Chapter 29

30th October. 3 months before.

The strawberry fields were slightly more dim instead of their usual bright red that they held in the summer time, leaves drifting down in lazy spirals. October at Camp Half-Blood felt softer than summer- cooler air, quieter mornings, fewer campers. It was the kind of day that made monsters feel like a rumor.

Kayla lay on her back in the grass, staring at the clouds. Fall was her favourite season, especially leading up to halloween. She couldn’t wait for the dressing up, or the secret parties. “If that one turns into a dragon, I’ll name it Clarisse.”

Clarisse snorted from where she sat sharpening her spear. “That’s not a dragon, that’s a rock in the sky. Why name it me, anyway?”

“Cause you remind me of a dragon. And it is, it has wings!”

“It does not. Atleast you compared me to a dragon though, could have been worse.”

Kayla chuckled, the sound light and easy. Sweet as honey. It still surprised her how much Clarisse made her laugh now. At the start of this camp year, they had been civil. Now, after spending a dozen near-death experiences on a quest together, they had gone back to camp and caved in on pretending to not notice the similarities they had in their personalities.

That, and the fact they were forced to learn to tolerate eachother in many different circumstances before, lead to a very odd yet welcomed friendship. Now, they trained together, took food away from the dining pavilion to eat together. They even walked the camp borders at night sometimes, when sleep wouldn’t come.

Clarisse didn’t have many friends. She claimed otherwise, ofcourse. Her brothers were her main source of friendship and entertainment, and that was… well, with how Clarisse’s brothers were, that wasn’t much friendship to have. She dug herself in alot of holes most times. If an opportunity to possibly befriend someone ever came up- she told herself she had to keep up her reputation. Push them away instead, or bully them. To not go soft. Ares kids didn’t do soft; they were not allowed.

Yet since growing closer to Kayla, Clarisse found herself allowing this one. Perhaps it was that massive speech she had given her in the Ironclad. Kayla’s confidence and stubbornness showed through alot with that. Clarisse liked confident. Or perhaps it was the fact that Kayla was simply relentless to caving in on whatever rude things Clarisse said to her. She bit back. Hell, she had Clarisse caving in and acting defeated. Especially at the name calling. Kayla loved name calling.

Clarisse flicked a small, stray pebble at her. “You’re skipping drills.” She mumbled.

“Strategic morale break,” Kayla countered. “Important for warrior health.”

Clarisse rolled her eyes, though there was no real annoyance there. “You’re gonna regret it when someone finds you skipping so much.”

Kayla sat up, stretching her back. “You’ll defend me.” She shrugged, glancing at the strawberries behind them.

Clarisse hesitated, then smirked, looking back down to her half-sharpened spear. “Yeah, maybe.”

Kayla smiled, tilting her head. “I really don’t want to go to training though. It says on my timetable, that I’ve been partnered in boxing with Harry!” She complained.

Clarisse grimaced, placing her spear to the side to further engage herself. “Harry? How did you get put with him? He’s… terrible. And annoying. And no one volunteers to be his partner.” The boy in question, Harry, was an obnoxious prick, to put it lightly. He was cocky and arrogant. Any girl that he was put up to spar with had to deal with his constant attitude of him thinking all girls were swooning. Swooning with exhaustion of having to be around him? Maybe.

“Well, you decided to say yes to training Silena for… god knows why. And Malcolm has decided he’s practicing with Will. And- oh yeah, that’s the end of my ‘main friends’ list.”

Clarisse huffed a smile and looked down, picking mindlessly at a blade of grass. “Yeah, she- was looking for someone. I know what I need to do, so.”

Kayla raised an eyebrow as Clarisse avoided eye contact. “You know Silena is dating Charles Backendorf, right?”

“Kay! I don’t like her, I’m not doing this because I like her, you punk.” She defended, finally looking up.

“Well why? She’s gonna be a pain to teach. I- I mean, she’s not bad, but… you know. Aphrodite kids, meh.”

“Your mom was an Aphrodite kid. Be careful. And yeah, I know it will be a little harder. But- I heard her question and took it. Alright? I know what I need to do. I know what I’m doing.”

“Okay, jeez. Just warning.” Kayla put her hands up, rasing both eyebrows jokingly.

“No warning needed, Kay. I’m not doing it cause of what you think. Thanks. Now come on, forget boxing with Harry, I’ll find you someone else.”

