Camp is Overrated
TYLER
When I open the cabin door, she's not in here. I look around in disbelief. I had seen her coming here, she never left. I didn't understand.
"She probably used Elysium to leave," a voice startles me.
I turn around and find the deep, dark brown eyes of a familiar son of Hades. Looking at him now, it was hard to picture him as the starved, weakened boy we rescued all those months ago. It was hard to imagine how anyone could have taken him and beaten him down to that, as well. His dark, ink black hair was a little messier than I last saw him and he looked healthier and maybe a little taller. Other than that, he hadn't changed at all.
We hadn't gotten to talk much earlier. After Maliah left and Katelynn's eyes landed on Alison, he was dragged into the dining pavilion where we were all forced to sit at our separate tables for lunch. Alison had been dragged to sit with the Hermes table, which consisted of the twins and Lacey, their little sister. All three of them had seemingly ignored her until Apollo came and claimed her. She then went and sat with him and two of her blonde haired siblings that were at camp.
I felt better knowing there were people who weren't ignoring her, but that didn't make me feel less lonely. When I had finished eating, I went and talked to Chiron some more about my sister. We'd caught up and I visited Jake to talk to him. I had been hoping Jase would be happy to see me, as well, but I was wrong. After hours of talking to Jake and being ignored by Jase, I left. I'd come straight here despite Jase's attempts at stopping me. I still couldn't understand why he was being such a jerk to me.
I push it to the side and respond to Tony, "Who's Elysium."
"Oh, I forget how long you've been gone sometimes. Elysium is Maliah's hell hound. She was a gift from my dad, a thank you for keeping her promise and saving my life."
I sighed, "Is there anyone here who doesn't hate me?"
Tony smiled. He didn't do that too often.
"I don't hate you. Neither does Jake. Brandon understands your situation, but he won't be back to camp until break. Katelynn was sort of on decent terms with it, with you, but then you showed up here with that girl and she got kind of upset on behalf of Maliah."
"So, I have like two friends here?"
"Pretty much."
I sigh, "I should leave soon."
I felt wrong not only being in Maliah's cabin, but being in her camp as well. Besides, I shouldn't stop looking for my sister until I find her. I had to leave and get back out there soon. It was already dark, but I'd lost so much time today I decided I would spend tonight looking, as well.
Before I left camp last year, Apollo and I had talked about my quest to save my sister. He'd given me two gifts, one from him and one from my dad. The one from Apollo had been a magical compass, pointing me in the direction of Sophia, but she was always on the move. It was exhausting. I'm sure it was her mortal mother, though, just trying to keep her on the run and avoiding monsters.
The second gift was one for her, when I found her. I just knew that it was a necklace with a brass trident. I couldn't wait to find her and give it to her, but that would never happen unless I got moving.
I look around at the empty cabin once again before I follow Tony out.
"You should find her, quickly," he says, "things will be a lot easier when you're back for good. You could focus on making amends and maybe you could convince Maliah to stay."
I stop when I hear his words, "What do you mean? Where would she go?"
"She has this task right now. She has to kill one thousand monsters by the end of camp next summer, then if she completes it she can choose to go to Olympus and train until the following summer. We wouldn't see her again for like a year. We don't want her to go, and she says it's still only an option, but we know she's made up her mind," he said, almost sadly.
The thing about Tony is that he's not the most cuddly person. He looked like your average emo kid. He was taller now, just shy of six foot, and his build was lean. His skin was a shade of ivory and his dark eyes were harshly framed against it. I had learned that his birthday was after the break around the time we'd saved him. That meant he was still fourteen and still had so much learning and growing to do, but I didn't see him changing much.
He wasn't trusting, at all. It took a lot for him to open up. I'm sure that if we hadn't just saved his life when we met him, we wouldn't even be close to being friends. He shuts people out all the time, but hearing him talk so sadly about Maliah got to me. They all cared about her so much.
"I'll do my best, but something tells me I should convince her to go. That's the only way she'd stay."
I had left camp not too long after my conversation with Tony. River had been in a mood ever since Maliah stormed off, so he wasn't in the mood to talk to me much. He blamed Alison, and me, for her running away. I didn't want to argue with him, plus he might have had a point, so we rode in the air in silence. I was using my compass that Apollo had given me, and now it was leading us out of New York and toward Montana.
I was hoping this was it, that tonight I'd find her. Tomorrow was the last day of November and I wouldn't be able to stand it if I couldn't get her to camp, or at least be with her, when she was claimed. I had dreamed of her a few times since camp, like I'd dreamed of Percy Jackson, and it made me so anxious to find her. I had used some of the papers Apollo had given me as well. One had a number listed for her that I'd called multiple times, only to never have any one answer.
It was nerve racking.
"River," I say, "I know you're in one of your moods, and it's understandable, but I need you to talk to me. Are you tired yet?"
He huffs, "Yeah, been tired since we left."
I roll my eyes, "How?"
"Just not feeling up for rescuing anyone else today after what happened with miss sunshine."
"River, this is my sister, though."
"I know that. I'm still tired."
"We'll pull over and rest until early tomorrow morning. Does that sound okay?"
"Yeah."
He stops talking to me again, but I'm not shocked. River has always been stubborn and sensitive and I can't stress how much he loved Maliah. I ruined his reunion with her and Alison hadn't helped, either. He was upset with me and I just had to wait it out.
We touch down deep into some woods, landing in a small clearing. I dismount River and he uses this time to stretch out his back and wings, trotting around as well. I sit my backpack and the bag that was around River's neck onto the ground. I stretch as well and then close my eyes, focusing around me. There was a stream about a mile from where we were, so I would be able to defend myself with the upper hand if we got attacked.
I open up my backpack and pull out the tent so I can assemble it. After a few tries and mess ups, I have the tent put together with a sleeping bag rolled out. It wasn't supposed to rain, I didn't think, so River would be fine outside for the night.
I drag my things into the tent and go over the files that Apollo had left me. The files seemed to be research done on her and other information I may have needed. It had things like the number I'd used to call her, her mortal mother's name, where she went to school before being home schooled, and her birth date. She would be claimed on her thirteenth birthday, which wasn't anything I didn't already know. It also had a picture of her. In the picture, you could tell she didn't know she was being photographed. She was focused on something else, her black hair blowing away.
I had two days to find her and part of me didn't think I could meet that deadline.
The next morning, I get up and River is in a much better mood.
"I can't wait to find Sophia, I feel like today's the day," River says.
"It better be," I respond, "her birthday and claiming are tomorrow."
I didn't want to think about what could happen to her if we didn't find her and she knew even more about herself. The monsters would never stop coming for her.
I pack up our makeshift camp and mount River once I'm done. He stretches quickly, then races to the sky. We ride in silence, both just in anticipation to find Sophia. I allow my mind to wonder, thinking back to what Tony had told me. Maliah wouldn't really leave and go to train on Olympus, would she? She would at least talk to me before, right?
As much as I wanted to believe that she'd give me the opportunity to explain myself, she'd already told me everything I needed to know when she ran away from me twice yesterday. I hated to admit it, but she hated my guts and I couldn't even blame her for it.
