Chapter 11: Travis Stoll - Temptation
—really sorry. It wasn't like I planned for it to happen! It just did. Don't blame me, blame Holly and Laurel for not being able to—
["Wait. Wait, wait, wait, wait!"]
—get a substitute in time. And blame Chiron, too, for telling me out of the blue.
["Hold on! I didn't get the begi—"]
And blame Annabeth for putting Connor in hiding. Now there's no one to watch my cabin because Chris is busy, Cecil is studying, and everybody else is way too young.
Why am I always the one free?
Grrr, Connor, this is not the time to be pulling this on me. You're probably hiding in the attic. Nobody knows we have an attic.
You did not hear me say that. He is definitely not hiding in the attic. We don't even have an attic. (Please don't tell Annabeth. I don't want to lose a brother.)
["Travis, wait!" I screamed, putting his rambling to a halt. We stood on Half Blood Hill, Travis paused mid-rant. I shuffled my camcorder from one hand to the other for a better hold. "I didn't get the first part. You talked too fast."]
Ah, sorry. I'll start from the top again.
I can't stay for the full hour I promised you. I'm watching the Nike Cabin in a little bit because somebody, (cough cough Holly and Laurel cough cough), forgot to get someone to man their cabin while they go to a meeting.
Chiron told me I'm watching them for this hour. But nobody is covering my cabin so now I have to watch both.
It's unfair. I'm leaving soon. Can't they give me a break already?
["Hey, Travis, why do you have gas bombs in your bag?"
Travis chuckled and tugged his duffel bag behind his back.]
Oh, yeah, that.
We're playing some board games together. I gotta have a few tricks so that, you know, I actually stand a chance of winning against them?
["Isn't that cheating? Nike doesn't like cheaters."]
There's no rules in the game that says I can't knock the players out. So technically ... No, I'm not cheating.
["Chiron will get mad."
Travis waved his hand, dismissing what I said.]
Chiron has bigger fish to fry than me putting a few demigods down for a nap.
Besides, Chiron loves me. I can get away with everything as long as I whine a little, bribe a little, beg a — wait, what am I doing? I have a cabin to watch. Let's start. What do you want to know?
["Okay, um, what was it like to be a counselor in a period of war?"]
An absolute pain in my behind. Too many war strategy meetings to go to. Too many extra training sessions to attend. Too many touchy topics we all had to tread carefully on.
Yup.
A total pain.
["There's got to be more."]
If you mean war stuff, nah. I didn't pay attention unless it affected me or my cabin. Don't tell Annabeth this, but she is such a bore to listen to. If she would just liven up her presentations with, I don't know, fireworks or whatever, she'd be a lot more fun to listen to.
Now, if you mean pranks, I have plenty of pranking stories. Want to hear some?
["Connor said a lot of stuff."]
Did he? Perfect! So I don't have to, right? I really don't have anything to add other than stories of my incredibly awesome pranks and what happened on my side of the battle in Manhattan. I totally scored some goods when we raided those candy stores—
Hey, what's with that look? We were out there risking our butts. I'm sure a candy store can spare a few pieces for the greater good. I was dying, okay? If I didn't have any sweets, I would have—
["Connor said it was a difficult time for you."]
Rude. I wasn't even done talking.
I think it was a difficult time for everybody. I mean, we all had to deal with almost losing our homes. And a lot of us lost childhood friends to the Titans. Some lost their siblings, partners, and well… Everyone suffered.
["He said the bullying was bad."]
Everybody got bullied.
I remember this one time Malcolm was in sword training with this kid from Apollo's. I don't know what happened or what they said, but Malcolm nearly beheaded the guy. By accident though, it wasn't intentional... I think.
After that, Chiron made sure Malcolm always used a very blunt wooden sword. He's the second scariest person in Camp, right next to Annabeth.
["Annabeth said you were a traitor."]
Really now?
And you actually believed her?
Then again, we thought she was the spy so I guess we shouldn't feel offended.
["I talked with someone who said you helped them get back into camp."]
Are you sure they aren't lying?
["Pollu–I saw a video where Connor broke someone's wrist because they called you a–"
Travis immediately cut me off, leaping from his spot to cover my mouth.]