Clarisse and Kayla made their way down to training slowly. Her words of “finding someone else” for Kayla were very, very unhelpful. She was dumped with no other than Axel, who gladly took up the offer to pulverise the girl who was stealing his places besides his sister for things like Chariot races (yes, he still held that grudge, and yes, he blamed it entirely on Kayla.) Kayla was not happy with Clarisse’s lazy effort.

“Axel! You can’t do that in sword practice, you cheater!” She argued for the tenth time, as Axel stood with a smug grin on his face. “Stop me then, punk!”

“That’s Clarisse’s line! It does not suit your mouth, gremlin!” Axel charged with a war cry. Kayla dodged, booting him in the back. “Don’t make me use my powers, come on! This is so not fair, I just want a normal fight!”

Axel, who had gone skidding to the ground, rolled back up to his hands and knees, running at her once again. “First to blood!” He challenged comically, sword raised. He reminded Kayla of a monkey when he ran. Sword raised, fast, determined feet. She couldn’t help a half snicker half scoff as she sent nothing but a glare that knocked him to the ground. “You’re so annoying, Axel. Go to sleep.”

And with that, she flicked her wrist in a simple movment, having his head clatter to the floor with his back end up in the air. “Punk.”

“Kayla Gaves.”

The voice made her snap out of her egotistical state of mind, jolting her head up to face the entrance of the sparring grounds. The centaur of camp stood with his hands crossed, that common look on his face like he knew the answers to everything to ever exist.

“I didn’t do it! He turned narcissistic!”

“Kayla, Axel is not narcoleptic, and that is besides the point. I saw your bickering. I want a separate discussion, within the Big House?” Chiron turned to head away from the sparring grounds as if he already knew she would follow. When Chiron asked, he ordered. That always went without saying. She thinned her lips and cleared her throat, stepping over Axel’s body carefully to follow along. “Coming.”

They walked side by side on their jolly, ever so calming way to the Big House. She scuffed her shoes along the path as they walked. “What’s the detention going to be? Please no more working with the satyrs, I can’t live like that any longer.” She whined.

Chiron rolled his eyes. “No, Miss Graves. I want a private conversation in the Big House. This is important. Forget about your silly little games and detentions.” He opened the door to the Big House, inviting her inside.

The inside of the Big House was always cozy. Warm as soon as you walked in- not the sweaty type of warm. Cozy, peaceful. The dark layout with all the spruce wood made anyone sleepy and ready to settle in immediately. Kayla made her way to the office. She was still thankful to this day that Tantalus had left no marks in this office. She sat down in the chair in his office as he rounded the desk. Chirons desk was odd- even though he switched forms to his wheel chair form, the desk still had a giant amount of foot space on his side. And the desk was slightly higher than normal. Enough space for a horse, definitely.

“Kayla, I got a letter, this morning, from Hermes. He said he got it from a mother of a demigod here, who says she found it delivered to her house from a postman. She called upon him to bring it here, since the letter said it was for Camp Half Blood. The letter had no address from where it was from, not anywhere. Only the house address of the woman that recieved it and where she needed to get it to. No name on the envelope. It said some… concerning things.” Chiron explained. Kayla shuffled in her seat. Suddenly, she really needed the toilet. This couldn’t be good.

“Like… like what? Why does it concern me?”

“Well, the letter specifically does not concern you. However, I decided to involve you. I’ll explain why after you read it.” Chiron handed a slip of paper over from his desk drawer. It was crumpled, yet readable. Hand written, scribbled.

Her fingers edged towards the paper, pulling it closer. If it was possible, it was somehow formal but severely rushed at the same time. “Oh my Gods… this is from Ansel Finnegan. Didn’t he dissapear from camp?” Chiron did not reply. It was a silent jest for her to keep reading.

“If this finds its way to Chiron somehow, good. I’m praying on all the Gods right now that it will. It’s me, Ansel Finnegan. I know I left camp and lots of people know it was for Kronos. I wasn’t one to hide my opinions. But I regret it. I really do, and I’m sorry. I wish for you to accept me back into camp if I ever make it home. Luke’s words that got around camp once he left were all a lie. I don’t know if Chiron knows this, Chiron, if you’re reading this, but it was spread around that Luke’s army was amazing and rich, and for the greater good.

Kayla would have grimaced at the words if she wasn’t so caught up in shock. Ansel was a son of Apollo. He was a confident boy. He had his opinions. Not a rude boy, simply heavily opinionated. He had disappeared sometime after Clarisse and Kayla got back with the fleece. It was obvious why. Anyone who disappeared these days- people knew. They just didn’t say anything. Or atleast, that’s what Kayla theorised. So far, around a dozen people have gone missing.

