gone girl.
━━━ chapter ten

❀

The afternoon of the same day, Amaryllis found Nico in the infirmary. He had a cold compress on his forehead, his black clothes were a bit torn up and he had bandages all over his body. Despite everything, there was a smirk on his face.

"Amaryllis, thank the Gods you're here!" said an exasperated Nia, who was by his side. "He won't listen to me. He says he's fine and ready to leave. Can you please handle him?" she pleaded. She looked half scared and half stressed out. "I have more patients to tend to."

"Sure, don't worry," Amaryllis watched her sister leave to check the beds across the room. She turned to look at the son of Hades, who looked strangely amused. "What did you say to her?"

"Me? Nothing," he shrugged, though his face said otherwise.

"You can't seriously think of leaving in a state like that. You look like a train wreck," the blonde told him and the boy sat up, taking the compress off.

"Looks can be deceiving. I feel perfectly fine," Nico insisted and he got up from the bed to prove it. "Besides, I already told you I wouldn't be staying at the Camp."

Amaryllis rubbed her temples as she sighed. "Can you please stop being so stubborn? You need to stay here. It's- it's dangerous out there, now more than ever."

"And why do you care?" he snapped.

"Because I'm your friend, Nico," she snapped back. "I don't know if that's a wild concept for you to accept, but people do care about you, whether you realise it or not."

Nico's expression softened. For a second, she hoped that she had convinced him, but when he spoke, he said something else. "Do you feel like you belong here? At the Camp, I mean. Does it feel like home?"

She took a moment to think about it. Some of the best memories of her life were created there, she met some of her favourite people at Camp Half-Blood — it was home, the only home she had, but did she really feel like she belonged?

"I've been gone for four years. If I'm being honest, it feels a bit... weird now that I'm back. I still have a lot of love for this place, it just doesn't feel the same," she said, but she hesitated before she continued. "It's not like I ever had any other options though. Camp Half-Blood was always the only option."

Nico looked at her like he expected a different answer. "What if there was an alternative?" he finally said, loud enough only for her to hear.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing." The answer came quick and almost panicked, like he had just realised he was about to make a mistake but he quickly covered it up. "Just forget I said anything. I can see you hold a lot of love for this place, but I don't. It might be your home, but it's not mine."

"I can't convince you, can I?"

"No, you can't. I'll be gone after dinner."

Amaryllis nodded, not knowing what else to say. She was too tired to keep fighting to convince him to stay. "Be careful then, okay? And stay in touch, at least so we know that you're safe."

He smiled. "Trust me, we'll speak again sooner than you think," he said, creating unnecessary suspense. After that, Nico walked out of the infirmary without sparing anyone a second glance and Amaryllis didn't hear from him until later in the summer.

❀

For the rest of the summer, everyone was trying their best to pretend like everything was normal. Like they weren't survivors of a vicious, bloody battle that cost lives, but instead, they were your typical teenagers. There was a mourning period of a week, where everyone was still recovering from their injuries and their wounds – physical and mental, but after a while they returned to their usual Camp Half-Blood activities.

They had the Stoll brothers to thank for that. If it wasn't for their stupid prank wars, they probably wouldn't have returned back to normal until the end of summer. But their inability to let people in peace was, for the first time in forever, actually helpful.

Amaryllis had decided that she would go visit her mother once the summer period ended and most of the campers returned to their homes. As much as she wanted to see her, she felt like she needed to be around her friends and siblings for a little while. They were the only ones who truly understood how she felt after everything they all went through together. Besides, she hadn't had the chance to hang out with them under normal circumstances yet.

Grover immediately started taking up responsibilities as the new unofficial leader of a team of satyrs, but despite not seeing much of him, he found the time to properly catch up with her. Annabeth spent a lot of time going through Daedalus' projects in her cabin after he gave her his laptop before he apparently decided to finally die.

When she wasn't glued to her bed studying, her and Percy were trying to keep Amaryllis distracted. Now that she was done with quests and had time to think, she realised how much she truly missed Calypso. She was still mourning her old life, while also trying to make a new one and it was as stressful as one would imagine. She'd forget to eat and she'd spend hours hidden at the back of the Big House, wanting to be alone. Percy and Annabeth were always there for her. The son of Poseidon would cheer her up with his stupid jokes and their banter, while the daughter of Athena would keep her mind busy by constantly giving her things to think about. Surprisingly, it worked.

But at the same time, things at the Apollo cabin were getting messy. Michael was the new head counselor, but he had trouble acting like it. Whether it was the trauma of watching his brother get killed in front of him or something else, Michael had gotten very angry at the world. More often than not, Amaryllis and the other older siblings had to interfere when he was rude at people or lashing out. It was a responsibility that she hadn't asked for, but had to take on.

After all, she felt guilty. In some sick, twisted way, her mind wouldn't stop telling her that it was her fault that Lee died. Perhaps if she had been quick enough, she could have saved him. She knew Michael felt the same way, but he never seemed to want to talk about it.

