CHAPTER TWO: LYDIA
Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. Wherever they went, campers pointed at them and murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they were just staring at Lydia and Annabeth, who were still pretty much dripping wet.
They showed Percy a few more places: the metal shop, the arts-and-crafts room, and the climbing wall, which actually consisted of two facing walls that shook violently, dropped boulders, sprayed lava, and clashed together if you didn't get to the top fast enough.
Finally, they returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins.
"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."
"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets." Percy apologized.
"Whatever." Annabeth brushed him off.
"It wasn't my fault."
She looked at him skeptically. Lydia was pretty sure it was his fault; he'd made water shoot out of the bathroom fixtures. She didn't understand how. But the toilets had exploded at a pretty convenient time for him for it not to be a coincidence.
Percy had become one with the plumbing.
"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth said.
"Who?"
"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron." And with that Annabeth had walked off, leaving Lydia behind with Percy.
The silence was pretty awkward, and she didn't know what to say to the new kid but she wanted to make him feel better. It wasn't long ago that she was in his very same spot.
She stared into the lake and wasn't too surprised to see two Naiads sitting cross-legged at the base of the pier, about twenty feet below. But she could imagine that maybe Percy wasn't very familiar with who she would consider her occasional confidantes, so she turned her head to him to gouge his reaction.
He looked a little green, kind of like he was a second away from throwing up his breakfast all over her.
They wore blue jeans and shimmering green T-shirts, and their brown hair floated loose around their shoulders as minnows darted in and out. One of them smiled and waved as if they were a long-lost friends, and the other winked. Percy waved back.
"Don't encourage them, Naiads are pesky flirts." Lydia warned, holding in a laugh.
The Naiads floated up closer to the pier, making Percy take a few apprehensive steps back, and blew raspberries into Lydia's face. She sputtered and spat out the water with scoff.
"Pesky, I tell you." Lydia narrowed her eyes.
"Naiads," He repeated, looking really overwhelmed now. "That's it. I want to go home now."
"Really Percy?" Lydia said, raising a brow "That's what did it for you? Not the rock wall with 2,200 degree molten lava?"
Percy frowned.
"Don't you get it, Percy? This is our home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us."
"You mean, mentally disturbed kids?"
"I mean not totally human. Half-human."
"Half-human and half-what?"
Lydia gave him a knowing look, urging him to say what had been on his mind the whole time. He clearly didn't want to admit it. Maybe, he was afraid, she definitely was.
"God," He said, finally. "Half-god."
Lydia nodded, the corner of her lips quirking up at his acceptance. Baby steps.
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𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗘! 𝙥. 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣 ¹
Fanfiction"Anything for you, Goldie." Lydia Allen didn't think Percy Jackson would crawl into her heart, but Lydia Allen wasn't the type to ever get things right. ❝ She was literally the sun personified; with her hair and her eyes and her sun kissed skin. Her...
