Nostalgia: Heroes of Olympus

○ D E L I L A H ○

I WOKE UP TO A GENTLE SUN, shining through the open windows of the Athena cabin. Leo was standing beside the bed, two trays of breakfast in his hands. "Morning, sunshine," he smirked. "Morning," I groaned. I reached out and my boyfriend gingerly placed the tray in my hand. I looked on it to see a bowl of Lucky Charms. "Ooo, my favorite," I said. I put down the tray on the night stand as he put his in his chair and helped me sit up. I pushed him off. "I can get up myself, little boy, damn," I mumbled, sitting up. His cheeks were dusted and he smiled, "just trying to help."

I set the tray in my lap and was careful not to get the lucky charms on my blankets. I looked around cabin six to see we were alone. "I'm not technically breaking the rules. Doctors orders," Leo said, sensing my thoughts. I looked at him and watched him dig into his scrambled eggs. "Will is coming in a few minutes to make sure you're okay," he mumbled through the eggs. I chuckled, "Leo don't eat with your mouth full," I said, not thinking correctly. "Don't eat with my mouth full?" "Wait, no, I meant talk!" At this point, Leo started laughing, choking on his eggs. He recovered as Will walked into the cabin.

"Good Morning, Delilah, how are you holding up?" he asked, a small clipboard in his hand. "I'm okay." He asked me a series of questions before leaving again. "At one point we need to get you back into the camp activities."

"I hate Athena's activities, I've looked at the list. Archery, I hate, arts and crafts is boring," I sighed, getting out a small piece of paper that had a table of activities on it. "Yeah, you've always hung around Percy and got sword fighting lessons from him," Leo smiled. I looked at my sword, sitting in the corner. "Yeah. Right now my sword seems really light," I muttered. Leo's eyes seemed to brighten, and he fidgeted with the end of his shirt. "I could always... make you a new... sword, I mean, ya know..." I rolled my eyes. "I expect a really good sword, Leo Valdez." He looked up at me and almost sprinted out of the cabin before stopping at the door and backtracking. He took up our empty trays and kissed me (quite hard) on the mouth. "Thank you! I've been trying to find something to fix or do for a few days now, I really wanted a project to test out this new blueprint paper thingie I made, and I just..." he continued to go on and on. It was kinda cute.

After Leo left, I stared at the ceiling for a while before encouraging myself to stand up. As I did, I felt numb. My legs felt like they were made of lead. I took a deep breath and walked over to the drawer, taking out a fresh pair of clothes. I looked around and quickly changed.

As I buttoned my jean shorts and started putting on my socks, Will came in again. "So, you got up. I understand you managed to coax Leo out of your cabin?"

"My sword is feeling light, Will. I wasn't kidding." "Well you've probably gained some muscle... Okay. Well, how're you feeling?" he asked, pen at the ready. "I feel okay. My legs are a bit numb," I said. He scribbled on a piece of paper. "Well, a small walk should fix that. Why not go to the metal shop? I'm sure your friend will need help designing a sword for you."

I didn't go to the Forges.

Don't get me wrong, I wanted to, but I just needed time to myself.

My bare feet sank in the soft sand along Long Island Sound, the tide rising so it almost came up to my toes. My blonde hair was whipped back by the gentle, salty breeze, and I stared at the horizon. My dad was a surfer once. That I know. He had won one or two local competitions, but I never remembered the trophies being showcased around the house. They were in dusty boxes in the attic, locked away with some of his greatest memories. Surely Samantha had poisoned his brain, whoever that was.

I leaned back and set my elbows in the sand, closing my eyes to enjoy the day. They decided to make today a little cloudy, which was great when the few clouds over came covered the warm sun.

"Hey Delilah," a deep, friendly voice said from beside me. I looked over and recognized him immediately- messy, jet black hair, the green eyes. It was Percy Jackson, Son of Poseidon. "Hello," I greeted. He made small talk, but mostly it was quiet between us- a neutral peace. Many children of Athena didn't like Percy, but I didn't see why they didn't. He was sarcastic and friendly. "Wanna play basketball?" he offered. I shrugged and stood up. "Sure."

After we got to the cabins, we played a game or two of basketball. I won by two points. "Nice game, although next time I'm gonna win," Percy smirked. "Watch your ego, ocean boy." He smiled jokingly and raised both hands. He grabbed a bottle of water and ran off.

I sat on the bench and drank my water, watching the cabins around me curiously. I muttered the name of each gods cabin. Cabin one, Zeus, Cabin two, Hera, and so on.

I got all the way to Cabin 13 when Annabeth came up to me. "Hey, Capture the Flag tonight. Athena made alliance with Hephaestus, Apollo, Ares, Poseidon, and Hermes. You comin'?" I smiled. "Yeah. Let's go."

I updated are you proud of me mom