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writing-nebula · 2 years ago

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MayBlade Day 2

Day 2 Prompt: School

————

There were several reasons Ginga wasn’t a fan of school.

Classes were boring, and sitting still for so long just made him so antsy, like he was just gonna explode- and it was scarily similar to the feeling right before he shifted unexpectedly, making it difficult enough to tell the difference to put him on edge all day, nearly every day.

On top of that, gym class was a nightmare.

It used to be that just about any liquid could cause him to shift, if enough of it touched his skin. Water thrown by someone, other people’s sweat (which was also really gross, but happened sometimes anyway), rain, even slipping and falling in wet grass or mud had caused the shift before, he’d lost track of how many times Hyoma had to cause a distraction- and usually get detention for said distraction- so he could scramble for a bush or the bleachers before his legs ceased to exist and his whole class found out his secret.

Sure, Kazuo was helping him get better control over it, but it’d still happened since then, so he still had to be just as careful. And he couldn’t tell his dad, he’d worked so hard to convince him that he had enough control to go to school with Hyoma in the first place, even if he didn’t like school as a whole, he didn’t want to lose it! The only real chance to interact with other kids his age!

…Even if he never really talked to any of them, only Hyoma, because all the other kids thought he was weird. The bad kind of weird, the kind that made people avoid you.

But he had Hyoma, and it was way better than being cooped up at home all day. So no, he didn’t like school all that much, but that didn’t mean he wanted to give it up.

…Today he found himself questioning that resolve when he remembered that his first class was without Hyoma, meaning he was left alone in his fighting to stay awake at way-too-early o’clock, listening to a teacher who was about as interesting as watching grass grow.

Said teacher’s voice had long since faded to the background, something about good vacations and ‘don’t let the giving spirit end’, and Ginga was just watching the little window in the door, silently taking note of what teachers and staff walked by.

And that was why, when someone stopped in front of the door, Ginga was the first to sit up, and the only one not surprised when the door opened, a girl his age poking her head in to look around.

“Excuse me young lady,” the teacher- whose name he couldn’t remember for the life of him, but he was pretty sure it sounded like an animal- squinted at the girl over his glasses, the impassive drone of his voice changing just slightly.

“What are you doing in here? You should be in class.”

The girl huffed out a sigh, walking in completely and letting the door swing shut behind her. She smiled politely at the teacher, clasping her hands behind her back.

“This is my class, actually, my name is Madoka Amano. I just transferred here, and there was nobody at the front desk when I came in so I decided to come find my class myself, so I wouldn’t be even more late.”

Ginga perked up, a smile sliding onto his face.

Someone new? In the middle of the school year? Someone who didn’t just know him as the weird kid always picking fights with bullies and trying to avoid gym?

“...Ah, yes,” the teacher responded after shuffling through the papers stacked on his desk, “my apologies, er- welcome to class then. You can go ahead and take a seat, and then we’ll get started.”

The girl- Madoka, he really wanted to remember her name- nodded and turned to scan the room, her gaze briefly falling on Ginga before landing on the empty desk next to him, and he about started bouncing in his seat when she walked over to sit next to him. He shot her a friendly grin that she actually returned as she pulled out her books and things.

Okay, maybe it’ll be a little better in this class now!

He turned to the front to try and pay attention, now wide awake with the prospect of a possible new friend.

————

…Nope, he still had no idea what had been talked about, too distracted by the new girl to pay much attention.

But hey! That was a problem for later Ginga, now Ginga had someone to introduce himself to!

He practically leapt from his seat to stand next to her desk, smiling again when she looked at him questioningly. “Hi, I’m Ginga!”

Madoka looked surprised, but to his delight she chuckled, adjusting the goggles on her head before she stood up.

“Nice to meet you, Ginga! I’m Madoka, if you didn’t hear before- I’d love to stay and talk, but I’m apparently finding my own way around and I don’t wanna be late…”

No wait but you seem nice-

“I-I could help you find your next class!” he offered quickly, bouncing in place a little, “I know the school pretty well, and my next teacher usually doesn’t mind if I’m a couple minutes late anyway!”

For a moment he thought he might be overstepping- she made a funny face that he really didn’t know how to read, but then she smiled and hurriedly grabbed the rest of her things. “If it’s no trouble I’d really appreciate that! My next class is social studies, but I wasn’t given any teacher names, so…”

Yes!

He did a little dance in his head, because he actually did know where that would be!

“Yeah, I gotcha!” he nodded, showing another of his brightest grins, “c’mon, it’s not far!”

They kept talking as he showed her the way to her next class, and apparently she was transferred so suddenly because she’d just moved here, and didn’t want to wait so long to start school again.

(Personally, Ginga would wait to wait a lot longer before going back to school but to each their own he supposed)

He also found out that she’d lived around here before, when she was little, and she was really hoping to find her best friend from back then too. She promised to introduce them if she did, because she thought they’d get along well.

By the time Ginga made it to his next class, he was more than just a few minutes late. Luckily his teacher believed that he was helping out a new student and not just goofing around, so he was able to sit in his usual spot without any trouble, kicking his feet excitedly and letting out a giddy little laugh when Hyoma sent a funny look his way.

I made a new friend!

How could he be expected to focus on class after that?

————

“She might be in our lunch period, yeah,” Hyoma allowed, having to hold Ginga back from sprinting off as soon as he said it. “But that doesn’t mean you can just run right up to her, you helping her to her class doesn’t mean she’ll sit with you.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t want Ginga to have more friends, he just didn’t want him getting his hopes up- people could be mean, and he very rarely saw it coming.

“I know, I know,” his friend sighed, though he didn’t look very deterred, “but really, I think you’ll like her! She’s really smart, and she wears these cool goggles, I’ll have to ask where she got them-”

Ginga was still talking as they entered the cafeteria, but Hyoma didn’t bother stopping him- it wasn’t like he could be heard over the roar of chattering students, everyone talking about anything at once, he could barely hear himself think, let alone whatever someone else was talking about.

(Hyoma didn’t like the cafeteria, not one bit. Too loud, too crowded, and too few places to escape if Ginga started getting fishy in the middle of lunch, it made him nervous)

He was already heading for their usual table in the corner, near a door and as far away from where the bullies sat as possible, so he nearly toppled over when the ball of energy attached to his arm suddenly yanked him in another direction entirely.

“I saw her! She’s over here!” Ginga cheered over the rest of the crowd, and Hyoma could only sigh and go along with him, shooting their empty table a longing glance.

To Ginga’s credit, the girl was smiling and waving them over, so he couldn’t worry too much about some misunderstanding, but the shorter boy sitting next to her looked uncomfortable- or maybe embarrassed? Embarrassed to be seen with them?

“Hey Madoka!” Ginga greeted his apparent new friend cheerfully, plopping down in the seat across from her without a care in the world. “This is my friend Hyoma- and who’s that with you?”

Annnd now he had to sit down. Curse extroverts.

“Hey Hyoma,” Madoka smiled at him as well, then nudged the green-haired boy, who’d been avoiding looking at either of them thus far. “This is Kenta, I met him in my math class.”

Shy? Or did he not want them over here?

...Actually, he was pretty sure this kid sat behind him in history, so it wasn’t like they were complete strangers, they’d probably had brief conversations here and there.

Ginga hadn’t picked up on whatever it was, but that was no surprise- he was only ever observant when other kids were getting picked on, a trait Hyoma would assume was trouble-seeking if he didn’t already know that trouble found him either way, and Ginga just liked helping people along the way.

“Come on, Kenta,” he faintly heard while he was digging through his lunch bag (one of the many upsides to Ginga’s dad’s store- they never had to buy stuff for lunch) and he looked up to see Madoka nudging Kenta again, a little frown on her face, “see, he’s not intimidating- he’s like a puppy!”

He’d watched Kenta in class before, and shy was not a word he’d associate him with, so this was already abnormal. But ‘like a puppy’ was clearly Ginga, who else? And in that case- intimidating?

Hyoma was of the mind that Ginga and intimidating barely belonged in the same language as each other, let alone the same sentence.

But despite that, Kenta definitely looked nervous, tugging at a bracelet and glancing between Ginga and the table.

(Ginga was, of course, being as un-intimidating as possible, inhaling a sandwich like he breathed ham instead of air- which just reinforced the question of what the heck had Kenta seen)

“Um!”

