Elle Jeanette [ EDITING ]

Chapter 8

Piper leaves us alone after a few minutes of asking some questions and cracking some jokes. Cal and I are left alone on the table with the moonlight shining down on us, teasing us.

"So, hey, Cal," I call out to him. He gazes over at me and raises his brows. "Who's your godly parent?"

"Hershey's Tissues," I hear him mutter. I stare at him in disbelief, he shrugs.

"Wait," I said. "Did you just say 'Hershey's Tissues'?"

That was enough to make him crack up and he didn't stop laughing for a long time. An unfazed expression settled its way on my face and Cal stops laughing. "I said, 'Hephaestus' not Hershey's Tissues," Cal snorts. "You should clean your ears, Yna." The name he utters takes me aback.

"Elle?" He asks, snapping fingers in front of my face. "You okay there?"

"Cal," I mutter. "Who's Yna?" He's surprised by my question. His eyes widened and I could see a thousand memories flashing back in his head.

"How did you find out about her?" Cal furrows his brows, looking grave and—afraid?

"You just called me Yna," I say, softly. "You said, 'You should clean your ears, Yna.'" Cal sighs.

"You remind me a lot about her. Your sarcasm and boldness. And how you like things done your way," his words are full of deep meaning. "I met her when I was twelve, we both got to camp at the same time. I tried wooing her with my 'charm' but she pushed me away at first.

"But, as we got older, she began going on quests with me until that one time she confessed that she felt the same way. But on one time, we got assigned to different quests. We were devastated. We promised each other we would come back to each other.

"Then, those people that went on the quest with her returned and said Yna got lost. That's all they said. I cried myself to sleep everyday until I decided to look for her. In every quest I go on, I look for her afterwards. Hoping to find atleast one clue that she's still alive and breathing. Fear took control of me, and now the two things I wanna learn is how to control fear and how to love again." Cal says, explaining in a shaky voice.

"I'm sorry, Cal," I say, rubbing circles on his back as he sits beside me, breathing hard. We stayed like that for so long, but it was contenting.

"We should go back to the cabins," He says and as I was about to ask him where was mine, he answers, "You can sleep in the Zeus' cabin, Thalia and Jason aren't around camp."

After he leads me to the cabin, he goes straight to his own. "Bye, Cal." I manage to mutter.

I enter the cold cabin, with a heart that carries the weight of the world. A statue of Zeus stands in the middle of the cabin, where he stands tall and proud, his eyes glaring daggers onto space. I make myself comfortable on one of the bunks, ready to enter in a well-deserved slumber but the firm reminder of the nightmares that will haunt me in my sleep takes my sleepiness away. Instead of lying down and sleeping, I sit up.

In just a span of a few days, I thought I was beginning to find myself, but before I knew it I caught myself in a much more bigger maze. I just completely lost myself, that's all. I don't know who I am.

I get out of the cabin, and a sick feeling tells me I'm being watched. I shudder and walk around the cabins, stopping in front of the lake. I know I should be afraid, roaming around at night in a campsite I have yet to familiarize, but I feel strangely peaceful especially without other demigods to pester me.

I kick off my shoes and take off my socks and I shiver in delight when I dip my feet on the freezing cold water. I brush locks of my hair from my face as the breeze dances with it. When I looked up, I expected to see thousands of stars twinkling, stretching over millions of miles, but all I see is the moon, gazing down at me, as if feeling sorry for me. Me too, don't worry. But no matter how sorry I feel for myself, the night goes on, not a cloud in sight.

My thoughts wander back to my father. I feel ashamed that the thought of him has not crossed my mind a few hours ago. I wonder how he's doing, and if I close my eyes, I can almost imagine myself with him, but there is no time for silly fantasies like that. He is in danger, and I'm here sinking into a hole of depression.

I walk away from the lake and sit on the grassy ground. I close my eyes and try to enjoy the peacefulness. But as I almost lay down, the sound of a sudden snap of twigs, made me open my eyes and stand up, turning around in seconds.

In front of me stands a boy that I vaguely remember, with those familiar green eyes, disheveled hair and all, along with his aura of playfulness.

Percy Jackson.