Hey guys! I'm back, finally. I'm quite happy with my updating time, actually. I hope I didn't make you wait too long ^-^
First off I would like to thank AshGray1878 and heartofglass99 for your wonderful reviews and Forever Forgotten01, frostflake221, AshGray1878, and heartofglass99 who followed. Thank you guys so much, it really means a lot to me!
AshGray1878: Nope, see? Thanks, and I really hope you like this chapter ;)
heartofglass99: Thanks, I love Tratie so much too! I hope this is soon enough for you ^-^
Ok, I'll get right down to it then
Disclaimer:
Wave: Ok Travis, your turn to do it.
Travis: *sighs* fine. Wave does not own Percy Jackson or us, Rick Riordan does. Happy?
Wave: Travis, you forgot Juliet.
Travis: Oh the lil' cutie? Yeah, Wave owns her and Willow. Can I go now?
Wave: Yes, go ahead. This chapter is dedicated to AllIAskIsATallShip because she/he is my second reviewer! Hopefully he/she is reading this ^-^ And with that, let's get down to it!
Enjoy! :)
Sunlight streamed through the windows. Katie's eyelids fluttered and she sat up, yawning and rubbing sleep from her eyes.
Looking at her clock, she realized she still had a lot of time before breakfast. She took a warm shower, got dressed, and, being the head counselor, she woke her siblings.
"It's 7:40, guys! Fifty minutes 'till breakfast! Wake up!"
The eldest of her siblings slowly got out of bed and all started shuffling around, looking for their clothes or going to the showers.
Katie took it upon her to coax her younger brothers and sisters out. She woke Willow, then bent down to her eight-year-old half-sister Juliet. Juliet had arrived two days ago, tired but thankfully unharmed. Her chaperone, a satyr named Thlayli, had not been so lucky and was now in the Infirmary, recovering from some nasty hellhound wounds. Juliet had been terrified, but was claimed the night she arrived, and Katie had immediately taken her big sister role. She was already deeply attached to the little girl.
Her heart clenched as she watched Juliet sleeping blissfully, her blond curls scattered on the pillow and she remembered the previous night. Quickly pushing the images out of her mind, she whispered:
"Juliet. Juliet."
Her sister moaned and curled up underneath the covers. Katie smiled and shook the girl softly.
"Juliet, it's time to wake up, sweetheart."
Juliet opened a bleary soft brown eye and looked at Katie.
"Please, Katie, can I have more time?" she did her cute lost-puppy eyes, and Katie felt herself melt. She looked at the time. 7:50.
"Ok, just ten minutes then," she told the girl.
Katie got up and woke the ones who were still asleep, then got Juliet out of bed.
"Hey, Katie!"
Katie turned around to see her sister Miranda grinning at her. Miranda was about the same age as her, with long strawberry blonde hair and dark brown eyes, and the girls were very close.
"Hey Mir! Sleep well?" Katie asked with a smile.
"Yeah! It's not too warm, perfect sleeping temperature. You?"
"Yup!" Katie answered cheerfully.
She didn't want to ruin her sister's good mood.
I'll tell her later, she thought. If she asks again.
At 8:20 she brought her siblings down to the dining pavilion for breakfast. It started at 8:30, but she liked being early, as there weren't a lot of people yet. The Athena kids were already there, punctual as usual, and so were the Apollo kids, who woke at around the time the sun rose, or so Michael Yew had told her. It explained why they were always late during winter.
"Ok guys," Katie told her brothers and sisters after breakfast, "This morning we get to go to the rock-climbing wall."
There were a few groans.
"With the Hermes cabin," Katie added.
More groans.
"What did I say about positive attitude? It's not that bad, guys. Make sure you check your pockets, though. Let's go!"
Katie smiled as she led her cabin to the wall. The Hermes kids weren't there yet and Katie decided not to wait for them. Miranda started climbing and Willow went after her. When she was at the middle of the wall, the Hermes cabin arrived. It was Juliet's turn, and she tugged Katie's arm.