They all jumped when Kenta spoke up abruptly, and Hyoma had to give Ginga a good slap on the back when his ham-breathing failed him before he could focus on the other boy, who had stood up and was now staring intently at the redhead, lunch tray seemingly forgotten.

“Ginga, I- I wanted to thank you!”

Ginga just stared at him, sandwich remains in hand.

“Uh- why? What for?”

The embarrassment returned, Hyoma could tell in the way his shoulders drew up, but Kenta kept going.

“Um, well- on my first day, Benkei and some of his gang were picking on me, b-because I was new, ‘nd I’m short for my age, and everybody was just walking by and ignoring it, but- but you didn’t!”

He sat down again, but this time he was smiling at Ginga, looking grateful. “You tried to stop them, and even when Kyoya himself came over you stood up to him! It was- I thought it was really cool, and I never got to thank you for helping me, so…”

…Huh, now that was a new one for both of them. All Ginga usually got for shutting up Kyoya was detention.

He took it in stride though, absolutely lighting up in a grin, already talking a mile a minute, and Hyoma couldn’t help a chuckle escaping when Kenta actually joined in.

He went to give Madoka an amused look, since she was clearly more of the quiet sort, but she seemed distracted, mouthing what looked like ‘Kyoya?’ before looking around the cafeteria, eyebrows furrowed and a frown tugging at her lips.

That’s strange, he noted, frowning to himself, Ginga said she lived here when she was younger, maybe she recognized his name?

He looked away when she looked back, not wanting to be caught staring, and settled in to quietly eat his lunch, curious but content to watch Ginga and Kenta go back and forth about some card game he’d never heard of, and another brief look at Madoka showed much the same, though she also piped up with a comment every so often.

…Still, through the rest of lunch he couldn’t help but notice that she didn’t eat much, and kept looking around with that same frown- one time she looked angry, and she didn’t speak up after that, just picking at her food.

Hm, something to keep an eye on.

————

Two! He had two new friends! In one day!!

Madoka was nice, smart, actually seemed interested in what he was saying, and since she was new to the area he could show her around, take her to his dad’s store and then show her all the best places to hang out and get food- or, well, did it count as new if she’d just moved back? Was she re-new? Maybe things were still pretty similar- but they hadn’t moved here until he and Hyoma were ten, so she definitely didn’t know the shop, he could start there and see what else might be new to her, maybe.

And Kenta! He remembered Kenta, he’d just started this year, and Kyoya’s goons loved going after new kids- he needed to remember to warn Madoka about that- and he’d seen them picking on him on the way to lunch, but didn’t get to talk to him afterwards because he spent that lunch in the office for ‘starting a fight’.

(Kyoya’s the one who always started it, he didn’t understand why he never got in trouble for being such a bully to everyone…)

But now they’d gotten to meet properly, Kenta even wanted to introduce him to a new game, and he and Madoka already got along, and they both got along with Hyoma even though he was quiet! He was gonna have so much to tell his dad when he got home, and even more to tell Kazuo when he came over tomorrow, it was gonna be great.

“See you guys tomorrow!” Kenta waved to them before hurrying off to the bus line, while Madoka stayed with him and Hyoma as they left the school, though she’d been looking around a lot since school had ended- maybe she was still looking for that old friend she’d mentioned?

Oh, that reminded him-

“You never told me your friend’s name!” he pointed out, getting the attention of both (both!!) his friends, Hyoma curious and Madoka embarrassed.

“Right, yeah, forgot I mentioned that, heh…”

She looked away, suddenly seeming uncomfortable with the subject, “um, I think I might’ve found him already, I just haven’t gotten a good look at him or any chance to talk to him yet…”

“Oh, really?” he noticed her change in mood, of course he did, but couldn’t figure out why she’d be uncomfortable, so he just started looking around too. “Do you see him now, or do you think he takes the bus?”

He could hear a lot of people laughing, which could either be absolutely nothing or Kyoya, but he tried to ignore it on the off chance it was nothing.

Madoka snorted, and he caught her looking towards the laughter too even when she rolled her eyes. “I think his dad would have an aneurysm if he ever stepped foot on a bus, but on the other hand I doubt he cares enough to pick him up, so… He probably walks, if it’s actually him that I…”

She trailed off as the crowds thinned out a bit, and it was revealed that the laughing was from Kyoya’s group, gathered around a kid he vaguely recognized from one of his classes.

Kyoya was right up front, of course, with that smirk on his face that made Ginga want to punch him. Or bite him.

…Mostly bite.

“Just leave it Ginga, there are too many of them,” Hyoma murmured from his shoulder, but he couldn’t just stand there when those jerks were tormenting someone, it wasn’t like the teachers would help, so who else would stop them when everyone else just ignored-

His train of thought was abruptly derailed when Madoka shoved her backpack into his arms and marched towards the group, shoulders set like his dad when he dealt with people trying to steal and a scowl on her face that could probably rival Kyoya’s.

“Kyoya Tategami!”

…Which was where she was headed, apparently- he was surprised at how loud she could be, nearly every kid still in the area was watching her as she stomped up to Kyoka and crossed her arms, glaring at him like she wanted to punch him now. “What are you doing!? What, did you just lose all sense of kindness and decency when I moved away??”

Ginga gasped, and next to him he heard a quiet ‘no way’ from Hyoma as they- and everyone else- watched Kyoya’s eyes go wide with shock, the school-wide bully actually taking a step back.

“M- Madoka!?”

He looked at Hyoma, his friend looking back with just as much confusion, and for once, they ran to the gathered crowd together.

I gotta hear this story-

#mayblade 2023 #mayblade #beyblade metal saga #metal fight beyblade #mfb #beyblade au #gingka hagane #hyoma beyblade #madoka amano #kenta yumiya #kyoya tategami

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ashxketchum · 1 year ago

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Also available on FFN.

Notes on the AU can be read here.

Summary: Tyson and Co. are back to Camp Half-Blood for another summer of fighting monsters and playing lackey to the Gods whims and fantasies. The first Capture The Flag of the season has everyone tense and excited, but when an unknown reason leaves Tyson unconscious on the battlefield, he unearths some feelings that he didn't know were grounded in his heart until now.

Word Count: 11k+ (divider by @/cafekitsune)

The scent of fresh strawberries hung stubbornly in the air making Hilary scrunch up her nose every time she took a deep breath. She wasn’t happy that her team was stuck with the Southern Hills as their side for tonight’s game of Capture The Flag, considering that Demeter and Dionysus’s cabins had decided to sit the game out. Now the strawberry fields, the only prominent landmark on their side, served as a bittersweet reminder of the advantage they lacked today. She shook her head and tucked a few loose strands of her curly, brown hair behind her ears as she turned around to face all the senior counsellors on her team tonight.

“Right, let’s get started,” Hilary said, her jaw set firmly as she acknowledged every leader standing around in a circle with her.

Max, the head counsellor for the Apollo cabin gave her a reassuring smile, his bright features making him glow like a setting sun under the dark canopy of the forest. Ian, senior counsellor for the Hephaestus cabin stood next to Max, tinkering with a screwdriver and chunky piece of celestial bronze, although his dark eyes were fixed on the item he was building, Hilary knew that she had his full listening attention. Emily, who was the next in command for Athena’s cabin after Hilary eyed Ian’s invention dubiously before facing her with a confident nod. Rei stood next to Emily, his arms folded across his chest with his trademark poker face. He was close to completing a full year with them yet Hilary still found it hard to trust him when she could never read what was going on in his mind. But since everyone else at the camp had warmed up to his presence already, she had no choice but to play along and hope for herself to be proved wrong.

Finally, her eyes met Tyson’s and it didn’t take her even a second to avert her gaze. They hadn’t talked to each other at all since the Hera fiasco last summer so when he’d arrived a few days ago she’d hoped to smooth things over with him. But his stormy blue eyes had looked right past her, like she no longer mattered to him, the past four years of spending every summer at camp with her turning into hollow, faded memories because she’d made one stupid mistake. Even now the impassive manner in which his eyes studied her almost sent a shiver down her spine. As if the nerves of leading the Blue team tonight weren’t enough, she now had to deal with Tyson’s temper tantrum as well.

“I think it goes without saying,” Hilary cleared her throat loudly, pausing for a minute to check for interruptions before she delivered her game plan for the night, “Rei will be the one responsible for capturing the Red flag.”

“Wait, why?” Tyson’s loud protest did not surprise her, she had been expecting his reaction to be exactly this.

