Where there's smoke // L.Valdez

Chapter eight

The campfire was-

Well, Persephone couldn't say it was exactly like she remembered. Because she couldn't remember. But something told her not much had changed. Leo sat with his cabin, smiling at her as he left. He wasn't angry at her, then. That was good.

Jason sat with Annabeth at the front. Sitting by herself, she noticed Piper walk up to the campfire. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen Jason or Piper at dinner. The flames of the campfire changed as they mood got lighter in the camp, the songs getting more chaotic and fun, and Persephone found herself signing and joining in, clapping her hands in time.

A white Centaur trotted up to the front, catching everyone's attention. 'Chiron.' Persephone remembered. She smiled at him, happy to see him. She noticed the spear of marshmallows he held.

"Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I'm happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached." She winced, remembering the pain in her back. "In a moment, I promise we'll get to the s'mores, but first-"

He was cut off, by someone in the Ares cabin. "What about capture the flag?" They yelled. The entire cabin broke out into grumbling.

"Yes," Chiron began, "I know the Ares cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games."

"And kill people!" One of them shouted. Persephone rolled her eyes.

"However, until the dragon is brought under control, that won't be possible. Cabin nine, anything to report on that?" Persephone kept her eyes to the fire, not wanting to anger any cabin mates by simply looking at them. So, Leo hadn't been joking about the dragon. Good to know. Leo kind of hoped she'd look at them, so he could flash her a wink and his famous finger guns. But she didn't. So, he chose Piper as the next best choice. Hey! He wasn't gonna waste using his finger guns.

"We're working on it." Persephone recognised the voice.

"How, Nyssa?"

"Really hard." The camp broke into chaos, shouting and complaining echoing through the amphitheatre. The fire spat wildly. Chiron stomped his hoof, three times, gaining the camp's attention again.

"We will have to be patient. In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss."

"Percy?" Someone called out. The flames dimmed drastically. Persephone could feel the atmosphere drop.

Annabeth stood. "I couldn't find Percy." Her voice caught at his name. "He wasn't at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But we're not giving up. We've got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the hunters of Artemis- everyone's out looking. We will find him. However, we did find Persephone, as I'm sure you've noticed." And the attention was thrown onto said girl, who shifted uncomfortably.

"I heard she can't remember anything." Someone sneered. Persephone looked down, cheeks heating up.

"How is she supposed to be a hero is she can't remember anything she's done?"

"Yea, what if she starts behaving like a Hades kid." That stung. More than she'd like to admit. Leo wanted to deck George for that one, but thankfully decided against it.

"Isn't it dangerous for a child of the big three to have no memories? What if she betrays..." They trailed off.

"Persephone is still the Persephone that everyone knows. Nothing has changed. She just needs time to remember everything. But Chiron was talking about something different. A new quest."

"It's the Great Prophecy, isn't it?" a girl called out. Persephone rolled her eyes once she knew who it was. Everyone was clearly stunned she'd decided to speak.