Wreckage ⋆ Riordanverse² (s.u.)

iii. ancient answers

iv. ancient answers

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THEA LOVES CAMP IN THE WINTERTIME. She misses Charlie, of course, since this is the first year he's gone entirely, but she likes Camp. She and the Stolls organize bi-weekly snowball tournaments that are a free-for-all across the camp, split into two teams. The school year means there are fewer people at camp but more freedom. The year-round campers have free range of the camp as long as they don't do anything too drastic, like the one time Connor accidentally caused a stampede of pegasi that flattened the strawberry field. But above the freedom, she loves the lights and the snow.

"Naomi!"

Thea stumbles back a step as Travis throws himself at her. She really regrets letting him know her middle name, but it's at least a cute nickname. "Hi, Trav. How's camp been?"

"Awful. Terrible. Never leave again." He steps back, a toothy grin on his face. "Also, Reggie misses you, he kept asking when you'd get back."

"Yeah. It . . . it took longer than we thought."

Travis' face scrunches at the distress in her voice until he notices that they are all there, even Percy, but Annabeth isn't. His face crumples. "Oh. Shit. She . . ."

Thea nods and tries not to look straight at him or else she'll start crying. "Where's Connor?"

"He's distracting Reggie in the woods, they're trying to catch fairies. I told him they'd get zapped again, but at least it's keeping him occupied. I'll, uh, tell him to keep at it. Give you some time."

She smiles, just slightly. "Thanks, Travis. Can you try not to let anyone know yet? Until after we talk to Chiron."

"Yeah, yeah, sure. And the Hunters?"

"We ran into them. Manticore. It's—yeah. I don't know. Just. Yeah. Thanks."

As Travis walks away Percy turns to her and clears his throat. "So, you and Travis are pretty close, huh."

"Yeah. He's my brother, basically. We spend a lot of time together since there's not many of us during the year." She sighs. "And I, uh, I gotta—I'll see you later, okay?"

"What? Thea, we have to go to Chiron—"

"I know, but I gotta talk to Kelsey."

"Who?"

"One of the Hunters, the one with red hair and the squirrel."

Everyone starts to split, her friends toward the Big House and the Hunters toward the cabins.

"You're friends with the Hunters now?"

"What? Percy, I just—I need to talk to them, I'll talk to you later."

"This is about Annabeth—"

"And you don't think I know that?!" Thea groans and fists a hand into her hair. "Of course I know that! Just—just because I'm not as 'close' with her as you are doesn't mean I don't care that she's gone, but I have other things to do! I can't just—I can't do this right now, Percy."

"Fine," he says, already turning away. "Go talk to your Hunter friends."

Thea can already feel things starting to crumble.

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THEA FEELS LIKE she's losing it. She's weak, weaker than ever, especially with how much she used her magic. Then Annabeth. She can't handle anything else, but as always the universe hates the Vasquezes.