( STEPHANIE PHẠM )

⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⁀➷｡˚⸙͎۪۫⋆ ༄

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*"𝐌𝐘 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐃. 𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐀𝐘, 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄" the enchanting voice that reminded stephanie's of saturday morning's told her. a soft and gentle hand almost as nimble as her own resting against her cheek.

home? stephanie didn't necessarily have a home. she had camp half-blood and the wilderness school. she doubted camp jupiter would allow her past their walls without jason or even percy for that matter.

"where is your home, my daughter?" the voice asked with inquisitiveness although the underlying tone they held showed they had no doubt to what her answer would be.

"with jason. jason is my home" her jason, her superman, her boy made from clouds and lighting who shared the blood of the worst god of them all.

"hadn't anyone ever taught you not to make homes out people" and with that a whirl of white mist surrounded stephanie and she found herself at the doors of a much too familiar room, jasons room on the argo II.

before she could process what had even happened a whisp of blonde hair passed the corner of her eyes and then filled her senses as she was lifted off the ground, rough and strong arms lifting her from the ground. the smell of burnt plastic filling her nose. 

"you're back" jason mumbled as he dropped her back to her feet, his arms not leaving her waist as he kept her pressed tightly against his body, a look of desperation and worry in his eyes "where did you go?"

stephanie herself couldn't answer that question, where had she gone. why had her mother taken her in a ball of mist only to spit her back out. was she disappointed in her choice to stay with other demi-gods, to not run from her fate which would inevitably end in her demise.

jason's electrifying blue eyes stared into her own mossy green ones, had he been crying? "gods, i love you" he mumbled as he pressed his hands which were sweaty and smelt of oil onto her cheeks. "i love you more than i could ever begin to describe" where had she gone? she couldn't tell remember.

"i love you so much, i love you so much it'll probably kill me" they were silly words she never intended for him to remember. but in that moment, jason had made a promise to himself that it would be a promise he kept if need ever be. a promise which would tear stephanie apart, a promise from a boy with blue eyes that would end up saving stephanie's life.

                                                          𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 she closed her eyes and swooned. two campers rushed forward and caught her.  a third ran to the side of the amphitheatre and grabbed a bronze three-legged stool, like they'd been trained for this duty. they eased rachel onto the stool in front of the ruined hearth. without the fire, the night was dark, but green mist started swirling around rachel's feet. when she opened her eyes, they were glowing. emerald smoke issued from her mouth. the voice that came out was raspy and ancient—the sound a snake would make if it could talk:

"child of lightning, beware the earth, 

the giants' revenge the eight shall birth, 

a mystic found to bring upon change,

the forge and dove shall break the cage, 

and death unleash through hera's rage."

on the last word, rachel collapsed, but her helpers were waiting to catch her. they carried her away from the hearth and laid her in the corner to rest.

"is that normal?" piper asked. then she realized she'd spoken into the silence, and everyone was looking at her. "i mean... does she spew green smoke a lot?"

"gods, you're dense!" drew sneered. "she just issued a prophecy—jason's prophecy to save hera! why don't you just—" her words irritating stephanie .

"drew," annabeth snapped. "piper asked a fair question. something about that prophecy definitely isn't normal. if breaking hera's cage unleashes her rage and causes a bunch of death ... why would we free her? it might be a trap, or—or maybe hera will turn on her rescuers. she's never been kind to heroes."

jason rose. "i don't have much choice. hera took my memory. i need it back. besides, we can't just not help the queen of the heavens if she's in trouble."

a girl from hephaestus cabin stood up—nyssa, the one with the red bandanna. "maybe. but you should listen to annabeth. hera can be vengeful. she threw her own son—our dad—down a mountain just because he was ugly."

"real ugly," snickered someone from aphrodite.

"shut up!" nyssa growled. "anyway, we've also got to think —why beware the earth? And what's the giants' revenge? what are we dealing with here that's powerful enough to kidnap the queen of the heavens?"

annabeth took a deep breath. "it's jason's quest," she announced, "so it's jason's choice. obviously, he's the child of lightning. according to tradition, he may choose any two companions. but in this case, three"

someone from the hermes cabin yelled, "well, you, obviously, annabeth. you've got the most experience."

"no, travis," annabeth said. "first off, I'm not helping hera. every time I've tried, she's deceived me, or it's come back to bite me later. forget it. no way. secondly, i'm leaving first thing in the morning to find percy."

this percy boy must've meant a whole lot to annabeth if she was putting the world at risk for him, stephanie could only wonder what it was like to love someone so much that you'd put their every need above your own. their life above billions of others.

"it's connected," piper blurted out, not sure how she got the courage. "you know that's true, don't you? this whole business, your boyfriend's disappearance—it's all connected."

"how?" demanded drew. "if you're so smart, how?" piper seemed to be trying to form an answer, but she couldn't.

annabeth saved her. "you may be right, piper. If this is connected, i'll find out from the other end—by searching for percy. as I said, i'm not about to rush off to rescue hera, even if her disappearance sets the rest of the olympians fighting again. but there's another reason I can't go. the prophecy says otherwise."

