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Tina thought her life was weird until the giant dog showed up. That was when she realized her life wasn’t just weird- it was a downright nightmare, a nightmare that involved getting chased by snarling black hounds the size of garbage trucks.
But things only got weirder from there. As she’d been running for her life, a teenage boy around her age had showed up and saved her by killing the dog with a bronze axe. Then he’d shoved her onto a motorcycle, ignoring her protests, and taken her all the way to… here. A hill standing in the middle of empty countryside, with the waters of Long Island sound glittering in the very distance.
“We’re here,” the boy says casually, and Tina whirls on him.
“ Here ? What do you mean? Where is here ?” she demands, glaring. The boy takes a small step back, and she realizes that maybe she’s being a bit too harsh. But then again, the boy was the one who just shoved her onto a motorcycle and driven her away against her will- essentially a kidnapping. She thinks she’s allowed to be a little upset right now.
“I’ll explain everything,” the boy promises, watching her warily like he expects her to lash out at any moment. “Just- follow me? Please?”
Tina clenches her fists for a moment, then takes a deep breath and slowly unclenches her hands. It won’t do her any good to get angry at this boy. He seems nice, and his intentions must be at least a little good if he’d saved her from that dog. She can follow him, and if she needs to get away she can knee him in the crotch and run. Plus, she is a little curious as to where here is.
And if she’s being honest, she sort of likes the boy. Not like like, of course, but he’s been respectful. Not once has he ogled her like boys often do, and she likes that. It’s an instant plus in her book.
“Fine,” Tina says, cautiously moving closer to the boy. “At least tell me your name.”
“Dream.” He sticks his hand out, and she shakes. He’s cute in a fluffy-puppy way- curly hair the color of a Golden Retriever’s fur, bright gray-green eyes, and freckled cheeks. There’s a friendly aura about him, but his eyes are unsettlingly intelligent, and the slightly tensed line of his shoulders screams that this is someone who’s been scarred and hardened by whatever life has thrown at him. If Tina saw him at a mall, she’d think of him as cute, but also a little weird and sad.
“I’m Tina.” Tina follows Dream as he starts climbing up the hill. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see,” Dream replies cryptically. Tina punches him in the arm, and he yelps. “Ow! What was that for?”
“For-” Tina pauses. “Just for.”
Dream grimaces, but then he offers her a crooked smile. “You hit hard. That’s pretty cool. I wouldn’t want to go up against you in a fistfight.”
“What, you don’t think that girls shouldn’t hit hard?” Tina asks, unable to prevent a little challenge from crawling into her tone.
“‘Course not. You should see the bruise Alyssa gave me when I made a joke about her hair. My arm hurt for weeks.”
Huh . This Dream guy is turning out to be cooler and cooler by the minute, which is bad if he turns out to be a kidnapper, but good if Tina wants to be friends with him- which she sort of does. Guy friends are hard to come by for her, since every boy she comes across seems to be fascinated with her face and body, but the only looks Dream has given her are appraising ones- like she’s a complicated puzzle that needs analyzing, not like she’s a pretty portrait to ogle.
The ground starts to grow steeper underneath her feet. She follows Dream up the hill, and when she reaches the crest, she stops and gasps at the sight before her.
She could swear that there was only flat, forested land past the hill before, but now, tucked into a valley at the foot of a hill, is what looks almost like a tiny village that shouldn’t be able to fit into this space. There are large buildings in a U-shape, a fancy pavilion, an archery range, a colosseum like a mini version of the one in Rome, and dozens of other things. To the left, the Atlantic ocean sparkles under the sun, and to the right, fields of strawberry plants stretch out like a sea of green, brown, and red.
“Wow,” Tina breathes.
Dream’s smile is proud. “Welcome to Camp Half-Blood.”
He leads her down the hill and into the camp. Now Tina can see that the valley is filled with people, some a little older than her and others as young as eight or nine. Almost everyone is wearing orange T-shirts, and almost everyone looks happy. Definitely not a prison for kidnapped children, then.
Most people don’t seem to notice as Tina and Dream walk by, though a few give Dream friendly nods or waves. So it’s a surprise when someone- a tall, muscular boy with long pink hair- actually stops and says something to Dream. “Hey. New camper?”
His voice is deep and monotone, making Tina jump a little. Dream only nods cheerfully. “Yep. This is Tina. Tina, meet Technoblade, head counselor of the Ares cabin.”
Ares? Like the Greek war god? What does he have to do with anything? Tina wonders, but Techno speaks before she can voice her question aloud. “‘Sup. Is Carl safe, nerd?” He directs this last part at Dream.
Dream rolls his eyes. “Yes, Techno, Carl is safe. He’s parked on the side of the road.” To Tina, Dream says, “Carl is Techno’s motorcycle. I borrowed him to find you.”
Tina nods absentmindedly, not really absorbing the words. “So, wait. You said Techno is head counselor of the Ares cabin? What does that mean?”
“Oh.” Techno exhales and smirks at Dream. “Good luck. Want me to get Scott?”
“No, I’ll take her to him later, but I can explain this myself,” Dream says, scowling at Techno.
“Suit yourself.” Techno turns and starts to walk away, but he pauses and looks over his shoulder at Dream. “By the way, someone will be happy that you’re back. Better find him soon before he gets too worried.”
“Technoblade!” Dream shrieks, blushing furiously, but Techno is already gone.
“What? Who?” Tina demands, curiosity momentarily distracting her from her question.
“Nothing. He’s just being an idiot.” The words would be more convincing if Dream’s cheeks weren’t the color of strawberry juice. “Anyways, to answer your question… wait, first of all: do you believe in the Greek gods?”
Tina squints at Dream. “I would say no,” she says slowly. “But I feel like this is one of those questions, so I’m just going to assume that they are real.”
Dream nods. “You seem surprisingly calm about it.”
“I mean, why not?” Tina shrugs. “If there might be intelligent beings like us on a planet like ours somewhere out in the cosmos, who’s to say the Greek gods don’t exist? Besides, my dad always told me that myths are just true stories that people have forgotten.”
“Your dad is right.” Dream looks a little impressed. “Well, this makes my job a lot easier. Basically, the Greek gods are real. They live in Olympus right above Manhattan- to get there, take the Empire State Building elevator to the 600th floor. Anyways, they’re real, and one of them is your mom.”
“My… mom?” Tina asks skeptically. But it makes sense- she’s never met her mom, which would be understandable if said mom was a goddess with goddess-ly responsibilities.
“Your dad is mortal, right? That means your mom is a goddess, and you’re a demigod. It’s the only reason why that hellhound would’ve attacked you. Plus, Scott is never wrong about new campers.”
