Camp Half Blood: One "Salty" Adventure

Chapter Fifteen

- Picture above is of Myra and Cole☝🏻I tried my best, just know the expressions are accurate in the picture -

Myra's POV:

I awoke to the sound of a voice next to me. I wasn't quite sure who it was, so I pretended to be asleep and moved my hand under the covers to the hilt of my sword, which was hanging by its sheath on the side of my cot. I sat upright quickly and aimed my sword at whomever was next to me. I looked over with blurry vision to see I had almost taken Cole's head off.

"Oh, it's just you." I lowered my sword from his neck and put it next to me before lazily yawning and rubbing my eyes, trying to play it off casually. Poor Cole was horrified as he scrambled to his feet. His cheeks were red as he scratched the back of his neck, probably grateful I didn't slice it in two. "So what were you doing in the infirmary?" I asked, still trying to play it cool.

"I uhh... I wanted to talk to you about something actually." He paused and fidgeted with his hands for a moment. I gestured for him to continue. "I know we've only been friends for a few days, but I think... or well I feel that-" He quickly silenced as Ben walked into the room. I shot Ben a glare as he made his way over to us. Cole and him seemed to have some sort of staring contest before Cole broke eye contact and looked down at his feet. "I'll talk to you later, Myra." He waved at me and left the room quickly. Now I was stuck alone with Ben and to make things even better I hadn't eaten breakfast yet. Honestly, I needed to eat before I dealt with everyone.

"You shouldn't have bothered coming here, Ben." I crossed my arms and glared at him.

"We have to finish talking, Myra."

"I know, but I highly doubt you have anything noteworthy to say." Ben pointedly ignored me and continued talking.

"Listen, if we're going to be going on a quest all together, then we need to be able to trust each other in battle. I'm not sure what you have against Rose right now because you've never actually talked to her. Tell me how you're feeling so we can sort everything out, Myra."

"How I'm feeling?" I spat angrily. "We have to go on a quest to save Olympus. I'm a cold blooded killer and you're in love with a girl you've hardly talked to and you want to know how I'm feeling? What is wrong with you?" I reached for the hilt of my sword and gripped onto the handle. "Leave before I make you, Ben."

"Put the sword down, Myra! I don't want to use charmspeak on you but we have to clear everything up before we all leave! I don't want anything to happen to Rose and especially nothing to you! We can't fight like this, Myra!" I wasn't sure if it was just the charmspeak addling my mind, but he sounded truthful. I lost my grip on my sword and it slid smoothly back into its sheath. I sighed and put my head in my hands. To be honest I wasn't sure how I felt and I had absolutely no idea how to explain that to him.

"I..." I looked up to see him staring expectantly at me. He sat down, but refused to break eye contact. I was starting to understand why Cole had left so quickly. I paused and took a deep breath. "I can't tell you how I'm feeling because I don't know either."

"Well, we have to figure this out now, Myra. Would it help if I explained my reasoning during the past seven months?"

"You already did." I snapped.

"I never went into detail about you, Myra..."

"Detail?" He had gained my attention, but I tried not to show it.

"Okay, I'll start after I left Rose's house to go back to mine. When the temperature drastically dropped and then I saw my house frozen over, I knew there was a demigod nearby. When I walked into the house and saw you with Cass and my foster parents dead on the ground, I knew I had to get you out of there. I forgot all about Rose and what I was even there to get! You were my first priority! And then we left. In those seven months, I learned a lot about you. I'm sorry you didn't learn as much about me, but it wasn't time for you to find out about everything. You might've tried to get away and get yourself killed! I couldn't let that happen! Not to you, Myra..." he looked at me with a face filled with hope.

"Ugh, Ben! Why do you have to be like this! Between you and Cole I don't think I'll ever catch a break. I don't even remember a time where I wasn't confused and emotionally exhausted." He looked hurt and I didn't blame him, but did he really believe stuff like that could instantly be solved by one conversation?

"Look, I know you've been through a lot, and, believe me I have too. You've gotten so much better at controlling your powers from being here and I'm so proud of you. I think that, and I know you're going to start yelling at me or something when I say this, we should all talk. You, Rose, and I. But listen, we need to be able to trust each other! You might be in a situation where you need help, and if I'm not there, then Rose is going to be the one to help you. Just try to be open to that idea?"

"We'll learn to trust each other on the quest. Including today we have two days to prepare and I'm not going to waste time doing some stupid trust exercises. If you want us all to talk, it can be about where we need to go and how to best prepare for the quest." I reached over and pulled out the map Annabeth had given me.

"I'm not saying we're going to do trust exercises, I'm just saying we should talk. You should at least meet the person you're going to be spending a lot of time with, Myra."

"We can meet on the quest, Ben." I waved the map in front of his face. "I bet you didn't even think to ask the Athena Cabin for a map."

"I figured you'd get a map, that's why I didn't go to get one. And with Rose, I suggest you meet her before you have to practice with her."

"You're kidding."

"I'm actually not. Percy told me that Rose is able to manipulate ice and snow, so you'll have to try to figure out how to work with her to fight. So I suggest you meet her beforehand." I scrunched up my nose in disgust. I decided Percy Jackson was not nearly as cool as I had originally thought. Hero or not, he was not on my good side.

"Maybe I'll just meet her at practice then." I glared at Ben.

"You know what, Myra. You get more and more likable everyday, and that's not working in your favor right now. I think you and Rose will be good friends. See ya." And with a wink, he strutted out the door and yelled, "You know what they say! Gotta kill 'em with kindness!"

"Wait what? Ben!" I flipped him off as he walked away. He was becoming far too confident around me. "What did that even mean?" I decided Ben was stupid and so was everyone else but me. I let out a frustrated sigh and stood up and got changed. I needed to get out of here before Cole came back. There was no way I was talking to him before I ate breakfast. I grabbed my shiny new sword. It seemed to be the only good thing about Camp. With my sword attached to my hip, I walked into the sunlight and heading to the dining pavilion.