𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄
𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔

❛ those words haunted her possibly
   due to the meaning     behind them,
yet one look into those ocean eyes
was enough to drown in any 𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒏 ❜

𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒, 𝔄urora Stark knew how to fight. It was a skill her father insisted that she had. He never cared if she had the brains — which she had, or the looks — which she . . . very much had, or the tongue to speak five different languages —he had no clue how she had that, probably pepper's doing— the skill to fight was always at the top of the list for him.

The skill didn't exactly stem from Tony being an overprotective father even though he was practically known to be extremely protective, it was more rooted on the possibility of his daughter being in trouble and him not being around to help her.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that Tony's fears always revolved around the future, especially now after the fiasco of being kidnapped his fear intensified. It wasn't the fear of being injured and tortured, no, instead he was terrified of leaving his daughter without a father. Petrified of what would become of his little girl. So, he took extra security measures to ensure it wouldn't happen, mostly after seeing how horrible she looked after three months of not seeing her.

He never wanted to see his daughter so . . . heartbroken ever again.

With his fear revolving on different possibilities of him not being present when she was in trouble, considering his daughter is part god and required to attend a summer camp for that said part of her, he enlisted her in different martial arts classes to ensure she was capable of taking care of herself.

So, when it came down to sword training she usually sat underneath a tree with her nose buried in a book and a bottle of cool water next to her. It wasn't that she was cocky with her sword skills, she just never really thought she needed to polish them up after training with Luke and sending him soaring into the Canoe Lake.

                         Okay, maybe she was a bit cocky, either way it was a score for her.

                         Yet, when she heard from her gossiping siblings that it was Percy's first day training with a sword, she shut her 'The fundamentals of Engineering and Thermodynamics' and rushed towards the training grounds. Which is where she is now, standing next to the rather nervous boy watching Luke slash and stab the dummy he was using as instruction.

                         She hugged her thick book to her chest and glanced towards the new boy next to her, noticing the way his eyes grew wide with every sword jab. She  didn't fail to notice the way he tightly gripped the sword in his hand.

When she noticed a couple of Hermes kids looking at her observing Percy, she awkwardly coughed and turned to face Luke once more, "Relax," she tried to whisper assuringly, not once moving her eyes from Luke's form. "Luke's one of the best swordsmen at camp. You're in good hands," she then cringed. "He's only sent about a dozen campers to the infirmary."

Percy looked at her with a dumbfounded look on his face, "Thanks," he stated sarcastically. "That makes me feel so much better."

Aurora rolled her eyes at his sassiness yet gestured for him to pair with Luke, who gave him an encouraging grin.

"Good luck," one of the campers told Percy a tiny smirk on his face. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."

                         Percy glanced at Luke with fear in his eyes, "Maybe he'll go easy on me," he said, though it sounded like he was trying to reassure himself more than anything.

                         The camper snorted making Percy's eyebrows knit together. The frown on his face highlighted his high cheekbones.

Before the mischievous campers could say anything else, Aurora stepped in and sent them a glare, "Matthew, shouldn't you be worried about brushing your teeth properly, I swear I could smell you from the strawberry fields."

The looks on their faces made Percy assume campers didn't like getting on Aurora's bad side. It also made him crack a small smile at seeing the girl two inches taller than him, defend him. After that, the campers begrudgingly left him to partner up with Luke. He didn't miss how some of the male campers were looking at him with glares in their eyes every time Aurora uttered a single word to him.

Luke rose his eyebrow at Aurora who had her book opened, "Not going to join us again, Aurora?"

Aurora briefly glanced up from her book and shook her head, "No," she shrugged. "I'd just send your ass back to the canoe lake for a dip."

Luke smirked in amusement, "Careful," he taunted. "All that studying might make you weak in the battlefield."

Aurora slowly rose her head and perked an eyebrow up snapping her lengthy book shut, "Coming from the man who doesn't know his factors, I doubt it."

The snickering campers made Luke roll his eyes, "That, Percy, is why we don't mess with a Stark," he nudged him. "Too smart for their own good."

