Heart Pierced - Kayla Knowles (1)

VII. The IM Call That Triggered A Duel

(A/N: This once again draws heavily on laurellins' "Tales From Camp Half Blood" as a basis for the events of this chapter, and for the particular chapter, it is based on Chapter 39 of her fanfic "Percy's Trick", which depicts the campers' reactions to Percy's IM Call which had Luke reveal he was the one that poisoned Thalia's tree. Of course, given the chapter title, you can tell that things don't go as they did in canon on Camp Half Blood's end. How? Well, you're about to find out.)

Day Eight
Dinner

Colton felt he had to do something today, and he could not offer to waste it. Thalia's tree was about to pass away as soon as tomorrow came, and everyone could feel it. Even Kayla seemed more emotionally unstable than usual this morning, and he hated it.

Absolutely hated it.

Apollo's letter yesterday had made a couple of things clear to Colton. For one, he clarified that the part of his prophecy where he had to face one once.. it would be against Tantalus. The god of prophecies - among other things - didn't state when he would have to fight, just said that it would be today. The other part of it was, that Clarisse was on her way back with the Golden Fleece and would be arriving soon.

So even as everyone sluggishly went about their daily tasks waiting for the tree to die and the barrier to disappear, Colton just watched Tantalus like a hawk, never taking his eyes off of him every time their activities director was in his field of view. The other campers, even Kayla, could by now sense that the collision between Colton and Tantalus was finally going to happen, and so, in addition to being sluggish, everyone was on edge anytime the two of them were in the same area as each other.

Nothing came between them though, and so the campers settled down to dinner later that day, with Tantalus in the Big House and Colton on patrol again, they were both depressed, scared, worried, terrified, fearful, and everything in between. Kayla was not among them however, for Colton had practically insisted on taking her with him for patrol before dinner came around. Lee had relented, primarily because Colton was the only thing keeping his younger sister stable right now, and Colton knew it full well.

For his part, Colton knew his task today would be to keep Kayla stable, and win the fight against Tantalus. For the purpose of the latter task, he had even taken a extra sword from the armory - in addition to his usual sword - and sharpened it before evening patrol as a precaution. He was taking no chances, and Kayla knew it.

For now though, Tantalus seemed to be content with remaining in the Big House for now, and so for a bit, Kayla improved a lot, even working up the stability to shoot a few monsters with her bow and arrows, every kill seemingly making her feel more and more better, even with the sight of Thalia's about to be finally dead tree in her view.

Colton could tell that he was probably going to ask Clarisse to take Kayla out on patrol with him more often once she got back, for he was genuinely impressed with how well she shot. He had heard the stories about how well the girl could shoot, but seeing it in person, he could definitely see she was definitely blessed with Apollo's archery skills to a high degree. The girl was a natural.

Meanwhile, at the pavilion, the mood was far more despondent than with the two demigods on patrol. Some of the campers were simply waiting for the tree to die and get on with their ends, while others tried to cling on to hope.

"It's going to be ok," Malcolm said weakly, the quietness of the pavilion making sure his voice reached everyone despite how quiet he was. "Annabeth and Percy have beaten impossible odds and saved the day at the last minute before, they can do it again!"

Hector from the Ares Cabin spoke in response. "And what about Clarisse?!" He demanded. "Like, are you guys all forgetting this is her quest?!"

Kassidy, one of the girls in the Ares Cabin and slightly younger than Sherman, was next. "See that's exactly it!" she huffed. "No one's even talking about how this is Clarisse's quest, or the fact she was brave enough to go into the Sea of Monsters all by herself! All they talk about is Percy and Annabeth!"