Location: Camp Half-Blood
Date: July 7th
Andy had woken up early and gotten food. She hadn't told anyone but Madalyne what today was. She hated her birthday. It marked another year of her abandonment. It was to her another day, but when foster parents had tried to make a big deal of it it always felt fake. She preferred to spend the day just doing something she liked. Hopefully, Madalyne didn't tell anyone. She hadn't even told her half-brother. So technically only her aunt knew, which was super odd to think. Her family had grown so much over this summer. She had half-siblings and a dad, and an aunt. Anyone related to Trivia was her family in a way now, which made the loss of Rebecca a bit harder. Rebecca was family and she never knew. Just ran away. Andy ate her muffin, she never tried to eat bagels anymore, thinking about what she wanted to do that day.
Arthur was a lot better now, having been removed from the tides of war and set back into a much more peaceful and calm place. Camp Halfblood had a mess of feelings in his heart; it was where he lost his sister and where he met Andy, it was a reminder of his duality as a demigod, and yet also a safe haven. He was working through his emotions over everything more now, but things still felt messy. At the very least, he was able to make it days at a time without bursting into tears, and he marked that as a success. Trauma had left its mark on the boy, but between Andy and the others, he at least felt somewhat stable, like he wasn't going to shatter into a million pieces at the faintest hit. Entering the mess hall, Arthur quickly grabbed an apple, and sat down across from Andy, taking a bite into it, and saying, "
Morning Andy, how're you today? Any plans?" Arthur hadn't quite come up with anything he wanted to do yet, but he was sure between the two of them, they could come up with something fun.
Andy smiled brightly as Arthur joined her. She decided it didn't matter what she did that day. As long as she got to spend the day with Arthur.
"Well I didn't have much in mind yet. I was considering climbing the rock wall. Or going for a walk. I like the beach, so I thought maybe a walk there. Would you like to join me on any of that?" She asked seeing what he wanted to do, making sure that whatever it was they did was something he wanted to do too.
Arthur took a bite out of his apple and swallowed. The beach was nice, though, depending on when they went, maybe a bit crowded. Arthur didn't not like people now, or anything, but he would appreciate quiet alone time with his friend. Still, it sounded really nice. "
A nice walk sounds good, maybe through the forest and onto the beach? That sounds like it could be really pleasant." The shade of the forest and serenity of the Long Island Sound was
exactly what he needed.
It sounded perfect.
"We should pack a picnic." It was like from a movie. Spending the day with one of her favorite people taking a nice walk just enjoying each other's presence. It would be the best birthday ever.
"I have to grab something from the cabin. Meet me back here. We'll pack the picnic and then go for the walk?" Arthur grinned at the idea of the picnic. "
Right, I'll raid some food from here, and meet you out front, maybe grab a bag from your cabin while you're there?" And with that, he went to grab some picnic food. Sandwiches, drinks, and something sweet, a few danishes of different fruit varieties. Arthur had never actually gone on a picnic before, but food that could be eaten anywhere seemed like the thing to go with. When he was done, he waited with his bounty out near the front of the mess hall.
Andy dashed to her cabin and grabbed her bag. The bag part was helpful, but the important part was what was in the bag. She double-checked that the two small boxes were in there. The first item was from some random bar. The matches had been given to Andy when she was at a homeless camp, by someone. The other item was older. It was still in its box with the price sticker. Well beat up from years of being buried under stuff, but unbroken. A wax number five. Stolen. For a cake she never got.
She dashed back to the pavilion to meet Arthur.
"Okay, got my bag." She said holding it open for him to dump the food into it.
"Looks like you got some good stuff." Arthur quickly dumped the food into the bag and was absolutely beaming, "
Yeah, hopefully, this can be nice, I'm really glad we're doing this together." It was, dare he think, normal. He'd be spending a day with his friend having lunch and a walk. It was just, lovely. It made him feel excited and happy and with a kind of peace flowing through him. "
Alright, if you're all set, let's go then."
And with that, Arthur walked away towards the forest with Andy, leading them up to the entrance of the main path, before saying, "
You know, things have been kinda crazy and just... I'm glad you've stuck with me through everything, you know? I don't know how I'd be here without you." Arthur felt sappy saying something like that, but it was true, and he wanted her to know how important she was to him.
Andy had a lot she wanted to say in response to Arthur but had no idea how to say any of it. Everything culminated to,
"I wouldn't be here without you." She said. It was true. She wouldn't have stayed. Between Arthur and her brother she stayed. And now she supposed she wanted to learn magic. She stepped into the woods. It was a beautiful July day. And she was going to spend the day with her best friend. Her only friend.
Melancholy, that was the word. There was a kind of softness in their being together, but the fact that it was by its nature a reprieve and not the default state of things that made it sad. It felt to Arthur that they only had calms before neverending oncoming storms. Still, it was a nice day with a close friend, and he wasn't going to let anything get in the way of him enjoying it. As far as he was concerned, they were two normal kids today, spending an afternoon at a summer camp. Arthur followed Andy into the woods, taking in the shade happily, not having much to say in response to Andy, just happy to be there with her.
They walked for a while together in the soothing quiet of the woods. Andy found a small clearing that looked perfect for their picnic. She stepped into it and sat on the grass. It didn't bother her it was a little dewy.
"This looks beautiful." It was a peaceful spot.
"Perfect spot for a perfect day." She smiled.
