「BONUS CHAPTER 002. the glow of a single flower」

A WEEK after the battle of manhattan, and barbie and percy were going pretty good. safe to say, after their kiss underwater, he'd asked her to be his girlfriend (which she'd accepted because who wouldn't?) and they were... really, really happy. barbie couldn't think of any other word to describe it, but she just couldn't stop smiling when she was with percy. everywhere they went, she felt a glow of happiness inside her. she didn't know what else to think, but just being by percy... it made her forget everything.

as for kenji... barbie decided she was now neutral about him. he fit in pretty well. and after a few days of being at camp, he wasn't seen as an outcast by others anymore. since the hecate cabin and all the other cabins were still under construction, annabeth came to him a lot to ask for design ideas. since he was the first hecate kid to actually be at camp. but other campers were claimed too. two members of the hermes cabin (formerly) were claimed by hebe. others by hypnos, and some by nike and- well, you get the point.

camp was definitely happier after percy's request. and more editions were made to the aphrodite cabin. they welcomed two new campers to their cabin. and although barbie was still getting used to the whole cabin councillor thing, she thought she was doing a pretty good job. she hadn't screwed up too much. and she remembered their activities and everything.

although in barbie's opinion, the best thing about camp now definitely had to be capture the flag. there were so many more kids in each cabin, and more and more kids were slowly turning up to camp. they were from so many different cabins, it made barbie smile so much. no big three kids had turned up yet, but percy seemed just as happy as she was. and capture the flag became such a big game. different kids, some with powers and some with none, all in the forest. capture the flag became more of a meme than anything.

and the campfire was spectacular. no longer was a small flame, but a roaring bonfire. kids from all different parentages' sang loudly, the happiness around barbie swarming her. they felt like they had a place now. they felt like they had a home, a place they could just be themselves. and that, was probably something barbie would never get tired of thinking about.

of course, with all the new cabin mates, somewhere rather curious as to what happened. some asked questions, and some wondered about the war they hadn't been apart of. councillors who'd been residing in the camp for a while tried their best to explain. people like clarisse, connor, annabeth and travis were able to explain most things without getting too emotional. but katie and barbie... it wasn't possible for them to... talk about that thing. they would stop, laugh slightly, a sad smile stretched on their faces, and continue with whatever activity they were doing.

eventually, of course, people found out. little flowers were left in front of the aphrodite cabin for silena, and small sunflowers left in front of the demeter cabin for cherry. every day the number of flowers would grow, with some messages being written as well. with more and more campers, it became harder for barbie to stop being full of grief. sure, she was happy to see them, but with all the curiosity they held, the more she was reminded.

and so, nightmares started again.

they were small at the start. just seeing silent or cherry in her dream and maybe a few flashes of how they died. but then, it started to slowly get worse. silent and cherry would start to talk. she could handle silena, because her whole cabin was getting nightmares. but cherry? it was different. cherry's death would flash by more and more in barbies sleep. soon, her nightmares turned into her mind reliving the moment where cherry died. again. again. and again.

she'd wake up, crying, shaking. and she couldn't help but think this is exactly what silena was like. she tried not to wake people up. but she ended up doing it sometimes. but she tried. she tried so much.

after one night, she'd had enough. she got up, and crawled out of the cabin in a zip-up hoodie over her pyjamas and took a walk around. the harpies weren't always a problem for her. she could charmspeak them to ignore her, which was sometimes helpful. once she checked the close was clear, she walked in the direction that always comforted her. the strawberry field.

she'd visited it a lot during the first days of camp, just sitting there for hours on end and watching the sky. she'd smile sometimes, or maybe laugh out loud when she remembered something cherry had said there. the strawberry field just reminded her so much of cherry. every little bit. and sometimes, it made barbie sad. sometimes when she was there, she'd cry, she'd scream. she'd sob and cry and ask why she died. why she didn't let barbie help her. why....why she left barbie.

and other times, she'd smile. she'd smile to herself as she watched the strawberries. sometimes people would visit her. sometimes it was annabeth. the two would just sit there, maybe occasionally talking. sometimes, it was val. he'd hug her when she'd cry. sometimes percy was there. and he'd talk to her. sometimes she wouldn't respond, and he understood that. but he'd talk about everything. from things, he remembered of cherry, or maybe something to do with strawberries.

sighing, she made her way to the middle of the strawberry fields and sat down. she didn't care of she got her clothes muddy because when she was here, she never did. she sat, her chin resting on her knees as she cradled herself, watching the moon carefully. she felt somebody move from behind her, and she turned around, finding herself face to face with-

"kenji?"

kenji ito, in all his blue-haired glory, stood behind her with the baggiest grey t-shirt known to the gods and checkered pyjama pants the colour blue.

"..hi."

"why... why are you here?" she asked, turning back around as she stared at the moon.

"i... sometimes i come here in the night when... when i've had a nightmare-"

"you have those too?" she asked.

"yes," he mumbled, "can i... sit down?"

"be my guest," she mumbled, not turning around. there was a few shuffling movements before she saw kenji next to her, sitting in a similar way to the way she was.

