#For me it doesn't exist beyond Blood of Olympus

[demidorks]

In my heart, the monthly reunions between the members of Argo II continue to happen, everyone remains friends and lived happily ever after!!!!!

[twoidiotwriters1]

Daughter of Olympus (Leo Valdez xFem!Oc)

A/N: Welcome to my last oc story! Ara is my youngest baby, I hope you grow to love her and her story -Danny Words: 2,839 Series' Masterlist Next Chapter Listen to: 'Boys Will Be Bugs' -by Cavetown

I. Birth is a Curse and Existence is a Prison

Ara wants to scream into her pillow for the remainder of the year, but she's not allowed to show how desperate she feels, so instead, she grabs her compass and leaves the bedroom with an unperturbed step.

Things are starting to look up though, Annabeth had a creepy dream and if everything goes as planned, they'll find Percy today. Ara has to hold onto that hope, otherwise, she'll begin to fall in pieces.

She's never felt whole, to begin with.

I've been looking for someone for as long as I can remember.

I used to think I was looking for my parents, back when I was an orphan, but then my satyr found me, and I thought all that time I'd been looking for other demigods. However, during my four years living at Camp Half-blood, I haven't been able to settle right.

Silena —my senior counselor— likes to say I'm Aphrodite's most chaotic form. I'm not good with swords, archery, or any weapon if I'm honest. I'm a danger to myself, but I keep trying to learn all of it because it's fun to see how far I can go each time.

Everyone has a thing here: Clarisse is a great warrior, Annabeth has wits beyond compare, Silena's a splendid pegasus rider, and I... I go big, never home.

Annabeth's waiting for her outside the Big House, when the blonde spots her, she turns around and walks with a quick step. "You're driving the chariot."

"To where?" Ara puts on the aviator jacket, it doesn't fit her and it's too bulky to move around quickly, but she doesn't want to leave it behind, Nico might find it.

"Grand Canyon."

The girl frowns. "That's in the middle of nowhere important. Why are we going there?"

"We're about to find out," Annabeth replies.

"Can't wait for this to be over..." she mutters.

Annabeth hums and glances at her weirdly. Maybe she's starting to believe the rumor circulating around camp, the one about Ara being the camp's curse.

"ARA!"

I look over my shoulder for a brief second as I run away, I didn't mean to blow up the washing machine, but of course, that's not what matters. What matters is that it blew up. I crash against someone tall and bulky and suddenly I'm being lifted: Charles Beckendorf eyes me with a frown.

He's five years older than me and a son of Hephaestus, which means he's stronger than I could ever be, and he's caught me red-handed. "What did you do this time?

"Hi, Charlie, Silena asked me to say hi on her behalf if I saw you first today!" I say sweetly. He's got a crush on my sister, and I like to take advantage of it. "I was washing clothes," I explain vaguely.

One of my brothers storms out of my cabin yelling my name, soaked and covered in foam. Beckendorf places me back on the ground and crosses his arms. "While people was still wearing them?" 

As he takes me back to Silena, I see the new kid being carried to the Big House further uphill, but I'm dragged back into my cabin before I can take a proper look. My sister lectures me for a little while and then piles a bunch of clothes on my arms. "Be a good girl and wash them right."

I pout. "But it takes so long!"

Silena never snaps at me, though I would like her to. She doesn't scold me 'cause she thinks this is the best I can do, and doesn't seem to mind that I suck at everything. I mind. "Go."

I fumble with the doorknob until it opens, my foot slips on the last step outside my cabin and the pile of clothes flies out of my arms. I wince, hoping no one inside saw that. Chiron approaches me with a stern look, which it's the only way he ever looks at me. "Why are those clothes wet?"

"I blasted our washing machine," I mutter, looking down at the clothes.

"Why would you do that?"

I kneel to pick up the clothes. "It was so slow! Everything must be done a certain way or they send me to stable duty, I didn't want to wash their clothes all day, I've been washing them since I was six..." A pair of bruised hands reaches down to help and I look up. "You killed the Minotaur!"

The boy looks at Chiron as if waiting for an introduction. I take the lead like I always do. "I'm Ara," I hold out my palm. "Just Ara."

"Percy," he shakes my hand. "Jackson."

"Cool name! If I had a last name, I'd die if it were something bland like Smith or something. You know what I mean? You're pretty," I ramble.

"Ara, the clothes," Chiron reminds me.

I pick them up as I keep talking. "Silena says I should tell people what I like about them, it gives them confidence," I take the clothes from Percy's hands. "You look like you need that." 

He seems slightly offended. I don't want to upset him, he's gone through enough already. "Ara," Chiron speaks firmly. "Finish your chores." 

The boy helps me balance everything in my arms. "Thanks. It was nice meeting you!" 

I want him to like me, maybe he'll be my friend if I do it right. I go away and out of the corner of my eye, I spot Annabeth. I forget about the clothes a second time. "Did you see him?" I ask as soon as I approach her.

"Yeah," she makes a face. "He's important."

"Important how?"

