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It was a beautiful day - the sun streaming in through the windows along with the breeze, birds singing in the trees, the delicious smell of breakfast coming from the dining pavilion. Drew was hungry. But somebody (read: Piper goddam Mclean) was still asleep. She marched over to her bunk, her siblings following, crossed her arms, and was about to yank the blanket off her when she woke up of her own accord. Drew frowned, eyes boring in Pipers. The other girl didn’t seem fazed.
“Morning.” She sat up and smiled, that infuriating, ‘I think I’m better than you’ smile. “Beautiful day.”
“You‘re going to make us late for breakfast,” Drew said, “Which means you get to clean the cabin for inspection.”
Piper laughed. Drew’s expression turned to confusion. What’s going on with her? She stepped backwards, the frown back on her face. “What are you-”
“Challenging you,” Piper said. “How about noon in the arena? You can choose the weapons.” She got out of bed, stretched leisurely, and beamed at the others. “I missed you guys! We‘re going to have a great time when I‘m senior counselor.” Drew’s mouth fell open. Her- this upstart girl, who hadn’t even been here a week, was challenging her? “You-” Drew spluttered. “You ugly little witch! I‘ve been here the longest. You can‘t just-”
“Challenge you?” Piper said. “Sure, I can. Camp rules: I‘ve been claimed by Aphrodite. I‘ve completed a quest, which is one more than you’ve completed. If I feel I can do a better job, I can challenge you. Unless you just want to step down. Did I get all that right, Mitchell?”
“Just right, Piper.” Him and the rest of the cabin’s eyes were flitting back and forth between Drew and Piper like they were watching tennis. Some of them were grinning.
“Step down?” Drew questioned, her voice dangerously threatening. “You’re crazy.”
Piper shrugged. Then she pulled a dagger from under her pillow, unsheathed it, and thrust the point under Drew‘s chin. Everybody else backed up fast. One guy crashed into a makeup table and sent up a plume of pink powder.
“A duel, then,” Piper said cheerfully. “If you don‘t want to wait until noon, now is fine. You‘ve turned this cabin into a dictatorship, Drew. Silena Beauregard knew better than that. Aphrodite is about love and beauty. Being loving. Spreading beauty. Good friends. Good times. Good deeds. Not just looking good. Silena made mistakes, but in the end she stood by her friends. That‘s why she was a hero. I‘m going to set things right, and I‘ve got a feeling Mom will be on my side. Want to find out?”
Drew stared down Piper’s dagger. She could see the overly confident look in her eyes, like she thought she’d already won. Oh this would be good. A huge grin spread across her face and she threw back her head and laughed. Piper’s confidence turned to confusion.
“Huh? What…”
“You-” she laughed. “You really think you could be a better counsellor? Honey, you’re dreaming.” She pretended to wipe tears of laughter from her eyes, then looked up at Piper with fury in her eyes. Fast as a viper she grabbed her wrist and flipped her onto her back with a thud. Piper let out a squeal and Drew heard murmurs from her cabinmates.
“First of all?” Drew said, hands on her hips, glaring down at Piper. “No-one holds a knife to my throat and gets away with it. Newsflash, I have been on a quest. You forget I was here during the second Titan War. Most of us went on quests or missions at one point or other before the final battle. And don’t lecture me about the war, you didn’t fight in it! You think I’m frightened of you? We died and killed on the streets, while you were off stealing BMWs!” Someone giggled. Piper was bright red, lying on the floor, too stunned to speak.
“And, may I remind you, I’ve been here for seven years. How long have you been here? Hmm…” She pretended to think. “Two days! No, three. You think you understand how camp works? You haven’t done a single activity, apart from the campfire. I bet you don’t even know where Chiron’s office is. The rec room? The store? The oracle? Hm? Do you know the camp schedule? When Capture the Flag is? What capture the flag is? What time we train? When our chores are? When cabin inspections are conducted?”
Piper’s mouth opened and closed but nothing came out.
“And,” Drew hissed. “You know nothing about our cabin. Name five of our siblings, I dare you.”
“Lacy,” Piper said. “Mitchell. Um…” Her eyes frantically scanned the room. About thirteen demigods, standing awkwardly as Piper struggled to think of who they were. “... Veronica?” She suggested hesitantly.
“It’s Valentina,” Valentina corrected annoyedly.
