HEEEEEELLLLLLLO! Now that I'm not AS swamped with homework, I am here to upload! YAY! Also, this is A LOT longer than what I USUALLY write... Don't get used to it xD
When stressed, sit down and write. It's the most de-stressing thing EVER! :D See, I (of all people) failed my science test... 84% NOOOOOOOO! I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE! :( I feel like I'm about to cry...
Thank you Cockapoo! I LOVE your story too and I CAN'T WAIT until you update! (: :)
I actually did that purposely, GLN3. xD I like writing "intense" things... Also, the Hades joke was also done on purpose... My friend suggested it. xD
Disclaimer: I sincerely don't own ANYTHING. Or do I? xD JK I don't own anything...
"I'm such a freaking idiot!" I shout, punching anything I can get my hands onto. "Such an IDIOT!"
"Well don't kill me," Nico says, eyes the size of dinner plates and his arms in a defensive position over his chest. "What's up with you? You were all... calm at dinner."
"It's nothing."
"When a girl says it's nothing, it's definitely something. Spill."
"Nothing's wrong."
"Uh-huh," he says, still not believing me. "Trust me, you'll spill eventually."
"No I won't," I mumble to myself before turning to Nico. "Wait. What am I supposed to use? I don't have a weapon."
"Here," he says, tossing me a short, thin black sword. "Use this one. It's good for beginners and should help you. It's lethal though so don't touch the blade."
"Sure," I say, taking the sword and swinging it around. I hadn't seen anything quite like it, black and sleek with strange, Greek words sketched into its side.
"What's it say?" I ask Nico curiously, forgetting my past issues.
"Skoteiní̱ Omorfiá," he says nonchalantly, slipping his breastplate over his head. "It means 'dark beauty' in Greek."
"Cool," I say, pushing it back into its scabbard and attaching the scabbard to my belt. I pull on my combat boots, a warm hoodie and a pair of sweatpants.
"You aren't seriously going out like that, are you?" Nico asks incredulously.
"Yeah, I don't have much of a choice. I don't have any armour yet," I answer. "It's not like I'd need any anyways. It's not like anyone's going to hurt me, right?"
"Ehh..."
"I hope you're kidding. There's no maiming is there?"
"Not any serious maiming. But it leaves a few bad scars if you're wondering."
"Is this legal?"
"Does it matter?"
"Guess not."
I step outside, sitting on the porch, waiting for Nico.
"Layla?" Malcolm asks as he walks by, completely covered in armour.
"Yeah?" I ask, looking up at him.
"You need armour," he says. "We're going against the Hunters of Artemis and they are not an enemy you want."
"I don't have any."
"You were supposed to get fitted for it today. You know, with Annabeth?"
"It was all too heavy. I didn't even find a sword."
"Come with me," he sighs, taking my hand and half dragging me to the Athena cabin.
"You have extra armour?"
"Athena is a war goddess too," he says, rolling his eyes.
I quickly get outfitted in very heavy, very painful, very annoying armour.
"Is this all really necessary?" I ask, annoyed at the weight and inflexibility of the armour.
"Yes, its protection," Malcolm says for what seems like the millionth time.
"I don't want any freaking protection!" I respond for what seems equally like the millionth time. "I'm going to look like some sort of Eskimo!"
"You'll get used to it."
"I don't think I will," I say as I begin to strip off the access armour, leaving myself only in my breastplate.
"Fine," he sighs, taking the armour from me and putting it away. "But I'm not carrying you over to the infirmary if the Huntresses decide to take out their wrath on you."
"Haha," I laugh sarcastically. "Very funny. Although I bet it's not every day that a Hades kid gets dragged across the border, huh?"
"Guess not," he laughs. "Special circumstances."
"What time should we be there?" I ask, looking at my watch.
"Usually the game starts at eight."
"Let's get going then. We're five minutes late!"
Dragging our swords behind us, we run towards the dining hall where, hopefully, everyone is still waiting to start the games. At our arrival, I find that, luckily, everything is just as I expected and everyone is still waiting for Chiron's orders.
"You're finally here," Annabeth says at her brother with slight annoyance. "You're never late for capture the flag."
"I had to get Layla some armour before the games. You guys didn't get her fitting done?" he responds.
"We tried."
"She didn't like any of it," Percy adds, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend and hugging her from behind.
"You just have to get used to wearing it," Thalia says simply. "If you don't, it'll be the end of you in a fight. Just sayin'."
"Shouldn't you be with the Hunters?" Nico asks, twiddling his thumbs.
"I suppose," she says sadly, running off towards the group of young girls, standing near the north edge of the dining hall.
"What's with her?" Marcus asks, turning to Annabeth.
"I think she misses home," Annabeth sighs. "Fighting alongside her friends. But she likes being a Huntress. It's her new home."
Although I know that what she says is true, I can't help but notice the hint of hurt in her voice. I think it isn't Thalia who needs to get used to her new home as much as it is Annabeth who has to get used to her being gone. Whether this is true or not, it doesn't seem as if Annabeth has accustom to Thalia being gone and I can tell that she's still hurt by her choice.
"You all know the rules," I hear Chiron's voice boom, snapping me back to attention as everyone turns to him. "No killing or severe maiming. Campers, as the Hunters of Artemis are currently visiting, we will be playing a campers versus Huntresses game today. Now, go and get ready!"
"Guess that's our cue," Percy says, kissing Annabeths forehead before running off. "I'll be at the lake if you need me," he calls out over his shoulder.
"I'll be at left flank,"Alisa says before dragging Nico into a long and heated kiss.
"And we'd better get going," Will says impatiently, dragging Alisa away from Nico.
They run off, Alisa waving at Nico as they go.
"I'm going to go..." I say.
"Where are you going?" Annabeth asks. "You haven't been assigned a flank yet, have you?"
"No," I admit. But I just want to get out of there. I just want to avoid people in general, especially with friends of Alisa. I think I should just leave her alone for a while and, maybe later, she'll forgive me.
"You can stick with..." she trails of, her mind running a mile a minute. "Malcolm. You guys have similar natural stances and you seem like you'd work well together. You guys have already helped each other quite a bit so you'll do well in battle."
"What?" we ask in unison.
"I didn't mean anything by it," Annabeth says, hands in the air in surrender. "I just said you seem like you'd work well together. Don't jump to conclusions! Jeez!"
"Let's go then," Malcolm says, dragging me behind him as he runs towards Zeus' Fist.
"Why are we headed here?" I ask.
"We usually hide the flag around here," he answers, panting. "We're on guard duty."
"What do I do then?"
"Just stand and wait."
"Interesting."
"Yup."
He plops down on the grass around Zeus' Fist, leaning back against it.
"Why'd you run earlier?" I ask. Then I notice the slight blush on his cheeks and the way he's biting the inside of his cheek.
"I hate how older people try to make things awkward just for the fun of it," I mutter, plopping down next to him.
"Annabeth can be a pain," he mutters. "Especially when Percy's around. After all his incident's she's still afraid of losing him so she tries hard to be cool when he's around."
"But she's pretty, smart and a great fighter," I point out, listing the traits on my fingers. "Why'd she be afraid of losing him?"
"They've been through a lot," he says sadly, looking down at his feet. I can't help but love the way his sandy-blonde hair falls in his grey eyes and how he doesn't even bother to push it away. It almost makes me want to fix it for him.
I'm so distracted that I don't even notice that he's still talking.
"We've all been through a lot," he says, snapping me out of my strange trance.
"I'm sorry. I didn't catch that," I say apologetically.
"It's not important," he sighs, getting onto his feet. "The game's about to begin anyways."