CHAPTER TWO:
TALK FAST

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KIT DEMPSEY WASN'T KNOWN for his patience. In the past five minutes he'd been stuck with Leo Valdez, he'd already developed an opinion of the boy in his head; sarcastic, far too excitable, and worst of all, annoying. He wanted to know everything there was to know about Camp Half-Blood, and about Kit too. Where did he get the scar that curved around his right eyebrow like a crescent moon? When did he arrive at Camp? Who was his Godly parent, another character in Star Trek? Kit's silence didn't seem to deter him, nor did his glare that stared daggers or his icy tone when he absolutely had to speak to him. It didn't make sense. Everyone knew to leave Kit Dempsey alone, what was wrong with this boy?

"What's that?" Leo pointed towards the Sword Arena curiously. So far, Kit had shown him where the cabins were, the dining pavilion, and the strawberry fields, and they were now walking down the uneven path that lead to the Sword Arena and Amphitheatre. 

Kit let out a sigh before boredly telling him, "The Sword Arena. Where we train."

"Train?" Leo's hazel eyes lit up at the mention of the word. "Like with swords and stuff?"

"And stuff," he repeated with a scoff. "You mean daggers, bows and arrows, spears--"

"Yeah, that," Leo cut him off dismissively. He was several steps ahead of Kit, having to stop every couple of seconds with a pout in order to let the brooding boy catch up. Kit paid his pointed stares no notice, taking over the directions as they passed the Arena to approach the Weaponry. "So do I get one of my own? A sword, I mean?"

Kit looked him over with a hint of judgement in his eyes. Leo didn't look like the type that would be good with a sword, what with his lanky frame and all, but perhaps he'd surprise them and be the next Achilles or Hercules. Kit almost laughed at the thought, the only sign of his amusement being a small twitch of his lips that Leo just blinked at. When realising he was serious, he sighed to himself. 

"Yes, but you'll probably end up making your own since you're in Cabin Nine. Hades knows that cabin likes their technology."

"Cabin Nine," Leo echoed with a frown. "What's up with that anyway? And Vulcan? You never answered me earlier."

Because I didn't want to, Kit thought with a huff before replying, "The Greek name is actually Hephaestus. I'm not sure what your friend was thinking with the Roman name. Usually demigods don't even know much about the Romans when they arrive."

But Leo had tuned him out the second he mentioned Hephaestus. "Festus? Sounds like the god of cowboys."

"No, He-phaestus," Kit corrected him, scowling. "God of blacksmiths and fire. Christ, do you ever listen?"

"Yes," Leo retorted, his tone changing from one of amusement to defensiveness as he narrowly dodged a low-hanging tree branch lying in their path. "So the flaming hammer over my head, was that a good thing or bad thing? Because people were panicking and--"

Kit was going to rip Annabeth a new one when he saw her next. Every word he spoke grinded his gears. He couldn't remember the last time someone had annoyed him this much. 

"Well, unlike most demigods, you were lucky enough to get claimed almost immediately," he said, sparing Leo a furtive glance that the shorter boy failed to notice as his elbow knocked into Kit's. "And as darling Annabeth would say, that's a good thing."

"But that Rainbow Pony Dude--" Kit laughed for the first time since meeting Leo. Now, that was a good one. "Butch or whatever his name is, he mentioned a curse and dude, I don't know about you, but being cursed doesn't sound like a fun time to me."

Kit let out an uncertain breath. He wasn't stupid. He knew that Annabeth and the others didn't want Leo to know about the curse of Cabin Nine. But what was his life without a little chaos thrown into it?

"Well, since Cabin Nine's last head counsellor died..."

"Died?" Leo's face went pale. He stopped in his tracks. "Like, painfully?"

"Painfully is one word for it."

"Tell me more."

"I don't know, dude," he said with taunting wariness. He relished in the way Leo bounced around anxiously. Maybe it was cruel of him, but it made Kit feel in control for the first time since the entire tour began. Besides, Leo would forget all about it later when he saw the rest of Camp in all its glory. "Look, I think you should let your bunkmates tell you about it. I've already said too much..."

Leo let out a shaky breath before nodding, mustering up a half-hearted laugh as they continued on their way. "Yeah, where are my home dawgs?" Oh, good god. "Shouldn't their counsellor be giving me the VIP tour? Not that I don't appreciate your services, you've been lovely..."

"Save me the flattery, Valdez," he rolled his eyes. "Your counsellor is a bit... tied up right now. You'll see why eventually, but for now you're stuck with me."

By some miracle, one of the Gods must have been looking out for him, for the next minute of the tour was spent in silence. Kit felt a weight lifting off his shoulders as they got closer and closer to the weapon's room, then Leo stopped suddenly and Kit almost crashed into his back in surprise.

"Fucking hell, Valdez, what's your problem?"

"That old lady," Leo said, pointing at an empty patch of grass in front of them. "What's she doing here?"

From what Kit could see, there was no old lady in sight. He rolled his eyes. So one of the new kids was bonkers. Just great.

"There's no old lady there, mate."

