Aymee Parker B2 - The Cursed Mark

Chapter 46 : Anger issues

Aymee chatted a little with everyone with enthusiasm. It had been a long time since she had seen them and she was delighted to see how they were all training seriously. She also learned that Percy had taken over as fencing teacher, which made her smile.

"Cool! I can leave the swordsmanship to you and focus on the rest this summer! That's great!"

While most ancient campers breathed out a sigh of relief knowing they'd finally be spared from her lessons, Percy lost his relief in the blink of an eye.

"You can't be serious! No, you're the best now that L—"

He cut himself off and Aymee pursed her lips. She was well aware that Luke was still a sensitive subject. Besides, Percy still had the scar from the scorpion sting on his hand. The boy pondered for a moment about the least problematic way to formulate his idea.

"Can't we do like you did before? Me the newbies and you the experienced ones?"

Aymee scratched her head thinking of all the things she wished she could have done with the free time. She sighed as she said goodbye to most of her projects.

"Alright, we'll do that."

"I was told that you weren't too bad at spearing?"

Aymee turned around. She opened her arms wide when she saw Annabeth, who was accompanied by Thalia. The girls hugged tight while the punk repeated her question.

"I'm not too bad," replied Aymee, shrugging her shoulders.

"Are you joking?" Percy exclaimed. "You're at Clarisse's level!"

Aymee noticed how Thalia smirked at the mention of Ares' daughter. The witch suddenly remembered that Clarisse had an electric spear meanwhile Thalia was a daughter of Zeus. It must have sparked.

Aymee jumped. For some unknown reason, Hepzibah's face had flashed in her mind. Aymee began to spin around, looking out for the Giantess with her eyes.

"Are you looking for someone?" Annabeth asked.

"Hepzibah."

"Who?"

"Hepzibah Smith," repeated Aymee, licking her lips. "She's a new camper, I found her in my boarding school..."

"Hepzibah?" laughed Thalia. "Pay your name."

"She left with the Ares."

Aymee turned sharply. Kosta stood to the side, arms crossed. Strangely, he might have dropped a bomb, but he didn't seem more interested than that. Aymee hardly recognized him.

"Why didn't you stop them?"

He shrugged, looking away. Aymee's leg jerked as fast as she thought.

"The Ares? Where— Oh no!"

Aymee ran off. They'd probably planned to make Hepzibah go through the little hazing ritual they reserved for all newcomers. Kosta and a few others followed her as fast as they could, but Aymee was by far the fastest. She covered the distance at top speed and once there, screams and laughter confirmed her doubts.

"Hepz!" she exclaimed.

Please don't curse anyone!

Aymee entered as an angry roar echoed from the back cabin. Clarisse flew out of said-cabin and almost smashed her head against the showers. Her elbow collided with a pipe, which exploded in a fountain of water. Aymee didn't have time to worry about her: Hepzibah came out of the cabin staggering under the weight of the two other Ares girls she had on her back. She was soaked and her face flushed with the strain and pressure of the girls' arms around her neck. Aymee opened her eyes wide as Kosta held back an exclamation behind her.