Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

These one-shots were written by me originally on Wattpad about seven years ago and were updated in 2020. Since I moved from that site to here, I have decided to update once again and add on to these one-shots, but this time, add them here.

If you prefer using Wattpad to read these one-shots, search for HoO One Shots by DaughterofAsteria. You will see that there are more parts there for different characters but don't worry, I will be updating the tags and summary of the one-shot book on here as I edit and update the one-shots.

Please enjoy and be patient as I move them to this platform!

Chapter Text

Snow fluttered down from the sky, dusting the frozen grass lightly, resulting in a thin layer of white on the ground. Typically, the border surrounding the camp kept any extreme weather out such as rainstorms or snowstorms in the winter, but besides the strawberry fields, Chiron had allowed some snow to escape through.

As a child of Hephaestus, Y/n had an aversion to the colder seasons, preferring the sweltering heat of the forges to any weather slightly below 0. During these months of snow, it wasn't uncommon to find Y/n in the forges, hammering away at whatever piece of metal or celestial bronze they could get their hands on. This was exactly where Percy had found them, fixing someone's sword which most likely had been damaged during the last game of Capture the Flag.

Percy approached Y/n from behind with a handful of snow in his palm. Knowing of Y/n's aversion to the cold substance, Percy liked to joke that he was trying to help his partner get over it with his form of exposure therapy, which involved a copious amount of snow shoved down Y/n's shirt instead of a normal greeting.

"Don't even think about it," Y/n said, not bothering to look up from the sword that resided on their workbench. Due to the numerous times they had felt the cold liquid sliding down their back, Y/n had picked up on Percy's tactics. It was almost like they had gained eyes on the back of their head, but specifically only for devious snow pranksters.

Percy pouted and let the snow drop onto the floor, where it evaporated immediately due to the intense heat of the area. He was surprised the snow had managed to keep its solid state due to the humidity but had never questioned it. Questioning anything resulted in the Gods' attention no matter how small and Percy didn't need any more attention from them.

"How'd you know it was me?" Percy wondered aloud. He moved closer to Y/n, leaning over their shoulder to gaze down upon their work.

Y/n hummed, glancing at Percy through the reflection of the sword. "Only a handful of people bother me on my designated workday and you're the only one that hasn't taken any of my warnings to heart." They stated.

"It's because your bark is worse than your bite, my dear," Percy stated. He had wrapped his arms around Y/n's waist and fully rested his body weight upon their back. He was trying to distract Y/n from their work, and although they weren’t close to being done with the sword, Y/n knew they were finished with it for the day. Whenever Percy came into the forges, they had no chance of completing any task they had set out to do.

"What have you planned to do today that required my presence?" Y/n asked, turning around to face the boy. "I know you won't let me do anything productive so we might as well skip right to whatever activity you have planned for us."

Percy looked down at his partner and allowed his lower lip to budge into a small pout. "I would never intentionally try to pull you away from your work. I just missed you is all." He stated, pulling on a strand of their hair that had fallen out of place.

Y/n copied Percy's pout playfully. "I thought I had told you to skip telling me what you have planned today. As much as I love this weird flirting you do with me every time, why don't we just get to the good part?" They respond, leaning back on their workbench.

Percy's pout got more pronounced until he caught the look Y/n threw his way. The pout turned into a smirk, knowing he got his way much quicker than usual. Without turning around, Percy continued eye contact with Y/n until he got to the entrance. "How about we race to the beach and whoever gets there first decides what we do with the rest of the day?" He suggested innocently as if both didn't know that he had some sort of trick up his sleeve.

Y/n nodded, showing that they agreed to his terms, despite knowing nothing about this race was fair. Before they could put any of their winter clothing on, as they were simply in jeans and a t-shirt, Percy had dashed out into the winter wonderland.

"Of course," Y/n muttered under their breath, not bothering to hurry up and try to catch up with their boyfriend. If they were going to have to do whatever activity Percy had picked out, they wanted to make sure they were wearing all their winter gear. They didn't want to be caught in the cold again without a coat or mittens.

Once Y/n was sure that nothing would catch on fire, they went outside and followed the trail of footsteps that were most likely Percy's. With nothing but the snow crunching under their boots to occupy them, Y/n was left deciphering their thoughts. They weren't worried about getting lost and ending up somewhere that wasn't the lake. Their body knew the way there as it was Percy's favourite spot, so it was all muscle memory.

With the snow gently falling to the ground, Y/n couldn't help but be reminded of the day their relationship with Percy started. It was after the Giant War when they had their first actual interaction with Percy. Of course, Y/n knew of Percy, as he went from one world-ending prophecy to another. Y/n had even been at camp when he first arrived, having been on his team for Capture the Flag, but not once did they have an interaction until five or six years after the fact.

It was only when Y/n was changing BlackJack's horseshoes one day that Percy even noticed them and it took months of interactions in the Pegasi stables for Percy to ask them out. It had just been a meal outside of camp, but they realized how well they clicked with one another. They had been dating since surprising other campers as they hadn't expected the pairing to make it out of the talking stage.

Y/n’s siblings liked to joke that they may not have inherited fire powers like Leo, but that their personality was fiery enough that it wasn’t needed. That mixed with Percy’s more laid-back personality made people question how well they would work, but both of them were able to talk through any issues they had before it could get blown out of proportion.

The gentle lapping of water hitting the shore shook Y/n out of their thoughts, letting them know that they had arrived at their destination. After a glance around the area, Y/n noticed a picnic table with a basket. They took a few steps closer to inspect what was going on. They didn’t want to assume that Percy had set this up but it was too much of a coincidence.

The lack of Percy was also an issue. By now he would’ve jumped out from whatever hiding spot he was in to surprise them so the fact that he hadn’t was concerning.

Before Y/n could call out his name, one of the nymphs of the lake popped out. She beckoned for Y/n to come closer, which the demigod did without hesitation. The nymphs liked Percy enough not to want to drown Y/n, which worked well for both demigods.

“Do you happen to know where Percy is?” Y/n asked, hoping that that was why they were beckoned over.

The nymph smiled and pointed down the beach's shoreline to two figures standing closely together. Before Y/n could turn back and thank her, she had dissolved into the water, leaving nothing but a small wave that barely missed their boots.

They shrugged off the interaction and made their way in the indicated direction. Y/n hoped that whoever was currently with Percy would finish their conversation quickly. As much as they loved the idea of eating outside on a beautiful day that was today, Y/n had already thought of many ways to get Percy to move the meal indoors where it wasn’t freezing.

