Chapter Title: I Am A Lucky Bastard
(A/N: And here we are! The final chapter of Part One of this story. Next up is Battle Of The Labyrinth, where Percy and Luke will unwittingly provide the push to get Colton and Kayla to realize their feelings for each other.
Once more, this chapter is inspired by a chapter from laurellins' "Tales Of Camp Half Blood", specifically the last chapter for Sea Of Monsters, which coincidentally also happens to be a Kayla-centric chapter.)
The next morning was to a certain extent, brighter than it had been the past morning, for what reason Colton was not sure. He didn't really pay much attention to it though, even if it meant he had to put on shades while doing morning patrol. It didn't stop him from scoring two quick kills with his rifle on this morning though.
Kayla remained in Clarisse's bed, apparently also feeling safe with his own sister back in the bed that she had once slept in alone. I mean, to be fair, she was in the cabin of the people who did have live land mines and barbed wire planted around their cabin, so for demigods, she was essentially in what could be described as the Fort Knox of Camp Half Blood.
That alone meant that Colton didn't have to worry much about her as he ate another pop tart this morning for breakfast, before securing another monster kill that brought his total for this morning up to 3 monsters. Not a bad morning, and certainly the first one in which he could actually breathe safely now that Tantalus was gone.
It was only after an hour though that Sherman came running up to his perch through the walkways, panting and gasping for being short of breath at the moment.
"Where's the fire, brother? And good morning to you.." Colton remarked to his brother. After gasping for air for a few more moments, Sherman let out what he had to say after clearing his throat.
"Chiron wants you down at the pavilion with the others. He has some words he wants to say about you.." Sherman told him, causing Colton to look at him with skepticism.
"I'm not joking, you dumb fuck. Come on.." Sherman hissed, and at that, Colton started to follow his brother, wondering exactly what Chiron had to say about him.
- — - — - — - — -
Needless to say, the sight of Colton walking into the pavilion, with full gear on and his rifle at right shoulder shift position was an inspirational one to the campers, who greeted him with a friendly round of greetings. He smiled, because honestly, it was safe to say that his relationship with all of them had definitely improved a good deal because of last night. He stood next to Chiron as Sherman sat back down at the Ares table.
He couldn't help but blush and look away the minute he locked eyes with Kayla. God.. that girl is so beautiful, he thought to himself. Chiron then started to speak.
"A few quick announcements this morning.." he started. "I know everyone is very tired - well, almost everyone.." Cameron rolled his eyes because he knew Chiron was full well referring to him. "..from the.. events of last night, so I will make this brief. For one, patrols are unnecessary for the most part - although Colton is free to continue as he pleases - and will not need to happen thanks to the deeds of our very own Clarisse, in bringing the fleece to camp as well as Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson, who helped her complete this quest.. plus the deeds of Colton here as well."
The words caused a round of applause and cheers throughout the dining pavilion, as Clarisse and her siblings all puffed up their chests and Colton simply smiled. "But.. until I can get a proper guardian.." Chiron continued. "..I want there to be a constant guard over Thalia's tree and the fleece. Annabeth, Clarisse, I'll let you organize that."
Colton sighed, for he knew full well that his sister and Annabeth would definitely rope him into this. Not that he minded anyway. He guarded that sickly tree in the mornings from the first time they found out it was poisoned to yesterday, so might as well continue to do so before his services were no longer needed and he could turn his attentions to something else.
"And Lee.." Chiron continued. "..your cabin will be excused from guard duty as a thanks to all the hard work you've all put in these past few months."
Kayla and Colton could hear sighs from the Apollo table as Kayla's siblings slumped in relief. Colton knew full well that they had been working their asses off almost nonstop over the aforementioned period of time, splitting their time between the infirmary and patrolling. No one even protested the ruling at all.
"Additionally.." Chiron added. "I've spoken to Mr.D and heard of Tantalus's re-implementation of the chariot races back to camp. Given the circumstances, I will be allowing the planned races at the end of the week to continue."
As much as Colton wanted to slip back into the worried mood he was the first time Tantalus had suggested it, he couldn't this time around. For one, he could actually watch the races this time instead of having to fight and work his ass off like a madman saving everyone. That was at least a positive to this situation. Plus, he could actually sit with Kayla this time, a thought that even though he didn't show it, definitely made him feel happy. Like.. really, really, really happy.
