War Mantle (Dancing with Death part 3)

Back on the Beach

Tyler sat on the dock and dangled his feet in the water with his hiking boots setting next to him. "This place is..."

"Different?" Ali stood behind him, staring at the horizon.

He looked back at her as she watched the sun set. "Yeah."  He pulled his gaze back out across the Long Island Sound. "I've never seen anything like it." He leaned back on his hands. "It's homey and laidback and... segregated."

Ali finally looked at him. "That's a big word."

He glanced over his shoulder and met her gaze. "Would you prefer divided?"

Ali sighed and sat down beside Tyler. It was weird to be here again, on the end of the dock - where she a Percy had always met. She felt a sting of tears and she forced the memories down.

"I mean, separating kids by their godly parent, that seems so... demeaning."

Ali chuckled. "Another big word, but... yes... sometimes it can be a little... well, what you said."

"You sound like you talk from experience." Tyler glanced over at her.

She stared at the horizon, tinged orange by the setting sun. "Yeah. My mom wasn't exactly eager to claim me."

He traced her braid over her shoulder with his eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Ali took a deep breath. "She waited a decade to claim me... and, even then, that was only after I'd confronted her about it."

He studied her woven black hair, her cold glistening silver eyes, her pale, almost luminous skin. Her expression was fierce and stern and caring all at the same time. "Diana."

She turned, meeting his gaze with those glittering metallic eyes. "What?"

He cleared his throat. "Your mother. Is Diana, err... Artemis."

Ali felt a small smile creep across her lips. "Well... I guess there really is a brain under all that golden hair."

He chuckled, but his grin quickly fell. "I suppose, if we're going to do this, we need to trust each other."

Her smile shrank. "Yeah."

Tyler drew a long breath. "In that case... Apollo."

Ali examined his blonde hair and sky blue eyes. "Your dad?"

He nodded.

She scoffed, hanging her head. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Because you take after your mom." He replied knowingly.

She tore her gaze from the dazzling sunset and suddenly noticed how striking Tyler's features appeared in the dying sunlight. She smirked. "Fair enough."
                                  *   *   *
Ali burst into the arena. "What do you think you're doing?!" She stalked towards Clarisse who had gathered a small group of campers in the arena near the newly-reinforced armory.

The daughter of Ares turned, glaring at Ali. "What I have to."

Ali stopped just shy of Clarisse and held the girl's gaze. "You will not lead these campers on a suicide mission."

Clarisse growled in the back of her throat. "We don't know that it is." She got in Ali's face. "It sounds to me like you don't believe we can win."

Ali's glare deepened. "If you go through with your plan, you will guarantee our failure." She turned to the other campers. "This mission will only end in needless bloodshed and death. We still have a chance to stop this war, but, if we provoke the Romans now, there won't be."

Several of the half-bloods shifted uneasily.

Ali eyed each of them. "I don't know what Clarisse told you, but you won't win. The Romans are too well defended, too well reinforced. You won't even see the main camp. They won't let you."

Clarisse realized her recruits were changing their minds. She stepped closer to Ali and jabbed an accusing finger into the Daughter of Artemis' chest. "Why should we listen to you after you released the Roman prisoner?"

Ali didn't flinch as she held Clarisse's gaze. "He was misled, just like a lot of the other Romans." She gesture towards the woods outside of camp for emphasis. "Many of them, like us, don't want this war, but they're scared of Octavian." She addressed the rest of the campers. "If we attack them now, we're no better than him. We need to hold our ground until Reyna gets here with the Athena Parthenos. That's the only way this will end."

Clarisse scoffed and muttered under her breath. "It's not the only way."

Ali spun to face her again. "It's the only way that doesn't end in a massacre." She turned to the others. "I'm sure you all have duties to attend to."

The campers nervously dispersed, awkwardly clearing their throats and shuffling across the dirt floor.

Ali wheeled on Clarisse one last time. "Don't you have something better to do?"

Clarisse's face twisted into a violent scowl as she turned on her heel and stalked away muttering under her breath.
                                   *   *   *
Ali paused on her way back to her cabin and glanced down at the beach.

On the dock, sitting with their feet in the calm water, Aubrey and Thomas leaned against each other. Thomas held his metal leg out of the waves, with his knee close to his chest. Aubrey lay her head on his shoulder.

Ali felt a smile spread across her face. It was about time those two got together. A twang of pain interrupted the moment as she remembered the times she and Percy had spent on that dock. Surprisingly, she didn't feel any tears fighting their way to the surface. It still hurt though.

Aubrey's laugh echoed across the Long Island Sound as she almost shoved Thomas into the lake. He was laughing too, grabbing Aubrey's arm to take her down with him.

When they finally steadied themselves, they locked eyes and Thomas pulled Aubrey into a kiss.

That's when Ali had to look away. Sure. She was happy for them. They were kind of perfect for each other, but it dredged up too many memories. She turned and walked away, looking anywhere but towards the beach.

A/N
Sorry. That one was a filler, but I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for the support guys. 😁
-Cheshire