"He's the prophecy guy."

"What prophecy?"

Annabeth sighs and I feel embarrassed. She's the coolest girl on earth, right after Silena. I would say the same about Clarisse, but she's a bully. She's nice to me sometimes though, when no one's looking. Gives me Reese's on my birthday every year. She looked after me when Hedge got us to camp, and sometimes treats me like a pup she found on the street... I'm not sure I like that.

What was I saying? Right! Annabeth sighs, and I feel embarrassed. "The big prophecy," she wrinkles her nose. "It's him..."

I don't care much for the prophecy. "Does that mean he's here to help you?"

Annabeth's expression darkens. "He better be." The blonde girl notices the clothes in my arms and grins. "Go on, if you finish your chores early you can come with me."

"To do what?"

"Finish up and I'll tell you," she ruffles my hair and leaves, I know better than to try and pry a secret out of Annabeth, so I go away too.

To be clear, I do know what a big prophecy is. Every once in a while one of those comes and we're meant to fulfill it, but I'll never be part of one, so I don't see why I should care. The new kid looks like he should, though, he has intriguing eyes like Annabeth's. 

I'm always bored, but maybe Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase can fix that. It's exciting to be friends with real heroes.

"There!" Annabeth clutches Ara's shoulder. "I see them!"

"Them?" She raises a brow. "Do you see Percy?"

"Get closer!"

Annabeth jumps off the chariot as soon as they land and approaches the trio of teens. Ara sees her start a heated conversation with one of them, pointing her dagger at his throat.

"No Percy..." Ara says weakly, holding onto the chariot with pale shaky hands. The girl pulls out the compass from her pocket and stares at it with anger, it never stays still. 

Percy's the son of Poseidon. No one wants to admit it 'cause is bad news. I don't care, though. "Hi!" I sit next to him at the campfire. "You remember me?"

"Er... Ara?" He frowns a little.

"Yeah! We should be friends—"

"You know little Ara?" Luke sits behind us. "If she hadn't been claimed, I would've believed she was one of my siblings! Tends to blow things up when she's not being watched, so you better keep your distance." I pout at his description, I don't want Percy to think I'm dangerous. "But she's a good girl at heart, I promise."

"I'm not good at most things," I sigh, "but that one, I am."

"You're a year-rounder?" Percy asks.

"Yup! Been an orphan all my life. Well, half an orphan, I guess," Percy looks away when I mention this, Annabeth told me to be careful, he's still sad about his mother. Unfortunately, I forgot. "So... What do you think?" The boy stares at me blankly. "About being friends," I remind him.

"Oh. Yeah, sure." He shrugs like it's no big deal. "Sounds good."

"Strategus Jackson!" Annabeth calls after her.

Ara turns and studies the people her friend brought, something catches her eye: Messy curls and dark eyes. The boy is staring at her and she doesn't know why, but it feels like they've met before, it annoys her.

Ara's gaze moves away from him, but it's hard to ignore him. "Where's Hedge?"

"Ask him," Annabeth glares at the blond boy next to her. "This is Jason. What do you think?"

Ara eyes him carefully. "They're toying with us." The sky rumbles and the girl scowls at it, she goes back to the chariot. "Let's go back—And you three," she looks at the group of demigods over her shoulder. "You're coming with us."

"You got it!" The curly-haired boy hurries to stand next to her in the chariot, he's about six inches taller than she is, but much thinner.

The brown-haired girl behind Annabeth speaks to Ara. "What's her problem? What's going on?"

"It's a long story," Ara faces forward avoiding everyone's eyes, she feels like she'll burst into tears if she's forced to keep talking

"I'm not going anywhere with her," Jason argues. "She tried to kill me!"

"That's not my problem." Ara pauses. She has to stop acting this way, it's not these kids' fault. "She means no harm, my..." It's been three years since she was adopted, and she'd never felt self-conscious about it until now. "My brother went missing. Annabeth's boyfriend. Someone told her we would find an answer here, but it was a bunch of bull."

"Sorry?" The white boy raises a brow. 

"Not your fault," she can feel a migraine coming. "Let's leave before something else comes. I'm Ara. Ara Jackson."

"General Jackson to you," Annabeth sounds only the tiniest bit sarcastic. "She worked hard to get that position, so make sure to—"

"Annabeth," she scowls. "That's enough, thank you." She tries to remain calm, but as they rise up in the chariot, she turns to her friend with annoyance. "Why him, I'm supposed to be their go-to girl, they promised! Why wasn't I taken?"

"Hey, doll, if you want to be taken I will—"

"Get any closer and you'll lose both hands," she snaps at the dark-haired boy.

He clears his throat awkwardly. "Alright, not there yet..." he looks around. "Where are we going?"

"A safe place," Annabeth replies. "The only safe place for kids like us. Camp Half-Blood."

"Half-Blood?" The new girl frowns. "Is that some kind of bad joke?"

"She means we're demigods," Jason clarifies. "Half god, half mortal."

