𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙥𝙞𝙙 𝙗𝙤𝙮, 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙮 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣

chapter two

chapter two !
to ask a favour

- JUST IN CASE Tessa hadn't been clear enough earlier, she didn't have many close friends at camp. Not that she was antisocial or a pariah to society, she just lived by the mindset that you only needed a few close friends in the world to get by. To constantly be surrounded by people often made a person feel more lonely then they actually are-, she also wasn't very good at making friends. She got along with everyone, yes, but most people were acquaintances or used to get ahead in Camp Half-Blood. That was one personality default she blamed entirely on her father.

This is the reason why at the campfire, despite the unspoken rule of sticking with your sole cabin members, Tessa sandwiched herself on a wooden log between the burly shouldered Clarisse, daughter of Ares and the lithe and petite in frame Silena, daughter of Aphrodite. Both girls were a year or so older than her, and cabin counsellors to boot. Nonetheless between them both, Tessa had been at camp far longer than either of them combined and she had more or less been thrown into their laps and been told to figure out what to do with. She had met Silena first, maybe three weeks into her first summer stay at camp,while her father travelled around for work. The dark haired girl was tasked with baby sitting duty of the unclaimed demigod who was quite a handful to put it lightly.

Her first two summers she had been a menace to the camp, running around and challenging anything that could walk or talk with her army knife and a taunting grin, despite her still baby-like face. Tessa had been only six at the time, but she had already learned how to work the system to get what she wanted. So, Silena had been her part time babysitter in her first few weeks and later became more of a mentor and older sister like figure to the girl. She was Tessa's biggest confidant for her feelings and thoughts on issues she would normally never bring to light to keep the persona up of being an independent, driven, and direct girl. She didn't want to be weepy or emotional like most girls who far too often got lost in their heads and own personal lives.

Tessa Fairbanks was a winner, and always would be a winner. She was ambitious in her endeavours to prove herself worthy to the Gods and a force to be reckoned with should she be crossed.

It was nearly four years later that she happened across the daughter of Ares and established an unprecedented connection with and ironically enough it was through her godly genes. Most people couldn't claim a large emotional tie to their godly parent besides them being their sperm or egg donor- though brain-birther in the cases of the Athena Cabin, but Clarisse was unfortunate enough to establish one; ( and not a good one either).

Ares was a harsh man, who was the embodiment and dictionary definition of tough love. He didn't seem to particularly like any of his children unless they did something that reflected well on him and if they ever sullied his name in the slightest, Zeus Almighty may Olympus be merciful that day. Ares had all but forced the two girls together in the horrible comparison that Clarisse ought to be more like Tessa and become more resilient and hard headed. It was by miracle that the two girls connected through the- admittedly terrifying ordeal of being told by your parents that you're a shitty kid, and didn't end up despising one another. Instead they found a similar flame to kindle, as they both tried in vain to gain the approval of their Godly parent with drastic and bullheaded actions.

The dynamic of their trio was strange to say the least, even to the people who not so subtlety pushed them together- cough Chiron cough- in the first place. With Silena being the heart and soul of the group, Clarisse being the muscle and firepower, and Tessa more or less being the bad influence and deductive reasoning. It wasn't a perfect balance, for instance when Clarisse would became so volatile she would lash out and hurt those closest to her or Tessa would incidentally cut down others in her attempts to rise to the top despite the consequences. They were like magnets, always migrating back together with apologies and acknowledgement of their wrong doings before stitching up the wounds and moving forward. Together, as a singular unit.