Ahhhahah, Riley! Riley, Riley, Riley, that's a bad word! I don't like bad words, remember? I don't want a thousand angry parents on my back and you don't want that for me, either, right? Chiron would lecture me, and then the moms would, too! Then I'd have to write apology letters, and that's so much work when I already have more than enough to do.
[Travis pulled back.]
Besides, Connor's my brother. We're the only ones allowed to be mean to each other. Nobody else is allowed to.
["Travis, Annabeth said you were a traitor. Aren't you going to deny it?"]
Okay, I wasn't a traitor.
["...It doesn't bother you that someone close to you said that?" Travis shrugged, not seeming to care.]
It was natural. We were in a time of war. Everybody was stressed. There was obviously a spy sabotaging our plans. Katie accused us. Connor accused Annabeth. I accused Clarisse and Clarisse thought we were all stupid and should all go rot in a hole. I can't blame her. We all started the accusations when Silena just lost Beckendorf. It probably wasn't the most sensitive thing to do.
But we all accused each other.
Just one big group of old friends accusing the other.
["That's not right." ]
Well, everything is okay now. There's no hard feelings.
["...Is that all you really have to say?"]
I guess so. Huh, that was quicker than I thought.
And, look, I got 15 minutes to spare.
Time to go bother Will!
[I watched Travis walked down Half Blood hill. With a heavy heart, I closed my camcorder, letting it fall into my lap.
So much for talking to Travis. Ah, well. Mom and Dad should be happy with what I have.]
[Mom and Dad will not be happy with what I have.
Especially when they see this part.
Look, I'm not a bad person.
I'm not, okay? I never meant to make Katie cry or take Pollux's memories. I didn't mean to make Will sad or Clarisse angry. It just happened. I only wanted to give my parents a gift like any good kid would.
So this?
This right here?
Again, unintentional.
I didn't mean to be crouched down, to have my side pressed firmly against my bed as I followed a blanked face Travis through a sea of bodies. I didn't mean to scurry out of a window and jump down into a bush. I didn't mean to break a gazillion camp rules just to follow my head counselor out of my cabin in the middle of the night.
I flinched at a deafening caw, looking up at the flying figure illuminated by the moonlight. The guard's feathers were gleaming. Even from afar, they were so creepy.
"So...um...the harpies?" I mumbled.
Travis didn't look back at me. He kept staring overhead. His eyes narrowed in thought.]
Keep close to me and run when I say run, okay?
["O-oka–"]
Let's go!
[I wouldn't have reacted fast enough if Travis didn't grab my hand and dragged me with him. I could barely keep up with how fast he was running. No, I couldn't keep up. My feet actually dug into the ground as Travis hauled me with him. I could only do my best to stay upright.
So this is what it takes to get past the harpies if you can't shadow travel... It was a good reference, I guess, if I ever needed to sneak out.
We reached Half Blood Hill with me shaking in my slippers and Travis not even out of breath.
"What-what happened to 'run?'" I wheezed.
He laughed, plopped down on the grass, and stretched.]
Wasn't that exciting?
["We... We're out past curfew," I said, swallowing the knot stuck in my throat.
Travis only laughed harder.]
It's fine. We won't get into trouble if we don't get caught. Don't show the tape to Chiron and we'll be good.
[I didn't say anything about how Chiron asked for a copy of the finished product.
"I... I... What am I doing out here?"
Travis shot me a leisurely grin from his spot on the ground.]
I had a change of heart. I'll do your interview thing seriously.
["Really?" I perked up. "What made you change your mind?"]
Connor.
Told me since he did it, I have to, too. Otherwise, he's not playing poker with me when I get back home. P.S. he's just scared he'll lose all his drachmas. I am amazing at poker. Do you want me to teach you? I can totally teach you how to cheat — I mean, play your way to victory.
["Why now? Couldn't we do it tomorrow? It's the middle of the night." I yawned for extra effect, but Travis doesn't seem at all concerned like he usually would. He did look a bit apologetic though.]
Sorry, I just think it'll be easier this way.
Having nobody around, when everything is dead silent, and not a single thing moving... It's easier for me to say what's on my mind. But only on one condition! You can't judge me.
