❛001❜

IVY FITZGERALD WENT through a lot of changes in the last few months of her life. all starting after percy's 15th birthday at the end of summer section, which she had been invited to celebrate with him at his new york apartment where she finally met the infamous sally jackson. by the end of the night, the two girls had completely ditched percy and gossiped about their time at camp, mostly ivy filling sally in on everything percy didn't tell her to safe his skin.

after she got back to camp, it didn't take more than a few days for her powers to really really start to freak out. it was a relief that most of her younger siblings stayed only during the summer, because the aphrodite cabin became a bit of a safety hazard. random flashes of sunlight would shift around at different degrees of danger. some light and harmless, only capable of startling you. other times intense and so hot it could burn someone's skin.

all the plans ivy had made to maybe hang out with percy and her other friends who lived in the city were thrown out the window. she was to train day and night in order to gain control, chiron basically keeping her on lock down at camp. that meant, no visiting percy, annabeth, tobias, lydia, or her new friend thalia in the city. she couldn't even iris message! all she had to communicate was letter and texting since she got herself a phone, willing to fight any monsters who came at her because of it. chiron explained that iris messaging could be easily intercepted, giving kronos a chance to finding out the real extent of her powers. it was bad enough he knew of them at all.

worst of all, it wasn't just her powers that were rapidly developing, she was too. in the normal way, like puberty way, just like apollo had said it would.

ivy lost more than half of her clothes in her... growth sprout. she complained relentlessly about her shortened closet. the girl didn't know how to feel about her own body changes, having boobs was definitely weird, mostly when training. she didn't find it ugly, silena made sure her train of thought never went that way, but sometimes it didn't feel hers. other than breasts, her hips had widened and it gave her more figure than she had before. natural puberty, added with the shit ton of training she did on a daily basis– well, in sydney's own words, ivy has a body to kill for now, might as well get the model agency in here already.

it also came to ivy's attention the disappearance of ethan nakamura. the boy had left the hermes cabin in the middle of the night in the few days she had been in the sea of monsters. tobias had tried to hide it, but she could see the hidden hurt expression on her brother's face when talking about his ex-best friend. they hoped he didn't go join luke and his army, ivy prefered finding her friend again in elysium rather than the enemy line.

but when chiron alerted her of a situation going on with grover, she took the opportunity to not only help her old friend but to see percy, annabeth, and thalia... also put her now somewhat in control powers to good use other than making james's grill cheese sanwiches.

the friday before winter break, ivy was picked up by sally jackson from camp, also picking up annabeth and thalia on the way. it was an eight-hour drive from new york to bar harbor, maine. sleet and snow pounded the highway. the four friends hadn't seen each other in months, but between the blizzard and the thought of what they were about to do, they were too nervous to talk much. except for ms jackson. she seemed to talk more when she's nervous. by the time they finally got to westover hall, it was getting dark, and she'd told the three girls every embarrassing baby story there was to tell about percy.

ivy was relaxed enough to laugh. something that percy glared at her for.

thalia wiped the fog off the car window and peered outside. "oh, yeah. this'll be fun."

westover hall looked like an evil knight's castle. it was all black stone, with towers and slit windows and a big set of wooden double doors. it stood on a snowy cliff overlooking this big frosty forest on one side and the grey churning ocean on the other.

"are you sure you don't want me to wait?" ms jackson asked.

"no, thanks, mom," percy said. "i don't know how long it will take. we'll be okay."

"but how will you get back? i'm worried, percy."

percy's cheeks tinted red, which ivy found adorable. initially, percy had been set to drive since he had his learner's license and sally trusted him enough to let him drive all of them. that all crashed down when it started snowing, it made percy's mother all that more nervous than she already was. percy didn't look particularly thrilled to be driven around by his mom.

"it's okay, ms jackson." annabeth smiled reassuringly. her blonde hair was tucked into a ski cap. "we'll keep those two out of trouble."

"those two?" ivy asked, obviously getting that she was part of the two. "i never get into trouble." annabeth made a sound of disapproval at her statement.

ms jackson laughed, relaxing a little, either by annabeth's word who sally thought of as the most level headed high schooler or ivy's comment. "all right, dears. do you have everything you need?"

"yes, ms jackson," thalia said. "thanks for the ride."

"extra sweaters? did you make sure my number was right on ivy's cellphone?"

