Pearl makes a suggestion to Thalia, and is offered a choice by Silena and her girlfriend...


CHAPTER 4 – three's a crowd

Walking around the camp and feeling quite rested after a warm bath, Pearl couldn't help but take in the peaceful atmosphere reigning over the normally agitated camp.

The Hunters had yet to emerge from Cabin Eight – where they had settled – and seeing as there weren't that much campers in winter, Camp Half-Blood appeared quite empty right now.

Looking around, Pearl spotted Charlotte Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin stoking the forge outside the camp armory. The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor – from the Hermes cabin – were picking the lock on the camp store. And a few kids from the Ares cabin were having a snowball fight with the wood nymphs at the edge of the forest.

Nearing the Big House she noticed the fire flickering in the attic window of the building, where the Oracle dwelt. She knew that she would have to go to her, after speaking with Chiron and Dionysus.

She entered the Big House, stepping carefully under strings of red and yellow fireballs that warmed the porch. Inside, flames crackled in the hearth and the air smelled like hot chocolate.

Mr. D, the camp director, Chiron, Grover and Nico were playing a quiet game of cards in the parlor.

Quite surprisingly, Nico appeared rather excited and not at all frightened nor disturbed by the previous events.

"Pearl! Want to play Uno with us?" he greeted the older demigod, upon seeing her.

She shook her head apologetically. "Thanks, but I have to speak with Chiron and Mr. D first. Rain check?"

"Sure."

"Nico, how about I show you our orientation film?" Grover asked already standing up. As he walked past Pearl, she sent him a thankful smile.

"Orientation film?" she heard Nico ask, his voice fading away as he followed the goat boy out of the room. "Is it G or PG? Because Bianca is kind of strict —"

Once they were out of earshot, Chiron breathed a sigh of relief. "Pearl, please sit down. Thalia already told us her side of the story, but I need you to answer a question," he explained.

Pearl couldn't help but grit her teeth when Thalia's name was mentioned, still not quite over what happened. 'Don't think about it now. Think of Mr. D's choice of clothing for example,' she thought angrily, refusing to give it too much importance.

Her gaze then settled on Mr. D, dressed in his neon orange leopard-skin warm-up suit and his purple running shoes. 'Quite an eyesight.'

She focused back on Chiron as he continued, "Could you tell us precisely how Annabeth disappeared?"

Pearl fought back the lump in her throat and took a deep breath before reporting the painful event, trying her best to suppress the slight waver in her voice. When she was done, Chiron turned to Mr. D. "We should launch a search for Annabeth immediately."

"I'll go," she quickly offered.

Mr. D sniffed. "Certainly not! Your friend already proposed herself, and the answer is still the same."

Pearl started complaining, but Mr. D held up his hand.

"From what you have told me," Mr. D said, "we have broken even on this escapade. We have, ah, regrettably lost Annie Bell…"

"Annabeth," Pearl snapped.

"Yes, yes," he said, not paying her any mind. "And you procured a small annoying boy to replace her. So I see no point risking further half-bloods on a ridiculous rescue. The possibility is very great that this Annie girl is dead."

'How dare he…?' was all she could think about, astonished by his minimal care.

"Annabeth may be alive," Chiron said, looking like he was having trouble sounding upbeat. "She's very bright. If... if our enemies have her, she will try to play for time. She may even pretend to cooperate."

"In which case" said Mr. D, "I'm afraid she will have to be smart enough to escape on her own."

She would have gotten up from the table, had it not been for the hands on her shoulders, discreetly pushing her down. Orange and amber filled up her nose. 'Not again.' She mentally groaned.

"Pearl." Thalia's tone was full of warning.

For a second, there was no sound except the crackle of the fire. Pearl was so angry that she didn't care if her opponent was a god, she just couldn't stand his permanent fed up attitude. Thalia's hands were pressing her shoulders more forcefully.

"Pearl," Chiron said quickly, preventing her from saying anything stupid, "you and Thalia will go down to the cabins. Inform the campers we'll be playing capture the flag this evening."

"Capture the flag?" she asked, still fuming. "But we don't have enough — "

"It is a tradition," Chiron said. "A friendly match, whenever the Hunters visit."

"Yeah," Thalia muttered. "I bet it's real friendly. Come on, Pearl."

She hauled the demigod out of the Big House before further damage could be done. As soon as they were out of sight, Pearl yanked her hand out of the other girl's grasp.