Percy ignored the snickering and watched as Aurora bit her lip at the attention she had garnered in a matter of minutes. She looked uncomfortable, like the attention she was receiving was overwhelming.

His ocean eyes turned to Luke trying to think of way to keep the unwanted attention from her. Then his eyes landed on the uncomfortable sword in his hands, "So," he nervously started. "About the beating you were going to give me . . ."

                         Before she knew it, Luke began to show Percy thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. Every sword stroke made Aurora wince, it looked brutal. Bruises were beginning to cote on Percy's pale skin.

"Keep your guard up, Percy," Luke raved, then whapped the sea green eyed boy in the ribs with the flat of his blade.

"No, not that far up!"

Whap!

"Lunge!"

Whap!

"Now, back!"

Whap!

By the time Luke called a break, Percy was soaked in sweat. From head to toe, the boy was damp. It made Aurora keep her distance, but she too was beginning to feel a little hot. The small drop of sweat on her forehead made her nervous, not wanting to mess her sixty dollar mascara.

Following everyone's lead she walked towards the drinks cooler, waiting patiently as everyone grabbed a bottle of water. She cursed as she realized she had left hers back at the tree she was under.

When it was her turn, the cooler was empty making her pout. Noticing her drop in attitude, a Hermes camper rushed towards her and offered her his bottle of water. Aurora rose her eyebrows but gave him a small smile, "Thanks, but I'm fine."

Soon, a group surrounded her offering their own drinks to the Aurora Stark. Males and females looking for a fraction of the Starks attention.

Luke sighed, "Not again," he glanced down at the empty water bottle in his hands and towards Percy's half full one. "Do you mind?"

Percy shook his head and handed him the water bottle, "Not at all," he looked back at the scene in front of him. "Does this always happen?"

"You have no idea," He walked towards Aurora and tossed her the bottle. "Here. Percy offered."

"Oh," she looked at Percy and gave him a grin, "Thanks, Jackson."

Percy nodded and rubbed the back of his neck, "No problem."

"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered and everyone obliged. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."

                         Aurora watched Percy's face fall. Poor kid, already looked worn out and the bruises in his arms weren't helping him. However, she gave him a comforting smile wanting to soothe his nerves — not noticing the Hermes boys behind her suppressing smiles.

                         Luke told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that he had no choice but to drop his weapon.

                         "This is difficult," he stressed. "I've had it used against me," he sent a playful glare towards Aurora who only shrugged in amusement. "No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."

                         He demonstrated the move on Percy in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of his hand.

                         "Now in real time," he said, after Percy retrieved his weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?"

                         Percy nodded his face washing with determination, as Luke lunged after him. Aurora was tempted to look away, but in that single moment she was glad she didn't.

                         Somehow, Percy kept Luke from getting a shot at the hilt of his sword. Aurora gaped as she watched the boy counter every single attack Luke was providing. Percy stepped forward and tried a thrust of his own. Luke deflected it easily, but Aurora could see the change in Luke's face. It was a look that was unfamiliar to her considering everytime she saw him he was always pretty much elated.

                         Percy tried the disarming maneuver.

                         Percy's blade hit the base of Luke's and he twisted, putting his entire weight into a downward thrust.

                         Clang!

                         Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of Percy's blade was an inch from his undefended chest. The other campers were silent.

                         Percy lowered his sword glancing at the slack jawed campers around him. The tips of his ears burning a bright red, "Um, sorry."

                         For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak.

                         Aurora joyously clapped her hands together in excitement, "That was amazing, Percy!" she ran up and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I told you you had nothing to worry about!"

                        "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!" Luke insisted.

                         This time, there was no contest. The moment their swords connected, Luke hit Percy's hilt and sent his weapon skidding across the floor.

                         After a long pause, somebody in the audience said, "Beginner's luck?"

