Percy

There's Good, there's Bad, and then there's Laura

It had been a few days now, but I honestly couldn't remember the last time I saw Laura. Mason had told me she had holed herself up in the Hermes cabin, still wearing her torn hoodie and refusing to come out. She only talked to him, which I was relieved to here; Laura really needed some friends, and her and Mason seemed really close. Although now that I think about it, she never let anyone see her besides him; unless they wanted to get toasted, which really bummed out the Aphrodite kids. All of them wanted to give her a makeover desperately, as if it was the one thing they wanted to do before they died. I had actually seen a few of them pulling crazy stunts to get her out of hiding, but apparently Laura was too smart for that.

And that's when things began to escalate.

I was a bit confused when I saw a girl named Felicia talking to the Stoll brothers outside of the shower room, which I had seen Laura go into earlier that day. I saw the daughter of the love goddess hand them 4 golden drachma and something that was white; I really couldn't tell what, though.

I got a big sinking feeling in my chest as I saw the two sneak into the Girls' section of the bath house, emerging seconds later with something bright orange, gray, black, and something that looked like a towel in their hands, much to Felicia's glee. I tried to get closer to hear what they were saying, but the three broke up their conversation and split before I got close enough.

I was about to ask Connor what the whole thing was about when I saw an angry, and I do mean angry Laura come stalking out of the bath house, no longer wearing her hoodie, jeans, and boots, but a dress; a short white sun dress with lace and ribbons that went to just above her knees, accompanied by a pair of black leggings underneath. Besides that, she didn't have socks or shoes, since she was clutching a pair of heels in her hand by the straps.

Her gaze immediately snapped to me, and I got the urge to run as she stormed over to me. "Who did it?" She seemed to growl, as if even being in a dress infuriated her. "Um...Uh..." I looked away from her angry face, briefly glancing at the Stoll brothers and Felicia. They only seemed to laugh at me, so I decided I deserved to get even.

"It was them." I said with an evil grin, pointing towards the three whose expressions immediately grew fearful. I watched laughing as Laura made a flying leap, tackling Travis, who held her things, to the ground, snatching her clothes back. I got a bit closer to see what she was going to say; for the sake of curiosity.

"You're lucky you're dad invented the internet, because I'd gut you like a fish otherwise." She growled, getting off of the snickering demigod and turning her attention to Felicia, who cowered behind the other Stoll brother. "And you better not do this shit again, or I swear to god I'll-"

"Laura!LAURA!"

My attention snapped away from the four demigods to see who had been calling out. I turned to see Mason, one of the unclaimed, running towards us with an excited expression. I saw Laura shift awkwardly in her dress as he approached, which made me think a little something extra was happening between them.

"Hi." She said shyly, walking up to him. I saw his face grow red as he looked her up and down, and honestly, I didn't blame him. "So what's up? Something the matter?" The brunette asked, crossing her arms. "Uh...well..."

Mason shook himself like a wet dog. "Laur, you'll never guess what happened to me!" The redhead finally said, placing his hands on his friend's shoulders. "What?" She asked back with an excited expression. "I found out who my dad is!"

Laura's expression grew into a mix of sad and irritated. "Who is it?" She asked after a moment of silence, giving a small smile. "Hephaestus! You know, the god of the smith and jewelry and stuff?"

"Real manly, Mason." She laughed, giving him a playful shove.

"Ouch, my feelings."

I glanced over to see Felicia give a relieved sigh, looking over at the two of them with a smile. "Ah, young love. How cute." The smile was wiped off of her face as she got pelted with Laura's unworn heels, which shut her up pretty fast.

"So anyways, Laur, I thought I'd make you something to celebrate."

It was at that point my dumb brain registered what Felicia meant as I watched Mason pull out a blue jeweled bracelet out of his pocket, slipping it onto his friend's wrist like one would a wedding ring. My jaw dropped to the floor as I watched him sling an arm around Laura and pull her into a bear hug.

"Oh, and it gets better! Press down on that jewel there!" The redhead said as he pulled away from the hug. Laura looked down at the bracelet hesitantly, but pressed down on a gemstone that was almost as blue as her eyes. I should have known a kid of Hephaestus knew how to pimp out something like a bracelet. With a bright flash of light, the bracelet shifted and changed into a silver handled sword, the hilt ordained with intricate designs and patterns while the blade was long and menacing.

"Awesome! " Laura's face grew happy as she turned the sword in her hands. "Oh, it gets even better! Name any weapon you want and it'll change in a snap!" The son of Hephaestus snapped his fingers for emphasis. "Oh really?" The brunette gave him a challenging smile. "Alright then…let's see here…how about a gun?" We all stared and watched the sword, but it did nothing.

"It's got to be a melee weapon. I haven't figured out ranged weapons yet." Mason explained with a hint of embarrassment in his voice. "Ok…. How about….how about a katana? Those are cool."

At the very mention of the word, the sword spun to life, its form shifting and changing before our very eyes. When the flash of light had diminished, Laura was holding a one-sided blade that was long and thin, it's Olympian silver handle decorated with the gems from the bracelet.

