Estelle’s Quest - VioletKitUwU - Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms (2024)

Chapter 1: Life Just Got Interesting…

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Estelle was barely able to see Percy off, Camp Half-Blood is always his last stop when he visits. He visits often but it’s still always like half a year before he comes back. So after she dragged her confidence up and went to face her older brother.

“Percy! Can I say bye to you really quickly?” Estelle shouted as Percy was shutting the trunk of his car.

“Of course, what’s up-“ Percy started to respond in his caring tone before three things streaked toward him. All three things drew blood as Percy staggered and shouted something. He grabbed a pen and uncapped it. It grew to a sword of shining bronze. Estelle turned to the things, they were 10 to 20 birds with metal things, they looked like one of the stories she grew up with. She has seen weird stuff for a while but she didn’t talk about it, she was always too scared.

at least five swept to Percy but he barely deflected them. Think! Think Estelle! What were the metal birds? Uh, stygian- no stymphalian birds, What were they weak to in the myths, or in Percy’s own stories? Uh- And Percy cried out, almost all of the birds were cutting and pecking at him. Estelle couldn’t just let Percy get hurt, he was always too kind. In a split second Estelle grabbed a stick and whacked a bird off Percy, with a squawk it dissolved into dust and a feather. She held up her stick like Percy held his sword and put her back to him.

Percy panted as he tried to stave off the birds, “Estelle, get away, they are just birds!“

“They aren’t!!! I can see they are they sty-“ Estelle staggered as she barely blocked a few birds. She then shouted, her voice cracking, “Stymphalian Birds!”

“Estelle, I can handle this.” Percy said as the birds backed away from them, Wait, they don’t like sounds!

The birds flew down and Estelle blocked a few more, “Percy! You are like 30! I’ll help.” Estelle pulled her phone from her pocket, courtesy of men’s jeans, and looked up a nails-on-a-chalkboard sound to play.

“Estelle run to the car, I’ll handle this!” Percy shouted as he backed up to the car, irritatingly pushing Estelle off balance.

Estelle grabbed Percy’s sleeve and tried to get in, “We will go together! Camp Half Blood! It’s real right?”

With a brisk nod from Percy Estelle slid across the seat. Percy stumbled in, slammed the door and hammered his foot on the pedal. Estelle pressed her hand to a gash on her arm. f*ck, this hurts! Estelle gritted her teeth as she and Percy sped to, well somewhere on long island, Estelle mostly walked around so she had no idea. But as the stymphalian birds lagged behind a hill came into view. On top of it was a tree with a- no the golden fleece, a dragon wrapped around it, and a giant statue- The Athena Parthenos.

Percy looked to Estelle and spoke, worried, “Estelle come with me we can figure this out.” And he stepped out of the car while nibbling on a gold brownie thing- ambrosia. Estelle pushed the door open gingerly, as if her being too rough would shatter reality, and stepped out to see Annabeth and her nieces.

“Hey!!!” Estelle shouted as she ran up to them, “Annabeth! And you three! Charlie, mind talking in a second? Also Selina, please tell me you didn’t want to lie to me? Oh yeah, JJ! Hey dude.”

The four up there startled as Estelle hammered into an invisible wall, “Oh! Estelle, here. I grant Estelle Blofis access to camp half blood!” Annabeth said, her tone off, normally she sounded self assured but here she sounded… Scared? Or unsure? But for now Estelle had some talking to do.

Chapter 2: Some Talks and a Fight

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Estelle pulled Selina, her oldest niece though she was only four or so years younger than Estelle, to behind the Athena Parthenos and spoke, “Did you want to lie to me about, well all this?”

Selina’s gray eyes sparkled as she answered, “Nah, dad insisted and he is your brother.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks for not lying and acting like you didn’t want to, you are way too feisty to be that guilty.”

“Kay, go talk to Charlie, she will want her turn to talk.”

Estelle walked away, keeping an eye on Selina and seeing her brush her blonde hair away and walk downhill.

“Charlie, can I talk?” Estelle asked as Charlie stood there, tinkering with a small machine in her hand.

“Yeah sup?” Charlie responded, gods she always acted older than she was, just barely nine but acting like she was already Estelle’s age.

“Well first, can you throw something together to help me out a bit? I have no clue how to actually work this stuff. And second, WHAT THE HECK DUDE!”

“Well first off, sure I should have some parts. And second off, it was tactical.” Charlie replied to Estelle, her sea green eyes that nearly matched Estelle’s had an appraising look and her black hair held away for utility.

“Well, okay… I think I’ll talk with Percy and then try to see if I could learn some magic of this style.” Estelle replied, irritated with Charlie’s calculating attitude.

“Good luck.” Was all Charlie had to say as Estelle walked away.

Estelle stormed to the Poseidon cabin which Percy was in, hammering the door sharply enough her cuts reopened.

“Hey, what’s-“ Percy began before being cut off.

“WE ARE HAVING A TALK NOW!” Estelle shouted as she barged into the cabin and slammed the door shut, “YOU LIED!!!”

“Estelle, I think it was for the best, I didn’t want you to get hurt.” Percy tried to explain, “This world is dangerous and I hoped you could live as a normal kid.”

“YEAH WELL I ALWAYS SAW THIS sh*t! YOU LIED TO ME AND FOR WHAT!” Estelle retorted every word full of anger, “I TRUSTED YOU AND YOU THREW IT AWAY!”

Percy’s eyes widened as he heard his little sister’s outburst, “Estelle, I’m sorry. I’ll talk to mom and Paul to see what we can do.”

Estelle’s voice rose as she stepped right in front of Percy, “I HAVE ADHD TOO MAN, I SAW THIS sh*t AND THOUGHT I WAS GOING CRAZY!!! YOU DON’T GET TO DIFFER TO MOM AND DAD RIGHT NOW!”

“Estelle- Fine how about-“

“I CAN’T BELIEVE I LOOKED UP TO YOU! IF YOU f*ckING NEED ME I’LL BE TALKING WITH THE CAMPERS!” Estelle shouted, tears in her eyes as she walked out. She walked out of the cabin and immediately bumped into someone new.

“Hey, you okay?” A girl her height asked, her amber eyes shined with worry.

Estelle sniffled before speaking, “N-no, I feel betrayed and- my world was turned upside down.”

“Well if you need to talk, come to me, I’m Liz by the way.”

“K-kay, Liz. See you soon.” Estelle replied, she pushed her anger and sadness to the side, for now she was going to satisfy her curiosity. If the stories were true Estelle could learn magic, and that had appeal, she had been dabbling in witchcraft for a bit now but it was always casual. So it was just a matter of finding someone willing to teach her. What to do, ask around? Nope! Maybe ask a camp counselor? Yeah that would work, Nico apparently still is here, he could be some good help. With a game plan Estelle walked to the Hades cabin.

Chapter 3: Nico’s Help

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Estelle knocked gently on the Hades cabin door, and it opened almost immediately in an eerie way. A few velvet beds lined the walls and a single man sat on a bed, Nico. His dark hair was a mess and he was sliding a bomber jacket on.

“Hey, there's a Nico here right?” Estelle asked as the young man turned to her, he did not look only 4 years younger than percy, he looked like he just got out of high school.

“Yes, what do you want?” Nico said as he walked to the door.

“Well, I wanted to learn some magic and I thought you could p-point me in the right direction?” Estelle replied, wincing every time her wild gestures messed up a wound.

Nico looked her up and down, A large scar on his face stood out on his sickly looking skin, “I will. But first, we are going to the Apollo cabin.” He said it with such certainty that Estelle wouldn’t even resist, and she could really use some

medical care.

Estelle stood at the door to the Apollo cabin shielding her eyes, the place was so bright and she just couldn’t right then. As Estelle stood there Nico knocked on the door gently.

“Will, can you come out?” Nico asked as he stepped back.

“Yup, what’s up Nico?” Will asked as he pushed the door open.

Estelle spoke up, she wasn’t gonna just let someone talk for her, “Well I’m here cuz Nico asked me to get medical treatment.”

“Yes you do. Let’s get some ambrosia and start bandaging you up.” Will said as he turned around, Nico following him.