Tina blinks, trying to cram all the new information in that sentence into her brain. So she’s a demigod, her mom is a Greek goddess, and that’s why she was attacked by that giant dog thing. Wonderful.
“Who’s your mom, then?” she asks. “And who’s mine? And what’s that have anything to do with this place?”
“Camp Half-Blood is one of the last safe places for Greek demigods like us,” Dream explains. “There’s a magical boundary, so monsters can’t get in. It’s mainly a summer camp, but some people stay year-round for various reasons.” Dream pauses to take a breath. “My mom’s Athena, goddess of wisdom, war, and crafts. You won’t know who your mom is until she claims you, but I have a guess.”
“Who?” Tina demands, excitement fluttering in her stomach. She’s been yearning to know who her mom is all her life, ever since her dad told her she once had a mom, and this could be her chance to learn.
“Aphrodite. You’re prettier than average.” Dream says it matter-of-factly, like it’s a simple observation, but Tina still can’t help but flinch. She’s had enough of boys calling her pretty for a lifetime. Dream seems to notice, because he hurriedly says, “I’m not hitting on you or anything. It’s just a fact. I wouldn’t even want to hit on you- I’m gay.”
“Oh,” Tina says, and she lets out a relieved laugh. “Okay, then.”
Dream smiles at her. “Yeah.” He pitches his voice lower and gruffly says, “I’m not like other guys- I’m gay.”
Tina giggles. “You really aren’t like other guys, though. Usually they try to hit on me.”
“Well, if anyone does that here, tell me and I’ll beat ‘em up.”
The comment makes Tina feel warm inside. “I can fend for myself, but I’ll keep that in mind. So anyways- you think my mom’s Aphrodite?”
“Yeah. It would be my first guess.”
As if on cue, there’s a pink flash. Tina shrieks as her T-shirt and jeans are suddenly replaced by a sleeveless white dress made of gossamer silk. Gold bracelets appear on her arms, and her hair drapes across her shoulder in a perfect braid that she certainly didn’t remember being there before. She doesn’t even braid her hair!
“Wha-” she gasps, instinctively looking up at Dream for help.
Dream’s expression is bemused. “Looks like you’ve been claimed by Aphrodite. Here-” the blonde rummages around in his hoodie pocket and hands Tina a small handheld mirror. She looks into it and gasps when she sees the makeup on her face- pink lipstick, perfect eyeliner, gold eyeshadow, and even a little bit of blush.
“What the f*ck!” she yelps, almost dropping the mirror. “What- where did the makeup come from? I don’t even wear makeup! And what the hell is this?” She tugs at her dress, her shoulders feeling horribly exposed.
“It’s Aphrodite’s blessing,” Dream explains patiently. “When the goddess of love claims her children, she bestows her blessing upon them. It makes your appearance perfect, and I think it lasts a couple of days. Not sure, though. Alyssa could probably explain it better.”
Dream might as well have spoken gibberish. Tina stares at him, trying to get the words to compute in her brain. But the only thing she can think is, WHAT THE FLIPPITY F*CK .
As if noticing her confusion, Dream takes her elbow and begins tugging her away. “C’mon, I’ll take you to Alyssa. She’ll explain everything.”
---
Four hours later, Tina stands in the dining pavilion, feeling much better than before. After she’d been claimed, Dream had taken her to Cabin 10- Aphrodite’s cabin- to meet her new siblings, and they had been super nice and explained everything. Alyssa, the head counselor, had given Tina a spare set of casual clothes and some makeup remover, although she’d warned that no matter what, Tina’s appearance would be perfect for the next few days. But Tina hadn’t cared, so long as she got rid of the stupid eyeliner and lipstick.
Alyssa had also taken her on a tour of camp, explained all the rules, and given her a weapon- a small but sharp dagger. Now, the dagger hangs from Tina’s waist as she gets up and scrapes a small portion of her meal into the fire- a sacrifice for the gods.
Scott, a minor god of chaos and the director of camp, takes role, and then everyone digs into their meals. Apparently, the rules used to be that everyone had to sit at their cabin’s table, but Alyssa had explained that no one cared about that rule anymore and you could sit pretty much wherever you wanted, so long as you were respectful. So Tina takes her plate of brisket and goes to sit with Dream.
The son of Athena is already sitting with several other people- Techno, a blonde boy with ice blue eyes, a boy wearing a black hoodie and face mask, a raven-haired boy, and a brunette who looks half-asleep. Tina pauses, hesitating, but when Dream smiles at her and waves her over, she gathers her courage and sits down next to him. “Hi.”
“Hi, Tina! Everyone, this is Tina. Tina, meet my friends.” Dream begins pointing at the other people. “You already know Techno. This is my brother, Punz. He’s our cabin’s counselor. This idiot-” Dream nudges the dark-haired boy fondly- “is my bestie, Sapnap, son of Hephaestus. This other idiot-” a nudge to the brunette- “is George, son of Hypnos. And this is Illumina, son of Hades.”
Dream’s voice hitches a bit when he introduces Illumina, and Tina tilts her head curiously. There’s a faint pink blush on Dream’s cheeks- when did that get there?- and he seems to be looking anywhere but Illumina. Tina doesn’t have time to dwell on it, though, because Sapnap is sticking out his hand to shake. “Hey. You’re the new kid, huh? Dream told me you punched him. That was pretty epic of you, punching Dream.”
Techno snorts into a cup of strawberry soda. “Anyone can punch Dream.” As if to prove his point, he casually slams his fist into Dream’s stomach.
“Ow,” Dream complains, and punches Techno back. Techno punches him again, and the two soon derail into a poking match. Tina watches like she would watch a tennis game. She wonders what’s going on with Dream and Techno- they seem like friends, but the type of friends who constantly trash-talk each other and would beat each other up given the opportunity.
Punz and Sapnap immediately begin egging the two boys on, and George is busy cramming food into his mouth, so Tina turns her attention to Illumina. There’s a sort of dark, chilly aura around him that makes Tina shiver, but it’s at odds with the crinkle lines around his eyes that suggest he smiles a lot. She supposes that the chilliness might just be a Hades thing.
Illumina notices her staring and gives her a little wave. “Hey.” He’s handsome in a dark and mysterious way, with deep coffee brown eyes, tan skin, and hair that borders on black. If Tina saw him at the mall, she would think of him as one of those brooding boys that every girl at school has a crush on.
“Hi.” Tina blushes, embarrassed to be caught staring. “I didn’t know Hades had kids,” she blurts out, then quickly backtracks. “Sorry, that sounds really rude.”
