The Gardener and the Idiot - A Tratie Fanfiction (ON HOLD UNTIL JUNE 20TH)

Chapter 26

Val's POV
As I entered the woods, I shivered. It was summer, the woods shouldn't be this cold. Even if it was winter. Mr. D would have changed the weather to accommodate us. Or rather, himself. He was not a huge fan of the cold from the way he destroyed the snowman we built last year. RIP Snowlad, you're missed.

Finding my way through the darkness, I pushed aside branches and hugged myself tight. I didn't dare yell Karlos's name. It would attract attention from things you'd see in your nightmares.

I hated the dark. You could never know what could happen. You never knew who was watching, or what was coming for you. It takes away the most important sense, sight. The one I rely on the most, being the daughter of the goddess of beauty.

Which is why I screamed like a water nymph on fire when I heard something running straight towards me, crashing through the woods, quite loudly, at breakneck speed. 

Katie's POV
I led the team through camp. It was dark and cold, which was highly unusual. One by one, we checked the cabins.

There were infected campers in almost every one, and so many in the Hermes cabin that we couldn't even open it. One of them was probably Connor, so case closed.

We went to the Big House, breaking the glass and walking in. There was no one there. Were Chiron and Dionysus infected too?

Just thinking about it made me more anxious to find the survivors and hopefully come up with a cure.

"You can stop worrying. There's gotta be a cure. There always is." Peter said from behind me.

I looked over at him. His eyes were on the floor, avoiding my gaze as he continued to walk. "Who said I was worried?" I asked with false confidence, raising an eyebrow.

One of the Ares kid rolled his eyes. "You aren't fooling anyone. Your eyes say it all."

I nodded, zoning out. "Maybe the gods have something to do with it."

Poppy frowned. "We haven't heard from the gods in almost two years. You think they have something to do with it?"

"Maybe." I said, shrugging. "How are we supposed to find a cure if we don't even know what the problem is?"

"Let's go over what we know already." The Athena kid, Jake I think his name was, said. "It's obviously contagious, it's taken over a majority of the camp in a short period of time, and it's spread through kissing. So to find out the origin, we have to narrow it down to all the couples in camp."

"Wait." I said, turning to Poppy. "I have heard from a god a while ago."

Poppy's eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell anyone? Which god did you hear from? Did they come to you in person?" She bombarded me with questions.

"I got a letter from Demeter, and I didn't tell anyone because when I went to search for Chiron, the Big House was empty, so I didn't know what to do." I explained, hoping they would understand.

Peter nodded. "Okay, then show us the letter. Maybe it can help us."

I bit my lip. "That's the thing....it's in my cabin." I said awkwardly, bracing myself for their reactions.

The Apollo kid, Carmen, groaned. "The one with the infected inside?"

"Please tell me you're kidding." Poppy said, perplexed.

I nervously smiled. "Yes?"

Carmen sat down on the ground. "Well, we're doomed. Anyone got any snacks?"
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Yeah, I was definitely late with this upload. I really busy on vacation, so I kept putting this off until I saw the comments on the last chapter and got the inspiration and motivation to write the other half of this chapter :)

Hope you guys enjoyed it!

Question of the Chapter: What do you think happened to Connor?