"so nightmares," he said in a quiet but awkward voice, "what about?"

"cherry," she spoke simply, "and... well-"

"i know what you mean," he spoke, nodding slightly, "i... i get them too. i- i see you... in the pink bubble. crying and talking to her and- and i get all these terrible memories. i... if- if i had just seen how stupid i was to be listening to kronos... i... i could've saved cherry. i could've..."

"did you love her?" she asked, looking to him.

"love her?" he spoke, looking at her confused, "in what sense?"

"romantic."

"i... no," he spoke, shaking his head, "it was platonic... but even so... i don't really... get crushes or... do crushes. like... at all."

"that's ok," she nodded, before adding, "but... you cared about her, right?"

"of course i did," he mumbled, "i... she was so happy when i met her. and even to her death... she was. she was this little ray of sunshine, wasn't she?"

"even when we were in the middle of a war," whispered barbie, feeling herself tear up slightly, "even when all the darkness surrounded us... she was like a little glow flower."

"a glow flower? you mean.... those... those little glowing things?" kenji asked, "she... she gave you one?"

"did she give you one?" he nodded and she looked at him as she asked, "where is it?"

"kronos broke it," mumbled kenji, "when we joined... we were told to leave everything about camp behind us. some of us came in camp shirts. we were told to burn them. i... i came with the glow flower. he... he made a big example of me. he told everybody that sentimental things such as the glow flower were... pathetic. he... he forced me to break it. and i- i didn't want to. at the start. but then, he.. hit me. and- he did everytime i said no. so... i broke it. smashed it."

there was silence.

"do you know what happens when a glow flower dies?" asked kenji quietly, a tear dropping down his face.

"no..."

"the glow lives on," he whispered, "a sign that even dead it glows."

"i... i still have mine," she spoke quietly, "i water it once a day. it reminds me- it reminds me of her. i- i can show you it-"

"please," he whispered, his voice sounding broken.

at that moment, barbie didn't care that kenji had killed cherry. it was still in her mind, and she knew what he did was bad. but he'd obviously been through so much. every single bit of him was so sorry. how could she just hate him, or not feel sorry for him? she imagined the glow flower in her mind. she kept it with her at all times in jerald's little mist safe. she concentrated for a few moments before a pink mist took over and dropped a pot with the glow flower into her hands.

"it's... it's just like i remember," kenji spoke, smiling through his tears as he looked at it, softly gliding his poorly painted blue nails over one of the petals, "it's... it's really here."

the single glow flower shined brightly. in the darkness of the night, with just the single beam of the moon, the glow flower shone. the warm and golden light flowed and spread to barbie's hand and kenji's face as he stared closely at the flower.

"i was thinking of planting it here," barbie spoke, wiping her eyes away as she stared at kenji, "do you... want to plant it with me?"

he looked at her, shocked for a moment before tears welled up in his eyes. he placed the pot down and hugged her tightly, sobbing into her shoulder. she sat frozen and confused for the first few seconds. because what do you do when there's a kid crying on your shoulder? but after a few moments... she hugged him back, reassuring him quietly, whispering reassuring words to him. in a way, it reminded her of when cherry would come crying to her.

no wonder kenji and cherry got on so well. they were a like in some ways.

she hugged kenji a bit more before he let go, distancing himself as he managed to say, "thank you... thank you, i-"

"stop saying thank you," she spoke, laughing slightly, "it wasn't a gift. it was a question, kenji. we can plant it now, if you want?"

he nodded weakly, not even bothering with a shovel as he used his fingers to rake through a spare patch of soil. she cupped the glow flower's soil and lifted the flower out of the pot and into the hole in the soil kenji had made. she gently placed it in there, before kenji pushed the dirt back to keep it in place.

"hold on," he mumbled, "it needs salt water or else it dies, doesn't it?"

"that's what cherry told me," whispered barbie quietly.

"i think i know a spell," mumbled kenji, "or an enchantment- whatever it's called. but... i can keep it alive forever... give me a second."

he began to close his eyes in concentration before he began to chant in ancient greek. she caught a few words, some like life and eternal youth but it all blended together. blue sparks shot out of the tip of his left pointer finger and it curled around the glow flower delicately, seeping into the flower.

"there," he mumbled, "it... it's eternal."

in the darkness of the moon. under the lonely dark sky, sat two people. barbie allen, grieving friend and kenji ito, regretful and guilt filled son of hecate. but under the single glow of a flower, the two of them set aside their differences.

under the single glow of a flower, life glows on.

rosie speaks!

and that... is offically
the end of book one.
a bit of a sad ending, but
i felt the need to explain
kenji a bit more. he's not
just a killer, or somebody
who you.. well i'll explain
in the author note next
chapter. so if you want
to stick around for me
talking about all the
characters... then,,, yeah.
have fun.

also i best not see yall
shipping barbie and kenji
because my boy is aro/ace
and if i see any disregarding
of my boy's sexualitiy i'll
come for yall and beat
your asses.

ily all so much!! see you
next book!

word count: 2,134 words