Before we dive into the chapter, please read the comments I have beforehand.
This chapter mainly focuses on the kids from Camp Jupiter. This takes place two weeks after Percy has disappeared, trapped in Hera's sleep. Worry not if your character does not appear, or if you feel as though they did not get a large enough part. You will learn plenty about the characters both before and after they start to expire :)
As the story progresses, you are going to notice things about your character that will make you think, Man, I wish I mentioned that earlier. Guess what? You still can! Feel free to drop me a message if you remembered a trait or a little thing about your OC and I will do my best to incorporate it into the story. But I'm not a mind reader. So if your character behaves a certain way you don't like or reacts a way you wouldn't want, just drop me a message and I'll talk it over with you, although it is a safe bet to say that I won't go back and change the chapter to fit what you wanted. Unless I messed up on age, height, etc.
With your OCs, there are things that have changed about them, and I am sorry-not-sorry. It needed to happen. Some of your OCs are now inter-connected with others you didn't know before. Some of their back-stories might have changed. Maybe they even have a sibling they didn't have before. I promise, it's for the plot and you will see why I did that in time. It might not be until the very end.
Thank you for letting me use your characters. I know it's really fun to read about your little baby going out into the little fictional world, but don't just pay attention to that. I foreshadow a ton of things. Maybe I'll foreshadow something that won't come up for five chapters, but it will only be hinted at that one time. Maybe I'll give you the answer to the question you asked in a review in the form of a hidden answer and I won't tell because I want you to think. This should be a story where your brain works a mile a minute and comes up with theories and answers to answers that had turned into questions.
And I'm going to be straight-up right now, guys. I'm making your OCs like people. They'll have more than one weakness, more than one mess-up, more than one fear. But they'll also have more than one victory, no matter how small, a different view on a certain character than another OC will have, and another life. They will not be perfect clones. People change. OCs can change. People break under stress. OCs break under stress. You might be upset with me when something happens, but before you get angry, I want you to think long and hard about why you are so upset. Could it possibly be that I didn't make your character all-knowing and all-powerful and had the audacity to make them weak? Yes. I write like that, and I apologize, but it's empty, because I'm really not sorry if your OC did not live up to your expectations in a circumstance. But people can surprise you. So so can some OCs.
I hope you also notice that the way the characters look at things will be different. I'm going to try and think like the characters through the chapters, so it won't be my point of view. I'm going to try and completely immerse myself in what your character thinks, feels, and how they react. Feel free to help me, guys~.
And I write tragedies, just to let you know :) I'm not going to sugar-coat anything. In fact, I can't wait until the story gets to the point where, instead of going, "Yes, my character is up!" you look on with dread and go, "Oh, god. My character is up. No, no, no! My babyyyyyyyy!"

And people that have read Childhood Friend before: Yes, what is coming up is exactly what you think it is. If you catch yourself thinking: Is that-? Yes. The answer is yes.
AND NO SPOILERS (I'm looking at you, sonofthetrigod and Tailsdoll13)! If you want to ask me about it or rant, feel free to leave a note in my PM box :)
Just so you know, some of these characters swear like a sailor. Just thought I'd let you know. Especially with the character I'm starting off with.

And with that, onto the story!


Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or any recognizable characters.


Twists, spirals, turns
Masks, ballgowns, burns
Come and play the game
Tell me, what is your name?
Don't be shy
But you have to know
It's not a show

I don't stop until they cry
-Christine Time


Alianna's eye twitched as the stupid light-brown (or was it blonde? It was hard to tell) haired girl across from her reached across the table, grabbed her goblet, and drank out of her cup. She took a long gulp before setting it onto the table with a loud bang, smacking her lips in satisfaction.

I would take it back, Alianna thought, frowning, but then I would probably get some weird disease.

"Claudia, you can't just drink out of someone else's cup," Josh sighed, running a hand through his black hair.

Claudia's face turned a bit pink, like it was responding to how she was supposed to feel, but her face and eyes told the truth. She wasn't sorry.

"But Ali and I are so close," she whined before sticking her tongue out and bending forward to trace the rim of Alianna's old cup with the tip of her tongue.

