It was completely silent as the glowing symbol faded, but the stillness was broken by the counselors. They lead the trend in kneeling, but their confused gazes could not be overlooked. They shot between the counselors like wildfire, spreading to the younger campers, but never reaching Taylor.
Taylor was confused, not only as to what was happening, but also why the camp was reacting so terribly. She was under the general impression that getting claimed was a cause for celebration, but she could see the looks that the older kids were shooting. She could tell that they were having silent conversations, but chose to ignore them. This was her moment, and she would enjoy it, right up until the moment when it would be ruined, as it invariably would.
Annabeth had yet to wake up, which to be fair, was an appropriate response. Nico was watching her out of the corner of his eye, making sure that she was alright. A bit of fainting was acceptable. Percy was also watching her, but his mind was racing, attempting to fill Annabeth's position of figure-outer. She was the one who was supposed to figure out why Taylor had two symbols, but she was across the crowd still not up get.
Percy hadn't warned her about the shadow traveling because he'd enjoyed it so much. He'd assumed she wouldn't have any trouble with it, because she never had trouble with anything. She's Annabeth, she's perfect. But she had struggled, and Percy would have to reassess this later, because the pressing issue is Taylor. She had two symbols. And Percy had literally no ideas.
The camp rose slowly, like they'd been hit between the eyes. They all could feel the confidence from winning the last war drain away with this new challenge before them. They drifted away in twos and threes to the campfire, but Taylor stood alone, watching the camp with confusion and now fear in her eyes.
Percy could see her slowly losing her calm, and he remembered back to his 12 year old self, as he'd stood in the creek with the symbol above his head. He turned away from Annabeth and Nico with a nod to his cousin. He smiled at Taylor and put a hand on her shoulder. He sat down on the rocks next to her and pulled her little skinny body next to his in a brotherly manner. He knew she was silently crying, and she knew he knew, but neither was going to recognize it. It was one of those things that everyone knows, but nobody is willing to say. He had no idea what to say to her. He was never good with talking to girls.
Now Annabeth never counted as a girl, she was always just Annabeth. She never did girly things, like talk about her hair or wimp out of a quest. But what does a girl even mean? Is it really defined by doing your hair or being a wimp? (Review your opinions and we can continue this important conversation).
But it's more than Taylor being a girl. She was crying, and feeling alone. These were totally not his area, mostly because feelings were far too personal. But more on that later.
Taylor smiled and decided to not cry anymore, because somebody had sat with her and let her cry. People need to cry sometimes, but it's much better to cry when somebody is with you.
"You alright, Taylor?" Percy asked, instantly wanting to take that back. It was such a dumb question to ask, and she was certainly not alright. Her parentage was uncertain, and she had no cabin to take her in.
"I'll be alright; I just don't know what I'm supposed to do." She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and smiled at Percy.
"Well that makes two of us. I have no idea what you're supposed to do, but don't worry, you're going to be fine. There are tons of people at camp who care about you and you'll be fine." He gave her a squeeze and helped her up. She smiled and gave him an unexpected hug. He awkwardly returned the hug, but felt like he was becoming an excellent older brother, even if Taylor wasn't actually his sister. But it hurt his brain to think about it, so he stopped.
They walked across the stream to where a few people were helping Annabeth up off the ground. Percy spotted her brother Malcolm, Nico, Jason and Piper, along with a few medics. Annabeth looked a bit green, but overall not permanently damaged. He shot her a smile, and she returned an eyebrow raise. She shot a look at Taylor, but he just shrugged and sent a look that said he'd tell her later. Her color came back and she walked over to him and Taylor. Her armor was off and her hair was still in the ponytail, sans helmet.
"So we won?" She asked, looking from Percy to Taylor. Taylor stuck her tongue out at Annabeth, who smiled.
"We won, but how you feeling?" Percy stepped closer and inspected her face, his hand grabbing hers. She smiled and gave him a chaste kiss, but looked around at the mostly empty forest.
"Where'd everybody go?" She looked right into Percy's eyes and gave him no chance to escape the question, which she could see he was planning to do.
"Well, Taylor here was just claimed, so there's a bit of controversy." Her eyebrows shot up, asking a question that he was expecting.
