Chapter 10

Krystal sighed giddily as Tao did another back flip with a sword in his hand. “He is so hot.” thought Krystal, giggling. It was weird. Ever since they came to Camp Half Blood, Krystal had a tiny (gigantic) crush on Tao. Before that, she always thought of him as a brother. She heard some more sighs and giggles behind her. She turned around and saw some of the Aphrodite campers looking at him with a glazed look in their eyes. Krystal rolled her eyes. With an exception of Piper, Krystal thought that all of the Aphrodite campers were dumb bimbos.  

Krystal sighed again. “I wish Suzy was here with me.” she thought.  Suzy was her closest friend out of their group. Sure, she felt jealous at times at how every guy fawned at her beauty and cheerfulness, but when Suzy wasn’t aware of it herself, why should Krystal think of it either? And now Suzy was at Olympus with Lay and Kai, either about to get killed or something as horrifying. She smiled uneasily. “I am a daughter of Athena.” she teasingly joked about herself.  Just then, she saw Tao going away with two swords in his hand.

Not letting the opportunity slip from her hands, she got up and went to Tao. “Hi, oppa. What are you doing?”She said cheerily. “Hey, Soojung. Well, right now, I am trying to find a sparring partner. Suzy used to be mine, but as she’s not here at the moment, I need to find someone temporarily.” he smiled. Krystal felt her heart stop for a moment. “His smile is so gorgeous.”Krystal squealed inside.

“Are you okay?”Tao asked, concerned. He put his head on her head. She had almost fainted but she had regained her composure at the last moment and smiled at the adorable son of Ares. “Why don’t I spar with you?”Krystal offered, knowing the consequences. Tao’s eyes widened.

 “Are you sure? Are you sure after what happened last time you picked up a sword?”Tao looked worried. She sighed, thinking of the embarrassing memory. She tried to attack the counselor with her sword but it ended up in her crying as the sword almost impaled her on the face. She blushed. “I need the practice. I am a better fighter with a dagger, but I need to be good at sword fighting as well.” she explained sheepishly.

Tao stopped to think for a moment. He shrugged. “Sure.” He said, handing her the sword. She almost fell due to the weight. “How the hell does Suzy fight with a sword like this every single day?”She grumbled, under her breath. “Did you say anything?”Tao asked. Krystal snapped back to reality. “Oh, no. I didn’t say anything. C’mon, let’s go.” she smiled. Tao shrugged again and carried the sword on his shoulders with ease.

“Lucky son of Ares.” She grumbled again as she lifted up the sword with difficulty and dragged it the grounds. She came face-to-face with Tao. He had a serious expression on his face. “Are you ready?”He asked again. She nodded. “Let’s start, then.”Tao lifted up his sword. Krystal felt a lump on the back of . “This is not going to be good.” she thought. 

*15 minutes later*

Krystal fell to the ground…again in exhaustion. Tao had defeated her so many times. He ran to her side and picked her up. “I think you should get some rest.”Tao said. She nodded. “I had a lot of fun today. I usually lose to Suzy. She is a really good swordsman.”Tao smiled. Krystal felt that lump again. She knew that smile. “He likes Suzy too.” she thought, tears forming and threatening to fall from her eyes.  “Are you okay?”Tao looked into her grey eyes.

She nodded and smiled tightly at him. “Yeah, I am. I am just…just tired. I need some sleep.” she said. She dusted off her clothes and turned around to go. She ran to the Athena cabin, bumping into some guy. She fell to the ground. “Oh my god. I am so sorry.” the guy apologized. “It’s okay…”her voice trailed off as she looked up. The guy was so cute. No, cute was an understatement, he was adorable. He was Latino. He had pointy ears, an adorable smile with big brown eyes blinking at her innocently.

She got up with the help of the guy. “It’s my fault. I should’ve looked where I was going. By the way, I am Krystal. Krystal Jung. Athena’s daughter.” she introduced herself with her prettiest smile. She shook hands with the guy. Unlike his soft features, his hands were rough and calloused, as if he was building something. “I know you. My best friend, Jason loves you and your group f(x). I am Leo. Leo Valdez. Hephaestus’s son.” he grinned goofily.