That's fucking disgusting, Alianna couldn't help but think, and it must have shown on her face, because Josh started laughing.

Now, Alianna wasn't into him that way, but even she could admit that Josh was startlingly attractive. Dark black hair, pale skin, and bright eyes that were so many colors it would be an injustice to only pin it on one. But she could make out a lot of silver in his eyes. Silver and blue seemed to be the main color base. To be honest, his eyes were probably his best feature, and stood out even more while being framed by thick, long, black eyelashes. A daughter of Venus would be jealous. The rest of his face was nice, too, but it was undoubtedly the eyes that sold the deal.

Alianna had a hard time seeing Josh as anything but her gentle big brother. He had never risen his voice, his laugh was sweet, and he defended those he cared about. An A+ role model.

"Oh, thank the gods, I'm starving."

Alianna turned to the person who was suddenly sitting next to her with raised eyebrows, which raised even higher when she saw who it was.

Brown eyes, black hair that was longer in the front and spiked in the back, pale skin, slouched, lean but muscled, maybe nineteen or twenty years old.

Who the fuck is this guy?

The guy just stared shoveling bacon into his mouth with a happy glint in his eyes, seemingly oblivious to the awkward air he had brought onto the area.

"Uh, who are you?" Alianna spoke up after a moment of uncertainty.

The older boy turned to her with almost adorably wide eyes and swallowed before giving her a happy grin and tilting his head slightly to the side. "Oh, I'm sorry. My name's Ian Grey. Who are you?"

Alianna paused, considering if it would really be worth it if she answered.

Claudia chose that moment to speak up.

"Hello, Ian!" she beamed, sitting up straight, green eyes sparkling. A lopsided grin was on her lips and her posture was completely welcoming. With her skinny, defenseless demeanor, it was no wonder people flocked to her so easily. She may have been five feet and eight inches tall, but the aura she gave off completely destroyed whatever intimidating image she might have been able to achieve with her height.

Too bad no one else saw Claudia the way Alianna did. To her, she had creepily pale translucent skin that was sometimes a purple-gray color and always ridiculously cold, like a corpse. She was so skinny that you could count her ribs when she changed in the cabin. It was strange. Alianna would have thought that Claudia was starved if she hadn't been the one to see her pack away a whole pizza by herself every Friday.

Yeah, way to do a one-eighty, you two-faced little demon. You're a hundred and thirteen pounds of fucking crazy, Alianna couldn't help but think.

Claudia briefly looked away from Ian to look at the fuming fifteen-year old, her smile widening ever-so-slightly, as if she could almost tell what Alianna was thinking.

Praise the gods that's not true. As a legacy of Mars and Apollo, all she's got is a short temper on the weirdest shit and decent archery skills.

"I'm Claudia Remore." Claudia's sparkling green eyes met Alianna's brown that were dark with suppressed annoyance. "That's Alianna Meng, and the boy next to her is Josh Adams."

"It's nice to meet you!" Ian said enthusiastically, clearly gaining confidence from Claudia's welcome.

Dear god, he's like a puppy.

"I just got to Camp a few hours ago," he continued, grabbing another piece of bacon and starting to munch on it. "Reyna said we could decide my cohort later, since she's doing stuff right now."

Alianna's eyebrows once again climbed towards her hairline. "You're, like, twenty years old. Why are you at Camp? Who even brought you?"

The words flew out of her mouth before she had a chance to reign them back in, and Alianna winced at how harsh she sounded. Sometimes her mouth ran away without her brain, so therefore no filter. It wasn't something that was easy to control, although Josh had assured her on multiple times that she actually didn't sound as harsh as she thought she did when something slipped out of her mouth.

Ian laughed, his eyes crinkling pleasantly at the corners as he looked at Alianna in a way that unintentionally pissed her off. "You think I'm twenty? No, no, I'm sixteen years old."

Well, that was a surprise. Alianna studied his features intently, surprised by how this guy was four years younger than she thought he was. Not that he exactly gave off an aura of maturity, but still. Sixteen wouldn't have even been her second or third guess on his age.

"I'm sixteen, too," Claudia piped up with that stupid smile still on her face. "Josh and Alianna are a year younger than we are."

