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So as it turns out, Mythology isn’t fiction at all, gods and goddesses exist, and Ava Silva is not the world’s number one delinquent.
She’s just a demigod.
Ava isn’t really sure if that’s a good thing or not, but she is out of that dreaded orphanage, she has escaped the constant barrage of weird attacks and the onslaught of deaths around her, and she is brought to what seems like your regular summer camp, so she guesses she can’t complain much anymore.
“Okay, so, ready for the tour?”
Ava is brought back by a preppy voice and she sees a new girl standing by the door. She’s all smiles and wide grins, and she’s almost shaking in excitement— definitely not a look Ava is used to being directed or even associated with her.
“Uh…” She glances in confusion from the girl to the man standing before her.
“This is Camila,” Mother Superion, the kinda scary boss bitch of a camp director, says. “She’ll be your guide for today and she’ll help you find where you’ll be staying while you remain unclaimed.”
“Nice to meet you, I’m Camila, daughter of Apollo.” Camila says, extending her hand out for a handshake.
Ava takes it, “Ava, daughter of someone— don’t know who, actually hoping you guys can help me out.”
Camila laughs as she leads Ava out of the huge building, “We’ll try to figure it out as we go. While waiting to be claimed though, you’ll have to stay in the Hermes cabin. The people there are nice, though there's a lot of them there.”
“Why is that?”
“Some don’t get claimed at all. So they’re just forced to stay there with Hermes being the god of travelers.”
Ava frowns at this. “Wow, these gods and goddesses can be real fucking jerks, huh?”
“Language.” Camila says with a frown at Ava, “And don’t say that, it’s blasphemous, and it might anger the gods and goddesses. If that happens, we get punished in one way or another.”
Further proof that the gods and goddesses suck balls, Ava thinks but she doesn’t mention it. Instead she continues on following Camila and listening to the things she’s saying and looking at things she’s pointing out.
Camila is talking about the garden near the Demeter cabin, when Ava sees a girl walk out from Cabin #1. Ava watches as the girl sits on the marble steps of the cabin and leans against one of the columns. The girl raises a hand in front of her. Nothing happens at first but then Ava sees movement, sees several leaves start to levitate and twirl around her hand, twirl in the direction the girl moves her hand in.
“Wow,” Ava whispers in awe. She turns to her Camila, who was chatting with a Demeter girl, and taps her on the arm. “Hey, uh, Camila.”
“Yes, Ava?”
“Who is she?”
Camila turns to where Ava is looking at and smiles happily. “Oh, that’s Bea. Beatrice, the daughter of Zeus.”
Ava turns her attention to Camila, “ The daughter of Zeus?”
“Oh, well. Beatrice is the sole occupant of Cabin #1. She’s the only daughter of Zeus in the camp. It has been that way since she arrived in camp. It was empty before her, and it’s been a long while since there was last a child of Zeus.”
“Oh. You’d think Zeus’ cabin would be crawling with kids considering who he is.” Ava says with a snort.
“Blasphemy,” Camila chides genty, and lets out a chuckle when Ava makes a face at it. “And I know, but it’s also for that very reason that his children are constantly being hunted by all his enemies. Few of them survive. People say that Bea was very young, wounded, and all alone when she stumbled into the camp. And now she’s still alone despite being surrounded by so many people.”
She looks at the girl, at Beatrice, one more time. She’s twirling a mix of leaves flower petals now, twirling them up and up above her head. She closes her hand into a fist and Ava watches with rapt attention as the leaves and petals stop, seemingly suspended in time and in the air. Then Beatrice opens her hands and the leaves and petals fall like confetti all around her.
Beatrice smiles at this, waits for all the leaves and petals to hit the ground, before she stands up and walks back inside the looming cabin doors.
“I can’t imagine what it must be like, to still be alone even with so many people.” Camila lets out a sigh before starting to walk away, to continue their tour, Ava guesses.
“I can.” Ava whispers to herself.
She moves to follow Camila but her mind stays on Beatrice, stays on the memory of her smile, small yet soft and beautiful— so, so beautiful.
- - -
Ava is being led by Camila to the weaponry when she sees a familiar face.
“Oh! Hey! Badass! Hey!” Ava calls out excitedly.
Several people turn their heads at Ava’s call but not the one she’s calling for. So Ava walks faster and calls again, “Hey! Badass with the shotgun!”
This time the person she is calling for turns and Ava is met with a smirk. “Oh, hey, new girl.”
“Hey!” Ava greets excitedly. She’s starting to get overwhelmed with all the new things being thrown at her so she is immensely grateful for this meeting.
“You know Mary?” Camila asks when she reaches them.
Ava nods, extending her hand towards Mary and grinning when Mary takes it. “I didn’t know her name before now but yeah, I know her. She’s the one who brought me here.”
“That’s right. I got to her just as some monsters were about to kick her ass.” Mary says with a shrug. “My great timing and trusty shotgun definitely saved her from some intense ass-whooping.”
“Badass.” Ava nods in agreement. “Oh, right, so who’s your god mama or god papa? And ohhh, weapons, nice, can I try?” She reaches for a crossbow but Mary swats her hand away.
“Easy, kid.” Mary huffs with a chuckle. “To answer your first question, my pops is Apollo, yes, same as Camila.” She adds at the look of realization that crossed Ava’s face.
