Dancing with Death

Welcome to Cabin 13

Eliza ran her hand along the rough bark of a branch slanting through the center of the room. A smile spread across her face. She looked around the messy room. A layer of dust carpeted everything, but the scattered pillows and blankets made it feel cozy. The trunks pushed against the walls still overflowed with Aliana's stuff - quivers of arrows, stacks of folded clothes, and other odds and ends she'd smuggled to her cabin over the years.

Annabeth still stood in the doorway, taking in every inch of the abandoned room. She sighed. "It's been months since I've been up here."

Eliza turned. "You and Ali were close?"

A smile tugged at the corners of Annabeth's mouth. "Yeah. I mean, we had our fair share of fights, but everybody does."

Eliza opened one of the shuttered windows. "Uh... I heard she and Percy were... well... closer."

Annabeth chuckled, dropping her gaze to the floor. "Yeah. That was one of the biggest fights we ever had." She crossed her arms over her chest. "But, truthfully, I felt bad for her... when it ended. Percy was the only person who could ever make her smile. He accepted her for who she was, not what he expected her to be, like everyone else did." She sighed. "Sometimes... I wonder what would've happened if they hadn't broken things off." She shrugged and blinked back tears. "They could've been really happy, but... I had to get the way."

Eliza walked over to her. "It's not your fault." She waited for Annabeth to meet her gaze. "They made their choices. From what I've heard, Percy broke things off for a good reason. She betrayed you."

"And then she risked everything to make it right, to save him." Annabeth hugged herself, biting back tears.

"Okay." Eliza conceded. "But, in the end, Percy chose you. Not Ali. Not Rachel. You." She placed a hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "Do you really think he'd do that if he didn't care about you? Or if he liked Ali more?" She cracked a small smile. "You were his choice. Never forget that."

Annabeth chuckled and wiped her tears away. "You know, you're pretty good at this pep talk thing."

Eliza laughed. "Well, that's a first." She cleared her throat. "So, how does no one else find this place. I mean, it's not exactly covert."

Annabeth smiled, happy for a change in subject. "That's the fun part." She walked over to the trunk branching through the room and knocked in a quick rhythmic pattern.

A woman morphed out of the wood. She had long red hair woven into thick plaits cascading down her back. Her skin was tinged the same shade of brown as the tree and her emerald eyes shone like sunlight reflecting off the morning dew.

Her gaze settled on Eliza. "I thought the deal was to only call on me in the event of an emergency."

"I know," Annabeth agreed, "but I though you might want to meet your new roommate." She gestured to Eliza and spoke over her shoulder. "Her magic shields this place from prying eyes."

"Yes," The dryad huffed. "But I'm not a housekeeper." She eyed Eliza. "Does this mean this place will finally get a good cleaning?" She waved casually towards Eliza.

Annabeth gave her an annoyed look. "Come on, Cyprus."

The dryad shot Eliza a mischievous smile. "I'm joking." Her voice was smooth and bubbly, like a stream. "It'll be nice to have some company again, especially a daughter of Persephone."

"Proserpine." Eliza corrected.

Cyprus shrugged. "Whatever. They're the same person. Whatever you think makes Proserpine special, Persephone had it too. Perhaps in a more constricted supply, but she did have it."

Eliza studied the dryad with interest. "I suppose you're right."

Cyprus chuckled. "Of course I am."

Annabeth nudged Eliza. "We should go. We need to meet up with the others before Leo reveals his 'big surprise.'"

Eliza nodded. "See you later, Cyprus."

The dryad backed up, merging with the tree. "I'm looking forward to it, Daughter of Persephone."
* * *
Eliza fought back her laughter as she watched the faces of the Hephaestus cabin.

Leo stood proudly in the massive doorway of a huge bunker full of blueprints and celestial bronze and half-finished projects.

Eliza spotted Festus' head in the corner and a spike of sorrow blossomed in her chest. She wandered aimlessly, running her hands gently across pieces of hammered bronze and crinkly papers. This place was insane. Definitely Leo's paradise.

Chiron sighed an unholy amount of times as he explained the strained relationship between Roman and Greek half-bloods and why the gods had decided to separate them.

Eliza was only half-listening. When she'd gotten her memories back, she'd kind of pieced it together.

After seeing the bunker, the Hephaestus kids had named Leo their head councilor. Meanwhile, Piper had put Drew, the Aphrodite cabin's head councilor, in her place and taken her title. Now, being the only campers in cabins 1 and 13, Jason and Eliza were the head councilors by default. Their entire group had moved to the top of the food chain within a day and, of course, Chiron called a war council to discuss what to do next.
* * *
The meeting wasn't exactly eventful. Mostly they all stated the obvious. Percy was probably at the other camp with no memories and Leo had to build a giant Greek warship. (Something to do with the Prophecy of Seven.)

Eliza left the council with a headache. It had been a long day. First, she'd gotten her own cabin with a dryad roommate, which used to belong to Annabeth's friend slash rival; then Leo had shown them Bunker 9, which was a whole other can of worms; finally, Chiron had called an arguably unnecessary war council. She almost missed being on the quest. Almost.

A/N
Hey all!!
This was kind of a filler, but I hope you liked it anyway. The next few chapters will kind of be fillers too as I get through Son of Neptune and into Mark of Athena.
Thanks again for all the support guys. 🥰
-Cheshire