Annabeth and Ara look at him suspiciously. "You seem to know a lot, Jason. But, yes, demigods. My mom is Athena, goddess of wisdom. Ara's the daughter of Olympus."

Jason frowns as he studies her looks. "You're a minor goddess?"

"I can tell," the other boy nods approvingly.

Ara rolls her eyes, stopping herself from throwing the small guy off the chariot. "No. When the war ended, that title's what I got as a... reward." Annabeth scoffs, but she ignores her.

"War?" The blond boy sounds even more aghast. "You've gone to war?"

"It's what demigods do. We go to battle."

"Demigods," the new girl blinks. "You mean you think you're... you think we're—"

Lightning comes crashing down on their chariot and Jason gasps. "Left wheel's on fire!"

Ara forces the pegasi to fly faster until they reach the limits of camp, the damage on the wheel is terrible though, and they're losing speed and height, she can't control it.  "Emergency landing!" Annabeth holds tight, but the rest have no idea of what's coming. 

The crash lasts only a second, when she swims out of the lake, the campers salute her and she vaguely dismisses them. Ara glimpses at the broken chariot, really close to tears. Lily Saggio—Ara's best friend and right-hand girl—approaches them with a leaf blower and dries Ara in the blink of an eye. 

"What's going on?" She asks, though coming from her it always sounds demanding. "Where's Percy?"

"Still missing," Ara replies shortly, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.

"Girls!" Will Solace walks up to them in shock. "I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!"

"Will, I'm sorry," Annabeth heaves a sigh. "We'll get it fixed, I promise."

"I'll fix it," Ara vows. "It's just the wheel, I can get it done in a day."

The son of Apollo frowns, but he doesn't argue. "These are the ones? Way older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed already?"

"Maybe because they weren't here at camp," Ara shrugs.

"So there's no sign of Percy?"

"No." People whisper around them, Ara's hand closes in a tight fist and she looks away from the crowd, she's ashamed. 

"You're really living up to your name, aren't you?" Drew Tanaka steps forward. "Is this what you meant by changing our cabin's reputation?"

Ara steps forward menacingly but Lily stops her, so she raises her voice. "What have you done for us, Drew? You're still wetting bedsheets with piss—oh sorry, perfume."

Drew pushes through to get to her but Will gets in the way. "I hope they're worth the trouble," she studies the kids behind Ara with a sneer.

"Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?" The flirty boy scoffs.

"No kidding," Jason scowls. "How about some answers before you start judging us—like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"

All of Ara's niceness has been drained out for the time being, Percy's disappearance was a slap on the face, she's barely keeping it together. This, plus cabin nine's current issue, is testing her mastership as a leader. Everything is going wrong and she can't fix it.

"Jason," Annabeth starts. "I promise we'll answer your questions. And Drew, you better start respecting Ara, she's your General, not just your sister anymore. Besides, all demigods are worth saving. Although I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped."

"Hey, we didn't ask to be brought here."

"And nobody wants you, hon," Drew sneers at the new girl. "Does your hair always look like a dead badger?"

"Piper, stop." Annabeth stands in the way of the new camper before she can attack Drew. "We need to make our new arrivals feel welcome. We'll assign them each a guide, give them a tour of camp. Hopefully by the campfire tonight, they'll be claimed."

"I have to talk to Chiron," Ara tries to walk away, but Lily holds onto her wrist.

"You're their guide," she reminds her. "Make sure they get claimed."

"Like that's in my hands!" Ara scoffs.

"Would somebody tell me what claimed means?" Piper demands.

A hologram appears above them: Red, resembling a hammer and hovering over the brown-eyed boy. "That," Annabeth raises a brow, "is claiming."

"You gotta be kidding me," Ara groans internally. 

"What'd I do?" The boy yelps. "Is my hair on fire?" 

"This can't be good," a camper says. "The curse—"

"Butch, shut up," Annabeth interrupts him. "Leo, you've just been claimed—"

Ara didn't hear his name before, but she looks at him and thinks: "Yeah, that's him. Duh." Which is weird. Why does it sound familiar? Everything about him feels that way...

"By a god," Jason comments. "That's the symbol of Vulcan, isn't it?" 

Silence followed his comment.

"Jason... how did you know that?"

"I'm not sure."

"Vulcan? I don't even LIKE Star Trek. What are you talking about?"

"Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus," Annabeth glances at Ara as she replies, but the girl keeps her eyes on Leo, trying to figure out from where she knows him. "The god of blacksmiths and fire."

"The god of what? Who?"

Annabeth addresses Ara directly this time. "You told Jake—" 

"I know," Ara states in annoyance before taking a deep breath. "Fine. Come with me, Leo."

"No need to be sad about it," he pouts. "And I'm not a Vulcan!"

He's confused and stressed and doesn't deserve to be tossed around, so Ara tries to be nicer. Percy would hate to see her mistreat a camper, so she attempts to sound a little more like her old self.

"I'll help you understand," she gestures at him to follow. "C'mon, I'm sure you've got lots of questions."

Next Chapter ->

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