“Nah, it’s fine.” Illumina laughs. He has a faint accent- Canadian, maybe. “It’s true that my dad doesn’t get out much, but I guess he really liked my mom.”
Tina nods. “So what can you do? Can you, like, make me a ghost?”
She’d said it jokingly, but Illumina nods. “If I tried hard enough. I can also raise the undead, control shadows, shadow-travel, that kind of stuff.”
“Wow,” Tina says, a little impressed and also a little terrified. “And all I can do is be pretty.”
She must’ve sounded bitter, because Illumina reaches out and gently touches her hand. “Hey, that’s not true. Love is powerful, y’know. Dangerous, even. Children of Aphrodite like you could amplify someone’s feelings of love and make them do something really stupid. And some of you guys have charmspeak, so you can force people to do something really stupid.”
“My boyfriend Boomer has charmspeak,” Punz says, speaking to Tina for the first time. “Once he got mad at me and told me to bang my head against a tree. I had a headache for days.”
Maybe it’s because she’s a daughter of Aphrodite, but relationships have always intrigued Tina, and now she sits up a little straighter in her chair. “Wait, so, who’s dating who here?”
“Punz is dating Boomer,” Dream says, counting on his fingers. “Sappy here is dating Karl and Quackity from Cabins 11 and 12. Tech and George are both aroace, and Lumi and I are single pringles.”
“What do you mean?” Techno asks. “Clearly you two are-”
“Techno!” Dream slaps a hand over Techno’s mouth, cutting off the rest of the pinkette’s sentence. Dream’s cheeks are bright red, and so is Illumina’s neck. Tina looks back and forth between the two and frowns thoughtfully. Something is definitely going on between Dream and Illumina… but what?
Suddenly, Dream shrieks, “Ew, did you just lick me?” And Tina’s thoughts are swept away as she laughs and laughs along with the rest of her new friends.
---
A few days after she arrived at Camp Half-Blood, Tina begins to realize that maybe she inherited more from her mother than just good looks- maybe she also got the ability to sense romantic pining.
It starts like this: she’s at the archery range, learning how to shoot a bow with Dream and Illumina as her coaches. Dream shows her how to notch an arrow, then how to aim, and he steps up to demonstrate. As he pulls the bowstring back and narrows his eyes at the target like an eagle zooming in on its prey, Tina spots Illumina- who had ditched his face mask- watching Dream with an expression of such longing that it makes Tina’s own heart ache.
Later, she’s playing volleyball at the volleyball pit. It’s her, Dream, and Sapnap against Illumina, Illumina’s older stepbrother Fruit, and a guy named Couri. She hits the ball over the net, and Illumina dives to hit it back but misses. He falls face-first into the sand and rolls over onto his back, his dark hair sprawling out beneath him. Everyone laughs, but Dream only stares at Illumina, his eyes full of quiet desire.
It keeps going like that for the rest of the week. At the lake, Dream does a cannonball into the water and emerges, laughing, his golden hair dotted with beads of water that glitter like tiny diamonds, and Illumina’s neck goes red. During a lava wall race, Illumina reaches the top and triumphantly throws up his arms, grinning, and Dream blushes and looks away.
The little glances are subtle, but Tina notices every single one clear as day, and it hits her after the fourth or so incident- Dream and Illumina are in love with each other. They have been for a long time, by the looks of it. And yet, somehow, neither of them seem to notice the other’s feelings. Tina knew men were dumb from a very early age, but she never realized they were this dumb.
Yet she feels nothing but fondness. Dream and Illumina have quickly grown to become two of her closest friends, and she desperately wants them both to be happy. So she quietly vows to herself that somehow, in some way, she’ll get them to notice that their feelings are requited so they can finally get together.
Her plan has several stages, with each stage being sort of like a backup in case the one before it doesn’t work. Stage 1 is the most simple, and it consists only of getting them to talk to each other more. Stage 5- well, Tina hopes she doesn’t reach Stage 5, because that one involves several complicated traps she’ll need to somehow convince the Hermes or Hephaestus kids to create for her.
But first: Stage 1.
Apart from hoping it’ll somehow get them to realize the situation, Tina also hopes it’ll also allow her to get a better gauge of their relationship so she can work out some finer details of her plan. Really, Stage 1 is the most critical. So one day, after breakfast, she drags both boys out to the arena to practice swordfighting with her- two birds with one stone, since she does need to sharpen her skills.
“It’s hot,” Illumina whines as they wind their way through camp. One endearing thing about the son of Hades- he looks like a brooding emo boy, but his personality is almost as puppy-like as Dream’s. “Why is it so hot? Why can’t it be cold?”
“Because not all of us are Canadians who are immune to freezing to death in the winter, idiot,” Dream says, gently smacking Illumina on the arm. “Some of us actually like being hot, y’know.”
“Why? Why would you choose to be hot?”
“Are you calling Dream hot?” Tina asks, slyly trying to nudge the conversation in a direction that might get the two idiots somewhere with their feelings realization.
“What? No ,” Illumina says, his neck going red.
“It’s okay, Lumi. You can call me hot.” Dream laughs, but his cheeks are just as red as Illumina’s neck. The two glance at each other, blush even more, and quickly look away as if nothing had happened.
Tina rolls her eyes and resists the urge to slap both of them. Gods above, she loves her friends, but why do they have to be so dense?
Well, I’m going to get them together, no matter what. I’ll smash their lips together if I have to , she thinks determinedly. Nothing is going to stop her from turning Dream and Illumina into the cutest couple to ever exist.
They reach the arena. Tina had carefully selected a time in between swordfighting classes, so the area is devoid of other people. She draws her dagger, Dream pulls out his axe, and Illumina unsheathes his Stygian Iron sword. Its blade gleams wickedly in the sunlight, and Tina has to suppress a shiver. No matter how many times she goes up against that sword, she’ll always find it terrifying.
“Okay,” Dream says cheerfully. “Who wants to fight who first? Or should we do a threesome fight?”
“ Threesome ,” Tina giggles. She watches in amusement as Dream realizes the repercussions of what he’d just said and blushes furiously.
“No! That’s not what I meant!” the son of Athena yelps. “I was talking about a big group fight, where we all go at each other at once and- y’know what, never mind. Let’s just do it.”
“I never thought I would find myself in a threesome, yet here we are,” Illumina muses dryly, but Tina sees the pink tint to his neck. The son of Hades lifts his sword and charges at Dream, who raises his axe to defend himself. Tina hangs back a bit, but after the boys have exchanged a few blows, she jumps into the melee. She isn’t the best with a dagger, and she’ll never be as strong as any of the Ares children, but she is small and slippery, so stealth is key if she wants any chance at winning.
