Wildflowers, Percy Jackson ₁

014, fa-la-la lidays are soo back

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

₊˚࿐࿔ 𖥧‧₊⚘ ❀༉. 𓏲｡

Demeter kids tended not to like winter.

It was sort of a whole thing they couldn't control—Persephone was with Hades and Demeter was pissed off, so it was instinctive for the rest of her children to dislike winter, too. That was why they weren't usually year-rounders at camp. Demeter's children much preferred to stay cooped up in their homes, letting the season pass without having to worry about camp activities on top of the weather.

The only members of Cabin 4 that stayed all year (against their own will) were Eurydice and Miranda. Sylvie, Florian, and Katie usually went back to their respective homes, waiting to be reunited with their half-siblings in the next summer.

Notice how that said usually.

Sylvie's plan on trying to impress Eurydice seemed to have worked too well. Eurydice had seen Sylvie improving, actually trying to learn how to handle her powers and fight with her daggers. Her older sister took this and ran. She convinced Sylvie to stay at camp for the entire first semester of the school year—August to December—to train her even harder. Sylvie didn't understand the big deal, didn't know why Eurydice was so desperate to whip Sylvie into shape. But if it meant Eurydice forgave her for sneaking onto that quest, Sylvie would do anything. Even if it meant being apart from her dad for a little longer.

Unfortunately, Eurydice had left camp on a secret mission ordered by Chiron a couple weeks ago. Sylvie hadn't seen her since—recently camp had just been her, Miranda, and the newest Demeter kid who showed up one week after Eurydice left.

Cedar St. James was chaotically brought to camp by Maron (a satyr with obnoxiously neon-green pants with pink suspenders over a white t-shirt) right before being claimed instantly. Sylvie barely had any time to walk out of her cabin when she saw a holographic sheaf of wheat glowing over his head.

Sylvie's new brother was now the youngest in the cabin, and he was the chillest ten-year-old you could ever meet. He flitted through life just like most Demeter kids—as if he were constantly frolicking in a flower field. The horrors of the demigod lifestyle hadn't caught up to him yet, and Sylvie honestly couldn't be more grateful. She was growing fond of her younger brother.

Sylvie didn't really want to leave Miranda and Cedar unsupervised at camp, but she really had no choice. Grover had called her, Percy, Annabeth, and Thalia in a panic, and it was time for her to get a move on.

The Friday before most schools' winter break, Sylvie packed herself an overnight bag, readied her daggers, and showed up to Percy Jackson's apartment.

"Been a while, Applejack," Percy grinned when he opened the front door.

Not really, Sylvie thought. Actually, going four months without seeing another half-blood when you don't both constantly attend camp was a really short amount of time. But Percy was Percy, and Sylvie let him get away with most things.