It’s all propaganda. Nothing is right down here, with him. In the Labyrinth. His army, they’re all down there. I escaped. I found out this: monsters down there don’t die like they should. They regenerate within seconds. Something is going on down there. Death has been meddled with. I’m afraid it’s going to spread out of the Labyrinth, effect all monsters. Chiron, if I ever make it home- please, accept me back.

– Ansel.

“The death part,” Kayla pointed out,  skimming over it once again. “That’s where you’re involving me.”

Chiron nodded in answer. “This is highly confidential, first off. You must tell no one of any of this. Dare say you’re going on this quest. I want no one knowing of the Labyrinth, or any of this.”

“Quest?” Kayla scoffed. Chiron was already speaking so confidently. “Hang on, I haven’t even discussed this properly yet. The Labyrinth is equal to stories of Tartarus!”

Kayla shook her head, pushing the paper back to Chiron in a hurry. She wanted none of this. “I don’t know what to do if monsters aren’t dying! Ask my dad!”

“That’s the issue, Miss Graves, and you know it is. Gods like Thanatos are not easily called upon. They are busy, and your father isn’t exactly a free God, is he? I doubt Hades and the others in the underworld would appreciate him leaving his job of reaping souls to have a look in the Labyrinth for some monsters, now. It does not mean this is not serious. Monsters that aren’t dying, spreading from outside the Labyrinth? You are thr key to fixing that, logically speaking.”

“This is madness! I’ve heard Annabeth go on about this place before like how Connor Stoll goes on about horror movies! I refuse. I have no clue how to stop those pesky monsters from dodging death.”

“Yes, you do. I know of the book you have. How many pages again? Seven hundred? All to know about your powers and how to use them. How to control and manipulate them. Pictures of them, step by step guides? And where is that book mark of yours peeking from?”

Kayla slouched down in her chair, crossing her arms with her head hung low in unhappiness.

“Where, Miss Graves?”

“The end.” She mumbled. Chiron nodded, slipping Ansel’s note back into his drawer. “You know alot more than you let on, Miss Graves. Ever since your quest with Clarisse. That gave you alot of confidence in your abilities. Even if you know not of how to use your powers. You certainly know what you can do. And you know you can reap souls.” Chiron replied knowingly.

“And that Scythe, on your neck, from your father. Child, do you take me for a fool? That Scythe can hold a soul of the strongest of monsters for a decade! I trust you, which is why I have not seen it in need for me to have this talk. But you are powerful, Kayla Graves. I know you are more than capeable of making sure most monsters never regenerate again, atleast for the next ten years.  Show me that Scythe, Miss Graves.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“It’s unique,” He corrected. “You have every right to be scared of it, but if it fits in anyone’s hands, it is yours. Now, show me.”

Kayla sighed, giving a silent prayer before standing up. She moved away and to the middle of the office, where she ripped it off her neck. Before her eyes, it morphed into a small scythe. For a scythe, it was small, yes. For a weapon, it was big. “Incredible,” Chiron nodded. “Pure Stygian Iron, most certainly crafted by Thanatos himself. This is a big gift coming from such a pinned-down God, Miss Graves. A God like him does not have much time for such crafts.”

Kayla swallowed, looking away. It made her rethink her harsh thought when she first received all her odd gifts from Thanatos. She hadn’t thought of how he must have really tried hard to make a gift like this. She shook the thought away, bashing the stub of the handle on the floor. It disappeared from her hand, appearing back around her neck. “I refuse to use it in camp. Too dangerous. Something about it, just… the aura.”

“The aura, indeed, Miss Graves. The potential people and things it can not only kill, but encapture the souls of. It is an… early gift, to put it lightly. I understand why you have not made much use of it.” He explained, folding his fingers into eachother. “The quest, Miss Graves?”

She stared in stubborn unwillingness for atleast ten seconds.

“Fine. But I’m telling Clarisse. And Malcolm.”

“We established-“

“I am not leaving without a word to anyone! I am telling her and Malcolm, or I am not going. I don’t care if quests are meant to be. I’ll… un-mean it.” She stuttered, shrugging. Chiron sighed in defeat, nodding. There was a silent trust in his eyes. He knew she had her mind settled.

“Alright. But first, the Oracle, Miss Graves. Then I’ll give you the day you are best to leave.”

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