"Doesn't that make you special," Alianna shot at her sarcastically, forcing her eye not to twitch in annoyance.

Ian looked visibly taken aback by Alianna's sharp tone, and she felt a pang of guilt. She hadn't meant to be so rude, but she didn't know how to handle things with Claudia, so everything seemed to come off as extremely pissed.

Ian looked back and forth between Claudia and Alianna with slight confusion on his face. "I thought you two were friends."

"No," Alianna snapped at the same time Claudia said, "Yes," with laughter in her voice.

"It's complicated," Alianna decided, keeping her face straight.

And it really was. Alianna had no idea what Claudia was really like, but she seemed to be able to know exactly how Alianna always felt, which annoyed her on several different levels. Plus, that wasn't all. Claudia always stalled doing everything until the last second and should get a crown and be called the queen of procrastinators, but even so, she always managed to get everything done. Alianna could start a chore in the morning and finish it late in the afternoon, and Claudia could do the same one and not do it until thirty minutes before it was supposed to be done and get the same results. It was enough to grate on anyone's nerves. What's more was that everyone seemed to either not know who Claudia was, have no general opinion of her, think she was shy, or absolutely love her.

Have you ever hated someone so much that you get mad when people are nice to them? Alianna monologued to herself. Or when they praise them, you just want to say, "No. No. That is bad. This person is bad. You should not be nice to them. They are the scum of the earth and should not be praised. Stop it." I want to drop her off of a cliff but then be there to catch her at the bottom. It's ridiculous and really can't be explained with words. I guess he'll see in time. But maybe not. I don't think Josh even gets what is going on between us. Hell, I don't think I even get what's going on between us.

Apparently, when you monologue to yourself, quite contrary to popular belief, time does not stop for you. Josh, Ian, and Claudia were all engaged in conversation while Alianna blinked to get her mind centered.

Was I staring at that fork the whole time? Alianna thought with slight horror, staring at the silver utensil by her plate. Did they try to get my attention? They must have thought that this is a really fucking interesting fork. This is so embarrassing. I don't usually go off and space out, do I? Great.

Alianna straightened up and stretched out her legs, absently noting how her knees faintly ached.

"-en we finished the race."

If Ian had a tail, Alianna swore it would be wagging right now.

"That's so cool! Wow, I wish I could have come to this place earlier. It seems like I missed out on all of the exciting stuff."

Blood. Screams. Dying comrades. Horror. Absolute terror. The kind of fear that is paralyzing.

Claudia smiled, but her eyes seemed distant. It was hardly noticeable with the flush on her face, though. "That you did. Ah, nothing we can do about it now, though! It's unfortunate, really, but I guess we'll just have to make our own memories here!"

You manipulative shit. He's wrapped right around your finger now, isn't he?

Ian smiled shyly. "Yeah, that seems fun."

Josh stood up, a small smile on his face. "We should probably start getting ready. Training starts in an hour or so, doesn't it?"

Alianna pouted and absently jiggled her leg up and down to expel some energy. "Oh, yeah, I forgot."

Josh let out a light laugh before turning and starting to walk away. "See you guys later!"

"Bye!" Claudia screamed back enthusiastically, treating it like he was going on a fancy trip where he would be gone for weeks, even though he was probably only going for a walk.

"See ya," Alianna said casually, smiling at him as he turned and exited the Mess Hall.

"I wonder where he always goes," Claudia muttered to herself.

There was a glint in the older girl's eyes that Alianna didn't like.

"So," Ian said, unknowingly breaking the tension. "Anyone want to show me around?"


As soon as the noises had faded as Josh walked from the Mess Hall, the smile fell from his face and was replaced by a blank, dead stare.

He turned his eyes to the sky, the sun stinging his eyes, before dropping them back to the path in front of them. He tucked his hands into his pockets with a light frown on his face as he gave a heavy sigh.

"Everyone has already moved on, huh," he muttered to himself, eyes half-lidded.

No matter what he tried, he couldn't seem to let go. In a sense, he had lost his family all over again thanks to the war.