"mom –"

"your ambrosia and nectar, percy? and a golden drachma in case you need to contact camp?"

"mom, seriously! we'll be fine. come on, guys."

she looked a little hurt, and ivy wanted to hit percy over the head for that. he didn't realize how lucky he was to have a mother like his, she wished her father would be here to annoy her with mundane stuff or even chastise her about boys.

percy was the first out of the car, ivy , annabeth and thalia followed after him. the wind blew, but ivy barely felt any of it, with her powers being out of control also meant most time her body temperature was high enough to have a fever.

"are you sure you're okay wearing only that in this cold?" percy asked, burying his hands in his winter coat's pocket.

ivy was wearing a thin beige turtleneck underneath a white crew neck, her beige joggers were rather thin too, but her feet were cozily covered in white doc martens. her hair was let loose, curlier than usual thanks to her new haircut. silena cut layers in her hair, and curtain bangs at the front. for accessories she had a tote bag for her overnight bag, a white headband to hold her bangs away from her eyes in case of a fight, gold dangle butterfly earring, and golden locket necklace her mom gave her years ago.

compared to what her friends were wearing with their thick coats and various layers, she was going light... and way more stylish. but ivy had the additional inner furnace of her powers going haywire that she carried everywhere. it was like she was experiencing menopause at age 15, just that she wasn't even liberated from her monthly visits.

"yeah," she said. "i'll be fine, perce. no need to worry about me."

percy looked like he was about to argue, but thalia said, "your mom is so cool, percy."

"she's pretty okay," percy admitted. "what about you? you ever get in touch with your mom?"

ivy wondered when percy was going to learn that parents were almost always a touchy subject for demigods.

thalia was great at giving evil looks, what with the punk clothes she always wears – the ripped-up army jacket, black leather trousers and chain jewellery, the black eyeliner and those intense blue eyes. but the look she gave percy now was a perfect evil ten. "if that was any of your fucking business, percy –"

"we'd better get inside," annabeth intervened. "grover will be waiting."

thalia looked at the castle and shivered. "you're right. i wonder what he found here that made him send the distress call."

ivy stared up at the dark towers of westover hall. "he found an unicorn," ivy said.

at the same time, percy said, "nothing good."

annabeth and thalia rolled her eyes at the two.

the oak doors groaned open, and the four of them stepped into the entry hall in a swirl of snow.

all ivy could say was, "whoa."

the place was massive. the walls were lined with battle flags and weapon displays: antique rifles, battleaxes and a bunch of other stuff. she had known westover was a military school and all, but the decorations seemed like overkill. literally.

her hands went to the pocket of her joggers, where kapsoura was in its keychain form and knife in her golden guitar pick form. ivy could already sense something wrong in this place. something dangerous. percy had his hand on his jean pocket too, his hands visibly gripping riptide. thalia was rubbing her silver bracelet, her favorite magic item. they were all thinking the same thing. a fight was coming.

annabeth started to say, "i wonder where –"

the doors slammed shut behind them.

"oo-kay," percy mumbled. "guess we'll stay a while."

ivy clicked her tongue, "they better have good room service, then."

she could hear music echoing from the other end of the hall. it sounded like dance music.

the demigods stashed their overnight bags behind a pillar and started down the hall. they hadn't gone very far when ivy heard footsteps on the stone floor, and a man and woman marched out of the shadows to intercept them.

they both had short grey hair and black military-style uniforms with red trim. the woman had a wispy moustache, and the guy was clean-shaven. they both walked stiffly, like they had broomsticks up their asses.

"well?" the woman demanded. "what are you doing here?"

"um..." percy started. ivy realized she hadn't planned for this. she'd been so focused on getting to grover and finding out what was wrong, she hadn't considered that someone might question four kids sneaking into the school at night. they hadn't talked at all in the car about how they would get inside. the son of poseidon said, "ma'am, we're just –"

"ha!" the man snapped, which made ivy jump. "visitors are not allowed at the dance! you shall be eee-jected!"

he had an accent – french, maybe. he pronounced his j like in jacques. he was tall, with a hawkish face. his nostrils flared when he spoke, which made it really hard not to stare up his nose, and his eyes were two different colors – one brown, one blue – like an alley cat's.

thalia subtly glanced at ivy, asking her a silent question. the brunette send her nod, she knew what thalia was going to do.

the daughter of zeus stepped forward and snapped her fingers. the sound was sharp and loud. ivy felt a gust of wind ripple out from her hand, across the room. it washed over all of them, making the banners rustle on the walls.