“What do you mean why?” She replied calmly, and because she found it hard to meet his angry eyes, she addressed the other leaders instead, “He has Nemesis’s blessing, which makes him the most suitable for the task.”

“Doesn’t that mean they’ll be expecting him to take the lead?” Tyson spoke up before any other camper could get in a word of support, “That they’ll be ready for him? So we should-”

“We should what?” Hilary spat back, she didn’t mean to be aggressive, but an angry Tyson always brought out her worst traits, “We should let him stand guard at the back while you rush into enemy territory without thinking and make things difficult for the rest of us?”

“What happened to keeping emotions off the battlefield?” He scoffed at her, a tinge of hurt visible in his eyes as she poked at his weak point, “So much for being wisdom’s daughter huh?”

Hilary opened her mouth to argue that he was the one who started the argument by interrupting her explanation but Max raised a hand and cleared his throat loudly, easily shifting everyone’s attention towards him.

“Okay, let’s all take a step back and think about what’s important right now.” He eyed both Tyson and Hilary warily. While Tyson turned his face away murmuring something under his breath, Hilary nodded at Max, gesturing for him to go on. “We’re going up against Ares, Aphrodite and Hermes, all very formidable cabins with extremely talented leaders.” An exclamation of agreement passed around the circle as each camper considered Max’s words carefully.

“Hilary is the best strategist at camp, if she has a plan, we should adhere to it.”

Once again, everyone nodded along to Max’s statement and Hilary herself found her mind being soothed by his words. She’d always wondered if he instilled some healing magic in his voice when he spoke in situations like these. The effect was quite different from the Aphrodite charmspeak, he didn’t force anyone to feel less anxious but rather washed away the negative feelings with his choice of words and the strength he put behind them. Hilary had asked Max about it a few times too, but he’d brushed her off with a wink and a smile only igniting her curiosity further.

“And keeping all things aside, I agree that Rei should be responsible for capturing the flag, it’s his first time playing with us after all.” Max smiled at Rei and just for a brief second Hilary noticed the latter’s golden eyes flicker when he nodded curtly in response, the rest of his face continuing to not betray his true emotions. After confirming that everyone around the circle was on the same page, Max then turned around and motioned for her to continue explaining her plan with a wave of his hand “Hilary.”

“So as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted,” she glared at Tyson pointedly and he just rolled his eyes in response, “Rei will be heading for the enemy’s flag. Max and the Apollo cabin will be responsible for guarding our own. Hephaestus cabin will be laying down traps and providing support to Apollo campers. Half of Athena’s cabin will hold the front line, the other half will flank Rei. And Tyson you’ll-”

She found the words getting stuck in her throat when she met his eyes, stony and staring her down with the intensity of a thundering sky. Hilary studied the ground as she felt a rush of warmth spread across her face. She’s always thought that she was one of those people who were hard to intimidate, but clearly, she hadn’t taken into account the passion which Tyson instilled into every emotion that he felt.

“Tyson will be the decoy.”

The words left her mouth as just a whisper but the minute she finished speaking, the atmosphere around them completely changed. The purple evening sky rumbled above, despite being clear of any clouds and the air surrounding them started to feel tighter by the second like it was preparing to suck the breath out of their lungs. The circle of campers shifted uncomfortably as they all felt the change in their surroundings, but not even Max this time had the courage to smooth things over.

“I’ll be counting on you, Tyson.”

To her and everyone else’s surprise, Rei passed a calm smile in Tyson’s direction.

“You’re the only one I’d trust to watch my back,” Rei said, patting Tyson’s shoulder reassuringly.

The foreboding in the sky above died down and the air around them returned to its lighter self as Tyson blinked in surprise at Rei. When the meaning of Rei’s words finally registered in his mind, a grin broke out on his face as he rubbed his nose with an index finger sheepishly.

“You can trust all of us Rei, but yeah I’ve always got my friends’ backs.”

A collective sigh of relief went around the circle as if they’d just diffused a ticking bomb. With a final word on specific locations and tasks, the group broke out to take up their positions just as the first warning bell signalling that the game would soon begin sounded across the woods. Tyson dropped a comfortable arm around Rei’s shoulder and guided him towards the starting point, the creek that divided the two sides of the woods. Hilary watched them until they became specks in the distance, a little hung up over how Rei, who had known Tyson for the least amount of time out of all the campers, had managed to subdue him so easily. Nemesis was also known as the goddess of balance, so she couldn’t help but wonder if Rei had more tricks up his sleeve other than the stroke of good luck he freely boasted about.

Emily had already divided the Athena cabin into two groups, one responsible for the defence and the other offence, Ian and the other Cabin 9 kids were busy digging through the earth and planting mirrored devices that showed a realistic hologram of their team’s blue flag. The Apollo shooting brigade had taken up spots in the trees and were busy camouflaging themselves and their weapons. Hilary stood in the centre of the activity, unable to decide which way she was supposed to go, and which group would need her advice the most. She noticed Max slipping away towards the strawberry fields, where a makeshift wooden platform housed their actual flag, and ran to catch up with him.

“I’ll help you with guarding the flag.” She announced in between heaved breaths.

“I’m honoured to have you as my backup, but I know your heart’s not in it.” Max came to a stop just a few paces ahead of the fields. He grinned at her and gestured towards the creek they’d left behind with a nod, “Go with Tyson.”

“He’d strike himself with lightning before he teams up with me again.” Hilary groaned as she covered her face with her hands. As if dragging him along for Hera’s quest hadn’t been enough, she’d now even labelled him a decoy, possibly the biggest insult a child of Zeus had faced in over a century.

“He’ll come around.” Max laughed, he pointed to the red and blue baseball cap that she always kept looped around her waist, “Just follow him and make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”

Hilary eyed her cap, a gift she’d received from her mother when she first arrived at the camp. While it looked like an ordinary, worn-out baseball cap, once she put it on, she turned completely invisible. Max gave her one last knowing smile and bounded through the strawberry fields towards their flag. Hilary shook her head in defeat and positioned the cap on her head, watching her hands and feet disappear beneath her just as the conch horn beginning the game sounded loudly across the entire camp.

She let out a tired sigh knowing that Max was now far from her earshot, she muttered to herself as she ran to fall behind Rei and Tyson, “An impossible task for the gods themselves.”

xxx

Tonight was probably the first time Charlie was playing on a different team than Hilary's since she arrived at Camp about six years ago. They’d never really discussed such an agreement, but whenever the Capture The Flag schedule was posted, the two would look at each other and the decision to work together would be made with a simple nod. This year however, Charlie had been pleasantly surprised by the Aphrodite cabin showing interest in actually wanting to participate in the game rather than just help with the armour, so when their head counsellor approached her for an alliance, she found it hard to turn down the offer. Hilary took the news pretty well though, she’d immediately rushed off to the Apollo cabin to secure support for herself and that’s how the two of them had ended up standing on the opposite side of the battle tonight.

Hilary was the best strategist at Camp so Charlie would be lying to herself if she didn’t admit that she was feeling slightly nervous about going up against her friend, but still, she was confident that today’s game would turn out like no other. Too many unpredictable factors were involved, Aphrodite cabin joining the activity for the first time, Hephaestus cabin deciding to team up with Athena as retaliation, Ares and Hermes cabin working together for the first time in 3 years and not to mention, a demigod blessed by Nemesis, the goddess of revenge.

To say the least, tonight was going to be very entertaining.

And at worst, a few kids might even end up in the Big House infirmary with serious injuries.

Or at least that’s what Charlie had predicted, and had already taken bets over.

She hoped that the people who’d be putting kids in the infirmary belonged on her team. They’d lucked out by being assigned the Northern Woods as their territory, which gave them the chance to station their flag on the huge and not so easy to climb rock known as Zeus’s Fist. Surrounding their flag was the Aphrodite cabin, with their best charmspeaker and head counsellor, Mao, standing guard at the top of the rock. Half the kids from Cabin 11 had camouflaged themselves around the rock as backup support. The other half of the Hermes flock was supposed to invade the opponent’s territory. Their front line was marked by the Ares cabin, standing in a semicircle with their shields up, forming a sort of hefty barricade.

It would be difficult for anyone who couldn’t match the military precision of the Ares kids to break through the front line. On the off chance that they did, they’d probably be attacked by the confusing shenanigans of Hermes cabin. And even if their talented opponents managed to dodge the silly pranks and reach the flag, Mao’s charmspeak would simply not allow them to take the flag.

