I kept my knees folded to my chest as I turned the page in my book. The wind blew softly, providing the perfect white noise for reading.

We were two weeks into our little trip, and it was proving to be the most relaxing time we've had since the beginning of middle school. Of course, despite the occasional monster that tried to interrupt.

We really weren't that far from New York City, only being a few states over in Boston. Regardless, it was guiltily calming knowing that we were a bit of a ways away from our normal chaotic life.

Click.

My concentration broke at the noise. Looking up, I peered over at Percy's whose cheeks were tinted pink before ducking behind his quite large camera.

"What are you doing?" I inquired, rhetorically.

He lowered his camera, laid his elbow on the table, and propped his chin in his hand. "Nothing much. You're just cute."

"Whatever."

I tried not to smile, but I couldn't help but feel my face heating up as I turned back to my book, trying to ignore the next few clicking of the camera shutters.

It hadn't even hit noon and we had already walked around the new city we were in. Finding a little bakery near the hotel, we decided to order something and sit on the porch for awhile.

"We ought to be heading back," I said, pausing before looking at the sky. "It looks like it's going to rain."

"That's not a good sign," he muttered.

I took a deep breath. "It's fine, it's just rain."

"You're right," he said. "Not Zeus getting mad and making sure everyone knows."

"Exactly," I said as the first few raindrops started to sprinkle down. "C'mon, my book is getting wet."

"I can help that," he grabbed my hand and led me to the sidewalk, shielding the rainwater away from us with his powers.

"What a gentleman," I teased, leaning into his side.

Suddenly, a loud clap of thunder and lightning exploded the darkening sky with streaks of stunning lights. The rain came down harder as other lingering people started to hurry into the closest building.

"Let's go," I said, tugging on his arm and quickening our pace to a run.

We burst through the doors of our hotel, alerting the staff member behind the desk. He looked at us in surprise, staring at us up and down. "Staying out of the rain?"

I looked at my dry clothes and shrugged. "Got lucky."

Stepping into the elevator, we gave the man one last polite smile before the doors closed.

"Mrs. O'Leary's a good pet," I said, absentmindedly.

Percy turned to me, "What was that?"

"I was just thinking about our future pet again."

"You want a hellhound?"

"She's so sweet," I cooed. "A hellhound would be a great addition to our little family."

"When you said pet, I was thinking like a lab or a border collie. Not a hellhound," he laughed. "Besides, one won't fit in an apartment."

The elevator dinged and we got off on our floor.

"You're right," I hugged my book to my chest, looking up at him. "But that labrador idea sounds sweet."

Percy suddenly stopped, taking his pen out of his pocket. "Y/N."

I took off my ring and twisted the sun symbol on it, the little ring turning into a dagger made of imperial gold. I kept my eye on the young girl standing outside our hotel door. My first instinct was to run up to her as I eyed her hand clutching her side.

Slowly, we approached her. Hearing our movements, the unfamiliar girl whirled around with her knife out in front of her. Her stance said confidence, but her face gave away her frightened heart.

"Hey," I said lowering my weapon slightly and offering a hand.

Her arms dropped to her sides in relief, and she collapsed against the wall to stand as blood stained her top. "Oh, thank gods."

"What happened?" I asked, rushing towards her incase she were to collapse. I laid my hand on top of hers to add additional pressure to the bleeding wound.

"Can you tell us your name?" Percy inquired, slowly and patiently.

"Malia... Camp needs..." she mumbled, before she fell face first into the floor.

___

Malia laid on the couch, the gash in her side healing quickly. From the looks of it, the wounds looked inflicted by another sharp object like another dagger, sword, or knife, but with all the crazy things around us, it could've been something else. We did all we could do, giving her nectar and ambrosia. Now, all we could do was wait until she woke up.

"Who do you think she is?" I asked, pulling my H/C hair back.

"A camper probably," Percy said.

"I don't remember her though," I said.

"She's probably new," he suggested.

I pushed myself up on the couch to get more comfortable. "How'd she end up here?"

Percy just shrugged and glanced worriedly at the injured kid laying on our bed.

It was over three hours later, before the strange redheaded girl woke up. I busied myself by continuing my book, both of us curled up together on the couch, with my head on his chest.

"Y/N," Percy poked me in the side. "Think she's awake."

I shut my book, and turned to look as Malia stirred before opening her eyes.

As soon as Malia saw us, she called over at us. "Y/N L/N?"

"Do I know you?" I asked.

"Malia Davis, child of Aphrodite," she said. "And you... you're Percy Jackson."

"Why'd you come find us?" I asked.

"Is everything okay?" Percy followed up.

"No, you need to come back to camp. Something's wrong."

I sighed, "What's happening?"

Malia looked nervous. "I've been followed for days. I'm not totally sure if I'm not still being trailed. You just have to come back to camp."

I studied her. She didn't look any older than 12. Her red hair was braided to the side and light freckles dashed across her face. She reminded me a lot like our oracle Rachel, despite Malia's hair being a darker shade of red. Her eyes were an intense brown, finishing off the look. She was definitely a child of Aphrodite.

I crossed my arms, "I'm getting too old for this. I've almost died like every day of my summer since this fish boy came to camp. I just wanted one summer!" I said melodramatically.

Percy laughed, "And what about you? I might have caused the most trouble, but you are definitely a runner up."

"Oh nonono, that's not fair! You almost destroyed the world because you had a nosebleed."

"You guys are too cute." I nearly jumped in surprise as I forgot Malia was still just laying there. I glanced down as blood rushed to my cheeks. She continued, "Anyways, we really have to get back."

I exchanged a look with Percy. He put his hands in his sweatshirt pockets and shrugged. I knew he couldn't just turn down someone who needed help, especially his second home.

"Why not," he said. "I hate summer school anyways."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, same. But we better be back before the semester starts again."

Malia sighed in relief. "Thank you! It's so cool to talk to you guys in person! I've heard so many stories."

I smiled awkwardly, not sure how to respond to that. However Percy laughed lightly. "They're all probably exaggerations."

Malia shook her head, not letting Percy downplay his accomplishments. "Should we leave in an hour?"

"Sure," I agreed. "I just need to pack, we have no idea how long we'll be gone. It's nearly a five hour drive back to New York. I can drive."

"I'll call my mom," Percy said, grabbing a hotel room key to go search for a landline.

___

"Thanks, Mom." Percy waved a goodbye.

"Thank you for driving us, Sally," I added.

"All of you stay safe! I expect all of you to come home and to Iris message occasionally," Sally kissed her son's forehead and hugged me tightly. "And you keep my son in line, Y/N."

"Of course," I ruffled Percy's hair.

"Bye, Mom," he said.

"Bye, Percy, Y/N. And it was so nice to meet you, Malia."

She grinned. "It was nice to meet you too."

I shouldered my backpack and started towards Thalia's pine tree. Percy walked next to me, holding my hand. I scanned the forest for any obvious dangers as to why Malia would need us, but I didn't find any. I glanced at the small redhead, who was twirling her knife between her fingers like a musician spinning their drumsticks.

As we approached the Camp Half-Blood sign, I felt myself tense, the anticipation of what would be to come flooding through me.

I turned towards the son of Poseidon and sighed. "Welcome back."

___

i feel like Percy would be someone who carries a camera around everywhere and just loves to photograph the world around him. maybe that's just me.
also, sorry for taking a so many days on this. i had this written out, but i got a new idea and had to rewrite all of it. indecisive people problems.
thank you for the feedback and the patience!

1487 | unedited