“Little problem,” Estelle said as she stepped into the cabin, “I am fully mortal.”

“Well then we will stitch up the worst wounds and bandage you.” Will said, pulling a few medical supplies from a drawer and sitting Estelle down.

Will hummed a tune as he worked. It was like he was stopping her from feeling pain as he pulled the needle through the skin on her cut.

“So, mind telling me where I can learn some magic now?” Estelle asked as she grit her teeth.

“Go to the Hecate cabin, Cabin 20, there are some great witches and stuff.” Nico said as he stared warmly at Will.

“Wait! Estelle you are not in any shape to do magic.” Will said as the pain fell into Estelle again.

Estelle winced but spoke, “I’ll just be learning, taking some notes- Ugh I don’t have a notebook!”

“Hey, check the store, they will have something.” Someone in the cabin shouted to the three.

Will started to speak but stopped, starting to hum again. Nico took over instead, “Thanks Kayla! Estelle, take these.”

Estelle held the coins gently as she walked to the store, thankfully she hasn’t run into Percy or Annabeth yet. Nico promised to not tell anyone. As Estelle entered she saw the shop in its entirety, What do I need? Let’s see; notebook, an undamaged shirt, a pencil or something, and some fabric to patch up my jacket.

A split second later a voice startled Estelle, “Hi! What do ya need?”

“Uh well I’ll need a notebook or journal, a shirt, something to patch up my jacket and-“ Estelle started to reply but the person was gone, well for half a second. Then they showed up again.

“Hey! I have what you asked for! Alsoo- Name’s Sky, They/Them!” Sky held out a Camp Half Blood T-shirt, a leather notebook, and a small satchel.

“Uh, thanks? Here take the money.” Estelle said as she offered the drachmas up.

“Okay! I’ll see you later!” Sky replied before running off, lightning quick.

Well I guess I need to run to the Hecate cabin and hope.

Chapter 4: First lesson and a New Weapon.

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Estelle stood at the door to the Hecate cabin, fidgeting with her new book. It was a leather journal with stars on its cover, a simple leather cord was all that held it shut. Then the door opened.

“Hey! You’re the clear sighted mortal right?” A girl with a simple outfit said. Her shirt was covered in little patches that obscured almost all of the camp half blood shirt.

“Uhm, yes.” Estelle answered as she stepped back, “Would you teach me some magic?”

The girl smirked as she grabbed a book and shoulder bag, “Straight to the point eh. Well sure, BTW I’m Violet. Come to the woods with me, I find it easier to teach there.”

“Sure, if it’ll help.” Estelle replied, “Also, did you just say BTW in real life?”

Violet swiftly began walking and spoke, “Yup! Now keep up!”

Estelle and Violet sat down in a grove as Violet unpacked a few jars and a bunch of little containers, “Kay! So let’s get started, I haven’t done any research this summer cuz phones and stuff ain’t allowed.” Violet handed Estelle a jar before continuing, “For this, a little spell jar, you need to first decide what you want to do with it. To start, let's do something protective.”

Estelle quickly started to write out some notes in her journal as she spoke, “So what do I do first?”

“Ok! To start a good spell jar you should use something traditional, in my experience of course, For this jar we will use eggshells cuz they will fit.” Violet began as Estelle kept writing out notes, “Then you should follow your intuition for the rest of the main ingredients, though associations are important. Like running water and iron nails doing some protection.”

They went on with this lesson for some time, hours maybe, before Estelle finished the jar and Violet sent her off. Estelle, on a whim, walked to the camp’s armory and stumbled upon Annabeth and Silena talking about something, but before Estelle could hear any of their conversation they looked at her.

“Uh, hey guys.” Estelle said as she absentmindedly clutched her little magic jar.

Annabeth spoke first, “Hey Estelle, Selina would you help Estelle take her pick of the weapons?”

“Sure mom,” Selina answered

as she took Estelle’s hand and guided her in, “Hey, Estelle?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry for not telling you earlier…” Selina said, her tone feeling far less happy and rowdy than usual.

“It’s fine Selina! I’m mad at your dad, not you.” Estelle replied as she knelt to look at the weapons. A black knife caught her eye. It had an engraving which looked like a night sky and a hilt which looked like a moon.

“Estelle, what do you want?” Selina said, her tone lightening as she stepped over.

Estelle held up the black knife and answered, “This!”

Selina looked startled as she spoke, “Are you sure? Mom says knives are really hard to use.”

“Yeah, knives are also better to hide,” Estelle replied as she looked at the blade, it felt like it was calling to her, “I wonder what type of knife it is though?”

“Let’s ask mom and Charlie! They have to know!” Selina replied cheerfully.

A familiar voice spoke behind them, Annabeth’s, “Well it looks like a parazonium but not quite.”

Then Charlie spoke, where were they coming from?, “It kinda looks like a cinquada.”

As they answered Estelle messed with the blade and its shape changed to a bracelet with silver stars on top of its black metal band attached at the back of her wrist with a moon. With a simple tug the bracelet became her new knife.

“Cool! Well love you guys but I have some new friends to talk to!”

Chapter 5: Fights

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Estelle sat next to the sword fighting arena, twirling her knife as she waited. She had planned to meet up with Elizabeth to practice but her boredom took a ten minute wait and made it feel like hours. She spent the time stewing in her irritation about Percy, He decided to just not tell me! He should have known what I was seeing, am I supposed to just think I am crazy!? I can’t-

“Hey Estelle! Ready?” Elizabeth cut off her internal complaining as she held two axes, Labrys, at her side.

Estelle stood up before she spoke, “Yeah, there aren’t any classes going on right?”

Elizabeth walked in casually, “Yup! Let’s start this!”

“Kay!” Estelle replied as she gripped her knife tightly and stepped into the arena.

As soon as Estelle got in position Elizabeth charged up to her, Axes ready to swing. Estelle dropped to the ground just in time for the axes to fully miss, their glow illuminating the dust they kicked up. Estelle stabbed forward with her knife, leaving a nasty cut along Elizabeth’s side. Elizabeth cried out but immediately brought her axes down, Estelle tried to block but failed. Estelle didn’t panic when the axes came down, they shouldn’t hurt her. Suddenly her arm exploded in pain, blood poured from a cut on her arm.

“What?” Was all Elizabeth could manage before someone spoke,

“Estelle? Dad wants to-“ A voice, Charlie’s, gasped before she spoke, “What happened? No. First get her to the infirmary, then I’ll ask questions.”

Estelle laid in her hospital bed as her pain dimmed, she shouldn’t have been hurt by those axes. But another issue came to mind, her bracelet was on her wrist, and it’s metal didn’t look like bronze or gold. It looked like steel but it glowed a silver color from the stars and moon. The steel reminded her of Nico’s stygian iron sword, but it was most definitely steel not iron. She looked at her cut arm, her camp T-shirt was ruined at the sleeve and cut away, her wound was not that bad. It was just red and shiny, like when you scrape your skin and no blood comes out but there clearly isn’t much or any skin there, but she definitely was bleeding before. Maybe some magic was involved? If so she would definitely have to learn it later. But before she could keep thinking someone entered the room and pulled her up.

A centaur, probably Chiron, spoke, “Come with me dear, I believe it would be best if you were careful though.”

Estelle tried to get up but pain arched through her, “Can you help me get there?”

“I can,” Was all Chiron said before he pulled Estelle up and rested her left arm on his back.

Estelle sat in a room with Percy, Will, Nico, some unknown faces, Annabeth, Grover, Dionysus, and Elizabeth. Everyone was anxious and muttering.

“We are here to discuss two things! Estelle and Elizabeth’s incident and the newest great prophecy!” Chiron announced in a way that shut everyone up, “To begin with! Estelle, a full mortal, was harmed by celestial bronze. This should not happen, mortals are effectively immune to its effects!”

Someone spoke up, Dionysus maybe, “It is possible that the axes were not celestial bronze.”

And there were the mutters again, quiet enough Estelle could not catch most of it.

“-she wanted to kill-“

“-was always problematic-“

“-Estelle was part of the prophecy?”

After a few moments Estelle had enough, she shouted with the anger that built up here, “Shut up! Liz did not try to hurt me! Her axes glowed! She is innocent!”

