𝐒𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟖,

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✩ ━━━ spring of 1998, camp half-blood

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━━━ spring of 1998, camp half-blood. ❝I'll look up to the sky and one day, I'll stop seeing you in the stars. ❞

IN THE SPRING OF 1998, HIROKI MATSUOKA LEARNED THE LAST THING HE WOULD EVER KNOW TRUE: MEMORIES ARE DANGEROUS

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IN THE SPRING OF 1998, HIROKI MATSUOKA LEARNED THE LAST THING HE WOULD EVER KNOW TRUE: MEMORIES ARE DANGEROUS. Hurtful, awful things. One can turn them over and over until every fixture and corner is known, but there is always going to be a new edge to cut. Time doesn't erode the pain, contrary to what others say—it toys with you. It tricks you to believe those awful memories have faded into obscurity, but no matter how much you wish to forget, the cuts will only ever heal into scarred tissue.

You will never forget.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Tonight, the darkness surrounding Camp Half-Blood feels different.

There's an edge to the stillness of the leaves of the woodlands, a persistent sting to the moonbeam; according to his mother, Hiroki suffered from bouts of paranoia after Yangyang's death. She said that sometimes, he became so afraid of the monsters—the gods—getting him that he would trick himself into seeing them everywhere. Hearing them. Tricking himself into believing that they see him and waiting for the best moment to attack him—kill him the way they did Yangyang and every other demigod in the myths he read—despite them being far, far away from him.

This didn't feel like paranoia.

He knew out there, beyond the weakening barrier, monsters were waiting.

Still, despite how much he wished to return to the shelter within the yarn canopy of his bedroom or the care of his parents' arms, tonight Hiroki was assigned to watch over the border by Dionysus. Conversations across the camp suggested the magical border is depleting faster than expected. While hidden in the library of the Big House, Hiroki overheard Chiron lamenting the loss of Festus, fretting over what to do to keep the campers somewhat safe.

It is his fault. He hurt the best swordsmen and now they are defenseless.

Dionysus was right. Hiroki is just like his father, harming others then running like a scaredy-cat.

as if the stars had aligned ━ percy jackson¹Where stories live. Discover now