Lee and Michael almost immediately got into an argument over Michael being able to participate this time, and Lee eventually relented, but only allowing Michael to be the driver. Michael for his part didn't press Lee further, he was content with driving.
While Colton did want to participate, he didn't mind being a spectator again this time around. It seemed much better than being on one knee up in one of his sniper perches, driven by the screams of his girl.. wait, since when did I start thinking of Kayla as my girl? ..to be loading and firing like an absolute speed running madman into a massive flock of Stymphalian birds without any regard to the fact that some of the birds were chewing through the protective wood wall trying to get at him while he was slaughtering them. Besides, his sister would do everything she could think of to keep him out if he tried.
Chiron's voice quickly snapped Colton out of his thoughts. "Enough," Chiron called, "I have many of the same concerns as the rest of you, but please relax. These races will not be a frequent event, only held on special occasions from now on. And we have far more safety measures in place now than we did years ago. As long as all of you treat your fellow charioteers with fairness and respect there should be no catastrophes."
That seemed to calm the more hesitant campers' anxieties a bit, which Colton knew was understandable. At least Kayla looked more excited for chariot races this time around than she did last time, he noticed.
"That will be all for today, everyone's free to head to their daily activities!" Chiron finished, prompting a burst of happiness and energy as everyone got up to go about their daily tasks.
- — - — - — - — -
The next couple of days saw Kayla's stability and happiness soar, much to Colton's joy. With things much more safer, she felt free to express herself to the other campers, quickly demonstrating her skill and prowess with a bow and arrow and quickly proving to the others that despite her moments prior, she was still Apollo and Darren Knowles' daughter. The Apollo and Ares cabins seemed more linked together now because of her, with any pranks on the Apollo Cabin by the Stoll brothers prompting some form of retaliation by Colton, Sherman, Clarisse, or one of their siblings.
With camp secure for now, Kayla's elegance, beauty, glamour, skill, and character shone through, and she quickly made fast friends with the Aphrodite Cabin. In particular, she became good friends with Silena, the head counselor. But the one friend that mattered to Kayla the most.. was Colton.
The mere fact that she was sleeping with the guy that could put a bullet through a monster without even bothering to let the monster know where he was at helped keep practically every single boy who wanted to get close to her away, and believe her, she enjoyed it fully. He was like the camp equivalent of her bodyguard, only she was much more linked to him.
Needless to say, the fact that they now knew that they were destined for each other seemed to lift some of the obliviousness off of each other, but there was still quite a level of denial that remained to be overcome, much to everyone else's frustration.
The night before the race, Kayla actually felt good enough to sleep in her own cabin again. While she did manage to sleep through the night in there, meaning that Colton was back in his bunk while Clarisse regained her bed, though she still kept the mattress in her room just in case, the same couldn't be said much for Colton. It was not until 12:30 am that he fell asleep, and he actually overslept his usual wake up time by an hour, getting up with the rest of his siblings at breakfast time.
Being without Kayla to sleep with bothered him a lot, and it left him wondering, Do I really enjoy sleeping with her? He blushed heavily at the thought, thankfully while still in the bathroom at the time so no one could see it.
A quick breakfast awaited him before he headed down to the track with the rest of his siblings, plopping down next to Kayla. "Enjoying your time here now?" he asked. She nodded, and simply wrapped her arms around him to hug him, happy as could be.
He simply petted her head gently, and she blushed a lot.
"At least I can watch this with you.." he said.
"Yeah, and I love that you can.." she replied.
After last time, it did look that the rules for chariot races had been amended this time around given that Percy rushed over to the Athena chariot to team up with Annabeth. It was ironic, to say the least, given that the gods Percy and Annabeth were kids of had this feud between them.
Colton didn't mind it though. It was a chariot race day, so this made it a bit more interesting.
The moment Percy was situated, Chiron blew on the horn, causing all the horses to race from their spots. Instantly, Percy and Annabeth were in the lead, as expected. Clarisse, compared to last time, was not having the best of luck this time around. The Stolls had immediately zeroed in on her, and fighting between the Ares and Hermes chariot had erupted almost instantly.
As much as Colton wanted his sister to win, as did Kayla, who was rooting for both her cabin's chariot as well as the Ares one, today didn't seem like her today. The Apollo chariot, with Michael driving, closed in on Percy and Annabeth, with the duo seemingly unaware.