                         Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised Percy with an entirely new interest, "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword"

                         Aurora grinned at the boy again "Me too. Keep up the good work, Percy"

                         She sent him one last breathtaking smile and began to walk away, not noticing the way everyone's eyes were following her silhouette. She was off probably to finish the armor designs she was talking to Annabeth about, he presumed.

                         When Friday came along, Aurora was beaming with excitement. She had finally finished all the armor designs of the new campers — Percy included — and was full of pride with the strategy she and Annabeth had foresaw for Capture the Flag. All in all, the stars seemed to shine in her favor.

Her table was full of the usual amount of gossip. From who was the most attractive camper, to who they thought was going to be together just by looking at the lovesick auras surrounding the individuals.

Speaking of the most attractive person at camp, Aurora was surprised Percy was ranked among the highest, right below Luke who —to her siblings— kept him at first.

The remembrance of the said boy perked her interest. She turned and allowed her eyes to wander in the direction of the Hermes table, where she caught sight of the ocean eyed boy she was looking for. He was enjoying his rich blue food while trying not to fall to the floor as half of him was dangling off of the wooden bench. The sight itself was amusing.

                         "Why is your aura pink?" A sudden voice made her jump.

                         Aurora immediately flushed and rigorously shook her head as she saw both Kaiya and Silena in front of her, "My aura was not pink."

                         Kaiya smirked, "Your aura was totally pink. We both saw it," they nudged Silena. "You saw it, Right, Sil?"

                         Silena nodded, her dark curls bouncing, "I did see it," she narrowed her eyes towards her younger sibling. "You find someone attractive," she stated a matter of factly, "Who is it?"

                         Aurora blushed, "No one!" her mind betrayed her as she thought back to those sea green eyes.

                         "Look! There it goes again!"

                         "I saw it too!"

                         "Oh my gods, Please tell me it's Annabeth!"

                         Aurora groaned and buried her head in her hands wanting nothing more than to become invisible as her two siblings continued to squeal rather loudly. Then their determination seemed to appear, shouting random names in order to see who caught the Aurora Stark's interest.

                         "Matthew!" Silena yelled out not only making Aurora want to slam her own head on the table but gathering the said boys attention. Practically the entire pavilions.

                         He whirled around with his eyebrows raised, "Yeah?"

                         Kaiya raised their eyebrows placing their index finger to their lips in thought , "He doesn't look too bad, but his split ends need a bit of work," they then hummed in thought. "His skin care routine needs an upgrade because his face is oily! I suggest rice paper, it does wonde—"

                         Silena placed a hand on her siblings shoulder and forced them to sit, "It's not him, Kay. Her Aura didn't shine."

                         Kaiya slammed her hands on the table gathering more of the campers attention, "Annabeth!"

                         "OH MY GOD'S—"

                         Before anyone could say anything else the conch horn sounded. Both Silena and Kaiya shared a look before standing, the rest of their siblings following after. Campers yelled and cheered —Aurora included— as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening gray, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

                         The teams were announced. Athena had made an alliance with Apollo, Hermès, and Aphrodite the three biggest cabins. The Aphrodite cabin was squealing with excitement, knowing victory lay within their precise alliance.

                         The Aphrodite cabin was hungry for revenge, after the fiasco with the Ares cabin insulting not only Aurora but her father . . . it was safe to say they were angry. Angry for their sister who had already gone through so much. They didn't care about privileges, instead they wanted to knock the Ares cabin down their high horse.

                         Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble, "Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

                         He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, oxhide shields coated in metal. Campers immediately rushed over yearning to get their hands on a weapon to seek victory for their team.

                         Aurora's weapons were firmly on her wrists, menacingly reflecting off of the moonlight. The gold was vibrate against her caramel colored skin. The helmet made her aura all that more threatening. One look at her and you'd think she was a warrior princess, one off of a fairytale, with beauty and grace exceeded those of even a queen, yet when in battle — she had no fear of showing who dominated the field of battle.

                         "Where do you want me, boss?"

