Invisible String (Percy Jackson)

Dorothea

"How are you liking camp so far?" Percy finally spoke after a few minutes of something that couldn't be called comfortable silence. He didn't know what to say and she didn't want him to say anything.

Ana thought about it for a second, how did she feel about this place? On one hand, she finally knew she wasn't alone. But being knocked out for so long without her mother wasn't ideal. "It's fine. I'll get back to you when I've been here longer."

Percy laughed, throwing his head back a little. "Here we are, my achilles' heel," he said, pointing to the archery spot in a theatrical manner.

"What, are you bad?" she finally said with a smile.

"You'll see, maybe even feel it," Percy replied, grabbing a bow and arrow from his left.

"Wow, wow, careful with that Jackson, we are both familiar with your history," a girl approached them with a smirk.

"Funny, Kayla, but I'm not as bad as when I got here," he said in a mocking tone.

The girl shook Ana's hand. "My brother's have told me he lit a tree on fire and nearly a bunch of campers on his first day."

"I was twelve, give me a break." Percy had been here for six years? So when they met, he already knew of his father? That explained why he had dismissed her visions when she'd told him.

"And I'm great at other things, you should see me swordfight, Candela," he spoke, knocking her out of her thoughts.

"How about we start with me making fun of you, then I can be impressed," she responded.

Percy scoffed, drawing the arrow back and straight into the side of the target. Not as bad as she'd expected.

"See?" he said excitedly. "No one's hurt."

"Your ego should be," Ana told him, making Kayla chuckle. "You've been here this long and that's the best you can do?"

"Dam, that was cold," Kayla mumbled. "How about I teach now. Take your bow with your left hand and draw out the arrow with your right. Great, now shoot."

She did as she was told, the arrow sticking to the yellow surrounding the red.

"You're a natural. See, Jackson, that's how it's supposed to be done. Maybe you are a daughter of Apollo as well."

"Perhaps, but I do have to confess it's not my first time. I practiced a little in the third grade," Ana laughed.

"I love her, should've brought her sooner." Yes, Percy, you should have.

Why didn't he? She pondered, he knew she saw the monsters too, yet he did nothing.

"Want to come with me to swordfighting?" He proposed.

Ana wanted nothing less than to be around Percy at the moment.

"That's alright, I'm going to stay here with Kayla," she replied, going back for her arrow. Leaving the boy looking like a lost lamb as he walked away into the forest.

"Not a big fan of Percy, huh?" Kayla asked her, giving her paton the back.

"I don't know him." And she meant it. How could she say she knew him when he'd kept this all a secret from her. Those couple of years they'd gone to school together, once where they had been best friends, they were all a lie.

-----------------------------------------------

"Hey mom!"

"Ana, is that you? Oh, sweetheart, I'm so happy to hear from you!"

"Hope you weren't too worried about me," Ana joked. She had returned to cabin eleven not long after Percy had left her at archery. Now she laid in her bunk,

hand up, nearly touching the ceiling

She heard her mother's laugh. "Of course I was, you know I was. But the call from your friend definitely helped."

"He's not my friend. Yet I do appreciate that he called you. How are you?"

"I'm good, I'm good. About that boy..." her mother kept going, even with her attempt to change the subject.

"Moooom," Ana rolled her eyes. "Today I tried archery."

"Sweetheart, was it your friend Percy? The Percy?" her mother continued.

"How did you know?" she was shocked, and worried, had he recognized her?

"The way he speaks, he hasn't changed, not even a little."

"Exactly, that's the problem. He left, without a word. And worse is that now I know he knew what I saw was real. Percy always said I had a big imagination, he was lying!" Ana was pissed.

"Everything okay in here?" a voice was heard, scaring Ana, making her fall to the floor.

"Ow," she said from the floor.

"Ana, you okay?" Luke rushed to her side, worry in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine, nothing to see here," she replied, getting up slowly and embarrassed.

"You sure?" he said as he helped her get up, noticing the slight tint of red on her cheeks but not mentioning it. "Let's go and get some food into you."

"That's probably a great idea," she laughed, walking behind Luke.

"Now you are going to meet all of my siblings. Be careful with Travis and Connor, they might seem charming but they are little assholes.