IT ISN'T A VERY NORMAL OCCURRENCE FOR A GOD TO SHOW UP at camp jupiter, so needless to say karina was a little surprised to see the one and only war god standing in front of her.

she had noticed that the only person who wasn't kneeling, was none other than percy jackson. sword still in hand, and was glaring fiercely at the giant soldier. she rolled her eyes at his stupidity.

was he really that dumb?

"you're ares?" percy said. "what do you want?"

a collective gasp went up from two hundred campers and an elephant. karina wanted to say something to excuse percy and placate the god, but had no idea what to say. she was afraid the war god would blast percy with that extra-large M16.

instead, the god bared his brilliant white teeth.

"you've got spunk, demigod," he said. "ares is my greek form. but to these followers, to the children of rome, i am mars-patron of the empire, divine father of romulus and remus."

"we've met," percy said. "we. . .we had a fight. . ."

karina gave a look of confusion and the god scratched his chin, as if trying to recall. "i fight a lot of people. but i assure you-you've never fought me as mars. if you had, you'd be dead. now, kneel, as befits a child of rome, before you try my patience."

around mars's feet, the ground boiled in a circle of flame.

"percy," karina hissed. "just kneel down before mars drop kicks you to tartarus."

percy clearly didn't like it, but he knelt.

mars scanned the crowd. "romans, lend me your ears!"

he laughed-a good, hearty bellow, so infectious it almost made her smile, though she was still stiff with fear. "i've always wanted to say that. i come to olympus with a message. jupiter doesn't like us communicating directly with mortals, especially nowadays, but he had allowed this exception, as you romans have always been my special people. i'm only permitted to speak for a few minutes, so listen up."

he pointed to gwen. "this one should be dead, yet she's not. the monsters you fight no longer return to tartarus when they are slain. some mortals who died long ago are now walking the earth again."

when he said that, karina's mind immediately went to her father. what if he was alive again? she knew there was a slim chance of that being true, but it still sent shivers down her spine.

"thanatos has been chained," mars announced. "the doors of death have been forced open, and no one is policing them-at least, not impartially. gaea allows our enemies to pour forth into the world of mortals. her sons the giants are mustering armies against you-armies that you will not be able to kill. unless death is unleashed to return to his duties, you will be overrun. you must find thanatos and free him from the giants. only he can reverse the tide."

mars looked around, and noticed everyone was still silently kneeling. "oh, you can get up now. any questions?"

reyna rose uneasily, grabbing karina's arm and pulling her up with her. they approached the god, followed by octavian, who was bowing and scraping like a champion groveler. karina raised an eyebrow at his actions.

"lord mars," reyna said. "we are honored."

"it's an honor to have you here," karina said nervously.

"beyond honored," said octavian. "so far beyond honored-"

karina sighed. "give it a rest, octavian." after she said that mars smirked at her, which took her by surprise. she thought he was about to blast her out into the sky by interrupting his praise.

"well," reyna said, "thanatos is the god of the dead, the lieutenant of pluto?"

"right," the god said.

"and you're saying that he's been captured by giants."

"right."

"and therefore people will stop dying?"

"not all at once," mars said. "but the barriers between life and death will continue to weaken. those who know how to take advantage of this will exploit it. monsters are already harder to dispatch. soon they will be completely impossible to kill. some demigods will also be able to find their way back from the underworld-like your friend centurion shish kebab."

karina cringed. "that's a little harsh," she mumbled.

gwen winced. "centurion shish kebab?"

"if left unchecked," mars continued, "even mortals will eventually find a impossible to die. can you imagine a world in which no one dies-ever?"

octavian raised his hand. "but, ah, mighty all-powerful lord mars, if we can't die, isn't that a good thing? if we can stay alive indefinitely-"

"don't be foolish, boy!" mars bellowed, making karina jump back in surprise. "endless slaughter with no conclusion? carnage without any point? enemies that rise again and again and can never be killed? is that what you want?"

"you're the god of war," percy spoke up. "don't you want endless carnage?"

karina dropped her head into her hands and sighed. she took back anything she said about percy being smart.

mars infrared goggles glowed brighter. "insolent. aren't you? perhaps i have fought you before. i can understand why i'd want to kill you. i'm the god of rome, child. i am the god of military might used for righteous cause. i protect the legions. i am happy to crush my enemies underfoot, but i don't fight without reason. i don't want war without end. you will discover this. you will serve me."

"not likely," percy said.

again, she waited for the god to strike him down, but mars just grinned like they were two old buddies talking trash.

"i order a quest!" the god announced. "you will go north and find thanatos in the land beyond the gods. you will free him and thwart the plans of the giants. beware gaea! beware her son, the eldest giant!"

from behind her, karina heard hazel make a squeaking sound. "the land beyond the gods?"

mars stared down at her, his grip tightening on his M16.

oh gods, karina thought, please don't blow up hazel.

"that's right, hazel levesque. you know what i mean. everyone here remembers the land where the legion lost its honor! perhaps if the quest succeeds, and you return by the feast of fortuna. . . perhaps then your honor will be restored. if you don't succeed, there won't be any camp left to return to. rome will be overrun, it's legacy lost forever. so my advice is: don't fail."

