Life of A Young Demigod: Book 2 (Percy Jackson Reader-Insert)

Deja Vu

The last couple months had been... tough. They actually started out pretty well. Andromeda and I had more time to spend together after our quest at Christmas, and we somehow felt... closer, I guess. It's hard to describe, but it felt as if me and her shared a deeper connection than ever before, both literally and metaphorically. However, as winter turned to spring, things took a turn for the worse.

I was awoken early one morning to screams from outside the cabin. Somehow, a cyclops had made its way into camp. It didn't last long once me and Chiron took notice of it, but that wasn't supposed to be possible. There were magical barriers around camp that prevented monsters from entering. It should have been stopped by them, unless someone let it in. Chiron grabbed me and dragged me along with him to inspect the barrier, which I suppose made sense since I could sense the magic better than most people. My heart dropped as I approached the borders. It was... fading. It was happening slowly, I could barely notice the magical power being drained, but the barrier was noticeably weaker than I'd ever felt before. Soon enough, we found the reason. Thalia's tree, which was the source of the barrier, had a small puncture hole at the base of it.

Chiron sniffed at the hole and recoiled in shock. Poison. Someone had poisoned the tree. We gathered the few camp leaders who were there year round, and held an emergency meeting. Ultimately, we decided that it would be best to form a border patrol of sorts while Chiron worked to find a cure for the poison. Clarisse, being a daughter of Ares, volunteered to lead the patrol, which I happily agreed to. I don't much like her on a personal level, but I have a great deal of respect for her abilities, and knew she was best suited for the job. She begrudgingly took me on as second in command, and for the next several weeks, me and her fought off countless monsters who seemed to sense the weakened defenses and take the opportunity for a chance at their favorite food: young demigods.

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The day started fairly normally. I woke up early and went to get Andromeda. We were both on patrol duty today, something I was very much grateful for. Not only could it be rather boring sometimes since monsters fortunately didn't attack every day, but I feel much safer with her around. Not only is she a very capable fighter, but if I do something stupid and get myself hurt, which happens more often than I like to admit, there isn't anyone I'd rather have around to fix me up. Besides her father, I suppose, but I doubt Apollo has time to do guard duty at camp. The rest of the patrol was already up by the tree by the time we arrived, and Clarisse scowled at me, even though I wasn't late.

"Took you long enough."

I glared back at her for a second, but sighed. This wasn't the time to pick a fight. "Sorry. Forgot to do my washing the other night and had to dig around my dresser for clothes."

She huffed. "Whatever. You and Andromeda are with me at the tree today. Don't try anything stupid like last time."

I glared at her. "Hey, I wasn't about to let 'Meda get backed into a corner like that."

Clarisse raised her arm to display a long gash that was still healing. Even with magical healing, that was still probably going to form a scar. "She would have been fine. I, on the other hand, was counting on you being behind me."

I opened my mouth to retort, but Andromeda squeezed my hand. "(Y/N). It's ok. Just ignore her."

I sighed. "Ok. But I'm not gonna just let her act like I was in the wrong for helping you there."

Andromeda smirked. "She's right though, I would have been fine. I had a plan in mind, you know?"

I blushed a bit. "Well..."

She kissed me on the cheek quickly. "It's ok. I like you defending me, it's attractive."

Clarisse cleared her throat. "When you two are done..."