𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿; heroes of olympus

you're crazy?

ERITH JAY
"HONESTLY," ERITH STARTED, "I think in another universe, we totally would've dated."

Piper laughed. The two of them sat in the grass together. Erith's fingers twirled through it, putting so much pressure on the blades that they snapped from the earth.

Erith liked to think she was pulling out bits of Gaea.

"Dude," Piper said, "definitely. I wouldn't have ended up with Blondie, and you wouldn't have ended up with that loser―"

"I heard that!" Leo called from a few paces away. He sat in the entrance to Bunker Nine, working on something with a wrench.

"Stupid Hephaestus kid," Erith called to him, but he smiled without looking up, and she smiled, too: a secretive little smile that only they shared.

"Where is Jason, anyway?" Erith asked. 

Piper shrugged. "He'll be at the meeting, I'm sure."

"Right," Erith replied, trying to keep the bitter taste out of her mouth. It was for the head counselors, only, and although it made sense, Erith knew it would be about the future quest. And she knew Piper, who had recently been elected head counselor of Aphrodite, and Leo and Jason would be there.

She would not be.

She felt like their paths were becoming separate. She really hated that. She had grown to consider them family―and now they were leaving. Possibly forever.

"Hey," Piper said,  gently nudging her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

That was the thing with Piper: she always knew when something was off. Erith wasn't sure how―maybe it was an Aphrodite thing. Maybe she had always been emotionally intelligent. Sometimes, Erith hated it, but most times, it just made her love the girl a little more.

"Tell you later," she murmured. Piper hesitated, so Erith quickly said, "We have all summer, right?"

Piper sighed, falling against Erith. She could smell her hair―cinnamon. She wrapped an arm around her and felt the tension in Piper's shoulders. "You're a dumbass," Piper mumbled.

"Love you, too," Erith said gently, smiling.

She looked at Leo, skilled fingers and soft words. She looked back at Piper, bright eyes and lovely smile.

She didn't want them to leave.

― 

ERITH WALKED BACK to her cabin alone. Piper had gone to get Jason for the meeting, and Leo had said he wanted to finish up his project.

She walked into the Apollo Cabin, surprised that it was empty―empty except for one person. Will was standing there, arms crossed, looking at her expectantly. 

"Hi," she said, in all her daughter of the god of poetry glory.

"Where have you been?" he asked, a hint of humor in his voice. 

"Partying, Dad," she replied boredly, and he smiled at her, uncrossing his arms.

"Annabeth wants you at the meeting." He grabbed her arm gently.

Erith's face warmed. "Really?"

Will nodded. "She's managed to convince Chiron, since you went on the quest."