Percy shot a warning look to Estelle which she promptly ignored as he spoke in a forced apology, “I am sorry for my sister’s-“

Estelle flooded with anger

“I’m not done! You! Whoever you are, you don’t get to say that my friend tried to kill me!” Estelle shouted as she marched straight to the man in the leopard pattern shirt, “I don’t care who you are, you don’t get to say my friend would try to hurt me!” As she continued on her tirade a vine creeped up her leg which she cut in a motion so quick you could easily miss it, “I know for a fact that there are bigger things to deal with!” As Estelle finished her tirade, miraculously unharmed for her disrespect she strode to her seat and sat down.

“Well, I am Dionysus, and I was in fact just pointing out a possibility.” Dionysus said as he stood, unphased.

Everyone else was still in stunned silence when Estelle spoke, rebottling her anger, “So let’s move on, what’s up with this big prophecy and how could I possibly be relevant enough for these meetings to be together?”

Chiron spoke up again, the chatter slowly returning to the normal level, “Well, given we would like to avoid another outburst we will move on. The prophecy which was revealed ten years ago implied a large war which would have a clear sighted mortal playing a significant role.”

“Okay, well clearly something else has been happening?” Estelle asked, trying her hardest to press for information.

“Well; there have been strange occurrences that we believe are connected, “ Chiron answered, again not saying everything.

Estelle sighed and started to speak, “Let me help out there, If a mortal is so important then-“ and she was cut off by a strange voice and green smoke pouring through the room.

Chapter 6: Prophecy and Nightmares

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“One of clear sight,

Battles through the night.

She shall defeat a beast unknown,

And face fear alone.

But she will make a stand,

And return with magic in hand.”

Was what the oracle, Rachel, said before collapsing back into her seat.

Percy looked at Estelle, worried, how dare he be worried after hiding all of this danger from her. Estelle spoke immediately, “Well I’m gonna go on this quest! I’ll take a bit to decide on my friends who will go!”

Estelle ate at the far end of the Hermes table, unfortunately for her she would end up staying there. Then as she actually began eating Sky sat next to her.

“Hey Sky, what’s up?”

“Well you’re staying with us and I wanted to chat with you, you seem fun.”

“Okay, what’s up then?”

“Nothing much really, just running the shop and doing some sword practice. You?”

“I have a dangerous prophecy about magic and fear and lack any direction other than west so yeah.”

“Wait, west? Like far west or closer west?”

“Somewhere near the Rocky Mountains I guess?”

“Well if you want I can give you some intel, I’m from Denver so I know some of the Colorado stuff!”

Estelle stood up as she discarded her plate, feeling tension in the air. She knew Percy would try to talk her out of this, but he immediately walked to her when she left the dining pavilion.

“Estelle, I know you want to do this quest but please listen,” Percy started, “Quests are dangerous, scary, and they stick with you.”

“Yeah, well I don’t want to hide from this world any longer.”Estelle replied as she started to walk to the Hermes Cabin to get some rest, “I am making friends. And this prophecy is important! I can’t let this place and my new friends get hurt! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be off to bed!”

Estelle sat alone next to Sky’s bed, they were sweet, maybe when everyone else came in she could chat for a bit before going to bed. Estelle unrolled her little loaner mat and set her bag at her side. Right as she set her head on the mat she was startled by Sky hurrying to their bed.

‘Hey Estelle! Hope you sleep well, and maybe get ready for a very chaotic morning.” Was all Sky had to say as they layed in their bed.
Estelle sighed, drifting into sleep as Sky spoke, “M’kay.”

Estelle sat up from a falling sensation, but she wasn’t in camp, she was in a dark stone room. She watched as someone walked through an iron door, Estelle tried to get up and face the figure but she was chained to the wall. She watched as the figure came into sight, it was tall, their figure was still obscured by shadows. They stepped right up to an invisible border as they spoke.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t take notice of your little coup?” It said as it’s charismatic voice poured onto Estelle, “Sadly I must now punish you.” And to call it a punishment was an understatement, Estelle realized she was watching from another’s perspective when the pain started, she didn’t feel a thing but every cut and wail induced sympathetic winces. After what felt like hours the body went limp and her consciousness rebounded into her own body.

Estelle woke up in a cold sweat, all around her Hermes campers watched, Estelle’s mat was messed up and her blanket thrown to a corner, all she could do at that moment was breath.

Sky leaned over Estelle, “-Estelle, hey. What happened?”

Estelle shuddered in a sob. What could explain that? No meaning, guide, or- or- purpose! Wait, it has a point! To scare her away! Then she has to go, no way in hell that asshole could assail her in her dreams and not face consequences! And with that she spoke, her voice shaky, “Nightmare, bad one, I-I was supposed to run from my quest.”

Sky smiled at Estelle as they helped her up, “Nightmares are normal for us, we better start getting your team together and send you off”

“W-well Sky,” Estelle said as she slowly calmed, “I was hoping you would come with me?”

Sky looked wide eyed as they replied, “S- Sure! But why?”

Estelle stood up as she spoke, collecting her stuff, “You know the area, and you are chill.”

These two ran to the Ares cabin, they knew who they needed. The opened the door to a sight that Estelle assumed was the aftermath of Elizabeth’s own nightmare. Blankets scattered around a bed, a commotion and a girl sobbing in her bed. Estelle decided to take the lead this time.

“Hey, Liz?” Estelle asked as she sat next to Elizabeth, meeting no resistance she continued, “You had a nightmare right?”

Elizabeth nodded before letting out a whisper, “It was horrible, it, it hurt you.”

“Well it wasn’t me, look.” Estelle replied, “I had a similar dream but it didn't hurt me.”

Elizabeth looked over and sighed, sitting up, “So, who’s coming on your quest?”

Estelle took Elizabeth’s hand and answered honestly, “I am taking Sky, and hopefully you.”

Elizabeth blushed as she decided to speak, “I’ll go. As long as you don’t call me Liz, I get to decide who calls me a nickname.”

Estelle winced at her poor judgment before replying again, “Sure, then grab your stuff and meet me at the tree!”

Chapter 7: Questing!

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Estelle sat next to Peleus, he was honestly so cute but as Estelle just got comfortable next to him when Charlie and Percy arrived. Estelle hastily stood up and looked at them.

“Hey Estelle, we should talk,” Percy said, sighing in defeat and irritation, “If you are going on this quest, at least talk to mom.”

Estelle immediately reached for her phone but was stopped by Percy, “No, use an iris message, I don't want you to accidentally ruin your phone or summon monsters.”
“Okay, what do you want me to use for it?” Estelle asked, noting Charlie was fidgeting with something in her hand.

“I’ll make the message.” Percy said, spraying the air with a spray bottle and throwing a drachma in, “Show me Sally Jackson!”

Sally’s face appeared in the mist, “Percy? Estelle? What’s going on?”
“I got a quest,” Estelle began, “It also dumped nightmares on me.”
Sally got an odd look, as if she knew what would happen, “No, please don’t go.”

“I have to.” Estelle said with a smirk, “Plus something is happening.”

“Okay, but Estelle please don’t try to keep doing this, it doesn’t help you.” Was what Sally said as her image slowly dissolved.

Then Charlie stepped up, “Estelle, I made that thing you wanted.”
Estelle took the Item in her hands, it was a simple decorative pin, “Thanks Charlie! But what does it do?”

“Well, it should turn into armor with a tap,” Charlie said, “It does have a use limit though, it’s once a day.”
Estelle restrained her smile, “Thanks! I’ll be back, I promise.”

Sky came up next, their pack full of stuff, and a sword at their side. They quietly sat next to Estelle, they both were a bit too tired of serious discussions so they would on occasion chat about a book or potential sightseeing on their way back, but their fear held in the air. Estelle looked to the sky, the needles of Thalia’s pine meshed dense enough that she couldn’t see the air. The golden fleece shimmered in sync with the wind. Estelle saw Elizabeth from the corner of her eye and decided to go to her instead of waiting around.

“Estelle. Let’s go.” Elizabeth sighed, she seemed to be still dealing with her dream.