"oh, but we're not visitors, sir," thalia said. "we go to school here. you remember: i'm Thalia. and this is annabeth, ivy and percy. we're in the eighth grade."

the male teacher narrowed his two-colored eyes. he looked at his colleague. "ms gottschalk, do you know these students?"

despite the danger they were in, ivy had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. a teacher named got chalk? he had to be kidding.

the woman blinked, like someone had just woken her up from a trance. "i... yes. i believe i do, sir." he frowned at them. "annabeth. thalia. percy. ivy. what are you doing away from the gymnasium?"

before they could answer, ivy heard more footsteps, and grover ran up, breathless. "you made it! you –"

he stopped short when he saw the teachers. "oh, mrs gottschalk. dr thorn! i, uh –"

"what is it, mr underwood?" said the man. his tone made it clear that he detested grover. "what do you mean they made it? these students live here."

grover swallowed. "yes, sir. of course, dr thorn. i just meant i'm so glad they made... the punch for the dance! the punch is great. and they made it!"

dr thorn glared at them. he looked like he wanted to pitch them off the castle's highest tower, but then mrs gottschalk said dreamily, "yes, the punch is excellent. now run along, all of you. you are not to leave the gymnasium again!"

they didn't wait to be told twice. they left with a lot of yes, ma'ams and yes, sirs and a couple of salutes, just because it seemed like the thing to do.

grover hustled them down the hall in the direction of the music.

ivy could feel the teachers' eyes on her back. as she stood close to thalia she heard when percy asked her in a low voice, "how did you do that finger-snap thing?"

"you mean the mist? hasn't chiron shown you how to do that yet?"

grover hurried them to a door that had gym written on the glass. even with her dyslexia, she could read that much.

"that was close!" grover said. "thank the gods you got here!"

ivy, annabeth and thalia greeted grover with a hug. percy gave him the weird boy handshake that half fist pump and half rubbing their hands together.

it was good to see him after so many months. he'd got a little taller and had sprouted a few more whiskers, but otherwise he looked like he always did when he passed for human – a red cap on his curly brown hair to hide his goat horns, baggy jeans and trainers with fake feet to hide his furry legs and hooves. he was wearing a black t-shirt that took ivy a few seconds to read. it said westover hall: grunt, ivy wasn't sure whether that was, like, grover's rank or maybe just the school motto.

"so what's the emergency?" percy asked.

grover took a deep breath. "i found two."

"two half-bloods?" thalia asked, amazed. "here?"

grover nodded.

finding one half-blood was rare enough. this year, chiron had put the satyrs on emergency overtime and sent them all over the country, scouring schools from fourth grade through high school for possible recruits. these were desperate times. they were losing campers. they needed all the new fighters we could find. the problem was, there just weren't that many demigods out there. the last they found was at the beginning of fall, a pair of troublesome twins, luna and luca hart. they were eleven and after a few days at camp they were luckily claimed by aphrodite, so ivy and silena had a pair of dare devils running around the cabin.

"a brother and a sister," the satyr said. "they're eleven and thirteen. i don't know their parentage, but they're strong. we're running out of time, though. i need help."

"monsters?"

"one." grover looked nervous. "he suspects. i don't think he's positive yet, but this is the last day of term. i'm sure he won't let them leave campus without finding out. it may be our last chance! every time i try to get close to them, he's always there, blocking me. i don't know what to do!"

grover looked at thalia desperately.

"right," she said. "these half-bloods are at the dance?"

grover nodded.

"then let's dance," thalia said.

"who's the monster?" ivy asked.

"oh," grover said, and looked around nervously. "you just met him. the vice-principal, dr thorn."

weird thing about military schools: the kids go absolutely nuts when there's a special event and they get to be out of uniform. ivy guessed it's because everything's so strict the rest of the time, they feel like they've got to overcompensate or something.

there were black and red balloons all over the gym floor, and guys were kicking them in each other's faces, or trying to strangle each other with the crêpe-paper streamers taped to the walls. girls moved around in football huddles, the way they always do, wearing their best makeup, extravagant clothes and heels. every once in a while they'd surround some poor guy like a pack of piranhas, shrieking and giggling, and when they finally moved on, the guy would have ribbons in his hair and a bunch of lipstick graffiti all over his face. some of the older guys stuck to looking uncomfortable, hanging out at the edges of the gym and trying to hide, like any minute they might have to fight for their lives. it was a typical awkward middle school dance.

