"Reject men and love, my pure student. For love is but your only weakness."
Elio didn't like boys. Not in the sense that they weren't attracted to them, they knew they would be, but they just despised their mere existence. Spending time in Camp Half...
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When Percy woke up, for what felt like the hundredth time, he saw two girls. One being blonde, who fed him pudding, and another who stood more to the side, but that girl was a tad weird. Why did she have feathers? Was that a hallucination?
As the blonde asked him questions he didn't know, he kept on looking at her. The only thing he could say to her was—
"What are you?" And the feathery girl paused for a moment, as if debating on answering him. But then someone knocked on the door, and Percy passed out again. After being fed a spoonful of pudding.
. .
As Elio watched the boy pass out again, they simply rolled their eyes and glared at him. Elio obviously hated the boy's guts, even if they didn't know him. He was a guy. They didn't like guys.
"Why are you bothering with him? He's fine." They muttered, looking over to Annabeth as their eyes softened. A good look at the resting boy and they knew that he'd survive. He wasn't too banged up from the Minotaur. But Annabeth looked desperate. The same desperate she always was when a new camper was to arrive.
"I know, but what if he's the one?" She asked, causing Elio to sigh. Annabeth was always like this — wondering if every new camper was "the one". But even she knew the chances were slim. But even Elio felt like this time, there was more of a chance. So, instead of responding, they simply walked out of the room and didn't come back.
. .
Percy woke up for good this time, as Grover explained just about nothing. Either way, Percy felt like trash. His mother was gone. Nothing should be happy now. Then, as he was introduced to the camp director and Annabeth, he noticed someone. Sitting near the porch, simply staring at the sky, was the feathery girl.
"It's you." He responded, his face burning as he realised how loud that was. The feathery girl looked over to Percy with confusion, before it turned to... resentment? Why did she look like she hated him? Did he do something in his sleep?
Oh gods, was he drooling?
He quickly wiped his mouth, just in case.
"Oh, right. Percy, this is—" Grover started, only to be stopped by the girl raising her hand.
"I can introduce myself, Grover." She said, still staring Percy down intensely. Her eyes were a strange shade of both green and gold, making Percy think of both the leaves of a tree and a sun setting in the west.
They were sharp, just like Annabeth's — only this time, Percy was sure that the girl was thinking of ways to take him down in a fight. And a lot of ways, too.
"I'm Elio Takahashi. Featherborn student of Athena." Elio introduced herself, giving Percy a reluctant bow, as if showing respect to him was the least desirable activity in the world. She wasn't even going to explain what a Featherborn was, apparently.
She merely stared at him until he looked away. She didn't even move from her spot as Percy was introduced to the world of the Greek Gods.
They didn't pay attention to the conversation, going back to watching the sky and becoming so engrossed in their thoughts, it was like they were the only person that existed. The images in their head being vivid, the words eager to roll from their tongue as easily as air. They thought of the gods, watching over the camp. The campers, all being children, but with great potential.
And then to Percy.
Who was he, anyway? He was practically famous, seeing as he killed a Minotaur right when he got to camp. How he did it, Elio didn't know. All they knew was that his godly parent was a strong one. A very strong one.
And Elio didn't know whether they should consider him an ally or enemy. Suddenly, they were snapped out of their trance when they noticed Chiron leading Percy through the camp.
And that's when they thought — now was a good time to see how he acts. To learn how big of a threat he was.
So, as Chiron showed Percy everything in the haven known as Camp Half-Blood, Elio followed behind, hiding and eavesdropping in the shadows.
A tad weird, yes, but they weren't one to follow social norms. After all, they were trained and raised to be a powerful warrior, a master of the mind.
As they watched Percy from afar, they noticed how... simply boyish he was. He seemed to hold no sense of bravery, or strength, and he didn't seem to even know how to defend himself.
This was the boy who took down the Minotaur? How pathetic. Absolutely pathetic. Elio could beat this boy with ease. Yes, that sounded narcissistic, but it was true.
And while Elio stalked— watched Percy from afar, the boy felt it. Not that he knew he was being watched, but he felt like a pair of eyes was on him at all times. It was unnerving. Though, he summed it up to just being the new kid at camp. Then, Elio suddenly popped up next to him, causing him to yelp.
"What—?" He asked, hoping for a response. Gods, this girl was creepy sometimes.
They did nothing to speak to him, and merely walked alongside Chiron, eyeing him down suspiciously. When Chiron led Percy to the Hermes cabin, they were unpleasantly greeted by the plethora of campers. Not that they held grudges — talking to people was just a lot of effort.
Then, they were approached by one of the more tolerable ones. His blond hair being both common, yet an aspect that set him apart.
"Hey, Elio. Are you showing the new kid around?" Luke asked, smiling at her. Even if she gave him a slight glare and simply huffed in response. As if she'd show around a boy.
"You have too much faith." Was her response, watching Annabeth introduce a now increasingly embarrassed Percy. Elio knew the drill.
New camper comes. Gets introduced to the Hermes cabin, followed by the cabin's combined disappointment of learning said camper was an undetermined. She could understand the disappointment. She was lucky for her circumstances — essentially being claimed at birth, being raised by the goddess of wisdom herself. She wasn't surprised after hearing everyone's groan at learning Percy was an undetermined.
She was snapped out of her thoughts as Luke walked over to the newcomer, introducing himself with that charismatic personality that couldn't seem to charm Elio. Then again, she was someone who was described as "hard to influence".
Of course, she followed, seeming to be almost bored as Percy asked questions she'd heard a million times.
"You're my counsellor for now?" The boy asked.
"Since you're undetermined, you'll be staying in this cabin until your godly parent claims you. Seeing as Hermes is the patron god of travellers, his cabin often houses our new campers." Elio stepped in, making sure to explain it in a way that both she and the confused boy could understand. She found speaking hard, for reasons she wouldn't like to admit. If anyone asked why, she'd just blame it on the fact that she didn't speak often.
After all, it was just that, right?
She wanted for his response, before looking outside and realising the time. She was missing a lesson from Athena. She cursed in Greek, before rushing out of the Hermes cabin and somewhere only she knew. Nobody knew how Athena's lessons worked with Elio. Even Elio didn't know. The best way the feathery girl could describe it was trials. Trials after trials after trials.