Charlie smiled to herself as she strolled casually to the frontline, being friends with Hilary for so long had seemed to rub off on her in a good way, she was starting to plan two steps ahead and maybe that’s what would lead her team to victory tonight. Or of course, the fact that she had her trusty winged sneakers which allowed her to fly, and she’d practised her teleportation skills rigorously for a month, which would surely enable her to steal the Blue flag from under their opponent’s noses.

With happy thoughts like this swirling in her mind, Charlie’s spirits were quite high as she waited for the signal that would begin the game. So when her eyes fell on Kai, head counsellor of the Ares cabin and her second in command today, she was slightly taken aback by the serious expression on his face as he stared straight ahead, one hand on the hilt of his sword ready to unsheathe it at a moment’s notice and the other grasping tightly onto a bronze shield already raised in defence. She suppressed a grin as she took in the sight of him properly and then walked over to him, hoping to loosen him up a little bit.

“I know wanting to kick Tyson’s ass is an irresistible urge, but you do realise that he’s just a decoy right?”

For a moment, Kai did not move or indicate in any way that he’d heard her, but since Charlie didn’t budge from his side, he sighed quietly and gave in.

“How can you be so sure about that?”

“Because no one in their right mind would pass up a chance to have someone with Nemesis’s blessing gun for the flag.” Charlie snorted, shaking her head at his indifference.

“Or maybe Hilary is already expecting us to think like that and she’s changed her strategy,” Kai muttered, though he lowered his shield by just an inch.

“As much as I admire Hilary’s brains, I don’t think she’s bringing her best game tonight, she’s too preoccupied.”

“Preoccupied?” He turned to face her, and although his face was mostly covered by a helmet, she could notice him raise a curious eyebrow at her as he asked, “With what?”

“How to get Tyson to forgive her.. for what happened last summer.” Charlie shook her head exasperatedly. She’d heard Hilary rant about this so many times already that she had half a mind to tightly slap Tyson across the face and tell him to make up with Hilary for her sanity’s sake.

“I’m not a fan of Hera either but we did a good job completing the quest last year.” Kai seemed to be frowning under his helmet. His shield was now resting on the ground in between his feet, “What’s Tyson upset about?”

“The usual, how could we force him to help the goddess responsible for his mother’s death blah blah blah.” She waved a dismissive hand in the air, signalling that she was done talking about Tyson’s problems any further. Folding her arms across her chest, she excitedly explained her theory of what she was expecting from Hilary tonight.

“The point is I have her all figured out, Rei will be heading for our flag, Tyson will be the decoy that keeps you and the other Ares kids distracted, Hephaestus cabin traps and Apollo cabin sharpshooters will keep us from reaching the flag. And on the off chance we do reach the flag, Max will be waiting for us with his never-ending supply of magical arrows.”

“Did you plant a bug in their camp?” Even through the helmet, she could tell that Kai was impressed by her analysis, something that pleased her. Slightly.

“Hmm. Tempting but no.”

She grinned, turning her head in the direction of the Southern Hills. Her expression softened for a moment as she thought about her best friend fidgeting around with new teammates and partners, getting along with other people was not Hilary’s speciality and most people rarely ever liked her at first sight.

Except for Tyson, of course.

The two bickered all the time but he’d barely ever left Hilary’s side ever since he started at Camp. She sighed suddenly, earning a curious look from Kai, but she did not voice her thoughts out loud. Maybe leaving Hilary alone to fend with Tyson his first week back after all the shit that went down last year was not the right decision to make tonight. She felt a bit stupid for giving in so easily to the temptation of winning and outsmarting Hilary for once that she forgot about her duties as a best friend. She could only hope that Max could keep the peace between Tyson and Hilary and things didn’t get any worse between the two. Charlie shook her head lightly in an attempt to get the guilty feeling cropping up out of her mind. Turning her gaze away from where the opposing team was prepping, she noticed that Kai was still looking at her pointedly, waiting for an explanation of how she was so confident about figuring out Hilary’s strategy for tonight’s game.

“Hilary’s been acting nervous and fidgety all week and hasn’t been thinking straight,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady and free of any shame. “It got worse when Tyson arrived. Somehow he manages to bring out all her stupid traits, must be one of his secret abilities.”

Kai nodded in understanding, if he had noticed that she was starting to feel guilty about ditching her friend, he didn’t let it on. Instead, he surveyed their set up with a watchful eye and then turned to ask her, “So would you prefer I move closer to our flag?”

Having Kai ask her for cues was interesting, he was the oldest camper by age and along with the bucketful of pride that came with being an Ares kid, he was usually the one leading quests and any combat activities. Tonight’s alliance, however, was an odd mix of Cabins who rarely worked together and much to her surprise, they’d unanimously picked Charlie as the Captain. Her dad, Hermes, was known for maintaining strong diplomatic relations with all his family members despite all the drama that went down between them. So she felt she too was responsible for always being friends with all the Cabins and that had finally worked in her favour tonight. The thought brought back the confidence that had begun to slip away over her concern for Hilary and she squared her shoulders.

For now, she would concentrate on finishing this match and deal with the consequences of her selfish actions later.

“It will take them by surprise if you’re not at the frontline.”

“But?” Kai prodded her with just a hint of eagerness in his voice.

“But, even if they plan to use Tyson as just a decoy, he is pretty strong and we don’t have anyone on our side who can match his step except you.” She saw that Kai puffed out his chest a little bit at her words and had to hold back a smirk.

“I’ll ask the Ares battalion to spread out evenly closer to the flag then. Keep only a few of them as backup around here.”

“That’s better. I’m sure Cabin 10 can use the support since they’re new to this, and Tyson will definitely not be happy about being underestimated,” Charlie said.

“Interesting. Did you do a course in psychology over the school year or…?”

She saw the edge of his mouth curl upwards in a smirk before he turned to signal to some of his cabin mates to move further back. She had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the sight, Ares kids had their own set of hand signals for such battle related communications which shouldn't have surprised her. Kai didn’t say a word out loud, only made a few odd gestures with his hand and the entire Cabin 5 reshuffled into a new formation, completely in sync.

“Just years of making friends with every camper to ever cross the boundary,” Charlie muttered to herself, unsure if Kai was still paying attention.

“I suppose I have to take your word for it.”

Charlie almost jumped as he spoke up after a few minutes, just as his Cabin finished repositioning themselves.

“However, don’t expect me to team up with the Aphrodite lot.” He warned her with a pointed look in the flag’s direction.

“Yes, of course, you don’t want to sit through a lecture about how war paint on faces is so passé.” She snickered when she noticed him scowl at her through the helmet.

“I’m still sceptical about letting them guard the flag.”

“Well according to the intel that I’ve gathered, Mao has a score to settle with Rei.” Charlie stated confidently, though Kai still looked unconvinced so she elaborated, “She’s even been practising her charmspeak for two weeks just for tonight.”

“Again, I have to take your word for it.”

Before Charlie could respond, the conch horn signalling the start of the game blew loudly across the camp. Her eyes locked with Kai’s and they both nodded at each other, without saying a word they dispersed to their planned positions. Charlie used her winged sneakers to fly between the top branches of the trees, settling on top of one which had enough growth to shield her from being sighted but just enough cracks to give her a good view of the battleground for the night. She could see the Blue Team fast on their heels as they attempted to break into their territory, Tyson visibly taking the lead with lightning flashing all around him.

It didn’t take long for Kai to appear from in between the woods, charging with full speed and intercepting Tyson in his path in a matter of seconds. Their swords clashed with force, and the sound of two celestial bronze blades grating against each other filled the forest, almost making Charlie smile at the predictability of the scene playing out below her.

xxx

Thud.

The sound of Tyson’s body hitting the ground rang deafeningly across the forest.

Kai stood with his sword still half raised as everything around him came to a sudden halt.

He knew that time had not stopped, he could still feel his chest rise and fall as shallow breaths escaped his lips, he could still hear the leaves rustle as a gentle, cool breeze flew past them. He could hear the hushed voices of the campers as they gathered in a circle around him and Tyson. And yet Kai felt heavily weighed down by an intangible feeling, it was as if he’d made the mistake of looking at Medusa and now he was frozen as a statue with his sword raised in an attacking stance over Tyson’s now seemingly lifeless body.

In the midst of all this, a lone thought crossed Kai’s mind.

Did he do this?

The question was answered by the shriek that filled the air as Hilary appeared from nowhere, ripping off her invisibility cap and letting it fall to the ground while she dropped to her knees at Tyson’s side.