"I still have Claudia," he muttered to himself, as he did every time he started feeling the crushing blow of loneliness.

And, as always, that didn't really work.

Josh couldn't pin it, but something had happened that day the person that was precious to the both of them had died. Claudia was withdrawn for weeks before she suddenly went back to normal.

But Alianna had started to hate her, and Alianna didn't hate easily.

Normally Josh would be against prying, but if things got any worse he promised himself that he would get down to whatever was bothering them, with or without their knowledge. He wasn't stupid-he could see that they were walking on pins and needles around each other. Which normally wouldn't make sense. Claudia was a bit eccentric and tended to be a bit over-bearing, and Alianna was very social and protective of her friends.

But war changed people. And not for the better. Never for the better.

Josh continued walking, slow and casual as he chewed on his lips while he thought.

"Things will change for you."

"Are you threatening me?"

"Don't be silly. I'm simply stating a fact."

"Stay away from my family."

Laughter. "Is that what they are to you? Family? Have you really given up on your real family so easily? I'm disappointed."

Disappointed.

Thinking back on it, the words were rich, especially coming from that person. Nonetheless, it stung. Even now, when he knew that he had no reason to be ashamed of anything. He had made progress. Family, friends, bonds. He had proven his worth to not only others, but himself as well. And that had been something that he needed. He had pushed through so many obstacles and defeated his demons.

But the words hurt. And they hurt because they dug up his insecurities and threw them in his face. He wanted to make progress and make new friends, but he never wanted to forget his family. These days it wasn't easy. He could barely remember his siblings' faces. Barely remember his mothers face. He should have seen it every time he looked in the mirror, but all he heard was his mother saying how much he looked like his father and how he had his grandmother's nose.

And it was a shame, really. There was really nothing he had been able to take to remember his mother or connect him to his siblings. All that were left were the faint whispers of a fading lullaby, her sweet voice humming the words to him from the depths of his memory when he was almost in the clutches of sleep.

And all anyone could ever say if they knew was how unfortunate.

How unfortunate that such a lovely boy would have such an unfortunate fate befall him as to always lose everything he held dear. It was his fault. No one else was to blame except him. It was his fault he always made the wrong choice. And it may have been that the outcome of choices was unknown until after they happened, but he still should have been able to look ahead. He should have been able to read the situation and decide on the best choice.

He had made the same mistake twice, and twice it cost him his family.

He wouldn't fail a third time.

The mess with Claudia and Alianne would be solved. Josh refused to let his family destroy each other if there was something he could do about it.

For now, though, he couldn't handle it. Josh knew his limits better than most, and he knew what emotional pressure did to someone when they were under the stress too long, either unknowingly or knowingly. Walks were his way of calming down and thinking about the next move; because, contrary to popular belief, not every problem needed or could be solved by talking about it. His way was dealing with it in silence.

"Josh," a voice greeted.

The black-haired boy was startled, but like with everything else, he kept his emotions on the inside and turned his gaze from the path and to the person who had spoken. A small smile already rested on his lips in greeting.

"Zoey."

Zoey was dressed in dark jeans and had on a t-shirt with a logo Josh didn't recognize. Not that that said much. He didn't recognize a lot of logos. Her black pixie cut was flattened on one side and there were twigs in her hair. Leaves stuck to the side of her arm on the same side, standing out against her dark skin.

"What are you smiling about?" she deadpanned, a frown tugging her lips downwards, but her dark eyes were just a tad softer than they normally were when she was looking at someone else. Josh doubted that anyone else would have noticed the slight changes in her expressions. But just because Zoey strove to be emotionally detached and cold didn't mean she was. It was just harder to see unless you knew what to look for. And Josh had spent longer than anyone ever should having to read people for his safety.

"Don't be so stunned by my beauty," Zoey continued in a deadpan voice when Josh didn't answer right away.

Zoey's voice was deeper than a lot of girl's, but Josh figured that it had something to do with the life being drained out of it. He had little doubt that some serious enthusiasm or joy in her voice would higher it, because people's voice pitch also depended on their mood.

"I'm sorry," Josh said, giving her a relaxed welcoming smile.