“We’re half-sisters.” Camila says proudly.
“And for your next question, the answer is nope. No handling of deadly weapons until we assess what you’ll be good at. And this,” Mary takes the crossbow and hands it to Camila, “is Camila’s to play with, not you.”
Ava raises an eyebrow. Camila and a crossbow? A teddy bear with a crossbow? “Oh? Is she any good with it?”
Mary lets out a chuckle as she grabs a shotgun and slings an arm around Ava. “Oh, this will be fun.”
Turns out, Camila is a badass with a crossbow.
Ava gapes the entire time as Mary and Camila unload all their bullets and arrows respectively. They hit the target perfectly at all times and do not miss even a single shot.
“What the actual fuck ?” Ava gasps out.
“We’re children of Apollo,” Mary says with a casual shrug and a smug grin, “People like to underestimate us because we’re all bright and kind and soft and musically inclined and shit. Well, Camila and the others are, at least. Definitely, not me.” The follow-up is said with a slight look of disdain that has Ava giggling.
“But yeah, they see the brightness and the music and tend to forget about the shooting part. All of Apollo’s children are perfect shots. Arrows, bullets, balls— you name it, as long as it involves shooting, then we can do it perfectly.”
“But the brightness and music parts are all true, too.” Camila adds.
“Wow, that is just so cool.” Ava grins excitedly. “Come on then, teach me!”
- - -
Okay, so maybe she’s not really that good when it comes to shooting stuff. She almost took out one of the other campers when she tried out Camila’s crossbow and after a few more mishaps with the guns, Mary decided they should just go for snacks.
Ava is in the middle of telling Mary a story about one of the attacks that happened to her when a shadow looms over her. Ava stops speaking and she looks up to see a tall girl looking at her.
“So this is the new girl, huh?”
It’s Mary who answers. “Yep. Curious about her?” Mary asks.
The girl’s face twists in response. “Why would I be curious about the new girl?”
“Um, okay, new girl has a name, okay?” Ava pipes up, glancing back and forth from Mary and the tall girl. She doesn’t like it when people talk about her instead of to her. It happened a lot in the orphanage with the nuns and she hates it. “Stop talking about me like I’m not here.” She says with a glare.
The tall girl smirks, looking pleased at getting a reaction out of Ava. “I’m Lilith, daughter of Athena. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood.”
“Uh, Ava, and thanks.”
“Oh? Daddy or mommy hasn’t claimed you yet?” Lilith asks with a raised eyebrow. Ava shakes her head at the question. Lilith hums thoughtfully, and she opens her mouth to say something but gets cut off with Camila’s arrival.
“I got us chips!” Camila announces, waving two bags of potato chips happily. She sees Lilith and she beams at the taller girl. “Oh, hey, Lilith! What are you doing here?”
Lilith smiles but shifts somewhat awkwardly. This catches Ava’s attention and she raises an eyebrow as she looks between Lilith and Camila. “Um, on my way to Mother Superion for some briefing.”
“Oh, come join us while you wait then. You can sit here,” Camila says as she pats the space next to her.
A faint blush crosses Lilith’s face and she doesn’t answer. Mary lets out a snort and Ava slowly smiles as she takes in what’s happening. “Ohh, this is interesting.”
Camila, seemingly oblivious to whatever else is happening around them, looks up at lilith from her seat with a small frown, “You don’t want to?”
The blush on Lilith’s face darkens and she shakes her head at Camila quickly. “N-Not that I don’t want to! It’s just— Oh, Beatrice! Beatrice is here.”
Ava’s ears perk at the announcement and she whips her head to the direction Lilith gestured to. True enough, she sees Beatrice walking towards them.
“Hey, Bea.” Mary greets once Beatrice is close enough.
Beatrice stops beside Lilith and she smiles at them. A different smile from earlier but still a very beautiful smile, Ava notes to herself.
“Hello, how are you today?” Beatrice greets back, she nods at both Mary and Camila before settling her eyes on Ava.
Ava decides to seize the opportunity. She smiles at Beatrice in what she hopes is her cute and charming one, “Hello! I’m Ava Silva!”
Beatrice smiles back. “Hello, Ava. My name is Beatrice.” She holds out her hand and Ava takes it.
The first thing that Ava notices is that unlike all the other people she has met so far, Beatrice did not say whose daughter she is. Ava doesn’t really know why and she files it away somewhere for more prodding. The second thing she notices is that Beatrice’s hand is soft and warm in her hold. She shakes it several times, more times than is completely normal based on the weird look that Lilith throws her way. Ava meets Beatrice’s eyes and sees Beatrice’s eyebrows rise a little despite the kind smile still plastered on her face and Ava feels her face start to burn. Oh shit.
“Uh, nice to meet you! As you can probably see by my very enthusiastic and long handshake,” Ava rambles and her embarrassed expression turns into a horrified one when she takes notice that her hand is still shaking Beatrice’s. “—which is still ongoing and that is just weird so I am just gonna let go of this now, okay, there you go, yep .”
She drops Beatrice’s hand the same time she pops the last syllable of her shameful ramblings. She sees Mary shaking with laughter from her peripheral vision and Ava inwardly curses herself, praying that someone shoots her right now. Surely being this stupid is an actual crime somewhere.