“What did you do?”

Her ruby eyes blazed up at him, sending a shiver down his spine as the cool breeze vanished and was replaced by an almost suffocating pressure as all eyes fell on Kai after Hilary’s open accusation appointed him as the person of interest.

Not that he could blame anyone since he still hadn’t lowered his sword.

“Kai?” Charlie’s unsure yet soft voice cut through the tension like a knife, reaching him despite how quiet her tone was.

He blinked a few times to focus his mind, finally allowing the sword to drop at his side, he turned to face Charlie, unable to look at the sight that was right in front of him. But that was not a good decision either, he realised, as Charlie’s face too held doubt and suspicion like the others. She hadn’t called out in support of him, she’d called out in disbelief of him being the culprit behind whatever had happened.

What in the goddam Olympus had happened?

Kai yanked off his helmet and let it drop to the ground, earning a few more whispers from campers now beginning to gather around the scene in full. He forced himself to think about what had played out between him and Tyson a few minutes ago. There was no doubt that the two had been way too engrossed in their battle, despite knowing that this was just Capture The Flag, a game that would take place every weekend until summer was over. There was no need for them to go all out as they did, but this was probably the only thing the two had in common, they were too battle oriented. Things like friendly matches meant nothing to either of them and the sword fighting that the two had shown tonight was proof of it.

Tyson’s skill had improved tenfold from when he’d just arrived at camp a few years ago, partially due to Kai’s tutelage but mostly because the passion that drove him to become the strongest demigod was perhaps on a different level than anyone this camp had hosted in a long time. Kai respected that drive, it was what made training with Tyson and fighting alongside as his partner so much more rewarding. Though, they rarely got a chance to fight against each other outside of a training arena. Maybe that’s why somewhere deep down both of them had been eagerly awaiting a moment like this and that’s why they had gone overboard with their battle, losing track of how this game wasn’t about fighting each other but about capturing the flag.

But the more Kai replayed their fight in his head, the more certain he was that his sword had not managed to touch Tyson.

They’d been going back and forth, cornering each other, provoking each other, but until the last moment, it was an evenly matched battle. The only reason Kai had raised his sword high to attack with full vigour was because he’d seen Tyson channelling a lightning strike through his sword. He’d meant to cut the lightning out by striking before Tyson could blast him off and that was when something went wrong.

Kai still couldn’t put his finger on what exactly had gone wrong, but for a brief moment Tyson’s blue eyes latched onto his with a look of desperation, the reason why Kai halted his attack.

But the very next moment the blue lightning that had been charging up around Tyson’s hand and sword went out like a fuse, making him and his sword drop to the ground. Kai was surprised by how sudden the change in Tyson’s expression had been, almost frozen to the ground by the momentary anguish in his friend’s blue eyes before they darkened and he dropped to his knees. A low, pained growl escaped his lips right as he rolled to his side and went limp, leaving Kai standing over his body with his sword raised high which would make any sane onlooker assume that he was responsible for Tyson’s fall.

“Charlie, you need to go to Chiron and tell him to call the game off.” Rei’s calm voice cut through the tension in the air and snapped Kai’s attention back to the scene in front of him.

He had been too lost in his thoughts, trying to figure out what happened to notice that Rei had arrived at the scene as well and was kneeling next to Hilary, inspecting Tyson’s face closely.

“Right. Of course, I will do that.” Charlie nodded in agreement but instead of moving, she cast yet another hesitant look in Kai’s direction as if searching for an answer of some sort.

“Oh, get Max too if you can.” Rei used her delayed response to add to his instruction, he looked up from Tyson’s face and met her eyes, “Let’s meet at the Big House, we’ll take Tyson there immediately.”

This time Charlie nodded more confidently, she squeezed her eyes shut tightly in concentration and in the next few seconds, she vanished from in front of them, teleporting herself hopefully to the Big House where Chiron must be.

“Kai, a little help?” Rei looked at him next, his voice still calm as he gestured towards Tyson, indicating that the two of them would need to carry him together if they were going to get there on time.

Rei seemed to be the only one currently surrounding the scene who wasn’t blaming Kai for what had happened and as relieving as it should have been for him, it only made him more suspicious of Nemesis’s son. Kai was probably still one of those few campers who found it hard to trust Rei easily, especially since the latter took extra care in not divulging many details about himself. While he respected the choice of personal privacy, when it came to going on quests and fighting life or death battles, Kai would much prefer to team up with someone like Tyson who wasn’t afraid to bare his truest intentions for everyone to see. To his dismay, however, it was Tyson who had openly welcomed Rei into their Camp, making it Kai’s responsibility to be wary of the stranger on behalf of both of them.

However, right now was not the time to dwell on these little things. Kai was still confused about the turn of events but ensuring Tyson’s safety was a priority and he decided to act accordingly. He bent down to help Rei but before he could get close to Tyson, Hilary moved forward, shielding him out of Kai’s reach with her arm as she glared furiously up at him, her eyes filled with contempt for him and it made his heart sink to the stomach.

Kai recalled his very first day at Camp, he’d just turned eight and hadn’t exactly been happy with his mother’s decision to drop him off at this strange and dubious place. Something he’d expressed by attempting to kick Chiron in the chest, only for the Centaur to rise on all fours and intimidate Kai into silent obedience. He’d heard a giggle behind him, and at the edge of the doorway stood a little girl laughing at him. But when Chiron assigned her to show him around, she talked animatedly, happy that there was finally someone here who was closer to her age than all the other kids. Until Ares had claimed him a month later, he’d spent all his time with Hilary at the Athena Cabin, allowing her to teach him all there was to know about the Gods of Olympus.

He never would have guessed that there would come a day when she’d look at him with eyes full of hate, lips quivering with anger, hands ready to put a sharp dagger to his throat.

All because she thought he was the one responsible for what had happened to Tyson.

“Hilary, please.” Rei reprimanded her, keeping a careful hand on her shoulder, he gently pulled her back, “We need to get Tyson to the infirmary.”

“Dragon,” Kai mumbled to himself, his voice coarse as he watched Hilary compose herself over Rei’s words very easily. Somehow that hurt as much as Charlie assuming he was the culprit just like everyone else.

“I’m sorry?” Rei fixed him with a confused look.

“Tyson’s Ventus. He’s our fastest bet.”

Kai did not meet his eyes but turned to look at the sky, putting two fingers in between his lips, he let out a loud whistle which echoed all through the forest. Tyson had taught him the call signal last summer before they left for the dangerous and long quest Hera had set out for them, though in the end he never needed to use it. Now he hoped that he’d gotten the tone of the whistle correct and that the storm spirit would heed the call of someone who is not his master. The silence that followed his call was a little hard to bear. He could feel Hilary’s furious eyes digging into him even as he kept his gaze fixed up at the sky. Although he hadn’t glanced at Rei, he knew that the newbie was doubting his attempt at summoning the Ventus. Probably the only person who would’ve stuck up for Kai and diffused this unnecessary tension that had built up between him and the rest of the Camp was Tyson.

Kai clenched his fists at his side, staring at the dark sky without blinking, begging silently for Dragon to heed his call.

He remembered what Aeolus had explained to him and Tyson on the quest where Tyson first met and tamed Dragon a few years ago. Once the storm spirit allowed itself to latch onto an entity like a god or demigod, it would be inclined to keep tabs on their wellbeing no matter how far apart the two were. If whatever happened to Tyson was serious, Kai was sure that Dragon must have felt it too and was already on his way to Camp Half-Blood long before Kai had called for him. And for the first time that night, things worked out well for him. After a few minutes of silence, the clear sky was engulfed by a swirling dark cloud that rushed towards them at an alarming speed. Once the dark cloud was directly above where they stood, it swooped down onto the ground, transforming into the shape of a pegasus as it landed.

Kai somehow managed to swallow his sigh of relief as the Ventus stood tall in front of Rei and Hilary who were still kneeling over Tyson. Its eyes, which were made up of lightning, took in the sight of its master and just as Rei opened his mouth to talk to the creature, it turned its smokey head towards Kai, staring straight at him as it awaited an explanation for the call.

Finally, someone else who still trusted him, Kai thought to himself, feeling his body relax slightly.

“I am not sure what happened, but he’s hurt,” Kai said, he heard Hilary scoff angrily but he kept talking, “We need you to carry him to the Big House, in that direction.”

