Aftermath-Percabeth

Chapter Seventy

"Do I have to?" Marina asked as they arrived at Camp Half Blood.

Percy frowned as he parked the car. "What do you mean? Camp is super fun, Mari."

Marina shook her head and crossed her arms in protest. "It can't be! None of my friends go here. They'd never even heard of it!"

"Marina, when I was your age I loved this camp, it's where I met your dad," Annabeth said.

"Ugh, don't get all mushy gushy, it's gross," Marina said as she stuck her tongue out.

Annabeth rolled her eyes as they all made the climb over Half Blood Hill. "I'm not, I'm not. And you do know some people here, you've been here before. And Romeo's going here, too."

Marina turned slightly pink at the mention of Romeo, Piper and Jason's son who was a couple months younger than her. "So? That's only one person!"

"Camellia, too," Percy assured her. "You like Camellia, and she's only a little younger than you. She's coming in August, though, as she's helping Leo and Calypso with the store."

"Just try it!" Annabeth said with a grin. "They have an amazing firework show, you'll see tonight."

"How amazing?" Charlie asked as they approached the cabins. "Woah, where do I stay?"

Percy smiled. "No where yet, Charlie. Not till next year. Then you'll stay in either the Poseidon or Athena cabin, Chiron said you could choose."

Charlie peered over at the cabins and grinned. "Cool! Is that lava?!"

"Yeah, wanna go see it?" Percy asked.

Annabeth's eyes widened. "Be careful! No climbing it!"

Charlie nodded, although he still wore a grin. "Okay, mom."

He ran off in the direction of the lava climbing wall and didn't look back.

"How about you go look at the lava wall with your brother while your mom and I talk to some campers?" Percy suggested to Marina, who just shrugged in agreement and joined Charlie.

"I'm worried about her," Percy admitted to Annabeth once Marina had left. "She's not excited at all."

Annabeth shrugged. "She'll warm up to it. Oh, there's Piper and Jason! I'm going to go say hi!"

Percy nodded and peered out towards the shore, where he saw Marina, clearly not interested in the lava climbing wall. "Okay, Annabeth, I'm gonna go by the shore..."

He made his way over to the shore where Marina sat manipulating the water into a mini hurricane.

"That's quite impressive," Percy commented. She looked up and sighed. "May I sit here?"

She nodded and continued to play with the mini hurricane.

"You know, I didn't couldn't even do that at your age," he commented. "I had no control at all."

She sighed. "Yeah, well, I've had more practice. It's not like that matters here, though."

Percy frowned at her. "What do you mean? Of course it does. You'll impress all the other kids!"

"No, I won't, because I'm not a half blood. This place is for half bloods," Marina replied, nervousness in her voice. "I'm never going to fit in..."

"What do you mean?!" he asked. "Of course you will, it'll just take time!"

She shook her head. "It won't! They all liked you because you saved Olympus and stuff..."

"Are you kidding? They hated me at first!" Percy protested. Then he told her about his first time at camp, and how people had excluded him and slipped a newspaper of his disappearance under his cabin door.

Marina's eyes widened. "Wait, really? I thought they all loved you here? Several people asked me if my parents were really the heroes of Olympus."

He laughed. "Not at first, no. It just takes time. Can you give it some time? If you don't like it after one summer here, you never have to go again. I promise. And hey, one plus of going here is that we won't be here to bug you all the time, especially Charlie."

"Really? You mean it?" Marina asked, a smile appearing on her face. He nodded in confirmation. "Thanks! You're the best. And...and maybe it isn't so bad after all. Charlie is kinda annoying and, I mean, the lava wall is pretty cool."

"Yeah, Charlie seems to be enjoying it quite a lot," he commented. "Hey, look, the fireworks must be starting soon..."

Tons of campers started flocking to the beaches and setting up blankets to watch the fireworks from. Soon Annabeth and Charlie joined them right as the first firework broke in the sky.

"Can I go here?" Charlie whispered softly as George Washington appeared through the fireworks. "Please?!"

Annabeth laughed. "Next year, Charlie. Just you wait."

"Ha ha, you have to wait!" Marina teased as she stuck her tongue out at him. "This is going to be great!"