Outlaws △ Luke Castellan

04.

Chapter Four;

For the first few weeks after her meeting with Hestia, Kaia made sure to keep herself constantly busy, so as not to dwell on the goddess's words. She felt sick whenever she recalled them, becoming so anxious that she could not remain still. 

It was especially bad at night, when she'd toss and turn, unable to settle down. Kaia hadn't minded the lack of sleep, but it disturbed Annabeth, so she sought to make herself so tired during the day that by the time she retired, she slumbered like a Medusa victim - or, like a rock.

She practiced her swordplay with Luke. Her skill increased rapidly as her muscles strengthened and she became more agile. Though Luke still won a dominant number of their matches, Kaia was able to sneak in a victory here and there. Not many people could do that against Luke: campers were already saying he was perhaps the greatest swordsman to be seen in the last three hundred years.

Kaia also tended to the horses and pegasi. She climbed the climbing wall frequently, until climbing became one of her greatest strengths. She kept up with her archery, shooting until she could hit almost every shot as accurately as the Apollo campers. When she spent time with Luke and Annabeth, they were always doing something together – swimming, walking, competing on the climbing wall, or having mini tournaments with an array of weapons.

In short: she wasn't still, not even for a second.

Luke and Annabeth had noticed something was wrong and tried to get her to talk about it, but Kaia evaded their questions. Eventually they realised that she wasn't going to talk and back off, though she could feel their eyes on her from time to time.

Winter at Camp Half-Blood was vastly different to the summer, so Kaia was able to focus more on physical activities than try to bully her brain into focusing on Ancient Greek. For one thing, the camp was basically empty, so slots didn't fill up so quickly. As a result schedules weren't as strict, since there was room to do pretty much anything. The normally clear blue skies were allowed to be covered in clouds.

New half bloods still arrived at Camp regularly: the winter didn't stop the monster attacks. A handful of new campers were delivered to safety by satyr protectors. Most of the new arrivals stayed over the winter break and decided to return after break finished, though some returned to the mortal world, and others still decided to remain year-round.

Kaia had met a few new friends. It was hard not too, when there were so few campers to give tours.

Silena Beauregard was one of the few Kaia was able to maintain a steady friendship with. Silena arrived one day in November, after she'd been attacked by monsters at her school. Chiron had manipulated the Mist so she could return after break, but the daughter of Aphrodite was happy remaining at Camp in the meantime.

In Kaia's experience, most children of Aphrodite were shallow, and cared little for actual love. Silena was different. She had a warm heart, was quick to smile, and was kind to everyone she met. She accepted Kaia instantly, even if Kaia could be a bit of a slob, while Silena was a more of a neat-freak.

Silena had also become good friends with Luke, and Kaia tried not to become too territorial. Luke was her best friend, yes, and she also didn't want to lose him. But they didn't belong to each other.

"My father works at a chocolate shop," Silena said, while she and Kaia roamed camp. Breakfast had ended not long ago, and afterward she and Silena decided to spend some time getting to know each other while helping Silena get her bearings around camp "That's what caught Aphrodite's eye. He's really good at it, too, though he needs to work on his bonbons. I'm afraid to hurt his feelings, though."