"it says who I pick," jason agreed, quickly taking a glance at stephanie who stared into the camp fire "the mystic found to bring upon change and the forge and dove shall break the cage. the forge is the symbol of vul—hephaestus."

under the cabin nine banner, nyssa's shoulders slumped, like she'd just been given a heavy anvil to carry. "if you have to beware the earth," she said, "you should avoid traveling overland. you'll need air transport."

stephanie would've spoken up about how jason could fly but he hadn't said anything about her writing the prophecy so she kept silent. that was jason's weird little secret that he'd keep to himself, a secret the two of them could share.

"the flying chariot's broken," nyssa continued, "and the pegasi, we're using them to search for percy. but maybe hephaestus cabin can help figure out something else to help. with jake incapacitated, i'm senior camper. i can volunteer for the quest." she didn't sound enthusiastic.

then leo stood up. he'd been so quiet, stephanie had forgotten the little elf boy was there. he looked ready to do something extremely stupid and she couldn't stop the coil in her stomach from unravelling as he spoke.

"it's me," he said. his cabinmates stirred. several tried to pull him back to his seat, but leo resisted. "no, it's me. i know it is. i've got an idea for the transportation problem. let me try. i can fix this!"

jason studied him for a moment. stephanie was praying he was going to tell leo no. then he smiled. "we started this together, leo. seems only right you come along. you find us a ride, you're in."

"yes!" leo pumped his fist.

"it'll be dangerous," nyssa warned him. "hardship, monsters, terrible suffering. possibly none of you will come back alive."

"oh." suddenly leo didn't look so excited. then he remembered everyone was watching. "i mean ... oh, cool! suffering? i love suffering! let's do this." idiot stephanie thought.

annabeth nodded. "then, Jason, you need to choose the third quest member. the dove—"

"oh, absolutely!" drew was on her feet and flashing jason a smile. "the dove is aphrodite. everybody knows that. i am totally yours." stephanie knew she meant in more ways than one.

piper's hands clenched. she stepped forward. "no."

drew rolled her eyes. "oh, please, dumpster girl. back off."

"i had the vision of hera; not you. i have to do this." 

"anyone can have a vision," drew said. "you were just at the right place at the right time." she turned to jason. "look, fighting is all fine, i suppose. and people who build things ..."she looked at leo in disdain. "well, I suppose someone has to get their hands dirty. but you need charm on your side. i can be very persuasive. i could help a lot."

the campers started murmuring about how drew was pretty persuasive. stephanie watched as everyone nodded in agreement, even jason. chiron was scratching his beard, like drew's participation suddenly made sense to him.

stephanie glanced around confused on why they were agreeing to a girl as mean as drew, her eyes meeting piper's who stared back at the girl confused on why she seemed to be the only person who had some sense.

"well ..." annabeth said. "given the wording of the prophecy—"

"no!" piper's own voice sounded strange in her ears—more insistent, richer in tone. "i'm supposed to go."

then the weirdest thing happened. everyone started nodding, muttering that hmm, piper's point of view made sense too. drew looked around, incredulous. even some of her own campers were nodding.

"get over it!" drew snapped at the crowd. "what can piper do?"

"a lot more than you" stephanie muttered to herself as she thought back to the grand canyon when piper struck dylan, not caring much in that moment for her own safety.

"well," drew said smugly, "i guess that settles it." suddenly there was collective gasp. everyone stared at piper like she'd just exploded.

"what?" she demanded. she looked above her, but there was no burning symbol like the one that appeared over leo. then she looked down and yelped.

she was adorned in a beautiful white sleeveless gown that went down to her ankles, with a v-neck so low it was totally embarrassing. delicate gold armbands circled her biceps. an intricate necklace of amber, coral, and gold flowers glittered on her chest

stephanie could only stare in amazement, she'd always known piper was beautiful no matter the little feud they'd had she'd admit it to anyone. piper mcclean was the most beautiful girl stephanie had ever layed eyes upon.

a stunned annabeth pointed at piper's dagger, which was now oiled and gleaming, hanging at her side on a golden cord. piper didn't want to draw it. she was afraid of what she would see. but her curiosity won out. she unsheathed katoptris and stared at her reflection in the polished metal blade. her hair was perfect: lush and long and chocolate brown, braided with gold ribbons down one side so it fell across her shoulder. she even wore makeup, better than piper would ever know how to do herself-subtle touches that made her lips cherry red and brought out all the different colours in her eyes.

"beautiful," jason exclaimed. "piper, you, you're a knockout." his words creating a small sting in stephanie's heart which she just blamed to anything but his words. she didn't care about jason grace.

drew's face was full of horror and revulsion. "no!" she cried. "not possible!"

