𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿; heroes of olympus

eye rolls

ERITH JAY

ERITH WALKED LEO around camp. He seemed super excited... like, too excited. About everything. It was starting to get on Erith's nerves.

They passed the sword arena. Half of the dummies were shredded on the ground. Erith found this only slightly amusing. As she named it, Leo blurted, "Do I get a sword?"

Erith glanced at Leo. His hair, since dried, was a dark, curly mess. His eyes were darting everywhere, and they hadn't stopped. His lips were slightly parted, and he was literally bouncing on his feet.

The idea of giving him a sword was slightly... disturbing. If the other campers were hyperactive, Leo was on, like, crack.

"You'll make your own, probably," Erith decided. He was in Cabin Nine, it made sense. She was almost afraid of what creation he would make, though.

"Why?"

"You're in Cabin Nine."

"Yeah, what's up with that? Vulcan?"

Erith shook her head. "That's his Roman form. Originally, we use Greek. Your father is Hephaestus."

"Festus?" Leo seemed slightly dismayed. "Sounds like the god of cowboys."

Erith kept her lips carefully tight. She refused to accept that she found the boy funny. Besides, he might think they were friends if that were the case, and she was definitely not friends with him. Nor did she want to be.

"He-phaestus," Erith corrected him. "Not the god of cowboys, we don't have one of those, unfortunately. God of fire and kind of building. You'll see."

Leo scowled. Erith didn't miss it. His mood seemed to go down a few notches. After a few seconds, since he clearly couldn't keep his mouth shut, he said, "So the flaming hammer over my head. Good thing, or bad thing?"

Erith considered that question. "Well, you were claimed fast. That's good."

"But that Rainbow Pony dude, Butch―he mentioned a curse." Erith tried not to snort at "Rainbow Pony Dude"―Butch would've killed Leo if he had heard.

Erith shrugged. "It's not a big deal. Only if you believe in it. I dunno, I'm not in Hephaestus."

"Yo, sick! You single?"

"Not for you," Erith replied almost immediately, the words bouncing off her tongue.

"So, that's a yes!" Leo grinned, like this was a very big victory. "Who's your dad?"

"Uh―Apollo."

"Like... sunshine dude?"

"Yes, sunshine dude."

"You don't seem very sunshiney."

Erith snorted at that. "Thanks. I do my best."

Since Leo seemed to hop from subjects quickly, he continued: "So, curse. Tell me about that."

"Uh―like I said, I don't know very much about it. Just that it has something to do with Cabin Nine's last counselor's death, apparently."