Sedulous | pjo - a. chase x fem o.c

| chpt: 1:8 |

"Mari come on, we're going to miss sword training!" Travis and Connor yelled as they ran, synchronized. 

"Sheesh calm down, it's not like we're gonna die if we don't get there on time." I mumbled.

"Yeah, but you know Nia would be on our asses for being late again," Travis pointed out.

"Trav's right, didn't she make you do an extra hour for skipping training last time?" snickered Connor.

"Yep, my arms are still sore from it," I winced, remembering how long she made me spar against her. "I still can't believe she pushed me that hard."

"So let's hurry up, we would skip with you, but not when she's there." Connor said, and all three of us shivered in fear and picked up the pace.

I've been at Camp Half-blood for about a month now, and after being to so many places, Camp Half-blood is where I feel the most understood and accepted. 

While I've been stuck in the Hermes cabin, I was welcomed in quickly by Connor and Travis who took me to do pranks with them daily. I would spend hours with Beckendorf in the forges, tinkering and helping him with his work. Every now and then Silena would come by and give us food, and I would get dragged away by Nia to hang out. Life at camp has been chaotic, but it gave me a different kind of peace. As peaceful it could get being stuck with a bunch of teenagers. 

But one thought kept coming back, I needed to see Annabeth. I couldn't believe she was alive and I needed to see for myself if she was really is. I didn't have a way to know if she was okay all those years, if any of them were. Chester wouldn't tell me a single thing, about anything. I asked Chiron everyday, pestering him about it every moment. He got so uncharacteristically annoyed one day, that he sent an Aphrodite kid to charmspeak me away. So, I've been unwillingly silenced for now. 

Nia was able to distract me from all those thoughts about Annabeth and Luke's betrayal.

"Took you guys long enough, I'm surprised you weren't late again." Nia said at me pointedly with a small smile.

Nia Collins, daughter of Hecate is a year older than I, with a tall and lean build. She has straight chocolate colored hair and green eyes. Her eyes weren't as green and striking as Percy's, but was more pale, with green rings of silver. Light brown freckles could be seen sporadically spread across her cheeks and nose, with a small scar placed by her chin. She stood confident yet reserved, but you could still see the teasing and mischief hidden in her eyes. 

She had her arms crossed and was leaning on one leg while waiting for us. Combined with her looks and skills she had many guys and girls fawning over her. Even the Aphrodite girls would always talk about how good she looked.

Even though she wasn't much older, she was better combat wise than most of the campers, even more so than the Ares kids. So, she was one of the instructors for sword training, but definably a strict teacher. 

Nia turned around and announced to everyone to get into pairs to start sparring. 

I was about to ask Travis or Connor if they wanted to be partners, but I already saw them together. They both stuck out their tongues at me and frolicked away. I rolled my eyes and walked away, trying to find someone to be with. I sighed when I saw that everyone else had already formed pairs. 

"Wanna be partners?" Nia asked.

"Aren't you technically the teacher? you're going to beat my ass," I replied.

"You'll be fine, how else are you going to get better anyways if you don't practice with someone good," She said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah your right," I said.