𝐃𝐄𝐉𝐀 𝐕𝐔 • Percy Jackson.

II - 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄

act II━━━━
𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄

THE WINTER NIGHT IS A COLD ONE. He believed it. The heating put up to its max, huddling under thick blankets, socks on your feet as you walked across the bathroom tiles. The fall of leaves and the leading ice are always cold…Winter is coming soon, it'll be so cold! That was something the butlers and the nanny's  would complain about. 

They'd complain while tidying up the home and he'd spent Christmas looking out through the confines of his bedroom. He'd see white sheets of snow upon the city speckled with dirt and trash. (Only if he'd squint hard enough.) Winter, a soft wondrous time filled with family warmth was nothing but a cold desolate silence. A contrast to the tens of footsteps from servants rushing to get Christmas decorations up. "Don't forget your coat! You'll get sick if you don't wear it." A nanny would coddle before taking him out to the store where Christmas music would play.

On the week before Christmas Eve, he'd be forced to wear a suit and tie to greet influential celebrities who had an ego that could rival Ares or perhaps Narcissus himself as they arrived for the Christmas formal his mother arranged every year. Cracked youth of an heir holding a regal aura with eyes rivaling the dead would exchange useless formalities. 

The winter months were cold. He believed it too. Despite this, as he spent the winter session at camp, he realizes a touch of warmth grants its spark upon him.

He'd feel it embrace him as he's introduced to Valentino Soira, son of Aphrodite: black shoulder length layered hair, pushed back wispy bangs, straight eyebrows, light hazel eyes, a narrow straight nose, and nude lips against olive-toned skin. He was the epitome of a child of Aphrodite. He's introduced when the two decide to accidentally fuck up Eli's hair so hard they had to cut even more.  (She got so pissed Val looked like he was going to shit his pants.)

They now have a "French bob" , the term coined by Val. "It fits since you're French or something." He tried saying to appease their anger. (Spoiler–It didn't work.)

He'd laugh as they baked little Christmas cookies in the kitchen after begging Chiron and Mr D. (They allowed it only after they promised to make a batch each for them.)  They'd have flour fights as it was thrown in the air creating a misty cloud and they would giggle while cleaning it up. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Amani asked, narrowing his eyes. Val only grinned while Eli burst into laughter, pointing to his nose, and they'd end up in another flour face off.

–

During some nights, they'd have sleepovers. Val would come by and sleep at the Hermes cabin. (Was it allowed? Probably not, they still did it though–things were more lenient during the winter.) "You know I heard that a girl from Demeter made out with this one guy's girlfriend." Val spilled.

"What!? No way–does the guy know?" Val shook his head, "of course not! The guy's off finishing junior year or something, but it gets better–The guy was caught cheating first! It was revenge cheating…" Eli gasped before falling into a fit of giggles. "Please, I don't understand these types of things dude, such bullshit." She complained and they all agreed. "How are you gonna get with someone and then just…Cheat?!" She sighed dramatically.

They'd  gossip until, "what'd you guys think of Luke's betrayal?" Eli asked after a period of comforting silence between the trio. Amani didn't know what to respond with, he had an understanding of Luke's foundational ideology. It was the own ideology his mother has: the gods don't care about us. Yet Luke decided to have a revolution over it while the rest only brewed their hatred silently until they were killed.

Val sighed, "I don't know. I was never close with him." Amani nodded in agreement, Eli understood. "Me and him were close. Not as close as him and Annabeth–they were a lot like siblings in my eyes–but he was like the older brother I never had, you know?" They nodded silently, she took a breath, "the betrayal after hearing about it shocked me. The guy who I've known for five-six years…just goes against everything he's ever known?" Her voice cracks there and Val reaches out for a hug. They don't speak for a while Eli gets out of the hug.

"His ideology…" They mutter, "what do you guys think of it?" She asks and there's a period of silence. "Coming from someone who got claimed 2 months after arriving at camp, I don't know." He repeated, playing with the sleeve of his white long sleeve. The answer didn't seem to be what Eli had been looking for as her nose scrunched up. "What about you, Amani?" He was asked and it took a while for him to respond, to find a set of words that fit his rough opinion. He ultimately decided, "I don't care. I never did and I never will." He was firm on that belief.

He really didn't care about the gods, their bullshit, their words of wisdom. Eli laughed, "of course you'd say that. Though…the gods could go to hell and lose their powers and I wouldn't care." She said it with such confidence, the lightning outside banged, and she kept the laugh on her face. She even laughed harder when the lightning rang and the others followed suit. It was only a joke after all, they'd never actually disobey.

The laughter faded soon after and it lasted for a few seconds, "thought if I'm being honest, I wish someone–some god–would claim me." She said with a sad smile. "I've been here for almost as long as Annabeth, you know? It'd be nice, but I've gotten over it…For the most part. I'm glad Amani, that you're not so hung up on claimings from a god that'd never talk to you again." She said and they never got a chance to reflect on the words before the topic was changed. Though he looks back on that moment with a twinge of regret.

–

During the nights Val wasn't around and Eli had something to do, he would send letters or reply to those sent by Percy or Annabeth. He and Annabeth would discuss things about his heritage, his powers (yes powers! He'd found out he could make people see their fears if they met his eyes when he wanted them too as well as cause people to pass out? He hasn't figured out that last one yet.), And his background surrounding the prophecy lines. He didn't dare reflect on his experience in the underworld, it was too overwhelming.

He'd always feel guilty when Annabeth would ask if he'd done any more research and he'd say, "yeah but I haven't found anything." The lie flew smoothly out his mouth, when in reality, on days Val and Eli weren't there he'd waste it away lying on his bed. Tired yet so restless to do anything.

Other times he'd get Iris messages from Percy where they'd talk about their days. "Dude this one guy is so annoying! He's almost like Nancy but worse!" He'd hear Percy's complaints and he'd laugh or agree if he went into more detail.

Yet only the winter months were warm. The summer session began to grow closer and things began taking a toll. Things had gotten so bad he couldn't reply to the letters that stacked on his desk. Defending the borders and being forced to train made him too exhausted to even stay up for any Iris messages. (A bonus however, was that it was one of the only times he'd fall asleep.)

Yet they realized the cause. The way Thalia's tree began to wither; the once green pine began to dry into yellow and piles of dead pines collected themselves at the base. The way the Camp's shield began to weaken. Careful inspection made it clear:  on the once rich bark was a puncture mark making it evident someone had poisoned it and all anyone ( Mr D) could blame was Chiron.

With a new activities director (who was the worst guy ever), it was no longer joyful. There were no happy moments; your only option was to train.

Now with Percy's arrival yet again (along with a cyclops!) Amani's wish to never go on another quest again is crumbled as he's roped into another and left with even more info dumped onto him leaving his mind scrambling to find conclusions.

It doesn't help that maybe (just a little bit) Percy Jackson doesn't seem like a friend with the way his stomach crawls and his cheeks are warm.

━━━━━━━AUTHOR'S NOTE
Welcome to act 2 of Deja Vu! I've changed up the formatting a bit on this prologue compared to Act 1's sorry for that! I just prefer it a little better. Just want to thank everyone who has been reading this, it's really been keeping me going to continue this story.

I'll be trying to update once every week (5-7 days).