Light Em Up (oc x oc)

XX - Madison

The next morning, news that Nova and Valentina broke up spreads like wildfire. Apparently Nova has a reputation, and Valentina was the first time she settled down for longer than a few weeks. Love has made her confident, and it's beautiful.

Nova sidles up beside me as I watch everyone disperse from the dining pavilion. "It's weird to think they're all their own people," she says.

"I don't think so," I say, hesitantly smiling. "How're you?"

"Lonely, for now." Nova laughs mirthlessly. "Of course, the entire camp are betting on who I'll date next."

"I thought-"

"What did you think? I was the camp favourite? Newsflash, I'm not. I'm the camp slut."

"You can't say things like that."

"Watch me." Nova drops to the grass. "It could be worse. What did you think? Genuinely."

"I thought your life would be better."

Nova smiles. "You intrigue me."

"If I tell you something, you won't punch me?"

"I promise."

I tell her the story, of what happened to us, beginning to end. She listens patiently, waiting for me to finish.

"That sucks. I suck. Life sucks. Ugh!" She throws her hands up. "Why am I always such a damn burden?"

"You're not a burden." I put an arm around her shoulders. "There should be people who love you."

"Only one at a time," she says, frowning. "Mostly my friends, then Michael, then Valentin. Now I think it'll probably be you. You say my mom was a piece of work. She's probably worse in this timeline. Kayla is still a dick too."

I stifle a laugh. "I didn't see a way around that one. Do you still have your ability to cuss out the gods in this timeline?"

"It turns out no matter my environment, twelve-year-old Nova is still awesome," she laughs. "I agree with you. The two of us need to pay a certain dickhead a visit."

"I didn't say that..."

"You didn't have to. Come on, Madison. I think we need to go see Rachel."

A few hours later, after finally finding Rachel in the Apollo cabin, which was also the last place we thought to look for her, Nova and I sit under the tree on Half-Blood Hill.

"Do we really need to pick a fight?" I ask hesitantly.

Nova pauses. "Maybe. I don't know. I guess he did exactly what you asked."

I nod. "Douchebag genie."

"What?"

"A genie that grants wishes, but really literally, and in every possible way is a huge dick."

Nova chuckles. "Sounds about right. I don't trust them. Sometimes I think Luke was right."

"The kid that started a war?"

"Yeah. He thought the gods were outdated, and we should overthrow them and take our turn. The funny thing is, he went about it in the dumbest way possible."

I incline my head. "How would you do it?"

"I'd get both the camps together, for starters. Send someone in during the solstice to get hold of every item of power they could, and stick some C4 everywhere they could. Make sure it was laced with Celestial Bronze, obviously. Blow the hell out of the throne room and then make it obvious we were starting a war. I wouldn't be stupid enough to involve Titans and monsters."

"You sound like you've thought this out a lot."

"I haven't just thought it out..." says Nova darkly. "Nyssa Barrera works tirelessly even now. Julia Feingold and Malcolm Pace volunteered to do the placement. A lot of people are willing to work with me. They never expected me to take the reins, but Nova Harleigh has finally had enough. Especially now I know what's already happened in the other timeline. I'm fucking done."

"Nova-"

Nova smiles. "I've made my decision. I'm not going to force you to stand at my side, I just ask you won't get in my way."

I think.

About everything. About everything we've suffered, in our lifetimes, and everyone else who has come before us, dying pointlessly so someone can sit on a throne and use us as cheap entertainment. Nova is right. We can do this ourselves.

"I'm in."