do people really use that word regularly?) together by the campfire, enjoying the sing-alongs by my ex-siblings, led by Lee. I had refused to take part in the hand movements and Bianca was fine with that. It meant I could hold her instead, which she thought was a better purpose for them. She kept on saying how warm I was as she kept on pressing closer to me.
"But it's cold out here." She complained after I had told her that we were already pretty close.
"There is literally fire five feet in front of you," I said as she scooted closer to me, yet again. Beckendorf and Silena, who were not too far away, laughed quietly at our antics.
"That's like, a whole Nico away from me." She said, and I laughed.
"Are you really picking on your brother when he isn't even here?" I asked, still laughing.
"What he won't know won't hurt him." She smirked. I laughed again.
"I guess not." I chuckled. "So, how is my amazing love doing?" I asked, trying to spark up a conversation. It usually wasn't hard, but I just really wanted to hear her voice. Call me what you wish, but it's beautiful.
"Your love is doing amazing." She said, looking at me with her onyx colored eyes. "Archery today was pretty easy, I talked with Silena and another Aphrodite girl about all the cute boys in camp, trained in powers with Nico, and now I'm ending the day with my favorite person."
"Is your favorite person charming?" I asked, and she nodded. "Is he devilishly handsome?" She nodded again. "How about loving? Kind? Gentle? Is he a sexy beast?" That last one made her laugh.
"He most certainly is sexy." She purred. "I almost can't resist him. I must restrain myself from kissing him right here and now."
"Well, let's limit the restraints since he's more than willing to partake," I said as I leaned towards her. She stopped me short, which confused me very much. I leaned back to see that she was looking behind me with an anxious look on her face. I turned around and sighed.
Killian was sitting with Alexia, laughing and talking and really close together. And Lilly was watching them with a mournful look on her face.
"I can't stand to see her like that," Bianca croaked, already close to tears somehow. I pulled her close.
"I know, B, I know," I told her, stroking her hair. "I hate it too, but we can't do anything. We shouldn't meddle in our friends' love lives. We aren't Aphrodite." Bianca nodded into my chest.
The rest of the night, we watched Lilly sadly until she left for bed. Bianca followed her to the Hermes cabin, which left me at the campfire until I decided to go I sleep as well.
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In the morning, I was awakened by Nico. Again. He'll be lucky to survive another day of waking me up.
"I'm up, I'm up," I complained as he kept shaking me repeatedly. He finally stopped. "Jeez man, what's so urgent?"
"Isn't today the day you are going to-" I covered his mouth with my hand, effectively shutting him up.
"Shhh!" I hushed him forcefully. "Only you, me, Silena, Beckendorf, Lee, and your parents know about that." He tried to mumble something through my hand. I sighed and removed my hand so he could talk.
"My parents?" He asked. "You mean Hades?"
"And Maria," I said brightly. "Your mother was a very bright and nice person."
"Yes, she was," Nico said quietly. I clapped him on the shoulder.
"Come on, we are going to be late for breakfast," I said cheerfully and rolled out of bed. In no time we were headed out the door, the first ones in the Apollo cabin, which is unusual. As we walked into the pavilion, we saw some of the year-round campers eating early. Clarisse, Chris, Lee, Beckendorf, Silena, and some others. I told Nico to go sit down while I went to talk to Beckendorf.
"You got it made?" I asked him. He nodded and pulled a silver and red box out of a pouch. Silena, who was sitting next to him, disregarding the rules, yet again, and sighed as she saw the box.
"I can't believe you're doing this Michael." She said. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"Completely positive," I said confidently. "I just hope she does too." Beckendorf clapped his hand onto my shoulder, much like I did to Nico earlier.
"I'm sure she does man." He reassured. "You two love each other so much, more than I've ever seen anyone in this camp."
"Thanks, Beckendorf." I thanked him and walked back to the Hermes table. Still only Nico.
"Can I see it?" He asked as soon as I sat down. I shook my head.
"You will see it tonight," I told him, and he pouted. "Hey, you are going to love the performance that I have planned." Suddenly, the horn sounded, signaling breakfast has officially started. Soon, campers started to trickle in and sit at their respective tables.
The girls walked up and sat down at our table. "Percy and Luke still asleep?" Nico asked, and they smiled.
"Give them a break," Zoe said as everyone sat down at the Hermes table. Bianca sat down next to me with Maddie and Lilly on the other side of me. Zoe sat next to Nico. Suddenly, I heard Chiron stamp his hoof down, calling everyone's attention.