The group was mere miles away when they got attacked, They just got off their train when a flock of birds appeared overhead, Estelle flicked her knife out as Sky drew their sword and Elizabeth drew her axes.
Estelle grabbed her phone as she started to give a few orders, “Sky, Elizabeth, keep them off me till I can disorient them. Then Elizabeth take the right, Sky left, I’ll go to the middle.”

Elizabeth and Sky tried to keep the birds offf Estelle as she reopened the sound she used last time. Elizabeth stumbled into Sky as she swung at the birds. Sky’s quick baiting and dodging stopped for just long enough for the birds to come down, cutting Estelle just as she opened the page.

“Elizabeth what the hell!” Sky shouted as they quickly dived back towards the flock.

Elizabeth scared two other birds away as she replied, “You ran to me!”

“Both of you stop!” Estelle shouted as she played the sound, “Get to killing!”

Everyone shut up as they proceeded with their slaughter, Estelle stabbed any bird in arms reach as Sky cut into their birds like a plane turbine dust and feathers scattering. Elizabeth started to swing into the crowd, her axes cleaving birds in half and never stopping. Sky’s graceful dance started to cut into Estelle's area as Elizabeth finished her area. Elizabeth charged in as the birds were snapping back into action, her axes tearing through the birds like a semi truck. Estelle barely had time to act before the two of them hammered into each other, both dropping their weapons.

The birds immediately swarmed them as Estelle rummaged in her bag for something useful, Wait! The bottle, no, it wouldn’t help. Estelle’s hand instead grabbed at a container of a powder she didn’t remember bringing and tossed the contents at the birds, the birds instantly scattered and Sky took the chance to throw some knives up to the rest of the flock. All that was left were feathers and dust.

The three sat at a campfire barely hidden by an old car off-road. Estelle’s wounds were barely bandaged. Elizabeth and Sky were still bickering as they set up camp and started cooking. Estelle was hastily trying to form a defensive ward around their camp. Estelle poured her energy into the salt scattered around her. As the mist swirled around their camp Estelle felt like any more arguing or strain would literally kill her. Then she passed out.

Chapter 8: Tedious Journey

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Estelle floated in a dark void, weightless. She watched a cabin in the middle of nowhere a weird monster with an anteater snout, long legs, a lizard tail, and red eyes. It circled the cabin and Estelle went elsewhere, the same dark room from the same person’s eyes, They were chained to a wall with solid iron chains still and the mysterious person stood over them.

“You, You betrayed me! Your little talent wasn’t enough! You could have stood by my side and become a god!” The person said, trying to start a villain monologue.

The person Estelle watched from spat at the person as they spoke, “I won’t stand for your cruelty! xd You tried to kill that kid!”
“Oh, little girl, I did succed, and your little revolt failed.” They said, kneeling in front of the girl and grabbing her by the chin, “You have one more chance to prove your loyalty to me, and I’ll even show you a reason to be loyal.”

The man walked away and the scene faded, Estelle now was watching as her mother was pacing their apartment and her dad tried to soothe her, Estelle couldn’t hear or speak as she watched for agonizing moments. Then her dream flickered to the beginning of her first one and then ended.

Estelle woke up to Sky and Elizabeth fussing over her, it was midnight now as she sat up and spoke, “Don't worry I’m fine. Wait, you two stopped fighting!”
“Yeah, you just collapsed!” Elizabeth said as she stepped back.
“I still am mad too, but I don’t want my friend to get hurt.” Sky said as they brushed Estelle’s hair off of her eye.

“So I just have to pass out in the next fight so you two work together?” Estelle joked, earning two sharp looks, “It was just a joke!”

“Not a funny one.” The two said, almost perfectly in sync.

“I’ll keep watch, you two sleep.” Estelle said in a tone that made it clear it was an order. The two laid down as Estelle went over her dreams, this mystery girl disobeyed a person, and then she was “punished” so cruelly. Estelle immediately wanted to find the girl and help. But that had to wait, one quest at a time, and she would need more intel. Estelle had a lot to do during that night, she collected some thorns, glass shards, feathers and a thing which looked like a discarded bullet. She did a little diy ritual and dumped the ingredients in the jar, Pouring a low amount of energy into it, careful to not overexert herself. Then the night faded to day. She held a metal bottle full of coffee she made and shook her friends awake. They groggily accepted some coffee and packed up their supplies.

They walked on foot to a driver who managed to get them west to Illinois before parting ways at nightfall. Leaving these three to stake a camp behind some bushes and trees that tightly meshed into a net of sorts, Estelle tried her protection circle again, this time with a warning. She drew out ancient greek in salt around their camp, pouring her will in, and the circle pulled even more out of her, the only thing that saved her was the quiet bickering that pulled her out.

After a tedious night of decision making and conflict resolution Estelle finally got some rest, laying down to a thankfully dreamless sleep.

Chapter 9: Plans

Chapter Text

Estelle woke up to shouts and clashing blades. She saw Sky and Elizabeth stumbling into each other and insulting as they held off some cynocephali holding swords and axes. They kept fighting! And for next to nothing! Estelle bolted to distract two cynocephali and shouted, “You two! Split them up! I’ll handle these two!”
“Got it!” The two demigods replied as Sky gracefully maneuvered away, baiting two other cynocephali and leaving Elizabeth the last two. Estelle tapped her pin, it unfurled into a chest plate and softly glowed. One of them snarled as they swung at Estelle, she stumbled out of the way and flicked her knife out, the cynocephali seemed startled but immediately ran to her, Estelle hastily ducked, the sword grazed her side and the axes clanged against her chest plate. There’s one thing you never get told about armor, strikes still hurt, so as the pain knocked her down Estelle had no way to strike. Acting on instinct she swiped at one pair of legs and grabbed her new spell jar, she pushed it up and it exploded with power, the jar’s components dissolved into a circle of spikes that shot outward. The cynocephali around her were shredded and the spikes disappeared. She scrambled to her feet, exhaustion hammering through her. And her friends were struggling to not bump into eachother as the cynocephali kept attacking.Estelle stumbled toward her friends in an approximation of a run, maybe she could get rid of one, Her stab pierced straight through a dog head, but she lost her balance and hit the ground.

Estelle smothered her pain as she barked an order, “Sky! Loop around them! Elizabeth, stay here!”

“Got it!” Her friends replied as their conflict fell away, Sky dodging around Elizabeth as she cut over Sky. Estelle pushed against the dust covered ground, she took her movement and slashed the ankle of a cynocephalus. The slight exertion returned all the pain, it felt like her whole left side was being crushed by a hydraulic press. But rationally it was obviously a nasty cut, a fall, and a really bad bruise. Estelle turned her chestplate back to pin form and watched her allies fight, they worked well together when they bothered to communicate. Sky’s slashes tore through one and Elizabeth’s axes ruined the other’s head. Estelle pulled herself up, the pain was luckily dissipating but her jacket had no such luck. She kneeled at the remains of her kills, she pulled out a dog head Ew, a mystery bone, and a tooth. Then Estelle’s self preservation kicked in, she cut part of her shirt away and bound it right below her shoulder, turning it into a makeshift tourniquet. The pain was awful, like her whole arm was burning away. She looked up at her friends but she couldn’t focus, and it felt like she couldn’t breathe, and her heart was beating so fast. She heard a calming voice then she felt lots of pain as her cut felt like it was literally burning and then she felt a soothing cold and then harsh aching pains, her logical mind made the assumption that she was being properly bandaged but it didn’t stop a scream.

Estelle walked excruciatingly with her friends as they ended up far away from any town. But there was still a building there. It was small and looked like a makeshift shelter. Estelle stumbled in and saw ambrosia, water, and food.

“Guys there is some stuff here!” Estelle shouted out as she quickly checked her phone. According to the gps it would be two days of driving to get there, if it was right with where she was, but it didn’t look right. She tucked her phone away and attempted to do a small ritual and prayer.

O’ lord Apollo! I implore you! Grant me aid, help me heal my wounds! This prayer was symple, a small burnt offering of ambrosia and a ring of hyacinths, sunflowers, and little sun patterns. Estelle didn’t believe it would work at all but to her surprise her arm’s pain completely disappeared and she seemed to have stopped bleeding.

Thanks Apollo.

