𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 || 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙘𝙮 𝙟𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙨𝙤𝙣¹

018

(chapter xviii - they activated a bomb — oh, no, wait, false alarm)

"RIGHT," QUINTUS SAID. He jumped up on the main dining table with ease, plates clattering at the table shook. He looked ghostly in the torch-light. Selene could hear Mrs. O'Leary scavenging for food scraps.

"You will be in teams of two," Quintus announced. As everyone went to go run off to their friends, Quintus scowled. "That have already been chosen!"

"AWWWW!" Everybody whined.

"Your goal is simple: collect the gold laurels without dying."

'Yeah, that sounds simple enough.'

"The wreath is wrapped in a silk package, tied to the back of one of the monsters. There are six monsters in total. Each has a silk package. Only one holds the laurels. You must find the wreath before the other teams. And, of course...you will have to slay the monster to get it, and stay alive."

Everyone muttered amongst themselves excitedly. It was a walk in the park, for most half-bloods. After all, slaying monsters is what they were trained for.

"I will now announce your partners," Quintus continued. "No trading. No switching. No complaining!"

The crowd groaned again. Mrs. O'Leary barked, digging her head in a plate of pizza. Selene watched, disturbed as the hellhound swallowed the whole pizza in one gulp — the crust, the platter, everything.

Quintus began reading off names from his never-ending scroll. Beckendorf would be with Silena, which he looked pretty happy about. The Stoll brothers — no surprise there, they did everything together. Mal would be with Katie Gardener from the Demeter cabin. Clarisse would be with Lee Fletcher from Apollo — melee and ranged combat combined, they'd be a hard match to fight against. Quintus kept rattling off names until she heard hers —

"Selene Lock with Percy Jackson!"

"Nice," Percy said, turning towards her and grinning. "I was hoping I'd be with you."

"Aw man, really?" She said with a sigh. "Hey, anyone wanna switch? I got the prophecy kid!" She whined — sarcastically, of course.

Percy's grin turned into a glare. He nudged her, gently. "Hey, shut it. I have skills that could come in handy!"

"Like?"

"Like my charming skills, for one —"

"Yeah no, Barnacle Boy," She said, rolling her eyes. "We're going to be fighting against deadly scorpions. Unless these scorpions are secretly daughters of Aphrodite, I don't think you're going to have any luck."

Percy gave her a look. It seems as if he finally processed what she said, though, because he grinned again. "So," He started casually. "You admit that I'm...charming?"

Selene turned bright red. "Hang — hang on, no. You aren't charming. You aren't even —"

"Ohhhh Selene!!" Interjected a new voice.

Selene turned. There was Thema. Her armor was seriously crooked, and her hair was tied up into a messy bun, as if it wasn't even in a hair-tie. She excitedly grabbed Selene's hands, not even noticing Percy, who, was still staring at her amused.

"Bitch, I cannot believe who I just got as a partner!" Thema exclaimed — hopping up and down. Her cheeks were dusted pink.

Selene's brows furrowed. "Who?"

"Were you seriously not listening?"

"I stopped listening when my name was called!"

"Ugh, whatever," Thema muttered. "I really scored today. Quintus must've known I was a lesbian, because he paired me up with the one and only — Annabeth Chase! Gods, she's so —"