Chapter Text
The light seeped through the window like thick sunlit glaze, hot enough to burn if one stood long enough beneath it. Drew curled her hair, hoping the hairstyle would hold for at least half an hour.
the daughter of Aphrodite huffed in annoyance once she saw the sweat on her face, the curler far too hot to be used in summertime if it wasn't straight up under the AC.
she glanced out the window, and as if on cue, two girls passed by the window “My hand hurts, Carmella, can't you buy me one of those automatic fans?” One of the two said, fanning herself continuously as the latter just shrugged and took a long sip of her water. The sweat on their faces disgusted Drew to no end.
The sound of complaints like those was almost the norm on days like those, the heat was driving all of them insane, each and every demigod lining up for the water fountain or fighting over a spot by the lake. The sight of such normalcy made Drew wonder for just a second if she was watching a civilization rebuild itself from scratch.
Her gaze fell on the pictures on the porch of each cabin, dead kids with smiling faces staring right through your soul, their eyes judging and their smiles cold, blaming you for their death shamelessly. The campers still put their pictures like that would bring them back.
Nobody was coming back.
The first one to accept this irrefutable truth was Drew Tanaka.
She was young, too young, yet the mere sound of the word war made her bones vibrate with unease. It was undeniable. She had seen the bodies spill and she had felt the deep cold.
'Child soldier' something deep inside her whispered every time she saw yet another camper be sent on a quest. Was this really what the gods wanted? For their children to die under the premise of glory? The assurance of dying like a martyr was all these kids had, told that in order to live they had to serve and protect their own parents.
They didn't protect Silena.
Drew sometimes still woke up in cold sweat, her dreams plagued by the screams of her sister as Percy peeled away her helmet, and her face along with it. Her mind (traitorous one) played over and over again the image of Silena's face burnt by acid, and the river of bodies with wide eyes and the twitching hands of those buried beneath mountains of dead campers, and the feeling of a stab to the side by the one she called friend and the cold of bleeding out on Manhattan's pavement and--
She was broken out of her daze when she smelled something burning. Once her eyes fell on her own hair, she pulled the curler away –and the strand of hair just... fell off, burnt off her head.
"No no no no no no--" She muttered in a panic as she picked up the strand and the hairs fell through her fingers. "Shit shit shit SHIT!"
She threw the curler against the mirror, cursing whatever god let her live yet another day. She breathed heavily with frustration, unable to look at herself in the mirror as she brushed out the curls and hid the piece of burnt hair in a hairstyle.
She did her make up, opening the lipgloss like the red colour of the bottle didn't make her nauseous with memories. Her hands shook as she raised the applicator to her mouth.
Red. Like Lee's blood.
She couldn't help it, she retched and rushed to the toilet. The bile rushed up her throat, burning her insides as she vomited.
She threw away that lipgloss. No– she threw away every single other one that had an even slightly red hue. She'd stick to clear glosses. She could do that. Sure.
She opened the bathroom door looking like she had just stepped out of a magazine (and not thrown up her guts put). Her black hair in a half-pony, not a pore in sight, and clothes chosen the day prior with excruciating precision.
“Stacy! Clean up!” She called out, and five girls hurried to the bathroom. “I meant Stacy C— Whatever, just hurry up and clean it before the cabin inspector comes!”
She stepped into the bunk room, putting on her shoes as her eyes fell over the bed across from her own —Once Silena's— yet now belonging to the girl who had dared to defy her.
Piper Mclean. The girl with the colorful gaze and the long hair, she had fought with her once, blades and blood. Drew had been prepared, but… the sight of that crimson dribble down Piper's cheek made the memories rush back with unprecedented speed, she just… lost. All because of some stupid blood, she–
Blink, Drew, you can't dissociate in every corner you stand on.
It was early morning, barely seven am, and cabin inspection was in about ten minutes. She had been trying to get that little inspector wrapped around her finger for weeks now, putting on skimpy outfits when she went to see her and running her hand up her arm when she passed, but that girl was just… indifferent, or so it seemed.
Today she had put on her best performance, even if she had a few complications, she was going to kiss that inspector today, no room for disagreement. She put on her clear gloss, smiling at her reflection, she sat down and crossed her legs. The door opened and then–
“Alright everyone! Are y'all ready or what? I ain't got all day” Leo Valdez walked inside, gloves tied around his toolbelt and cheek stained soot.
What.
Leo glanced around, clicking his pen like he enjoyed the thrill of judgement disguised as supervision. That, Drew could agree.
“Uhm… where's Katie?” She asked innocently, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I thought she was the one doing inspections”
Leo snickered, writing something down. “Gardner? Ah, she had a lil’ accident this mornin’, she fell out of bed and kinda almost cracked her head” Leo smiled, toothy and crooked, and Drew couldn't help but wonder why the guy had never gotten braces. “Its funny if you think ‘bout it, survived a war and all yet…”
Leo trailed off once he noticed the change in atmosphere. His eyes met Drew's, and even if the girl didn't want to admit it, the unease on her face became almost palpable.
Leo chuckled in an attempt to ease the atmosphere. “Uhhh… anyway, this room's fine” He said to everyone, and looked up at Drew “Sorry, I know you got a lil’ thing with Gardner but… she kinda only has eyes for some Hermes dude” he whispered. “Her loss anyway”
His eyes trailed down for a second to her top, and he nodded in approval, giving Drew a thumbs up in an attempt of being nice.
Drew had noticed that Leo always tried to be nice to everyone, even those who treated him badly. The boy was… forgiving in a way most people didn't deserve, and Drew definitely didn't deserve it.
“Thank you” she said, the words feeling foreign in her tongue. “For… telling me”
Leo smiled and clicked his tongue, throwing his head back in the slightest. “No worries, im just here for the people” He gave her finger guns, and Drew almost wanted to laugh at his stupid jokes. But she couldn't, she had a reputation to maintain.
Leo took off his toolbelt, it seemed to be annoying him so he just set it on the jacket rack and continued his inspection, occasionally stopping to compliment one of Drew's cabinmates or to talk with Piper.
Drew didn't pay much attention, instead thinking about the boy's words. Katie liked guys. Huh, Drew would have never guessed, the daughter of Demeter had too many posters of girls in her room to even like guys a bit.
Drew was wrong.
That was a first.
Which led her back to her original thought, Leo's words had been certain, which left her wondering why did the boy even know to begin with? Katie wasn't obvious, if she was Drew would have noticed, yet Leo Valdez knew… That intrigued her, and when something intrigued Drew it was usually bad news.
Leo walked back into the bunk room and finished writing something down. “Anyhow… y'all get an 8 out of 10 because the bathroom smelled kinda funny” He said to everyone, and then began muttering to himself as he checked other papers. “Pipes! You gotta sign or… yeah, just sign here”
Piper walked over and signed, toothbrush still in her mouth as she made a sloppy scribble on the paper, before she ran back to the bathroom and spit out the toothpaste foam.
Leo nodded as he hummed and promptly left the cabin, writing down more things as he went on to the next cabin. Drew observed him through the window, eyebrows knitted together as she thought how and why Leo had managed to find out Katie liked that boy.
Leo knocked on the Hermes cabin, and once he was greeted by the Stoll brothers, he disappeared from view. The boy of dark curls and sunkissed skin was someone everyone knew of, but not about, someone kind and forgiving and sarcastic, oftentimes even funny.
Drew sighed and grabbed another pair of clothes. Now, she had another objective, find out what Leo was hiding.