Aletheia━𝐢.( PJO/HP )

𝐯𝐢. THE LETTER

▬▬▬▬▬ CHAPTER SIX ▬▬▬▬▬

Two years later...

April 3rd...

IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS SINCE Esmerelda first arrived at Camp Half-Blood. The non-traditional camp quickly became her new home—a true home that she had been deprived of ever since she was first dumped into foster care. The now eleven year old girl got along very well with her fellow campers, except for some of the Ares kids but that was understandable. She was a lot more closer with her cabin mates in the Hermes cabin, which was currently overflowing with children.
       
Travis and Connor Stolls were the last children of Hermes to be claimed, so there were still the same amount of Hermes kids when she had first arrived. The number of unclaimed and children of minor gods, however, increased. Two years ago, there were ten in all, but now they had fourteen new additions. That added up to twenty-four unclaimed kids or children of minor gods. That was more than the actual Hermes campers.
       
As much as Esmerelda loved spending time with her cabin mates, she hated sleeping with them. There was no more room for bunks, so the Hermes kids had to share their beds with the 'leftovers' in order to keep the floors actually walkable. Only the younger campers were lucky to get the beds, everyone else over ten years old slept on the floor.
       
The cabin was so full that nobody could really spread out in their sleeping bags anymore. Instead, some of the kids—Esmerelda included—had to sleep pressed against the walls with their knees tucked in close to keep anybody from tripping. Nowadays, she could barely move since she was so squished between Ethan and Lyra with another camper, Cyrus Pagan, sleeping in front of her legs.
       
It was very uncomfortable for everyone. Even for those lucky enough to get beds.
       
Anyways, she somehow managed to form an unbreakable friendship with Ethan Nakamura, which could basically be considered a miracle since he was always so aloof and anti-social towards other people. Maybe it had to do with him being the first ever person she had met in camp. She wasn't exactly sure, but she didn't care. Ethan was a cool dude.
       
Currently, they were walking through the woods. Looking for monsters to hunt. All Ethan's idea, of course. He was always eager to kill some monsters. Esmerelda though, didn't share the sentiment.
       
"Do we really have to do this?" She asked for the hundredth time. "Why can't we just spar some Ares kids? They're basically monsters in human skin!"
       
He cast her a small smirk. "Don't be a baby. Don't you want to get more experience in preparation for the outside world?"
       
She refrained the urge to roll his eyes. The 'outside world' translated to outside the boundaries of camp. And they had been passed it a million times. All campers were allowed to go out during the weekend as long as they had permission from Chiron. Ethan and Esmerelda used these privileges to explore New York, go shopping (they can't just wear the camp shirts forever), watch movies, or smuggle junk food into camp. They only did the last one a handful of times, since Chiron always caught them and sentenced them to kitchen patrol with the harpies (it was punishment because they used lava to wash, not water).
       
"We have been in the 'outside world'," she said the last two words in a dramatic tone. "We've been there tons of times. We dealt with all the monsters that came at us. I think we can handle the outside world just fine."
       
He rolled his eyes at her naivety. "Right, because a couple of hellhounds and dracaena are the strongest monsters in the world. Have you forgotten about the Chimera? You couldn't kill it."
       
"Give me a break, I was nine! Plus, I was new to the whole 'demigod' thing!" She nudged his shoulder.
       
He nudged her back harder. "I'm just saying. Battling against monsters is better than going against campers because the monsters actually want to kill us. Campers will hold back."
       
"Might as well fight you then. I know you never hold back against me..." She sighed, remembering all the losses she gained while fighting him.
       
He snorted. "I've been holding back ever since we first sparred."
       
"Lies."
       
He shrugged. "Accept it or don't. It's not gonna get you out of monster hunting with me."
       
She dipped her head back and groaned. She hated going monster hunting with Ethan. He always went after the strongest ones they could find. There was this one time where he was going to summon the Lernaean Hydra—also known as the King Hydra which guarded one of the entrances to the Underworld. She had to beg and cry for him not to do it. Turns out, crying was the best way to get Ethan to do what she wanted. He begrudgingly relented and settled with a couple of hellhounds (though now he started calling her 'crybaby' because of that).
       
"Hey," she spoke up. "I know you and I agreed on going out of camp tomorrow, but can you, like... not?"
       
He shot her a confused look.
       
"I need to buy you a birthday gift," she admitted sheepishly. He was twelve, soon to turn thirteen. His birthday was just a couple weeks away on the twenty-third of April. She didn't exactly know what to buy him since he never told her what he wanted, but he always ended up appreciating whatever he bought her. As for her, well, she was apparently an open book so it was easier for him to buy her presents unlike the other way around.
       
"Just buy me more clothes." He replied, waving it off dismissively. "I always get my clothes either ripped or dirty. The laundry dryads got pissed with me the last time they had to clean my muddy pants."
       
"Ooh, I saw these nice jeans with a cool embroidery thing on the back pockets!" She exclaimed, remembering the last time she had been at the mall.
       
"Anything but those." He said dryly.
       
Esmerelda opened her mouth to argue, but froze.
       
Ethan stopped walking when she did. He looked at her. "What is it?"
       
"I thought I saw something small running behind those bushes..." She trailed off, pointing at a thorny blackberry bush. For a brief second she swore she had seen something small and with green skin flit through, but it had happened so fast that she wasn't so sure anymore.
      
"Something small?" Ethan echoed, he didn't look as apprehensive as her and simply regarded the bush with a blank look. "Probably a squirrel or something. Let's keep going."
       
"Okay..." She said, shooting the bush one last glance. Her hand hovered over her charm bracelet, which was actually a weapon in disguise. Or well, multiple weapons in disguise to be precise. All twelve charms were her throwing knives. Yanking a charm out would automatically turn it into it's true form. Pressing the inconspicuous button at the end of each knife handle would revert it back to a charm. It was a wonderful creation courtesy of Charles Beckendorf, counselor of the Hephaestus cabin.