Coming upon the clearing, Arthur followed Andy's suit, and sat down next to her, looking up at the sky. "
Right?" The sense of ease was nice to bask in, and as he did, he turned to Andy and asked, "
So, How've you been dealing with everything? I... I think I've been getting better, but our first adventure was a lot." He was still having nightmares of watching Des die, and the reanimated corpse of his sister liked to show up sometimes too, but he'd managed a few restful nights since returning to camp
She looked at Arthur, tilting her head. Considering how best to put it into words.
"Our first adventure was a lot." She nodded in agreement.
"For me though it's been like..." She trailed off.
"Like I was in a dark room with no lights for so long, and then coming here turned on the light switch. I had stumbled along and found the shape of things in the dark, but I didn't know what any of the things were. Now that the light is on I understand it better." It was the best metaphor she could come up with. And it accurately depicted what she had felt before coming to camp.
"I have answers." There was more to it. But Andy didn't have the words to express what she was feeling.
"Yeah it hasn't been pleasant getting those answers. But now that I know. I can use it." Andy was endlessly more eloquent than Arthur was, or at least, that was how it felt to him. In a way, it made sense, they'd been living with this existence their entire lives, but only now did they have the chance to wrap their heads around the actual size of what it all meant. That was the big thing, they had an identity now. They're weren't just weird, or different, or anything that anybody might call them, they were
demigods. Even if he'd rather be a 'normal' kid, it didn't change the fact that now, at least he knew what he was. "
That's... a really good way to put it." He agreed, "
I feel like, all my life, I didn't have a real place. I never felt at home with my family, and the school so many of us were at before was terrible. At least now, everything here is in the same boat, and people actually care about one another. I feel like I have a real family here." He hoped that made sense, it seemed to be the best way for him to vocalize his feelings.
Andy nodded in agreement. She didn't know much about Arthur's school, or much of his life before camp. She did know that he hadn't known anything was weird before he had come to camp.
"I never had a family before here. It was all...Fake." Arthur was like family, but not like a brother. It was different. She didn't know how to explain it to him. Andy wrapped her arms around her knees and rested her chin on them.
"I haven't been to school in a long time. What was it like?" Arthur paused at the question, "
Well... It wasn't great." He said honestly, "
It wasn't as bad as monsters or anything, but as far as schools go. I have trouble imagining a worse school." He tried to explain, "
The camp on it's own is a much nicer place. I'm glad to be here. It's just.... The strings that come along with it that make me feel icky." He said, before asking, "
What do you think of camp? All this?"
Andy nodded as Arthur spoke listening closely. She paused before responding.
"It is nice to have people I can trust to have my back. You, my brother, and now my aunt." Her eyes went wide.
"I haven't told you yet. The Preator Madalyne she's my aunt. The book she got before the battle at New Rome. We looked at it on the first. We found out that my mom was her cousin. And it gets weird from there. So my mom died the same year I was born only a few weeks after I was born. But I wasn't in the system until I was two. So someone had me for a couple of years before leaving me at the hospital." She was rambling a bit, which was rather unlike her.
Arthur nodded along with Andy, before asking, "
Your mom died after giving birth to you? You don't think it had something to do with you being a demigod, do you?" That sounded like it would be hard on her. He could only imagine that a lot of demigods didn't even make it out of diapers, with how monsters seemed to swarm on the unprotected. If not monsters, maybe somebody wanted a child of Zeus for something? "
It all sounds messy, are you going to leave it alone, or look into it more?" He was worried about what Andy would find if she pried, but he'd be there with her if she needed him.
"It was a few weeks." Her cheeks warmed a bit, she hadn't told him today was her birthday yet.
"Uh. She died on August 17th." She paused and looked at her hands.
"Madalyne and I might look into it. Someone was taking care of me. I want to know why they stopped. I don't remember anything from that long ago." Arthur's ears perked up at the date, and quickly did the math. "
Wait wait, so like, your birthday is coming up? When is it?" He asked excitedly, before pausing. It occurred to him that it wasn't unlikely that Andy had never had a birthday party. "
Do you wanna do something for it? I get it if you don't, but-" He then realized he was barraging her with questions and stopped, giving her a chance to respond.
Her face got warmer. Arthur cut himself off.
"I want to spend my birthday with you." She said. Then from the bag she pulled out the candle, it was a sad-looking box she held in her hand, and she produced out of it a small number five. It had melted in a few places and was a little chipped, but overall it hadn't broken in the five...six years she had carried it. She put it on one of the pastries he had grabbed.
"I already am, it is the best birthday I've ever had.""
O-oh." Arthur said, as his expression dropped to surprise and found himself smiling a big, dumb smile, before grabbing her into a hug. He was glad she trusted him, and cared about him like this. Squeezing her, he said, "
I'm so glad I pushed you out of that tree." Before letting her go, and looking her in the eyes. "
Now, let's make this your best year ever."
Andy giggled hugging him back tightly. It felt good. She loved the warmth of his hug and didn't want the hug to end.
"I'm glad you pushed me out too." She said with a crooked smile. Returning the look.
"Same for you. Alright. When is your birthday? This is going to the best year for both of us." Arthur smiled. A part of him really believed that they could do that together, make this a good year, even with the monsters and scary things they'd have to do. He thought they could really do it. "
September 12th, two whole months away." Arthur didn't really have much in the way of feelings about his birthday, but he'd be looking forward to spending it with her. "
Now, pastries!" He said, grabbing one of them, and taking a big bite out of it.
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