The Court Going to Camp Half-Blood

Chapter Five

To say Percy was embarrassed was an understatement. Not only were they outsmarted, they were out fought! They had the majority of people, and he had defeated actual gods. These people were insane. He needed to train with them. Not to beat them because he was an annoying egotistic male with an above-average superiority complex, but because he wanted to get better.

So he asked Annabeth to ask for them because the way Celaena was digging into her food he was terrified to interrupt her. Annabeth just rolled her eyes and said,

"Whatever Seaweed Brain." 

She grabbed Piper and went over to their table, sitting at the edge. They stopped their conversation to look at the two imposters. He was about to go over there because he preferred his girlfriend alive, thank you very much, when Celaena smiled and laughed at something Annabeth said. Everyone else did too, then, and soon the whole group, including Piper and Annabeth, were laughing at something. Percy only realized what it was when he realized everyone was staring at him.

They were laughing at him! He walked over, sat down, and hissed like an eel, do eels hiss? Percy only ever heard words, but whatever.

"What's so funny?" he demanded.

Celaena just looked at him, dead-on, and said, "It must have taken a lot of courage for you to brave talking to the terrifying Celaena Sardothien." He realized annabeth told them he was afraid to go up, and shot his girlfriend a look full of eeliness.

"It's okay lots of people are terrified of me."

"Yeah, lots of six-year-olds," Vaughan said under his breath, but loud enough to be heard.

Celaena whipped her head toward him and snarled, such an inhuman sound, and said, "I want to kill you," looked at Marion and asked, "Can I kill him?"

Marion shook her head and said, "No."

"Damn," Connall swore, and he and Celaena grinned at one another.

"But seriously," Annabeth started, "What time tomorrow?"

"Dawn?"

"Dawn? Why so early?" Percy protested.

"That's early?" She said, mystified. "You're training is way too easy if that's early. But fine, Gavriel and I will start at dawn, and you can join us whenever you can."

"Great! See you then," Annabeth grinned, and Celaena grinned right back.

Percy was excited. For now.

* * *

Ugh. Being social when having a mental breakdown is not easy, Aelin figured out. The iron didn't feel like the shackles of Maeve or Endovier, but it did still push down her magic and that was enough to make her jittery and scream, but she kept it in. They were all directed to a cabin that was said to be Artemis' cabin. Apparently they "checked with her" to make sure it was okay for them to sleep there. Her and Rowan were curled up on a camping mattress pad, no beds adorning the space. He was petting her hair, and she was falling asleep on his shoulder. They would need all the sleep they could get for tomorrow's training.

* * *

Despite talking about getting sleep, nerves woke Aelin up and she went to the dining pavilion to find bagels laid out. She took two, spread cream cheese on them, and brought them back to the cabin, for she knew Rowan would be up. In fact, he walked up right behind her and placed a kiss on her neck, nothing heated in the kiss, but it made her blood rush just the same. 

"Good morning," he said, and kissed her on the lips. She grunted in response, too tired to form words, and handed him the bagel. He took a bite, and she was in such a weird mood it sent her blood pumping to her face. She could feel the blush rising, and new Rowan could scent was was coursing through said blood.

He just chuckled and pressed his cream-cheesy lips to hers, and said, "When you're done with that bagel, we should start before anyone wakes up."

She nodded, biting into her own bagel, and smelling the arousal rushing through him as well. This training was going to be much harder, and with many more distractions.

* * *

Annabeth couldn't fall asleep, so it was no surprise when she woke up early, restless. She trued to fall back asleep but her body seemed to want her to get up at dawn, so she went over to the dining pavilion to see Celaena and Gavriel eating bagels, and then setting off into the woods. Into the woods!

She ran to catch up with them, and said, "I don't recommend the woods. We have ur own training grounds."

Gavriel looked at her, and asked, "What's wrong with the woods?"

"There are creatures - monsters - in there."

"Skin-walkers?" Celaena asked, with a hint of - fear? - in her voice.

"No, but things like Myrmekes, poisonous scorpions, and all sorts of monsters could be there, like minotaurs and Kindly Ones and Chimeras and Manticores and the like."

"Myrmekes?" Celaena asked.

"Giant poisonous ants."

"Ants. I'm supposed to be afraid of ants."

"Myrmekes are giant ant-like creatures that are the size of a full grown German Shepherd and love shiny things, such as gold. They live in enormous anthills with complex winding passageways loaded with stolen loot like gold, weapons, and jewelry. They spray poison, have almost unbreakable back armor, have vicious mandibles and can call on the rest of the nest to aid them, and can quickly swarm even the most skilled fighter," Annabeth recited from a book she read at some point in her life.

"So demon ants."

"Yes."

"Fun! Let's go," Celaena said, and pulled on Rowan's sleeve to make him go faster. He just looked at Annabeth apologetically, and shrugged, as if to say It doesn't matter. she does this all the time. We'll be fine.

But then he was running alongside her, and they were sprinting faster than she'd seen anyone sprint, and she decided to eat a bagel and go running if she heard a scream. She would find them at noon when Percy woke up anyway.

* * *

Percy awoke to Annabeth watching him, and instinctively checked his mouth for drool. He detected none, but that didn't mean it didn't happen. He smiled at his girlfriend, and the grin grew wider when she handed him a bagel with blue cream cheese, and then he pressed a kiss on her lips. He forgot about the bagel when she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

But unfortunately Annabeth was smart and did things, so she pulled away, gave him the bagel, and said, "Up Seaweed Brain. We have training. And they've been training in the woods since dawn."

Percy was shocked. "Dawn? And in the woods? Aren't they dead?"

"They actually looked excited to kill Myrmekes."

"Weird."

"Right?"

She snuggled into his chest while he finished his bagel, and then she got up and threw him a shirt and a pair of pants and told him, "Get dressed, I'll meet you outside."

Annabeth and Percy had kissed, sure, but that was it. There was no rush. They had all the time in the world. So Annabeth went outside while Percy changed, and when he went onto the porch she was already sitting and reading a book in Ancient Greek. Classic Wise Girl.

Then they ventured out together to find the crazy people who went out to train with Demon ants.

* * *