They were the same, so they connected on that level. They both had lost people precious to them. But unlike Zoey, Josh strove to make more connections and get stronger to be able to protect those he loved. It wasn't hard to see that Zoey wasn't ready for that yet. Maybe she never would be. But until then, the least Josh could do would be to let her know that she was welcome and he would always be someone she could rely on.

"What are you doing out here?" Zoey said, pulling a red sucker out of her pocket. She ripped off the wrapper without looking with a deftness that foretold of practiced ease that meant she had done it many times before before plopping it into her mouth.

"Just walking." And that was true. He always tried to be as honest as he could with Zoey, but he wouldn't open up his secrets to her just to alleviate her pain.

"You have leaves stuck to your side, by the way," he added in afterthought. "Were you sleeping next to a tree?"

Zoey grumbled under her breath and looked at her arm, narrowing her eyes when she caught sight of the leaves and brushing them off with irritation.

"I'm looking for the little blue-eyed angel," she said around the sucker in her mouth, completely foregoing Josh's question. And that was fine with him. It wasn't as though the question would come up to bother him later.

"Have you seen the kid?" Zoey continued, crossing her leaf-free arms across her chest.

Josh chewed on the inside of his cheek in thought before slowly shaking his head. "I don't think so. Why?"

An irritated glint entered Zoey's eyes and she huffed. "Octavian came to me and said that he was looking for the kid. Something about Reyna wanting to talk or whatever. I'm just supposed to retrieve and drop off. Like a dog."

A small smile pulled Josh's lips into a tentative smile. "I'm sure he doesn't..."

Think of you like that, Josh finished in his head, but didn't say the rest out loud. That would be a lie and they both knew it.

Zoey snorted. "Doesn't think of me like that? Octavian is human trash. It's not like I would expect him to look at people like they're people."

Josh could turn this into an argument, but he really didn't want to. It wasn't like he disagreed with her, anyway.

"I'll keep an eye out as well," Josh promised, giving the older girl a small smile.

"Thanks, kid," Zoey said, an appreciative look on her face.

Josh gave the black-haired girl an affronted look. "I'm not a kid. You're barely older than I am."

Zoey looked faintly surprised. "Really? I thought you were thirteen."

Josh tried to keep his eye twitching from irritation. "I'm fifteen."

"Oh."

That's when Josh saw it. The suppressed smile on her lips and the hidden laughter in her dark eyes that made them look like the night sky.

Any of the irritation that he possessed disappeared when he fully took in the look on her face and his face softened.

Zoey must have noticed because she suddenly sobered and smoothed her expression.

"You should have Mark and Leslie help you."

Josh knew he had said something wrong as soon as the words were out of his mouth. All at once Zoey shut down, any previous light leaving her eyes. It was like someone had flipped off a switch. Suddenly an emotionless girl was standing in front of him, and Josh may not have known Zoey as well as Mark and Leslie, but he did know her a little better than most. Enough to know that this response was what happened when Zoey didn't know how to deal with emotional strain. She shut off completely and kept it inside, only letting it out when she was alone. He was able to recognize it so well because he did the same thing.

"They're busy."

Well, that went better than it could have gone.

Josh simply nodded, knowing not to pry further, but his mind raced with countless theories already forming in his head.

Whatever happened must have happened today, Josh theorized, noting Zoey walking towards the direction he had left, not sparing a single glance at him over her shoulder as she walked away. I suppose it is possible that it happened last night, but judging from the way she had slept under a tree, probably not. Leslie and Zoey are in the same cohort, too. Okay, so let's say whatever went down happened early this morning and it upset Zoey so much that she skipped breakfast and went to sleep under a tree. She must have been exhausted. So either the thing that went down happened last night and it kept her from sleeping and she became so tired that she slept under a tree or she was so emotionally strained that she passed out under the tree, even after having rest last night. The answer came immediately. Crying. Crying would make someone like Zoey tired enough that she would want to sleep under the tree. And not light crying, either. And Zoey doesn't cry easily. So whatever made her so upset had to do with Leslie and Mark, or maybe just one of them, and it made her cry until she was exhausted. Josh kicked a rock away from his shoe while he thought. But what could it be? They're all so close and I can't see them doing anything that would intentionally harm each other. We didn't have war games last night, and I can't see Leslie-a daughter of Mercury-getting upset about something she would consider so trivial. Maybe Mark, being a legacy of Venus. I know from Claudia how sharp and unpredictable their tempers can be. From any decedents of Mars, actually. Josh ran a hand through his hair. No, even then something like the games wouldn't be something Zoey would cry about. It has to be enough emotional strain... Come on. Think. What would make me cry if I were Zoey? Even simpler, what would make me cry?