"You've already got Ares on your bad side," Thalia reminded her as they trudged toward the cabins. "You need another immortal enemy?"

'Well I certainly don't need another lecture. No thanks.'

"What I don't need is you babysitting me. I can manage on my own," she replied, purposefully avoiding her eyes. "I just couldn't help it. It's so fucking unfair."

At this, Thalia tilted her chin towards her with her fingers, forcing angry eyes to meet sad ones.

"Pearl, everything is unfair," the dark-haired girl muttered in a sad tone, far from the one she was using mere hours ago. "Sometimes I wish..."

She didn't finish, but despite their recent history, Pearl felt sorry for her. "We'll get Annabeth back," she promised. "I just don't know how yet." She brushed a loose strand of dark hair, tucking it behind Thalia's ear.

"You're right." The other girl straightened up. "We'll find a way."

Over at the basketball court, a few of the Hunters were shooting hoops. One of them was arguing with a guy from the Ares cabin. The Ares kid had his hand on his sword and the Hunter girl looked like she was going to exchange her basketball for a bow and arrow any second.

"I'll break that up," Thalia said. "You circulate around the cabins. Tell everybody about capture the flag tonight."

"All right. Who's going to be team captain?"

She shrugged. "You've been at camp longer. You do it."

"If you think that you can ease your way out of this… We can co-captain or something," she blurted out.

'Why, you stupid idiot, it was the perfect occasion to show her that you're not one to be messed with!' she thought, mentally facepalming. Thalia looked about as comfortable with that as she felt, but she nodded.

Pearl watched her as she trudged off toward the court, where the Ares camper and the Hunter were trying to kill each other with a sword and a basketball. She hated feeling confused, not knowing why she couldn't control herself around the other girl.

She made the rounds, telling everybody about capture the flag. Finally, she reached the Hephaestus cabin. She woke up its only occupant from his midday nap, a kid named Victor, and he begrudgingly sat up.

"We're doing a game of capture the flag this evening. Us against the Hunters," she announced.

Upon hearing this, he instantly perked up and straightened in his bed. "Cool! I'll have to sharpen my sword. And I'll be able to use my new shield." As he bolted out of the room, very awake now, Pearl glanced at her wristwatch.

She activated her shield, which creaked noisily as it spiraled out. Thorn's spikes had dented the brass in a dozen places. One gash kept the shield from opening all the way, so it looked like a pizza with two slices missing. The beautiful metal pictures that her brother had crafted were all banged up.

She decided to ask Charlie from the Hephaestus cabin to fix it for her. 'She is, after all, the best armor smith in the camp.' With that thought in mind, she made her way towards the camp armory.

The place never failed to amaze her: giant machines, worktables, maps and schematics were scattered all over. It was difficult to not step on some invention or some sketchbook lying on the floor. She spotted the older girl hunched over some weird design.

As she approached her, she noticed that her features were embellished by the natural glow coming from the fire. Golden olive skin, flushed cheeks, silky dark hair held up in a ponytail, and matching dark eyes haunted the nights of many at camp.

'And I'm no exception.'

"Hi Becky," she greeted the sweaty demigod.

"Pearl!" Beckendorf quickly turned around with a huge smile on her face and swept her in a tight hug. "Good to have you back, girl!"

Pearl lifted an eyebrow, secretly touched. "The great Beckendorf is excited to see me? Wow, I'm honored."

"You're always welcome in my forge, Pearl. Also, I heard about Annabeth and if you need me for anything you just have to ask," she offered, lightly squeezing her hands.

Pearl nodded, "I actually have something for you, Becky." She took off her wristwatch, "Could you have my shield fixed up for tomorrow?"

The armor smith reverently lifted the now deployed shield for further examination, whistling. "Damn, and they say demigods take care of their stuff."

They both laughed at that, taking in the irony of the statement.

"Hi Pearl. Already stealing my girlfriend's attention?" a new voice said from the doorstep.

"Hi Silena!" and "Afternoon babe!" echoed at the same time in the forge.

The daughter of Aphrodite made her way towards them, swaying her ravenous hips. She paused in front of Charlotte, kissing her and nuzzling her neck, before turning to the other girl.

She appeared to be quite irritated. "So, Pearl, how come you haven't visited me while you were passing by the Aphrodite cabin, hmm?"

'Should have known it.'