And Beatrice, gods bless her soul, does not comment on the rambing—for which Ava is immensely grateful for.
“Nice to meet you too, Ava.” Beatrice simply answers with a small laugh. She turns to Lilith, “Should we go? Mother Superion is waiting for us.”
Lilith nods silently, and starts walking away without saying anything. Beatrice gives the group a small wave before following Lilith and Ava watches the two go, mostly Beatrice, before sighing and letting her head hit the table.
“What the fuck is wrong with me?” She groans into the wood and she hears Mary and Camila laugh at her.
“Okay, now that is interesting. “ Mary chuckles, and Ava rolls her eyes at the irony of Mary using Ava’s earlier observations about Lilith and Camila.
- - -
Ava can’t sleep.
The Hermes cabin is nice, everyone is nice enough and she had fun talking to the lot of them but Ava can’t shake off the feeling that she does not belong in their cabin. Not to mention the fact that it’s rather crowded, so many bunk beds and sleeping cots, and that reminds Ava too much of her past so she decided to just sneak out in the middle of the night, taking care not to step on any of the Hermes kids.
She walks towards the beach and treads along the shore. She’s always found the sounds of the sea very calming. She doesn’t like being in the water, mainly because she doesn’t know how to swim, but she likes seeing it, and hearing it. She likes calming sounds.
She’s almost to the other end of the beach when she sees a figure in the distance. She squints but it’s a bit too dark to see the face of the person. Ava takes several steps closer, slow and cautious. But then the head turns and Ava freezes.
Beatrice.
“Yes?”
Ava jumps in surprise. Shit, did I say her name out loud? The expectant look on Beatrice’s face answers her question.
“Uh, hey. What’s up?” Ava asks sheepishly.
Beatrice shrugs. “Nothing much. How about you?”
“Can’t sleep.” Ava answers and she gestures towards Beatrice. “Um, may I?”
Beatrice nods, “Of course.”
Ava walks closer and takes a seat on the sand next to Beatrice. She leaves a respectable distance between them and smiles at Beatrice. “How about you? What are you doing here at this time?”
“Can’t sleep.” Beatrice echoes her answer from earlier and it makes Ava chuckle.
“Glad to know it’s not just me then.” Ava says as she looks out into the sea, watching the waves crash from the distance.
Beatrice tilts her head at Ava. “Not having a good time with the Hermes people?”
Ava laughs as she recalls them and shakes her head. “No, they’re great, really. They’re fun and very welcoming. It’s just that… Well, I don’t think I’m a child of Hermes.” Ava admits with a shrug. “They’re just… different. Or well, that’s not quite right, it’s because I’m different. Yeah, that’s it.”
Beatrice nods but doesn’t say anything for a while. They stay silent for a while. Not an awkward silence, Ava notes gratefully, just comfortable silence. They spend several more minutes with just the sound of the waves between them, until Ava feels Beatrice shift beside her.
“I know how that feels,” Beatrice begins, glancing at Ava. “Being different from the people around you.”
“Yeah?” Ava raises an eyebrow. “Is it the being the only child of Zeus thing?”
Beatrice blinks and takes a few seconds before slowly nodding. “Yes, among other things. But yes, that also.”
Ava nods. She doesn’t really know how to answer that so she just looks at Beatrice and she briefly lets her eyes wander along Beatrice’s form, taking note of her varsity shorts and the simple camp shirt she’s wearing under her black unzipped jacket. She looks comfortable, Ava thinks, and then she notices the big bruise on Beatrice’s leg, just above her calf.
“Hey, what happened to your leg?”
Beatrice looks at where Ava is looking and she moves her leg to see it more clearly. “Oh this? Training earlier was a bit intense. Going against the Ares kids always is.”
“That looks painful.”
Beatrice shrugs. “It’ll heal sooner or later.”
At this, Ava perks up. She turns so she’s facing Beatrice fully. “Hey, want to see something cool?”
The corner of Beatrice’s lips tug up. “Okay, sure?” She says unsurely.
“Oh, come on. It’ll be fine, really!” Ava laughs upon seeing Beatrice’s expression. “Give me your leg.”
“My leg?”
“Just, you know—” Ava mimes stretching out her leg in front of her. “Do this, towards me. So that I can see your bruise more clearly.” She adds as an explanation.
Beatrice still looks unsure but also curious, so she shifts and does as Ava demonstrated for her to do so. Ava grins in approval and Beatrice raises an eyebrow. “What are you up to, Ava Silva?”
A surprising jolt of pleasure hits Ava at the sound of her name coming out of Beatrice’s mouth and she suppresses the shiver. Her name has never sounded that good before.
“Like I said,” Ava says with a small cough to clear her throat. “I am going to show you something really cool.”
“Alright.”
“Can I?” Ava gestures to Beatrice’s leg.
Beatrice nods and Ava lifts her hands and hovers them over the bruise, close to the skin but not really touching it. “Okay, so I figured this out when I was young and I’ve tried it several times already since. So here goes, try not to move, okay? It might get a bit chilly.” Ava glances at Beatrice, waits for a nod, and she takes a deep breath.
Like all the other times she’s done this, Ava closes her eyes for a bit to concentrate and focuses on Beatrice’s bruise. She feels her hands be engulfed in cold air and when she opens her eyes, she sees the mix of purple and black shadow form around her hands. She manipulates the shadows to engulf the injured part of Beatrice’s leg.