Then to Estelle’s surprise a voice responded, No problem, but I can't do much more.

Estelle nodded in hopes Apollo could tell, it was midday right then so he should have, and she ducked back into the shelter, did another little protective circle and started planning.

“Okay team, we are a bit less than halfway there. What do you think we should do?” Estelle asked, a little electric lamp illuminating their little shelter that they claimed.

Elizabeth spoke first, “We should keep hitchhiking to Denver then go in.”

“Elizabeth, when are you gonna get it through your thick skull that the mountains are over an hour away!” Sky replied.

“f*cking Hell Sky! We need to get to there somehow!” Elizabeth replied, irritation pouring from her tone.

“Well, we can get a f*cking ride but we don’t need to stay in Denver!” Sky shouted.

Estelle was tired of the bickering so she butted in, “Okay! Never mind, tell me why you two keep fighting!”

Sky was first to speak, “Well she a can’t ever act with grace, b never uhh, actually I don’t know.”

“Well uh, whenever I sand back to back with them they bump into me and they uh, I don’t know either…” Elizabeth said, leaving deafening silence.

“So you have one conflict, and it’s not something that happens when you two communicate or have orders, and even then it seemed more like you were doing it to f*ck with each other.” Estelle said, “So uh, why fight?”

Elizabeth sighed before speaking, “Well, you’re right Estelle. So Sky, want to put that behind us?”

“Sure. Also that was an impressive display of maturity for, well uh-“ Sky said, trailing off as they realized what they said.

Elizabeth just smirked as she started talking, “An Ares kid. Well I’m not defined by my father.”

Estelle decided it was time to get back on track, “Okay! So how do we get to the Rockies?”

Sky spoke this time and Elizabeth looked at them hopefully, “Ok, we don’t have the money for a plane ticket so we could get a magical ride, or we just hitchhike”

“Wait! Sky, you are a Hermes kid right?” Elizabeth asked with a hopeful tone inching in.

“Yeah, their father is hermes.” Estelle answered as Sky ran this idea through their head.

“It probably won’t help.” Sky began, “We can give it a shot but we will probably have to hitch some rides then hike out.”

“What do you mean!” Elizabeth started but then calmed down, “Sorry, I’m just frustrated, what are your chances of getting help?”

Sky gave a sympathetic look and spoke, “Like one of ten.”

This back and forth discussion which effectively ended with them deciding to sleep through the night which had arrived and then get going. So they began to sleep.

Chapter 10: Love, breaks, and worry

Chapter Text

Estelle was again in the void of a dream, that faded into the same person, at least she thought. She somehow knew she failed, she was slashing at some people. They were pale, their eyes gently glowing various colors- mostly reds-, and everyone held swords that glowed with power. The battle was odd, everyone was moving with a restrained form, like they were resisting fighting in a more comfortable way in favor of jarring strikes breaking their restrained walk. Eventually whoever this was defeated the others, but two new figures appeared.

They looked massive, one looked mostly human but the other was different. It was a person encased in a giant glowing form. These two grabbed Estelle’s host and instantly disarmed her. These two tossed her into a cramped cage, dragging her blindfolded for what felt like hours. She gets dragged out again and chained to the wall.

Right before the two figures left one spoke, “Veronica, I am sorry. But you made your choice.”

Estelle finally had a name for this person too, but then the dream dragged on for what felt like days, nothing breaking it up. Then her dream flickered to darkness.

Elizabeth shook Estelle awake. It looked like it was dawn, and Sky was burning a lot of their food in an offering and Estelle knew she had to pack up. It was relatively quick, they also left some supplies for any future demigods in need. Sky grabbed Estelle’s shoulder and spoke, “Estelle, I got a ride. But it will only get us to Denver.” They pulled Estelle and Elizabeth out towards a small car on the side of the road, with just enough seats for all of them and the driver up front. They hastily piled into the back as they spoke to the driver, which turned out to be a machine but whatever. Then it sped off, space warping around them. In only a single hour they arrived in Denver. Sky picked a hotel and decided to share some information as they stopped there.

“Okay! So if I remember right Denver was built as kind of a gold rush town that became like a hub because of railroads!” Sky started, their smile cut through the gloom of worry that they had been dealing with, “And from there it just kept growing till it essentially absorbed a bunch of other cities…”

“Cool.” Elizabeth said, her tone said she enjoyed this rant as much as Estelle.

“Yup! And also, Kinda irrelevant but whatever, a bit over is my home!” Sky continued, “There wouldn’t be much space for all of us and I wouldn’t be able to answer some questions so I picked a hotel. Also you two really need to take a shower and wash your clothes.”

Estelle was snapped out of her listening trance by that comment, she rummaged around her bag but she only had one set of good clothes, she would have to check out a shop before they left.

“I call the first shower!” Elizabeth shouted, quickly running about to throw her clothes in the washer and start the shower.

“Well, uh wanna just throw our clothes in too? It would be less wasteful. Uh! but let’s keep some stuff on!” Estelle was mildly embarrassed asking, but she couldn’t pinpoint why. But she would rather just be cheaper than acknowledge her embarrassment.

Estelle and Sky tossed their clothes in and started running it. Estelle looked at the room, It looked pretty simple, two beds and one uncomfortable cushioned seat. Not ideal to be honest. Ideal pushed sleeping arrangements to the back of her mind and started doing some protections around the door and windows. It lasted long enough for Estelle to have her turn with the shower.

Estelle’s shower felt better than she could have imagined, washing away half a week’s grime and blood. Estelle’s hair felt cleaner than ever and in the mirror she quite liked the way her scars looked. But she decided to throw on some shorts Elizabeth loaned her and one of Sky’s crop tops before walking out of the bathroom. Sky bolted in immediately and shut the door. Estelle looked to Elizabeth, she looked gorgeous. Her tank top showed off scars, some new and some old, and her muscular arms. Estelle felt bad for staring but it looked like Elizabeth did the same.

Estelle sat next to Elizabeth and opened her phone, looking for something to do. Video games? No. Book? No. Tv? nope! Random videos? maybe. Podcast? maybe?

“Hey Estelle. Wanna listen to some music?” Elizabeth asked.

Estelle nodded and tapped over to spotify for the short term. They spent a couple minutes debating on what to listen to, eventually landing on a playlist of sapphic love songs. Estelle was mildly curious as to why she chose that. But Estelle didn’t mind. She stared at Elizabeth, her brown eyes looked almost red in the lighting. Elizabeth returned the stare with a smile, the setting sun forming a reddish halo around her. Estelle studied her face; her skin was beautiful like a coffee stained page, her scars the text. Her eyes held a gentle look as her hair poured around them.

Familiar lines rang out of Estelle’s phone, Looking at the stars / Admiring from afar.

Then their moment ended by the shower turning off. Estelle quickly turned off her phone and looked to Sky. They were gorgeous as well, their sky blue eyes looked almost like the midday sky. Their paler skin almost shone. Their crop top and skirt complimented their dark hair. Estelle and Elizabeth sat up in sync as they looked to Sky. Sky strode to Estelle and clutched her hand. They had felt warm and comforting, Sky pulled Estelle up and into a closet.

“Hey Estelle,” Sky said, “Are you okay?”

Estelle blushed and spoke, “Sort of? I keep having nightmare dreams, I feel weird, and I’m- I’m-”

“Estelle, breathe. You what?” Sky began, calming Estelle down.

“I’m scared!” Estelle gently cried, “I’m scared for the future, I’m scared for you, I’m scared for Elizabeth, I’m scared my mistakes will hurt you two!”

Sky gently led a sobbing Estelle to Elizabeth, and as they sat her down they did something surprising. They hugged her.

“Estelle, this week was amazing. You and Sky are my proper friends now.” Elizabeth said, bringing a blush to Estelle’s face.

Sky spoke next, “Same. You made us all friends. And we wanted to help you.”

“Th-Then why did you both seem like you didn’t want to come?” Estelle said, sniffling.

Then both of Estelle’s friends shared a look and answered honestly, “We thought you would want more competent people”

As Estelle’s friends held Estelle she looked to Sky and spoke while tagging in and out of speech, “Elizabeth, thanks for all your help. You’re kinda annoying but you are- so kind! And so helpful.”