She darts around to Illumina’s blind side and stabs her dagger at his kidney. He seems to sense the attack and twists his body to avoid her attack. At the same time, Dream lunges forward, the blade of his axe clashing against Illumina’s sword with a metallic clang . Tina swears she sees sparks fly as Dream and Illumina press their blades together, each trying to use strength to overpower the other.
After a moment, Illumina, with his height advantage, wins the tussle and surges forward, knocking Dream’s axe blade down and forcing the blonde back a few steps. Dream quickly drops to the ground, and as he rolls past Illumina’s ankle, he lashes out with his axe. Illumina barely manages to jump out of the way in time.
Tina takes the opportunity to make another jab at Illumina’s side, but her mind is distracted. Dream’s move with the roll had given her a new idea for her plan. The only problem is executing it when both Dream and Illumina are faster and stronger than she is. She’ll have to be clever if she wants to pull this off.
She hangs back a bit, watching the battle for an opening. Luckily, both boys seem to be too focused on fighting each other to notice what she’s doing. For once, she’s happy that she isn’t perceived as a threat- it gives her time to analyze the situation and wait for a perfect opportunity.
It comes in the form of Illumina stabbing his sword into the ground and sending a tremor through the earth. Dream stumbles a bit, and in the precious moment that he’s off balance, Illumina surges forward and knocks him to the ground. Dream falls on his back, and Illumina towers over him, smirking triumphantly.
“That’s not fair,” Dream protests, sounding winded. “You used your powers.”
“All’s fair in love and war, Drizzle,” Illumina replies smugly. “I win.”
“Not yet,” Tina interrupts. She leaps forward and slashes at Illumina with her dagger. Caught off guard, he blocks her attack with less force than usual, and she manages to grit her teeth and keep her balance. With one swift movement, she hooks her foot behind Illumina’s ankle- a move that Dream had taught her- and sweeps his leg out from underneath him sending him crashing down on top of Dream.
Tina yelps in fear and almost drops her dagger, because she hadn’t meant to make Illumina fall that hard. But neither he nor Dream seem to hear her. Instead, they’re staring at each other, cheeks flushed and chests heaving in unison. It’s like a scene in a romance movie when the two main characters stare deep into each other’s eyes, and Tina would gag if she hadn’t purposefully gotten them into this position.
She can practically feel the tension radiating from the two boys. Silently, she begs for them to kiss. If they started making out now, gross as it would be, then her job would be done. But no such luck. Illumina seems to regain his senses, and he quickly scrambles off of Dream, looking highly embarrassed and flustered. “Sorry, Drizzle, I-”
“It’s fine,” Dream says softly, his gray-green eyes a little wide. The funny thing is, he looks like he had just been in a makeout session- hair messy, cheeks flushed, lips slightly parted. Illumina looks even more flustered, with his dark hair mussed like a rat had just burrowed through it and his neck the color of ripe strawberries. Still, both boys get to their feet, dust themselves off, and turn to Tina.
Dream smiles at her. “Well, I think we’ve learned one lesson- don’t underestimate Tina.”
Tina allows herself a small smirk for everything she’d just accomplished- winning a fight against the two best swordsmen at camp and perfectly executing her plan. Surely being in that position triggered something inside Dream and Illumina. If they didn’t realize their own feelings before, then they definitely should now.
“Well, boys, that was a good fight,” she says smugly. “Want to go again?”
She loses the next two battles, but she doesn’t care. All that matters to her is that Stage 1 is complete. Now- on to Stage 2.
---
But whatever plans Tina had for Stage 2 go down the drain the next day, when she stumbles across something she never thought she would see.
Illumina, sitting on a boulder at the edge of the forest and crying.
And Dream, hugging him and whispering soothing words into his hair.
Tina freezes on the spot and stares. She’d been on her way to the strawberry patch to help with the harvest, and seeing one of her closest friends sobbing his eyes out was definitely not on her schedule for the day. Maybe she should leave, give Illumina and Dream privacy. Yet the romantic part of her- the one that adores observing relationships- keeps her rooted firmly in place.
Finally, after a long moment of internal turmoil, she ducks behind a tree and watches.
Dream’s hands rub slow, soothing circles on Illumina’s back. The son of Athena is practically sitting in Illumina’s lap, his arms twined around the brunette’s waist, and he looks flushed at his current position. But the expression on his face is a thousand times more worried and sad than embarrassed, like his concern for Illumina has completely overpowered his feelings. It makes Tina’s heart warm.
“Breathe, Lumi, breathe,” Dream whispers, squeezing Illumina’s waist. “You’re not there anymore. You’re safe. It’s okay.”
Illumina makes a strangled gasping sound and pitches forward, burying his face into Dream’s shoulder. His arms wrap tightly around the blonde’s waist, holding onto Dream like he’s a massive stuffed animal. Dream doesn’t seem to mind- he only looks worried, if a little bit flustered.
Tina’s chest tightens painfully at the sight. What is Dream talking about? What happened to Illumina? What could have happened to make the normally strong and cheerful son of Hades this upset and… vulnerable ?
As the questions whirl around in Tina’s head, Dream continues to rub Illumina’s back. “Breathe,” he murmurs again. “We’re not there, see? We’re in Camp Half-Blood, in the forest. Our friends are close. We’re safe. No one’s going to hurt us here.”
A broken sob slips from Illumina’s mouth, and he squeezes Dream even tighter. “I just- I k-keep seeing i-it,” the brunette gasps. “The d-darkness, the m-monsters… and then th-that stupid kid told me to g-go back to hell, and I-”
Dream’s lips press into a thin line, his eyes flashing with anger. He hugs Illumina closer and starts to stroke the son of Hades’s hair. The touch seems to work, because soon Illumina’s sobs die down into quiet sniffles.
Tina is even more confused and worried than before. She knows that she should probably leave before she’s spotted, but guilt at spying and concern for her friend propel her to step out from behind her hiding space. “Um,” she says tentatively. “Illumina? Are you… are you okay?”
Immediately, she curses herself. What do you think, Tina? Of course he’s not okay . But Illumina lifts his head from Dream’s shoulder and gives her a shaky half smile. “I’m fine,” he says. “Just… had a moment.”
“I understand,” Tina says, weakly returning the smile. “I mean, I don’t, but I get having to have a moment.”
Illumina nods. He glances down at Dream, still sitting in his lap, and seems to notice their position for the first time. His neck going pink, Illumina quickly untangles his arms from Dream’s waist and clears his throat. “Uh-”
“Sorry,” Dream squeaks, dropping his hands and scrambling off of Illumina’s lap. Although he tries to hide it by turning his face away, Tina can see the heartbroken expression on his face, and she frowns. Dream must’ve misread Illumina’s flusteredness for uncomfort, and it looks like Illumina had done the same, because the brunette’s eyes flash briefly with sadness.