Once they were closer, Y/n was able to distinguish who the other person was. Now don’t get them wrong, Y/n didn’t have a grudge against the Aphrodite children, despite the relationship between the demigods’ parents. They enjoyed having conversations with Piper and receiving makeovers whenever Lacy wanted to give them one. However, they did have a problem with Drew Tanaka. If there was a demigod with all of their godly parent's bad qualities and none of the good ones, Drew would be that demigod. Wanting to get away from Drew as fast as they could, Y/n called out Percy’s name, gaining his attention and unfortunately, Drew’s as well.

“Look who it is Percy, it’s Y/n!” Drew exclaimed, any true enthusiasm erased from her voice as she took a snarky tone. “How’s that forge treating you? Still managing to make noise without producing anything of value?” She made an exaggerated frowny face toward Y/n, further frustrating the demigod.

They rolled their eyes at Drew’s comment. She always tried to rile them up, and most of the time, Y/n was willing to comply with her game, but today was not that day. “Better to create something imperfect than to perfect the art of doing nothing." They quipped, reaching to grab Percy’s arm.

The boy had been standing there silently which was unusual for him. Typically, he was the buffer in these conversations, making sure Y/n didn’t try to strangle Drew with her hair. When Y/n went to question his silence, Drew swatted their hand away from Percy, making a sound of disgust as if touching them was akin to touching garbage.

“Don’t touch my boyfriend, you grease rat!” She shouted, cradling his arm in hers. Y/n’s eyes went wide once they comprehended Drew’s words.

“‘Your boyfriend’? Did your cheap-smelling perfume finally fry the small amount of brain cells you had up there?” Y/n questioned, looking down at Drew in exasperation. They couldn’t believe the audacity of the Aphrodite child.

“No, but it’s’ clear you’ve been huffing too much of that smog in the forges. Percy and I have been dating for years now, so you can stop embarrassing yourself now.”

Y/n looked over to Percy, who hadn’t moved from his original stance. His expression seemed eerily calm for what was happening and he made no move to defend them. It was more clear now that something was wrong with Percy. He never knew when to shut up so this was very out of character for him.

“What did you do to him?” Y/n questioned Drew, staring her down with a sharp gaze.

Drew smirked and hooked her arm around Percy’s. “I did nothing that wasn’t going to happen anyway. Someone as powerful and handsome as him deserves to be with someone of equal status. Obviously, he was getting bored of you! I mean, a picnic in the snow? Only a simpleton like you would enjoy that.”

Y/n knew that Drew was petty but this was a new level. They couldn’t even think of a response as they were shocked at the turn the day took. It’s not every day a charm speaker steals your boyfriend and tries to gaslight you into believing that you were never in a relationship to start with.

“It’s obvious that you’ve used your charmspeak on him Drew!” Y/n stated, not letting her get away with the misuse of her power. “Let Percy speak and see what he has to say about who his partner is.” Y/n hoped by doing this, Drew’s charm speak would fail and Percy would be able to break through her spell.

Drew pouted playfully and looked up at Percy. “Did you hear that Percy? They want to know about your partner. Why don’t you tell them the truth about who you’ve been dating this whole time?”

For the first time during this conversation, Percy moved to look at the two people in front of him. It took him a moment to speak as if there was a delay between his brain and his speech muscles.

“Drew and I have been dating for years now,” He drawled in a script-like way. Before Y/n could mention the unnatural way in which Percy spoke, Drew let out a smug laugh.

“Awh,” Drew said in mock pity. “Looks like I was right and you’re living in some delusion. So if you wouldn’t mind, we have a date to get to and I don’t want us smelling like singed armpit hair. You may enjoy the smell, but we have standards.”

With that the two of them walked away, neither looking back at Y/n, who hadn’t moved from their spot. Although Y/n was warm on the outside, they felt frozen on the inside. They still couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. Not even half an hour ago, they were thinking about their relationship with Percy. Now they were trying to figure out what was real and what was fake. Y/n didn’t know how she did it, but part of them felt that Aphrodite managed to get her revenge on Hephaestus by aiding in the ruining of his children's romantic relationships. Hephaestus was right all those years ago when Y/n had seen him last.

Who needs love?

Chapter Text

Y/n was always disliked wherever he went. Despite being a quiet baby who slept an unnatural amount, his mother abandoned him in an alleyway at the age of 2, muttering about terrifying lucid dreams. There wasn’t much he could do after that besides wandering the streets, trying to find his mother or someone to help him. At some point, Y/n was saved by an older man in a wheelchair, who took him to what he called a ‘camp’.

Too many people were there, yet none wanted to care for the child. Y/n understood when he got older that it was because they were also children, too busy trying to figure out their issues and abandonment from their parents, mortal and immortal alike.

Having been unclaimed upon his arrival, Y/n was placed in the Hermes cabin, much to the discomfort of the other children. None of them were prepared for the dreams they would encounter on the first night they shared a cabin with the toddler. A chorus of screams and wails erupted from the cabin periodically throughout the night, yet none woke until Y/n did the next morning.

This event repeated consistently without fail, the haunting wails still echoing through the cabin in the present if one were to listen closely during the night. No one knew the cause of the persistent issue, making it hard to come up with an answer to ‘why’ or any type of solution. It had become common to find the occupants of the Hermes cabin sleeping throughout the day whether during meal times or training. Even then, they would awake terrified of whatever they had experienced in their dreams.

The Hermes cabin had had enough on the fourth day of barely any sleep, demanding Chiron to do something about the issue. They were exhausted and the symptoms of sleep deprivation were prevalent amongst them. Almost all of them were experiencing hallucinations and depersonalization, having landed numerous campers in the infirmary due to accidental or self-inflicted wounds. The average demigod boy cannot take enough ambrosia or nectar to heal all the injuries nor can it fix the empty sockets of another unclaimed camper, who had gouged out her own eyes due to the nightmares.

Chiron didn’t know where to start when trying to find a solution for this issue, but luckily for him, a solution did appear, just not in a helpful way. It appeared in yells and a small body was thrown on the ground at his front legs.

“It was him! He’s the reason why we’re suffering!” One of the older Hermes children shouted, pointing down at Y/n with a sneer. “He just put Xander in a coma!”

The other Hermes children circled the toddler, who had no idea what was happening. All Y/n knew was that his afternoon nap was interrupted by a harsh yank on his hair as he was dragged out of his makeshift bed on the floor.

“Now children, you can’t just assume-” Chiron was cut off by another camper in the crowd that had now gathered around the grassy area.

“Either you deal with him or we do Chiron!” She stated, leaving no room for argument. All the Hermes cabin could see was red as they seethed on the sidelines. They didn’t see Y/n as a child with no control over his demigod abilities. They wouldn’t move past this incident as it had left many of them with life-altering injuries physically as well as psychologically. Some of them would never get over what they had seen.