She gave the sword an experimental swing, the air hissing as it cut through it. "Kickass! This is way better than anything those Ares punks have!"

"Who're you callin' a punk?"

I recognized the voice immediately, my face turning into a frown as I turned to see Clarisse, arms crossed and looking fairly pissed. "If I'm such a punk, what does that make you, huh?" The redhead's eyes narrowed threateningly. I looked back to Laura as I saw her grow a cocky smile, the samurai sword still in her hand. "I dunno; someone better than you, I guess."

Clarisse's nostrils flared at that comment, the redhead reaching for the back pocket of her torn jeans, pulling out a rod that turned into her electric spear. "A spear, huh? It suits a barbarian like you." Laura smirked, giving the sword a twirl in her hand and whispering something, the katana morphing into some kind of blade on a chain, the other end having some sort of spiked ball. I honestly had no idea what it was that the brunette was twirling around, so I turned to Mason to ask him.

The redhead was looking right back at me when I turned. "It's a kusarigama, otherwise known as a chain sickle. It's actually a good choice, in my opinion. The chain is often used to entangle the opponents sword or spear, pulling it out of the enemy's grip while a slashing motion is made with the blade."

"But the camp doesn't allow any serious injuries."

Mason's face paled instantly. "Oh shit..." The redhead muttered, his wide green eyes looking at me. "Laura doesn't know that we have violence restrictions."

My gaze turned back to Laura in a panic. The brunette flipped over the daughter of Ares, doing a spin that entangled her opponent's legs in her chain, which could magically grow longer and shorter at her will, the spiked ball scraping against Clarisse's leg, tearing her jeans and leaving a trail of blood. The scraggly redhead fell to the ground, spear still in hand, stabbing at the chains as Laura slowly dragged her across the ground, pulling her closer at an agonizing pace.

"Laura, stop! You can't hurt her! It's against the camp's rules!" I called out as the brunette raised her sickle over her head, acting as if she didn't hear me.

Laura was about to strike down when Clarisse gave a kick, the chain unwinding from around her legs, the spiked weight coming in contact with the bottom of the brunette's jaw. I winced as I saw a trail of blood trail down her chin, leaving a stream of red as it dripped onto the ground and ran down her neck.

I thought that maybe, just maybe, that the pain would make her stop. Her blue eyes narrowed as she looked from the daughter of Ares to the weapon in her hand. She looked as if she was thinking hard, and I saw her lips moving, but I really didn't hear anything.

Clarisse gasped loudly, taking a step back in fear as Laura raised her new weapon. And honestly, she had all the reason to.

Staring the daughter of Ares straight in the face was a menacing silver scythe. It's black pole was almost as tall as Laura herself, and it had two extra extensions at the top and bottom ends. I didn't know what they were for, but I guess I can ask about that later, when someone isn't about to be killed. The silver blade of the scythe distended out several feet, curving into a menacing crescent.

Apparently Laura didn't know about one of the camp's most important rules; no scythes.

Ever since Kronos' defeat, the camp has been wary of anything with his symbol, a scythe, considering how they believed he could see through the weapon, a theory that came from how Silena spoke to him through a silver scythe charm. The camp considered the scythe a sign of death, misfortune, and rebellion against the gods.

I used to wonder just what made the scythe so bad. I used to think it was just a farming tool... until I learned its other, more sinister use; decapitation.

A huge crowd had gathered around Laura and Clarisse, filled with faces showing expressions of fear and excitement. Many of them cheered as Laura swung the scythe, merely missing Clarisse by centimeters as the redhead jumped back. "H-hey! You can't use that! It's against the-" The daughter of Ares was silenced as the brunette grabbed on e of the handles near the blade, using it to pivot the weapon and send it slashing back at her enemy.

What scared me even more than Laura's weapon... was Laura herself. She seemed so at ease with using the scythe, wielding it with a sense of elegance, grace, and power. She seemed right at home using the death machine, even if it was a symbol of someone who tried to kill us all.

Everyone gasped, a few screaming, as Clarisse was kicked onto her stomach, her spear flying off somewhere unreachable. The redhead struggled to get up, but was stopped as Laura snuck the tip of her scythe's blade under the crook of her neck where it met with her chin. Clarisse, someone I knew as a total hothead and battle-crazy jerk, had a look of shear panic on her face as the silver edge was lightly pressed against her skin, lightly drawing blood, Laura's expression cold and unmoving.

"STOP IT!" I cried out in a panic, rushing forward. I could briefly see Laura's eyes widen for a moment, her face growing confused right before she was hit with a powerful blast of water from a fountain that had been behind me. People scrambled left and right to avoid the small wave as Laura was knocked to the ground, her scythe morphing back into a bracelet on her right hand.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?"

I turned to see Chiron and Dionysus running towards us looking absolutely pissed. Clarisse, who was still gasping for air as she tried to wipe away the small amount of blood on her neck, pointed furiously at Laura. "She...she tried to kill me! With a SCYTHE!"

I watched as the soaked brunette looked up in confusion, looking at everyone around her before looking right at me. Her eyes showed disbelief and shock as she opened her mouth to speak.

"What just happened?"