Work Text:
Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood. Being a half-blood is dangerous. It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.
Yea, remember that one? I knew that kid. Percy Jackson. Last time I saw him I was leaving camp with my two best friends, the ones I always went on quests with.
Julia, daughter of Demeter. Lucia, daughter of Hecate.
I showed up at Camp Half-Blood early because my mom knew my dad's real identity. She knew that in just three years all of the scariest monsters to ever exist would be after me.
So, there I was, 9 years old, and training to fight monsters that my mind couldn't even comprehend.
I knew I was sleepier than most kids, but having your dad be the God of sleep brings it to a different level.
Julia and Lucia were best friends before I joined the camp, they found me passed out in a bush during my first game of capture the flag. Ironic, I know.
But anyways, we made quick friends, they dragged me around to do all the fun things they loved, and I showed them all the best places to calm down and take a nap. Again, ironic, but everyone needs quiet time, and that's hard to find at a camp of rowdy Demi-Gods.
After a year, we all went on our first quest. I was 10, Julia was 11, and Lucia was 13. The Oracle doesn't care about how old the people going on its quests are though.
I don't remember much of that quest; it was pretty easy. I don't really remember any of our other quests besides for some of the more daunting ones. Like when we had to hide from some Laestrygonians in a tree, or when an Empusa tried to seduce me, so Julia and Lucia had to destroy it.
I do, however, remember the quest I went on when I was freshly 19. My last quest. Their last days alive.
It wasn't supposed to be a difficult quest. It was a scouting mission, go out and check the surrounding woods, report back any odd things.
There had been weird things happening around camp, more and more monster activity, weird calls in the middle of the night, nothing too disturbing.
We were doing our perimeter, our weapons out but lax by our sides. We were talking and joking around, not being loud, but we weren't being sneaky either.
That was the worst mistake I ever made.
Cyclopes'. Fucking twelve of them. They came out of nowhere, circling us. Someone must've been directing them, they're too stupid to have purposely made escaping back into camp impossible.
I never did find out who positioned them so perfectly.
We stood in a circle, back-to-back, all aware that at least one of us would die.
Lucia was the first to go.
No matter how much we'd try to convince her, she'd always be too hard on herself when either of us would get hurt, seeing us as her responsibility because she was a bit older.
This was no exception.
She saw 5 of the Cyclopes move towards Julia at the same time. Way too many for Julia to take on at once. Too many for Julia and Lucia to take on together. She knew that.
After Lucia had been struck down. I think Julia knew the only two possibilities were the both of us would die, or one of us would die.
Julia made that decision for us.
The most heart-breaking scream I've ever heard tore itself from her throat, she stood up, and shot six of the Cyclopes in their eyes at once, rendering half the attacker's blind.
She pivoted to face off with the other six and in the process shoved me back, towards where there was an opening in the attack.
“RUN,” she yelled. I just stood there, sword up. staring at Lucia's dead body next to us.
“FUCKING RUN HYPNO, RUN,” and then she rushed the giants, in one fluid motion storing her bow in the compartment on her back and pulling her sword from its sheath on her hip. Making it clear to me that whether I ran or not, she's not making it out alive.
We should've been paying more attention. We should've been more on alert. We should've had back up.
But we didn't. And Lucia died. And then Julia died. And then I ran.
I ran, and I ran, and I ran, until I found a different world to rebuild my life in.