[ Island ]

Description

"A faint clap of thunder,
clouded skies.
Perhaps if rain comes, 
will you stay here with me?"

“Heol... So that’s why we can’t find this stupid island. It’s moving!”

Wendy would have also cursed if Irene weren’t such a scary demigod. But then again, Irene is a daughter of Athena and despite having such pretty features that would make her pass as Aphrodite’s girl, she’s still very much frightening. The latter always has her dagger tied on her left arm, and she cusses in Ancient Greek. Wendy’s dead sure Irene would’ve stabbed her already if she says more.

In front of them lies the moving island which is going westward, perhaps at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour. Not that Wendy actually calculated, of course. Being an Apollo kid gives her the talent of the music and the arts, and she’s also wonderful with the arrows. But with knowledge and stuff? She’s leaving the thinking to Irene.

“Can’t you row our boat faster? Are your biceps all just for display?” Irene retorted, shooting her a glare. “We won’t be able to catch up on that annoying island if you go any slower!”

“Okay, okay, Madame.” Wendy rolled her eyes and started rowing quicker, like a maniac. “I still don’t understand why am I going here with you. I’m not good with combat. I’m only good at singing and making poems. Hey, do you want to hear one?!”

“Don’t be foolish and keep paddling! We’re almost there!”

Wendy pouted. “I’m not stupid! And hey, it surprisingly hurts!”

Irene rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m sorry for hurting your feelings. I figured you already knew!”

Just in time, their boat finally landed on the island’s shore. Irene quickly hopped off to the sand while Wendy followed suit. Both glanced around on the normal-looking island—except it’s not typical because anything about a moving island isn’t normal at all—and realized they don’t know what to do next.

“Uh—forgive me for asking this but...” Wendy raised her hand as if she’s a student asking a question to the teacher. “...what now?”

“The quest says we should find a treasure. So I don’t know, perhaps we should search for it?” Irene answered exasperatedly.

“Well, I’m not the daughter of Athena between the two of us...” Wendy muttered.

Irene shot her another glare. “You know what? Whatever.” And with that, the older girl marched off into the woods with Wendy begrudgingly following her from behind.

One can’t really blame Irene’s attitude towards Wendy. Although their parents weren’t arch nemesis and all, Wendy is simply the definition of annoying and annoying doesn’t go well with Irene’s vocabulary. She even complained a lot when their camp’s head director suggests Wendy accompany her in her quest.

Wendy wasn’t exactly a skilled fighter either. She’s a complete klutz, even slipping on a small rock on her way if she wasn’t being alert enough (and trust Irene, Wendy was exactly like that ALL the time). She‘s also slow and her cheeks remind Irene of squirrels a lot.

Although Wendy is great with arrows. Irene can give her that.

“Hey, wait for me!” Wendy huffed, running after Irene so she can catch up. “I’m telling you! If you leave me here for a minute, I would die straight away! I wouldn’t even die heroically. I would probably trip on a rock and fall on a chasm to my death. You got to help me out!”

“I’m not here to babysit you, Wendy,” Irene mumbled, finally settling beneath an enormous tree. The rain started and if it weren’t for the huge leaves of such a bizarre tree, Irene’s sure she’ll be down with a cold already. She couldn’t even come up with snarky comebacks to Wendy’s antics either. She’s also dead tired.

“Well, you weren’t exactly far from it...” Wendy muttered back before taking a thick jacket on her backpack. “Here. You will get sick. I know you hate the cold.”

Irene’s surprised. She didn’t move nor say anything. She simply stared blankly at Wendy, who was staring back at her with an equally blank stare.

“What? You don’t like it?” Wendy asked, putting the jacket around Irene’s petite body herself. “You’re even shivering right now.”

“N-no, it’s not that. I didn’t expect you to be the caring type...”

“Hahaha, I seem like a romantic person, am I not?” Wendy grinned, sitting next to the girl and taking out a piece of bread to share with Irene.

“Not really...”

“Eyy, don’t be like that! How can I not be romantic? I am the most romantic person I’ve ever met!”

“Waah...” Irene let out an exhale. “Apollo’s kids sure have an overflowing sense of confidence, huh?”

“Only if it’s true.” Wendy chuckled.

“You should take this jacket back. I don’t want to wear it.”

“B-but why?”

“It’s ugly! I’d rather die than to be seen wearing it.”

Wendy would have scoffed at her. Yeah, trust an Athena kid to not care about fashion. What does she know?

“And I trusted Athena’s kids were less trouble.” Wendy chuckled under her breath before putting her jacket on. Slowly, she tugged on Irene’s arms and pulled her close, wrapping the petite girl around her arms the next second.

“I suppose this is more terrible?” Wendy asked with a smug grin. She has seen Irene’s blushing cheeks, and she sure is enjoying every moment. Irene didn’t answer her though, but she felt the older girl’s arms wrapping around her waist beneath the jacket.

“Anyway, before we die stupidly in this scary island, want to hear a poem?”

“Please, no. My ears already bled with your dad’s endless Haikus!”

“Come on, now! To make you feel better, it’s not a Haiku this time!”

Irene narrowed her eyes to Wendy. “What is it...?”

“A tanka!”

“But that’s also a Japanese poem! And I don’t even understand Japanese!”

Wendy shrugged, still with a smile on her face. Now, Irene would have lied if she says that that didn’t get her entranced or anything. Apollo’s kids were known to be the most talented in their demigod camp. They are good with arrows; they are great with arts; they are highly knowledgeable in healing (which is probably the reason their head director asked Wendy to accompany her in the quest). However, Irene also forgot how Apollo’s kids are known to be extremely charming and good looking.

Curse Apollo’s godly genes. Irene inwardly muttered. When did Wendy become so breathtakingly beautiful?

“Where’s your stupid poem? I’m waiting…” She instead complained, looking away since looking at the demigod is proven deadly.

“Fine! Here it goes,” Wendy cleared . “Narukami no sukoshi toyomite/ sashi kumori / Ame mo furanu ka? / Kimi wo todomemu,”

Irene barely understood it. She was sure that the last line is a question, judging by the intonation. Still... she’s sure she heard it before...

Seeing Irene’s distress in deciphering the poem, Wendy laughed.

“You look cute whenever you do that whole thinking thing.” She commented, staring at the beauty right beside her.

Wendy admits that Irene’s the most beautiful in their camp, especially against all those Aphrodite girls. Although she hopes that the goddess of love and beauty will forgive her for saying such a thing. Irene is smart, always the one taking the lead with oozing confidence in it. She admires the older girl a lot, and if she weren’t really that scared of Irene, Wendy was sure she would’ve hit on the girl for a long time.

Yet, Irene is not the type of girl Wendy would hit on. Irene deserves much more than a