BY fates design

Food?

Once the fires were out, Cassiopeia raced down the hillside and straight towards the shimmering cabin of Zeus. Jake was inside, still trembling slightly as he sat on the edge of his bed, Alex and Eleana around him trying to brighten his mood with cheap magic tricks. "Bluejay!" Cassiopeia jumped on him as soon as she was close enough, rapping her arms around his neck making him fall back on the bed. "Oh I'm so sorry I left you guys to deal with that. You must have been shitting yourself." She sat back, allowing him to return to his position.

She gave both Eleana and Alex tight hugs as well. "I would love to stick around and talk right now, but I have shit to do. So we will have to catch up later." She kissed each of them on the head. "Meet me in my cabin tonight." She yelled as she ran back outside.

"Language." James chided, almost on instinct, not even sparing a glance to where Cassiopeia sat with raised brows in her lover's arms.

Breathing in, Cassiopeia looked around, studying everything carefully. Something about camp felt different. On the surface nothing looked particularly wrong, the Big House was still there with its blue gabbed roof and wrap around porch. The strawberry fields still baked in the sun. The same white-columned Greek buildings were scattered around the valley - the amphitheater, combat arena, dining pavilions looking over Long Island. And nestled between the woods and the creek were the same cabins - a crazy assortment of twelve buildings, each representing a different Olympian god.

Even still, the air felt strange, heavy with a sense of danger. It was obvious to her, someone who had seen that very valley every year since she was four, that things were wrong. Instead of playing volleyball in the sandpit, counsellors and satyrs were stockpiling weapons in the cool shed. Dryads armed with bows and arrows talked nervously at the edge of the woods. The forest looked sickly, the grass in the meadow was pale yellow and the fire marks on the hill stood out like hideous scars.

She made her way over to the Big House, spotting Percy, Annabeth and Tyson coming down the hill. Few people spoke. Only a couple said "welcome back" as she passed, though most of the ones that spoke said "it's good you're finally here". It looked like a military school, campers grimly completing duties - running messages, toting swords to sharpen on the grinding wheels.

Many looked on the scene with pity, they were just children. Children arming themselves in preparation to fight for their lives against monsters.

"Are you really targeted that much?" Evan asked, his face contorted with a mix of pity and curiosity. Will's face scrunched as he nodded in reply to the blonde Slytherin.

When she got to the Big House, she smiled at the three who had accompanied her to camp as they headed inside. Chiron was found in his apartment, listening to his favourite 1960s lounge musical while he packed his saddlebags.

As soon as they saw him, Tyson froze. "Pony!" He cried in rapture. Chiron turned at this, looking rather offended by the comparison to a simple horse. "I beg your pardon?"

Annabeth ran up and hugged him. "Chiron, what's happening? You're not.. leaving?" Her voice was shaky. Cassiopeia felt a pang in her heart, Chiron had been like a father to the daughter of Athena.

"Why would they make him leave?" Barty asked, mostly to himself. Achlys shrugged beside him, her eyes falling on Cassiopeia who was looking over at her and shaking her head with a small smile. Nodding, Achlys bit her tongue, it wasn't her story to tell.

Chiron patted her head and gave her a kind smile. "Hello child. And Percy my goodness. You've grown over the year!" His eyes followed them, settling onto Cassiopeia who stood beside the blonde. Her face was calm, a smile on her lips but he knew her far too well to fall for any mask. He noticed her tells immediately, her hands fiddled softly with the sleeve of her jacket to hide the shaking, her face was pale with stress and her eyes were rimmed with a slightly blush that they always got when she was about to cry.