Maybe, as a daughter of Aphrodite, Tina could fix this situation, could get rid of the heartbreak clear on both boys’ faces. But before she can even think of what to do, Dream is stepping back. “I- I should probably go.” He swallows and glances quickly at Illumina. “Just- if you need me, I’ll be at my cabin.” Then, with one last heartbroken look, Dream turns and flees from the forest.
Illumina watches the blonde go with a tragically mournful expression, like he’s watching his only dream in the whole wide world slip from his fingers. He seems to have forgotten that Tina is also there, so she clears her throat to get his attention. “Do you want me to go too?”
“What?” Illumina blinks and shakes his head. “No, it’s-” He pauses. “Actually, yes, please. It’s nothing personal, I just-”
“You need some alone time,” Tina finishes, smiling at Illumina to show him that she’s not upset. “I get it. I’ll go. Just stay safe, okay?”
Illumina nods, looking relieved. “I will. Thank you, Tina.” The son of Hades hesitates, then adds, “I know you’re probably curious why I was crying. If you want to know, ask my brother, Fruit, to tell you. Tell him I said it’s okay.”
Tina wants to say that she’s not curious, but that would be lying. She is very curious, and Illumina has given her the okay to find out. So she gives him a nod and leaves the forest with a new mission: find Fruit. And after that, she’ll go find Dream and make sure he’s okay.
She locates Fruit by the lake, chilling on the beach and watching a bunch of younger campers swim around. Tina plops down next to him. “Hi,” she greets. “I found Illumina crying in the forest, and he told me to find you and ask you to tell me what happened.”
Fruit jumps a little and stares at her. “Illu was crying? Is he okay?” he demands.
Probably shouldn’t’ve started with that , Tina thinks. “Yeah, he’s fine. Dream was with him, calming him down.”
Instantly, Fruit relaxes. “Ah, okay. That’s good.” He sticks a finger into the sand, tracing a line, his dark eyes unreadable. For a moment, he’s silent, and then finally he says, “So you want to know what happened?”
Tina nods. “If that’s okay.”
Fruit sighs, like the story pains him. “About two years ago, we were playing Capture the Flag. It was a regular game. None of us thought anything would go wrong. But apparently, there was a myrmeke hill in the forest, and it just so happened that the myrmekes chose that time to go out and hunt.”
“Myrmekes?” Tina repeats, confused.
“These giant ant creatures. They have razor sharp mandibles and can spit poison. Really nasty stuff. Anyways, Illu and I were on guard duty. Our team had accidentally chosen a spot near the hill to hide our flag, and when it was just Illu and I alone, guarding it, the myrmekes struck.”
Tina gasps.
Fruit half smiles, half grimaces. “Yeah. I was taken down immediately. A myrmeke sprayed venom at me. I managed to dodge most of it, but some splattered on my arm and I was down, because that stuff hurts like hell. Illu tried to defend me while we waited for help to come, but there were too many of them. The myrmekes picked him up and-” Fruit’s voice hitches.
“Oh,” Tina says, voice small. She has a feeling where this is going, and she reaches out to tentatively pat Fruit on the hand.
He gives a little shudder, his dark brown eyes looking haunted. “They carried him, screaming, into their hill. It was awful, watching helplessly as my little brother was dragged away by monsters. I’m his older brother- I was supposed to protect him. But I didn’t, and it almost cost him his life.”
“What- what happened next?” Tina is almost too afraid to ask. No wonder Illumina was so catatonic- he must’ve been remembering his encounter with the myrmekes.
A shadow of a smile crosses Fruit’s face. “Dream happened, that’s what. He was on the opposing team, trying to steal our flag, but as soon as he heard Illu scream he charged in like an angry bull. I swear I’ve never seen him so angry. He pulled out his axe, decapitated a myrmeke, and ran right into the hill before I could stop him.”
Tina gasps again. “Seriously? That’s so… stupid, but also heroic.”
“That’s Dream for you.” Fruit laughs. “I thought they were both dead, but a few minutes later he came out, dragging Illu behind him. He was covered in gashes from where the myrmekes had attacked him, but somehow he still managed to pull Illu all the way over to Scott before collapsing. Thanks to him, Illu only had a few scratches on him. They were both pretty traumatized from the incident, though.”
Fruit traces a circle into the sand. “Illu has flashbacks sometimes. He thinks he’s back in the forest, being dragged away by the myrmekes. I don’t know what they did to him in there before Dream got to him, but it must’ve been horrific. Some nights he comes into my cabin to sleep because of the nightmares.” Fruit hesitates. “I think he’d rather be with Dream, but he doesn’t dare because he thinks Dream doesn’t like him back.”
“But he does!” Tina bursts out. “Dream loves him so much! I can sense it.”
“Well, if Illu realized that, then all our problems would be solved,” Fruit says with a wry smile. “Unfortunately, he’s a bit of a dumbass when it comes to feelings. But he still has Dream to comfort him whenever the flashbacks strike, and vice versa.”
“They’re closer than I thought.”
“You’d be surprised. Illu would have a much harder time at camp if it weren’t for Dream. He was brought to camp first, and apparently after he was claimed by his dad, Dream was the only person in camp to talk to him. Everyone else was deathly terrified of him, but you know Dream- that kid isn’t scared of anything except for spiders. He was Illu’s first friend here, the only one who saw past the whole son-of-Hades thing.
“They’ve been in love with each other for so long, you’d think one of them would’ve realized by now. But I think they’re both too scared to lose each other to say anything, so they’re just going to keep dancing around each other forever.”
Tina frowns. If that’s true, then her mission just got a whole lot harder. She’d been operating off of the assumption that Dream and Illumina were just too dumb to realize that their feelings were requited, but being afraid to lose each other is a whole different story. She’s not sure how to work around that, how to get them to get over their fear and confront each other.
But she can do it. She has to do it. They would be so much happier if they were together, and after hearing the two boys’ tragic story, Tina is only more determined to get them together. They need each other, and she’s going to get them just that if it’s the last thing she does.
---
She spends the rest of the day revising her plan and coming up with new strategies. But the next day, her plan is interrupted by the Golden Fleece going missing. Scott calls an emergency meeting that all campers have to attend and assures them that he’ll find the Fleece, but in the meanwhile, there will be demigods guarding the border at all times to protect camp.
