Daughter Of The Moon

Chapter 17

Luna

The days at Camp Halfblood have become a sort of surreal blur.

Fighting, training, eating, laughing, talking... it all mashes together into a haze of happiness and ease. I've stopped counting the days -even weeks- since I got here, but it hardly matters. But there are some things that separate the days. Though the general gist of each day is the same: get up, eat with the Apollo Cabin, start training, finish training, campfire... the days differ according to who I spend them with.

There are two people in Camp who I can certainly call my friends, and one who insists he is a foe, but has his own way of being nice anyway. Zoe, Zack, and Kai.

A day with Zoe is mainly Hunter propaganda: archery (which I love), hunting skills (which I am picking up with uncanny ease), tracking (which I cheat at by using my bloodhound-like nose), and plant knowledge (which as a Manhattan girl, I stare at with clueless eyes). I enjoy these days, and I can't deny the connection I feel to the Hunters and everything they do. In fact, I probably would have joined them by now if it weren't for the other two people who seem to be busying my days.

When Kai ends up being the one to drag me out of bed, he has a different way of doing it every time. Can of ice-cold water on the head, lobsters in the bed sheets, a cranky naiad who claims I polluted her river... honestly, I could mistake him for a Hermes kid if it weren't for the things he can do with water.

The days when Kai mentors me are usually the days where I don't work much- we pinch strawberries from the fields and hang around the lake eating our spoils, developing our gifts, talking mythology, and taunting each other- me at Kai about his poor archery, and him at me about my dismal attempts at swordplay. He makes me see inside what I can do, and is a surprisingly good listener for somebody who usually can't sit still.

But all that lounging around means that I only end up with Kai about two days a week.

The days when Zoe's priority are the Hunters, Kai claims me has better things to do, and Chiron insist I actually need to learn stuff, I usually spend with Zack. Archery, ancient Greek, poetry, healing, music, and athletics are his sort of thing, and so far I fail epically at all of them but archery. But that matters little because of the way I've thought since I met him that Zack reminds me of sunshine, and the days I am with him seem to shine a little brighter than most. We laugh together, and he seems to just radiate optimism and cheer, making me wonder whether that day he fought Kai even happened at all.

Today is, by loose definition, a 'Zack day'.

*    *    *

The pot of ink tips over, and the black liquid sprawls right over the long scroll of writing I just finished. "Di immortales, that just had to happen." I snarl, snatching the ruined paper off the rock, screwing it into a ball, throwing it into the air, and making it explode into a thousand tiny fragments with an exploding arrow. It's bad enough that I have a reading disability (like most demigods), but writing out that passage of Homer was pure torture. And just when I finished that damn philosophical quote...

"Don't trouble yourself over it." Says Zack, looking up at me from his position sitting cross-legged on the rock. "You can just write it out again." He looks so relaxed, the light summer breeze ruffling his blond hair and making his eyes sparkle like the canoe lake in the sun.

I let out a huff of air. "True. But that's not the point." I sit down heavily next to him and pull my legs up to my chest. Zack gives a rueful smile and scoots closer to me before putting an arm around my shoulders and letting me lean back against him. We sit and watch the setting sun, huddled on the pile of rocks known as Zeus's fist, the writing long forgotten. The frustration started to leech out of me the moment Zack touched me- and it makes me wonder whether this light that I imagine shining out of him actually does exist.

Can he be angry at all?

"Do you hate anyone, Zack?" I ask, brushing a strand of hair out of my eyes and regarding him thoughtfully. He looks back, his expression mild.

"Why?" He asks.

I shrug. "I don't know... it's just you never seem to get angry. Does that mean that you don't hate anybody? You have so many friends..."

He laughs, his arm jolting slightly against my shoulders as it follows his movements. "No, actually. I don't hate anybody. Hate is such an ugly emotion, don't you think?"

I give a wry smile. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

"Not always." Says Zack, "Some things are undeniably beautiful." And then he looks at me in such a way which makes me unsure whether to feel uncomfortable or more pleased than ever. He doesn't explain what he just said, and I don't question him, no matter how many questions my mind tries to concoct.

And then we retire to silence. I don't learn anymore Homer. Zack doesn't quote poetry. No sound disturbs the forest until our few golden minutes are shattered by the sound of footsteps in the undergrowth.

The footsteps belong to Kai, and as we see him sauntering into the clearing, Zack tenses and takes his arm away. "You know, I may have lied." He say quietly, getting to his feet and stuffing his hands into the pockets of his shorts.

"About what?" I ask, curious.

"Not disliking anybody."

"I said hate." I point out.

"With this particular person, there is a fine line." He mutters.

"Hey there lovebirds." Says Kai, grinning lazily like a smug cat. He stops just in front of the pile of rocks and squints up at us. "Are you coming down or what?"

"You know, I think I'm going to go with 'or what'." I call back, though I'm already clambering down the rocks. I meet Kai at the bottom of them and grin at him. He returns his snarky smile back, but his expression turns stony when his eyes meet Zack's.

"Dinner is about to start, you know. And as funny as I find your starving, there is an important notice that will be called that requires that you eat, Jacy." He pokes my stomach, and I elbow him in the ribs.

"Do you mean capture the flag?" Asks Zack, his tone reluctant. "You want us on your team?"

The son of Poseidon snorts. "You wish, sunshine. You and your little blond buddies can go frolic with the Aphrodite kids for all I care. I want Luna on my team. And plus, with your oh-so-incredible knowledge of herbs, you can probably feed yourself from the forest, anyway. What need have you for kebab night?"

Zack looks annoyed, the expression plaguing his normally happy features. "I'm an Apollo child, not a satyr. And besides, Luna's with the Apollo Cabin- she stays with me."

Kai's green eyes darken, and his face twists into a sneer. "Yeah, whatever. We have the Hunters on our side- they chose to mix up the rules for a change. And you're right, you're not a satyr. That would be too flattering for a-"

"Oh for Zeus's sake!" I snap, my impatience reaching its last tether. "The food will all be gone by the time you two stop bickering."

Both boys turn to look at me, and give eerily similar apologetic smiles. "I'm sorry, your Jacyness. We'd better get back before you shrivel to a twig and snap in half." Kai says, grinning.

"Too right." I say, nodding decisively before taking a fist of Zack's jacket in one hand and a fist of Kai's in the other and marching them off towards the mess hall.

Capture the flag... I wonder what that is.