                         Aurora rose an eyebrow at Natalie's sarcastic voice, "Stay with the Hermes kid's. Tell them the weak points to the armor, they're sleight of hand will come to use when dismantling their armor."

Natalie nodded a smirk on her face, "If we win, you know you'll be in charge for the next Capture the Flag," she looked fondly at her little sister. "It's a good look on you."

Aurora adjusted her helmet and gave her sister a toothy grin, "Well, hopefully we do win. You have no idea how many times I had to deny Kaiya's idea of flirting with the red team."

Natalie chuckled, "That seems like an idea Kaiya would come up with."

Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!" Everyone cheered and shook their swords and followed her down the path to the south woods.

Aurora looked at her sister, the mischievous look in her eye looked daunting, "See you on the winning side, sis!" she ran from her sister who only shook her head amusedly. "Let me know if you have any trouble!"

                         "Like you'd have time to help!"

                         Ignoring the taunts from the red team, Aurora jogged to catch up with Annabeth who was at the front of the group looking very intimidating. Her grey eyes were striking as she looked forward, yet when she caught sight of Aurora they softened.

                         "Is the Aphrodite cabin informed of their positions?"

                         Aurora glanced around the forest, "Yes. It took much convincing for them to work with the Hermes kids, but they should be fine."

                         Suddenly, the obnoxious noise of metal banging against itself drew her attention. Her eyebrows furrowed, yet when her chocolate eyes landed on Percy she almost laughed.

The sword he was holding looked uncomfortable, and the helmet he wore was too big. Every once in a while he's have to adjust it, yet the armor Aurora designed for him looked . . . good.

Hopefully, her aura didn't turn pink.

The chest plate was gold, but the lining was blue. The same blue she knew was his favorite color. A small minotaur horn was engraved on the left shoulder blade, call back to his first night at camp.

He sided up next to Aurora, placing her between them both. It was hard to pull his eyes away from the Aphrodite girl.

"Hey." Annabeth didn't spare him a single glance but Aurora sent Percy a small smile.

"So what's the plan?" He asked. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"

Annabeth's hand drifted toward her pocket, as if she were afraid someone had stolen something, "Just watch Clarisse's spear," she said. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"

"Border patrol, whatever that means."

Annabeth and Aurora exchanged glances, "It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Aurora will be there too as support, " she ran a finger across the thick bracelets on her wrists, "Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan." She pushed ahead, leaving both of them in the dust.

Aurora furrowed her eyebrows, "So does a Stark, brainiac!"

Noticing the fall in his face, Aurora gave him a grin, "Don't mind her, Jackson. She just takes all of this," Aurora gestured towards everything around her with her arms. "Very seriously"

"And you don't?"

Aurora smirked, "Now, I never said I didn't."

It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Aurora stationed Percy and herself next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, while Annabeth and the rest of the team scattered into the trees. The loud crunching of twigs was loud as the game began with the conch horn being blown. The faint sound of metal against metal filled the silence she and Percy were forced to endure.

                         She abruptly took a seat next to the creek watching as the trickle of water washed over the nearby rocks. It would have been a nice place to sit down and read if it weren't for the occasional arrows whizzing past both her and Percy's head.

                         "Um," Percy's voice interrupted the silence. "I heard about what happened to your dad," he noticed her frown. "I'm sorry."

                         Aurora turned her gaze away from the creek to the awkward boy standing behind her, looking completely out of his element. He looked worried, like he was scared he overstepped a boundary by asking Aurora about her father.

                         She sighed, "I'd be surprised if you didn't," she frowned. "It was all over the news. Dozens of articles and videos about the World's famous billionaire being held for his weapons. Don't get me started on the media he attracted when he got back."

                         Percy knelt down beside her, "Is he better now?"

                         Aurora looked at him, "From what I've heard from him, yeah," she shrugged. "He seems to be doing fine."

                         "How are you feeling?"

                         Aurora's bottom lip jutted out in thought as she glanced back down towards the creek, "I could be better and by better I mean having a rocky movie marathon with him," she shrugged once again. "But it can wait."