"Campers!" His voice rang out through the crisp morning air. "This morning, Lee of the Apollo cabin has an important announcement pertaining to tonight. Lee, if you will?" Chiron invited my ex-brother to share.
"Yes, thank you, Chiron." The blonde said as he stood up. "Tonight, instead of the normal sing-alongs, at the request of an anonymous camper, we will have a singing show! Auditions can be shown to me or Michael Yew at any time between now and dinner. You must have a song ready when you come and ask. Groups are allowed, and surprise duets are allowed as well." He shot me a look which no one else noticed. "It will be held at the regular time in the amphitheater." He sat back down.
"Thank you, Lee." Chiron continued. "At the end of the week will be our capture the flag game!" There were many cheers. "Team leaders will be the Athena and the Apollo cabins. Choose wisely, all you other cabins. One person could change the tide of battle." And with that, he went back behind his table at the front and started a conversation with Dionysus, who was unimportantly there.
"That show sounds like so much fun," Zoe commented. "I wonder who requested it."
"Well, whoever did, I want to thank them," Bianca said and stood up. "I'm going to go ask Lee for a place in the show." She walked off. I watched her go.
"Hey, eyes up," Nico said, snapping his fingers to get my attention. I turned and growled at him. "So Michael, do you have something to tell everyone here while my sister is away?" I growled at him again but relented.
"Yeah, I do," I said and pulled out the box. I looked back at Lee and Bianca to see them talking. Lee caught my eye and I gave him a look and motion that said, 'keep her busy.' He must have understood because he inclined his head ever so slightly and switched his attention back to Bianca. I turned back to see everyone looking at the box intently.
"Michael is that what I think it is?" Zoe asked carefully. I nodded.
"Too bad your boyfriend isn't here," I said. "Now he'll have to wait until tonight." She turned bright red. She looked like she was about to yell at me, or whip out her knife, when realization dawned on her face.
"It was you!" Maddie whisper yelled, catching on. I nodded again.
"Yeah, it was me." I opened the box slightly, letting them see the treasure inside. I already knew what was inside, so I got to see all their reactions.
"It's beautiful." Lilly murmured. Everyone else nodded in agreement.
"So, who all knows?" Zoe asked.
"Well, as of right now," I started as I closed the box and hid it away. "You four, Lee, Beckendorf, Silena, and her parents."
"I thought her mother had died," Zoe said, confused. "And she wasn't supposed to remember."
"She wasn't," I affirmed. "But when I went to ask, I told her all that happened. Every little detail that I knew." I looked at Nico who had become silent. "I told her about all that you did. She's very proud." Nico smiled warmly at me.
"What are you all talking about?" I heard Bianca say as she walked up.
"Nothing important, B," I said. She sat down next to me and took a bit of food from my plate. I was having some pancakes which she clearly enjoyed.
"Michael, why do you always eat such amazing food?" Bianca asked. I shrugged.
"Maybe you like it because I like it," I suggested. She accepted my answer and had another bite. "Or maybe it's just because you take it from my plate." Everyone laughed as she stuck her tongue out at me. I made my move and captured her tongue with my mouth and pulled her close. I heard Nico gag on his breakfast at my action, but I ignored him. I closed my eyes and tried to get lost in our love. I pulled Bianca closer and deepened the kiss. She willingly pushed herself into me as she wrapped her arms around my neck. Before we could go any further, I heard a voice from behind us.
"Hey lovebirds, get a room." I recognized the voice and assigned it to Percy. I opened my eyes as we parted, me letting go of Bianca's tongue as we did so. I saw Percy walking around the table to sit next to Zoe, who turned red as she reeves my statement about their relationship earlier. I looked back at Bianca.
"Should we do what the man says?" I asked her. She smiled at me and responded.
"We definitely should." She purred seductively.
"Please do." Nico groaned. Everyone laughed as Bianca and I stood up.
"We'll be back in an hour or so," I said, making some of them squirm, mainly Nico. I laughed as we walked away. I wrapped my arm around her waist and she leaned into me. "I need to stop by the Hermes cabin before we go further okay, B?"
"That's okay, boo." She said. "Just be quick." I nodded as I slipped inside. I looked for my target and quickly located him.
"Hey, Travis!" I yelled at him as I walked up to him. He jumped and the few people in the cabin laughed. When he saw that it was me he relaxed and laughed as well.
"Michael!" He shouted back as I neared him. He hugged me, and I hugged him back. "What brings you into the Hermes cabin?"
"I need you to hold onto something for me," I said, and he smiled.