Josh paused in his walking before continuing on, his thoughts hitting him like a speeding train. Throwing my weaknesses or fears in my face. Of course. But I thought that Leslie and Mark were kinder than that. Why would they do something like that? It doesn't make sense to me. Unless... Unless one of them got really angry. That's always a card people never mean to play that is always in their hand. Whoever said that getting people angry made them reveal the truth was so full of it. Getting angry makes you say things that you regret to people you care about. It makes you lose control of yourself and it loosens your tongue to the point where you don't think. So there must have been some sort of big argument that happened between them that has possibly severed their friendship.

Josh looked up at the sky once again with a deep sigh, squinting at the brightness of Apollo's chariot in the sky.

"Am I just over-thinking things?"

It's none of my business anyway, I guess.

... But curiosity is one of my most prominent flaws. Would it be worth it to look into this mess, or would Zoey consider that a breach of trust? I don't want to ruin whatever is going on between us because I was too curious to keep to myself.

Josh paused again, this time turning around to go back towards the cohorts.

"Then again," he mumbled to himself, "if she doesn't know, I won't ruin this and I can know how to better help her while my curiosity is sated. It's a win-win."

But would I be able to live with that? Breaching her trust over wanting to know her problems instead of waiting for things to fix themselves?

Josh let out a half-hearted, breathy laugh.

"You were right," he muttered to himself, mind on the past. "You were right."


Count to ten, Alianna advised herself.

"Hey, it's not that bad," Claudia said with a light voice, a permanent smile imprinted on her lips. "It's hard to tell."

"That doesn't mean he can ask me if I'm Japanese," Alianna snapped, fighting to not rip her hair out in frustration.

"Oh," Ian said, looking a bit put off. "Are you?"

Alianna gave him a nasty glare and the older boy held his hands up in submission.

"What did I say wrong?"

Claudia laughed. "Nothing, don't worry. Alianna's just sensitive."

Why you little...

"She's Chinese, by the way," Claudia told him, brushing her bangs off to the side for the fifth time this morning.

Ian turned to look at Alianna with a surprised face. "You don't look Chinese."

"And you don't look completely stupid," Alianna shot back, feeling her cheeks burn. "Looks like I was wrong."

Ian frowned, obviously offended. "What did I say?"

Claudia gave him a look that seemed to be sympathetic. It pissed Alianna off.

"You're completely insensitive and rude," Alianna snapped, not understanding how he wasn't getting this. "Did you never learn manners growing up?"

"I-"

"You all look like you're having fun."

Alianna turned and when she saw who it was, didn't know how to feel due to the complex emotions that sprung up. "Angel."

Angel had short, chin-length, messy raven-colored hair with a green-blue streak running through the left side. They were also short. Four or five inches shorter than Alianna was. They had naturally tanned skin, but it would probably be pale if it wasn't, considering how Angel rarely ever wore any short clothing. Today Angel was wearing loose jeans, a t-shirt, and a gray hoodie that was zipped up halfway, even though the weather wasn't exactly jacket-wearing weather and was more suited for shorts.

Fan-fucking-tastic. Tweedle Jackass has come to join Tweedle Bastard. Stupid, manipulative little shit. No wonder they get along so well with Claudia. But I need more nicknames. The Duo of Despair. The Twins of Terror. The Kids of Chaos.

"I heard someone was looking for an angel," Angel said, a smirk pulling their lips upward.

"Are you a boy or a girl?" Ian asked, not sounding insensitive, but honestly curious.

Angel just gave Ian an incredulous look, like they couldn't believe he had just asked that, before looking at Claudia. "Is he always like this?"

