𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐖 , percy jackson

﹒౨ৎ﹒ who tf spilled maple syrup in the infirmary

𝛢𝐹𝑇𝛦𝑅𝐺𝐿𐒆𝑊 , 𝑎𝑐𝘵 𝘰𝑛𝑒

chap two

☾

❝Aren't the amber skies so pretty?❞

The birds chirped peacefully, most of the Hermes cabin had woken up. Aurora was a morning bird but slept like a Hypnos kid, which means she could sleep the whole day and night without waking up. A few campers had given her the name sleeping beauty—no particular motivation, of course. A pillow met the face of Aurora, who had been hiding under the covers, extremely cold. She was always cold but would always complain about the heat in the summer.

"Wake up!" A voice ordered. Aurora couldn't tell who it was, her vision was blurry as she had just woken up. "Autumn! Let her sleep!" Annabeth's voice shouted from outside, slowly growing louder as she approached them. The girl shot up when she heard the name that belonged to one of the Aphrodite girls. Autumn was cabin counselor at the Aphrodite cabin, she was one of the cooler older Aphrodite girls and let Annabeth and Aurora use the Aphrodite girl's stash of makeup.

During the few months that Aurora had stayed at camp when she was six, the three had grown close, Autumn was like their older sister, a foundation. Autumn and Annabeth both turned to Aurora and smiled, "Morning!" Aurora took a few seconds to process what had been going on. "I hate you both," she mumbled before falling back and using her hands to shield her eyes from the sun. Annabeth rolled her eyes while Autumn tossed a pillow at the sleepy girl. "Okay, don't ask me for my curling iron, then."

Aurora mumbled something about how important sleep was before pulling herself up, eye bags beneath her eyes. Autumn tilted her head at her with a slight pout, catching the attention of Aurora. "What?" She asked with confusion. "I don't know how Aphrodite hasn't claimed you yet." Autumn sighed, Aurora's cheeks tinting red. Autumn had always made sure to mention the unclaimed half-blood's beauty, no matter what scenario. Aurora leaned against the wood wall, propping herself up softly. The Aphrodite girl sighed and looked out the window. "Aren't the amber skies so beautiful?"

🫐•°. *࿐

Reading was always an escape for Aurora, she was always able to enter the universe that she had been reading about effortlessly. The whole world was drowned out whenever a book was opened, the words were her land, where she could stay away and be guarded from the ordinary world. Her hands traced the cover of a book carefully while the bark from the tree pressed against her back, a breeze flipping a few pages in her book. A few twigs snapped, and it wasn't until a leaf had crunched that she looked up, her eyes meeting a pair of eyes she had been avoiding.

"Luke?"

Luke had looked older, his scar, which began at the corner of his lip and trailed all the way up to his eye, had healed but was still visible. A feeling that Aurora had felt had a double meaning stirred in her, it was fear and curiosity. She wasn't sure if it was a good or bad fear, but it was there and said enough. One of the Athena kids told me you were back, so I figured I'd say hi." He informed, choosing his words so carefully as if there were more he wanted to say.

The girl set her book down and pushed the feeling of fear back, standing up—about a few inches shorter than the smiling boy in front of her. Aurora tensed at his sentence—the Athena kids didn't necessarily speak about her, as they had all assumed she was Aphrodite's daughter, and if they said something wrong about her, then Aphrodite would curse them. Annabeth was truly the only one who would tell Luke about her, the fact that he had referred to the girl as just an 'Athena kid' had annoyed her in a way she didn't know she could feel about Luke.