as we fall ✤ octavian ✓

one

Laoise could remember playing hide and seek back at her mother's home as though it was yesterday. She remembered how easy it was to find her younger half siblings - how they'd hide over and over in the exact same spots, and always find herself feeling victorious, despite not having actually accomplished much. She remembered the rush she felt whenever her hiding spot was looked over, how good she was at sliding into nooks and crannies and staying there for ages, until her opponents would give up and demand she come out.

Fun didn't begin to describe it.

But hide and seek was quite different at Camp Jupiter. This time in the War Games, weapons were allowed. It wasn't just hide and seek, it was hide and capture, involving knives and swords and anything else one could easily wield. The objective was simple; the purple team had to catch all of the white team within three hours, and bring them to their fortress. The white team had to remain hidden, and if found, run. Not let themselves get caught.

Laoise was good at hiding, but the opposite team was equally as good at seeking.

She just had to be fast, if they caught her in the tree she'd shimmied herself up. Not that they'd be able to find her - the leaves concealed her fairly well, she figured.

Not only that, but it gave her a good view of everything that went on below her, all the demigods and legacies rushing by her, searching for her and other members of her team. Every time someone passed the tree she'd found herself atop, she couldn't help but laugh to herself, finding deep amusement in their plight. As long as one person on team white remained uncaught, they'd win, and there was no way in hell anyone would be finding her.

An hour had already went by, filled with anxious anticipation. Her heart raced, pounding in her chest as she peered down at the people below her. Reyna was among them, on team purple, eyes scanning the perimeter. Eventually, her gaze settled on something, and she took off running towards them, leaving Laoise alone once again.

Without anything else to do, she pulled out her own weapon - a blade, small enough to fit into the pocket of her jeans, and eyed her reflection. While the metal caused her face to be warped, she still found herself smiling once again as she moved it into various angles.

Laoise was the kind of girl who was pretty, and knew it. That came with the territory, being a child of Cupid. Sure, the children of Venus were drop dead gorgeous, but that was nothing compared to the ethereal aura Cupid's offspring harbored. It was the kind of beauty that had everyone groveling at her feet.

Everyone except the boy who had just shot an arrow at her.

"Fuck!" Laoise swore loudly, nearly losing her grip on the tree and slipping down the ground, twenty, maybe thirty feet below. A fall like that would likely break her neck.

Head spinning, her eyes narrowed at the figure below her, as he aimed another arrow at her. While killing wasn't technically allowed in the War Games, accidental deaths were common enough that if Octavian Zoticus were to shoot an arrow through her heart, no one would bat an eye. Though perhaps if they knew it was her arch rival that had done the killing, Reyna may look into it more.

"Don't you dare shoot that arrow, Zoticus!" Laoise shouted down at him, clutching onto the tree with all her might.

"A child of Cupid, telling me not to shoot an arrow," Octavian responded with a smirk, that managed to be visible even from their distance. "That's ironic."

"If you shoot me, I'll come down there and slit your throat."

"I'd like to see you try," he tilted his head to the side as his arrow slid out from his bow, hitting the tree only an inch above her head. "Consider that a warning shot. Come on down, Campbell, if you want to keep your brains inside your head. Not that you have many."