["Of course I won't. With Malcolm and Katie, I didn't—"]
Oh, come on, Riley. You weren't comfortable interrupting. You didn't know them, so you didn't dare. But you're sassy with people you know. I can count on one hand the number of times you never interrupted me in the one year I was your counselor.
[He got me. I dropped the smile off my face and nodded. "Okay. I got it. No judging."
Travis grunted and pulled his upper body up from the ground. I sat down next to him. He turned towards me with a crooked smile.]
Okay, shoot.
["So what was it like to lead a cabin in a time of war?"]
The same question again?
Okay.
It was difficult.
I wasn't kidding when I said there were a lot of topics we had to tread carefully on.
Do you remember how many emergency meetings there were when the Romans were coming? Well, double that amount and imagine it spanned over four years, and you'll have the idea.
I guess we were all a lot more stressed because there were so few of us back then. Especially when it wasn't summer and it was just us yearrounders. Back then we were lucky to have ten yearrounders, not like now where we have more than forty. Oh, and experience too. None of us had any experience actually strategizing or whatever people do in wars.
Chiron did most of the planning and we all listened and followed his orders.
I don't know if it was a good thing that all the major events happened during summer when we had a lot of people. On one hand, we finally had enough to do espionage and carry out attacks. On the other one, the parents could see that Camp wasn't exactly what they had expected.
Our numbers really hit a toll when Thalia's Pine was threatened.
Cause, you know, that's our barrier. You break that and any monster could just waltz in. And with all these demigods gathered into one convenient location... Well, Camp must have seemed like an all-you-can-eat buffet. The whole reason why parents send their kids here is to train in a safe place. You take away the safe and well…
What was the point of coming to Camp? They might as well just stay at home.
We had to patrol the borders, a couple demigods from each cabin rather than a single cabin. I guess not to disrupt activities. I think it was a great idea. I really got to know some campers who got claimed right away or are Summer only.
Then again, Chiron also had the brilliant idea to pair the veteran campers with the newbies so they could get firsthand experience at monster killing with someone who was trained.
It was fine if the veteran was seventeen or eighteen and the newbie twelve, but if the veteran was twelve and the newbie a lot older... Well, that was a simple recipe for trouble.
Like Annabeth, I came to Camp when I was around seven. I spent 6 long years at camp doing nothing but harsh, grueling training. But then, here come these fifteen-year olds who took some stupid defense class sometime back in middle school who think they know so much more than you.
They doubt you. They think you're incompetent. They don't listen to you.
I can't count the number of times I had to save some tough guy's butt back when we were guarding the border, because "I won't take orders from a little brat."
I should have just let the hellhound grab a little taste of that calf. That would have taught him a lesson.
["I...I think Connor told me, but I forgot. How old were you when you became a counselor?"]
Twelve.
Just like Percy, my life kinda went downhill when I was twelve. I remember that day pretty well.
[Travis laid down on his back and closed his eyes.]
It was the last day of Summer Break. Everyone who wasn't a yearrounder had already left.
It was just me and Connor in our cabin. We were arguing over who would get the top bunk this year, like we do every year.
Connor said I would roll over and crack my skull open. And I told his lazy butt he would call it quits after a week of climbing the ladder.
We were in the middle of a rock-paper-scissors match when Chiron knocked on our door. I didn't say anything because who the heck \knocks on our door? No one. Everyone kind of bursts in like they live here. Campers, satyrs, naiads... It's like an unwritten rule for this cabin.
He knocked again, more insistent this time, and I rolled my eyes and yelled, "Come in." I went right back to arguing with Connor. For a long minute, nobody entered. I thought it was a prank or something, like one of those ring a doorbell and run thing.
Then the door creaked open and I was blasted with this beam of light. It felt like Apollo walked in, but nope, just the setting sun burning my retinas.
Even with that in the background though, it was easy to see it was Chiron. Especially with the bow slung across his back and his height and the clip-clops of his hooves.
Connor and I shut up and leaped to our feet when we realized who it was.
Even though everybody left, our cabin was a mess. Snack wrappers were everywhere, socks and forgotten memorabilia strung on counters and beds. We were actually supposed to clean up rather than argue. But hey. It's such a nice, blissful feeling when everybody leaves for school and there's finally peace and quiet in your own cabin.