Chiron didn’t answer, but simply picked Y/n up, cradling him against his side as he looked over the grouped campers despondently. Situations such as this had happened many times throughout Chiron’s life and he simply had no more hope for Y/n’s ability to immerse himself with the campers. The small boy would be ostracized in one of the only places made for demigods to come together, as the mortal world left them feeling different from everyone.

For years, Chiron had Y/n separated from the main camp, supporting him as he mastered the abilities he inherited from his father, Hypnos. The cave that Y/n resided in was nice and kept the younger boy occupied. As a small gift from his father, a stream flowed through the cave, carrying the milky white-coloured water to and from the river Lethe. Throughout the years, poppies had erupted from the floor, releasing a powerful gas that covered the space in a misty fog. Y/n assumed that the fog would cause someone to fall asleep after inhalation, but no one knew he slept there so he hadn’t been able to test out his hypothesis.

When Y/n was 14, twelve years after the initial incident, Chiron had invited him back to the camp, wanting the pre-teen to socialize with others his age. Now that most of the involved campers had left camp, Chiron assumed that Y/n would be welcomed back with less hatred as no one knew who he was. What the centaur didn’t account for was that the nightmare incident had been passed down through the story within the Hermes cabin.

On his first day back into camp, Y/n was immediately targeted by the new Hermes cabin campers. Although they weren’t involved initially, they took their revenge on the boy. The Hypnos cabin, which Chiron had erected specifically for him, was constantly ransacked and defaced, making Y/n hide his few personal items to avoid being stolen or broken. His clothing and towel would be stolen from communal showers and scattered around the camp. He was never picked for Capture the Flag or any team events as the rest of the camp was now cautious about being around him.

Everything changed when Luke Castellan arrived at camp. Despite the numerous warnings from the senior campers or the constant retellings of the event twelve years ago, Luke took the time to approach Y/n during his first week at camp. He was the only Hermes child to acknowledge him, actively seeking his presence and treating him kindly.

For the two years following Luke’s arrival, the boys were attached to the hip with one another. Y/n was still attacked and chosen last for activities, but now it was easier since someone else was there to lessen the loneliness he felt. Luke sat with him during meals and slept over in the Hypnos cabin as Chiron turned a blind eye to their shenanigans.

However, Luke couldn’t spend every second with him as he had other friends and hobbies outside of spending time with the Hypnos child. During the time that Luke spent away from Y/n, the other campers took the opportunity to enact their anger, attacking him physically or hurling insults at him. The bruises that covered his body soon became obvious to Luke, who had accidentally walked into the Hynos cabin as Y/n was changing.

“Where did you get those marks?” Luke questioned from his place at the door. The shirt that Y/n was in the process of putting on fell to the floor as the teen froze, horrified that Luke had noticed them despite his attempts at covering them.

“Hand-to-hand combat with the Ares cabin?” Y/n said, sounding more like he was wondering himself and not knowing the real answer. Luke scoffed, making his way toward the still-frozen demigod.

“You can’t lie to me. When I’m not here, I’m back in the Hermes, listening to them obsess over you and how much they like to torment you.” Luke cornered Y/n against the wall, glancing at his face to see if he could gain information from his expression.

It was impossible to lie to Luke, no matter how hard Y/n tried. Luke was ridiculously good at sniffing out the whitest of lies whether by using his inherited Hermes abilities or convincing someone to tell him themself. With the mixture of his good looks and intellect, if Y/n didn’t know better, he would’ve thought Luke was manipulating him through their years of friendship.

Breaking out of his frozen state, Y/n rolled his eyes and pushed past Luke. “So if I said they were still hurting me. What are you going to do? Go over there and teach them a lesson?” Y/n joked, shaking his fist at Luke like he was going to beat him up.

Luke was quiet as he grabbed Y/n’s wrists and brought him forward. They were chest to chest, the only sound being their breathing as they glanced at each other. Y/n didn’t know what was running through his friend’s mind. All he knew was that he should calm down as he was getting too worked up about this conversation. It was why he never let Luke know about the constant harassment from his siblings.

“I worry about you,” Luke whispered, breaking Y/n out of his thoughts. “I care about you so much Y/n and hate seeing what they do to you. What can I do to help?” Luke looked down at him through his eyelashes, their breaths intermingling as they shuffled closer to each other unconsciously.

“You can help by staying here with me,” Y/n replied in the same tone. His lips brushed against Luke’s with each word, not fully making contact but enough to be slightly teasing.

“I think I can comply.”

The other campers didn’t know what happened that day, but something had changed. If they had thought Luke and Y/n were close before, they were wrong as their relationship evolved from that moment. The rest of the Hermes cabin had taken the hint that Y/n was off limits and stopped their harassment for the most part. Nothing physical happened, but he could still feel their piercing glares from across the room during meals and whatnot.

Y/n didn’t know what he would do without Luke, so two years later, when he poisoned Thalia’s tree and the young son of Poseidon, Y/n stood in the shadows waiting. Luke had pleaded for Y/n to betray the camp with him, claiming that they had never done anything for him besides harassing him for an innocent accident all those years ago. Y/n couldn’t come up with an argument as it was clear that he would never be accepted into the camp no matter what he did as the Hermes cabin would always convince the other campers to distrust him. So with little convincing, Y/n left Camp Half-blood with Luke, not looking back as the other boy led him away from the one place he thought could’ve been his home.

______

Months after they left camp, Y/n could tell that the Luke he knew was changing into something monstrous. Kronos’ influence was infecting his thoughts, making him more sadistic and paranoid. During the night, Y/n would roll over in their shared bed and find nothing lying beside him, the bed cold as no one had slept there in weeks. He knew it was partially his fault as Luke couldn’t have pleasant dreams anymore now that Kronos was sharing the same body with him. The nightmares got worse when Y/n was around, despite the twelve years of training had undergone to prevent this specific incident. He blamed himself for Luke’s worsened state, ignoring his partner’s claims that he was tired from housing the body of the Titan.

Y/n considered leaving, wondering if that would benefit the other demigod, but he knew he couldn’t. They both were too deep into this mess that they would be prevented from leaving. The army knew that if Y/n left, Luke would leave them without the promised war. Due to that, he was constantly accompanied by Ethan Nakamura. He didn’t mind the company of the younger boy, as both of their parents didn’t fit in at camp since they went against the positive atmosphere they promoted there.

Any hope of escaping their reality was gone when Luke approached Y/n somberly. It was the first conversation they’d had in days, Luke had been busy leading the war effort and changing plans as Percy Jackson continued to outbeat him.

