The Willow Trees' Secret's

I didn't dream, it felt like only moments had passed when I woke up again.

Juniper sat beside me, her head rested on the bed. Her eyes were closed, she must've fallen asleep. Juniper wore a mustard yellow sweater with white buttons over a camp shirt and black jeans. Her hair fell loosely on the bed and her hand gripped mine tightly.

I sat up and looked around. I noticed a young boy standing nearby.

A boy who had dark hair, dark eyes and a mix of tanned and pale skin. He wore dark tanned pants, a brown sweater over an orange camp shirt.

"Hey kid, w-who are you?" I blinked at him.

"Oh, I'm Nico di Angelo." The boy smiled and walked over.

"Man, you look like me. Who is your godly parent?" I asked.

"I don't know," Nico said sitting down on a chair.

"Don't worry, not all Demigods know they're Godly parent, Nico."

"Who's your parent?"

"Hades, Hades is my dad."

"Wow, that's so cool. I don't have his figurine for Mythomagic."

"Mythomagic? Do you mean that game with the figurines and cards of the gods?"

"Exactly!"

"Hey, can I ask you something? When did you get to camp?"

"Three, four days ago."

"How long have I been asleep then?" I murmured.

"Maybe you should ask your friend."

"Perhaps, Juniper might know." I rested my hand on her shoulder and shook her gently.

"Huh?" Juniper raised her head blinking the tiredness from her eyes and saw me. "Peck you woke up!"

Juniper shot up, pulled me close and kissed me.

"Hey, Sunshine, the kid." I pulled away and looked at Nico.

"Don't worry about it," Nico said.

"Juniper, can you tell me how long I've been out?" I asked.

"Four days, you've been in and out of consciousness." Junipers' eyes darkened.

"Hey, Nico how'd you get to camp?" I looked over at him.

"Percy Jackson and some other kids helped me get to camp." He replied.

"I missed my chance to meet him," I grumbled.

"Don't worry about it, you'll meet him soon enough," Juniper said.

"How's your arm?" I asked changing the subject.

"It's fine, much better now. Um, so, Nico why are you in here?" Juniper asked.

"Wanted to meet Peck, I heard a lot about her." Nico smiled.

"Gods, ten-year-olds. Nico, um, why don't you go find some Hermes kids and pull some pranks on the Ares kids? Huh?" Juniper suggested.

"Alright, that'll be fun!" Nico chirped and walked out of the infirmary.

"We were all really worried about you, you know Peck," Juniper said when he was gone.

"Can we go to the willow tree?" I asked.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Juniper helped me to my feet.

I stepped into the shadows and teleported us to the willow tree. I felt weak immediately after and leaned against the tree.

"Yeah, no more of that for you," Juniper said sitting me down.

"I'll be fine, Sunshine," I said quietly.

"You'd better." Juniper sat down next to me.

"I'm glad you survived that injury."

"Peck, y-you knew I could survive an injury like that. So, why did you go into so much trouble to make sure I got back to camp?"

"Because I love you, you're my Sunshine, Juniper. I knew you weren't anywhere close to death, but I still wanted to do everything I could."

"But you could've died, you could've gotten much more hurt. Peck, you could-"

I cut her off by pulling her close and hugging her. It took Juniper a moment before she hugged me back. A sob escaped from Juniper and she cried. I stroked her hair and let her sob in my arms.

"I'm fine, Sunshine," I said in a soothing tone.

Juniper sniffled quietly and took a few shaky breaths. She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater and pressed her head against my shoulder. After a few moments, she looked up at me, her yellow eyes a bright red from crying.

"Peck, Peck, why? Why risk yourself like that? We all had it under control, why'd you risk so much to do that?" Juniper asked in a quiet voice.

"Because I had to, I had to make sure everyone got back to camp even if it... even if it cost me my life." I cupped her head in my hands.

A single tear rolled down Juniper's cheek and I used my thumb to wipe it away.

"You better?" I asked.

"Yeah." Juniper sniffled.

"That's good."

