Serena tried her best at the different activities her cabin took her to. She was actually pretty good at most of them; at archery, she got an almost-bullseye on her first shot, she ran almost as fast as the nymphs at running, and she was pretty good at the canoe lake, even if she did fall in.
When the young demigod noticed a shadowy figure at the edge of the forest, she walked over to say hi.
Serena screamed and jumped about 5 feet into the air when a huge dog nearly pounced on her.
"Mrs. O' Leary, heel!" Nico shouted at the beast. "Serena, are you okay?"
"Y-yeah." Serena stammered. "What is that thing?"
"Her name's Mrs. O' Leary. She's a hellhound, and belongs to my friend Percy."
"You mean the Percy who lives alone in cabin 3?"
"That's him." Nico turned his attention back to Mrs. O' Leary. "Bad girl. No pouncing on Serena."
"It's fine, Nico. I just don't really like dogs." She hesitated before elaborating. "I got bit by a big one when I was little." Serena explained. "But it wasn't nearly as big as this girl."
"Oh, sorry, I didn't know."
"Well, if you did know, I would have been a bit creeped out. It would mean you had been stalking me."
"Yeah, I guess so." Nico shrugged. "Why don't you think I'm creepy anyway?"
"What? Why would I? Sure, you look creepy, but that doesn't mean anything."
"Well, people always thought I was creepy, even from just my appearance. They tend to stay away from me just from how I look." Nico hesitated. "It usually gets worse when they find out who my dad is, and people just plain hide and run away when they see what I can do."
"Oh, well I'm sorry about that." Serena sympathized. "I know that probably doesn't mean much coming from me, but still, it's worth saying."
"Thanks." Nico mumbled.
"Anyway, to answer your question, I've never really cared about appearances. I know most of the Aphrodite cabin would scream at me for even suggesting that, but it's true. I've never cared how people look, and I care even less about who their parents are. You can't choose them, or what they did, but you can choose what you do." Serena continued. "And I've never seen you use your powers, except for when the ground opened beneath the gorgons. That was impressive."
Nico frowned. "That wasn't me. I can do that, but I didn't do it that time. Plus, the holes I open are usually glowing with the underworld's power. That time it looked more like an earthquake. That...I haven't seen any demigod do that before."
"But...if you didn't do it...then..." Serena trailed off, thinking about what this information could mean for her.
On Friday, Nico found Serena sitting against Thalia's pine one morning, drawing in her notebook. She seemed focused, and that's an understatement. The younger demigod didn't seem to even notice when Nico sat down next to her, holding a present.
"Hey." Nico said.
Serena jumped when he spoke, then seemed to realize he didn't mean any harm. "Hey, Nico." She responded, closing her notebook. "What is it?"
"Just saying hi," Nico showed her the box he had been hiding from her. "And also happy birthday."
A surprised look came across Serena's face, and then she smiled appreciatively. "Thanks, Nico. I honestly wasn't expecting you to remember. I really didn't expect you to get me anything!"
"Well, don't get your hopes up to much." Nico warned, handing her the box. "It's nothing special."
When Serena opened the box, she gasped and took out its contents. "It's beautiful." She said, turning a hair clip around in her hands. It was three silver leaves, set together with an aquamarine gemstone. "Where did you get it?"
"I had the Hephaestus cabin make it. If you press the gemstone-" He was cut off by her yelp of surprise when the hair clip grew into a silver trident in her hands. "It does that." Nico finished.
"That's amazing, but why a trident?" She gingerly tested the weight of the trident in her hands, gripping it with a combination of nervousness and excitement. It felt like it belonged in her hands in a way she hadn't expected.
"I've seen you practice your fighting skills, and you don't seem to like fighting with a sword. I figured that a trident would be something you would rather fight with." Nico explained.
"Wow," Nico noticed Serena blush slightly. "Nobody's ever really put that much effort into something for me. And you're right; I do prefer to fight with a weapon that wasn't designed to immediately impale your opponent." She elaborated with a small jab forwards with her new trident. Then she tapped the gemstone at the base of the three sort-of-blades, and it immediately shrank back into a hair clip.
"Here," Nico said, holding his hand out for the clip. When she handed it to him, he used it to clip back some of her bangs, so her face was more visible.
"Thanks, Nico." Serena said, blushing slightly.
"No problem. I figured it would make a good birthday present. And maybe you'll get claimed today as well."
"Yeah," The younger demigod answered, looking around the camp, then standing up. "Well then, I think we should go get some lunch then, shouldn't we?"