Beatrice lets out a soft gasp. “Ava…”
Ava doesn’t answer, fully focused on her task, and after several more seconds, she calls the shadows back to her hand. When she closes her hands into fists, the shadows evaporate completely. She moves her hands and looks at the now smooth and flawless skin of Beatrice’s leg.
Ava smiles. “There, all healed now.”
Beatrice is looking at her with slightly wide eyes, “Ava, that’s…”
Ava shifts uncomfortably and she pulls her hands back. Not everyones has reacted well to what she can do, she knows it’s weird and very unusual, and Ava suddenly finds herself fearing that Beatrice might be one of those people.
Ava looks away from Beatrice and she moves to wrap her arms around her legs, curling in on herself. “Weird? Freaky? Scary?”
Beatrice lets out what Ava thinks might be a soft scoff. “Amazing, actually.”
Oh. Ava straightens at the answer and looks at Beatrice in surprise. Beatrice is already looking at her with kind eyes and a small smile. “Uh, r-really?” Ava stammers.
Beatrice nods, “It is cool. Thank you for healing my bruise.”
Ava grins excitedly. “N-No problem! You can come to me anytime!”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Beatrice says softly.
Ava just nods and smiles, leaning her head on her knees and staring at Beatrice for a while before turning her gaze back to the ocean. She doesn’t want to stare too much and make Beatrice uncomfortable. Not when they’re in this space they are in right now. Not when Ava thinks they might just be having a moment. She doesn’t want to be presumptuous but a girl can dream, right? And if she wants to dream of having a moment with a stunning demigod who she may or may not be quickly developing an intense crush on then dammit, she will.
Several minutes of silence pass them by before Beatrice speaks up. “Ava, do you know who your immortal parent is?”
Beatrice’s voice is cautious and slow, like she’s testing the waters and she’s not sure if she wants to know what’s in it.
It makes Ava nervous.
“Um, not really. Is that… Is that a bad thing? Camila told me that it’s not that unusual here.”
Beatrice shakes her head quickly. “Oh, no. Not a bad thing. And yes, Camila is right. It’s not that big of a deal. It just takes some time for some of the gods and goddesses to claim their children.”
Ava sighs. “Yeah, well, if my immortal god dad doesn’t claim me then that just reinforces something I already know.”
“Which is?”
“That I’m just a freak. Troublesome, weak, and unwanted.” She shrugs at it, it’s something she is used to thinking about herself. Something that the orphanage nuns drilled into her for several years. She’s grown numb to it now and it’s better when she says it first before other people get the chance to do so.
“You think you’re weak?”
Beatrice asks the question in a tone that suggests that the idea is very silly, like it’s the most ridiculous thing Beatrice has ever heard. And it makes Ava stop because she doesn’t know how to respond to that.
“You are anything but weak, Ava.” Beatrice says reverently, eyes trained solely on Ava.
“Considering who your father might be, you are in no way weak, you can trust me on that.” And then she stands up, takes gentle care in brushing away the sand on her shorts before turning around to walk away.
Ava turns to Beatrice’s retreating figure and calls out, “You know who my father is?”
“Just a hunch, and oh,” Beatrice stops after a few steps. She turns around to face Ava again. “Choose who you show your ability to carefully, okay? Goodnight, Ava.”
Beatrice offers another smile before continuing on her path and Ava is left by herself.
-
Ava doesn’t know what to think about her encounter with Beatrice.
She wants to know what Beatrice means when she says she has a hunch about who Ava’s father might be. She’s seen Beatrice a couple of times around camp since then but she doesn’t get the opportunity to approach her. Somehow, Beatrice is always either locked in her cabin or running around the camp, helping around or doing things for Mother Superion. It’s quite difficult to catch her.
“Hey, uh, what do you know about Beatrice?” Ava asks Lilith one day during Greek lessons.
Lilith barely spares her a glance, attention fully on the book she’s reading. “Why?”
“Just, uh, curious.” Ava supplies casually.
Lilith scoffs. “By that you mean crushing?”
Ava glares at Lilith even as her face flushes. “Like what you with Camila?”
This time, Lilith faces her with sharp eyes, “Shut it, Ava.”
“Yeah, well, I was asking a proper question!” Ava complains. “You’re the one who started it.”
“Childish,” Lilith mutters as she closed her book and settled it down beside her. “You’re supposed to be learning your Greek.”
“I know, but come on, Lilith. Just answer my questions for a bit then it’s back to this homework.” Ava says.
“Fine,” Lilith concedes with a sigh. “Beatrice is Beatrice.” She says with a shrug. “We pretty much grew up together so I know her quite well. What exactly do you want to know about her?”
Aba shrugs back, “She seems well-liked by almost everyone. So why is it that she’s usually off on her own?”
At this, Lilith stops for a moment and looks at Ava intensely, like she’s judging Ava, trying to figure out what Ava is thinking. Ava is almost scared that Lilith might actually be able to do just that.
“It’s just that we talked, okay? We talked the other day and it was nice and she was nice so I’m just… I’m just wondering about her, that’s all.” Ava rambles on, slightly pressured by the way Lilith seemed to be dissecting her.
Lilith continues on staring. A minute passes before Lilith opens her mouth again.
