Tales of Camp Half Blood

Tale 4. Sour Lollipops

2001. (I don't care if Will came to camp at 10, fuck it. He came to camp in my hc at 6.

WILL SOLACE MISSED HIS MOM. It had only been a week since they'd been apart but it felt like three times that amount of time. It only made it worse that he knew he wouldn't be able to see her for a long time. It was too risky for him to leave camp and go home cause the monsters might get him. He would have to wait for the next time his mom could visit New York for them to see each other.

He was one of the youngest kids at camp right now, usually monsters didn't come for demigods until around sixth grade. It turned out Will was really unlucky, cause he was seven and a scary woman with big claws had almost killed him while he was walking home from school.

So now here he was for the foreseeable future. At the very least he was claimed almost the moment his foot crossed the camp boundary. Apparently it sometimes takes a really long time for the gods to claim their kids, and sometimes they never claimed them at all.

Lee, his big brother, had told him that their dad was usually really good at claiming his kids. Which was why there were so many kids in the Apollo cabin. At the very least he didn't have to sleep on the floor of the Hermes cabin like some of the other kids. Will thought that was a little unfair, he'd prefer to risk getting hunted by monsters than sleep curled in a ball on the floor every night.

He walked down the steps of the big house where Chiron had just set up a quick call with his mom for him. He had only got to speak to her for a few minutes and it somehow made it hurt worse than before he had gotten to speak to her. The day was far too sunny and bright for his mood as he trudged back towards his cabin. He just wanted to burrow away in his bed under his blankets and cry, even though he was supposed to return to his siblings in the infirmary. But it seemed the world was out to get him today.

Only a dozen yards from the big house steps, he tripped on a rock embedded in the path that he hadn't noticed amidst his sulking. He tumbled to the ground, feeling tiny stones dig into his hands and scrap across his knees as he broke his fall. His injuries were very small, almost irrelevant in the long run, but it was as if the fall had been the final straw to break the camel's back. Will sat back on his heels, letting the tears fall down his face as he sobbed quietly, it just wasn't fair. He liked it here but if it came at the cost of not seeing his mom then he would rather be anywhere else in the world as long as she was by his side.

He didn't know how long he sat there in tears, it couldn't have been very long though, before someone found him.

"Will! Oh my gods, what happened," a gentle voice asked. Will glanced up through blurry eyes to see the worried face of Loretta looking down at him. She was one of the few people Will knew at camp so far. For the majority of the week he had just spent his days following after one of his siblings. But a few days after his arrival, Loretta had sought him out to give him some chocolates because Lee had told her that he was upset about having to leave his mom.

Loretta was 5 years older than Will, and he thought she was pretty nice. He wanted to answer her, but he feared if he opened his mouth he'd just start crying again, and it was already embarrassing enough that someone had seen him sobbing like a child.

Loretta took his silence in stride, "oh, whatever it is it's gonna be ok. Come on, we can head back to my cabin and get you cleaned up," she said, offering a hand to help him off the ground. Will gingerly accepted the gesture, being careful not to agitate his injured palms as Loretta pulled him up from the ground.

She winced in sympathy seeing the little stones stuck in his hands and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. He was thankful she didn't ask him to explain why he had been crying even though Will knew that she knew it wasn't from his fall. She just gave him a comforting smile and guided him back to the Ares cabin.