Ellen's Author Note - Hey! Apologies for the wait and crappy quality of the chapter, I've been slightly busy as of late. Hope you enjoy it anyhow, and the next chapter is Erin's, so I promise it'll be better.
Erin's A/N – She flatters me. I like it, but she also disses herself and I don't like that.
Disclaimer – Neither of us own PJO, and the chapter title is a mutilated title to a song by Airborne Toxic Event, give them a listen, they're awesome.
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Chapter 2
Contentment Is Overrated
Bran clunked across the area between the cabins nosily pulling behind him, a suitcase on wheels and a large, heavy rucksack strapped to his back. Rain poured down, causing most of the campers to be jammed inside their cabins or the pavilion. Only a few members of the Hermes cabin had ventured into the rain, using the desertedness of the camp as a clean pallet for pranking.
"Seriously, Kyle, They won't know what's hit them, just… yeah, that's it. Now, throw me up the eggs." Crack. "DON'T THROW THEM AT ME YOU IDIOT!"
Bran chuckled slightly upon reaching the Hera cabin, but thunder crackled dangerously in the background, reminding Bran he was very much not desired at camp.
The door creaked open, reveling an ancient, dusty, peacock-filled décor. The 6 full sized beds had never been touched, half bloods rarely dared enter Hera's cabin, fearing the goddess's wrath. Bran ran one finger along a windowsill, leaving a long trace of dust free chipped paint. Dust swirled around the air angry about being disrupted from its spot in the cabin.
Bran sneezed.
The rucksack made its way onto a full-sized bed, closely followed by small the dark haired demigod. The 6 sets of duvets in the cabin all were embroidered with peacock feathers. The desks were sculptures of peacocks; the birds were even sculpted into the ceiling! From what Bran could guess, his mother disliked peacocks. He wondered how much say she'd had in the decoration, and how much had been his stepfather's choice.
He pulled himself off the covers, glancing at the stark walls. Pale white and dusty like everything else in this damn lonely cabin. The random urge to make it not such an unlivable cabin struck Bran suddenly, but it still made a sort of sense when he thought of it. It was supposed to be a cabin to represent Hera, but so far it wasn't. It was filled with symbols of her forced marriage and bad memories. Bran flew from the cabin, not even shutting the door behind him. The rain started suddenly, and the clichéd thunder crackled tiresomely in the distance as Bran sprinted towards the art and crafts building.
The art and crafts building was deserted. Worn canvases lined the walls, hanging behind paint splattered easels. Sketches lay across the tables. A1 folders tucked away in cupboard areas, underneath an old kettle and battered mugs. Drawings had been pinned to the walls in an effort to prevent them getting smudged. Charcoal fingerprints swiped along the shiny desktops and a tray of clay objects waiting to be put into a kiln sat on the edge of the bench.
He collected two tins of paint along with some brushes, a paint tray, some pieces of cloth and a bucket before he made his way from the cabin, waddling slightly from the arm full of stuff to carry.
Bran made his way to the Hera cabin, quickly dumping the stuff on the porch before sprinting off towards the camp shop.
The door swung open, reveling a tired, disheveled child of Hermes slumped over the cash register. One long, skinny arm reached out before pressing a small red button on a box, a chipper voice boomed out causing both Bran and the Hermes child to cringe away.
"Welcome to the Camp Half Blood store! Please feel free to browse through our stock." The chipper edge to the voice disappeared. "Stealing will not be tolerated."
"Yada Yada Yada." Said the boy tiresomely, before running a hand through his fringe, "What is it that you're here for mate?"
"I need some curtains, and bed sheets."
"I'm not even gonna ask what you were doing… I take it you'll need some condoms with that order?"
Bran's checks blushed furiously as his head ducked, staring at the mud spatters on his shoes. "No, that's not what I meant…" He stared up again. "I'm redecorating my cabin."
"Kay then, we've only got kinda cream ones, which won't be very good with any nocturnal activities you participate in."
Bran held up a hand, signaling him to stop. "They'll be fine. Just take it off the Hera cabin's account." All the cabins had various accounts for expenses, funded by the individual gods.
The cashier grinned. His hair flopping into his warm brown eyes again. He must have been about 16. He was only trying to pull Bran's leg about the condoms, but a thirteen year old boy wouldn't get that, he would just be mortified.
Bran picked up the bed sheets and curtains off of the counter before staggering out of the shop.
The journey to the cabin was still empty due to the ever present thunder and lightning that seemed to be getting closer and closer to camp grounds. Bran was thankful for the plastic packaging that covered his new sheets.
He immediately got to work in the Hera cabin. Firstly all the bed sheets were stripped and dumped in a pile outside. The rain seemed to be pouring down harder as storm clouds covered the sky, moving wildly with the relentless wind.
Bran then took his duster before stepping outside and running the end of it along the porch hand rail to dampen it slightly. He quickly hurried back into the cabin, his dark hair plastered to his forehead with water. Bran quickly got to work, running the duster along all of the window ledges and the skirting boards. He then got to work on the bed posts and small tables.
The thought struck him, he was probably always going to remain an only child. Bran scanned around the room, one, two three, four, five… six he counted, multiplying it by two to get twelve beds. Bran didn't need twelve beds.
He reached up, pulling off one of the mattresses, and lugged it to the door, before lifting it above his head. Bran dug his heels into the mud, in a valiant attempt to keep his balance. He made it all the way to the Hermes cabin before dropping the mattress on the soaking porch.