Tina is chosen for a late night shift right after dinner, along with Dream and Illumina. They’re tasked with patrolling the edge of the forest, the part near the myrmeke hill. At this news, Dream immediately moves closer to Illumina and raises some concerns to Scott, but the god assures them that the myrmekes have been long exterminated and that there’s nothing left but an empty mound of dirt.
So right after dinner, Tina straps on her armor, grabs her dagger, and heads deep into the forest with Dream and Illumina. She feels safer with the two at her side, but the dark trees still creep her out. Every sound makes her jump, and the wind rushing past raises hairs on the back of her neck.
“This is so creepy,” she whispers as they walk towards the back edge of the forest. “I can’t even see you, Illumina.”
The son of Hades’s voice comes from somewhere to her left. “I’m just using the shadows to hide myself. That way we have the element of surprise if any monsters come.”
“Won’t they smell us?” Tina asks.
“Yes, but it won’t matter since we’re so close together. They’ll smell us as a group, not me individually.” Illumina’s voice is tight, and Tina realizes that despite Scott’s assurances, the brunette is afraid to go near the myrmeke nest. She doesn’t blame him- she would be scared too if she’d been carried away and almost killed.
Her foot comes down on a twig, and it breaks with a horribly loud snap . She and Dream freeze, and Illumina swears softly in Ancient Greek. After a moment in which they all tense and listen for any other sounds, Dream starts to move forward again, and Tina follows.
As they venture deeper into the forest, Tina can’t help but think of the weird encounter she’d had with Karl earlier this morning. Karl had become her friend recently and she likes him a lot, but his frequent visions and prophecy-like declarations still scare her a little. This morning, they’d been walking to the lava wall together when he’d stood still. His eyes had glazed over, and he’d declared in a voice not like his own, “ In a darkening forest, a monster creeps from the abyss. A friend will be lost, unless given true love’s first kiss .”
The words have been haunting Tina ever since. Much as she tries to reassure herself, she has a terrible suspicion that the “friend” is Dream or Illumina- and that if they don’t get over their fear, one of them is going to die tonight.
Suddenly, something snaps. Tina quickly realizes that the sound hadn’t come from her or Dream or Illumina, and she draws her dagger in preparation to fight. Her hand is shaking so much she can barely hold it, but she manages to keep her grip. Next to her, Dream tenses and draws his axe, his face pale in a sliver of moonlight. “Nobody move,” he orders quietly. “Keep your ears peeled.”
“I’m going to draw the shadows away in three,” Illumina hisses from Tina’s left. “Three… two… one…”
It’s like a giant hand had grabbed all the shadows in the forest and peeled them back. All of a sudden, Tina can actually see her surroundings, but she wishes she couldn’t. There, standing in front of her, is a giant creature with six legs, gleaming mandibles, and dark, glinting eyes. A myrmeke.
She screams and almost drops her dagger. Fear rushes through her, her own heartbeat roaring in her ears like a drum. But as scared as she must look, it’s nothing compared to the terror on Illumina’s face. With his concentration broken, the son of Hades has dropped his shadowy cover, and his face is as pale as a ghost, his eyes wide with fear. He seems frozen, locked in place as the myrmeke clicks its pincers menacingly and takes a step closer to him.
The sight snaps Tina out of her daze. “ILLUMINA!” she screams, and in a moment of stupidity, she lunges forward and slices at the myrmeke’s body. Her dagger bounces off of its armored abdomen, and she loses her balance and falls.
The myrmeke doesn’t even seem to have noticed her attack. It takes another step closer to Illumina, who still hasn’t moved. Its pincered mouth opens wide, and it lunges forward. Tina screams and covers her mouth, certain that Karl’s prophecy is about to come true and she’s going to see her friend die before her eyes.
But before the myrmeke’s mandibles make contact, a blur of green slams into Illumina and knocks him aside. There’s a sickening sound like pincers tearing through flesh, and when the myrmeke steps back, its mandibles are stained red.
Tina shrieks.
Lying motionless in front of her, blood seeping out of a huge gash in his stomach, is Dream.
Fear strikes her first, then white-hot anger. She struggles to her feet and lifts her dagger, ready to run the myrmeke through for hurting her friend. But before she can even take a single step forward, Illumina lets out a gutteral howl of fury and slams his sword into the earth. The ground rumbles like there’s an earthquake, and several skeletal hands pop up above the dirt, clawing their way out. Soon, there are five skeletons standing in a protective line between Dream and the myrmeke.
Illumina snarls something in Ancient Greek, too fast for Tina to understand, and points his sword at the myrmeke. Instantly, the skeleton warriors attack. The myrmeke is big, but it’s no match for five resurrected skeletons charging at it with sharp swords, and in less than a second, it’s nothing more than a dead, empty husk.
The skeleton warriors turn to Illumina, salute, then crumple into piles of bones. Tina is too shocked and scared for Dream to think about what had just happened. Instead, she drops to her knees beside her friend and presses her hands against his wound, desperately trying to staunch the bleeding.
Dream’s eyes flutter open at the contact, and he smiles weakly at Tina. “Hey,” he croaks, his voice raspy. “Was that badass? If I go out, I want to go out looking cool.”
Tina lets out a strangled laugh. “Yes, you idiot, it was,” she sobs, furiously pressing down on the wound. But no matter how hard she tries to stop the flow of blood, the crimson liquid keeps spilling out between her fingers and dripping onto the ground.
Illumina drops down on Dream’s other side and joins Tina it trying to staunch the wound. There are tears flowing freely from his eyes, but he looks like he’s trying to hold himself together for Dream’s sake. “Tina, do you have a drachma? We need to Iris-message Scott and get him to come here with help.” His voice sounds shaky, barely controlled.
Tina takes one hand off of Dream’s stomach to search her pockets, but the son of Athena shakes his head. “No…” he rasps. “Too late.”
“It’s not too late!” Illumina almost screams. His eyes are filled with a wild, desperate panic that threatens to shatter Tina’s heart. It almost shatters again when remembers that children of Hades can see people’s life auras and can sense when their close ones are dying. Illumina knows perfectly well that Dream is about to die- he’s just denying it, which is somehow more painful to Tina than the desperation in his eyes.
Illumina clutches at Dream’s torn hoodie like it’s a lifeline. “You are not dying, Drizzle. We’re going to get Scott, and he’s going to come with help, and the healers will heal you and-” He’s rambling, which only makes Tina feel worse.
Dream reaches out with shaky fingers and latches onto Illumina’s wrist, stopping the brunette mid sentence. “Lumi.” Dream’s voice is soft. “It’s okay. I don’t mind. When I’m down there, I’ll know that I died protecting you, and that’s all that matters to me.” Dream coughs suddenly. Blood splatters across his chest, and Tina sobs. This is it- Dream is going to die, and there’s nothing she can do about it.
