CWH 2

The Arena

Sam

Sam looked at Alex, who was possibly more distraught than she had ever seen the other girl. What was so special about this girl that everyone here was staying up late worrying? 

Yes, it was bad that Sophie had gone missing, but Sam would never have anticipated the teary eyes that she saw there.

Before she could stop herself, even before she realized she was going to do it, Sam asked the question she had been thinking aloud. Wincing, she waited for Alex to yell, or whip out her garrote, so it was a surprise when the other girl... whimpered. 

"Yeah, I know it's not on-brand for me to care, but Sophie felt more like an exuberant, adorably clumsy best friend than an actual adult. Everyone here liked her a lot." That cleared some of the confusion, but Sam was still unsure about one thing.

"And Keefe?"

Understanding her partial question well, Piper said, "Yeah, they're dating. I'm pretty sure. It was fun, trying to set them up last summer. I'm 95% certain there was a bunch of elfy weirdness about it, which I was TOTALLY planning to interrogate her about, but..."

The other girl's comment trailed off, and Sam totally got it. "Wait, elf?"

The missing girl was an elf? That was something huge, and would merit an Enherji intervention. There were many, much more sinister forces that would take an elf than just a few terrorists.

Reading the expression on Sam's face, Alex said, "Not that kind of elf. Turns out Midgard has more native humanoid species than we think." 

Nodding, but not really getting it, Sam turned around to look at the perfectly organized items. Somehow, it felt sacred to her, and she was being exceedingly careful so as not to trespass.

The rest of the night until lights-out was spent with the other girls telling stories to bring Sam back up to speed, some echoing with laughter and kindness, but just as many of fierce, bold acts.

The next morning at the bathrooms, there were two girls who looked about Keefe's age, both of whom seemed to have dried tears on their faces.

The black haired one looked up when Annabeth said somberly, "Good morning, Linh, Biana."

"Good to see you."

Oh. Sophie's friends, likely. It was amazing how much she seemed to be a catalyst, bringing out the best and the worst in people. 

At her morning prayer time, she asked Allah to help find the girl. Sophie sounded like an amazing person, and Sam thought that if things were a bit different, they might even be friends.

Please, Allah, help Sophie stay strong and help us to deliver her from the people who snatched her.

Magnus

Magnus looked around, feeling extra-glad when he saw Sam coming back from where she had stopped for a quick evening prayer. They had spent much of the past three days looking for their absent counselor, and his nerves were on high.

Sometimes during the day, someone came up and brought a cooler with water refills or a bag of snacks. That was part of what Magnus liked about this camp; the community. Even people who weren't out searching helped in their own way.

If it had been any other person, Sophie would have thrown herself into looking for them head-first. Even just thinking about that was making Magnus feel a bit sick, but not anywhere near as nervous as Keefe was. The other boy was pacing, his hand tangled in his hair.