She gulped before replying. "I didn't want to bother you."

"How many times do I have to tell you? You're not a bother! Plus, I always enjoy helping out with girl problems," she ranted, furiously agitating her arms around.

Charlotte – looking quite confused – sneaked her arms around her girlfriend's waist. "Why don't you two take a nice walk while I start working on Pearl's shield?"

"Excellent idea, darling. We'll see you later!"

Pearl glared at a smug-looking Charlotte, before following Silena out of the room. They walked in relative silence, basking in each other's calming presence. While it was true that Aphrodite's descendants inherited her ability to give off peaceful vibes, the daughter of Poseidon possessed the tranquility of the sea, when at ease with her surroundings.

They reached the beach, Pearl's favorite spot, and sat down on a large dune, facing each other. 'She's the only one that I trust enough with this. It's now or never.'

"I'm confused," Pearl blurted out. "And I need you to help me figure it out. Please."

"It's normal to be confused, darling. I've sensed it when I entered the forge. Now, I may be Aphrodite's daughter and help you in any way I can, but sexuality is something that you must explore by yourself," she took Pearl's hands in her own, tracing soothing patterns on them. "I spoke with Thalia."

'Shit.' Pearl blushed, thinking of their previous activities. "Oh. What did she tell you?"

"That she was trying to make you reconsider your decision to become a huntress. I'm not going to judge you, but I think that you should at least experiment things that you won't get to do with the Hunt."

"With everything that happened in those last two years, I haven't really had the time to think nor do something about it. It's always been fighting monsters, going on quests and surviving. And I'm probably going to go on another quest, sooner or later. What am I supposed to do now?" Pearl asked, feeling quite vulnerable under the unwavering stare of the other girl.

Silena looked pensive for a few seconds, before resolving whatever inner debate she was having. "Well, what if you took advantage of what little time you have left in order to explore your sexuality? It doesn't have to mean anything, but it could help you."

'Oh oh, I know that expression on her face. It means that she's scheming something.'

"What are you implying?"

"Well. Lately, Charlie and I have been thinking of trying something new," she paused, carefully choosing her words. "We want to spice up our sex life with someone we trust."

'What the fuck?' Pearl tensed.

"I - I mean, are you asking me to be part of a threesome? With you and Charlotte?" she almost shrieked.

"Yes, just think about it Pearl. We help you out with your sexuality and you give us a night to remember. If you don't feel anything, problem solved. But from what I gathered, it's not likely to happen," she shrugged, continuing, "And even if you don't want that, it's fine. I get that it's still perceived as weird in our society, even though it's perfectly okay. Either way, I'll let you think about it."

The beautiful girl then turned, facing the ocean but keeping her hands intertwined with Pearl's.

'I can't believe her. Only a daughter of Aphrodite could go and say things like that without some warning. A threesome… Well, actions speak louder than words, right? I agree on the fact that it's strange, but then I haven't really thought about it. It could take my mind off Thalia's little game and Annabeth's situation. And if I don't like it, problem solved like she said. Also it's not like I haven't dreamed of Silena and Charlotte. But in a bed, with me?'

Silena turned around, smirking.

Pearl huffed. 'She knows I'm tempted by her offer. Fine then. So be it. What do I have to lose?'

"I didn't really have a choice, didn't I?" she admitted.

The other girl winked, looking proud of herself. "Not my fault if we're that irresistible, darling."

"You're lucky the ocean's frozen."

"You're lucky our bed is quite big," she said, smirking at the flustered demigod.

At this, Pearl blushed beet red and averted her eyes. "I haven't even agreed yet!"

"Well, if you want it, and I know you do," she replied, lifting an eyebrow as if daring her to protest, "you can come by the Aphrodite cabin after capture the flag."

She stood up, lifting Pearl up as well. As they made their way back, they talked about lighter topics which made Pearl feel more at ease. Upon reaching the Poseidon cabin, they parted ways.

Silena caught Pearl's arm, "Hey, I know that I can be a bit much sometimes, but seriously don't pressure yourself. If you want to discover this part of you with us, we'll gladly help. But if it's too soon, or too different, you're free to say no and we won't be offended by that. It's your decision, and we'll understand, okay?"

Pearl had never felt so grateful. "Thank you. I appreciate everything you're doing for me, the both of you."

"See you later, darling." Silena slowly kissed the corner of her mouth, then left with a wink.