“But you can’t die.” Illumina is sobbing too, his chest heaving as he presses down harder on Dream’s wound, every word he speaks laced with frantic desperation. “You can’t. How will I live without you?”
“You can still visit me in the Underworld,” Dream says, but he sounds like he’s trying to reassure himself as much as Illumina. His voice has grown softer, weaker, something that terrifies Tina. “And someday, we’ll be reunited in Elysium. It’s not the end.”
Illumina’s lip trembles. “But it is,” he whispers, so soft Tina can barely hear. “I can’t go on without you, Drizzle.”
Dream squeezes Illumina’s wrist and smiles shakily. “Yes you can. And I’ll be waiting for you. One day, we’ll see each other again. Promise.” Slowly, the blonde threads his fingers through Illumina’s. They look at each other, a thousand words passing between them. Dream looks like he wants to say something more, but instead he closes his eyes.
“No!” Illumina presses down harder, fresh tears slipping from his eyes. “Drizzle, don’t you dare close your eyes on me! Wake up!”
Tina pulls her bloodstained hands away and chokes back another sob. Every fiber in her body screams at her to do something, anything, but what? She’s not a healer. She can’t magically close Dream’s wound. All she can do is sit and look pretty as her friend’s life slips away before her eyes.
But she’s desperate, desperate to do anything that might be able to save Dream, so she closes her eyes and prays to her mother for the first time. Please, Mom. I know we’ve never talked, and I know you have many other kids, but please- if my happiness means anything to you, don’t let Dream die. Save my friend .
Maybe she’s delusional, but Tina swears she hears a soft female voice reply in her mind. The prophecy .
The words ring a bell. What had Karl said to her earlier? “ A friend will be lost, unless given true love’s first kiss .” It can’t be a coincidence. The friend has to be Dream, and if Tina wants to save him, she’ll have to get Illumina to kiss him.
She glances at Dream. The son of Athena’s breathing rattles in his chest, and Tina knows she doesn’t have much more time. That prophecy wasn’t a mistake- maybe her mom even gave it to Karl herself. Aphrodite is the goddess of love, so she probably wants to see Dream and Illumina get together as much as Tina does. Tina hates that her mom is making her do the dirty work, and she hates it even more that Aphrodite thinks this is the perfect time to make Dream and Illumina a couple, but she has no choice.
Dream’s eyes flutter open again, and he squeezes Illumina’s hands. “I’ll see you in Elysium,” he whispers.
“NO!” Illumina screams, his chest heaving with sobs. Behind him, the bones of the skeletons clatter as if sharing his despair. “No, no, no-”
Alright, Mom , Tina thinks as loud as she can. If I do it- if I spark true love’s first kiss- will you save Dream’s life?
The female voice whispers in her head: Yes .
It’s now or never. Tina lunges forward and grabs Illumina’s forearm. “Illumina, listen to me,” she says urgently. “Dream doesn’t have much time left. You have to show him now, before it’s too late.”
Illumina stares at her, looking grief-stricken. “What? Show him what? What can I possibly show him that will save his life?”
Tina swallows and forces herself to stay strong. Gods, she hopes this works. “Nothing is going to save him. But if you want him to pass on peacefully, you have to show him your true feelings. I know you’re scared of losing him, but he’s not going to be with us longer. You have to show him that you love him, or he’ll die thinking that you didn’t care for him the way he cared for you. If you don’t show him you love him, he’ll die thinking that he was only a friend to you, and you- you’ll live the rest of your life knowing you could’ve shown him how much you cared, but you didn’t.” She pours as much emotion into her voice as possible, trying to convince Illumina, and she remembers something he had told her- “ Love is powerful, y’know .”
Maybe she doesn’t have cool shadow powers or cleverness or even the charmspeak that some of her siblings wield. But love is powerful, and Tina has more of it than some. She’s going to need to use every last drop if she wants to get through to Illumina and save Dream.
So she pours all that love into her voice, trying to amplify Illumina’s feelings for Dream the way she’s seen some of her siblings do to other people. It feels wrong, but she can worry about ethics and morality later. “It’s now or never, Illumina. Show him before it’s too late to.”
For the first time, Illumina looks well and truly lost. Despair, desperation, and grief battle for dominance in his eyes, but he still holds her gaze. “I- I don’t-”
“You don’t want to lose him? I know. I don’t either. But if you do this, he’ll die knowing you love him. He can go to Elysium in peace. Wouldn’t you want to feel the same way if the roles were reversed?”
Illumina looks down at Dream, lying motionless on the ground with his eyes closed, his face pale, his breathing shallow and faltering by the second, his entire torso stained with blood. Then Illumina looks back up at Tina, searching her face. She bites back a sob and steadily holds his gaze, trying not to show how terrified she is.
He sucks in a shaky breath and blinks back a tear. “Okay.”
“Good.” Tina turns away to give Illumina privacy. For a moment, the only sound is the wind rustling through the trees and the bones still clattering away. Then she hears a soft, wet sound, and Illumina whispers, “I love you, Drizzle.”
Please, Mom , Tina begs desperately. She turns back around, hoping to see Dream sitting up with his wound healed. But nothing has changed. Dream is still lying there, small and bleeding out. And as Tina watches in horror, the blonde takes one last breath before going completely still.
Illumina flinches like something had just popped in his ears, then lets out a heart-wrenching sob and collapses on top of Dream’s body. Tina just sits there, completely frozen, grief crashing over her like a tsunami. It feels like her brain has received an error message, and now her mind is completely blank. The only thing she can think is: They kissed. So why didn’t it work?
Why is he dead ?
You promised, Mom. You promised you would save him.
So why isn’t he getting up?
A tear slips down Tina’s cheek. She feels numb, unable to think or feel. Why didn’t it work? Why is her friend dead? Why is she staring at Dream’s motionless body?
And then, suddenly, Dream gasps and opens his eyes. Illumina’s head jerks up, and he stares down at Dream. Their eyes meet, gray-green on brown, both looking more shocked than anything. But Tina feels an overwhelming flood of relief. It had worked after all. Her mother had kept her promise. Dream is alive and breathing, and Tina- Tina has never been happier.
Thank you, Mom , she thinks before shoving Illumina aside and throwing her arms around Dream. “You idiot!” she squeals. “Never do that again!”
Dream wheezes like he’s not getting enough air, and Tina quickly releases him. She checks his face for signs of suffocation but finds none, then looks down at his stomach, but the wound has completely healed. In less than a second, the son of Athena had gone from dead to 100% healthy and well.