“Look,” She begins, “Beatrice is… complex, okay? She’s as powerful as powerful gets, only rivaled probably by the few existing children of other Big three gods. And even then, Beatrice is probably more powerful than them. With such power and heritage comes a lot of talk. People talk about her. How she only relies on Zeus’ blessing and that she doesn’t really have any remarkable abilities of her own. About how Beatrice gets by easily with the Zeus card. And her mother, her mortal mother, is a terrible person, okay? There are all these rumours about how she treated Beatrice badly.”
Ava straightes at this, and she feels immediate anger. “Did she—”
“No, no.” Lilith answers quickly. “You know how we are. Hitting us is difficult, what with the ADHD and all. That wouldn’t have worked on Beatrice.”
“Okay?”
“The talk was about how the mom just can’t accept that Beatrice is different. You know for most of us, the world gives us a hard time but our mortal parents— they’re the ones who accept us, they’re the ones who make us feel like we’re worth something despite all our flaws.”
“Beatrice didn’t have that. No one accepted her. Her mom, the people around her back then, they all tried to force her into something she’s not. They taught her that she’s an... abomination. That she’s ugly.” Lilith lets out what sounds like a sad sigh as she shakes her head. “No one saw Beatrice. All they do is talk about her, say all these things about her. And that’s just… It could take a toll on people. And it took a toll on Beatrice. She’s guarded now, cold, a bit distant.”
Lilith shrugs after her long explanation. She glances at Ava once before she picks up her book again. “Like I said, Beatrice is Beatrice. She’s overly competent, very leader-y,” Lilith summarizes with a sassy eyeroll, “well-liked by people and the absolute center of all the talks. All basic things for Zeus’ golden child. But even the golden girl has her own baggage. People just tend to forget that.”
“Oh, well, that’s…” Ava starts but fails to come up with anything else. It was a lot. Lilith unloaded so much and as of now Ava doesn’t know what to do with all of that information. All she knows is that ‘guarded, cold, and distant’ sounds nothing like the Beatrice she knows.
“Back to your work once you’re done swooning and drooling. Those greek phrases aren’t gonna translate themselves.”
Ava throws Lilith a glare before doing as she’s told.
- - -
The week goes by and by the time Friday rolls in, the entire camp is buzzing with excitement. Ava stands on the side with the other campers as they all wait for Mother Superion to announce the teams.
“Alright, let’s settle down now. I am here to present the teams to all of you.” Mother Superion says sternly.
The voices die down instantly and Mother Superion looks at the list in her hands. “Okay, for the red team, we have the following cabins: Zeus, Apollo, Athena, Demeter, Hermes!”
Loud claps echo in the campsite and the voices start talking excitedly over one another. Camila claps her hands and turns to Ava and Mary with a huge grin. “How lucky are we? We got both Beatrice and Lilith on our team!”
“Yeah, this lineup is badass.” Mary nods in agreement.
“For the blue team, we have Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Poseidon, Dionysus, and Ares!”
At the announcement of the last cabin, the rest of the campers all cheer loudly, their feet stomping on the ground. Ava could feel the excitement thumping in her bones and she followed the rest of the red team to strategize.
Strategy meeting is… interesting, to say the least.
Ava watches with growing interest as Lilith and Beatrice stand on opposing ends of the table that’s holding the map of the forest. The two have been arguing back forth for almost an hour now trying to figure out which of them has the better strategy.
“Are they always so… intense?” Ava asks absentmindedly. Right now, Beatrice is gesturing at the map and explaining something to Lilith, her voice calm but obviously tense, and Ava can’t seem to look anywhere else.
“Pretty much.” Mary says with a shrug as she turns the page on the book she’s reading.
“I didn’t think Beatrice is capable of speaking so intensely.”
“They clash sometimes,” Camila offers. “As a daughter of Athena, Lilith is naturally gifted when it comes to strategizing and coming up with battle plans. She can be stubborn and hard and intimidating and even a bit judgemental at first but… She comes around once you’ve proven yourself. She’s some sort of a genius, really, when it comes to things like this.”
Ava nods as she briefly looks at Lilith and takes in how she keeps on rolling her eyes at Beatrice and arguing back, her voice sharp and cutting. She can totally see what Camila is saying about Lilith,
“And Beatrice?” Ava asks.
“Beatrice is Zeus’ daughter.” Mary interjects. “The god of the gods, the king of Olympus.”
Ava frowns, fully facing Mary. “And what about it? She’s more than her father.” She doesn’t like what those words insinuate and imply.
“Down, girl.” Mary says with a chuckle. She lowers her book and looks at Ava. “I’m just stating a fact. Beatrice is Zeus’s only existing daughter that we know of. And do you know what that means? What being the daughter of the king of Olympus means? Pressure, Ava.” Mary says with a whistle and a shake of her head. “Extreme pressure.”
“It also means being a leader.” Camila adds before Ava could ask more about what Mary just said. “Bea is a natural leader. Everyone follows her. You should see how everyone stops to listen when Beatrice is the one talking. You’d think she’s from the Aphrodite cabin and could charmspeak.”
“Well, she could pass as a member of Aphrodite, that’s for sure.” Ava mutters distractedly.
“Alright, keep it in your pants, Ava.” Mary says with a frown.
