Revenge

Chapter 37

It had taken half an hour to get the proper story from the two. Calypso broke down crying twice, and Leo had alternated between calming Percy down and comforting the nymph. Annabeth seemed unsure on how to react, but Percy was clearly furious.

"Arai. Curse spirits. Each one you kill gives you the pain of a curse that someone said against your name. I killed dozens. Took curses that should have killed me. Poison, getting shot through the chest, stabbings. But what you did...."

He took a slow breath, gritting his teeth. Annabeth grabbed his hand. Beck could tell she knew what he was talking about, at least.

"Percy, I'm sorry-" Calypso shook her head. Percy cut her off.

"The third curse. She couldn't find me. Cursed to be separated from me, to not be able to find me. She nearly fell off the cliff. I almost lost her forever. Because of you."

"But you didn't." Annabeth said quietly.

"Everyone has their moments." Beck added. She wanted to make sure her brother wasn't going to do anything dangerous. There were already storm clouds coming in, and she had a sneaking suspicion that it was somehow related.

Leo glanced over at her. "Ooh, who's this, Jackson?"

"Not the time." Calypso flicked his arm. Her eyes were teary again.

Percy opened his mouth like he was going to say more, then shook his head sharply and turned away. "Come on, Wise Girl."

Annabeth sighed and walked off with him. Beck looked after the two of them, then addressed Leo and Calypso again. "Nice to meet you, I think." She checked the time and felt a moment of panic. She was late for weapons practice. Oh Michael would be so upset.

The Next Day

Beck looked up when the hunting horn sounded. She followed the flood of campers and watched from the back as the Hunt crossed the border. Chiron had mentioned at dinner that they would be there, without Artemis (several audible sighs were heard). 

It wasn't until she saw a familiar face among the Hunters that she was actually interested in the group.

"Holly!"

Her high school friend looked around, confused. Beck ran up to her and threw her arms around her immediately. "I missed you!"

"Beck? Oh my gosh, Beck!" The redhead laughed.

"What are you doing here?" Beck asked as she pulled away from the hug, grinning at Holly.

"I joined the Hunt, duh." She grinned. 

Beck snorted. "I can see that. When did that happen?"

"Just last month... is this where you disappeared off to?"

She smiled. "Yeah... I'm a demigod. Are you?"

Holly shook her head, chuckling. "Nope. Just clear-sighted, or whatever that means. I still don't quite understand it."

"But you're in the Hunt. And that means you're-"

"Banned from dating? Yeah, it's great!" Holly nodded. "And I don't have to worry about everyone pushing it on me because the other girls are super aggressive if someone even suggests it."

Beck snorted. "Of course you see that as a plus, you weirdo... I'm so glad you're here though, I've missed you all so much! Even if it's just you, that's okay."

"Yeah, totally- Thalia, I'm going to go hang out with Beck!"

The daughter of Zeus glanced in their direction and nodded. "Just make sure you're at Lady Artemis' cabin before dinner."

"You got it." She saluted and linked arms with Beck. "Alright, show me around."

Beck walked her around, pointing out various things and introducing her to various people. Holly seemed to be especially amused by Michael, but she wouldn't tell Beck why. After that they visited her cabin.

"That's ironic." Holly joked as she looked up at Cabin 3. "How well did it go over?"

"I wasn't happy." Beck crossed her arms. "I've sort of given up on complaining about it by now. And my half-brother isn't bad-"

"You've got a half-brother? I want to meet him!"

Beck rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you will. How long will you be here?"

"Three days, I think." She nodded.

"Okay good. You need to get me caught up on everything that happened since I left."

"Only if you return the favor." Holly grinned. "Let's go sit somewhere and talk."

"I know exactly where we can go." Beck grabbed her friend's hand to pull her along. "Are you still overly obsessed with strawberries?"

[A/N so I've talked about characters in this story before and who they're based off of, but Holly is one I have not addressed. If you haven't guessed... she's meeeee! When I started this story (goodness, sophomore year of high school? Wow) my hair was a Ginnifer Goodwin - ONCE era pixie, red. Now I have a (as I have jokingly called it multiple times) PTA-mom bob with a blue, purple, and turquoise peek-a-boo. If you guys want pics I'll maybe post some on the next chapter]