Campfire in Avalon
After deciding they would spend the night in Avalon, Harry and Percy seemed to slip into a strange kind of routine, as if they had done this far too many times before.
Annabeth was caught off guard for a moment when Harry and Percy pulled out inflatable mattresses, blankets, and even a surprising number of things for camping outdoors from one of the nearby chests.
There were even marshmallows and snacks, and the way they moved made it obvious this was not the first time they had done this in this exact same place.
Most importantly, they had clean clothes to change out of their dirty ones, which were stained with blood and a little torn.
And luckily, Harry had cleaning magic, so at some point, almost without Annabeth even noticing when it happened, the three of them were suddenly sitting around a campfire completely clean, while the beds had already been set up behind them.
"I can tell you two stay here a lot," Annabeth said after seeing everything already prepared for sleeping out there.
"Oh, yeah. Harry and I tried to build a treehouse once, but it failed spectacularly. So having an outdoor camp really isn't that bad," Percy added calmly while letting his marshmallow burn just a little.
This time, Annabeth paid closer attention to the place around her.
And the more she looked, the more obvious it became that this place wasn't just a shelter...
it was theirs.
There were schoolbooks and homework notebooks stacked together like a tiny castle, which Annabeth could very easily blame on Percy.
There were also a few toys scattered around, probably from when they were younger, left there as if they had never wanted to throw them away.
On one of the nearby trees, there were growth marks carved into the bark with both of their names, as if this place had grown up alongside them.
There were even wooden swords of different sizes, from tiny ones fit for five year olds to larger ones, all hand carved and very clearly used more than once.
The part that looked like a training area also had weights, dummies, and other things meant for practice, similar to the ones at camp, though these had a much more personal feel to them.
And, of course, there was food hidden absolutely everywhere, snacks and little treats tucked away all over the place, as if they had turned this place into the perfect hiding spot from the rest of the world.
"When Mom's working and Aunt Mor is too, we usually come here. After all, we didn't really have many friends. And Cousin Dred gets pretty lonely, so we liked spending time with him," Harry said lightly while sandwiching his marshmallow between two graham crackers and a piece of chocolate.
"Also when we were trying to escape Aunt Mor's punishments. Or when Mom was really mad," Percy added lightly. "Though Dred always figured it out right away and sent us back," he said with an amused laugh.
"Even though he always has that serious face, he's actually really kind, good, and fun. That's why we think he doesn't deserve to be trapped here forever. That's why we want to free him. And I couldn't find anything at Hogwarts, but now I might actually have a chance to help free him, even if it means accepting a quest from Hades," Harry said quietly, knowing Annabeth had some kind of prejudice against the god of the dead.
But to Harry, this was a chance to see one of the people he cared about finally be free.
Percy nodded too, feeling exactly the same way.
"Do you know why he's here?" Annabeth asked them.
As Athena's daughter, maybe she had heard something.
Or maybe some story had been passed around, if she knew him by his titles and feared him that much.
"We don't care," the brothers said in sync, making Annabeth fall silent.
"We've known Dred since we were five. We came here by accident, and even back then, he welcomed us. Even when we were children of gods tied to his curse. He definitely knew. No, he said he knew from the very beginning. Even if they weren't the ones who cursed him, they came from the same place. A normal person might hate all of them, and anyone connected to them too... but Dred doesn't," Harry said calmly.
"He's just too cool. He's a real knight," Percy added proudly. "We don't care about his story or why he was cursed. We know Dred, and we want him free because of what we know about him. That's what matters," he added. "Haven't you ever heard the saying? History is only written by the winners. So maybe Cousin Dred was just the loser in his own story. I don't know."
Harry looked at his brother for a moment before letting out a quiet laugh, because Percy had just said something that sounded way smarter than he probably meant it to.
But Harry didn't say anything.
He didn't want to ruin the moment.
"I see," Annabeth said with a slight nod, watching how deeply both of them seemed to care about Mordred, to the point that maybe a story about his past wouldn't really change much for them.
Or maybe they simply wouldn't care at all.
Because they had seen who he was now, and to them, that was what mattered most.
The three of them kept eating snacks and talking quietly by the fire.
And thanks to not having to worry about a sudden monster attack, they were able to relax a little more than before.
And because of that, none of them noticed that Dred was leaning against a nearby tree, listening to the kids' words with a faint, happy smile on his lips, his arms crossed.
Maybe one of the best days of his life had been the day two little children suddenly arrived on the island with confused faces and asked him to become their subject for some bizarre little play.
And after that, the loneliness that had tormented him changed.
And watching them grow up was something he enjoyed quite a lot.
From two tiny, noisy, chaotic little hatchlings...
to two much bigger, noisy, chaotic hatchlings.
But ones he was proud of.
And so the day passed quickly, finally allowing the three of them to rest properly for the first time since the quest had begun.
For the first time in a long while, they could lower their guard.
But the one missing from the group...
didn't have that luxury.
Inside a dark cell, Grover's goat-like groaning and complaining could be heard as he pulled hard against the chains wrapped around his goat legs, but without getting very far.
Other than causing pain in his ankles.
"Stupid hooves. They really aren't helping much," Grover muttered, looking down at his own feet for a moment, still clearly unwilling to give up.
For one brief second, he even considered cutting off his own feet.
But obviously, he shook his head hard the moment that thought crossed his mind.
An absolutely ridiculous idea.
"You should rest for a while. You've been doing that all night. You need sleep. Besides, if you keep this up, you'll just draw his attention again. And that won't be good for either of us," Remus said suddenly from the cell beside him.
His pale face looked like it had recovered a little, though every movement he made was accompanied by the chains holding his body in place.
And there were even more of them than Grover had.
As if he were the most dangerous thing in that place.
"I have to get out of here. My friends are on a dangerous quest that could destroy the world, and I'm not leaving them alone," Grover said immediately, already sounding like he had rested just enough before he started yanking on the chains again.
Remus let out a sigh for a moment.
But then, as Grover kept struggling with his legs and the chains, something seemed to stick out of his pocket.
Remus frowned the moment he recognized it.
"Hey, stop for a second," he said urgently, trying to move closer, though the chains stopped him from getting too far away from the wall.
Grover, seeing Remus's reaction, stopped in confusion.
"That," Remus said, pointing at the wand in Grover's pocket. "Is that a magic wand?" he asked quickly, urgency in his voice. "Can you use magic too?"
Grover pulled the wand out slightly.
"Oh, this... well, yeah, it's a magic wand. But I'm really bad at magic. I basically only used it so I could get into Hogwarts and meet Harry and Percy," Grover added.
"Hogwarts?... Harry?"
For a moment, Remus's face turned serious at hearing two familiar names, but he quickly shook his head, because that didn't matter right now.
"Wait, if you recognize this, that means you're a wizard. Then you can probably use it better," Grover said immediately with hope, and Remus gave a slight nod, a small trace of hope appearing in his own eyes as well.
But before Grover could say anything else, they suddenly heard the howls of beasts approaching.
At the same time, the bars began crackling with powerful electricity, which instantly made both Grover and Remus tense.
"Hide it. He must not have noticed it, or he would've taken it from you. Quickly," Remus said before immediately shifting back into the exact same position he had been in before.
And as they listened to the howls of beasts drawing closer...
they knew that meant the man was coming.