THE ROUTINE OF MAISIE STOMPING TO HER ROOM WAS BECOMING REPETITIVE
However, this time her hand hovered over the handle to her door, pausing at the quiet sounds of crying from Hazel's room. She found herself moving to the room next to hers, gripping the cold handle with intensity.
The door gave a click as it opened. Hazel had been sitting on her bed, head in her hands, surrounded by every metal thing in her room. Necklaces, gems, trinkets, gravitated towards her, almost as if they were trying to comfort her. Maisie could feel her own necklaces and rings shift towards her in an attempt to be closer.
Hazel looked startled, her eyes became wide and she rushed to wipe her tears away, which hadn't helped much since they only continued to flow.
Maisie was never good at comforting people; she was usually the one who needed to be comforted. Maisie hadn't known Hazel very well and regret began to seep into her bones. Maisie was probably the last person she wanted to see.
But Maisie swallowed her doubts and advanced onwards the crying girl. Maisie was the only one who could understand.
Maisie awkwardly scooted to the edge of the bed while Hazel looked at her apprehensively. She struggled to find the words to console the girl. Maisie must've looked stupid sitting there, mouth opening and closing, words refusing to leave her mouth.
"Nico told me about you," Hazel quietly spoke.
Maisie hadn't expected Hazel to talk to her, let alone speak about her brother, "he did?"
She nodded, "when he rescued me, he told me about his sister, Bianca."
"So, you know what happened?"
"Yes," Hazel said. "But he also told me about you. How you treated him like any normal kid. How you helped him. How you made him feel welcomed."
"Yeah, we were pretty close," Maisie smiled. "Especially after the war, he understood me like nobody else could."
"He told me about it," Hazel recalled. "What you went through during the war."
Maisie locked eyes with Hazel, "and?"
"I think you're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, Maisie."
Maisie paused for a second, she had never truly felt strong. As much as she wanted to pretend nothing ever bothered her, it really did.
"What else has he told you about me?"
Hazel laughed softly, "he told me of that one time, the one Percy mentioned at Camp Jupiter, where you beat up that boy for talking bad about him."
MAISIE HAD BEEN HANGING OUT IN THE ARCHERY RANGE
Her, Harmony, and Donovan were attempting to fire arrows into the targets of the mostly empty range. Harmony was getting a bullseye every time while the Nemesis kids were only able to hit few.
"Maisie, you really suck at this," her bother said.
The fourteen year old gave a huff, tossing her bow to the side and summoning her axe. "This is why I prefer my axe."
"Maisie," Harmony began, "that thing is huge! You're going—"
"You're going to hurt yourself," she mocked. "I've been training with it for the past three years, I'll be fine."
"Whatever you say," Donovan sighed, releasing an arrow and sending it straight into the bullseye. He turned to his half-sister, smiling smugly.
Maisie heaved the heavy axe aver her head and sent it straight into one of the many targets in response, her own smug look crossing her face.
"Show off," he mumbled to her, rolling his eyes.
Harmony gave a hearty laugh before it quickly left her face as she looked over at the other archery group.
Maisie turned to see a group of three boys,
around her age, standing a short ways behind a ten year old boy who was attempting to fire an arrow, but was miserably failing.
They boys laughed at every attempt he gave. They were practically falling over when the boy had managed to shoot one arrow completely sideways, sending it into the woods. The recoil from the bow was enough to send the skinny boy to the ground.
One boy in particular walked forward, Gavin Short. He had jet-black hair and the same grey eyes as many of his siblings did. His obnoxious laugh filled the area as he called out to the poor boy.
"Nice shot, di Angelo," he shouted, voice laced in sarcasm. "Another shot like that and your parent is sure to claim you soon."
Nico di Angelo was a scrawny ten year old boy who had just arrived at camp. His sister had just recently gone with the Hunters of Artemis on a quest to save Atlas and Annabeth Chase, leaving Nico alone to the Hermes Cabin.
Maisie hadn't gone out of her way to talk to the boy. Yes, they were in the same cabin since children of Nemesis didn't have an official place to say at Camp Half-Blood, but Maisie wasn't one to go out of her way to be social.
But that didn't mean that the sight of older demigods teasing a younger boy didn't make her blood boil.
"What an awful thing to say," Harmony whispered. "He's just a kid."
"You two are just kids too," the sixteen year old Donovan reminded them. "Don't go looking for a fight."
"I'm not looking for a fight," Maisie said as she watched the boys approach Nico, who still was on the floor. "But if they don't back up, it's what they're gonna get."
Harmony and Donovan exchanged nervous looks as Maisie stomped in the boys direction, grabbing her axe along the way. Nico had attempted to get up from his spot on the floor, but was roughly shoved back down by Gavin, causing his Mythomagic cards to spill from his pockets.
"Hey!" Maisie called out. The three boys turned to her. "Back off, Short!"
"Elliot," his voice sneered. "Mind your own business."
"Step away from the kid, Gavin."
"Or what?"
"Or—" Maisie went to retort before Harmony cut her off.
"Or we'll tell Chiron," she threatened, attempting to stop a fight from occurring. "You guys won't be laughing when you're cleaning the bathrooms for two weeks."
The boys looked at each other with amusement, "is that a threat, Brooks?"
"Think of it as more of a promise," Harmony said, eyes narrowing. "Leave the kid alone."
Harmony had stepped closer while talking and Gavin shoved her backwards, causing Maisie to retort with a similar push. The two boys behind Gavin drew their weapons in response.
Donovan, still holding his bow from earlier raised it at the two kids, two separate arrows drawn. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"Got some fire in you, huh Elliot?" Gavin said, regaining his footing on the dirt ground.
"Don't you dare touch her!"
