The Quest for Closure (Camp Half-Blood Fanfic)

Kaitlyn's POV

We waited there for a few minutes when suddenly, we heard a chime above us. All three of us looked up and saw a purple ring of energy, followed by a yell. A boy dropped from the portal, landing face first in the dirt. We stared at him. I snapped out of my thoughts first and shouted, "Max!!" and ran over to him and hauled him to his feet.

"Ow..." he muttered. He looked at me. "Oh, hey Kait!"

James stepped forward and pointed suspiciously at my boyfriend. "What are you doing here?"

Tiffany joined in. "Yeah, not to be rude, but where's your mom?"

Max looked around and rubbed the back of his neck uncertainly. "Uh, I don't know. I was going to go to the bathroom, and then I hear this weird clanging noise and then a lavender doorway opens up beneath me and here I am!"

I nodded slowly. "Well, he is a child of Hecate."

James frowned. "But he's not HECATE."

Max held his hands up in defense. "Heyy, not my fault I'm here!" He put his hand on my shoulder. "Sorry for ruining your quest, babe."

I leaned into him. "You're not ruining it, Max." I glared at my friends. "He's probably MEANT to be here! I bet Hecate sent him here. Maybe she's busy?"

Tiff rolled her eyes. "I doubt it. But yeah, I guess he's supposed to help us."

James shook his head. "Now there's four of us. Three is the sacred number in Greek Mythology. This is bad luck."

I gave him no expression. I looked up at my boyfriend. "Come on, spitfire. Let's go eat."

I steered him toward the fire where there were extra fried ants and grasshoppers. He stared at them with a grossed out look. "Are those edible?" he questioned as he motioned at the bugs.

I shrugged. "Yeah, at least I think they are."

He took a grasshopper gingerly and popped one in his mouth. He shook his head and spit it out. "Nope! I think I'm going back to sleep, unless you guys need me. Am I needed?"

My bestie shook her head. "No. You can sleep. We'll decide what to do with you in the morning."

He smiled. "Alright. Where do I sleep?"

James pointed at the bed of leaves and macaw feathers. "There. I'll keep lookout tonight."

He nodded appreciatively. "Thanks, man."

He crawled in and lay down on the leaves, with a grumpy look on his face. I joined him on the bed.

He smiled at me. "Quest going alright?" he asked me.

I ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. Even better now that you're here."

He chuckled. "I'm not so sure about that." He gestured to James and Tiffany. "They don't seem so happy now that I'm here."

I shrugged. "Sorry, babe. They've been grumpy this whole quest."

He grinned. "So you're keeping them together?"

I laughed. "Yeah, at least I'm trying to. My Aphrodite charm seems to be working on them. They don't know it's affecting them of course, but it's holding them together."

He nodded. "Yeah. They're still a bit awkward?"

"A bit? More like a ton."

He rolled his eyes playfully. "They'll get better. I promise."

"How can you be so sure?"

He gestured at them, where they were sitting together eating silently. "They seem fine right now."