Anyway, I welcomed Chiron in as I kicked cracker crumbs under the bed.
But Chiron wasn't paying attention to me. His eyes swept past me and Connor and he surveyed every inch of the room in a slow, meticulous manner.
It was the most awkward two minutes of my life. Here I was trying to clean up without making it seem like I was and the Camp Supervisor was witnessing my cabin in all its glorious filth.
I piped up after a couple minutes, because he was obviously looking for something and that something wasn't us.
"Are you looking for Luke? I think he's in the forest with Percy," I asked.
Chiron swept through the room one more time before they rested on me.
"Are you Travis?" he said.
I nodded and then he asked me if any of my older siblings were here: Chris, Devin, Monique, Kalisa, Elizen... I said no.
Chiron seems to age a decade then. He sighed and rubbed his nose. In that gravelly, spooky voice of his, he said, "Come with me, Travis Stoll, son of Hermes, God of Thieves. You are now the counselor of Cabin 11."
[Travis shot back up from the ground, turning to face me with a wide grin.]
And just like that I was a counselor! Coincidentally, happy times were also over.
Phew. Kapow. Kaboom. Whoosh.
No more hijacking the camp's van. No more staying up past curfew. No more breaking into the camp store. No more doing anything even remotely fun.
As a counselor, I needed to set an example.
And I did...for like the first week.
After that, I kinda do what I usually do. I let everyone do whatever they want as long as they listen to what I say every now and then.
I know, I know.
That sounds like what a terrible counselor would do, but you had no idea how hard it was in the beginning.
It's easy for Clarisse and Pollux to say Luke was dumb for believing in Kronos. But they didn't live long enough in our cabin to understand why.
Pollux and Castor were claimed as soon as they stepped foot into camp, one of the perks of having their Dad on Camp. Do you know how awkward it would be if they were claimed a week or a month later when they saw their Dad every day? Clarisse only spent a day in our cabin before she was claimed. It was in training practice after judo-flipping me to the floor. Her dad claimed her right there. I still remember groaning on the floor. And then, this hellish, red light was glowing over Clarisse's head like a halo, a nasty, triumphant grin on her nasty, triumphant face. She looked like a devil.
Hey, are Chris and Clarisse going to see this part? If they are, well, sorry in advance. Don't kill me.
Both of them, Clarisse and Pollux... They never lived in a cabin where you always had to be bunched together. Where you had no free space to move, and where you never had any privacy. I couldn't even whisper to Connor without someone overhearing us back then.
Pranking was so hard. Someone would always warn our victim and it made everything so much more difficult. Connor thought it made it more fun, more planning for him, I guess, but I only wanted to see the shock on their faces.
And. There's. No. Shock. If. They. Know. It's. Coming.
But that was years ago. I'm over it already. Haha, no, I'm not. Miranda was the biggest tattletale back when she lived in Hermes Cabin. And Katie always ratted me out to Chiron.
If me and Connor were the troublesome troublemakers, then Katie and Miranda were the tattling twits. I was glad when they were both claimed and moved out. We had three whole months to prank in peace before Luke went all 'revolution time' on us.
[Travis leaned back on his arms, gazing at the stars.]
I miss those days. Everything was so much fun. We all had fun together.
Luke was such a cool counselor. You know, before he went to the dark side.
Even when nobody was here, he would decorate our cabin for Halloween, Christmas, New Years, St. Patricks... Every single holiday. All because he wanted to give us something to do. It's boring as yearrounders, you know?
He would give us personal lessons on sword fighting, on dealing with stress, and even pranking. He was an awful prankster, but that's not important.
Luke was so cool and awesome that when he left, we all wondered if we should go too. Cause Luke is the best and he's always right.
[Travis looked down at camp.]
Sometimes I wonder if it was all an act, if he cared about us at all.
[Then he paused, eyes darting to the camcorder. He turned to face me directly and smiled.]
Well, there's no point in caring now since he's dead.
The point is we were left confused and under their confusion I led everyone around.
After the first week, though, some doubted the Gods and wondered whether Luke was right.
As a counselor, I was supposed to stop those fears and reassure them Luke was wrong, but I don't know what I did exactly. It gotta be something I said. I seemed to only make it worse.
