charm(less)

sēdecim

—— s ē d e c i m ——

PARK HAD BEEN floating in darkness for longer than he could remember, drifting in a strange shadowy limbo he couldn't make sense. He wasn't sure whether he was conscious or unconscious, whether this was reality or a dream, but fragments drifted out of the dimness. Korey's voice interspersed with the unfamiliar of a girl, buttery sweetness on his tongue, warm fingers pushing his hair from his face. He strained to reach these moments of clarity but he was tired, too tired, chilly from the inside out.

When he finally came around, he felt sunlight on his skin and for the first time in a long time, the warmth was actually being soaked up. He took a moment to savour the soft mattress he was sinking down in, the pillows and covers he was buried among, a cozy sensation he wasn't accustomed to. He felt well-rested for once. When was the last time he'd slept in a proper bed? In fact, who's bed was this? The thought was enough to snap him straight out of his drowsy state. He sat upright and took in the long room, the high windows running along the walls between each bed, the golden sunshine casting a golden softness to the scene.

Park's alarm faded at the sight of Korey. He was curled up on an armchair by his bed in a way that couldn't have been comfortable, cheek resting lightly against the arms folded across the armrest and sleeping soundly. He looked much healthier and well-rested, wearing clean clothes and his golden hair free of dirt where it fell messily across his forehead. He was practically a vision of beauty with the sunlight illuminating his high cheekbones and pink lips parted slightly. He was considering waking him up when the door opened.

"Oh!" Standing in the doorway was a nymph, dressed in a shimmering brown dress and with her curling brown hair pulled back in a loose bun to reveal pointed ears. She was holding a tray laden with food and her eyes widened at the sight of Park. "I did not know you had awoken."

His hand went up to his medallion. "Where am I?"

"Camp Half Blood," she answered, setting the tray on her bedside and her gaze flicking in Korey's direction. She looked at him with a wistful admiration in a way that implied a closer relation than strangers had. "There is no need to worry. You are safe here, son of Hades."

Park's pulse spiked at the title she so casually addressed him by. "How do you know I'm a child of Hades?" he demanded.

"Korey has told us," she said, looking a little alarmed at his sharp tone. "We know of the many perils the two of you have faced to reach here, the monsters you fought and the strain the shadowtravel put on your body. You would have been close to death if you hadn't been revived with ambrosia and nectar."

Park gritted his teeth and looked away from her concerned face, towards Korey. If she was aware of his godly heritage then it was granted Korey would know his father was Hades. It didn't matter, he knew that — he would have found out eventually and Park hadn't been intentionally keeping that information from him, he'd just been waiting for the right time to tell him. Guess he wouldn't have to worry about breaking that news to him now. What bothered him more was that this information was clearly general knowledge to the demigods at this camp that he was a child of Hades, forget what else they may have learned about him from Korey. The thought of strangers knowing his business made his skin crawl.

"What time is it? No," Park said, realisation dawning on him. For him to feel completely recovered from how hard he'd pushed himself much more time would have passed. "What day is it?"

"Thursday."

This meant nothing to him. "How long since we reached?"

"Three days," the nymph replied.