"sounds easy enough," karina muttered sarcastically under her breath.

octavian somehow managed to bow even lower."um, lord mars, just one tiny thing. a quest requires a prophecy, a mystical poem to guide us! we used to get them from the sibylline books, but now it's up to the augur to glean the will of gods. so if i could possible just run and get about seventy stuffed animals and possible a knife-"

"seventy?" karina screeched in disbelief. she heard a chuckle come from the crowd of campers behind her and she didn't have to look back to know that it was percy.

"you're the augur?" the god interrupted at the same time as me.

"y-yes my lord." octavian stuttered.

mars pulled a scroll from his utility belt. "anyone got a pen?"

karina steered around the look at percy, raising her eyebrow. he just shook his head and mouthed 'can't write with it.' she gave a look of disappointment, and he just smiled amusedly.

mars sighed. "two hundred romans, and no one's got a pen? never mind!"

karina decided to speak, a smirk playing on her lips. "actually, i think percy do-" she was cut off by reyna clamping her hand over her mouth, giving her a sharp glare.

she removed reyna's hand and rolled her eyes. "you guys are no fun." she complained and turned back to mars, who was writing something on a scroll.

"there!" mars finished writing and threw the scroll at octavian. "a prophecy. you can add it to your books, engrave it on your floor, whatever." karina turned away to try and hide the smile that had made its way onto her face. she was starting to like mars more and more.

octavian read the scroll. "this says, 'go to alaska. find thanatos and free him. come back by sundown on june twenty-fourth or die."

"yes," mars said. "is that not clear?"

"well, my lord. . . usually prophecies are unclear. they're wrapped in riddles. they rhyme, and. . ."

mars causally popped another grenade off his belt. "yes?"

"the prophecy is clear!" octavian announced. "a quest!"

it was getting really hard to hold on her laughter at this point. reyna had taken notice to karina's struggle and forcefully elbowed her, signaling for her to shut up.

"good answer." mars tapped the grenade to his chin. "now. . . what else? there was something else. . . . oh, yes."

he turned to frank. "c'mere, kid."

frank looked like he had just come face to face with freddy krueger. he walked forward reluctantly, probably scared shitless. karina knew she would would be.

mars grinned. "nice job taking the wall, kid. who's the ref for this game?"

reyna and karina raised their hands, but reyna quickly slapped her's down, knowing that karina played more than she reffed. she glared at reyna and crossed her arms.

"you see that play, ref?" mars demanded. "that was my kid. first over the wall, won the game for his team. unless you're blind, that was an MVP play. you're not blind, are you?"

reyna looked like she was trying swallow a mouse. "no, lord mars."

"then make sure he gets the mural crown," mars demanded. karina smiled, sbe was happy for frank finally getting the recognition he deserved. "my kid, here!" he yelled at the legion, in case anyone hadn't heard. frank looked like he wanted to melt into the dirt.

"emily zhang's son," mars continued. "she was a good soldier. good woman. this kid frank proved his stuff tonight. happy late birthday, kid. time you stepped up to a real mans weapon."

he tossed frank his M16, which took karina by surprise. for a split second it looked like frank was about to be crushed under the weight of the massive assault rifle, but the gun changed midair, becoming smaller and thinner. when frank caught it, the weapon was a spear. it had a shaft of imperial gold and a strange point like a white bone, flickering with ghostly light.

"the tip is a dragon's tooth," mars said. "you haven't learned to use your mom's talents yet, have you? well-that spear will give you some breathing room until you do. you get three charges out of it, so use it wisely."

mars stopped and turned to look at the legion. "now, my kid frank zhang is gonna lead the quest to free thanatos, unless there are any objections?"

of course, no one said a word. but many of the campers glared at frank with envy, jealousy, anger, bitterness. karina gave all of them a smug look, they're just mad.

"usually i would only allow you to take two companions, but i want ashwood with you on this one," he pointed to karina and nodded his head at her. her eyes widened in surprise at the sudden attention he had on her. she swallowed and nodded quickly.

"those are the rules. also, one of them needs to be this kid."

he moved his finger from where he was pointing at karina to point at percy. "he's gonna learn some respect for mars on his trip, or die trying. as for the third, i don't care. pick whomever you want. have one of your senate debates. you all are good at those."

the gods image flickered. lightning crackled across the sky.

that's my cue," mars said. "until next time, romans. do not disappoint me!"

the god erupted in flames, and then he was gone.

reyna and karina turned to frank. reyna's expression was part amazement, part nausea, like she'd finally managed to swallow that mouse. karina's was just filled with pride for frank. they raised their arms in a roman salute. "ave, frank zhang, son of mars." they said in unison.

the whole legion followed their lead, but frank didn't look to happy, which confused her.

karina wasn't able to think about it too much, because right after initiating frank as a child of mars, everyone started walking about to their barracks or to the showers to get ready for bed.

she lost reyna and frank in the large swarm of campers walking back to camp, so she started to dart her eyes around to try and find a certain sea green eyed boy.

she craned ber head above everyone trying to spot him over everyone else's unusually large heads.

all of a sudden karina felt someone poke her side with their finger, making her yelp in surprise and jump to the side.

she turned to her left to see percy giggling childishly at her reaction, his chest bouncing with his laughs. she gave him a mockingly annoyed look, placing her hand over her heart, feeling her racing heart slowly calm down.