"this isn't me," piper protested. "i-don't understand."

chiron folded his front legs and bowed to her, and all the campers followed his example "hail, piper mclean," chiron announced gravely, as if he were speaking at her funeral. "daughter of aphrodite, lady of the doves, goddess of love."

the camp was stilled into silence as everyone seemed to be enraptured by piper's beauty, annabeth was the first to break the unbearable silence "the mystic" she muttered as if trying to remember "jason, choose the mystic!" 

jasons attention brought away from piper and to annabeth as well as everyone else, eventually... stephanie however couldn't seem to turn, she noticed how uncomfortable piper looked and felt herself regretting what she was doing as she stood and took a few steps around the fire to piper's side.

the girl tugged her leather jacket off and stuck it out in front of piper without a word, piper looking up to her confused before taking it with a small nod as a 'thank you' stephanie couldn't exactly tell as she took a seat next to rachel who was on piper's right.

piper shot the girl a fleeting glance, as if she had never turnt but stephanie felt it. she seemed to feel everything at the camp fire. piper's glances drew's glares, annabeth's pleads, jason's confusion when he noticed stephanie wasn't beside him anymore, and that stupid familiarity of someone.

"mystics are supernatural, otherworldly. someone who doesn't seem real, powerful" the way annabeth described them, it was scary. someone who had too much power that they couldn't even handle it. stephanie had a gut-wrenching feeling she knew who it was but before she could push it down jason stood up.

"it's steph" eyes shooting to find the girl who looked about ready to murder the boy, he'd have to make up for it later. "she has magic, like i mean- really powerful magic" he seemed amazed as he spoke about her. as if she were amazing to him.

before annabeth could question him piper also stood "he's right. it's stephanie" piper remembered how she seemed to be the only person who didn't listen to drew, the only person able to resist her.

annabeth knew somewhere in her heart it would be stephanie, the signs she displayed on the beach, her red eyes. she was otherworldly that was for sure, but the one question nagging at annabeth's brain was why was she so powerful?

"what do you say?" the blonde curly haired daughter of athena asked as she glanced at stephanie, the eyes of the camp taking her in, eating her whole and drinking her dry till every last bit of resistance was gone.

"do i really have a choice?" she asked, jason grinning like an idiot. he wouldn't let anything happen to her on that quest, he swore.

                                                   𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬, she had to have been. why was nicholas romano standing alive with the apollo children, a bow strapped to his back, taller than ever and breathing.

relief didn't allow itself to make it's way into her body as she she blazed inside, her feet storming towards him, hands latching onto that of a boy who should've been dead and dragging him into the deep woods.  no words exchanged and no sound made, except the twigs under their feet.

she dropped his wrist and turnt rapidly, a look of anger, confusion, pain and betrayal on her face. "what the fuck?!" she asked pushing the tall boy in front of her back by his chest, he didn't stumble as he stared at her with a look of love.

"what the fuck?!" she repeated as her voice cracked, a tear in her insides consuming her whole body. eyes now wavered over with tears. stephanie hadn't cried in over four years and now here she was, crying over a should be ghost. "you died!" she screamed.

it was sure enough to pass over the whole camp, her voice was like an echo which could capture the whole world and bring them to their knees in agony. no one dared approach the to though, it was more than obvious there was something that needed to be worked out.

the girl hitting the boy in the chest as fresh tears slid from her eyes, her eyes flickering from red to green and repeated every second, her emotions had always been hard to keep in check and the situation had sent them into haywire.

nicholas didn't say a word as he stared down at her, he had heard her voice in the amphitheatre, felt her magic on the beach as she fell from the sky. he had felt her near but hadn't sought her out. he had given up on her again for the second time, regret was a bitch but nicholas didn't have any. 

she'd grown a few inches, her hair now past her waist and considerably thicker, she was older. no longer the fourteen year old girl he left in the woods two years ago. she had survived without him, but he'd never had a doubt about that. 

"you left me!" a cry ripped from her throat, "i thought you'd die, i've spent two years thinking you were dead!" betrayal was something stephanie had been through with many people, but she'd had never thought nicholas would ever betray her. he was her brother, or had been.

still no words left his throat, he wanted to tell her how he couldn't have brought her to camp half-blood, how she had to stay for her own good, how it had all been planned out in the stars for her to meet jason. but he couldn't, he had vowed to hera and hecate to keep the girl safe till she turnt fourteen and to leave her after. nicholas romano may have been a dead man walking who lied but he'd never broken a promise.

"nothing! you have nothing to say? god, i wished you had actually died maybe then i wouldn't feel this- this empty" emptiness. a sad feeling stephanie noted, something she felt time to time again. his hand reached out, for what he didn't know. he knew she wouldn't want to comforted so he hesitated.

"stephy, please-" he was cut off as she slapped his hand back, her eyes held more and more hurt and a tiny bit of rage. she could flick her wrist and kill him, they both knew that. they both knew what happened when she got angry. he'd experienced it first hand.

"don't call me that! you have no right" if she stayed she knew he'd end up dead, and no matter how badly she hated him in that moment she'd never forgive herself if she killed him "i never want to see you again"

and then she was gone, red mist left in her place.