During the bonfire, Lee was missed more than ever. He was the singer of the Camp, the one who'd always make cheesy summer songs on the spot to keep the others entertained. Now it wasn't a child of Apollo, but Silena Beauregard who played the guitar and sang Tracy Chapman's Fast Car with her silky voice. Everyone's eyes were focused on her – which was understandable, considering she wasn't just a daughter of Aphrodite but also, one of the most beautiful girls Amaryllis had ever seen – but her eyes were focused on her boyfriend, Charlie, who was grinning.

Amaryllis looked around to see her siblings and how they were reacting to the change. Will and Kayla had wrapped their arms around each other and were moving to the beat, Nia was passing around the marshmallows but Michael was nowhere to be found. She pressed her lips and got ready to get up and try to search for him, but she felt Percy, who was sitting next to her, press up her knee to get her attention.

"Are you okay?" he asked, voice full of worry but it was hard to take him seriously with chocolate all over his lips.

She stifled a laugh. "Yes, I was just wondering where Michael was."

"He's not here?" He looked around and when he confirmed it, he said, "I'm sure he's fine, maybe he's just tired and went to bed early."

"Maybe..."

"Hey, hey. Don't frown. Everything's going to be fine... Or complete shit." He shrugged when he thought about it better. "It's always one of the two."

"You should become a therapist, Percy. You have a unique perspective on life that totally doesn't make me want to hit you," said Amaryllis and nudged him with her elbow, causing him to drop his marshmallow.

"Oh, you'll pay for that, Kalomiri."

"Now that you learned my name you decided to practice my last name as well?" she teased him. "Should I be worried?"

"Extremely worried."

He was very close to her face and she was surely blushing by that point, but thankfully it was at that moment that Annabeth decided to show up. Completely oblivious to the moment that the other two had, she sat between them, grunting as she put the book that she was carrying inside a bag.

"Sorry I was late. I was looking at Daedalus' designs, again." When her eyes fell on Percy, she rolled her eyes and got some napkins out of her bag. "Clean yourself up, Seaweed Brain. No wonder Amaryllis has been staring at you like that."

"Shut up, Annabeth," the girl muttered, trying to hide her red cheeks while Percy was wiping the chocolate off his lips, embarrassed. "Wait- Seaweed Brain?"

"That's what she calls me. Very endearing, isn't it?" Percy replied sarcastically and Annabeth grinned.

"It's creative, admit it."

"It's very ironic that you are giving out nicknames, Owl Face," Amaryllis ignored Annabeth's glare as the boy next to her burst out laughing. It was the nickname Amaryllis had given her the first day she was claimed and Athena's symbol, an owl, appeared above her head.

"I thought you had forgotten about it!"

"Oh gods! That's the best day of my life," Percy managed to say in between laughs. "Forget Wise Girl, I'm adopting Owl Face."

Annabeth had the kind of look in her eyes that showed that if she could, she'd throw Amaryllis in the lake. "Thanks a lot, Goldilocks."

She simply shrugged, amused that she was able to get back at her after her comment. "You're welcome." She got up, remembering that she was planning on searching for Michael. "I'll take a walk and I'll be back," she told her two friends, that were still making fun of each other and made her way to the Cabins.

Michael was nowhere to be found. She searched the Apollo cabin, where she was unfortunately met with the sight of Nia Wallace making out with a son of Demeter, she passed the Camp Grounds and reached the Training Grounds but he wasn't there either. Once she reached the Archery Field, where she was sure that she'd find him, she had grown tired of searching so she decided to make her way back to the bonfire.

As she walked past Cabin Nine, she bumped into someone. She recognized Jake Mason immediately, even though they hadn't spoken to each other ever since she first came back at the Camp. It's not like they were avoiding each other, but they just hadn't had the chance to talk with everything that happened. Amaryllis would be lying if she said she hadn't thought of him after they met – he crossed her mind from time to time, for absolutely no reason.

"Hey. It's Amaryllis, right?" he said with that smile that made her physically weak. She nodded, "it feels like I haven't seen you in forever."

"Yeah, it's been a while. How come you're not in the bonfire?"

"I wasn't in a very good mood so I wanted to be alone for a bit, you know?" She wanted to say that she understood more than anyone, but she just nodded.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Well, actually I could be better," he said and that was the moment when Amaryllis realised that he was using crutches. His left leg was in a cast, that had juvenile drawings on it. When he noticed that she was looking at it, he chuckled. "My younger siblings thought it was their opportunity to practice drawing. And now I'm walking around looking like a children's colouring book."

"In my opinion it's pretty cute. Both the cast and the person wearing it." She froze when she realised what she said. She looked around, mainly because she wanted to avoid making eye contact with him after what she said.

"Is that so?" he said, looking very amused at the situation. She couldn't tell what he enjoyed more – the fact that she flirted with him or the fact that she looked embarrassed about it. "I definitely feel better about it now."

"Glad to be of service," she muttered, forcing herself to smile or else she'd look absolutely horrified. "I'm gonna go now-"

"Wait!" he grabbed her hand to stop her. He didn't look so confident anymore, which was very refreshing for Amaryllis to see. "Uh, do you wanna hang out tomorrow?"