Then the three headed to sleep in their own spots in the room. But none of them could sleep.

Chapter 11: Almost There…

Chapter Text

“Hey, guys?” Sky asked, the darkness of the room almost smothering their silhouette.
“Yeah?” Estelle and Elizabeth replied at once.

“Can you sleep?” Sky continued as they squirmed on their bed.

Estelle got up and walked over, “Nope.”

“Neither can I.” Elizabeth answered.”

“Yeah, I feel kinda alone and I don't like it.” Sky said as they moved to Elizabeth’s bed alongside Estelle.

Estelle spoke next, “Can we share the bed?”

“Yup.” Was all that Elizabeth said before they laid down close together. And swiftly fell into restful sleep.

The next morning was a boring task of, changing, cleaning themselves up, snatching up food and clothes, and running to leave at ten. The trio walked out of town with lots of panic every time someone passes them by. But after a quiet walk of chatting they stumbled upon a person. An older woman stepped to the trio and spoke with a stern voice, “Ah. Hello Estelle Blofis. I know one of your brother’s close friends and I would like to speak to you.”

“Not without my friends.” Estelle replied, the woman felt powerful and she knew she couldn’t face her alone.

The woman’s form shifted into a taller woman, with a main face and two fuzzy blurred other faces, “They will be fine.”

Estelle sighed and walked up, “Well what do you want?”

“Well, I would like to give you a warning. And some knowledge.” The woman, who Estelle suspected was Hecate, said.

Estelle smirked, “Well Hecate? Tell me.”

“I helped create what you seek. It is an object of great power, created in collaboration with many rim a others. If you emerge victorious it will be your responsibility, you must care for it lest the world as we know it crumbles to dust.” Hecate explained, “However you are already quite competent with magic. You have the key to your final encounter at that cabin In your bag.”

Estelle pressed a question on the eerie figure, “Which thing?”

“You will know when the time comes,” Hecate said, “Be warned there is also a terrifying beast guarding your objective.”

Estelle sighed, “‘Kay, got it. I’ll be there.”

Estelle walked through a wall of harsh, cold, mist and stepped to her friends, “I got nothing of value, Let’s go.”

Estelle got a concerned look that she brushed off as they walked along the road. The dense buildings of the city faded to suburbs to empty fields. Then as hills came into view the trio saw something new. As the sun set there was a small crater surrounded by raised earth. Perfect to set up camp in.

Estelle walked in, her faded irritation turning to reignited worry. What if they get hurt by that thing? I can’t just lose two of my best friends. She used this worry to form a protective circle with her magic. She walked to the center where her friends waited, a tarp covering their sleeping bags which were laid out less than an inch apart. Estelle looked to Elizabeth but she was busy with various little chores so she went to Sky. Their almost black hair was disheveled and their outfit already covered in dirt. They were staring at the night sky and focusing intently. Estelle sat next to them, her jacket gently falling loose. Estelle looked at Sky and noticed they were shivering in their t-shirt. Estelle would not let that stand, she pulled her jacket off and wrapped it around her and Sky.

Sky turned to look at Estelle and blushed, “Wh-What are y-you doing” Their words being broken up by gentle shaking.

Estelle smirked and answered, “You were cold, and I can’t have that.” Then her mind caught up, Why did I do that? Why did I do that? Why did I- her panic was cut off by Sky hugging her tightly.

“You are the best.” Sky said gently as Estelle returned the hug, a blush of her own forming as she processed what was said.

“Well, when you two are done cuddling come to bed.” Elizabeth said, a blush erupting fully on the two’s face as the stood up and quickly ran to their bedrolls. The three slowly fell asleep, side by side.

Estelle was floating in another memory dream thing. She was fighting a battle with Veronica’s blade, she was fending off people with many appearances and weapons. Her allies were struggling though, monsters, demigods, mortals, and wolf people were falling left and right. She ducked blades, leaped back, and cleaved through enemies. Then she was slowly backed into a tree. The dark forest she was in almost ate at the light as the strange pale people from before returned and the vision ended, her mind flickered and she was above a cabin. She somehow knew it was where her target was, the mysterious dream logic also told her there were two guards, and they were not to be underestimated. She slowly drifted to consciousness as dawn broke near the cabin.

“Estelle!” Sky shouted as they rolled and dived around Elizabeth, catching biting heads on their blade. The thing biting at them was massive, it had 12 heads that all bit and thrashed, it was serpentine and its blood seemed to hurt Elizabeth when a drop hit her. Estelle’s first thought was that it was beautiful, its neon green eyes shone and its blue scales looked like a night sky. Then she realized that this was a hydra and it was hurting her friends. She sprinted to its neck and stabbed an artery. Then she realized what that would do. Acidic blood flew out in a circular radius, which unfortunately included Estelle. She raised her knife and barely managed to block the acid at her face, but it still burnt her arm. She stumbled back and reached for something to start a fire. A lighter? A match? Oil? Torch? Anything! But unfortunately she found nothing. A head knocked her downhill, cuts tore over skin and her blade hit the earth ten feet away. She ran back and looked for something. Then she saw it, their campfire! Estelle took their lighter, poured lighterfluid in a scrap of cloth, and ran to her knife. Estelle grabs it from the earth. She then looked at the fight, Elizabeth got bitten by the hydra and was thrown away, teeth gouging through her leg. It’s five maws bit all across Sky as well, hammering them into the earth. Rage poured through Estelle as she wrapped the base of her knife with the cloth and set it ablaze. She ran up, and time seemed to slow. The hydra turned to her, looked at her knife, and tore eight of its heads off. Blood exploded out, the twenty heads roaring and spitting out more acid. SKY! Estelle turned to Sky and ran up, she couldn’t let that acid stay on them. Estelle slid under one of the hydra’s heads, holding her blazing knife up. It tore through the neck and sealed it. A deafening roar erupted as it started to bite at Estelle. It bit at her and she made a reckless decision, she activated her pin. The celestial bronze armor deflected the bite as Estelle swiped and decapitated another head. Another two heads bit at her, this time at her head. Estelle dropped and rolled to the base of the hydra’s necks. But as she swung the heads hammered into her and her flame went out. She slid down and panicked.
“Elizabeth! Distract it, Sky is hurt!” Estelle cried out as she scrambled aside, her knife hit the earth at the hydra’s feet, “I’ll tag in after I help!”

Elizabeth nodded and Estelle ran to Sky, the distance suddenly feeling like nothing. She knelt at their side and wiped the acid away, the burns mostly focused on their hand. They were wimpering as the burns touched the earth. Estelle poured a little antiseptic on a bandage and poured some water on their arm. Estelle wrapped the bandage tightly around their hand and fed Sky some ambrosia. Estelle looked to Elizabeth and saw her roaring in a fury, she cleaved into the hydra with wreckless abandon, her axes glowed with flame as she hacked and slashed. Bites barely phased her as Estelle ran up. She flicked her knife out of the bracelet which had reappeared and blocked a head from striking Elizabeth. Then with a shriek the hydra exploded in golden dust. Elizabeth crumpled to the ground in pain. Estelle quickly grabbed the group’s spoils, a large vial of the hydra’s blood. She then grabbed Elizabeth’s wounded leg, placed a tourniquet on it and started to bandage the wound. She hastily dragged her two friends back to their camp as she fed them as much ambrosia as they could take. She was met by relieved looks and gentle sobs. Estelle sat there for what felt like hours as her friends slowly regenerated, she started to hum that song Will hummed as he tended her wounds. Her friends slowly but surely regenerated.

Estelle spoke as soon as her friends looked better, “We should get going, if we stay any longer more things will come.”
“Y-yeah. Just make sure to not leave us behind.” Sky said as they sat up.

“Yup, but we are helping with any threats actually there.” Elizabeth said as she started to pack up.

Estelle looked at them, their normal attitudes rapidly returning and smiled before she spoke, “By the way, you two deserve this.”

Estelle held the hydra blood to the two who took it and immediately coated their blades in it. Then they systematically packed up and Estelle took her friends’ hands in hers as she led them further into the mountains, and she knew where their destination was…

Chapter 12: Fear

Chapter Text

Estelle and her friends had marched through the dense grasses, fallen and living trees, and boulders for hours before they arrived at the cabin; it looked to be only a few minutes before the sun set. They needed a plan.