He pointed eastwards but with the creature’s intimidating eyes made up of lightning, it was hard to tell whether it understood what Kai was saying. About a minute later, Dragon reached out with a swirling cloud, lifting Tyson in the air easily. The minute Tyson’s frame left the ground, his hands fell behind him and his head lolled, earning a frightened gasp from Hilary. Dragon knew what it was doing however, within a few seconds he’d managed to secure Tyson on top of his cloud-like back. Lifting off the ground in one swift movement, it flew off towards the Big House without a second glance in their direction.

Just when Kai thought he’d have to go back to dealing with untrusting looks from all the Campers that had now gathered at the scene, Charlie appeared out of thin air right where Dragon had stood seconds ago. She wobbled slightly before standing straight, teleportation was still a fairly new skill for her. In her hand she held a huge microphone, the one Chiron usually used to make important announcements whenever they had a full house for the summer. Charlie cleared her throat and brought the megaphone to her lips.

“Capture the Flag for tonight is cancelled. All Head Counsellors must make sure their Cabinmates are accounted for and then escort them back to the Cabins. Once that’s done, there’s a Senior Council meeting at the Big House. See you there.”

xxx

Tyson had been living as a demigod for over four years now, yet what he was feeling was something he’d never experienced before.

It was almost as if the ground had attempted to suck him in but made a mistake and now his body was above ground while his consciousness was travelling through the earth. It felt extremely weird to push through mountains of dirt without being able to make a head or tail out of anything, he wanted to close his eyes and sleep, he wanted to stop fighting against the flow and let his mind be carried wherever it was being taken to. But something kept nagging at him, kind of an inconvenient electric shock, begging him to not give into the temptations of the earth. Not that Tyson understood what that even meant, but he attempted to keep his mind awake, he attempted to take note of his surroundings and not become one with the dirt.

Whoever was responsible for doing this to him, did not enjoy that choice very much.

The force pulling Tyson away from the world above the ground tried everything within its scope to make him give up and allow his consciousness to fall asleep. It showed strange images in the dirt, his middle school math homework, the first novel he had ever been assigned to read at school, Homer’s Odyssey that Hilary had been begging him to read-

Hilary.

A jolt passed through whatever part of himself was stuck underneath the ground.

She would know what was happening to him, she would know who was responsible for this, which monster used the earth as an element, or which god would stoop so low to get back at Zeus for a minor scuffle.

She always knew everything.

But she wasn’t here right now and if he was being honest with himself, he was glad of it because wherever she was, she had to be safe.

The more he thought about Hilary, the slower his descent into the ground became. The culprit behind this became aware of it too and instead of trying to put him to sleep, they tried a different tactic.

The strange images in the ground began to change. Now they moulded themselves into scenes from his childhood.

His mother smiling goodbye at him before she left to pilot a plane that crashed and resulted in her death. His good-for-nothing Stepfather dropping him off at a military school in the countryside, taking with him the entirety of the money his mother had left behind for Tyson. His first visit to Olympus where his real father, Zeus, refused to even acknowledge his existence despite of Tyson finding and returning his highly valuable lightning bolt within a week of finding out that he was a demigod.

His first fight with Hilary, after which she chose Max as her quest partner and he was stuck with Kai. Him and Kai arguing right on top of the monster's hideout, which led to them being ambushed by a huge monster army that followed them straight back to the Camp. Hilary smiling and shaking Hera’s hand as she accepted a quest on all of their behalves. Hilary almost being crushed under a Giant’s foot because Hera lifted her protection the minute they completed her quest. His argument with Hilary after they managed to escape the Giant and make it back to Camp.

Every negative emotion he’d felt ever since his mother passed away clawed at him, telling him to give up and let the Earth Mother take over.

Earth Mother?

He felt like he should know who the Earth Mother was supposed to be but somehow that piece of information was evading him right now, like it had gotten stuck on one of the sedimentary pebbles he’d encountered on the way. But even then, being able to consciously realise that he was indeed being controlled filled him with confidence and Tyson began to fight back.

There wasn’t much he could do physically, having no clue how far his mind had been dragged from his body, but through willpower alone, he was able to turn the tide by filling his consciousness with happy thoughts, memories he wanted to cherish forever by carving them into this dark mud that surrounded him in the depths of the underground.

He remembered how his mother used to decorate cupcakes with golden lightning bolts for his birthday every year. He remembered the face of his grandfather in tears when he’d finally been able to discover that Tyson was still alive. He remembered the proud smile Chiron showed him when he came back successful from his first ever quest. He remembered the rush of excitement he felt when he fought back to back with Kai during the attack of the monster army on Camp Half-Blood. He remembered all the pranks he played on the Ares Cabin with Charlie, the sing-alongs with Max around the campfire, volunteering to try out every crazy invention of the Hephaestus cabin, falling prey to the silly confessions of love the Aphrodite girls sprung on him for their entertainment. He remembered feeling like how he was finally home every time he stepped through the boundary of Camp Half-Blood.

But most of all, he remembered Hilary.

She hadn’t left his side from his very first day of discovering that he was a demigod. She was there to help him understand everything there was to know about Camp Half-Blood, about Gods and Olympus, about Monsters. Sure he trained under Chiron and Kai, but most of what he knew about being a demigod was because of Hilary.

They didn’t always see eye to eye, however, in fact, it was rarer for them to agree on anything instantly. But still, they were both drawn to each other like a pair of magnets, arguing, seething, clashing and yet sticking to each other through everything.

And they always shared moments that left him feeling confused yet wanting more.

The first time he’d managed to come back unhurt from a solo quest, Hilary had been waiting at the entrance to the Camp on Half-Blood Hill, running down towards him the moment she saw him and throwing her arms around him with such force that he was almost knocked off his feet.

“I was so worried about you.”

His descent into the dirt stopped for a moment.

Despite of being responsible for the monster army invading Camp Half-Blood in the first place, when he’d managed to turn the Minotaur into monster dust before it could even cross the Camp’s boundary, Hilary planted a hasty kiss against his cheek, running back to join the Apollo Cabin’s shooting squad she turned one last time to laugh at his mouth hanging open in shock.

“Just like a true hero.”

He was now stuck in the same spot in the ground for some time, the Earth Mother, or whoever it was that had been pulling him away was going all out by trying to get inside his head again but it was too late. Tyson had gained full control of his mind because he knew what he was supposed to do.

He was supposed to get back home, to Camp Half-Blood, without getting hurt so that Hilary could greet him with a smile full of relief.

“I was told that Children of Zeus are not easy to manipulate.”

The words echoed all across his mind, it was like the drowsy, hoarse voice was speaking from inside his brain, which was possibly the only thing more weird than his consciousness being stuck in between layers of dirt and rocks underground.

“If you have a problem with my father, you should take it up with him.” Tyson tried his best to articulate a proper sentence in his mind. Since he didn’t have a mouth to speak from, he had to use his stream of thought to communicate with who he hoped was the Earth Mother.

“Oh, I plan to young hero. I need your help for just that.”

“Someone must’ve given you faulty info, lady. My father doesn’t care for me at all.”

He’d meant to put up a brave front against this Dirt Mother but thinking about his father’s disregard for him made the wall of happy feelings he’d surrounded his consciousness with tremble dangerously.

Hilary, think about Hilary, Tyson reminded himself.

“He will care, once I am done with you. However, I feel I was hasty in my actions. I am not yet prepared to take you on. My informant underestimated your mental prowess.”

He couldn’t decide whether he should take that as a compliment or an insult, and it was hard to dwell on it when he felt his consciousness dissolving into all the mud that surrounded him. Tyson wanted to ask just a few more questions to his captor but she seemed to have relinquished all control over him and his mind was now slowly slipping away from the scene, and hopefully back to wherever his body was. The voice did, however, decide to leave him with a few warnings that would ensure he spent yet another summer questing and looking for a way to save his life.

“But I shall be back for you, young hero. You have proved that you are worthy of my pursuit. I will be sure to send you a few presents that keep you occupied until our paths cross again. Perhaps, I will take the girl next time too…”

Before Tyson could retaliate he felt his whole existence being pulled apart and then put together again in one instance. A jolt passed through him and he was aware that he’d returned above ground, in his own body but he still felt heavy with exhaustion. He knew that his hands were lying at his side but he couldn’t bring himself to lift them, his eyelids too felt like lead making it impossible for him to even open his eyes to look around. Maybe he needed to rest before he tried to wake up, after all, the journey his mind had just taken hadn’t exactly been a vacation. Tyson decided then, that he would sleep for some time to recuperate, although the thought of his mind being pulled away while he slept did occur to him, by this point he was too tired to care.