"Sure," she smiled. Her heart was beating too fast, which couldn't be good. "I'm going to the bonfire now, but if you change your mind about it, you know where to find me."

Once she came back from her walk, she was surprised to see that it was Will who had the guitar now. He was singing a song that Amaryllis had never heard before, but she was in such a good mood that she didn't need to know the lyrics to enjoy it. She sat in the same place as she was before and gave a thumps up to her brother, before Annabeth turned to her.

"Where were you?"

"I told you, I wanted to go for a walk," she replied. "I just bumped into Jake Mason and we talked for a bit."

"Since when are you and Jake buddies?" She hadn't realised that Percy was listening, but he didn't look too happy about it. Amaryllis wondered if Percy and Jake didn't like each other, even though the son of Poseidon had never mentioned him before.

"I don't know," she shrugged, hoping that the conversation would end there. Percy didn't say anything else, but after a bit he made an excuse and went to sit with Tyson and the Stoll brothers.

Annabeth looked at Amaryllis curiously. "Really, since when are you and Jake buddies?" she repeated Percy's question.

"He asked me on a date. Kinda. I'm not sure if it'll be a date though."

"And the plot thickens," the curly haired girl muttered but didn't explain what she meant. The two spent the rest of the night singing along, gossiping and making up for the time they lost. And even though Amaryllis could see Percy staring at them from time to time, he didn't talk to them until the next day.

❀

One day before the last day of Camp, Amaryllis was sitting alone at the beach. She'd always go to the beach when she needed to think or relax, it reminded her of Thassos, but also Ogygia. In a weird way, she was gaining strength from the memories, even though it hurt at the same time.

She had taken her shoes off and sat by the shore, so her legs were in the water. The orange Camp t-shirt, which was a bit too big on her, had gotten wet in the edges. Her long blonde hair were braided by Silena the day before, but was somehow still decent looking. She hated herself for making that comparison, but Silena sometimes reminded her a lot of Calypso. During the summer, the two girls had gotten a bit closer, but Amaryllis would always keep a distance between them because the similarity hurt her more than she was willing to admit.

I swear on the river Styx that I'll find a way to free you, she looked back at her oath. Amaryllis knew something like that was impossible, and perhaps she was being naive thinking that she could bend the will of the gods, but she never regretted making it. She had given Calypso a bit of hope and that was worth it, even if she died because of it.

"Here you are," she heard a voice and soon enough, she saw Percy sitting next to her. Thankfully, he had gotten over whatever had bothered him during the last bonfire and now they had gone back to being normal. In fact, they spent most of their days together – him, Annabeth and Amaryllis had grown inseparable. "I was looking for you all day."

"I was just thinking," she said. "I don't know if I'm ready for the summer to end."

"I know what you mean. We've all grown attached to the Camp. Sometimes it feels more like home than my actual home."

She remembered her conversation with Nico. She knew him and Percy talked as well before he left, but they never discussed it. "I'm kinda anxious about seeing my mom," she said, pinching her nose. "Sounds stupid, I know."

"Nah, it isn't. I guess I would be anxious too if I hadn't seen my mom in four years. Do you know where she lives?"

"I remember our last address, Mr Orfanidis' house. But I don't know if she moved. If she did..."

"One thing at the time, Golden Girl. If she moved, we'll find her," he said and she smiled at him.

"We?"

"Did I not mention that I'm coming with you?"

"You don't have to, Percy," she said, even though from her beaming face it was evident that she was more than grateful for the gesture.

He shrugged. "I know. I'll do it anyway." He started laughing when Amaryllis jumped to his arms and hugged him. "Careful, your boyfriend might get the wrong idea," he teased her.

She pulled back and slapped his arm. "How can you switch between a complete ass and the best person ever in, like, seconds?" 

"I'm a very talented individual."

"Mhm, doubt it." She got up and pulled him as well. "Come on, we have  to go for dinner."

And though Amaryllis had a bad feeling that she couldn't shake away, being with her friends made everything seem easier.

𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐒.

▊go listen to fast car by tracy chapman because it's the ultimate summer, "sitting - around - a - fire - with - my - friends - while - playing - the - guitar - and - sing" song in my humble opinion.

▊also percyllis being the cutest <33 percy is in love and doesn't know it, amaryllis is oblivious and simping for other people and meanwhile annabeth is like:

▊these next chapters will be messy, angsty and make my girlie even more depressed than she already is so get ready 🤸‍♀️

▊ALSO VERY IMPORTANT; would you read a castor fic if i hypothetically wrote one? 🧍‍♀️castor is the son of dionysus that died during the battle for anyone who doesn't remember. ive been planning a fic about him and the only reason why i haven't started writing it yet is because idk if anyone would be interested to read it. so please reply here <3 castor is basically an empty canvas so it'll be a bit like writing oc x oc but i have so many things planned out for it.

❛ gone girl. ❜
( part 𝒐𝒏𝒆 of gone girl series )
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