Claudia let out a laugh that sounded ten times happier now that Angel was here. Alianna could feel the headache forming.

"We weren't looking for an Angel," Claudia said, referring to Angel's introductory statement, "but we're glad you're here."

I'm so angry this morning, Alianna noted to herself, slightly thrown off by her own behavior. Is shark week coming up or something?

"Really?" Angel said, running their tongue over their teeth. "I could have sworn someone was going around asking for me."

"Not you."

Alianna spun around and was relieved to see Zoey standing there. Although Zoey was cold sometimes, she wasn't purposefully cruel or manipulative.

Angel frowned in exaggeration. "Aww, not me? Zoey, you're so cruel."

Zoey leaned against the side of the cohort building and gave Angel a glare that could freeze the fire in the Fields of Punishment. "Why would I look for you?"

Angel shrugged and said, like it should be obvious, "You were looking for an angel. Viola."

Zoey rolled her eyes, looking annoyed with Angel's presence in general. "Well, you were wrong."

"Well, then who are you looking for?" Claudia cut in before anyone else could say anything, curious like always.

Zoey gave Claudia the same frosty look she bestowed upon Angel. "The only person that could come close to being an angel in this gods-forsaken world."

Alianna and Claudia let out an identical, "Ohhhhhh" in realization while Angel huffed.

"Wait, who are you talking about?" Ian piped up.

Zoey fixed him with a stare. "Who are you?"

"Ah-uh-I'm Ian," he fumbled. "I'm sorry. It's nice to meet you."

Zoey just frowned. "Yeah, okay. And we're talking about the one that must have dragged you here."

Ian's eyes lit up. "Oh, Peyton?"

Zoey rolled her eyes. "No, the other thirteen-year old girl that brought you to camp. Yes, Peyton."

Wow. So much sass.

"Oh." Ian frowned only briefly before his smile was back full force. "She said something about looking for some arguments or something."

Alianna gave him a bizarre look. "That doesn't sound like her at all."

Apparently Angel caught onto what Ian was trying to say, because they said, "Did you mean Argentum and Aurum?"

Ian nodded. "Yeah, them."

Alianna fixed him with a flat stare, and Zoey took the words right out of her mouth.

"How did you get arguments out of that?"

Ian shrugged helplessly, looking slightly embarrassed. "She just brought me here, showed me around a bit, and then dropped me off at the Mess Hall and told me to sit anywhere I'd like because she had to look for Argunten-"

"Argentum," Alianna corrected, not unkindly.

"Right. And then the other one."

Zoey pursed her lips. "But Octavian said that Reyna wanted to talk to her, and Argentum and Aurum are her dogs. Peyton shouldn't have been able to see the dogs without seeing Reyna."

Angel decided to put in some (unfortunately wise) words. "Maybe she saw the dogs for a bit and then decided to do something else. Reyna must have seen Octavian if he knew that Reyna wanted to talk to her. There's a pretty wide window for Peyton to have slipped through before Reyna was there. Or maybe she talked to Reyna and then left, but something came up and Reyna decided that she needed to talk to Peyton again."

Damn these logical, manipulative thinkers.

Zoey nodded in agreement. "That would actually make sense."

Angel looked slightly affronted. "You doubted me?"

Zoey shrugged.

"Well, either way," Claudia said, "looks like Peyton's needed. I wonder what for~."

Alianna was a bit curious too, but not enough to be creepy about it like Claudia was being.

"Cohorts assemble!"

Claudia's face tightened in dislike and she stuck her tongue out.

"Does that mean we go to?" Ian asked.

"Yes," Zoey said, pushing herself off the wall and walking towards the shouting.

"Oh, great," Alianna sighed to herself. "This will be interesting."


Okay, so the first chapter is out! This was really to get a feel for the characters, and I'm still testing them out, so feedback will be appreciated.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE SPOILERS! DON'T GIVE ANY IF YOU HAVE READ CHILDHOOD FRIEND BEFORE!

Other than that, thank you very much, I'm sorry if you had high hopes for my writing, and please leave a review! ^^

The next chapter will focus on two who don't go to camp and the Greeks on that side of the spectrum.