                         "What exactly happened to him when he was being held captive?" Percy questioned softly, his green eyes wide with curiosity.

                         Aurora frowned, "I don't know"

                         Suddenly, the loud sound of footsteps running in their direction startled them from their conversation. Aurora immediately sprang up from her crouch and sent a pointed glare towards the direction of the sound. Out of instinct, her hand came over to cup her gold bracelet. She was ready to pull out whatever weapon she needed, in case it was the red team who came to look.

                         Her bracelets were a gift from her father. They were encrypted with nano-technology meaning their sustainability was limitless. Despite the nano-tech being in such an early phase, they worked phenomenally. For Example, the gold bangle to her left transformed into a small but secure gold shield gauntlet. Not only did the nano-technology absorb any attack it only expanded to it's true form when it detected an enemy. The bracelet to her right was much more complex. The nano-tech in this bracelet was leveled down to a more supramolecular level allowing an infinite number of weaponry desposible for Aurora. It allows the molecules to split and form a completely new shape, and it all coming from a single source! So, when Aurora was no longer in distress the separated molecules find their partners and fuse together once more, all while Aurora has the control. Not to mention, the auditory system her father included in them, meaning all she had to do was say the weapon of her choice as the nanotechnology would configure to the whatever she had said, and only she had the power to do it.

                         "Okay Percy, This is it"

                         A blue-plumed ally from Apollo raced past Percy like a deer, leaped through the creek, and disappeared into enemy territory. Aurora relaxed and took a step back, yet her back stilled at a noise she heard coming to her left.

                         A low canine growl, sent shivers down her spine. Something wasn't right, she concluded in her head.

                         Bewildered at the thought and wanting to make sure it wasn't just the buzzing excitement at the victory before them, she turned to Percy, "Did you hear that?"

                         Percy swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. However, Aurora couldn't do anything about it as on the other side of the creek, the underbrush exploded. Five Ares warriors came yelling and screaming out of the dark.

                         "Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.

                         Aurora stood in front of Percy with squinted eyes as she stared down the children of Ares in front of her. Immediately sensing danger, the shield expanded.

                         "Sword!" As per request her right bracelet turned into a vibrant bronze sword gleaming under the moonlight.

                         She held out her sword in front of her while glancing behind her towards Percy, "Stay behind me. Don't engage unless you have to"

                         Clarisse smirked at the Daughter of Aphrodite receiving a laugh from her siblings, "So, now you're a bodyguard, Stark? What a loser. You'll only get them killed, look at what happened with your dad."

                         While her siblings laughed, Aurora visibly tensed. Her teeth gritted in rage. Everyone knew how her father's kidnapping was a touchy subject for the brunette beauty, yet it was exactly what The Ares Cabin loved to use against the girl.

                         Aurora lunged forward and swung her sword, but Clarisse saw her movement. Within a millisecond, She dodged and brought up her spear to make an attack of her own. Sensing the danger she was in, the shield let out a mechanical whir as she brought up her left hand to block. The spear bounced off harmlessly from the shield, fueling a rage in Clarissa like no other. At the sudden opening, Aurora delivered a vicious click to her stomach. It didn't exactly faze Clarissa all that much, but it did give Aurora a good amount of time to regain her breath.

                         Unfortunately for her, two of her siblings had snuck up behind her — she was too busy having her attention on Clarissa she never noticed them. The burning sensation of skin being sliced opened appeared on the back of her knee, forcing her to fall on her knees. She cried out once more when she felt the exact same sensation on her wrist, making her drop her word.

                         "Imagine that, A Stark on their knees," Clarissa sneered. "For me."

                         Clarisse placed the point of her spear on Aurora's breastplate causing the brown-eyed girl to shriek in pain at the horrendous buzzing sensation felt throughout her body. When Clarissa pulled back her spear, Aurora slumped to the ground in exhaustion.

                         "Leave her alone!"

                         From her spot on the floor, Aurora cursed under her breath.

                         Clarisse snickered, "Oh, man. And what are you going to do about it?"