“What happened?” Dream asks, sounding confused. “Aren’t I supposed to be dead? I swear I was standing on the banks of the River Styx just a second ago…”
“Well, you’re alive now,” Tina says, stating the obvious. She glances over at Illumina and, seeing the expression on the brunette’s face, moves aside so Illumina can have a turn hugging Dream.
Slowly, as if in a trance, Illumina takes Dream’s hands in his and stares down at the blonde like a believer would stare at Jesus. “You’re alive,” the son of Hades whispers. “You- I swear I saw your life aura die. But you’re alive.”
Dream laughs weakly. “What can I say? I guess even death was scared to take me on.” He slowly sits up, gripping Illumina’s hands for support, and looks quizzically at Tina. “Why do I feel like you know something that I don’t?”
Tina shrugs, trying not to smile. “You’re alive because Illumina loves you, and you love him, and true love is more powerful than death. That’s all I can say.”
Illumina squints at her. “Does your mom have something to do with this?”
“Maybe,” Tina says, drawing out the “m”.
“Well, tell her thank you.” Illumina sounds a little awestruck. He exchanges a glance with Dream, and then, as if reading each other’s minds, the two surge forward in unison and lock lips. It’s a kiss full of passion and fierce devotion, and Tina can’t help but smile. True love indeed.
As she stands up, she swears she sees, in the corner of her vision, a beautiful woman in a white dress smile at her. But when she turns in that direction, there’s no one there- only a single white feather lying on the ground. A dove’s feather- Aphrodite’s sacred animal.
Tina picks the feather up and tucks it into her pocket for safekeeping. She doesn’t know how to feel about her mom after everything, but she can’t deny that she’s grateful to Aphrodite for saving Dream’s life. And being the goddess of love’s daughter has had its perks. If she wasn’t, she doubts she could have accomplished getting Illumina to kiss Dream. That took more than just choosing the right words.
“Come on, lovebirds,” she says, crooking her finger at them. “Let’s go back to camp. We have a lot to tell Scott.”
---
A few weeks later, Tina sits on the beach of the canoe lake, watching as her friends mess around in the water. All of the people she’s known since she came to camp are here, as well as Foolish, a 19-year-old son of Poseidon and Dream’s apparent older brother whom she’d befriended just yesterday, when he’d come to visit from college. Now he’s sitting on the dock with his feet in the water and twirling his finger in the air, controlling several small waterspouts that chase Sapnap and Karl around. Dream is sitting next to him, cheering the son of Poseidon on and wheezing with laughter whenever Sapnap screams.
Illumina is there too, treading water and watching the chaos unfold with amusement. He catches Tina’s eye and winks at her, then calls to Dream, “Come swim with me, Drizzle.”
“Yeah, Dream, go swim with your boyfriend,” Techno teases. “Just don’t make out too hard. You’ll scar everyone in a ten mile radius.”
Dream blushes furiously and nudges Foolish. “Will you handle that idiot?”
Foolish flicks his wrist at Techno, and a wave comes crashing down on the pinkette’s head, dragging him under. When the water subsides, Techno pops back up and shakes his head like a wet dog. “Not cool, man,” he calls.
“Drizzle!” Illumina whines, paddling over to the dock. He puts his elbows on the wood and looks up at Dream with some of the most lethal puppy eyes Tina has ever seen. “Come swim with me? Please?”
“Oh, alright.” Blushing even harder, Dream slips into the ocean and snakes his arms around Illumina’s neck. Illumina kisses the blonde on the forehead and wraps his arm around Dream’s waist, somehow managing to keep both of them afloat. They’re so perfect together, it makes Tina’s heart do giddy loop-de-loops at the absolute adorableness.
“How are you doing that, Illumina?” Sapnap calls, swimming over. The waterspout has given up on chasing him, and now he hauls himself onto the dock, panting heavily. “How are you staying afloat?”
“Actually, that’s me,” Foolish says with a grin. “I’m circulating the water underneath their feet.”
“What? Noooo,” Illumina protests. “It’s all me. Me and my 12 pack.”
Dream giggles. “You don’t have a twelve pack.”
“Yeah,” Tina agrees, laughing. “More like a one pack.”
“You too, Tina? I’m betrayed.”
Tina smirks. She stands up, walks onto the dock, and joins Sapnap in sitting on the edge and dangling her feet in the water. He gives her a friendly nudge, which she returns.
She gently kicks her feet and watches as Dream and Illumina continue to effortlessly float, thanks to Foolish being ever the doting older brother. Dream is now lying on his back with his eyes closed, and Illumina is playing with his blonde curls as they spread out beneath his head. Tina smiles at the sight. She thinks that, as a daughter of Aphrodite, she should have the right to declare Dream and Illumina as the cutest couple at camp.
Of course, it’s not all bliss. Tina knows that the couple still struggle with what had happened in the woods that night. Illumina is fiercely protective and a little paranoid, sticking close to Dream’s side at all times as if afraid something will suddenly snatch the blonde away. Dream, on the other hand, is more than a little traumatized from what had happened that night and the night a few years ago. They both refuse to go anywhere near the far end of the woods, and both have frequent nightmares. But they’re together now, and they have each other more than ever.
Tina has nightmares sometimes too, nightmares of Dream’s dead body lying in front of her and his glassy, lifeless eyes staring up at her. But just like Dream and Illumina have each other, she has them and her other friends to lean on. Alyssa will hug her when she wakes up screaming, or Sapnap will crack jokes to distract her the next morning, or Karl will drag everyone out on a swim to relax. They’re there for her, and she’s grateful to no end for that.
She stretches out on her back and stares up at the cornflower blue sky. A few weeks ago, she was still living with her dad in a cheap, rundown apartment because her dad didn’t have the best-paying job. She went to a school where all the popular girls sneered at her and all the boys ogled her. Things were okay, but she wasn’t happy. Now, though, she has male friends who’ve never batted a single eyelash at her and siblings who take care of her and an actual home that she loves. She doesn’t think she’s ever been happier.
In the water, Dream giggles suddenly as Illumina blows on his forehead. He flips upright and throws his arms around Illumina’s neck again, and the two kiss, much to the chagrin of everyone else. Only Tina doesn’t make fake throwing up sounds or jeer teasingly- instead, she grins happily.
This place is crazy , Tina thinks to herself as she finally joins her friends in the water. Everyone’s a maniac, and my two closest friends are disgustingly in love, and people get stabbed in the kidney practically every day.
But I wouldn’t leave it for anything.
As the sun shines down on the lake, Tina swims around with her friends, engages in a splash fight, teases Dream and Illumina with Sapnap as the two alternate between splashing each other and making out, and laughs until her belly hurts.
Life is good.