“Okay, so Elizabeth, do you think you are okay enough to keep the monster on you?” Estelle asked as she watched the beast tred its path.

Elizabeth looked at the animal too before answering, “Yup! But it will be tough.”

“Okay, that’s fine, once we beat it I think I will go alone.” Estelle replied, “Sky I want you to play dps, in and out of combat.”

“Kay, what about you?” Sky replied as they dipped their own knives in the hydra blood.

Estelle sighed, she had a hard part, “I will take magic and restrain it for the kill.”

Everyone sighed as they came to a realization, they almost completed their prophecy. But one line filled them with dread.

“And face fear alone.” Elizabeth quoted with a worried look that Sky mirrored.

Estelle forced a smirk and spoke up, “I’ve faced a lot in this past week! But no matter what I bounced back!”

This clearly did little to reassure her companions as they gripped their weapons. Then they sprang into action, the monster lunged at Estelle but Eilizabeth’s axe slashed its leg and it turned to her. It bit viciously, and its jaws clamped around one of the handles, snapping it. Elizabeth swung at it, it jumped away, bolting to Sky. Sky rolled to the side and lodged two hydra blood knives in its side. It howled in pain before running to Sky who jumped over it as they slashed its back. Elizabeth ran up and slashed its maw, which dropped sand as opposed to blood. Sky dove to the beast and stabbed it. But it kept fighting. Estelle thought back to a special story Percy told her. About a weird donkey animal of Set, he said it was immensely difficult to stop and that it turned to sand unlike the greek monsters and dust. She quickly triggered her spell as it was mid leap, vines wrapped around its legs as the jar sat there, cracks forming rapidly. Elizabeth chopped into its face but it caught the axe and threw it and by extension Elizabeth to the side. Sky clearly took offense to this because they ran over, dived to the side and lodged two more knives in its face and one in the earth. They then ran up and slashed its neck. But it jumped away, Estelle startled and noticed the jar shattered. She panicked and started throwing a concoction of ingredients into another jar. She poured her power and some hydra blood into the jar. Then she tossed it. It glowed with a silvery blue power and turned into an arrow. Artemis, if you are listening please let this arrow hit. Then the arrow struck. It tore through the thing’s head and then it turned to powdered sand along with the Set animal. She stood panting, in front of her friends.

“Sorry for messing up. But I gotta go.” Estelle said as she stepped to the cabin door. She saw Sky and Elizabeth rushing to join her and she threw the door open. She stepped through right as her friends joined her, and to everyone’s surprise the door slammed shut and wouldn’t open. A sigh left Estelle’s mouth before she could stop herself. She took a deep breath and stepped forward on the hardwood floor. She stepped forward again and she heard her friends crying out in fear, then another step and she heard voices. Sobs, her friends voices, not just Elizabeth and Sky but all of her friends voices. She took a deep breath and stepped forward. Then she saw something else.

All her friends were laying on the floor, like Veronica was at the end of her dream, they all sobbed in pain as she stood before them. Then the vision changed, and right then Estelle stepped even further forward. She stood in front of all of her friends, chained down, and watched as executioners' axes swung to their throats. Then they spewed blood and a voice whispered in her ear.

“This is what will happen, why resist?

Then she tried to step up again, the chains moved and pinned her to the ground of the cabin this time. In front of her stood the person from her dreams, but something was off, his expression didn’t fit.

“Little girl, I will take all you love. And right now I will claim your friends.”

Then Estelle snapped out of her fear, this expression wasn’t just a small smirk it was full of cruelty. She grabbed into her bag and her hands rested on a jar, her first one. She pulled it out and it glowed a dim light, it seemed to draw from Estelle. She could tell it was draining her, then she remembered something.

Violet sat in a grove with Estelle, she just got done showing Estelle how to put power in the jar. Then she told her something, “Your power is like a battery, and if you push past exhaustion you will either lose your power for good or you will have next to no charge left.”

This was draining her! But the entity was clearly struggling to show her things near her. If she could only get another battery… Then something caught her eye, on a pedestal in front of her was a glowing amulet, but it was just out of reach. She closed her eyes, feeling her power draining and tried to sync up with the amulet, then it flickered a light and she looked at it. It glowed her silvery blue and gave her a burst of energy. She dove and clutched the amulet. She felt it fuel her jar, which kept glowing brighter till it looked like she plucked a star from the sky. Then everything around her absorbed the color. And what she faced was revealed. A tall man with a hard expression, and he poured some of the things she was most afraid of happening into her mind and she realized something…

Chapter 13: Triumph

Chapter Text

This was Phobos, embodiment of fear. Estelle heard Percy talk about it a few times. Estelle, mostly on instinct, drew her knife. She felt her jar start to crack and she knew she had a time limit. She looked around for something that could hurt a god, but before she could really make a plan, Phobos charged. The wood of the cabin seemed sharper and more dangerous, the ground lookes uneven, and Estelle’s jar started to lose pieces. Estelle dropped to the ground and let Phobos barrel into the wall. The wall blew apart and a crecent moon shone over Phobos, Estelle focused on the moonlight, trying to make a new arrow. The silver light coalessed into a wickedly sharp arrow and struck down on Phobos’s arm and it spewed golden blood. He shimmered with rage and started to become his true form. And for a moment he looked like Percy, his eyes full of rage. Estelle closed her eyes and ducked. A wave of power hit her and would have killed her if she didn’t have the protective jar. Estelle stood up and stumbled out of the cabin. She saw her friends running over to her.

“Elizabeth! Sky! You’re okay!” Estelle cried out as she ran over, sinking into her friend’s arms.

Her friend’s warmth subtly shifted and Elizabeth spoke, “You can call me Liz.”

“Kay, Liz,” Estelle quietly said between quiet sobs, “I- I’m so happy you are safe.”

“Yeah, I mean I wasn’t gonna die on you.” Sky said with a soft tone Estelle wasn’t used to.

Estelle took a deep breath and composed herself, “Let’s go. We should try to get some safe rest.”
“Estelle, let’s take a plane.” Sky said as they held up a bag full of around ten $100 bills. Estelle analyzed Sky’s face and saw a mischiveous look, Sky gave a smirk and walked off holding Estelle’s hand. Estelle and Liz walk behind Sky as they lead the group to the Denver airport. Sky somehow managed to go get flight tickets. Estelle and Liz sat in a corner.

Estelle analyzed Liz’s face and realized something: she liked her! Well that’s a development, but let’s save talking about it till we’re at camp.. Estelle turned her mind to what to do. She checked her phone and offered an headphone to Liz so she didn’t have to be endlessly bored and played some music. Estelle starts tapping up and scrapping plans, Staying at Camp for a month, Staying at home? Nope! She won’t ditch her friends and the girl she likes. Estelle repeats this for ages till Sky walks over too, Estelle looked up to them and felt a familiar emotion. Oh- Oh, I like them too. Estelle stood up and helped Liz up.

Estelle, Liz, and Sky walk over to an area.

“GROUP ONE BOARDING” The intercom echoed, repeating this over several minutes till Sky pulled the others to the entrance of the plane. The chatter died down as they somehow sat in their row without a hassle. They sat down and the light outside brightened as it became midday.

Liz spoke to Sky, “Thanks for getting us this ride. This has been a great quest all things considered.”

Estelle let out a dry chuckle as Sky responded, “Yeah, can’t wait to hang out more.”

“Y--aaw- Yeah, let's sleep though.” Liz said as she slumped onto Sky’s shoulder. Estell then noticed her exhaustion. She looked at her companions and leaned on Sky’s shoulder. Then everything faded into a dream.

Estelle was floating in a cabin, her dream started in a different place. She took note of that and paid attention to her dream. Estelle saw Percy pacing, full of worry. And Estelle’s mom was there in an Iris Message. She and Percy quietly talked and Estelle caught some stuff.

“-she could have died!”

“Percy-”
“And-”

“-I don't want her to-”

“-stuck with what I dealt with.”

Estelle watched their worry slowly eminate towards her. And she kept watching this worry for hours till she awoke.