“See?” Drew smirked. “You don’t know a thing about any of us. I do. I have lived and slept and fought amongst them since I was young, and I know them. I know that Lacy wears her hair in pigtails because that’s how her dad always used to do them. I know Valentina can’t sleep without her stuffed dolphin. I know Mitchell dreams of going to Paris. I know almost everything about these people, and like it or not, they’re my siblings and I love them.” She yanked up her sleeve, revealing a long scar on her shoulder. She wasn’t thinking anymore, her mouth working without her brain. “This is a scar I got during the Battle of Manhattan after I pushed Lacy out of the way of a sword. I watched my twelve year old sister get torn to pieces and eaten by a hellhound that summer. I have seen my siblings' bodies stiff and cold under their shrouds, so I will make sure I never have to see their bodies.” She gestured at the rest of her sisters and brothers, who were staring bug-eyed at Drew and Piper. “I know I may not act like it,” she continued, all reason gone, just wanting to get her anger out. “But I love them, and I don’t think you can say the same. You don’t know us. You don’t understand what Aphrodite is. It’s not just about make-up and gossip like you think. You could never lead us because you reject what makes us, us. You think you’re better than us, and that'll be your downfall here. You're not. No-one likes a high and mighty brat, Piper Mclean. I know that I'm not better than my siblings. A better fighter? Yes. A better leader? Probably. A better person? Definitely not. And you don’t know who Mom is, and what she really stands for. For example,” she pulled out a long, thin knife. “Did you know she was also worshipped as a war goddess?” Drew smiled, twirling the blade between her fingers. Piper sucked in a breath.
“What, never heard of Aphrodite Areia? There were cults dedicated to her all throughout Greece, especially in Sparta. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Love and war aren’t really so different. So don’t think we’re a bunch of wimps who can’t fight, because we can. You would know that, if you’d ever come to train with us. Oh wait, you couldn’t have, because you haven’t been here for training.”
“But-” Piper said. “You guys never join in Capture the Flag, and-”
“We do, if we want to. But there’s power in being underestimated, Piper. It’s always easier to defeat someone if they think they can defeat you.” Somebody snickered, and Piper went redder. “I got you on your back in two seconds. You think you can lead us into war? It’s coming, again, and I think everybody will agree that they’d rather have someone who knows what they’re doing than you. From what I gathered, Jason and Leo did all the heavy lifting on the quest. No,” she said, poking Piper with her foot as she protested. “I heard everything, and they saved the day. You were backup at most.” Piper winced, the truth of Drew's words sinking in.
“Plus,” she added, another nail in Piper's coffin. “Do you plan on staying here year-round?” Piper shook her head in confusion.
“Wanting to head back home to your daddy, aren't you? Newsflash, that means you can't be cabin leader. Only year-rounders can. You've got to always be there, dummy. Will, Travis and Connor, Clarisse, Jake, me? All year-rounders. Got it? You will never be cabin leader, not while I'm here and able. Over my dead body.” She drew the knife across her throat.
Beet red, Piper muttered “Silena would be ashamed of you.”
Drew's vision went red. Without thinking, she grabbed Piper by the front of her shirt, hoisted her up so they were at eye level.
“Don't you dare,” she hissed. “Talk to me about Silena, you absolute bitch. You didn't know her. You don't know what happened. Silena was a fucking traitor who got us killed and sold us out to Luke for years before she finally switched back to our side, just as we were all about to be overrun and killed. Yes she got the Ares cabin to fight. Yes we couldn't have won without them. But she was the reason we were dying in the first place. Did she kill the drakon? Did she stop Kronos? Did she even apologize? No. She asked us to forgive her, but she didn’t bother to fucking say sorry. Silena was not a hero, got it? Silena only cared about herself and her stupid boyfriend. Her last words were ‘Charlie. See Charlie.' No ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘I love you guys’ or even something like ‘win this for me’. Silena was a bitch who made heartless decisions and when she couldn't handle the consequences, she decided to charge a drakon she knew she couldn't kill. It wasn't brave, it was fucking suicide! You-” she snarled. “Never even met Silena. You don't know what she was like, or anything apart from what those assholes who ignore the fact that she was a traitor told you. You didn't have to burn your siblings and friends' bodies and know it was her fault. You didn't have to watch them claim her as a hero. That's complete bullshit. So if I hear you preaching Silena's ‘good deeds’ and how ‘she was a hero’ again, I will cut your tongue out of your pretty little mouth and feed it to Mrs O'Leary. Got it?”
Piper nodded, eyes full of terror.
“Good,” Drew seethed. “Now, I'm going to breakfast.” She dropped Piper unceremoniously on the floor and stormed out, not looking back.