"Katie, I don't want to go," she whined softly.
Katie crouched down to the younger girl's height.
"It'll be fine," she smiled at Juliet. "I'll come with you, okay? I promised I'll catch you."
Juliet nodded, and they started climbing slowly.
"You're doing great, sweetie!" Katie called as Juliet tried to find a handhold and Katie tried to not get crushed by a rock tumbling down from her left.
A few seconds later, there was a rumble and lava shot out to Juliet's right. The girl screamed and let go, and Katie scrambled around to catch her.
"I'm right here, don't worry," she told her trembling sister. "I promised I'd catch you, didn't I? We're gonna continue a bit, alright? You can do this. I know you can."
Juliet took a deep breath and found hand and footholds to keep climbing.
After a while, they arrived at the middle with no further incidents, and Katie congratulated Juliet.
"You might want to go back down now. You've done a lot already. Mir!" she called to her sister who was coming down towards them.
"Yeah?" Miranda called back.
"Can you take Juliet down with you please?" Katie asked.
"Sure thing!" Miranda grinned. "Come on squirt," she told a smiling Juliet, "Let's go!"
"Thanks." And with that Katie continued climbing.
She was nearing the top when lava flowed down towards her. She quickly found other holds, but her foot slipped and she let go of her handholds. For a brief moment, she fell, until and arm caught her waist.
"I seem to be catching you a lot these days," Travis said, grinning down at her.
Katie blushed and smiled, mumbling a quick thanks before regaining her balance and climbing upwards once more. She arrived at the top and turned to Travis who was right behind her.
"Thanks," she told him.
"I was just returning the favor you did to Juliet," he answered.
"Not just that. I was also talking about yesterday night."
Travis scratched his neck.
"Oh, that. Well, you know, demigods and nightmares…" he trailed off.
"Yeah, I know," Katie answered.
There was a short silence.
"Was it a very bad one? 'Cuz to put you in such a state…" Travis asked.
Katie's chest tightened.
"Oh… you know. My friends and my family dying. The usual these days," she stated.
"Wait, you mean that people always die in your dreams?" Travis asked, baffled.
Katie looked up at him and nodded, her throat constricted with unshed tears. Travis did the unexpected. He opened his arms, and after a second of hesitation, Katie huddled close to him as he hugged her. She let out a shaky breath.
"I feel like a little girl again," she mumbled against his chest. "Falling from the wall, being hugged. But it doesn't feel that bad."
Travis laughed. She looked up at him suspiciously.
"What were you doing out there at night anyways? Thieving?" she asked him.
He pretended to be offended.
"Me?" he asked. "Thieving? No way! I couldn't sleep, so I went outside to-"
"Sneak around."
"-get some fresh air, and I saw you. I just wanted to ask what a goody-two-shoe like you was doing out there in the middle of the night." Travis said simply.
"I'm not a goody-two-shoe!" Katie exclaimed, but she was smiling.
Travis grinned.
"Katie!" Miranda called from all the way down.
"Maybe we should go down," Katie told Travis.
He nodded.
"Thanks," she said again. "For everything"
She stood on her tiptoes and softly kissed his cheek. Her lips felt like butterfly wings. She turned back, blushing a deep red, and started scaling the wall downwards.
Travis stood there stunned for a moment. Then a smile brightened his features. She had kissed his cheek. She had kissed his cheek! And he hadn't even had to ask!
"Wow." He whispered
Meh. I'm pretty satisfied with this chapter. Maybe not the ending, but I think it's ok. Please review, and feel free to follow/favorite! ;)
Katie: OK, what did I do NOW?
Travis: Wow.
Wave: *laughing* Travis, you can come back to life now!
Katie: Um… *blushes* I think I'm gonna go now. *tries to leave but Wave catches her*
Wave: Don't worry; I'll let you go after you tell my wonderful readers to…
Katie: *quickly* Press the review button, please, so she can let me go!
Wave: Hope you enjoyed, and I'll try to update soon!
Yours in demigodishness,
Wave ~