He ran back to the cabin, splattering mud behind him with every step. Campers had gathered at the windows to watch the strange efforts of the violet eyed boy as he continued to drag the mattresses across the waterlogged grass.
Bran sighted in relief as he dragged his last mattress across the courtyard. He dropped it on the increasing pile of mattresses before attempting to fall on top of it. All this ended up in was the pile toppling over and Bran being pressed against the wall of the Hermes cabin.
A familiar brown haired boy, Connor, looked down at him.
"What the Hades are you doing?" he asked, slowly cocking an eyebrow.
"I'm giving you some spare mattresses."
The boy hit the top mattress, a spray of water jetting out of it as another bout of thunder crackled. "…Thanks… I guess."
Bran pulled himself up from the wall, examining the superficial scrapes along his arm. "You're welcome; now I need to get a move on if I'm gonna finish with my cabin redecorating." He said, heading in the opposite direction.
Bran pulled himself into the cabin once more before opening up a pot of deep red paint. Instead of pouring it into the tray, he dipped the roller straight into it, and sloppily flung it towards the wall. Paint splattered against the white walls causing an almost horror film like effect.
He spread the paint unevenly across the walls before a snigger awoke him from his trance.
"What are you doing?"
Bran spun around, to be faced with a thoroughly amused looking C.C. She leant against the doorframe, one hand running through her, slightly damp, hair as rain continued to pour down behind her. A pair of combat trousers hung loosely off of her hips, and she wore a green t-shirt with the words 'Dirt-Worshiping Tree-Hugger' written across it.
"I'm redecorating." Bran answered simply.
"Right…" C.C. said slowly, as she glanced at the 5 empty bed frames. "You're not very good at it. Need some help?"
Bran barely had time to nod, before she pushed him out of the way, take the roller out of his hand. She poured some fresh, red paint into a paint tray, before dipping the roller into the paint tray. C.C. stepped to the wall, quickly fixing the mess Bran had made of it.
Bran slumped down on the full sized bed, watching C.C. get to work.
"Why are you not immortal?"
C.C. immediately froze. He shouldn't have asked.
She turned to face him, her eyes dangerous. "My mother was raped by Ares. I should be immortal, but I was born in the Underworld." She informed him through tight lips. "I was stripped of it by the anger of Hades. Persephone hasn't recognized my birth yet. I can't become immortal until she does, not that I can blame her."
Bran stared at his shoelaces. "Sorry…" he mumbled, sobered by her story.
C.C. eyed him warily. "It's fine. Now do you think if I show you what to do, you can continue painting, while I get rid of the beds?"
Bran said he did, and quickly started to imitate the method of painting. Once C.C. was certain that he could continue without her, she got to work with the beds, her well-developed if slim goddess-like physique leaving her little problem with carrying the frames. Bran, sadly, had always been small and slight, not for lack of diligence in training, but for simple body size and less endurance than most preternaturally strong and healthy demigods. The doors were big enough for her to lug the frames out of them as well.
Between the two of them, the Hera cabin was transformed. The east wall was painted shocking scarlet, while the rest were painted a warm, cream colored. The bed frames were gone, leaving only one full sized bed, a desk, and a wardrobe.
The teens slumped to the floor underneath the window. The sound of rain battering off of the glass filled the cabin.
"Do you think he'll stop that?" C.C asked innocently, with an undertone that indicated she was tired of the rain. Thank the gods it's summer.
"Probably not… He doesn't like me much."
"That's an understatement." She scoffed, running a hand over her rucksack. She had packed for both of them, and Chiron had granted them Persephone, Ares's, and Hera's entire cabin accounts- well over ten thousand dollars. "You know we're going to Alaska, right?"
"Wait, why's that?" demanded Bran.
"The backwards land refers to the Amazons. In Greek myth, they were the opposite of everything the masochistic mainland stood for. But they were still a part of Greece. Thus, Alaska. And since planes are right out..." C.C. shrugged, tossing him his backpack, "We've got a lot of walking to do."
Suddenly the rain stopped falling. Sun shone through the window, lighting up the red wall. The entire cabin shone, the golden embroidery on the pillow case and duvet sparkled. The white paint looked even whiter as the perfect blissful weather lit up the cabin.
The teens were speechless until the rain started again, seven seconds later, almost as suddenly as it had stopped.
"Wait… what was that?"
C.C. shrugged. "Maybe a message? It's time to go?" She got up off her feet
Bran's shoulders slumped as he reluctantly pulled himself to his feet, leaving a place he'd already begun to think of as a second home. "Fine, let's go then."
The pair of adventurers picked up their rucksacks, and after casting one last look at the cabin, they headed out the door, and began on a long and strange trek, maybe as friends.
The contentment could only last for so long.
Ellen's note – The next chapter will be dedicated to the first person who correctly guesses why it was sunny for 7 seconds. It wasn't a signal to go or a message of any sort and it didn't directly involve Hera. Good luck!
Erin's note- I'm offering the creation of a monster to the first person who reviews this chapter. This chapter was meant to give Bran and C.C. more of a personality and set up some things before we jump right into the quest, yes? I apologize if it was boring but it was completely necessary. Also- if you think a demigod's strong enough to lug matresses, tell it to Bran- he's a bit of a shrimp in terms of preternatural strength. Poor guy. Anyways, reviews are the only pay we get and you know what they say about girls giving anything away for free. Thanks!