When he woke next, he felt much more normal. It felt as if while he slept, his mind got accustomed to being back in his body, making it easier for him to be in control of his limbs again. He widened his groggy eyes and stared up ahead, realising that he was staring at the dome-shaped ceiling of Cabin One. Lifting his head Tyson looked around and saw that he’d been tucked into his bed, though he was still wearing the clothes from Capture The Flag night with only his armour and sword missing. He propped himself up on his elbows, blue eyes widening at the sight of Hilary resting her head near his knees with her eyes closed and shallow breaths escaping her lips.

Tyson tried not to get too excited over finally being able to see her in person. He straightened up and adjusted his back against the headboard. The movement on his end didn’t seem to nudge Hilary awake, so with a disappointed pout on his face, he cleared his throat loudly.

“You’re awake!” Hilary shot up from her position near his knees, eyes wide with shock and lips trembling as she met his gaze, “Tyson, I was so worried about you! I’ll go get Chiron and Max-” She got up from the stool she’d put next to his bed but before she could get moving, Tyson used all his strength to lean forward and grab her hand as tightly as he could.

“Wait! Don’t go yet!”

“But everyone’s been worried sick about you,” she said. Looking down at his grasp around her hand with confusion she added impatiently, “They’re going to want to know you’re awake. Chiron will have a lot of questions for you and Max will need to do a check up-”

“I know!” He really didn’t want to raise her voice at her right after waking up but that was the only way he could catch her attention and get her to stop talking for long enough to let him explain what he wanted, “I know the procedure, okay? Just wait here for now.” He added in a much calmer voice once she stopped fidgeting against his grasp.

“Tyson this is-”

“Hilary, please.” He interrupted her again, this time he looked straight into her eyes as he begged quietly, “Just stay with me for a little while.”

She held his gaze for a moment before she nodded, cheeks tinged with a light pink colour as she sat back down on the stool, pulling it closer to the bed after he dropped her hand.

“How are you feeling?”

Hilary’s tone was careful as she poised her question, wanting to know everything but not pressuring him to answer since he still hadn’t recovered. Her garnet eyes were shining under the dimness of Cabin One and it was only then that Tyson took in her appearance properly. Her hair was more dishevelled than usual, and her Camp t-shirt looked crinkled, which by Hilary’s standards was close to garbage. When he leaned forward to get a better look at her face, he saw that her eyes weren’t just shining, but they were bloodshot and puffy like she had been crying. A lot.

“I feel better now. How long was I out?” Tyson asked her, swallowing the lump in his throat with great difficulty. He hoped that he hadn’t made her cry for more than a day or two.

“Today would be the seventh day.”

“Damn it!” Tyson sucked in a sharp breath, “Dirt Mother better watch her back.”

“Dirt Mother?” Hilary passed him a confused look but he waved it off with a shrug.

“Never mind that. Is everything okay at Camp? Did anything unusual happen while I was out?”

“No, we’ve been careful since you collapsed.” Hilary shook her head with a sigh, sounding gloomy as she added, “Patrols, curfews, suspended activities and moving around in a buddy system. You know, the usual.”

“That sucks.” Tyson always hated these drills that Chiron would instate the minute he felt something suspicious was afoot in the Camp premises. He couldn’t believe that his friends had been subjected to this for a whole week while Dirt Mother played out his life in front of him in the form of mud theatre.

“You did collapse during a fight.” Hilary pointed out.

“Yeah, but that had nothing to do with what happened to me.” He mumbled to himself. All demigods were born with ADHD which is why most Camp activities were designed in a way that would keep their minds occupied in the right manner. If Chiron really had kicked in the most stringent protocol then Tyson would consider himself as the reason for everyone at Camp feeling restless and annoyed for almost a week.

“Does that mean Kai didn’t hurt you at all?” Hilary sounded extremely surprised by his claim.

“Well, duh! As if Kai would ever hurt me.” Tyson scoffed at her, shaking his head at her outrageous implication.

Hilary didn’t laugh off the thought as he expected her to. Her face fell as she began to fidget with her hands, “Oh no. Oh no, no-”

“What did you do?” Tyson found himself leaning forward again, frowning at how Hilary covered her face with her hands and shook her head vigorously.

“I was following you with my invisibility cap,” she said. Pausing to take a few deep breaths, she let her hands drop to her lap. Tyson could see that her cheeks were flushed red from embarrassment but she continued her explanation, “I came into the clearing and I saw you on the ground with Kai raising his sword above you, I- I panicked. I thought he’d hurt you-”

“Hils, his sword never touched me.” Tyson deadpanned.

“Oh, I feel terrible!” She groaned and Tyson almost grimaced at the tone of her voice, “I blamed him in front of everyone, the whole Camp has been giving him the silent treatment this past week!”

“Jeez, Hils that’s…” Tyson didn’t know what to say because he’d been in that position during his first week at Camp and he knew how terribly lonely it felt to be left out like that. When Zeus had claimed him right upon his arrival, the other kids were too afraid to talk to him because they didn’t want to break ranks. Apart from Hilary, of course. She was the only one willing to admit that being related to Zeus didn’t make Tyson a total jerk. That was something he was capable of on his own accord, as Hilary would probably agree to.

“I have to go apologise to him.” Hilary balled up her hands into tight fists on her lap and took a deep breath. With a determined look she got up to leave, but Tyson grabbed onto her once again.

“You definitely need to do that, but come on Hilary, how many times will you make me say it?” He gritted his teeth when he met her confused gaze, squeezing her wrist tightly for a moment before he spoke in a low tone, “Stay with me. Talk to me.”

Hilary looked shocked by the sudden change in his attitude towards her, he wanted to tell her that having your mind spend seven days traipsing through the dirty underground would do that to a guy but he held his tongue, and passed her a pleading look. She glanced at his hold around her wrist, eyebrows furrowing as if she was considering all the possibilities her staying with him could lead to. After what felt like an eternity, she finally nodded and with slightly pink cheeks, sat back down.

This time, Tyson did not let go of her hand, instead he locked his fingers with hers, and held onto her hand tightly. Hilary didn’t seem to mind and when she passed him a bright smile, he had trouble reminding his heart to not beat so fast that he’d end up passing out again.

“We’ve been facing thunderstorms every night since you collapsed.” Hilary finally spoke up after a few minutes had passed.

“Could just be a coincidence,” Tyson grumbled under his breath. He knew Hilary was trying to uplift his mood, but he didn’t want to know his father’s reaction to what had happened to him. Especially since no help had been sent to him in the seven days that he’d mentally exhausted himself in trying to get back to Camp sane and alive.

“When did I get back to my Cabin?” He asked, a feeble attempt to change the topic but Hilary was nice enough to oblige.

“Max said keeping you in the infirmary would be of no use since you weren’t physically hurt,” she said, biting her lower lip nervously as she probably was still thinking about how to apologise to Kai. “Chiron had you carried back here, he felt you would be more comfortable waking up in your bed.”

Tyson nodded along to her explanation, glancing around his cabin, he noticed a few new things. Rei was nowhere to be seen, which was odd since Hilary had mentioned a curfew and he knew it was getting dark outside since the domed ceiling reflected the actual sky. Closer to his bed, however, he noticed that a sleeping bag lay folded neatly, with many books on Greek Philosophy strewn around it.

“Did you sleep here?”

Tyson stared at Hilary in surprise. She quickly avoided meeting his gaze, the colour in her cheeks growing darker which gave away her response without a word being said.

“I thought you believed in maintaining traditions,” Tyson snickered. Not that he had any right to make fun of her considering all the butterflies that were somersaulting in his stomach at the thought of Hilary sleeping next to him for the past seven days. Clearing his throat, he mimicked Hilary’s voice perfectly as he teasingly added, “What would Athena say?”

“This isn’t funny, Tyson! I was worried about you.” Hilary looked up at him with a pout, “I tried to sleep in my own Cabin but I was afraid you’d wake up when I wasn’t here.”

“Rei didn’t mind?”

“Max allowed him to bunk at Cabin 7.”

Tyson glanced up at the sky reflected in the ceiling as silence settled over them. As happy as he was that Hilary had not let their argument from before affect her concern for him, he couldn’t help but reprimand himself for taking so long to get out of Dirt Mother’s stupid trap. He was sure that tomorrow morning when he’d hopefully be able to rejoin Camp activities, everyone would be happy to have him back, but at the back of his mind, he’d still feel guilty for throwing a damper on their first week back itself. He wondered if there would ever be a time when he’d arrive at Camp to spend a few boring months doing nothing but daily chores and activities. No monster armies attacking, no quests being handed out, just a simple summer of being a normal demigod.