Estelle was shaken awake as the plane landed.

“Estelle, we’re here.” Sky said as they stood with Liz.
“M’kay,” Estelle muttered as she pushed her exhaustion away, “Ugh, how do we get to camp?”

“This.” Sky said as they held a golden coin, a drachma.

Liz helped Estelle up and started guiding her along, “We’ll call a cab.”

Estelle decided not to ask more as they started walking out of the airplane, “Sooo- Tomorrow wanna go get ice cream?”

Liz and Sky looked at her dumbfounded and Liz spoke, “Uhh, if we can get out there, sure.”

“Yeah, we’ll probably have to sneak away too.” Sky said as they led the group to the road and shouted, “Stop o’ Chariot of Damnation!”

Estelle looked at the melting asphalt and watched a taxi cab rise out of it. Then a woman opened the door and the three stepped in, “Where to?”

“Camp Half-Blood.” Sky said as the ladies started bickering in an irritating manner. Their chatter was numbing and dizzying, or maybe that was how fast they were going. Estelle turned her mind to figuring out how to convince her family to let her stay with Camp. She spent all of the, admittedly short, ride planning and polished her argument to a mirror’s shine. But she didn’t know if she needed it. Either way she had to face camp. She clutched her new amulet in her off hand as she helped Sky and Liz out of the cab. The hill’s incline felt like a massive hike to Estelle, as she stepped up the Athena Parthenos’s gold blinded her for a few moments. Sky and Liz caught her as she recoiled. Estelle recovered her bearings and led her group over the hill.

Chapter 14: Ending

Chapter Text

Estelle almost immediately decided to go to the arena, it was too bright, noisy, and chaotic at that moment. People cheered and gave applause but Estelle was so tired from her quest that she needed to be away. She stood on the earth hacking away at a straw training dummy. Her sweat drenched the sand beneath her as she poured her fear and worry into her strikes. Then she caught something in the corner of her eye. She stopped and fell into a defensive stance, her hand clutching some sand as she searched for the thing. Then she saw more movement and automatically ran forward, tossing up sand as she bolted. She dove behind the figure and tried putting her knifepoint to its throat. Then she realized who it was, Percy, and she immediately put away her blade, eyes wide with panic.

“Percy!” Estelle shouted in a panic, “Are you okay, I’m so sorry!”

Percy gave her a gentle smile, his gray hair streak framing his face in a way that made him look chaotic and dangerous, “Estelle, It’s okay, you didn’t even get sand in my eyes.”

Estelle took a deep breath before continuing, “Okay, well it’s not just me attacking you. I yelled and picked a fight for no reason.”

Percy looked worried now, “Estelle, it’s not-“

“No! I worried you for no reason.” Estelle continued, her guilt and sadness radiating off of her, “You- You were just trying to help.”

“Estelle,” Percy replied firmly, “It’s okay. I should’ve-“

Percy was cut off with a hug from Estelle and a soft, sobbing, whisper, “I’m happy to be back with you.”

Percy gently returned the hug and for a moment Estelle’s thoughts stopped spinning. But then he talked again, “So, want to stay at camp for a bit?”

Estelle let go and she smiled and answered happily, “Of course!”

“Okay, you want to stay at the Hermes cabin or try and get somewhere else to stay?” Percy asked.

“I’ll figure it out,” Estelle answered before stepping away with a smile, “Right now I need to thank some people.”

Percy returned the smile and let Estelle leave.

Estelle knocked on the Apollo cabin’s door gently as she rubbed her thumb on her healed wounds, she had some thanks to give and she was stressed. She had Will to thank for tending her first wounds and inadvertently teaching her that tune which had helped heal her friends. The door opened and Will stood there as Estelle started to speak, “Hey Will. Uhm I wanted to thank you.”

Will gave a confused look before speaking, “Why?”

“Well, first off you helped a lot with my wounds when I got here,” Estelle said before continuing to a more private topic, “And you, uh inadvertently, taught me that weird humming thing. It helped me heal my friends.”

“Well, you’re welcome. But i’m a healer,

it’s my job.” Will said awkwardly as Estelle started to step back, feeling the awkwardness immensely.

Next up for Estelle was Nico, after all he helped her get to the things she needed to know. She walked up to cabin 13 and again knocked. The cold dirt beneath her feet shifted as she nervously tapped her foot, this cabin felt powerful and she didn’t want to screw with her magic and break something. Then she watched the door slide open, revealing a tired Nico.

“Hey! Nico I’d like to thank you for well, essentially setting me up to not die during the trip.” Estelle cheerfully said as Nico looked startled.

“Well, you are welcome but how?” Nico replied as he quickly shook himself awake.

Estelle grew a little smirk as she calmly listed all the times Nico’s help led to her and her friends surviving, “…and when my magic shot Phobos. And you are the reason I got to learn magic and got treated!”

Nico looked mildly shocked but he stepped back and invited Estelle into his cabin for a moment. He walked to the other end of the cabin and let out a soft whistle. All the sudden Estelle noticed some things skittering around her, they had glowing orange eyes and seemed to be made of pure darkness. Estelle stumbled for a moment before she looked down at one, and her instincts told her to run. But instead she decided to kneel to one and touch its inky form. A memory forced its way to her mind, her shouting at Percy. She stumbled back and looked at Nico. It was kinda terrifying, but Nico looked startled by her reaction.

Nico quickly stepped to her and spoke, “Uh, are you okay? People normally don’t immediately touch them.”

Estelle breathed deeply and spoke, “Yeah, what was this whole thing for?”

Nico donned a smirk that seemed uncharacteristic for him, “I thought it would be kind of funny, and it introduces people to them in a way where they won’t be as startling.”

“Cool, the little guys seem pretty cute.” Estelle replied as she looked at their mysterious and most likely intended to be intimidating forms.

“Yes, but you should leave.” Nico said as he stepped back.

Estelle, more than a little confused, walked away.

Estelle was at her second to last stop, Charlie. According to Annabeth she would be at the forge. And Estelle watched as Charlie made a little automaton. Once it was finished she tapped Charlie on the shoulder.

“Gah! Oh! Estelle!” Charlie shouted in a panic causing Estelle to chuckle.

“Hey Charlie, I just wanted to thank you.” Estelle said as she gestured to her little pin, “It saved my life several times over.”

Charlie beamed and caught Estelle in a hug she wasn’t expecting. Wordlessly Charlie slinked back and turned to her work, but she clearly was happy. Estelle slowly walked away and marched into the forest.

Estelle tripped over ten different destroyed trees as she stepped into the little grove where Violet taught her. As expected there she was, making a new little jar.

“Hey! Violet!” Estelle shouted, she was tired of just being gentle.

Violet turned around as Estelle stepped closer, “Oh, hey! You doing okay?”

“Yes,” Estelle replied, she missed that girl’s weird speech patterns and bluntness, “You’re teaching saved my life, thanks.”

Violet smiled and spoke, “Good. Wanna learn something new?”

“Sure, if it’s quick.” Estelle replied, she did want to chat with her mom and spend more time with Sky and Liz.

Violet smiles and offers a spot next to her before talking, “Soo, y’know how I said symbolics work for lots of tricks?”

“Yup,” Estelle said, her eyes drifting to her amulet.

“Well, writing words in, well any language, but old ones work best.” Violet said as she wrote on a paper, “And sigils and certain circles work.”

Estelle nodded and analyzed her amulet, there was writing in hundreds of old languages, she recognized ancient greek, latin, hieroglyphics, and runes. She decided to put it on and start crafting a scroll in ancient greek. It was simple, it essentially read as a poetic way of saying that the target will be set on fire. And once the two finished their quiet work Estelle walked to the beach. The sea was mostly still but Estelle kicked up a spray and threw in a drachma. And as she did her whole chant she watched her mother appear.

Estelle spoke into the image, “Hey mom.”

Her mother jumped and spoke up, “Estelle! Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I got hurt a lot of times though.” Estelle said as she decided what to say next, “Also I’m planning on staying at camp for a few weeks.”

“Okay, just be careful.” She said, “Also please don’t disappear on me.”

“Sure mom,” Estelle said right before swiping away the image.