“Shut up.” Ava hisses and nudges Mary, afraid that Beatrice might hear them.
Mary just shakes her head and stands up. “Come on, let’s go help those two reach an agreement` before Beatrice pops a vein and decides to strike Lilith down with a lightning bolt.”
“Can she actually do that?” Ava whispers to Camila as they follow Mary.
Camila nods. “Yep, so it’s not a wise idea to anger Beatrice.”
Ava lets out a dreamy sigh, “Gods, help me.”
- - -
Ava gets claimed while playing Capture the Flag.
More accurately, it happens after the game has been won by Beatrice’s team already. The strategy was perfect and everything went exactly as Lilith and Beatrice planned. They were in the middle of celebrating their win when one of the campers from the blue team shoved Beatrice from behind.
Beatrice stumbles into Camila, who stumbles into Lilith. Thankfully, Lilith was able to catch Camila and stop the domino effect.
“Crimson.” Lilith hisses with a glare.
“Move it, losers.” The girl sneers at Lilith. Ava recognizes it as Crimson from the Ares cabin, someone Camila told her to steer clear from during their tour.
“Oh, that’s rich. Especially since I seem to remember Beatrice crossing the river with your stupid blue flag.” Lilith says back with a proud look on her face.
“As if a stupid game proves anything.” At this, Crimson turns to Beatrice again and pushes her on the shoulder. “Maybe we should have a real go this time, golden girl.”
Beatrice stumbles back for a bit again and this time Ava moves to her side and steadies her with a hand on the arm. Beatrice shoots her an appreciative glance before looking back at Crimson.
“I’d rather not, Crimson. This is not the time nor the place to do this.” Beatrice says calmly but with an edge to her voice.
For a moment, it seemed as if the conversation was finished, and so everyone turned back to their mini celebration. It’s only by pure luck that Ava looked back to stick her tongue out at Crimson just in time to see Crimson raising her weapon at Beatrice.
“Hey, what the fuck?!” Ava acts on instinct and pushes Beatrice behind her. She raises a hand to block her face and shuts her eyes, preparing for the blow of the weapon to hit her.
But nothing comes and Ava could vaguely hear the sound of several gasps and murmurs. She opens her eyes and sees what appears to be a shield of darkness hovering where her hand is stretched out, completely blocking Crimson’s weapon.
Crimson gapes for a second before narrowing her eyes. “What the hell?” She growls out before pulling back to hit Ava again.
Ava jumps out of the way and waves her hand at Crimson, watching with utter amazement as a bolt of darkness shoots out from her hand to hit Crimson, making her fly back on impact.
There’s a moment of deafening silence, only interrupted by the sudden quiet gasps of several people and Ava flushes, suddenly feeling guilty and conscious of what she just did, fearing that even in this place, with all the gods, goddesses, and demigods, Ava is still the freak.
“L-Look, she was going to attack Beatrice!” Ava tries to defend herself, slowly standing up with her hands raised in front of her. From between the trees, she sees Mother Superion arrive, walking slowly and staring at her with an expression Ava can’t really understand. “I’m sorry, Mother Superion. I-I didn’t actually mean to—”
“Ava,” Beatrice breathes out, and when Ava looks at her, she notices for the first time that Beatrice isn’t looking at her. In fact, none of the campers are looking at her directly. Instead, all eyes are trained above her head.
Ava looks up and sees a faint hologram image of a helm shrouded in the familiar swirls of purple and black wisps of shadow. Ava gapes, not knowing what this means, not knowing what any of this means for her.
Her attention only gets pulled back into the present when she catches sight of movement. She turns and sees Beatrice kneel before her. The sight makes Ava inhale sharply, her heart hammering against her chest at the way Beatrice is looking at her, a mix of amazement and reverence.
It takes her a moment, too occupied with staring at Beatrice, to see all the other campers following Beatrce’s example, dropping to their knees and kneeling before Ava. She lets her eyes sweep over them, at the way her friends are looking at her with smiles and grins, at the way the Ares cabin are frowning and glaring even as they’re kneeling, and at the way Mother Superion meets her gaze head-on, holding it for a few seconds, before nodding at her.
“Hades,” Mother Superion begins. “Ruler of the Underworld, the dead, and riches. Hail, Ava Silva, daughter of Hades, daughter of the Underworld.”
Ava’s mouth drops open. What the actual fuck.
-
That night, Ava moves to Cabin #13.
Her friends all come by the Hermes cabin to help her move, even Lilith gets roped in by Camila, but Ava knows it’s just their attempt to comfort her rather than help her. After all, she doesn’t really have other things aside from her single duffel bag and she’s quite sure she can carry that on her own. But for once it’s nice to have friends who seem to like her, not just tolerate her, and not to mention Beatrice also came by and that lifts Ava’s spirits immensely.
The cabin is gloomy and scary thanks to the greek fire torches and skulls hanging around. Ava tries her best to make it homey but she gives up after a few days. Life at camp is pretty much the same except for the looks that Ava is now getting. It’s different from the looks she used to get. Before the looks were filled with either curiosity or judgement. Now, most campers look at her warily and fearfully with the smallest hint of astonishment.
Ava honestly can’t decide which one she prefers.
Most nights Ava still finds herself unable to sleep.
