Fire and Ice (A Leo Valdez fanfic) [2017]

Chapter 9: Eira ❄

CAPTURE THE FLAG. Eira wondered what the demigod version of that would be like. Probably something having to do with dragons and swords and magic, she mused. She really liked this place, she decided as she lay awake in her sleeping bag, staring at the ceiling of the Hermes cabin. There were people like her, with crazy lives and strange powers. And that boy, Leo... he was smart, funny, and rebellious. Just her type of person. She had been super worried when he'd pulled that stunt with the rope and hook on Festus. Sure, it was pretty darn awesome, but she had been afraid that he'd fall. She was a little embarrassed about how she'd hugged him when he came back up, but she hoped he'd thought it was just because she was scared.

She fingered her silver and blue ring, engraved with the word Chionothyella around the edge, and made sure not to tap it. She had been disappointed when he'd told her about his girlfriend Calypso, but when she found out that Calypso was immortal and alone on a tropical island, she felt a little better. Maybe she still had a chance. She chided herself for thinking that way, but she realized it was true. She had a crush on Leo Valdez.

The sunlight streamed through the windows of Cabin Eleven, and Eira got up and stretched. Her back was sore from sleeping on the floor. Then she changed into jeans and her new Camp Half Blood shirt, which was orange with a black pegasus. She thought it looked awesome. She put her hair in a fishtail braid, and put on blue and gray sneakers. Then she left the cabin and wandered around the camp until Leo came out of his cabin. "Where do we go in the morning?" she asked.

"Breakfast," he replied, leading her to the dining pavilion. "You eat with your cabin, but table 9 and table 11 are right next to each other, so we can talk."

Eira got waffles with strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and blueberry syrup. Leo got a stack of pancakes with chocolate chips, maple syrup, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream. Percy, for some reason, had pancakes that were blue. She wasn't sure why. What she was sure of, however, was that the food was delicious. She also loved the cups that allowed you to order whatever you wanted. She ordered mint hot chocolate with marshmallows. Leo ordered some sort of Gatorade, and Percy got blue Cherry Coke. Again, why blue?

Eira noticed that Nico was sitting at the Apollo table. She pointed this out to Leo. "I thought he was a son of Hades."

"He is, but according to Will, bad stuff happens when he sits alone, so he sits with them. Actually, he just wants to be with Will."

"Oh," she replied. "So, is there something going on between them?"

"They're dating," Leo explained.

"Oh, that explains it."

A brown haired girl next to Leo swatted him on the shoulder. "How do you expect to grow if your plate looks like that?" she chided. Her hair was in a ponytail and covered with a red bandana.

"Why would I want to grow?" he asked. "I like good food, Nyssa!"

Nyssa shoved a banana slice into his mouth. "Eat healthy food!" she told him. Leo kept the banana in his mouth until Nyssa turned away, then spat it out into a napkin. "My food is way better than hers," he whispered to Eira, who giggled. Nyssa swatted Leo again.

"Sisters," he muttered.

"Don't push it, fire boy," Nyssa warned.

"Hey, do you want me to call you water girl?" Leo retorted.

"Well, at least your nickname makes sense!"

"Whatever, water girl."

"Shut up!"

Eira grinned and took a bite of her waffles, accidentally smearing blueberry syrup on her face. Leo turned and wiped the syrup off with a napkin. Eira tried to keep herself from blushing.

After breakfast, Eira participated in her first demigod training session. She tried the lava climbing wall (Leo did it with her, but it was a lot harder for her since she wasn't immune to heat), sword fighting (she held up for about five minutes before being disarmed by Jason, who kept shooting her uncomfortable looks like she was going to explode any second), canoeing (she only capsized the canoe twice), and a few other training activities.

In the afternoon, the Hermes cabin grabbed their weapons and supplies and met the rest of the camp at the border of the woods. The head counselor, Connor Stoll, explained the game to Eira. The Hermes cabin was partnered with the Athena cabin, so they had to protect their flag from the other team, which was led by Hephaestus and also included Ares, Demeter, Zeus, and a few other names Eira couldn't remember. Eira's team also had Aphrodite, Poseidon, Hades, and other cabins. Eira was kind of disappointed that Leo wasn't on her team, but happy that Annabeth and Percy were. Nico, Hazel, and Piper were also on her team-- Eira wasn't sure how she felt about the latter. Piper hadn't been very welcoming when Eira had met her, but maybe she would be nicer once they knew each other better. Eira hoped so-- from what she'd heard, Leo and Piper had been friends for a long time. Eira trusted Leo's choice of friends.

"You're going to be on offense," Connor told her. "I know it's your first time, but from what I've seen during training and what I've heard from Percy, you seem like a good offensive player. You're going to be partnered with Annabeth and Piper. Find the flag, bring it back to our side, and don't get killed or attacked by the opposing defense. Or anybody, for that matter. Good luck!"

Great. Don't get killed.

Annabeth was wearing bronze armor and holding a black baseball cap and a sword made of bone. Piper also wore armor and she held a reflective dagger. Eira wore her ring as usual. The armor was heavy, and the helmet was way too big, but she decided she could manage.