"good gods, percy. you're going to give me a heart attack one day." karina complained, stepping closer to him so she didn't lose him.

he just gave her a playful smirk and rolled his eyes. "i not gonna give you a heart attack, miss dramatic."

karina's mouth gaped open at his accusation. "i'm not dramatic! heart attacks are a very serious thing, and i basically could've died like-ten seconds ago." she said, purposely being over-dramatic.

he raised his eyebrows and raised his pointer finger, looking like he was about to prove a point. "actually, you wouldn't. remember? all that mumbo jumbo about death being chained."

she nodded slowly, biting her lip. "that is true. but hey, not that means i could totally kick your ass as many times as i wanted without any worry about accidentally killing you!" karina said excitedly, bumping his shoulder.

now it was his turn to be over-dramatic. he gasped and lurched back, putting his hand over his heart. "how dare you even think about such a thing! my life is too precious to be taken away by you beating me up."

"are you implying that you would beat me in a fight?"

he nodded. "pretty much, yeah."

"oh. you're on, jackson." karina said strongly, straightening her poster.

they walked in silence for a little bit before karina spoke up. "have you had any memories or flashbacks at all yet?" she asked.

he shook his head sadly, his hair falling over his eyes slightly. karina gave him a sympathetic look and squeezed his arm. he looked over and gave her a soft smile, which, for once, didn't make her blush at all.

"it'll all be okay, percy." she said softly. "even if you don't get your memories back, at least you know you have a home here."

he nodded, but karina could tell he was trying his best to be positive about the situation. "you're right," he said. "and at least i have friends like you to help me through it." he bumped his shoulder with her's and flashed a smile.

she smiled back. "of course."

as they finally made it their barracks, they bid their goodbyes and parted ways to their separate living quarters.

as karina stepped inside she was greeted by hazel sitting criss-crossed on the top of their sharedbunk, knitting some sort of greenish-blue sweater.

i stepped onto the front side of the bottom bunk and rested my arms on the side of the top bunk, greeting hazel.

"what are you knitting today?" karina asked.

she stopped for a moment, resting for hands on her lap and looking up at karina. "just the usual, a big sweater for the winter." she spoke with such calamity and content that it made it made karina feel slightly at ease.

she smiled at her. "i really like that sweater, haz. if i could, maybe you could give it to me when your done?"

i saw a flash of joy spread through her eyes, and she gave me a big smile. "really? you want it?"

karina laughed and nodded her head. "yes! i really really want it."

hazel gave her an unsure look. "are you sure you're not just saying this to boost my ego?"

karina shook her head with a smile.

she nodded with a huge smile on her face. "okay. you can have it then."

karina reached her hand across the bed to squeeze hazel's. she flipped her hand over and returned it with a soft smile.

"any nightmares recently?" hazel asked her quietly.

karina bit her lip and turned away. "i haven't had one since last week."

karina's only told hazel about her nightmares, because they aren't the normal nightmares most people get. they aren't the nightmares that consist of your worst phobias and fears, the scary shadows that dance around your room at night, threatening to pounce on you at any moment. it's not the scary creeks and chatters you here from the walls of your house, keeping you up at night, hiding under your blanket for safety.

no, it's not the scary monsters and demons that flood my mind.

it was her father.

it was memories from her father that haunt her for nights on end.

it was a never ending mantra of all the times he hit her, yelled at her, shunned her. and the pain feels so real in the dream, that she forgets that it isn't reality. she forget's that she's safe from his abuse, his toxicity that left scars imprinted across her body.

hazel looked at her with sympathetic eyes. "do you wanna talk about it?"

she shook her head, averting her eyes back to look at hazel.

she nodded in understanding. "i'll always be here when you have them, okay? you can wake me up anytime, and i will help you."

karina smiled at her. "thank you, hazel. it means more than you know."

after that, she climbed down from the bunk and took a quick shower, just washing off all the dirt from the war games.

and when she reached hazel and her's shared bunk to sleep, she saw that hazel had already gone to bed, with her back facing her.

karina smiled softly at the sight and climbed into her bed, reaching over to turn off the small lamp on her bedside table.

darkness quickly enclosed the room, which meant she was the last person to fall asleep in the barrack.

karina was hesitant to close her eyes. she didn't want to see the horrible images of her father spiraling through her head.

but then she thought of something, she thought of the new memories she made today, most of them including percy. which, for some reason, made her feel a little bit safer.

and with that she fell into a dreamless slumber, with only one person in her thoughts.

3170 words
i love hazel and nina's friendship🥺 they're
both so soft they make me-💕💞💝💘💖💓

also comment ship name ideas for percy and karina!! i'd love to see what y'all come up with