His train of thought was broken when he felt Hilary slowly attempt to pull her hand out of his grasp. Tyson knew that she was probably getting impatient about getting him checked up but there were still a few things on his mind that he wanted to share with her before he would be overwhelmed by demigod responsibilities that he sensed were waiting around the corner.

“Thanks, for keeping me company. It means a lot.” Tyson tightened his grip on Hilary’s hand which made her look at him in surprise. She shook her head lightly at his words, mumbling something under her breath out of embarrassment as she stopped her attempt to get her hand out of his grasp.

“I’m sorry, by the way. For being mad at you.”

He was finding it easier, to be honest with Hilary now that he’d realised the only reason he returned safely into his body from the underground hell was because of her. She was obviously taken aback by the sudden change in his behaviour, her eyes searched his face for any hint that would give away his true intentions. Tyson squeezed her hand tightly once, as a way to let her know that his apology was sincere and came from his heart, Hilary raised her eyebrows at the gesture and though she did not seem fully convinced, a relieved look did settle on her face eventually.

“You don’t have to-”

“No, I do have to.” Tyson cut her off urgently.

He didn’t want her to write off his apology, he wanted her to accept it, he wanted her to understand that he did feel guilty for everything so the two of them could move past what had happened without any regrets or lingering anger towards each other.

“I’m sorry for ignoring you all year and for being a jerk to you the minute I got back.” He started again, making sure that his eyes didn’t stray from hers no matter how nervous he felt on the inside. “You were just doing what any demigod would do when approached by a God and I should have kept my personal feelings apart from the quest.”

“No, you weren’t completely in the wrong either,” Hilary said, a small smile tugging at her lips while she tightened the hold of her fingers around his as a gesture of reassurance. “Hera did lift the protection she blessed me with the minute I got her what she wanted, if you hadn’t been there watching my back, that Giant would’ve turned me into a puddle.” She grimaced at the thought of their battle last summer but with a shake of her head she finally allowed a full smile to grace her face when she met his eyes again, “Thank you for apologising, Tyson, and I’m sorry too.”

When Tyson stared at her in confusion in response, she laughed lightly and rolled her eyes, “I can’t believe I risked hurting your feelings for Hera’s sake.”

“Oh, tread carefully Hils, the old hag might curse you with a lifetime of no marriage if she hears you.” He laughed out loud, feeling as if a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulder now that things were back to normal between him and Hilary.

“Let her.” Hilary scoffed, though the humour hadn’t left her face yet, she muttered in a solemn tone, “Who knows if we’ll even live long enough to get there.”

The average lifespan of a demigod at camp Half-Blood wasn’t so great, and from what he’d learned so far, it was even worse for the children of the Big Three, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. In his four years at Camp, he hadn’t yet run into a demigod who was related to his...uncles, for the lack of a better word, so Tyson wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to staying alive as a son of Zeus. At the very least he wanted to make it to 21 because there was no way he’d let himself die before tasting alcohol.

Jokes aside, when Tyson did the math he realised that his goal was not that far away and he only had about 7 years left to truly enjoy his time alive. And like the idiot that he was, he’d wasted almost a year out of that limited time staying mad at Hilary and not talking to her. He didn’t want to start panicking, considering he’d only just managed to fix his mood and feel better about being mind-kidnapped, but when he looked at Hilary sitting across from him, smiling and holding his hand, bright eyes twinkling with excitement, his heart dropped to his stomach.

He could not afford to waste any more time that he had left with her.

“I don’t mind trying.”

The words left his mouth before he could control himself and Hilary’s smile faltered slightly as she let his statement longer in the air between them. They were both quiet for a while, with Tyson trying to keep his racing heartbeat in check and not let the turmoil of emotions that he was feeling on the inside slip out, and Hilary lost deep in thought, her face covered with a whimsical expression that didn’t quite give away what she thought of Tyson’s declaration.

“I bet that would make Hera really mad,” Hilary said, suddenly breaking the silence as she looked at him, eyes soft and a kind smile on her lips, “Seeing you all grown up, with a happy family.”

“Yeah,” Tyson replied, the anxious feelings building up inside him melted as soon as the warmth of Hilary’s smile reached him. He found himself feeling calmer and better in control of his emotions when he allowed himself to keep only her smiling face in his vision. “She might be evil, but she’s not ‘willing to hurt her own step-grandkids’ evil I guess.” He chuckled, managing to find his humour now that he was more relaxed.

Hilary laughed along with him before she lifted his hand and wrapped both of hers around it tightly. She fixed him with a determined look and a new emotion in her garnet eyes that Tyson didn’t recognise. Leaning forward in his direction, she spoke gently, “So let’s promise to stay alive together until we’re really old, to get back at Hera.”

“Okay, I promise.” It was a miracle that he could get those words out because his breath was caught in his throat with Hilary’s face being so close to his. Once he voiced out his agreement, she relaxed back and let his hand fall out of her grasp, sighing contently to herself. She was quiet for a few minutes before she looked up at him expectantly with her big eyes once again.

“Can I please go get Chiron and Max now?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

Tyson laughed at how quickly she dashed out of his cabin, taking with her the warm, fuzzy feelings that had overtaken his brain. He knew it was only a matter of minutes before Chiron and everyone else would surround him, asking questions, taking notes and preparing for another summer filled with ugly monsters and tough battles. He wanted to take this time to collect his thoughts but his mind obviously had other plans. Instead of letting him structure responses for all the questions that would be soon thrown his way, a very vivid image entered his mind.

He was standing on the patio of a house he’d never been in before. Behind the red-tiled roof of the house, he could catch a glimpse of a mountain range. Above him, the sky was clear and filled with stars of every colour and around him, the air was crisp and fresh. In front of him, there was a big yard in which three boys were playing catch ball, one was taller than the other two, but Tyson couldn’t recognise all three of them. He looked down to check if he was really here, and not lying on his bed at Camp, and noticed that although there was a body attached to his head, it looked different than what he was used to. It was bigger, bulkier somehow as if he’d aged a good amount of years.

Tyson heard the door of the house open behind him and he turned around to get a look at this new addition to his vision.

When the woman stepped out, he recognised her immediately but at the same time, there were a lot of things about her that he could not recognise. Had her brown, curly hair always been this long? Had she always worn a gold chain around her neck? Had her ruby eyes always looked at him with so much love and affection-

“Tyson?”

She called out to him and just as Tyson was about to ask her what was happening and where was he, he heard her call his name again, this time more loudly and urgently.

“Tyson?”

He blinked and he was back in his Cabin, still propped up on his bed as Hilary peered at him with concerned eyes.

“Huh?” He was about to tell her that he was just talking to her, but it wasn’t exactly her when his eyes fell on all the other visitors that had surrounded his bed. Tyson took a deep breath and busted out a sheepish smile as he cleared his mind of what he had just seen. He faced the audience in front of him and rubbed the back of his head, “Sorry I think I fell asleep.”

“You don’t have to apologise for that, I’m sure you’re still pretty tired from what happened.” Max was happy to chime in with his opinion and Tyson nodded along to it.

He averted his gaze from Hilary and instead focused on everyone else. Chiron and Kai did not even ask him how he was feeling before they jumped straight to the question of who they would need to fight against this summer. Hilary shushed them sharply and allowed Max to get closer to him so he could check that Tyson was completely fine before he was interrogated. But even after his check-up was finished and Chiron very dreadfully revealed the true identity of Dirt Mother, Tyson found his insides buzzing with electricity that he’d never felt before. Sure things didn’t bode well for him or the Camp with the information that he’d unearthed, pun intended, after discussing his adventure in the mud at length with Chiron, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to feel worried about what was in store for him.

Because someone had already shown him a glimpse of what his future looked like.

Correction, what his future with Hilary looked like.

And Tyson was ready to fight against the Gods or their Mothers if it meant grasping at a chance to make it come true.

- x -

#beyblade #bakuten shoot beyblade #tyson granger #takao kinomiya #kai hiwatari #rei kon #max mizuhara #hilary tachibana #hiromi tachibana #beyblade au #beyblade x camp half blood #oc: charlie ando/takaishi #beyblade fanfiction #writealot #tyhil

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