“Is it time?” Y/n had asked, picking the skin around his nails, a bad habit he acquired since leaving camp. Luke nodded, refusing to make eye contact with him. Y/n knew he felt guilty, that Luke’s only regret was bringing Y/n along on this journey, but it was too late for guilt now. It was time for Y/n to pledge his allegiance to Kronos, being one of the last people to do so

The walk was quiet, neither one of them making a sound. There was so much Y/n wanted ti say to Luke: how afraid he was of the future and whether he was even in it, but Y/n knew he could never say this aloud. Luke would do anything to get back at the Olympians and Y/n had a feeling that if he got in the way, he wouldn’t be spared.

The two boys walked into a room, empty except for Kronos’ glowing sarcophagus that resided in the middle. Y/n froze at the entrance, that fact that this was happening finally sinking in. He didn’t move until Luke pushed on his lower back.

“You can do it,” Luke whispered, trying to calm any nerves his partner might have. “He won’t cause you harm, I promise.”

With nowhere else to run, as Luke stood at the doorway, Y/n made his way over to the tomb and knelt down in front of it. The sound of a heart beating grew louder as well as Kronos’ voice, whispering in unintelligible sentences.

Y/n turned his head, taking one last look at Luke. He was considerably more pale than he had been since entering the room, his hand on the hilt of his sword as he looked down at Y/n. Luke wouldn’t draw it, out of love, but there was only so much he could do if Y/n didn’t go through with the pledge.

Taking in a deep breath, Y/n put his hand on the sarcophagus, wincing as the metal burned his hand. He pledged allegiance to the Titan, although every part of him was convincing him to refuse. It was too late now. They both had to deal with the consequences.

A menacing laugh echoed throughout the room as the pledge worked. Y/n attempted to stand so he could rush out of the room. His duty was done and all he wished to do was go back to his room and pretend as if this was all a bad nightmare.

Unfortunately for him, as soon as he turned around, he was met with a sword through the stomach. Y/n gasped for air, pain rippling through his body as he looked up at the culprit.

Looking down at him was Luke, but not the one he had fell in love with. This version had golden eyes and a mean smirk as he shoved the sword further into him.

“Now that you’ve pledged allegiance, you’re no longer needed,” Luke spoke, his voice now deep and cold. “The boy and I are connected which means I can finally get rid of the loose ends.”

Y/n was hardly listening as the pain got too much. He didn’t want his last memory of Luke to be tainted by his body being used as his murderer. Instead he thought of the memories they shared at camp, when both of them were still largely unaffected by the outside world.

Maybe it was all a nightmare, one that Y/n had accidentally enforced on himself. Maybe he’ll wake up in a few moments, lying next to Luke in the Hypnos cabin in the middle of the night. Luke would pull him closer, somehow sensing that Y/n had had a nightmare, and they’d both fall back asleep, awaking peacefully when the sunrises.

But as Y/n laid on the stone, his blood puddling around him, he realised that this was a nightmare he couldn’t control. That life was a nightmare as it always had been for him.

Chapter Text

The sun beat down on the campers, causing their shirts to uncomfortably plaster to their backs. The early June heat buzzed in their ears, harmonizing with the cicadas and other bugs lazily flying around. The cabins were all split up, doing one of the many activities set up to train and hone their godly skills.

The Dionysus cabin only consisted of three campers, making it one of the smallest cabins of the bunch. Y/n spent almost every waking moment with their twin brothers, Castor and Pollux, if they weren’t over in the strawberry fields tending to the plants with the Demeter kids.

The day before was spent hauling themselves over the climbing wall, leaving successfully with limited burns to both their body and their clothing. However, today was spent listening to the gossip of the kid who came to camp injured in the cover of the night.

“I heard he defeated the Minotaur,” Katie Gardner whispered to Y/n, the two of them lying under a tree along the perimeter of the strawberry fields.

“I heard that he only won because he tricked it into running into a tree,” Y/n responded, adjusting the glasses on their face.

The glasses looked like standard sunglasses with the exception of having deep purple lenses. They were a gift from their father, Dionysus, after seeing the effect Y/n had on anyone who made direct eye contact with them.

Some of the campers, such as the Ares and Hermes cabin, liked to compare Y/n to Medusa, claiming that she was likely their mother. However, when Castor started to bring comic books to camp a few years back, Y/n discovered a character who’s mutant power made them have to use special glasses as well. From then on, did Y/n only refer to said character when referring to their own condition, although shooting beams from the eyes is different than driving someone to madness from slight eye contact.

“Whatever happened, it’ll be nice to have someone new around here,” Katie said, brushing the grass beside her gently.

Y/n grunted in agreement. The last time a camper had arrived to camp in a similar manner to this new guy was when Annabeth and Luke showed up five years ago. It wasn’t like there weren’t any arrivals after that, for Y/n’s own brothers had arrived only a few months after that incident, but nothing of such degree had occurred until last night.

Before the two could continue with their conversation, whether speculating about the new guy or which Shakespearean play was the best, as both demigods were enjoyers of the arts, the sound of the conch horn was heard, signalling that it was time for lunch.

Y/n was back in the strawberry fields when they first caught a glimpse of the newest camper, Percy or Peter whatever his name was.

Since only the Demeter and Dionysus cabins had an effect on the vines, they alternated which days they would care for the plants. Today just happened to be the Dionysus cabins double shift, which didn’t bother the three siblings.

Pollux was at the other end, chatting with one of the satyrs that helped pick the berries when ripened. Castor, on the other hand, was gorging himself on the bucket of over ripened strawberries, ones that weren’t sent to the restaurants of New York City.

Y/n didn’t care much for what their younger brothers were doing. Although their father wasn’t allowed to show any favouritism to his three children, he managed to keep them out of punishment for goofing off from their tasks.

While growing the vines, Y/n typically zoned out, thinking about the half finished stage play that sat on their bunk. However, their attention quickly focused on Chiron and the boy that was accompanying the centaur.

There was something interesting about the kid. It made Y/n’s fingers itch to begin drafting a new stage play, one focused on a typical Greek tragedy. They hadn’t had this urge since Luke arrived, however when trying to put words to paper, all people saw were the words of a mad man. Only Y/n could understand the strokes of the letters in their fit of passion, or madness if you ask their brothers. However, when converted from a written story to an oral one, all those listening heard was garbled speech. No one could appreciate theatre these days.

Chiron and the new guy disappeared from view, probably to visit the more exciting parts of camp, but Y/n couldn’t focus back on the vines in front of them. Their vision blurred with visions that didn’t make sense and if they weren’t the child of the god of madness, Y/n felt like their brain would’ve combusted.

