𝗚𝗢𝗟𝗗𝗜𝗘! 𝙥. 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣 ¹

The Nightmare Before Christmas

CHAPTER FIVE: LYDIA

Lydia spent what felt like an eternity in the dinner pavilion. Her head buried in her hands, and her form shivering from the cold against her wet clothes.

Eventually she figured she had to integrate herself back into society and caught up with Percy when he was telling everybody about capture the flag. He asked her why she was wet and after receiving an unsatisfying answer, he used his powers to dry her instantly.

They walked together to the Ares cabin. Percy woke up some Ares kid from his midday nap and he yelled at him to go away. When Percy asked him where Clarisse was, he said, "Went on a quest for Chiron. Top secret!"

"Is she okay?" Lydia asked.

"Haven't heard from her in a month. She's missing in action. Like your butt's gonna be if you don't get outta here!"

Lydia and Percy shared a look and left the guy to go back to sleep. Finally, they got to Cabin Three. Lydia walked inside to do a quick inspection on her plant babies, the ones she'd given him were doing pretty good. The enchantments the Hecate kids did for a few bucks held well.

After that, Lydia went to check on Beebo. He was taking up like sixty percent of the space, and he made Percy's cabin look a little funky, but oh well. She put her palm to the soil and closed her eyes, feeling for any problems. Thankfully, Beebo was healthy.

Lydia brushed off her hands and sprawled on Percy's bunk.

He studied her. She looked like she'd aged ten years since he last saw her a few hours ago. Percy could sense that she'd been crying, and he knew it was probably because of what happened to Annabeth, but he wanted her to talk to him about it and let it out.

"You okay?" He asked her, taking out Annabeth's baseball cap out of his backpack and setting it on his nightstand.

He took off his wristwatch and activated the shield. It creaked noisily as it spiraled out. Dr. Thorn's spikes had dented the brass in a dozen places. One gash kept the shield from opening all the way, so it looked like a pizza with two slices missing. The beautiful metal pictures that Tyson had crafted were all banged up.

Percy hung the shield on its hook, next to the Minotaur horn, but it was painful to look at now.

Lydia sat up. "I'm fine."

She was not fine, and Percy knew Lydia well enough to know she wasn't.

"I know you're not." He stated.

"Um, it's just Annabeth." She said.

It wasn't a complete lie, but she didn't want to tell Percy about what happened with Ethan. She didn't know why, but she was afraid that maybe she'd lose her chance with him if she did. What if he hated her for it?

"Maybe Beckendorf could fix it for you." She suggested, pointing to the broken shield.

Percy nodded, telling her he'd ask him at dinner, but he looked worn out. It hadn't been twenty-four hours but they'd already been through enough for the rest of their lives. Lydia thought she should give some time alone, so she told him she'd see him at dinner and left.

Lydia went back to her cabin, but all of her siblings were off in the real world. She wished Katie was here. She'd know what to do or what to say.

She laid on her bunk, staring up at the ceiling. Until it was time for dinner, Lydia tried to think of ways to get Annabeth back and get Ethan out of her mind.

⊹₊｡ꕤ°₊⊹

Dinner was pretty meh that night. The food was great as usual, but Lydia didn't have an appetite. Most of the tables were empty. Lydia had two of her siblings with her, but Nick usually stayed with his grandparents and Katie had school.