"Dude, look closer," he insisted, latching onto Kit's arm and drawing him in closer despite his deadly glower. "The old lady, the one in black. How many old ladies do you see over there?"

"None, because I'm not hallucinating."

"What?"

"Look, enough of the jokes, alright?" he snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose as he roughly shook off Leo's hand. He'd tried his best but he'd had enough. "Let's just get this over and done with so I never have to deal with you again. I'll take you to your cabin and Nyssa can show you the weapons room later. I'm afraid I might stab you if I'm around a sword for that long."

"But..."

Kit just cut him off with another glare, prompting Leo to sigh and look back at the now empty patch of grass. It didn't take a genius to know Kit's words had hurt him a bit, but Kit couldn't bring himself to care as he ushered the boy back up the path. Leo's feelings didn't matter to him. What mattered was ending this fucking tour and getting Annabeth off his back, at least for a little while.

Fortunately, they were relatively close to the cabins. From the outside, the Hephaestus cabin looked like an oversized ROV with shiny metal walls and metal-slatted windows. The door was one that Kit would usually find in a bank, circular and several feet thick with brass gears and hydraulic pistons blowing smoke as it opened. Very cool, one might say, but Kit thought it was overrated.

Leo, on the other hand, grinned in delight. "They got a steampunk theme going on, huh?"

Kit said nothing as he struggled to get the door to open. It didn't help that Leo was looking at him so intently, that oh-so annoying smile in place. Finally, with an annoyed punch to the handle, it clicked open and swung towards them, forcing Kit too close to Leo for comfort before he stormed inside. It seemed relatively empty. The steel bunks were folded against the walls, each with a digital control panel and blinking LED lights attached. Kit moved past them while Leo hung back, staring in awe like he'd never seen anything quite so amazing before. When he noticed Kit hadn't waited for him, he jogged to catch up with him, almost running right into the fire pole that came down from the second floor. Kit just shook his head at him, though he reluctantly slowed down until they were side-by-side again.

"This place is sick," Leo exclaimed with his head tilted back to look at the steel ceiling. He spared another glance around the room, picking up a long implement from the wall and frowning. "A weed whacker? What's the God of fire want with a weed whacker?"

A soft-spoken voice seeped out of the shadows, failing to surprise Kit but giving Leo the shock of his life. "You'd be surprised."

Leo edged closer to the other boy, ignoring his dubious stare as he whispered heatedly into his ear, "Who is that?"

Kit just sighed to himself. "Come on. I'll show you."

At the back of the room, one of the bunk beds was occupied. A camouflage curtain hung around the space, though it automatically retracted at the two's approach. There sat Jake Mason in a full-body cast, his head wrapped in thick white gauze with only patches of bruised skin visible for them to see. He sent Kit a distrustful glance before mustering up a grim smile for his newest brother.

"I'm Jake Mason," he said. "I'd shake your hand, but..."

"Yeah," Leo cut him off with an awkward chuckle. "Don't get up."

Kit closed his eyes in frustration before opening them again. This boy seriously had no filter. In a way, he reminded Kit of the Stoll brothers. They used to be close, what with Kit spending so much time in their father's cabin, but things had changed. Undoubtedly, they would change with Leo too, when he heard the rumours -- no, not rumours, the cold hard truth.

"Well, welcome to Cabin Nine," Jake declared as breezily as he could. "It's been almost a year since we had any new kids. I'm Head Counsellor for now."

"For now?" Leo frowned.

Jake didn't know what to say. He looked to Kit for guidance before catching himself, averting his eyes to the ground as tense silence ensued. Finally, Kit mustered up the strength to break it, folding his arms across his chest almost defensively.

"Where is everyone, Jake? I'm supposed to introduce Leo to his siblings and there's no siblings in sight."

"Where else would they be, Dempsey?" he huffed with a wistful edge to his tone. "They're down at the forges. They're working on... you know, that problem."

In all honesty, Kit wasn't sure what he was talking about. He didn't pay too much attention to Camp gossip anymore, but he just nodded along anyways. "Have you got a spare bed for Valdez -- sorry, Leo, here? I'd hate for him to end up in the Hermes cabin." The bitterness was evident but neither of them pointed it out, for their own sake.

Instead, Jake just turned to study Leo, almost like he was sizing up how well he'd deal with being cursed. "You believe in curses, Leo? Or ghosts?"

"Ghosts?" he cackled. "Pfft. Nah. I'm cool. A storm spirit chucked me down the Grand Canyon this morning, but you know, all in a day's work, right?"

"Oh, you've got no idea," Kit murmured. This boy was so new to their world that it almost made Kit jealous. Part of him wished he never knew what Camp Half-Blood was, so he could arrive like these new kids with a fresh start ahead of him. Leo thought their world was all sunshine and rainbows right now, but soon he would see it's dark undertones, the monsters and the death and the two-faced friend and foe. Hopefully, it would be enough to knock the happy-go-lucky nature right out of him.

"In that case, Leo, I'll give you the best bed in the cabin," Jake decided. "Beckendorf's."

Kit snorted. "That's brave of you, Mason."

