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FIVE, we're going on a quest!
❀ ✿ ❀ ✿
AFTER CAPTURE THE FLAG, Aster was wary of Percy. As the sole son of Poseidon and the second kid that had broken the pact of the Big Three, he basically had a target on his back. And not just by monsters.
No one mentioned the hellhound attack, mainly due to the fact that they didn't want to have the conversation of who let it into the camp. There had been whispers of a traitor amongst them, but Aster couldn't think of anyone who fit the bill. Who would be insane enough to betray their camp, their home? And who would they betray it for?
No answers came over the next few days. Percy moved into cavin three, and no one said a word. Everyone seemed to be walking on eggshells around him, as if he would cause an earthquake at any moment, like his father. Aster wasn't ashamed to say that she was also kind of avoiding him, but mostly because she didn't know what to think of the son of Poseidon. Maybe the kid didn't deserve to be completely alienated; she remembered when she'd first arrived and Annabeth was the only camper around her age, and the girl was Aster's lifeline. To make things easier for him than they had been for her, Aster pushed aside her own worrying—for the most part.
Aster and Annabeth had seemed to switch roles during Percy's Greek mythology lessons, with Aster as the primary instructor. She understood why Annabeth was suddenly tense around him; Athena and Poseidon were natural enemies. It was now Aster who broke up arguments between the two instead of the other way around.
Although she kept the peace, Aster felt like the control she held over her world was swiftly crumbling. Changes were coming fast, spurred by Percy's arrival and claiming. She had no reason to hate Percy, but she couldn't bring herself to trust him very much—or even try.
Her vivid dreams continued almost every night, which held the same scene as that first one over a week ago: Thalia in her tree, speaking to Aster in code.
"You have to find the thief, or Olympus will be in ruins," Thalia urged.
"Tell me something I don't know," Aster grumbled.
"This is just the beginning," Thalia said, "follow your instincts. Always remember that."
Thalia had told her to "follow her instincts" so many times that Aster was ready to ignore them just out of spite. Then, at the end of their conversation, the ancient, cynical voice boomed from below her, and Aster woke, sweating and out of breath. This time, it was Steve shaking her awake, not just shooting up from her bed.
"Yo, Aster!" Steve said as Aster worked to catch her breath. "You're okay, it's just a dream."
Aster calmed once she realized she was in her own bed, in cabin four.
"In," Steve took a deep breath in, "and out." He blew the breath out slowly. Aster followed his direction and her heart rate slowed.
"Thanks Steve," Aster said. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