"Of course I can, but be warned. People will try to steal it." He said jokingly.
"Well, if this gets stolen, you can bet that I'll come and kill you," I said seriously as I slipped out the red and black box. His eyes widened and swiveled from me to the box, and so forth.
"You're going to- To her- Are you serious?" He asked, and I nodded.
"Tonight. Final performance." I told him quietly.
"It was you."
"Yes, it was me," I said quickly. "Now, can you hold onto this for me until tonight? And guard it with your life?" I asked him seriously. He nodded his head. "Then I trust you, as my best friend, to keep this a secret, especially from her."
"I will Michael." He said and smiled. "I'll let Connor know about this box-not what's inside it though-and he'll cover my back with it."
"That's great. Thank you so much." I said and headed to leave.
"Hey, Michael!" I heard him call when I reached the door. I turned to face him. "Good job." I smiled and left the cabin. Bianca was outside waiting for me.
"See? I wasn't that long." I teased her. She rolled her eyes and kissed me when I neared her. "Let's go to the beach," I said. She nodded and I flashed her to a beach nearby, but not in camp.
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When we came back, the camp was abuzz with activity. Campers were rushing around, doing who knows what, but looked like they were having fun.
Bianca and I had fun at the beach, though. I had taken her to one in Florida, which left me tired but thankfully Lee had made me make a habit of taking Ambrosia with me wherever I go.
Bianca had bought short shorts at the beach so that she didn't soak her jeans. I rolled up my pants legs for the same reason. Other than the many times that I had to glare at another guy to tell him to back off, I had a great time. Bianca's legs were a great thing to look at, I will admit.
"I bet it's because of the show tonight," I said to Bianca, who nodded as we headed towards her cabin. She was wearing my shirt as she had soaked hers and mine was dry. Actually, she had picked it up from where I had laid it down we went to the water.
"It probably is." She said. "I talked to Lee already and I have a spot in the show."
"What song are you going to sing?"
"You'll recognize it when you hear it."
"If you say so." She chuckled as we kept walking. As we neared the Hermes cabin, we saw a group of guys outside. I recognized Will and Lee among them.
"Hi boys," Bianca said as we walked up to them. Will and Lee gave her a glance and immediately looked up towards me. They knew what would happen to them if they looked at her wrong: Nico would beat the living shit out of Will and I would do the same to Lee. The other four guys didn't know better.
"So, what ya guys up to out here?" I asked as I wrapped my arms around Bianca's upper chest, covering what my shirt didn't. This sight was mine, and mine only. I glared at the other guys and all but one got the message. He just kept on staring at her legs.
"Lee here was asking us to help in the show," Will explained, sending an irritated glance at the one boy who still stared at Bianca. "For those who are singing. We would be doing stuff with the lights and sound. I fear that one of us won't be able to though." Everyone looked at the one boy who was still staring at my girlfriend's legs. He finally noticed those stares after a minute.
"What?" He asked.
"Keep your eyes to yourself, mate." One of the boys said. Ooh, a Brit. Those are rare.
"C'mon." He groaned. "She's hot. I know you all looked at her too."
"Sí, we did." Said a Latino boy on Will's left. "But we were smart enough to look away."
"What do you mean 'smart'?" The boy asked. "I'm pretty smart to know what she could be used for." The three other boys sighed in unison as if they were used to this. "Lay off. I'm sure she'd be fine with me."
"Maybe she would, but her boyfriend would probably not." The British boy said. The boy finally noticed me, probably staring death at him. He visibly gulped.
"Umm, sorry?" He offered as I continued to glare at him. He slowly started to back up. "I think I'll catch up with you later, Lee." He turned tail and ran. I laughed after a couple of seconds.
"Well, I think Bianca needs to get into her cabin," I said and led Bianca up to the door.
"Hey, Michael," Lee called at me before I entered. I turned and gave him a questioning look. "I want to talk to you. About, you know." I nodded.
"I'll see you later," I said to Bianca before kissing her cheek and letting her go inside. "So what's up?"
"I was thinking about tonight." Lee started. He led me a little ways away from the others and was starting to whisper. "As you know, Bianca is going to be singing tonight. I was thinking of having you go directly after her. But after your song ends, we start another song. One you both could sing." I thought about it.
"Sounds good. What song?"
"Closer, by Chainsmokers." He said. "I am sure you know the song."
"Yeah. It sounds like a good idea." I told him. "Bianca know already?" He nodded. "Great. I'll do it and do my little thing at the end of the song. I'll see ya then."