One night, she goes to the beach again. This time she only goes to the area near her cabin. It’s not that far of a walk and soon enough Ava finds herself settled on the sand. The night is quiet and cool and it almost feels nice to be there on the beach. Ava can almost pretend that she’s on a vacation, maybe somewhere in Spain instead of the weird summer camp filled with half-bloods. It must be nice, Ava thinks, to be free in Spain to be anywhere but here.
“Hi.”
Ava turns her head at the voice and a smile pulls at her lips unconsciously. Beatrice is standing a several feet away, this time she’s wearing the tacky orange camp shirt under her black jacket, her hair tied in a simple bun.
She looks beautiful.
“Hello.” Ava says softly.
“Let me guess,” Beatrice begins as she walks closer and takes a seat next to Ava. “Can’t sleep again?”
Ava nods. “You too?”
Beatrice shrugs. “I actually came to check on you.”
Ava feels a flutter in her chest and she gapes at Beatrice. “Me? You came to check on me?”
“Is that so surprising?” Beatrice questions.
“N-no. It’s just… Why?”
“I know how it feels,” Beastrice says, shooting Ava’s cabin a glance. “Being all alone in a big and ominous cabin.”
Right. Ava remembers. Beatrice, Zeus’ only child, and now Ava, Hades’ only child. “Okay, I have a question.”
Beatrice gestures for her to continue and Ava does. “Since both our dads are part of the big three or whatever, I need to know: Is your cabin as obnoxious as mine?”
Beatrice laughs. “Perhaps more. Mine is pure white and has greek columns.”
“Well, mine has skulls and greek fire torches.” Ava challenges.
“Mine has perpetual cloudy skies and thunderbolts inside.”
“Mine is like, super dark and windowless, and has a shrine of skulls.”
“Mine has a ten-foot tall gigantic statue of Zeus in the middle.”
Ava lifts an eyebrow. “Well, okay then. You win.”
Beatrice giggles, and it distracts Ava momentarily because it sounds so good. She makes a mental note to come up with more ways to make Beatrice giggle like that.
“I know it’s difficult.” Beatrice says when the laughter dies down, “The stares, the whispering behind your back, sometimes even in front of you, the taunting of the other people.”
“Yeah? Did you experience the same?”
Beatrice nods as her hands start drawing patterns on the sand. “I did, and I’m the daughter of Zeus. I’m the daughter of the king of Olympus and I experienced those things.” Beatrice pauses, before looking at Ava with a soft gaze. “You’re the daughter of Hades, the king of the Underworld. I imagine people have a lot more to say about that.”
Ava nods, sighing softly. “Yeah, they do.”
“I understand what you’re going through. And I want you to know that you’re not alone, Ava. Even if it feels like it sometimes, you’re not alone.” Beatrice says softly and it makes Ava smile, makes her feel a bit better, and Beatrice doesn’t seem to be done yet.
“Your friends are here for you,” Beatrice begins before pausing for a few seconds, staring at Ava with keen interest and something else Ava can’t quite place. Beatrice takes a deep breath, pauses again, as if what she’s going to say next is something that takes guts to do so, before continuing, “ I am here for you, Ava.”
Now that makes Ava feel a whole lot better. For the first time since she’s discovered who her father is, Ava has something to be thankful for. She now has this connection with Beatrice and thinking about it brings butterflies to her stomach.
“Thank you.” Ava breathes out.
“Anytime.” Beatrice smiles.
“Are you sure about that?” Ava teases, leaning her head on her knees and looking up at Beatrice, liking the way Beatrice’s eyes widen slightly at it. “I might just take you up on that. Maybe make this late night beach meet-up a regular thing.”
A faint blush spreads across Beatrice’s face and Ava doesn’t stop the triumphant grin that comes. She likes having this effect on Beatrice— likes the way Beatrice reacts to her. She opens her mouth to tease Beatrice some more but she gets cut off.
“I’d like that.” It’s said in just above a whisper but it sounded clear to Ava’s ears.
She stares at Beatrice for a while, wide-eyed and mouth agape. She knows she probably looks stupid, like an owl probably— a silly-looking, blushing little owl. God, pull yourself together, Ava.
Ava straightens and faces Beatrice excitedly. “Y-yes! Me also, I mean, me too would like that— I mean I too would like that. Goddamn it. ” The last part is whispered with aggravation, mostly to herself on account of her being a bumbling idiot in front of the girls she is heavily crushing on.
Ava sees Beatrice bite her lip in an attempt to stifle a laugh and she knows then that Beatrice definitely heard her.
“Please pretend that that did not just happen. I am begging you, Big three child to Big three child.” Ava pleads, burying her face in her hands to hide her embarrassment.
“Alright,” Beatrice concedes in a gleeful voice, her eyes dancing with mirth. “Big three child to big three child and all.”
They stay silent for a while, Beatrice looking at the waves and Ava looking at Beatrice. She thinks about how she didn’t expect any of this from Beatrice, not the companionship and empathy. She thinks about all the things she has heard from other campers about Beatrice. She thinks about how they couldn't be more wrong.
She thinks about how maybe she's the only one who Beatrice has shown this side of her to, and Ava finds herself unable to control the smile on her face at that thought.
Ava wakes up from her trance when she feels Beatrice lays a hand on her arm. “Ava.”
“Yeah?”