Krystal was surprised. “Seriously? You don’t look…”she stopped and immediately cursed herself. Leo grinned again. “Big and burly like my siblings and father? Yeah, I know. I get that a lot.” he gave Krystal a reassuring smile. “So, I haven’t seen you around here before. Why is that?”She said with a mischievous smile playing on her lips. “Well, Athena kids don’t really notice us. They think we are…inferior.” he said with a serious tone and expression. The smile fell from her face.

He grinned mischievously and let out a peal of laughter. Krystal was puzzled. “Relax. I am just joking. I came here yesterday night from summer school. Senior year is a bummer.” he grumbled. She nodded. His expression changed into a shyer one. “So, um…if you want, you can come to me and get your phone proofed.” he said shyly. She cocked her head to the side, puzzled. “Proofed? From what?”She asked. “Oh, from monsters. They tend to track down half-bloods through their cell phones.” He explained. “Ah, from monsters.” she nodded.

“Okay.” she nodded. Just then Jimin came to them. “Eonnie, something’s happened between the Ares and Apollo campers. We need your help.” she said hastily. “Fine, I’ll be there. Until next time, Leo Valdez.” she smiled. “Until next time, Krystal Jung.” he grinned. She giggled as she went on to help Jimin in whatever had happened.

-

Krystal stood wide-eyed as she saw the spectacle happening in front of her. The Ares and Apollo kids were fighting with each other. And by fighting, it is the type you find in battles. Yerin and Nam-joon looked on with confusion. She then understood what was happening. She took a moment to register the fact that she actually found this romantic. Then, using a megaphone she borrowed from a counselor, she said:”All of you stop it.”Everyone stopped their fighting and looked at her.

“What the hell are you guys doing?”She chided. Her loud voice, which was magnified by the megaphone, had pained the ears of all the campers. “Campers from Ares and Apollo cannot date each other. It’s a rule. We have been rivaling enemies from the start of this camp.”Clarisse declared. “Yah, are you crazy? Even if it is a sacred rule, they have been dating even before they knew they were demigods. They’re in love. Can’t you cut them some slack?”She yelled. “I swear to god, you hurt their relationship, you guys will be in huge trouble.” she warned.

Her warning must’ve had something in it as all of the campers got down from their positions. But then, they turned towards her with a menacing look. “Uh oh.”She thought. She ran for her life. The Ares and Apollo cabin were hot on her trail. She stopped, taking her breath. She looked back. They were approaching her with weapons in their hand. She murmured a small Greek prayer over and over again. She was going to die! She turned her back, hoping it would be quick.

Just then, she heard a roar. She looked back again and almost fell in a dead faint. There was this huge metal dragon with smoke coming out from its nostrils as it breathed fire. It had a terrifying roar. “Stay away from her.” a voice yelled. It sounded familiar. Krystal looked for the source. It was…Leo? He was sitting on the back of the dragon. The other campers ran away in fear. He got off the dragon’s back and deactivated it, turning back into its original form, a box.

“Thanks for saving me.”Krystal smiled in gratitude. “It’s alright. Saving pretty girls has been my thing.” he gave his signature goofy grin. She blushed. “Cool dragon. Did you build it?”She asked, impressed. “Yup. Festus 2.0’s my baby.” he grinned again.

“That was quite brave…what you did out there.”Leo praised. Krystal raised her eyebrow. “Seriously? I almost got killed by them and I don’t think I did anything useful.” she said dejectedly. Just then, Yerin and Rap Monster came forward. Yerin hugged her. “Thank you, eonnie. My relationship’s safe.” she giggled. Krystal was very surprised. “How, Yerin-ah?”She asked the younger girl. “After they almost got killed by the dragon, they made a truce that provided we don’t show affection publicly, we would be fine.” Yerin smiled. Krystal smiled back.

“Anyways, got to go now. See you later, guys.”Yerin said. She held Namjoon’s hand and walked into the woods to hunt. “That’s cute.”Leo giggled. “No, you are.” she said quietly. “Huh? Did you say something?”Leo asked. “Oh, no. Nothing at all. I need to go sleep .It’s been a long day.” she smiled as she retreated into her cabin after giving one last wave to Leo.

Once in the safe walls of her cabin, she squealed. “I so have to tell Suzy.”She almost dialed her number but then she realized she was in Olympus. “Oh, well…never mind. I’ll tell her when she comes back.”Krystal shrugged and as soon as hit her pillow, she drifted off to sleep.