Thank Hermes, I had Connor. If it was just me, our cabin would have been empty by the second week.
["So you and Connor were loyal till the end!"]
What now?
["Annabeth says you and Connor were like Luke. That you would end up becoming like Luke. But that's not true."
Travis coughed, scratching his cheek.]
W-well. Ahahahaha, funny thing, that topic.
["It's not true, right?"
Travis refused to meet my eyes, instead boring holes into the grass.
"Travis?"]
Look, I'll tell you everything. Just keep our promise in mind. You can't judge me, okay?
The first month I was counselor wasn't all that bad.
All I needed to do was comfort my siblings and welcome the newbies. Connor took care of roll care and the daily schedule. Not hard at all.
Everything went so smooth.
Then the rumors started after news of Luke spread.
We would get some stares, but no one outright confronted us. Except for Clarisse. But that was Clarisse being Clarisse.
Then Thalia's Pine was poisoned. With that I lost half of my friends. Michael, Beckendorf, even Kit-Kat Katie didn't want anything to do with me.
I lost the other half of my pals too, but that was later on. I don't know if it was because they thought I had something to do with the poisoning or if they were busy with their cabin. I like thinking it's the latter because I'm optimistic like that. Connor thinks it's the former.
Either way, most of the camp seemed to think we were associated with Luke.
It's unfair. It wasn't like we poisoned the tree. Why did they act like we did? Everywhere I go, people glared at me and the daring ones would walk right up to me and say stuff like — well, it wasn't nice. I can tell you that.
I handled my problems pretty well. Connor is pretty capable too, but I was more worried about my half-siblings. The only thing we had going for us was our pranks. We can't argue well like Malcolm and Annabeth or be intimidating enough like Michael and Clarisse. We could only prank anyone who messed with our cabin.
But the bullying never stopped. One by one all the original ten announced they were leaving. I never felt so much a failure. I tried doubling down on my pranks. I also tried having a one on one talk with some of them because we used to be cabinmates. Even tried to bribe some of them to leave us alone.
None of it worked.
One night, after a particularly cruel chant from Clarisse — she was a real wisecrack back then. Her chants were some of the most creative things I heard from her cabin. I think her best one was "11, 11, Jack of all trades, master of none, losers in all shades." Did not make sense at all, but it was catchy. I doubt she has enough brain cells to create those songs herself, but, hey. I guess Clarisse is always full of surprises. Do you know she's actually a great gymnast? Yeah, I saw her doing some amazing flips in the middle of the night when I snuck out to raid the camp store.
Anyway, one night, two weeks before Thalia came into the picture, I... I remember feeling so angry. Like an angry that ruins your whole mood. And it's hard to not shout at the littlest inconvenience or slam the door or... something. I was kind of scared I might take it out on the wrong person. So I ordered my cabin's lights out a good hour earlier than curfew time.
No one questioned me. I think it's because they thought I was Connor and a pissed off Connor is someone you do not want to anger further.
I remember jumping into my bed, pulling the covers over my head and thinking — Oh, that's right, I won! I got the top bunk! Hah, suck it, Connor!
Sorry. I kinda ruined the moment, didn't I? It's important to the story. Trust me. That's my first personal victory in the list of none. Probably the most important victory in my life. Because Connor always gets his way even though I'm older. I should put down my foot more. Yeah, I can do that. Be more assertive, you know? Don't let people push me over. Yeah, be more like Connor. Can you imagine? Two Connors? Two times the punishments?
[There's something everyone in the Hermes cabin knows. When Travis is nervous, he talks. He just rambles and rambles and rambles. An hour long session of Greek Myths can easily become three with Travis as the instructor. I hate to admit it, but when we have a training session with the Ares cabin or archery with Apollo, my friends and I would bait Travis until he was flustered. Most times it works. Other times Connor jumps in and finishes the lesson.]
You know people still think Connor is the older brother? No, I am. Just because he's more strict doesn't mean I can't be strict either.
["Travis, we all love you the way you are. If it doesn't bother you, though, I would like to remind you that you have a counselor meeting this morning. So could you get going... please?"]
I do?
Oh, no.