"Well, there were two symbols, a dove and an owl. So two godly parents. What's up with that?" Her stormy eyes were searching Taylor's face, her mind racing to millions of possibilities.
"Tell me, what's your father like?" An odd follow up question, in Percy's opinion, but Taylor seemed to catch her drift, as did the rest of the group.
"He's very nice, but a bit of a gossip and very vain. He hated it when I wasn't looking my best. But he always talked about my mom and how she was too smart for her own good and always thought too much. Do you really think it's a possibility?" Taylor's eyes met Annabeth's and they smiled. Percy on the other hand felt like he wasn't speaking the same language.
"Ok, what are you insinuating?" Nico said, voicing the question that everybody wanted to ask. Percy and Jason nodded in agreement with Nico.
Annabeth smiled. "Her parents are demigods. She's second generation demigod. Still part god, so she has the same powers, but a wider mix. She's both beautiful and wise; she gets qualities from both parents." Percy smiled and then asked the next question that begged to be asked.
"So what cabin are you going to stay in?" Piper and Annabeth shared a look. Taylor was unknowingly choosing between the two of them. Taylor looked uncertain, but decided after looking around.
"I'll stay with Athena, unless that's a problem?" Annabeth smiled triumphantly at Piper, who rolled her eyes and leaned on Jason.
"You can absolutely bunk with us as long as you'd like." Annabeth responded, putting an arm around Taylor's shoulders and leading her away. She stuck her tongue out over her shoulder, but smiled warmly at the group. To say people were excited would be the understatement of the century. They walked through the woods and into the clearing where the cabins stood. They made small talk about Taylor's life before camp, but Annabeth could tell she had a pressing question.
"Ok, what do you need to know?" Annabeth said as they walked up to Hermes cabin and Taylor grabbed her small bag of things. She looked uncertainly at Annabeth, but her inhibitions fell away when she realized that her curiosity was genetic. The Athena in her begged for more answers to questions that hadn't been asked yet. So she might as well ask them.
"What exactly is the hierarchy here, because it seems like some people run the camp." Her wide eyes asked the other question that Annabeth knew she couldn't ask. What's my place in this hierarchy?
"Well, in my experience, the older campers are kinda running the show, but the younger ones have freedom to do whatever they want really. All you have to do is ask. There seems to be a bit of hero worship going on with the older campers who have fought in both the titan and Giant wars. I don't get that one, personally." Taylor nodded, but Annabeth could see that she hadn't answered the question adequately.
"But why does there seem to be a leader?" Annabeth's eyes were wide when she realized that Taylor had assumed that Percy was the leader of the camp.
"Well, Percy is kinda the unofficial leader of camp for a few reasons. He is the son of one of the big three, Zeus Hades and Poseidon, Poseidon being Percy's father. But he also was the child of a prophecy, more specifically The Prophecy. It's kinda a once in a lifetime thing. Well, more of a once in a thousand years thing. But he's also led the camp into the last two wars, which is a massive deal. A general in a war is usually a good choice for a leader. He also is an awesome guy, smarter than he thinks and extremely loyal to his friends. He's easy to get along with and a hell of a good fighter. But he was also named the leader by Hera last year when he was taken away and swapped with Jason Grace, who is also here from the Roman camp. The leaders have both backed down officially, but unofficially, Percy is still wielding whatever power he has." Taylor nodded like she understood what was going on, almost like this information had filled in the cracks in her knowledge.
"Well, I think it's time for a campfire, Don't you?" Annabeth said after giving Taylor a bunk and a drawer to put her single change of clothes in.
Taylor's entire face lit up at the promise of more information. Annabeth sighed.
"Yes, Percy and I will also be explaining the events of last summer, calm yourself." Taylor smiled and followed Annabeth out the cabin door.
A/N: So campfire scene will inevitably follow, so calm down. I now would like at least, and stay calm here, 5 reviews. I know, it's a lot to ask. Five whole people. I would really like them, so I'll give you a nice question to answer.
What does it mean to be a girl? Is it purely a gender or is there more to it?
Leave me your answers in comments, because it's become very pertinent in my life so I'd love to chat about this topic that relates to everybody's life.
Muchas Gracias, my lovelies and dftba ~M