"Maisie, I'm okay—"
"No it's not okay!" Maisie interrupted Harmony. "He isn't allowed to shove everyone around because he thinks like he's better than everyone."
"I am better than you," he laughed.
"Oh yeah?" Maisie asked. "Says who?"
"Says me," he spoke with an eye roll.
"Well, someone's got to believe in you, I guess."
"I have plenty of people who matter backing me up!"
"I hope you're not referring to Tweedledee and Tweedledum," Maisie laughed, gesturing at his entourage behind him. "You would think a child of Athena would be smarter than that."
"You're going to regret ever saying that to me," his face turned red with anger as he approached Maisie. His face only inches from hers.
"That's a lot of talk coming from somebody with a receding hairline at fourteen."
"That's a lot of talk coming from the daughter of a minor goddess," he spat. "Get your own cabin, then maybe you'll be worthy of my time."
Maisie sent a rough shove his way and Gavin sent one back, causing the two to begin fighting.
Donovan kept a steady eye on the other two boys making sure they wouldn't interfere while Harmony checked on Nico, helping him pick up his cards.
Maisie sent a hard punch to the side of Gavin's face as he angrily screamed at her. He drew a dagger from his pocket as he charged at her.
"Maisie!" Harmony warned.
Maisie ducked out of his way. He sliced and stabbed only to meet air as Maisie was faster than him.
She summoned her axe, using its size and her strength to push him backwards. They exchanged blows for a while, but Maisie was better. She made sure not to seriously hurt Gavin, but she did leave some intentional scratches here and there.
After a particularly hard push backward of her axe, Gavin lost his footing and fell to the floor. He was quick to get up, but one he did, he was standing in the shadow of Maisie's large axe, causing him to tremble slightly.
Gavin laughed, "Seriously Elliot? You need a full axe to fight me?"
"I can fight you just fine unarmed," Maisie spat. "You're lucky I've been going easy on you."
"You can't hide behind a weapon, Maisie!" Gavin taunted. "Just because Beckendorf made you a flashy new toy doesn't make you a good fighter."
Maisie sighed and her weapon turned back into her knuckles, eliciting a snarky laugh from Gavin Short's mouth.
"What? You've given up?"
"Nope," Maisie smiled. "The axe is gone. Fight me."
Gavin sputtered out a response, not expecting her to actually do it. "B—but you're unarmed. I could kill you."
"Then do it," Maisie taunted. "Unless you're too chicken to fight an unarmed opponent."
"I'm not chicken!" Gavin shouted, "I'll show you who's chicken!"
"Maisie!" Harmony called out, "are you crazy?"
He charged. He may have been smart, but he was too predictable. Too stiff. Gavin Short lacked the ability to make smooth and quick moves during battle, unlike Maisie.
Gavin and Maisie may have been more alike than they thought. Both eager to prove themselves, both refused to back down from a fight, both were too impulsive for their own good, and both were incredibly intelligent, but they had a major difference when it came to battle.
Gavin Short was book smart, but Maisie Elliot was battle smart.
Maisie dogged every throw that came at her, exchanging them for her own punches to his chest, the brass knuckles forming bruises under his t-shirt. After a while of dodges and punches, Gavin was getting tired, and Maisie took that as an opportunity to end the fight quickly.
She caught his dominant hand and disarmed him by twisting his arm, causing his to give a yelp of pain. Maisie then swept a leg underneath his that sent him tumbling to the ground. His dagger now in her hand, pointing to his throat.
Maisie spared a glance at the people around her before lowing the dagger and looking to Gavin.
His eyes glared at her, filled with loathing as he continued to mock her.
"What, Elliot?" He called as he shakily stood. "Too cowardly to finish the fight?"
"I have made my point," Maisie stated. "It's time for you to leave."
Maisie turned around to see Harmony's proud smile and a look of complete adoration from Nico. She was about to ask if he was alright when Gavin spoke again.
"Yeah, that's right!" He shakily called. "Go hang out with your little freak friends!"
Maisie paused, turning back to the beaten boy as she staked closer to him. The dagger now held threateningly in her hand.
His eyes filled with fear as she grabbed the back of his head and shoved it close to her, now holding him at the edge of his own dagger.
"Maisie!"
"What are you doing!"
"Talk bad about me all you want," Maisie whispered to him. "But mention my friends again and I'll slit your throat open and watch the light leave your eyes. You hear me?"
The boy only nodded, unable to speak her intense gaze.
Maisie shoved him back, forcing the dagger into his hands as she turned again. She heard Gavin's friends sheath their weapons and run to his aid. She was about to walk away when an idea popped into her head and she whipped around quickly.
Gavin froze as she approached him again. Maisie threw her leg up and kicked him in the crotch with all her might, sending him backward into his friend's arms as he wailed in pain. They dragged him away quickly as Maisie approached her friends who laughed at the fleeting boys.
Nico's eyes sparked as he laughed and Maisie extended an arm to him, helping him up.
"Thank you!" He giggled. "My names Nico."
"I'm Maisie, welcome to Camp Half-Blood."
MAISIE LAUGHED AS SHE RECALLED THE MEMORY
"Nico talked about you all the time," Hazel smiled. "You helped him through more than you know."
Maisie smiled at the younger girl, about to ask another question when somebody walked into the room.
Annabeth's stormy grey eyes looked around the room, widening at seeing Maisie and Hazel laughing over something.
"Percy, Frank, and Hedge went on a scouting expedition," she said. "I just thought you should know."
Both the girls nodded, Hazel giving her a small 'thank you'.
Annabeth paused before moving to close the door behind her and sitting on the bed with the two girls, moving the various metals surrounding them out of the way.
"You want to hear some funny stories about Percy?"
Unedited
2237 words
12/30/24