Halfway to the pavilion, she heard footsteps behind her and someone calling “Wait!” Drew turned to see Lacy, with Mitchell hot on her heels. Drew paused, and Lacy ran straight at her, throwing her arms around her and nuzzling her head into Drew's chest.
“I love you too,” she murmured. Drew frowned, then remembered what she'd said earlier in her rage. Oh shit. She'd kept herself closed off ever since Silena died, for good reason. Been a bitch because if they didn't love her, it would hurt less when they died. When she died. Guess I'm not as good at lying to myself as I thought I was. Drew sighed, thought fuck it and hugged Lacy back.
“That's the first time you've said you loved us since…” Mitchell said, coming up beside her and putting a hand on her shoulder. She knew what he meant. Since the battle of Manhattan. Everyone had made sure to tell each other that before they marched off, because they knew how high the chances were that they weren't coming back alive. Heck, that'd been what'd finally convinced Malcolm to confess his feelings to Connor after years of pining (Turned out Connor had reciprocated those feelings all along and just not realised, they'd kissed, and it’d all been fine, thankfully). Drew had told all her siblings that - and Drew was not the sort of person to go around telling people she loved them. That was Silena's thing. Drew shoved the memories of Silena telling them all how much she loved them all before they piled into the van and drove to their deaths and sighed.
“Look, I don't care what you guys think-” Lie “And I don't care if you'd rather have Little Miss superstar as your leader, I know what would've happened. Piper would've run this cabin to the ground, ruined our reputation, and gotten us all killed. I'm not letting any more of us die, so you all will just have to suck it.”
“Drew,” Mitchell said, almost… kindly? “I know there's no way Piper could be a better leader than you. Maybe if she had a few years of training and a crash course about our cabin. You were just doing what's best for us. I don't want any more of us to die either, so… I'm happy that you stood up to her.”
“Me too,” Lacy said, looking up. “Piper seems ok, but like you said, she doesn't know us.”
“Exactly!” Drew agreed. “Entitled little brat.”
“You still probably shouldn't call her names Drew,” Mitchell pointed out. “You may be able to defeat her easy, but her boyfriend-”
“I don't think they're dating, it's complicated,” Lacy butted in.
“Well, whoever he is, I think he'd be a match for any of us, and Leo doesn't seem like the kind of guy you wanna mess with either.”
“Ugh,” Drew groaned. “I'll try. But just know I'll always be thinking it, ok?”
Mitchell sighed and smiled. “Alright,” He paused, then gently extracted Lacy from Drew.
“Lacy, can you run to the pavilion and explain why we're late? That way Chiron will be less mad at us.” She nodded, grinning through her mouth of braces.
“Ok!” She jogged off. Mitchell watched until she was out of earshot, then turned back to Drew.
“Look, Drew, we all know you've been-”
“A complete bitch? Yeah.”
“Not quite what I was going to say, but yeah, ever since… Manhattan,” he said tactfully, avoiding her name. “You've, well, yeah, been a bitch. And I know that's a coping mechanism, ok? It's like-” he gestured vaguely. “If I shut them out, it'll hurt less if they die, is that right?” He asked. Drew sighed.
“Fine. Yeah, I guess.”
“I'm not here to judge your grieving process, but I don't think it's healthy. Plus, you're hurting us too, even if you think it's for the best. Lacy's been really sad ever since you started being mean to us, and most of us have had it up to here with you. We love you, but you've made it hard to like you. I know that's what you want, but it's not what we want. And you know what they say, it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, right, Drew?” He looked right at her, and Drew couldn't help but see Silena in his hopeful expression.
“A heart that's broke is a heart that's been loved,” she murmurs.
“See? Ed Sheeran agrees. Look, just… could you just try to, uh, be a bit nicer? I want the old Drew back, the one who'd tease us but it'd be good-natured, and who'd still kinda be a bitch, but not to us. You said it yourself, war's coming, and the last thing we need is a fractured cabin. We love you, ok? Let yourself love us too.” He wrapped her in a hug. Drew blinked back tears, unsure of when she'd started crying.
“You're so wise,” she mumbled. “Where'd you learn all this psychology stuff?”
“I watch a lot of psychological stuff.” He admitted. Drew snorted, half a laugh and half a sob. He patted her on the back.
Once she'd stopped crying, Mitchell released her.
“Can we go get breakfast now?”
“Duh. I'm starving.” Together they walked down to the dining pavilion, a smile on her face.