I know what it's going to be about. Dang it. This always happens when we take a prank goes too far. I'm gonna have to impersonate Connor, because he can't keep his mouth shut at the right time. I'm on everyone's good side this week so I guess I can rack up some bad points. I doubt anyone notices when we do that. Which reminds me, sometimes me and Connor roleplay as each other when we're doing our jobs. Can you guys tell or—
["Travis."]
Got it, rambling. Time to move on. Sorry, I don't want to talk about — I just don't like remembering this part.
But, yeah.
That day, as I curled up in my covers, all I could think about was how Dad could let this happen. How Mr. D could turn a blind eye like that. How Chiron told me to deal with it on my own, that 'there are bigger problems at hand.' How my friends didn't care to help.
I knew they were busy with their duties, but I always made time to be nice to their cabin. Why couldn't they tell their siblings to be nice to ours?
I was so angry, thinking how it's so unfair and so stupid and how much I hated the adults for letting this happen. How I hated my dad for letting Luke do what he's doing. How I hated Mr. D for being so useless. Chiron, Clarisse, Percy, Anniebeth, Chris for doing nothing. How I hated how weak I was, how I couldn't do anything when Connor was doing everything.
I went to bed that night with thoughts of giving the Gods their own medicine. A whole childhood's worth of negligence to make them understand we weren't toys.
And, well, you can guess what happened that night.
["You dreamt of pranking?" I offered weakly. Travis refused to meet my eyes.]
I dreamt of Kronos.
["And you told him off, right? Right?"]
Luke was there.
We were in a dark room, surrounded by monsters on all sides. Luke's back was turned to me, his hand stroking a coffin.
He was talking to the box, speaking way too low for me to understand.
Even so, 12 years old me was about to pee his pants. I had never seen a horror movie in my sheltered life at Camp, let alone experienced this weird, horror-esque dream.
Luke turned around and rather than blue eyes, I saw gold.
"Seek revenge, son of Hermes. For your forgotten breathens and cruel companions. Seven days from today, on the night of a new moon, come to Fisherman's Wharf and I will give you the power to change the world."
I woke up in a cold sweat and tumbled off my bed to get real intimate with the toilet, but I completely forgot where I was.
Even at 11, Connor has amazing foresight.
I rolled over the bed, realized a good two seconds too late I had the top bunk, and bonked my head on the corner of the nightstand. Woke up my entire cabin when I fell and they woke up the entire camp.
Supposedly, I cracked my head open and there was a lot of blood. They thought I was dying and I had to see Will and... yeah... I wasn't allowed on the top bunk anymore.
Which is not fair. What happened to the three strikes rule?
["3 times to crack your head open? I doubt the rule applies to that."]
I can't believe you took their side, Riley.
I thought you loved me.
The pain.
It's so real.
["You and Connor are so dramatic."
Travis stuck his tongue out at me.]
No, we're not. You're just mean.
Anyway, as soon as Will saw me, I told Chiron and Mr. D about the whole event and do you know what they said?
"Don't listen to him, Travis. Kronos will destroy the world."
Yup. That's all. Just that. Like I didn't know Kronos was bad.
Look, I know I was a bit of an airhead when I was twelve, but I wasn't completely dumb.
They didn't do anything about the situation at all. Just gave me that stupid piece of advice and sent me on my way. Sometimes Chiron would check up on me to see if I still have these dreams. At one point I started lying to him and saying no. He wasn't doing anything helpful and I think Chiron would be glad to have one less demigod to worry about.
["Did Connor know about your dreams?"]
Of course.
I can't keep anything from him, not that I would. I don't know if you know this, Riley, but Connor has a nose of a bloodhound. He can sniff out every lie, every secret. Maybe it was a gift from our dad. I wish I had that skill. He agreed that our supervisors sucked and we spent a good half hour complaining about them.
I didn't tell anyone else, though. It's bad enough we were accused of being traitors. They didn't need to know I was having these dreams.
Sometimes I wondered why Kronos wanted me. Connor is a lot smarter than me. Maybe they got the wrong brother. Wouldn't it be cool if our dream waves are so similar that it's hard to tell us apart in dream-mode?
["You didn't go, right?"]
Nope. At the time, I didn't want to prove them right, that all Hermes children are traitors.
The day came and passed with me still behind Camp's deteriorating borders. Kronos tried again that night, offering me riches and powers "beyond my imagination."
