INTREPID ▸ connor stoll

000. foreword

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
1. INTREPID
/ɪnˈtrɛpɪd/
- adj. fearless, or adventuruous
(often used for rhetorical or humorous effect)

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃
CAST

devasena yudhveer singh
daughter of ares

connor stoll
son of hermes

asahi murakami
son of aphrodite

zeina jain
daughter of demeter

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

"You're the bravest person I know," He says, and this is the most honest thing he's said in his entire life.

She laughs. It's a hollow, empty, sad sound that breaks his heart clean in two. "There's not a single day in my life that I haven't spent wishing I could run away."

Summer is a reckoning, summer is a sweet relief, summer is ripe with feeling — all three of these are true at the same time for Devi, whose life is a culmination of every summer and winter spent at Camp Half-Blood. Surviving a prophecy warrants too little merit for demigods, but it's of little concern for someone like her, who already has negligible cause for celebration. Devi is certain she's a product of something closer to dumb luck than her godly heritage; being a spawn of War miraculously afforded her almost nothing in matters of strength or courage. She is not her father's daughter, or her mother's, or anyone's — she is what she made herself, wound by painful wound, into an unflinching soldier, if not a brave one.

She is a secret, she is a shadow of potential, she is her father's shame — all three of these are true at the same time for Devi, whose place in Cabin 5 can be best described as the sweetheart, the runt of the litter. Devi has committed her whole life to getting stronger; if she wasn't born with courage in her heart, she can set fire to everything else and hope the flame catches in the dull furnace of her ribcage. That is her topography. She is burning, she is fading, she is the body and the crucifix itself — all three of these are true at the same time for Devi, who is too familiar with guilt, grief and blame to understand any language.

Enter Connor Stoll. He is a thief, he is daybreak, he is the only person she's trusted before herself — all three of these are true for Connor Stoll, who is the only one with the history of making a significant dent in Devi's steel resolve. And he refuses to let her go through anything alone. He dragged her back from the shores of Death, and now this is their baseline: merciful hand in miserable hand. She thinks he'll learn to walk away eventually, but Connor wants to charge into her swinging fist if it means walking away with a bruise shaped like her. He's never been rational about the people he loves.

Summer is a reckoning. Summer is a death sentence. Summer is a first kiss, and a last kiss. Summer is a fight to the death. Summer is the end of the world.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

P L A Y L I S T

i. nightmare, halsey
ii. nobody, mitski
iii. funeral, phoebe bridgers
iv. the great war, taylor swift
v. everything i wanted, billie eilish
vi. hey brother, avicii
vii. classic, mkto
viii. under pressure, queen ft. david bowie
ix. remember when, wallows
x. you're on your own kid, taylor swift
xi. crush, seventeen
xii. don't you worry child, swedish house mafia
xiii. magic in the hamptons, social house ft. lil yachty
xiv. daughter, sleeping at last
xv. that's what you get, paramore
xvi. i'm yours, alessia cara
xvii. i wanna be yours, arctic monkeys
xviii. complicated, avril lavigne

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

E P I G R A P H

"I would die for you."

"Don't make promises I know you'll keep. I don't deserve it."

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

author's note

ah, shit. here we go again.
in my defense, i am back and better than ever.
please stick around.

rated mature for themes of childhood trauma, abuse, neglect, graphic violence, injury, implied sexual content