"there they are," grover nodded towards a couple of younger kids arguing in the bleachers. "bianca and nico di angelo."

the girl wore a floppy green cap, like she was trying to hide her face. the boy was obviously her little brother. they both had dark silky hair and olive skin, and they used their hands a lot as they talked. the boy was shuffling some kind of trading cards. his sister seemed to be scolding him about something. she kept looking around like she sensed something was wrong.

ivy frowned. there was something about them that seemed familiar about them, more especially the boy, but she couldn't figure out where she knew them from.

annabeth said, "do they... i mean, have you told them?"

grover shook his head. "you know how it is. that could put them in more danger. once they realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger."

he looked at ivy and percy, the brunette nodded. she had never really understood what half-bloods smell like to monsters and satyrs, but she knew that a scent could get a demigod killed. and the more powerful the demigod became, the chances grow for becoming monster lunch.

"so let's grab them and get out of here," percy said.

the son of poseidon started forward, but thalia put her hand on his shoulder. the vice-principal, dr thorn, had slipped out of a doorway near the bleachers and was standing near the di angelo siblings. he nodded coldly in their direction. his blue eye seemed to glow.

judging from his expression, ivy guessed thorn hadn't been fooled by thalia's trick with the mist after all. he suspected who they were. he was just waiting to see why they were here.

"don't look at the kids," thalia ordered. "we have to wait for a chance to get them. we need to pretend we're not interested in them. throw him off the scent."

"how?"

"we're four powerful half-bloods. our presence should confuse him. mingle. act natural. do some dancing. but keep an eye on those kids."

"dancing?" annabeth asked.

ivy grinned at the prostate of dancing. "i'm not opposed to the idea," for the first time she registered what they were playing. "nevermind, this music is gross."

thalia nodded, making a face. "ugh. who chose the jesse mccartney?"

grover looked hurt. "i did."

"oh my gods, grover. that is so lame. can't you play, like, green day or something?"

"or queen," ivy added with a shrug.

thalia raised her hand in a high five to ivy, which she countered happily.

"green who?" grover asked. "since when is queen elizabeth a singer?"

thalia rolled her eyes, "never mind. let's dance."

"but i can't dance!"

"you can if i'm leading," thalia said. "come on, goat boy."

grover yelped as thalia grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance floor.

annabeth smiled.

"what?" percy asked.

"nothing," the blonde shook her head. "it's just cool to have thalia back."

annabeth had grown taller since last summer, at about 5'9, she was only an inch taller than percy. she used to wear no jewellery except for her camp half-blood bead necklace, but now she wore little silver earrings shaped like owls – the symbol of her mother, athena. she pulled off her ski cap, and her long blonde hair tumbled down her shoulders. ivy had advised her to grow it out, telling her that it'll make her look older. she had been right.

"so, annie. what designs have you been up to lately?" ivy asked.

as the daughter of athena she is, annabeth's eyes lit up, the way they always did when she talked about architecture. "oh my gods, ivy. i was dying to tell you. at my new school, i get to take three-d design, and there's this cool computer program..."

she went on to explain how she'd designed this huge monument that she wanted to build at ground zero in manhattan. she talked about structural supports and facades and stuff. ivy and percy tried to listen. both knew she wanted to be a super architect when she grew up – she loves maths and historical buildings and all that – but they hardly understood a word she was saying.

the truth was ivy was completely bumped out to hear that she like her new school so much. it was the first time annabeth had gone to school in new york. ivy had been hoping to see her more often. it was a boarding school in brooklyn, which she and thalia were both attending, close enough to camp half-blood that chiron could help if they got into any trouble, or ivy could visit them in the city. despite being an all-girls school, ivy knew they hung out with percy a lot, since he was going to kirkland high school in manhattan. even though now she was living extremely close instead of all the way in texas, ivy felt completely left out of their friend group.

"that's cool," ivy hid her emotions to the best of her ability. "so you're staying there the rest of the year, right?"

her face got dark, she shared a glance with percy who looked away. "actually, i didn't tell–"

"hey!" thalia called to them. she was slow dancing with grover, who was tripping all over himself, kicking thalia in the shins, and looking like he wanted to die. at least his feet were fake.