It wasn’t until a group of dryads who appeared as young children, begged the frozen demigod to come play. Stating that they promised to be the evil dragon in their game and that it wouldn’t work without one.

As they were being dragged into the forest by the gaggle of children, a part of Y/n couldn’t help but to wonder what the visions meant for the young boy who had just arrived.

It had been a few days since Percy Johnson, or was it Peter Jackson, had arrived at camp and Y/n was exhausted. Sometimes the thought of having been cursed by Apollo at birth appears in Y/n’s brain as it is the only reason why the visions they have been plagued with could be considered prophetic.

Castor and Pollux had watched their older sibling from their respective bunks for the past three nights until the point of exhaustion, as Y/n scribbled feverishly on old parchment in a language only they seemed to know. Neither of the boys were able to comprehend what left Y/n in this state, one that rendered them useless and ignorant to the outside world.

They observed as their sibling quickly got paler, losing any warmth that their skin may have held before. When Pollux pulled Y/n away from their mountain of scribbles for meals and sleep, the older sibling would mutter under their breath in words not understandable and would glance at the twins over the top of their glasses.

Neither Pollux or Castor could be affected by Y/n’s inflicted visions of madness, but knew that if they were making eye contact then those that would be affected will be likely to make it instead.

Castor, the braver of the twins, approached Dionysus, worrying about what the writing entailed and what may have caused this sudden behaviour. While it was an achievement that their godly father understood the words scribbled on the numerous pieces of paper, Castor and Pollux couldn’t help but to feel as if Y/n was doomed as their father refused to speak about what caused such a negative response to appear from the man.

Despite their state, Y/n was still expected to participate in the capture the flag game that was to be held after dinner. As the head counselor of the Dionysus cabin, it would look disrespectful for them to not show especially since they were to aid the Ares cabin.

Although Clarisse had no issue with their cabin, as Y/n turned a blind eye when she picked strawberries for a certain Aphrodite camper, there was no telling what fury they would evoke from the girl and her cabin.

“Will you be okay,” Castor whispered to Y/n at dinner. The younger boy nudged the older sibling, hoping to elicit a response whether a simple sound or speech.

Snapping out of their daze as Castor’s elbow came into contact with their side, Y/n sucked in a breath. “I-“ They started, taking in a moment to sort out the madness from reality. Once their vision cleared, as much as it could, Y/n continued. “I think the bundle of grapes I burned for Dad and the orange I threw in for Apollo worked as I’m more in reality now than I have been.”

“So you’ll be good to play? Because I don’t want to become a punching bag for Clarisse and her goon squad.” Pollux said, leaning over the table to get a closer look at Y/n.

While they weren’t looking completely alright, they appeared to be better than they had been. Y/n nodded, glancing at Pollux from over the lenses of their glasses. “Dad even said I could go ‘full out’ as it may be the only way to lessen the strain placed on me.”

Pollux and Castor seemed to brighten at the notion of their older sibling letting loose, excitedly planning about how they could bring the Athena team to their knees with just a simple glance.

Y/n smiled at their enthusiasm, as only fourteen year olds could see the positives that come from disrupting someone’s reality. Despite the distraction of the two boys by them, Y/n couldn’t help the feeling of being watched. It would’ve appeared to be normal, as Y/n was absent from the last few meals which typically raises some concern. However, the person looking was the only other person that has caused a similar reaction to Percy’s arrival.

Although protective lenses were all that separated the two from making eye contact, Y/n couldn’t help but to feel as if Luke Castellan was peering past them into the madness that lay behind.

Luke Castellan was a complex boy, that much could be understood. When surrounded by the multitude of campers, especially those residing in the Hermes cabin, he was this charismatic older brother figure. No matter how much they chipped away at his patience, he wouldn’t allow the act to drop until he was completely alone.

His anger toward his father boiled under his skin, waiting for his Master’s command to leave this place that expected him to believe his father cared despite his distant behaviour.

Luke’s focus for the past few days has been on the new camper, Percy Jackson. Although he enjoyed the kid’s presence, his Master had other plans for him. He did feel bad for what will occur after tonight’s capture the flag, Luke wanted the nightmares to end and this was the only way to achieve that.

While his siblings blabbed away, Luke scanned the rest of the Dining Pavilion. If everything went accordingly, he wanted to be one step ahead to prove that he was worth his Master’s time. Allies were important in the upcoming war, especially demigod ones as it would lessen the support the gods could call upon.

His eyes glanced over at the Ares’ table, observing how they challenged each other to eating competitions and argued over who could belch the loudest. Any Ares’ children would be beneficial as they have an innate war ability, but unfortunately they cared too much for their absent father.

The Apollo cabin, although the largest cabin in numbers, were also in the same boat of caring for their father. Luke also thought most of them to be annoying so he ruled them out as well.

Sliding his eyes away from the Apollo table, Luke glanced over at the Dionysus table. The twins, Castor and Pollux, weren’t much to write home about, even if Luke had a home to write to. They were young, slightly pudgy in Dionysus’ cherub way, and way too bright-eyed. Despite having limited contact with their father, who was the director of the camp, they still seemed to idolize him in the way that most sons do with their father.

Now their older sibling, Y/n, was a different story. Luke had heard rumours from older campers about what the purple glasses did. Many thought that they were simply an accessory that Y/n refused to part with as it had been a gift from someone before they became a year-long camper. Luke preferred the other rumours, the whispered ones told in dark places.

The past Hermes cabin counsellor had told Luke that the lenses were to protect others from making eye contact with Y/n. She stated that to look directly into their eyes would cause one’s reality to become manipulated as the person would lose themselves to madness.

“Take whatever you see when you make eye contact with Dionysus and triple that,” she had said to Luke, when he had first joined the Hermes cabin. “They wear those to protect the rest of us, but still, the slightest of eye contact can make your brain feel like it’s been in a blender.”

Y/n and Luke were only a year apart, with the latter being older. Despite the closeness in age, the two rarely spoke. Luke was a force to be reckoned with his sword fighting skills, while Y/n preferred to use something akin to a celestial bronze whip. Due to the differences in fighting styles, they never interacted during weapons training. Their cabins typically never interacted, the Hermes cabin enjoying the basketball and volleyball courts, while the Dionysus cabin spent free time in the strawberry fields with the Demeter cabin and the nature spirits.

Luke remembered something Silena had told him earlier that day. Silena, like most Aphrodite children, loved to gossip and thought Luke was good-looking. It was something that if he was a worse person, which Luke was, he would take advantage of (he does).

They were in the Pegasus stables when Luke asked what was new in the camp. He had limited time before Clarisse came and stole his unknowing informant from him.

Silena’s face lit up at the question, as she loved to talk about the ins and outs about the camp's individuals.

“So Lee and Katie were caught kissing by Will and Drew found out that Mason was crushing on someone in the Hermes cabin and then-“ Silena began, her words spilling out of her mouth quicker than water rushing out of a broken dam.

Luke had learned to disassociate through most of the conversations he has with the Aphrodite daughter. He focused more on her facial expressions, as what her face was doing reflected what she was speaking about. The information that most concerned Luke was anything that caused Silena’s brows to furrow. The Aphrodite campers were so worried about wrinkles that when their brows furrowed naturally, that’s when something was going on.

“Oh!” Silena gasped, catching her breath from her tirade. Luke noticed her brows scrunching together, signalling that he should pay attention to whatever comes out next. “Clarisse overheard Castor or Pollux, she doesn’t know, talking to Dionysus about Y/n!”

Luke leaned forward, knowing if he were to crowd over Silena, she would become flustered, which causes her to say anything and everything about the current topic.

“Oh?” Luke responded, arching a brow in curiosity. “What did he say to our director?”

Silena flushed pink, glancing up at the looming blond. “Something about Y/n’s condition. Clarisse couldn’t remember it all but it was about visions and reality distortion or whatever.”

The conversation stayed in the back of Luke’s mind, coming to the forefront now as he stares at the Dionysus child. This was something he could use to his benefit.

When the conch horn sounded, Luke took off into the red team's side of the forest. Although he did want to capture the flag, he did have an ulterior motive, one involving the glasses wearing child of Dionysus.

It wasn’t hard to find said demigod as Silena had unknowingly told Luke about Clarisse’s strategy and where everyone would be placed. All Luke had to do was flex a bicep and flash a smile, and that girl was like putty in his hands.

Skidding to a stop, Luke peered over the giant rock that stood before him. Just as Silena had stated, Y/n stood in the clearing, their whip in one hand and a shield in the other.

Although being the son of the trickster god allowed Luke to be charmingly deceitful, it was only when he knew what the person saw him as. For Silena, he played into her idea of what he was (older and charming) while with Percy, he became more of an older brother. What did Y/n want? That’s what Luke needed to figure out.

“You might as well come out!” Came Y/n’s voice from where they stood. “There’s no point in hiding when I can sense you from behind that rock.”

Luke cursed under his breath. There goes any chance of trying to make a plan regarding Y/n. Looks like he’ll just have to improvise the upcoming conversation as best as he could.

“It seems like you’ve caught me!” Luke shouted back, standing with his arms raised in mock surrender. “Guess you’ve got to take me to your jail.”

Y/n didn’t respond, staring silently at Luke. Neither moved, causing Luke to feel the sweat rolling down his neck and under his shirt. His grip on his sword was bruising as the leather cut into his palm.

“Are you not afraid?” Y/n called out, taking careful strides forward as if expecting an ambush from the rest of the Hermes cabin.

“Afraid of what?” Luke responded, moving out and around the cover of the rock. He could vaguely remember a warning from Chiron before the horn blew, something about watching out for the person in front of him.

Luke didn’t know how Y/n crossed the clearing so silently and quickly. All he felt was their fingers gently pushing his chin up from its lowered position. Luke thought nothing of this, expecting to meet purple lenses.

When he made contact with eyes almost as purple as wine grapes did Chiron’s warning come back to Luke.

Chiron had said that Dionysus had lifted his ban on Y/n using their inherited power. He urged the other campers to be cautious of eye contact but also reassured them that Dionysus swore to reverse any harm done on affected campers.

As Luke found himself staring into Y/n’s eyes, he could feel his brain melt as his eyes glossed over in memories of his mother. He needed to say something, anything to intrigue Y/n enough to want to approach him later.

What Luke managed to say before losing himself in whatever madness had been unleashed upon him, made Y/n freeze in their spot. Luke smiled, as he managed to complete his mission of gaining the interest of one of the strongest campers.

“Your eyes are beautiful.”

Chapter Text

Y/n had no idea how they ended up outside. It was cold, freezing if you included the windchill. The snow was up to their knees and was still coming down. None of these facts stopped Piper McLean from getting what she wanted, although Y/n would’ve gladly done anything for the girl.

Since the day she had arrived at camp, there was something within Y/n that pulled them toward Piper. They didn’t understand the urge as it hadn’t appeared with anyone else. Clarisse, Y/n’s older sister, speculated that the children of Ares were always tied to those born from Aphrodite. That there was some preexisting connection, spanning centuries beforehand when the two gods started their own relationship.

Even though Y/n wanted to know more, as planning a war strategy, which the demigod related this to, required more information, they knew when to stop. Y/n had been a camper the same time as Silena Beauregard so they knew about the fate she met. Many think the Ares children were cruel, but Y/n thought differently when none of their siblings, plus themselves, mentioned the Aphrodite camper to Clarisse.

This speculated connection entered the thoughts of the Ares campers as they watched Piper drag Y/n outside earlier that afternoon.

There was one thing about their sibling that the Ares children knew, it was that Y/n despised the cold. They were born in a place where there was barely any snow or none at all. Coming to New York, where it did reach freezing temperatures and snow was more common, had been a shock to Y/n. If any of their siblings tried to drag them outside, they’d plead for anything but that.

So to watch Y/n put on their winter clothing and walk outside to be with Piper, left many of the Ares cabin confused and worried that Y/n had been possessed.

One of them, Sherman, even turned to Clarisse to judge her reaction, but the latter hadn’t even looked away from cleaning her spear.

“Are you not worried?” Sherman asked, gesturing widely toward the couple outside.

Clarisse grunted, not pausing her action. “McLean has that effect on Y/n. You’d be blind if you didn’t notice it before.” Was all she said about the matter.

Clarisse thought it was obvious the changes her sibling had made whether consciously or not. The only meat Y/n grabbed during meals was sacrificed to Ares and never eaten by themself. Their eyes seemed to light up more and the sharp, witty comebacks and insults Y/n had used before the war were slipping back into their vocabulary. Y/n was slowly becoming the person they were before the war, someone who allowed others in their heart instead of pushing them away.

“So,” Y/n dragged out, shoving their mitten-covered hands in their coat pocket. “When do you guys leave?”

Piper had decided that today was the perfect weather to take a walk, however Y/n felt like Piper thought every day had the perfect weather. The two were walking along one of the trails made throughout the forest, as they did every day since meeting. There was something refreshing about being away from both their noisy cabins to chat about whatever came to mind in the quiet wood.

Piper balanced along a fallen tree trunk as if it was a trapeze wire. Her arms were out for balance and Y/n noticed that her tongue was sticking out slightly in concentration, a habit they didn’t know if Piper recognized she had.

Instead of responding verbally, Piper shrugged her shoulders. Before Y/n could question her silence, as Piper typically was one to talk about something for great lengths of time, Piper changed the subject.  

As the days continued, similar situations would occur, leaving Y/n confused about their friend’s behaviour. It’s not as if they wanted Piper to leave, they just wanted to know how much time they had left together. Sure, Y/n had other friends, but no one clicked with them like Piper did. It felt like putting two puzzle pieces together correctly, or finally adjusting a recipe to create the perfect balance between ingredients.  

Not wanting to push Piper on the subject of their departure to the Roman camp, Y/n built up the confidence to visit Leo Valdez in the bunker that he had found. 

There was a different connection that Y/n had with Leo, one that Ares and Hephaestus could have shared if the gods weren’t so prideful. The two demigods seemed to understand each other a far bit more than others did. They were both drawn to the same Aphrodite child, albeit platonically, and had an understanding that they didn’t need to fight for her attention. 

When they both weren’t with their own cabins or mutual friends, Y/n and Leo could be found competing on who was better in the most random skills ever. Once Leo learned that Y/n was raised by their mechanic aunt, he decided that Y/n was an honorary Hephaestus child, further expanding their friendship.

“Hey Valdez, you here?” Y/n called out, entering the bunker’s main room. 

Luckily, being an Ares child has its benefits, like a booming voice, which makes it hard to not be heard in any room. After a few moments of silence, Leo’s call of Y/n’s name came from somewhere within the boat he was currently building.

Y/n took off their warm wear and tossed it all to the side in a pile. They leapt over random pieces of wood and skirted around puddles of mystery liquid that smelt too much like Greek fire. Once landing on the top deck of the boat, or the couple of boards that were currently residing there, Y/n looked down into the belly of the boat for their friend.

Although Leo knew it was friend who balanced above him, he couldn’t help the shiver that went down his back as he looked up at the chilling smile Y/n unknowingly sent him.

“Got room for one more?”

Camp Half-blood was a decent sized place so it wasn’t a surprise if you couldn’t find someone in the first couple of places you’d looked. However, Piper was desperate. She had checked all of the spots that Y/n was known to be, like the basketball court, the lava wall, and even the sword training grounds, but somehow the child of the loudmouth god was nowhere to be found.

Her last spot was the Ares cabin. Some might assume that Piper should’ve checked there first, as a child of Ares would most likely be in their own cabin, but Cabin 5 was typically empty throughout the day as the campers terrorized the others.

As she went to knock on a section of the door not covered with barbed wire, someone stomping their way up the porch made her pause.

“They ain’t here,” Clarisse said. The older girl looked down at Piper. It was clear that the Aphrodite camper was at her wits end. Her mannerisms were similar to Silena’s, the quiver of the lip and the shaking of the hands. 

Clarisse wanted to be jealous of the relationship Piper and Y/n seemed to have. It was like taking a look at her past self whenever Y/n would glance over at Piper whenever she wasn’t looking. Clarisse wanted to warn her younger sibling, how any relationship between an Ares and an Aphrodite child was doomed, she couldn’t bring herself to do so. Piper was restoring Y/n to the person they had been before the heaviness of the war and who was Clarisse to stop it?

Taking pity on the girl, Clarisse grunted and gestured to the forest surrounding the cabins with her head. “If ya haven’t, check out that thing your friend is building. They’ve been helping him.”

Piper muttered a quick thanks and turned to race toward the bunker. For the past few weeks, Y/n had been avoidant, whether intentionally or not. They wouldn’t be showing up for any of their planned meetings or when Piper showed up for their daily walks, they'd been sleeping or already out of the cabin. 

Piper knew that she wasn’t their only friend, but they had limited time together. The threat of the Great Prophecy loomed over her head, reminding her that she didn’t have a lot of time before she would have to leave camp and Y/n. There was no certainty that she would survive this quest, so Piper was trying to make the most of her time at camp with those that mattered most.

It didn’t take long for Piper to arrive at the bunker. She had already spent enough time there making sure Leo was still alive so getting there wasn’t a problem like it was before. Despite the timely manner in which she had arrived, Piper still didn’t know how to navigate the inside of the bunker. It wasn’t that finding the boat was hard, she was currently standing in front of, but it was finding either of the demigods who were working on it that was the problem.

The sound of two people bickering alerted Piper to their locations inside the half built boat. She made her way toward the ladder that was propped against the boat, leading to the top deck. Thankful for the opportunity to use her lava wall skills, since the ladder was two tall ladders duct taped together, something that would be a workplace hazard for sure.

“I think you put this board in wrong,” A teasing voice said, causing a loud thudding noise to be heard from where Piper was.

“If I didn’t value our friendship as much as I did, I’d throw this hammer at you!” Another voice from somewhere inside the boat exclaimed.

Knowing better than to jump right into the hole at the top of the boat, Piper leaned down, hoping to catch the attention of at least one of the people residing in it currently. 

As she leaned over the hole, Piper only had a few moments to move backwards as Leo’s head popped out, an inch off of hitting Piper. 

He blinked rapidly, trying to get his eyes to focus on the sudden change of light. When Leo’s eyes decided they wanted to work, his slight pout turned into a toothy grin at the sight of his close friend.

“Hey Beauty Queen!” He exclaimed, throwing himself at her. Leo couldn’t remember the last time he had seen the girl, preferring to eat his meals and sleep in the bunker so as to not waste time.

Piper smiled and patted the smaller boy on the back, avoiding the oil and dirt that lined his entire being. 

“You’re threatening people with hammers now?” Piper asked, pulling away from Leo. She internally enjoyed how he immediately went back to his pouting state. It was fun to rile him up, especially now when Piper felt like it was appropriate to do so. She doesn’t think there will be much joking around after the next few months.

Out of the corner of her eye, Piper noticed someone else hoisting themselves out of the belly of the ship. Although she has an idea of who it was, it wasn’t until their laughter registered in her brain that their identity was confirmed.

“It’s funny that he thinks I’d be scared of a little hammer,” Y/n said, amusement lingering in their eyes as Piper made eye contact with them.

Despite spending a majority of her day trying to find the demigod standing before her, Piper didn’t know what to say. Words stormed around her brain, disappearing into the void before she could string together a coherent sentence.

Luckily for her, Leo removed himself from her embrace and flung his body toward the Ares child, fists blazing.

Piper watched from the sidelines as the two grappled atop of the boat. It was clear to her that Y/n was toying around with Leo, letting the smaller boy get in some good jabs before encasing him in a headlock.