                         "The flag is that way," Percy told her.

                         "Yeah," one of her siblings said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid," his eyes trailed down to Aurora who was breathing heavily. "And the girl who never keeps her mouth shut."

                         "You do that without our help," he sassed.

                         Aurora sighed and flopped her head back down towards the ground completely over his attitude, it was only digging his own grave. Yet, just as their attention turned to him she reached over towards her called sword. Her body continued to sizzle in pain.

                         Suddenly, One of Clarisse's cabinmates slashed his sword across Percy's arm, leaving a good-size cut.

                         "No maiming," Percy managed to say.

                         Aurora rolled her eyes. The blood falling from both of her wounds was a perfect example to how well the Children of Ares follow the rules.

                         "Oops," the guy said a smirk on his face, "Guess I lost my dessert privilege"

                         Aurora shakily stood to her feet, "You're about to loose a couple of teeth if you don't back off!"

                         "Oh yeah?" he taunted. "What are you going to do about it, pretty girl?"

                         As if to prove a point, he sent a strong ouch towards Percy watching as he fell into the creek with a splash. Ignoring their laughter, Aurora walked in front of him with her sword raised. Clarisse and her cabinmates went into the creek to get them both, but Aurora was already stood to meet them.

                         "Come on, Clarisse! You know I'm not scared of you. One on One, just the tw-"

                         She was abruptly cut off by a hand on her shoulder slightly pushing her back. She gasped in surprise and narrowed her eyes at Percy. Percy had stood up from the creek, completely dry with a determined glint in his eye. He pushed Aurora back enough to be stood in front of her and a couple of feet away from the campers.

                         "Jackson, you're new at this. Let me handle it"

                         Percy had the same look in his eye when he first met Clarisse. He shook his head at Aurora once more before turning his entire attention to Clarisse and her cabinmates. Aurora tilted her head in confusion but nonetheless took a step back to respect Percy's wishes.

                         Percy swung the flat of his sword against the first guy's head and knocked his helmet clean off. He hit him so hard you could see his eyes vibrating as he crumpled into the water. Theo and Robert came at him. He slammed Theo in the face with his shield and used his sword to shear off Robert's horsehair plume. Both of them backed up quickly.

                         Alex didn't look really anxious to attack, but Clarisse kept coming, the point of her spear crackling with energy. As soon as she thrust, Percy caught the shaft between the edge of his shield and sword, and he snapped it like a twig. Aurora was left with her jaw dropped.

                         "Ah!" Clarisse screamed. "You idiot! You corpse-breath worm!"

                         She probably would've said worse, but he smacked her between the eyes with his sword-butt and sent her stumbling backward out of the creek.

                         "Holy Hades!" Aurora rushed out as she took in the groaning campers on the floor. "How the hell did you do that?"

                         Before Percy could respond they heard yelling, elated screams, and saw Luke racing toward the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by a couple of Hermes and Aphrodite guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. Annabeth was close behind.

                         The Ares folks got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse, "A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."

                         They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. Team blue's side exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned to silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of cabin eleven. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out from the woods and blew the conch horn. The game was over. Team blue had won.

                        "Where the hell did you learn to fight like that?" she asked.

                         Percy turned to her, his eyes flashing with anger, "You guys set me up," Percy said. "Annabeth put you and I here because you both knew Clarisse would come after me, while she and Luke went around the flank. You had it all figured out."

                         Aurora frowned, "Logically it was a great plan."

                         "It was a plan to get me pulverized," he corrected.

                         She scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest, "Hey!" She said. "I stuck my neck out for you and you know what I get in return." She held up her hand "A bloody hand just like your . . ." Her eyes trailed down to the cut on Percy's arm. "What in the hades happened?"

                         "Sword cut," Percy rolled his eyes, shrugging her off. "What do you think?"

                         "No, Jackson. It was a sword cut. Look at it."

                         The blood was gone. Where the huge cut had been, there was a long white scratch, and even that was fading. As they watched, it turned into a small scar, and disappeared.