You know, typical villain lines.
He did this every night. Every time I drift off to sleep for even a second, there he was. Even with a nap in the daytime, I wasn't safe from him.
Man, someone needs to teach him how to take a hint.
He was so persistent like a... Like a… Like a salesman.
["Did you compare the Lord of Time to a salesman?" Travis shrugged.]
Hey, act like a salesman, and you'll be called one.
He bothered me every night I slept, insisting I joined his league of the Anti-Gods or whatever his group was. No matter how much I said no, he persisted, and well, after, like, the fifteenth day of waking up nauseous, I tried to find a loophole.
So I stopped sleeping.
["That's not a loophole."]
That's what you say, but I say it's a loophole.
One of the newbies was a kid of Hypnos so I had them make me a potion to forego sleep. Too bad it only worked for a week and a half. After that, I crashed for two entire days. I don't know what's worse. 3 hours of Kronos every night or two whole days with him.
["That... That's not good for you."]
It wasn't. I scared Connor when I slumped over asleep in the middle of training.
I don't recommend drinking the potion more than once a year. It messes with your appetite and digestion. I had such a huge headache after waking up from that two days, not sure if it was from Kronos or the drink.
["Please tell me you didn't continue using it."]
No, Connor took it away from me. He told me to find another method.
What a worrywart.
That first night happened because I thought some bad thoughts. So I figured, if I let all the negativity go, the dreams would stop.
Whenever someone did something mean, I forced myself to forgive it and move on.
It probably wasn't right for some cases, but it made me a lot happier. Didn't stop Kronos, but I was happier somewhat.
["Will said you say that to him a lot."]
Will is such a nice guy. He needs to learn to let the past go and live in the moment. I let my past go all the time and I'm so stress-free.
Sort of.
Now that I think about it, though, Will is always worrying about the present too. He needs to learn to live in the future then, forget the past and present.
["When Connor talked about Will, he was so... I don't think harsh is the right word. He was mean. Everybody always makes him sound so…"]
Lazy? Stupid? Cause as his older brother I can confirm that is 60% tr—
["Scary." ]
Really?
Huh.
Connor is a big, soft teddy bear, though.
Who says he's scary?
["Makes him sound scary," I corrected. " Chris. Annabeth. Lou—Um. Pollux." Travis leaned back on his arms.]
Those three? I can imagine why.
Connor doesn't do well with controlling his emotions. People say I'm more impulsive and I guess that's true, but so is Connor when he loses his cool.
The way he spoke of our friends was uncomfortable. I wanted to leave the cabin after he started with Will. I like Will and he's a nice guy, but I guess Connor is right in a way. Will does have an 'I'm always right' mindset that leads him to be kind of pushy —
["No way. You were there with us when I was talking with Connor? You kept quiet that long? Why were you there? Were you eavesdropping?"]
No! It's called keeping an eye on my little brother! There's a reason we older campers direct all the questions about that stuff to Chiron. I mean look at what Katie did to the poor Big House. Do you know who's going to fix it? Us counselors!
["I didn't mean too!"]
Yeah, I know, but it still happened. No one blamed you.
Connor is as capable of blowing a gasket and setting the Hypnos cabin on fire. One huge enough that it'll catch onto the other cabins and we all have no place to sleep.
It almost happened once.
Connor had a nightmare and woke me up so we could sneak into Hypnos cabin. I made the mistake of falling asleep and woke up to the kitchen on fire. I can't believe the one cabin with a kitchen doesn't have a working fire extinguisher.
Look, the point is, a lot of us have bad memories of the war and we all have our own coping methods. Clarisse has her punching bag. Katie has her crying. And Connor has his cooking.
["Still...Connor said some pretty mean stuff. He said everybody could drown and he wouldn't care."]
He does care otherwise he wouldn't help Katie or throw that party for Chris. Do you think I made that party? No, if I was in charge all Chris would have gotten is a welcome card and a messed up cake he would need to help clean up.
It's... just hurtful, I guess, to have your closest friends doubt you.
We were yearrounders, Riley.
That means for nine months we spent every waking moment of our life with other yearrounders. We wake up, eat breakfast together, go to class together, train together, eat lunch together, spend free time together, joke together, eat dinner together, sing songs together, even sleep over at the Hermes cabin for almost every night because of how few of us there are.
Annabeth, Jake, Will, Clarisse, they were all yearrounders like us and later Katie and Miranda. We spent years together: training, fighting, and having fun before the war. And then to have your loyalty questioned?
So what if Luke and Chris left, who also happened to be yearrounders, too and sons of Hermes to boot? And so what if the majority of those who ditched Camp came from our cabin? And so what if we looked up to Luke? And so what if I don't like to bad mouth my brother along with the rest of camp? And so what if I defend him a little when people bring him up as a psychopathic murderer?
We didn't leave.
That should say something about us. All yearrounders were close. They should have been accused too. Why single us out? I mean, sure, I love riling people up and making them suffer for my enjoyment, but that doesn't mean I like actually hurting people. Does it? There's gotta be a distinction, right?
["Does Connor mean what he said?"]
Who knows?
All I know is that he was hurt. Ranting is how he expresses anger. Punching the living soul out of a sandbag or bawling his eyes out isn't his way.
I hope he'll be okay when I leave... Maybe I can ditch class to sneak back to camp every now and then. College can't be too hard, right?
["Why weren't you mad?"]
Who said I wasn't? I forced myself to forgive them and move on. Prank them a little and call it even. Some of my friends think I still have a vendetta against them. I don't and no matter what I say, Will won't get that memo. He was so stressed during that battle; I feel like he would have bitten off the head of the next person he talked too. That sorry person just had to be me. I don't even know what he said exactly, kinda too occupied staring at how ugly and tired he looked.
Anyway that was basically what my first two years of counseling were like. Luke did something, my cabin suffered for him, and Connor and I sent our tormentors to the infirmary.
Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat.
Then the Battle of the Labyrinth happened and my friends died.
It must have hit me after their deaths. I thought Luke cared about us enough to not kill us, still stuck in the past, haha. Death was now a viable option and it scared me. I guess Kronos must have realized it at that point too.
I no longer dreamt of riches or treasures. I dreamt of my friends' dead bodies. Torn limbs, slit throats, charred corpses, acid washed faces, clubbed heads.
Katie. Will. Malcolm. Jake. Silena and Beckendorf. Chris. My half-siblings. Clarisse and Annie.
It terrified me. I would wake up and sneak into their cabins to make sure it was only a dream and not reality. With the end of every dream, Kronos said none of it will become true if I served as a spy and messed with my friends for a bit. Stop Percy on going on quests. Sabotage camp's weaponry. Convince my cabin to join him, too. Stuff like that.
It made sense why he wanted us. We were still the biggest cabin in Camp and losing us was like losing 40% of Camp's fighting force.
I still ignored him though.
They'll all end up dead even if I did that. I know you can't protect everybody. If you try, you'll end up losing more. I thought it was better to cling to that little hope Percy and Annabeth would save everybody.
Then Connor became one of those bodies.
He made a new offer that night.
No one would hurt my brother. No monster, no demigod, no one.
He swore on the River Styx and his own honor as a titan.
["...What did you do? You said no, right? Didn't you?"
Travis averted his eyes, picking at the dirt with his hands.]
(Your promise, remember?)
["There's no way you could have..."]
Connor... He's my entire world.
I would send the whole camp, the whole world, to Tartarus for him.
["But you didn't, right?" Travis winced at my question and looked at me with guilt in his eyes.]
No.
After that promise, I packed my bags and left Camp Half Blood.
Chapter 12: This Is The End
Author's notes:
You know I used to think 6 months was a long time to not update a fic. Two of my WIP hasn't been updated for 11 months and one hasn't been updated since 2015. So I gotta say, me updating a long chapter in 6 months is actually pretty good!
So I know my drama seeking mind tend to see the possible angst where there shouldn't be. That kind of leads to some wild, wild speculations on my part. Sorry about that. Do I find them kind of "Woah...how late in the night was it when I wrote this" since it's been a while? Yes, yes I do. But I also like how it turned out.
I won't mind getting criticisms. I know I'm bad at taking criticisms, but I think it becomes easier with exposure.
Thank you to ImALazyProscrastinator for being the beta! Sorry for such a long chapter. You're the best!