❦𝓕𝓪𝓿𝓸𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮 𝓒𝓻𝓲𝓶𝓮❦ - 𝓟𝓮𝓻𝓬𝔂 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓼𝓸𝓷

𝒱. 𝒜 𝐵𝑒𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒮𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝒫𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝒾𝒸𝑒

𝒵𝑜𝑒 entered her cabin, and headed straight for the showers. After washing everything twice to make sure she got the sewage smell out, she got dressed in a royal purple tank-top and black leggings. Leaving her hair to air dry except the two pieces she clipped back to keep out of her face, she put on black combat boots and laced them up.

"Selina! What time is it?" She called from the bathroom, re-adjusting her hair clip one more time.

"7:20! You might wanna hurry up!"

"Coming!" Zoe stumbled out, double checking her charm bracelet was on her wrist and her hair clip was in her hair before heading out the door.

Zoe and Selina talked about their favorite songs that were new until the conch horn sounded and everyone filed into the commons yard.

"Ten, fall in!" Zoe shouted as Selina double checked the cabin so no one was left behind. Zoe and Selina were co-counselors for Aphrodite's cabin. Zoe was there longer and Selina was the oldest so they share their responsibilities. They both went to cabin meetings and they took turns leading the cabin to meals and picking out activities.

The other campers filed out of their cabins and stood in lines in order of seniority. Zoe marched up the hill, her cabin behind her as everyone headed to the pavilion. Naiads emerged from the lake, nymphs came from the trees, and satyrs came from the forest as torches blazed around the marble columns in the pavilion. Each cabin had their own table covered in a white tablecloth trimmed in purple, matching Zoe's top. Four tables were empty but table eleven was way over crowded. Table ten wasn't crowded but there were a significant number of campers sitting there. Zoe loved meals with her siblings. Talking and joking and just being with her family was one of her favorite parts of summer.

Once everyone was seated, Chiron pounded his hoof against the floor and shouted "To the gods!"

Everyone echoed it back and after they got their plates, they went over to the fire. Zoe scraped off the juiciest piece of brisket into the fire and sent a silent prayer to her mother and Hestia. She then sat back down and had dinner with her siblings, laughing and talking, teasing each other and just being together.

As dinner finished up, Chiron pounded his hoof again for everyone's attention. Mr. D stood up with a huge sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next game of capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels." All of cabin five erupted in shouts, whoops, and cheers.

"Personally," Mr. D continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson." Chiron murmured something in the god's ear, presumably the right name because when Mr. D straightened up, he called "Eh, Percy Jackson." He corrected. "That's right. Hurrah and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on."

Everyone cheered and got up, heading to the campfire. Apollo's cabin led the sing-a-long and Annabeth (along with the rest of the Athena cabin) sat next to Zoe (and the rest of the Aphrodite cabin. They were better friends then you might think. (Mostly because of Zoe and Annabeth)) They sang songs about the gods, ate s'mores, talked and joked. It was Zoe's home away from home. Eventually the conch horn blew again, and everyone started back to their cabins.

"Good night, Annie!" Zoe called.

"Night Zo!" Annabeth hollered.

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A routine formed as Zoe helped Annabeth teach Percy Ancient Greek every morning. Zoe and Annabeth were used to talking about the gods and goddess in the present tense but Zoe could tell Percy was still a bit hesitant. After a few days, Percy was able to stumble through a few lines of Homer's The Odyssey.