                         "I-I don't get it," Percy said. Aurora was thinking hard. You could practically see the gears turning in her head. She looked down at Percy's feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Just a theory, but step out of the water."

                         Percy gave her a long look before complying, once he did he didn't feel too hot. He came out of the creek and immediately felt bone tired. He looked as pale as a ghost. He almost fell over, but Aurora steadied him.

                         "Oh, Styx," she cursed as she looked at him. His ocean eyes looked even brighter now that she had him fingered out. Now, they made sensed

                         Before Percy could respond, they heard that canine growl again, but much closer than before. A howl ripped through the forest. The campers' cheering died instantly.

                         Chiron shouted, "Stand ready! My bow!"

                         Aurora gripped her sword tightly, "Bow!"

                         At the request the sword split itself in half again, with one half remaining in her right hand and the other slithering its way up her arm and behind her back. Soon a quiver with about a dozen arrows were on her back. The half in her right hand had turned into a gold bow. It looked like the one people believed Cupid would wear.

                         As quickly as she could, she took an arrow out of her quiver and lodged in on her bow. There on the rocks just above them was a black hound the size of a rhino, with lava-red eyes and fangs like daggers. It was looking straight at Percy, completely disregarding the Daughter of Beauty beside himself

                         Nobody moved except Aurora, who yelled, "Percy, run!"

                         She released an arrow, but the hound was too fast. It leaped over her-an enormous shadow with teeth-and just as it hit Percy, as he stumbled backward and he felt its razor-sharp claws ripping through his armor, there was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after the other. Aurora lodged another arrow and let it soar watching in satisfaction as it connected to the eye of the beast. Soon after, the hounds neck sprouted a cluster of arrows.

                         The monster fell dead at Aurora's feet. Aurora turned to help Percy and watched as Chiron trotted up next to them, a bow in his hand, his face grim.

                         "Di immortales!" Annabeth said as she walked up to the group "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't . . . they're not supposed to . . ."

                         "Someone summoned it," Aurora stated matter of factly.

                         Chiron nodded at the girl, "Someone inside the camp."

                         Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone. His eyebrows were knitted together making his scar look all the more prominent.

                         Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"

                         "Be quiet, child," Chiron told her. They watched the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared.

                         "You're wounded," Annabeth told Percy.

                         Aurora immediately perked up "You have to see this. Quick, Jackson, get in the water." Without letting him argue Aurora pushed Percy into the water. Instantly, Percy looked better. The cuts on his were now chest closing up. Some of the campers gasped.

                         "Look, I-I don't know why," He said, trying to apologize. "I'm sorry . . ."

                         "Percy," Annabeth said, pointing. "Um . . ."

                         By the time he looked up, the sign was already fading, but you could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.

                         Aurora breathed out, "So my theory was correct," she coughed. "Like always," her eyes glanced to Percy from the glowing trident above him, "Jackson you're dad . . ." She then cringed. "This is bad"

                         "It is determined," Chiron announced. All around them, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it.

                         "My father?" Percy asked, completely bewildered.

                         "Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

                         𝒏𝒐𝒘, 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒐𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒘 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒎𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒊𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒊𝒅𝒆 . . .

— NAT TALKS !!
I left it to your interpretation whether
you believe Aurora finds Annabeth
attractive or not ???? Also, thoughts?
Headcanons? Theories? If you don't
love the Aphrodite cabin, I'm going to
cry omgggggggggggggggggggggggg
Also, Kaiya uses they/them pronouns!!

Honestly I'm surprised none of you
caught what I did to a certain character
last chapter, omggggggg

❛ allure me. ❜ ༢ ͎۪۫ ༊*·˚ ╱
❪ the prodigy, 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 book. ❫
༢ ͎۪۫ ༊ ❛ ©CELESTIALAPHRODITE 2023. ❜ ¨. ༢ ͎۪۫ ｡𖤐❪ 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑 ❫ ©CELESTIALAPHRODITE, 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒅.