Work Text:
Nyssa and Drew sat on the sidelines of the argument, not wanting to get in the way of the older kids. Charlie was off getting Percy of a officially unofficial quest. The younger kids at camp hated all of this stuff––war. Clarisse and Silena were arguing more days than not now. Silena was nervous and that made Drew nervous, which made Nyssa nervous. Drew was the type of girl to just speak her mind and spew out her anxieties; the problem was she was unfortunately gifted in charmspeak.
“So like what if something is wrong?” Drew followed her older sister’s gaze to the skyline.
Many of the campers sat on the beach, waiting for something––anything. Percy and Charlie were the only ones sent out to the Princess Andromeda. They were the only ones there and Luke had it against Percy specifically. Percy was the hero. Nyssa didn’t understand why her older brother had to be dragged into this. She knew, deep down she understood. Everyone in Hyphestasus Cabin was talented at one domain or another of their father’s. Charlie was as skilled as they came with explosives.
Nyssa looked down at the pocket watch Harley had made for her last month. “Something is wrong. Charlie said he was gonna be back by now.”
Silena’s eyes didn’t leave the shoreline, but she walked over to the younger girls, placing her hand on Nyssa’s shoulder.
“Silena, I have a bad fe––” Nyssa started, watching as the campers ducked for cover, hearing the explosion before seeing it.
Before Nyssa’s eyes, Silena lets go of her, running out toward the sea, toward the fire in the far distance. Clarisse, dropping any argument she had been having with her best friend, chased after her, holding her back. The girls stayed there for a while watching Silena crying herself hoarse. Other campers who had been huddled around left, muttering about whether or not they would have to be the ones to have to break the news to Annabeth that Percy was gone again. Nyssa recalled an early memory of her days at camp––the year of the Labyrinth––where he had been declared dead then showed up two weeks later, very much alive. Drew stared down at the waves, watching as Percy washed onto shore. He looked peaceful unconscious, like he didn’t know the bad things yet––then he woke up, screaming.
Silena turned to him, hopeful. That expression quickly dropped when she met his. Nyssa threw up over the edge of the picnic table, Drew held her hair back. Slowly, the girl guided her friend toward their cabins. Nyssa didn’t want Drew to leave her side. They sat in her section of the Hephaestus Cabin until the late hours of the night, sobbing over the loss of her older brother. Drew had told the others, willing herself not to use any of her magic, not wanting to cause them to be numb to the pain. Jake had been immediately called to a counselor meeting, being the eldest child now, causing Nyssa and the younger kids to cry even harder.
Drew steeled herself. She was only a few months younger than Percy but she vowed that outside of war she’d never want to go on quests. She wanted to make Nyssa make that same promise, but it felt inappropriate. Drew knew deep down that quests destroyed the thing that she loved the most––love. Silena lost Charlie. Percy and Annabeth were fighting again. Travis and Katie weren’t putting aside their differences and getting together.
“Puedes contar conmigo para lo que necesites,” Drew wrapped her arms around Nyssa. “I’m not leaving you.”
* * *
Leo showed up with Piper and Jason. Nyssa loathed the fact that her father planted another brother at her feet. A brother who shared more similarities with her than she would ever want. He walked in with his Texan twang, integrating Spanish into his muttering. Nyssa felt like she was looking at a mirror she would much rather shatter.
“––curse?” Nyssa zoned back into the conversation and stared at him.
She wanted to love this brother like she did all the others but they had only lost Charlie six months prior. Now Percy is missing and half the camp is searching for him. She wasn’t talking to her best friend anymore. Things had changed. Nyssa didn’t want to be a sister anymore. She didn’t want to be acting as the oldest. Jake was beat half to death by Festus. She would always step up. She wasn’t weak. She would never be a coward. She would never sully her brother’s good name. She wasn’t some people. She wanted to hold resentment, but she watched how the world was like outside the barrier of the camp. She couldn’t blame Silena like Drew did. She wanted to yell at Drew that Silena was barely seventeen; that Luke was twenty-three; that her sister was probably groomed; that Luke probably got to her when she was vulnerable; that he probably got to her when she was fourteen; that Silena wasn’t the bad guy, Luke was; that he had a pattern of this behavior. Nyssa had said all of this once and that was why the girls never spoke anymore. Drew didn’t want to hear it. Drew didn’t want to hear about any of it anymore. The war only brought awful things. Drew could only focus on the awful things. She used her charmspeak to be mean to her siblings in the absence of Silena. In the absence of a source that had always been thought of a pure good. Nyssa didn’t know how to feel about anything. She didn’t know how to feel about her new brother being sent away with a new Aphrodite girl on a quest. A quest killed her other brother. She didn’t say any of this to Leo. She couldn’t bring herself to say much.
* * *
Drew stood in front of Nyssa, the ground shaking underneath them. The world was ending. The world was ending. Gaia was going to win. Drew couldn’t be a coward anymore.
“I’m sorry!” She shouted. “I am sorry I was a bitch. I am sorry I was an awful best friend. I am sorry I wasn’t actually there like I said I would be after Charlie died. I–”
Nyssa looked around, assessing their surrounding. “Drew this really isn’t the time!”
“I saw my big sister become the bad guy and thought that all the good things I believed in were dead. I watched her die and betray everyone she said she loved, including your brother. I couldn’t believe love really existed if Silena could betray Charlie…”
“What are you saying?”
“Nyssa, I love you.”
“Drew.”
“You don’t have to say anything. You don’t even need to forgive me. I just had to s–” She was interrupted by Nyssa kissing her.
“I love you, too.” Nyssa broke away. “Now let’s go save this camp, honor their memories and be goddamn heroes.”