Instead of dealing with Leo, who was trying to fight his way out of the hold he was in, Y/n turned toward Piper, a smile on their face that made her heart stop a moment.

“How you doing Pipes?” They asked, keeping their attention on her and not Leo, who was definitely gnawing on Y/n’s forearm.

The question didn’t register as Piper was too busy staring at the sight before her. Just like Leo, Y/n was covered in various oil stains and smudged dirt, but there was something different seeing it on the Ares child. Their camp shirt was dirty, the sleeves having been ripped off, showing anyone who looked at the muscles that contracted and relaxed whenever Y/n had to readjust their grip on Leo. 

Piper had always enjoyed how expressive Y/n was, watching as their smile turned into a look of confusion and worry, probably because she still hadn’t responded to their question and was standing there like an idiot. 

Due to Piper’s frozen state, Y/n released his hold on Leo, letting him fall to the ground face first. They stepped forward and grabbed her hands gently with their own. 

“Piper?” They asked, leaning in to check if anything was wrong. 

The sudden movement snapped her out of the state she was in, her cheeks warming in embarrassment.

“Yeah, um, I’m good!” Piper squeaked out, pulling her hands from theirs. She had to remind herself that she was just friends with Y/n, nothing more. 

Piper and Jason were trying to explore why their relationship was, whether romantic or platonic. Although she knew her memories were manipulated by Hera, making things seem like they had happened, Piper couldn’t help but to try and see if the Queen Goddess was making a point of having them date. There had to be something there that Piper couldn’t see and she would see it to the end.

But here Y/n was, tilting their head like a confused puppy, unknowingly ruining everything Piper was trying hard to repair. 

“You sure?” They asked, concern leaking from their tone as Y/n tried to find evidence that would pull apart Piper’s weak response.

Before Piper could grab a shovel and dig her hole deeper, Leo distracted Y/n with a perfectly timed noise of shock.

“Is that the time!” Leo exclaimed, looking down at the Ben 10 watch he had stolen from Y/n one night. 

Copying Leo’s action, Y/n also looked down at their own watch, this one being a Hello Kitty one, and let out the same noise Leo had.

“Clarisse is gonna pulverize me if I don’t go to sword training today!” Y/n exclaimed, making their way toward the makeshift ladder. 

Before they disappeared, Y/n looked back over toward Piper and Leo, who was now standing right beside her, and waved. “See y'all later!” 

Once Leo was sure that Y/n had left the bunker, he turned toward Piper with an impish grin. Without having to say anything, his point was made, causing Piper to push his face away from hers.

“Don’t even start!”

After many sleepless nights, the ship was finished. They were supposed to fly out tomorrow, towards the other demigod camp, and although Piper knew she needed to get enough sleep, she couldn’t. She had tossed and turned for what felt like hours before she quietly crept out of her cabin, wrapping her blanket around herself.

It was a risk, as Piper didn’t want to be caught by any of the patrolling harpies, but she quickly made her way toward the Ares cabin. 

She didn’t know why she didn’t go to the Zeus cabin, as Jason and her were official now, but there were still some awkward feelings they hadn’t quite sorted out yet. Piper also didn’t want to get lectured about getting a proper night's sleep before embarking on the quest, which Jason was likely to give her.

So instead of going to Cabin 1 or back to her own, Piper crept up the wooden steps of Cabin 5. She was reminded of the day a while back where she found herself in the same spot, about to knock on the door, when she remembered the time. 

Piper had left her cabin without even checking the time. For all she knew, it could’ve been 2 in the morning and she did not want to meet the wrath of a bunch of Ares kids forced out of their REM sleep by her carelessness.

She went to turn around, already cursing at herself for considering such a dumb thing, but someone blocked her from going down the porch stairs. 

Y/n met Piper’s eyes and gave her a tiny wave. Before Piper could ask what they were doing up, Y/n put a finger to their lips, asking for her silence. They then took her hand and pulled her away from the cabin and to the basketball court that stood in the middle of the cabins. 

“What are you doing up?” Y/n whispered, sitting down on the court.

Piper followed their actions and sat down as well. “Couldn’t sleep, you?” She asked, nudging their knee with her own.

“Just wanted to do one last checkup on the boat before y’all head out,” Y/n said, gazing off into the distance.

It was the first time in awhile that Piper was able to really take a look at her friend and to say they looked exhausted was an understatement. Their skin looked taut and their cheeks almost hollowed like they hadn’t eaten anything for a few days. Their eyes were bloodshot and looked bruised by how dark their under eyes looked.

“Don’t trust Leo’s work?” Piper joked, trying to lighten up the mood as much as she could. She didn’t like seeing Y/n so somber when they were much livelier, having a spark of fire constant in their eyes.

Y/n let out a breath of air, amused by her attempt at a joke. “I’d trust him more with things like this, but since I can’t go with you guys, I wanted to make sure what I did try to contribute was up to standards.”

Comforting people wasn’t Piper’s best skill. She wasn’t comforted enough growing up and even now, her siblings, Leo, Jason and Annabeth weren’t the best at it either. Ultimately, all Piper could do is give Y/n a pat on the shoulder with a quiet ‘there, there’. 

Y/n rolled their eyes at Piper’s actions and pulled her into a proper hug. “Promise you won’t die out there?” They asked, voice being muffled by the blanket Piper had wrapped around her shoulders.

“I’ll only promise if you promise the same,” She answered, resting her head on top of theirs.

Neither of them spoke, simply enjoying each other’s presence before they had to pull away. 

When they did leave the embrace, Y/n took off their Hello Kitty watch and put it on Piper’s wrist. “As a physical representation of my promise, I shall give you my watch,” They said, confusing Piper as promises were mainly verbal, but she wasn’t going to argue. “It’s also because you clearly can’t tell time if you came out here at 3 in the morning to bang on my cabin’s door.”

“Jerk,” Piper said, laughing and pushing the other demigod slightly as a consequence of their joke.

Y/n gasped and fell backwards dramatically, as if Piper had shot them in the chest instead of delivering a slight push that wouldn’t push over a baby.

As Y/n laid in their dramatic death pose, Piper unwrapped the blanket around her body and threw it over their body. Whatever they said was muffled by the blanket atop their face, but Piper got the gist of what the question was.

“It’s my physical reminder of the promise meathead,” She said, playing with the strap of her newly acquired watch. “It’s also because I know you hate the cold.”

After a few more minutes of conversation, Y/n decided that Piper needed to go to sleep. A small amount of time sleeping would be better than no time spent or at least that’s what they sold to the exhausted girl. 

Y/n dropped Piper off at her cabin door, giving her one last hug and a quick ‘good luck’ before heading back towards their own building. Both demigods went to sleep warmer than they had been moments before.