Juniper took a breath and looked down at camp. I looked down the hill and saw some kids talking near the canoe lake. A small breeze passed by blowing some snow over the ground. The clouds blew overhead blocking the sun. I guessed it was late noon almost three or so in the afternoon.

"We should get some training done," I said.

"Maybe you should start duelling two at a time just in case," Juniper suggested standing up.

"Perhaps that's a good idea." I thought about it for a moment then nodded.

"Come on, let's go." Juniper held out her hand and I took it.

***

When we reached the arena, Chiron and Mr. D were talking amongst themselves watching the camper's training. I recognized Juan fighting against a bigger, muscular Ares kid. I winced when he was shoved to the ground, his sword crashed onto the ground and the Ares kid held his sword to his throat.

"Try harder!" The Ares kid snarled.

A flame erupted in me and I raced down.

"Hey! What the heck is your problem?" I snarled shoving the Ares kid back away from Juan.

"What? I'm only training him to fight like his life depends on it." The Ares kid scoffed.

"He's a new Demigod, Isaac and he's young, no need to beat him until he can hardly move." I spat.

"Peck." Juniper rested her hand on my shoulder.

"Do you always need your girlfriend to fight your battle for you?" Isaac scoffed.

"Shut up!" I unsheathed my dagger and held it at his throat. "For your information, I don't need Juniper to fight any of my battles." I hissed.

Suddenly Mr. D was beside us. He put his hand gently on my wrist and lowered my arm.

I glared at Isaac and sheathed my dagger.

"Now, now, Peck, Ivan. No need to be so hard on each other." Mr. D said.

"It's Isaac!" Isaac growled.

"I still don't care! Anyways, John take a break, Ivan go find someone experienced to fight and Peggy, June, come with me." Mr. D said.

Junipers eyes were clouded and dark, she didn't meet my eyes. She turned, pulled her sweater close to herself and walked to the Big House. It didn't take long for us to get to the Big House. I walked in silence with a grim expression. I stepped into the Big House and Chiron went into his wheelchair form and came inside after me.

I sat down on a couch, the same couch as Juniper, except we sat a space away from each other. Juniper's eyes were still clouded and dark but I caught small sparks of sadness.

"You did well on your quest," Chiron said, blinking his blue eyes at them.

"Yet Juan's still unclaimed," I grumbled.

"The gods will claim him soon enough," Chiron reassured us.

A laugh escaped me and I smiled. "I'm sorry, but really the gods? Some gods don't even claim their children, not including you Mr. D."

"Eh, it's fine." Mr. D shrugged.

"Good, anyways, there's a lot of Demigods who aren't claimed. I'm just sayin' the gods are real irresponsible about their kids." I growled. "So why trust 'em?"

Thunder roared from the heavens above and I knew I'd made the gods angry.

"But what do I know, I'm just a kid who's also a child of Hades." I shrugged.

"Anyways let's just say I'm sure Juan will be claimed eventually." Chiron changed the subject.

"Hopefully." Juniper murmured.

It was my turn to feel guilty, what I said in the Arena, did I hurt her? I didn't mean to hurt her, I just got... mad. I felt a sharp sting run down my spine like electricity.

"Can we go?" I asked suddenly.

Chiron nodded and I stood up. I gave my hand to Juniper and she took it. We walked out of the Big House together.

"I'm sorry about earlier," I said after a few moments of silence.

Juniper just looked at me with a grim expression, her yellow eyes looked more like a muddy green, her soft hazel hair looked like it was a mess with knots in it. Everything about her seemed like a mess. I hadn't noticed it before but until now, until I'd said what I had said in the Arena, Juniper was tired and weak from worrying about me.

"I didn't mean what I said, Juniper, I'm really sorry. I just was mad and wasn't thinking and I was worried. Gods, I was being so stupid and I shouldn't have said that, I'm so, so sorry." I said tears stung my eyes.

"P-Peck I'm not mad at you and I accept your apology," Juniper said.

Hot tears streamed down my face and I quickly wiped them away. "So, we're good now?" I sniffled.

"Yeah, we're good." Juniper gave me a small kiss.