“You’re staring,” Beatrice notes, looking at Ava curiously.
“You’re beautiful.”
Beatrice turns red instantly and it’s only then that Ava realizes what she just said. She wasn’t supposed to say it out loud, she was just thinking about it, like how she always does when she catches sight of Beatrice around the camp, but then it just slipped out and now Ava is turning just as red as Beatrice.
“Uh, I-I’m sorry if I embarrassed you,” Ava says in her own embarrassed tone, “But, um, it’s true. You are beautiful, Beatrice.” Ava offers, flashing Beatrice a small but sincere smile. “I just, uh, I didn’t mean to say it out loud ‘cause I don’t want you to think that I’m creepy or anything but… I do mean it. A hundred percent.”
“Thank you.” Beatrice smiles, shyly but happily.
A beat of silence passes them before Beatrice speaks again. “It’s late, we should go back.”
Ava nods thoughtfully, not really wanting to end their time together but also feeling tired already. They both stand up and brush the sand off of their clothes. Beatrice smiles at Ava and makes a move to turn away but Ava catches her hand to stop her.
Ava feels a light jolt of static electricity and sees the yellow and blue static sparks actually shoot up her arm. “Wha—”
Beatrice looks at her wide-eyed and apologetic. “T-That was me! Sorry, it happens sometimes when I get surprised.”
“Oh, okay, don’t worry, it’s fine” Ava assures Beatrice, wanting to get rid of the guilt the other girl’s face. She doesn’t let go of Beatrice’s hand, even when she feels her try to let go.
Instead, Ava smiles cheekily, “It was just a bit of a shock. ”
Beatrice’s apologetic look is replaced by one of mild amusement as she scrunches her face at Ava. “That was bad .” Beatrice laughs out.
“Hey, it was funny and clever!” Ava pouts, “And here I was about to offer to walk you to your cabin and you’re making fun of me!”
Beatrice laughs a bit more and shakes her head, forcing her laughter to die down slowly. “Okay, I’m stopping now.” Then Ava’s words catch up to her. Beatrice looks at Ava with some hint of hesitation. “You want to walk me to my cabin? But yours is close already.”
“It’s fine, I’ll be fine. But only if it's okay with you, of course.” Ava answers.
The hesitation dissipates and Beatrice smiles and nods. “Okay, that would be nice.”
“Lead the way then.” Ava gestures, smiling back charmingly at Beatrice. Beatrice starts walking and Ava feels a gentle tug on her hand that makes her automatically follow. She looks at their still locked hands and feels another jolt of electricity run up and down her spine. She knows it’s not exactly from Beatrice this time but she also knows that it is caused by the fact that Beatrice’s hand is holding hers. Ava tries to fight off the silly grin trying to make its way to her face but she knows it’s a losing battle.
They make light conversation during the short walk as Ava asks questions about the campers and the camp in general which Beatrice all answers patiently. They reach the front of the Zeus Cabin and Ava follows Beatrice until the marble steps and they stop by the doorway.
“Hey, um...” Ava starts, glancing from their joined hands to Beatrice’s face. “I know that people here talk a lot and they like to say a lot of shit about people… about you.”
“Oh…”
Beatrice’s hand goes slack in hers and Ava grips it tighter in response. “N-No, um, listen first. My point is that they say all these things about you but they’re wrong. They’re so wrong.” Ava takes in the look of wonder that's starting to appear on Beatrice’s face and she continues, “People say a lot about you, about your abilities, and your heritage. And, well, they say a lot about me, too. I know you’re nothing like how people paint you to be. I know because I’m nothing like what they say too. And I know because of this—”
She gestures to the two of them with her free hand, her face going red, “This, um… ah, between us is…” Ava struggles for a bit not quite sure what this actually refers to and feeling slightly embarrassed at the way Beatrice is looking at her, her cheeks red and eyes filled with something Ava can’t quite comprehend right now.
“Um, I see you, is my point.” Ava chooses to say instead, “I see you for who you are and not for what people say about you, or what people expect you to be. I see you , Beatrice. And I like what I’m seeing. And um, I am here for you too.” Ava ends, feeling conscious. “Just thought you should know that.”
A moment passes without Beatrice saying anything and Ava is starting to freak out internally, going over the things she just said to see if she said something weird, knowing herself, Ava knows that it’s not really far-fetched. Just as she’s about to freak out externally, she feels Beatrice tug gently at their hands and Ava freezes because what happens next happens in slow motion for her.
Beatrice leans in and Ava gets assaulted by the fresh smell that is uniquely Beatrice’s, before she feels the soft press of Beatrice's lip on her cheek. Ava stares wide-eyed as Beatrice pulls away and gives her a bashful smile.
“Thank you. Goodnight, Ava.” Beatrice whispers, before giving Ava’s hand one last squeeze and letting go, entering the Zeus Cabin and shutting the enormous marble doors behind her.
Ava stands still, frozen in place. The kiss was light and soft and quick, but Ava could still feel Beatrice’s lips on her cheek, she could still smell Beatrice’s scent, and she could still feel the warmth of Beatrice’s hand.
It takes a full minute more before Ava can turn around and start walking away with a happy skip in her steps. She could feel her cheeks starting to hurt with how wide her smile is.
As she skips back to her cabin, Ava thinks she might actually just love being in Camp Half-Blood.