"dance, you guys!" thalia ordered. "you look stupid just standing there."

annabeth whipped her hand in a surrendering manner, "i'm going to the bathroom. no boy or girl here is my type." the blonde walked away and got lost in the crowd.

ivy looked at percy with a raised. he looked nervously at her, then at the groups of girls who were roaming the gym.

"well?" she said.

"um, who should i ask?"

ivy shrugged carelessly, she pointed towards the group of girls. "maybe that redhead. she's been eyeing you up since we got here."

it was true, there was a redhead who had been eyeing percy. just like every other girl in the gym really. annabeth and ivy weren't the only ones who changed. percy had grown about an inch, while she had stayed the 5'4 (ugh). he went from being considered cute to... handsome. his hair was longer, not from lack of haircuts but the new hairstyle that he found. it reminded her of harry styles's frat boy era, but more beachy vibes. the hairstyle accentuated the complete loss of baby fat on his face. his jawline was visible, and his greek features made him stand out in a crowd.

when ivy first saw him after months, she had to stop herself from blushing. her little unrequited crush that she had put in the back of her mind didn't feel so little anymore. especially when she felt undeniable jealousy at how other girls looked at percy. ivy hated to think she had to watch him dance with another girl, but... she was a daughter of aphrodite, she was testing him a bit.

percy knitted his eyebrows, repeating the looking between her and the group of girls. "but i don't want to dance with any of those girls."

she looked him dead in the eye, sea green meeting ocean blue, and said, "then dance with someone you want to dance with, seaweed brain."

he blinked at her, ivy wasn't sure if he understood what she was saying. she wanted to dance with him, but she wasn't going to ask him.

percy straightened up and rolled his shoulders subtly. running a hand through his hair, he said, "do you– uh, wanna dance?"

ivy didn't show her giddiness, as she silently took percy's hand and dragged him to the dance floor. but there was a twinkle in her eyes that the boy didn't miss, he grinned behind her back.

percy put one hand on ivy's hip, and she clasped his other hand like she was about to judo throw him.

"i don't bite him," ivy told him, noticing how tense he was. "why are you acting like this? we had dances at yancy. just relax."

they shuffled around for a few minutes. ivy noticed how percy looked everywhere but her. concentrating on things spread around the gym.

"so how's everything at camp?" percy asked. "any trouble? i remember you writing in a letter about your new little siblings, the twins."

she smiled lightly at how he actually paid attention, but it wasn't enough to uplift her mood remember the missing campers at camp. "they're... definitely something. but there still aren't enough campers and they were the last demigods to get to camp. that was months ago."

"uh-oh," percy said. "i thought chiron was recruiting with the satyrs?"

ivy sighed. "he is. but there's also all the older campers that are leaving camp. most of the new demigods aren't experienced fighters."

"and your powers? do you... do you think you're getting a handle of them? "

"i mean– i am. but i don't know. there's just a lot going on and chiron says that's blocking them and at the same time pushing them. like i have them but not really," ivy rolled her eyes recalling her tortures hours of training. chiron was bad at explaining things, so he hasn't been much help.

percy frowned. "what do you mean by a lot going on? you said everything was fine in the letters."

ivy winced. it was easy to lie or distort the truth in a piece of paper. she hasn't told percy about ethan's betrayal, how her powers are really taking a toll on her, feeling left out of her friends, and missing the delgados. much less how that was affecting her.

"it's... complicated. i– i probably should tell you something."

suddenly she froze. "they're gone."

"what?"

percy followed her gaze. the bleachers. the two half-blood kids, bianca and nico, were no longer there. the door next to the bleachers was wide open. dr thorn was nowhere in sight.

"let's go look for the other," ivy looked around frantically, none of her friends anywhere in sight. "ugh, where did those fuckers go? come on!"

she ran through the crowd, in the search of her friends, unknowingly losing the other behind. 

a speaks!

eeeek first chapter of the titans curse done. i have an emotional attachment to the titans curse so im v v excited
reminder that i aged everyone up by a year so percy ivy and annabeth are 15 and in their freshman year of high school !
i feel like in this book onwards the differences between annabeth and ivy are really going to show.
the redhead mention isn't rachel btw! just wanted to make sure everyone knew :)

thoughts???