𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 ! [jason grace]¹

C H A P T E R ⬩ T H R E E

O C E A N U S

C H A P T E R   T H R E E

( campfire gone wrong )

⟶⬩⬥⬩⟵

          FOR THE REMAINDER of the day, Malia showed Jason around the camp. Annabeth had made her his tour guide for the day, much to her delight, and she had spent her time showing him around trying to lighten his dampened mood by telling jokes and filling him in on everything that the camp had been through in the past few years. She wanted his spirits to be lifted by the time the campfire would come around so he could enjoy himself. She didn't like the frown he was wearing one bit.

After walking around camp for a while, the sky began to darken and the campers began to make their way toward the amphitheater from the dining pavilion after dinner. During dinner, Malia had sat alone at the Poseidon table, making faces at Jason from across the pavilion. It had been nice to finally relax a bit since Percy's disappearance three days prior, even if it was only for a small moment.

As they walked toward the amphitheater where the campfire would be held, Malia told Jason all about how she had first arrived at camp, and how she had taken the news about being a demigod much better than her brother had (she left out the part about her crying). And mind you, she had been ten, almost eleven when this happened. Shows who the more mature child of Poseidon was, if you asked her.

"When he saw that his old Latin teacher was half horse, I was pretty sure he was going to pass out from surprise. But, eventually, we both got used to the fact that this was our new way of life," Malia finished, letting her hands fall down at her sides from where they had been flying in the air. "Gods, the look on his face when he got told that he hadn't been seeing things was priceless."

Jason chuckled softly. "Your brother sounds like an interesting guy."

Malia nodded with a soft smile. "Yeah, he is. An idiot, mainly, but he can be interesting."

They reached the amphitheater in no time. The steps were carved into the side of a hill, facing a stone-lined fire pit. Fifty or sixty kids filled the rows, clustered into groups under various banners. Malia never followed the rule of sitting under your assigned banner during campfires, and neither did most of the other kids. She led Jason over to where Annabeth was standing in the front, the two of them taking spots beside her.

As Malia looked around, she could see where the other newbies were. Leo was sitting with the Hephaestus campers, a bunch of burly-looking kids under a steel gray banner emblazoned with a hammer. Piper was with the Hermes cabin, each kid looking different as they clustered together. Standing in front of the fire, half a dozen campers with guitars and lyres were jumping around, leading a song about pieces of armor and how their grandma got dressed for war. Malia absolutely loved the Apollo cabin-led singalongs.