charm(less)

septendecim

—— s e p t e n d e c i m ——

LIFE NO LONGER in constant danger and no monsters trying to kill him aside, Park was not having a fun first day at Camp Half Blood.

Things had first starting going downhill when they reached the dining pavilion and Alicia pointed to one of the empty tables, informing him that's where he'd be sitting. It was only when Korey sheepishly backed her that he realised it wasn't a joke; each kid had to sit at the table depending on their godly parent, and seeing as Nico wasn't around, he was the only child of Hades at his table. So he got to spend the entirety of lunch sullenly poking at a jacket potato while Korey shot him apologetic looks from his own overcrowded table, where he could guarantee all the whispering and pointing in his direction meant he was the topic of conversation.

Camp activities didn't go much better. He might have been allowed to tag along with the Hermes cabin after Korey appealed on his behalf but it just meant he had to deal with the intrusive questions from the other campers firsthand. He deflected them all, from how he managed to survive on his own for so long as a child of three to where he had learnt to shoot so well. It was only after his patience broke at what felt like the millionth question and he snapped at a pink-haired hair to mind her own business that they finally seemed to get the message. He ducked out of the last couple of activities while Korey was distracted and snuck off into the woods bordering the camp for some peace and quiet.

Park batted aside a long hanging branch and sighed. He knew he wasn't exactly helping with a smooth transition into camp considering his attribute but he had spent his whole life on the run, taught to trust no one and never let anyone close. He'd already broken that rule once with Korey. He wasn't used to being around so many people who already knew so much about him and while he should've been relieved, that his whole life wasn't a secret here surrounded by other demigods, it only made him more defensive. They were all demigods who had chosen to come here and let themselves be exploited.

If Park was smart, he would leave right now. He had just enough energy to shadowtravel outside camp borders and he could make his own way back to New York from there. Without Korey and his mark attracting every monster in the nearest radius, his life would go back to how it had been before. Still running, still with monsters, but manageable. Familiar. What he was used to. And barely a life, a voice whispered in the back of his head. He had lost count of how many times he had nearly died in the past few days with Korey, and yet, it was the most alive he had felt in years. Park wasn't anticipating the sudden ache at the thought of leaving that behind.

He would stay until they had removed the mark off Korey. He had made a promise to him and he'd make sure to see it through to the end. After that, he'd leave. He would cut all ties and salvage what he could.

A rustle of leaves behind him had him whirling around with a hand at his medallion, his jittery nerves needing little provocation to spark. He only relaxed when he saw it was Korey, trampling through the underbrush he wasn't accustomed to like baby deer finding his feet. He walked straight into branch Park had thought to move aside and rubbed his forehead with a rueful expression which quickly faded into a pleased smile when he saw Park. His pulse was picking up again and Park didn't think he could blame his nerves this time.

"There you are! The nymphs said you went this way," he said, entirely oblivious to the leaves caught in his gold hair. "Well, they didn't know who you were but they did say a scary looking black-haired boy went this way. I figured the chances were pretty high that was you."

"I'm not scary looking."

"Well, no, you are. Just a little," Korey said hastily, at Park's expression. "I think that's just your default expression to keep the monsters at bay."