Michael's partner - Colton forgot who his name was - threw a weighted net at the two of them, intending to knock them down, only to be batted away by Annabeth using one of her javelins. It was a frustrating moment for both the Apollo Cabin as well as Kayla and Colton, but then Michael's partner got a good hit on one of the wheels of the Athena chariot.
Michael then got his chariot alongside the Athena chariot, which then turned out to be a major mistake for the Apollo team because a few exchanged taunts and a spear with a blunt tip thrown later, both Michael and his partner ended up tumbling out of their chariot.
"Aw, come on!" Kayla huffed. "That was such a cheap shot."
Colton nodded in agreement, because with Apollo out of the running and his sister's chariot now too far behind thanks to the Stolls, who had gone down just a couple minutes after the Apollo team had gone down, Percy and Annabeth looked like the clear winners this time around.
Both of them - Kayla and Colton - were then concerned when freaked out by the lack of guidance, the horses of the Apollo chariot immediately headed back towards the stables, plowing through the stands a good 20 yards away from the duo, and nearly trampling the Demeter kids.
Kayla stood up, and looked to Colton. "I gotta go help.." she said to him, and he nodded. She ran over to help her siblings, and Colton almost did a double take when he saw Sherman and Travis both running over to help too. He had to admit, it was definitely cute to see them princess carry two of the Demeter girls - Katie Gardner in Travis' arms and Miranda Gardiner in Sherman's arms respectively - off towards the infirmary, since both had twisted their ankles in diving out of the way.
In the meantime, the damage Michael's partner had put on the Athena chariot had slowed Percy and Annabeth down enough that Beckendorf and Mason on the Hephaestus chariot caught up to them.
Colton hoped that Beckendorf would win this.
Beckendorf attached metal ropes to the Athena chariot, while Mason was driving. It looked like Beckendorf had the upper hand, but then..
"WHAT THE FUCK?!"
The words left Colton's mouth before he could even think of anything else, as Percy and Annabeth swapped places in quick fashion, allowing Percy to cut the ropes connecting Beckendorf's chariot to them. With the ropes cut, Percy and Charles engaged in a sword fight until Beckendorf tossed a bag into the Athena chariot.
"Greek fire? Damn, Beckendorf going hardcore here.." Colton muttered, as he watched this unfold. Percy apparently had been blessed by the gods further as his watch then transformed into a huge shield.
"Oh for fuck's sake.." Colton cursed as Percy then managed to knock Beckendorf off and tossed the Greek fire back into the Hephaestus chariot, taking them out of the race. He looked at Clarisse's chariot, which was approaching his direction while still far behind the Athena chariot. His sister looked at him after having watched the whole Beckendorf debacle and mouthed the words "You know what? Maybe I'll let you drive or fight next time" to him, causing Colton to smirk.
Finally, his sister was considering letting him be a part of this. Even with the fact that Percy and Annabeth would win this race, this today was already good.
It was at that moment that he saw Kayla beckoning him with her finger down on the edge of the track near the finish line. Like a puppy, he walked over to her.
As he did so, Percy and Annabeth soon crossed the finish line. Everyone cheered despite the fact that except for the Athena cabin, their chariots hadn't won the race. Then, Annabeth called out that it wasn't just them, and that they owed their lives to Tyson.
Percy called him his baby brother, and Tyson was then pushed to the front of the crowd, blushing as he was pushed there.
Annabeth then kissed Percy on the cheek, and everyone was roaring even louder, including Colton.
But the second Annabeth's lips left Percy's cheek, that's when Colton felt Kayla's lips..
On. His. Cheek.
The crowd has gone silent when it happened, and then went apeshit berserk. Colton couldn't hear them, or notice Kayla walking away, blush all over her face, thinking to herself about why did she just kiss his cheek.
All he could hear was the sound of fire, and feel like he was on Cloud Nine.
Inside his brain, he was flying through a fiery landscape and roared to himself, "I LOVE BEING A SON OF ARES!"
He was one lucky bastard, and he knew it. The fact that he ended up in the infirmary soon after for passing out - again - much to Lee's consternation, and for a couple of days thus missing the moment when Thalia Grace was resurrected from the tree she had been turned into, did not dampen his spirits one bit.
Lee had been right. It would be an interesting summer.
The head counselor just hadn't expected that the next one would be his last and the one where his little sister would finally fall for the boy she had just kissed on the cheek, or that the summer after the next one would be when Percy and Annabeth finally admitted the obvious.
- End of Part One -