𝖇𝖆𝖉 𝖇𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖉 || ᴘᴊᴏ x ʜᴘ

21 - 𝖂𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖕𝖊𝖓𝖘 𝖎𝖓 𝖁𝖊𝖌𝖆𝖘, 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖞𝖘 𝖎𝖓 𝖁𝖊𝖌𝖆𝖘

Eventually, they had calmed down the antelope and had cut out the bubblegum from the Lion's mane.

Percy and Annabeth sat around Grover and Holly as they tried to get some sleep, Holly was off snoring as the two chatted. Eventually, they treaded on the topic of Thalia Grace. Daughter of Zeus.

When Holly woke up a few hours later, she found Percy looking at her oddly and there was a shift in the air. A cloud of sorrow, a thick blanket of sadness.

"What happened?" Holly asks, sitting up as Grover shifted on the space beside her. She pulled the cap from his head before it fell, "Did someone die?"

"Not yet," Percy said jokingly, and then he glanced at Holly who was rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I was just...thinking about you."

"Oh?" Holly asks, steam rising up her face and she rolls the shoulder of the arm she broke just to cover the blush on her face, but she's surprised at the lightness she felt.

Percy blushes as he realises what he said, he was thankful for the dim light or Holly would've for sure seen his blush. The thought made him even more embarrassed.

"I didn't- Well- What I meant- Annabeth told me what happened to Thalia, and..."

Holly freezes, glancing at Percy who had his knees tucked into his chest. He peaked at her, watching as she faces away and he thought he'd made a mistake by bringing it up and Holly wouldn't want to talk to him anymore until Holly spoke up;

"Did Annabeth tell you I was only seven when we came to camp? Same age as she did." Percy nodded. Holly sinks further into the bag of feeds, trying to find a semi comfortable position to rest her arm. "I was six when I ran away from home, the summer before my Aunt and Uncle were supposed to give me up to my grandmother- May she rest in pain."

"You don't...like her very much, do you?" Percy inferred, Holly nodded and shrugged.

"She was a terrible woman, a prejudiced one too. Thank the gods I left, or she would've brainwashed me like she did to my father. Anyway, my mother came to me in a dream. The first time ever, and she told me it was time to chase my destiny. She gave me instructions, told me to get on a boat to America. I was alone for months and I wanted to go back home so badly but I didn't know how, and then Luke and Thalia found me, after that...I met Annabeth. She'd just turned seven around that time, and it's been a while since I've been with someone my age so we became best friends instantly."

"Were you the youngest to ever arrive at camp?" Percy asks curiously.

Holly fumbles the beads of her necklace, "We were."

"Have you been home since?"

"Oh, plenty of times. After we arrived at camp, Chiron contacted my guardians to tell them I was there. They came to get me, but...I only agreed to go home if they swore they wouldn't leave me with my wretched grandmother. She died a year later, so she wasn't quite mad with the arrangements."

"Oh," Percy blinked, unsure what to say next as Holly shrugged. "I um...I heard you go to a boarding school now?"

"I do- wait, has Grover been gossiping about me?"

Percy smiled sheepishly, "I asked."

Holly shook her head, but her heart made a small jump before it quickened into a sprint. "Well, you go to boarding schools too, don't you?"

"I went," he corrected her. "A different one each year."

"I just started at my boarding school last year, it's quite fun isn't it, to be away from home for a while."