𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐥𝐚 𝐫𝐮𝐞

𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫

"𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 gonna love this. Camp-wide mock warfare, all glory to the victors," Luke said as he, Birdie, and Percy walked through the large field of grass where all of the children were training "Annabeth's the head counselor of the Athena cabin. She's led our team to three straight wins, been a long time since anyone's won a fourth."

"She was there in the bathroom. She said she'd been waiting for it to happen" Percy said, thankfully leaving Birdie out of the bathroom situation.

"Annabeth sees the world differently. Always six steps ahead of everyone else," Luke replied as they stopped walking, Birdie stood next to Percy as he looked at her little sister "you should cut her a break."

"Who's side are you on, anyway?" Percy asked, looking back at Luke.

"Oh, hers, always. She's my little sister" Luke responded "and mine," Birdie added "and about her, I need to go there for a minute so excuse me. I'll be back soon" she patted Percy's shoulder and ran over to where some of the children of Athena were, and where Annabeth was still staring at Percy.

Once she reached Annabeth, Birdie lightly hit her arm. Annabeth's attention was finally brought away from that boy and was directed to Birdie-Mae. "What?" Annabeth said "you can't keep watching him, Owl. I know that you think he's the one but you need to turn it down just a little bit" Birdie explained in a soft tone, not wanting Annabeth to get angry with her, which she never really did but when it happened it was rough.

"I'm not doing that, Erin. Just leave it," Annabeth replied firmly, she then looked over at Luke and Percy, Luke was pointing at Birdie "go" she finished, Birdie looked at Luke and he waved at her.

"Come on!" he shouted. She nodded and turned to Annabeth shortly "love you" she said, quickly booping Annabeth's nose and then running back to the two boys "you know I hate it when you do that!" Annabeth called to her sister before returning to her training siblings.

₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

"Before camp, I was on the road. Me and a forbidden kid I met along the way," Luke started "her name was Thalia" "and what does that mean? Forbidden?" Percy asked, it seemed like Birdie was the only one who remembered he was still very new to the child of god situation he was in.

"Forbidden kids are children of Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades. They all agreed that they're kids were too powerful so they made a pact that they wouldn't have any more" Birdie explained, then she signalled for Luke to continue "it held for a long time, until Zeus broke that pact--" "cause he's a whore" Birdie mumbled, Luke nudged her with his elbow.

"Until Thalia," Luke continued "a forbidden kid attracts trouble. Monsters everywhere, it's just a constant battle to stay alive. One day, we, uh, find two little girls hiding in an alley. Annabeth and Birdie. We were worried about taking them in, exposing them to all that danger. Then we saw Annabeth fight" "yeah, I did nothing. We were just a packaged deal" Birdie smiled, leaning against the table, resting her head on her arms and looking at Luke.

"Thalia didn't make it. But Birdie, Annabeth and me.. we did and we've been family ever since" Luke ended the story. Birdie then looked at Percy, watching him process what he had been told. For once, someone gave him a chance to understand.

"She's been watching me since I got here. Why?" Percy asked, Luke and Birdie both knew he meant Annabeth. "Annabeth is the strongest warrior in camp. The only way left to prove herself is to go one a quest" Luke responded "she's been waiting for it" Birdie added, sitting up straight and putting her hands in her lap. "And what does this have to do with me?"

"Chiron's been promising her for years. One day, a demigod would arrive who was fated to go one a quest that even Chiron couldn't prevent. And when that happened, she could join it. Every new arrival, Annabeth watches, looking for a sign they're the one. Usually, she gives up after a day or two, but she's still watching you."

"She tells me all about what she sees. It's kind of cute sometimes until it reaches creepy" Birdie said, looking away for a few seconds before quickly looking back at Percy and smiling, hoping she hasn't created the idea of her little sister being a stalker with photos of him pinned to the walls of their cabin.

"Can you ask her to knock it off?" Percy said, he was not fond of Annabeth. Clearly.

"Yeah, sure. But what if she's right?" Luke replied.

A conch shell blew and Chiron stepped forward, Luke, Percy, and Birdie all turned and looked at him "heroes, it's time," he announced "the game begins."

Birdie turned back to Percy and smiled brightly.

He had no idea what was coming.