"Watch it, Kit," the boy just glowered. "Don't forget the role you played." The meaning was simple: You, Kit Dempsey, might as well have killed him yourself. His blood was on your hands, as it would be before Kit's final breaths.

The whole cabin rumbled as Jake called for the first bunk to reveal itself. A circular section of the floor spiralled open to allow a full-sized bed to rise to the surface. The bronze frame had a gaming station built into the footboard, a stereo system in the headboard and some sort of glass refrigerator full of sodas and cakes poking out of the base. Again with the dramatics, Kit thought with a sniff. What was so wrong with a simple bed frame? But like with the door, Leo gasped and ran over, jumping right in and laying back with his arms stretched out behind his head. His smile was euphoric. Kit wanted to knock it right off his face.

"I can handle this," the boy murmured with a content sigh.

Jake was watching him attentively. He smiled slightly at his words, though his expression was still grim. "It retracts into a private room, by the way."

"Oh, heck, yes," Leo moaned. "See y'all later, yeah? I'll be down in the Leo Cave. Which button do I press, Jake?"

"Private underground rooms," Kit scoffed to himself. "What next, your own personal helicopter?"

Leo paused, staring at him with surprise. "Was that a joke I heard, Christopher?"

Kit just glared at him. "Shut up."

"Anyways, Leo," Jake intervened with a sigh. "If you don't mind sleeping in a dead man's bed, it's all yours."

Now, that sobered the both of them up. Kit's hands clenched into fists, the curves of his nails creating irritated half-moon crescents on his palms. He didn't mind the pain, it gave him something to think about other than Beckendorf. Jake watched him with dark eyes, seemingly finding sick satisfaction in the way that perspiration gathered at his brow, at the way his face went pale under the sunlight filtering in through the windows.

"The counsellor who died," Leo spoke quietly, almost like the words would summon the man himself from the spirit world. "This was his bed?"

Jake nodded mournfully. "Charles Beckendorf."

The younger boy stood up off the mattress like he expected razor blades to rip through the cotton fabric. "He didn't, like, die in this bed, did he?"

"No. In the Titan War, last Summer."

Kit inhaled sharply, looking away from then. Flashes of blood. In his hair, on his skin, on the glinting edge of his sword as it plunged through innocent body after innocent body. He pressed his nails harder, only faintly listening as Jake explained the basics to a very confused Leo. Oh, what a blessing it was to be ignorant.

"The Titans. Big powerful guys that ruled the world before the Gods. They tried to make a comeback last Summer. Their leader, Kronos, erected a new palace on top of Mount Tam in California. Their armies came to New York and almost destroyed Mount Olympus. A lot of demigods died trying to stop them."

"I'm guessing this wasn't on the news?"

Kit huffed out a hollow laugh, still not looking at them. "How didn't you hear about Mount St. Helens erupting, or the freak storms across the country, or that building collapsing in St. Louis? It wasn't some small thing, Valdez."

"Guess I was just busy."

"It doesn't matter now," Jake mattered tensely. "You were lucky to miss it. But I'm sure if you've got any other questions, Kit could answer them for you."

His words were sharp like a sword and hit right where he wanted them to. Kit spun around with a sneer, unable to stop himself as he snapped, "Watch your fucking mouth, Mason."

"What will you do?" the boy countered, far more braver than he felt with Kit Dempsey towering over him. "Send your monsters after me? You still got contacts in the Underworld, Dempsey?"

In the end, Kit just turned away again, managing to get a hold of the anger burning in his stomach like acid. This was what Jake wanted, for him to lash out in front of Leo. Kit refused to give him the satisfaction. He turned away as Jake explained Charles Beckendorf's role in the war to Leo, letting himself out of the Cabin without a look back. The air felt hot, tense like it was closing in around him. Kit tore off his shirt, wiping at his brow with his sights set on the lake. Hopefully, everyone else would've cleared out and he could be alone. Well, alone as he could get with the dead haunting him.

"Hey, wait up!"

The world really fucking hated him, didn't it? Leo had noticed him leaving and followed, a smile still on his face though it was notably tense after seeing Kit's display of pure anger. 

"We aren't done with the tour."

"I don't care," he snapped. And he didn't. Annabeth could lecture him all she wanted. If he spent one more second in Leo's presence, he'd explode and bring the new boy down with him. 

"Well, what am I supposed to do then?"

"Why are you asking me?" he snarled, wheeling around to glare at him. 

Their faces were just inches apart, so close that Leo could see the flecks of gold in Kit Dempsey's eyes and Kit could've counted the freckles lining Leo's nose like constellations if he so wanted. Kit Dempsey was like a dragon, huffing and puffing fire. And fortunately (or unfortunately) for him, Leo had always been fascinated with dragons. He smiled against Kit's rage, the hard lines of their chests almost puffing as Kit panted.

"Well, you are my tour guide."

"Not anymore. Find someone else to show you the forges. I'm done with you." 

And before Leo could stop him, he turned his back on him and stormed off into the forest, his already tense shoulders bristling as the bubbly boy shouted after him, "See you around, Christopher!"

Oh, Kit was going to kill him if the monsters didn't first.