Silva returned to Camp Half-Blood a few weeks before the summer vacation was about to end. Nothing noteworthy happened for the rest of the summer, other than the fact that the Hermes cabin pranksters were trying their best to see the limits of how much they could push the daughter of Zeus.
And let's just say they stopped after the roof of the Hermes cabin was taken down.
Most thought Hermes would get angry, but a small letter appeared in the fireplace that said he was more disappointed that they were caught so easily.
Yeah, Hermes had sportsman spirit.
So the vacation went without any problems, though I did find Rachel under house arrest when I reached home the day after camp was over.
So while I was fighting monsters and doing illegal stuff, combining pantheon powers, Rachel crashed her father's truck into a power line and brought it down.
The initial case had been about them being extreme eco-terrorists who never gave any thought to the harm they were inflicting on society, but a few pieces of video evidence showed that instead of labelling them as eco-terrorists, they were supposed to be labeled as absolute idiots.
The video evidence clearly showed that they tried to drive heavy tree-cutting machinery like a helicopter. So instead of taking the controls that drive the front wheels, the idiots twisted the cutter controls and pushed the accelerator without thinking about the consequences.
The cutter moved sideways, tilting the entire vehicle toward the power line and finally crashing into it, cutting power for half the state for the next five days. Thankfully, the company was trying to cut down a forest in a state that was not that dependent on technology, and the half of the state that got shut down did not have much in the way of population.
Since the damage was not that serious and no lives were lost, the court was lenient in handing out punishments to all who were caught. All of them being of juvenile age also helped their case to avoid jail time.
So currently, Rachel had half a year's worth of community service, which she says is no different from the work she usually did, along with house arrest for around the same time.
"So, did you bring any souvenirs?" was the first question she asked after explaining what happened.
Silva wordlessly took out a few T-shirts and paints, which she grabbed from his hand immediately and inspected.
"If you are under house arrest, why are you in my house right now?" Silva asked, a bit confused.
"Ah well, when they put the ankle monitor on me, I tried to convince them to include your house too. At first, they were against the idea of having two houses included, but my dad was so pissed at me that he welcomed the idea of me staying a bit further away."
"Corporate America wins again," Silva muttered.
"Amen to that," Rachel said, then slowly turned around. "Or is it something else for you, since you are Greek and Roman?" she asked with a grin. Silva had told her about his parentage a year ago, seeing that she was trustworthy and the only friend he had of the same age.
He still had no normal friends. It was a bit depressing.
"I don't want to think about it," he replied, and then asked the question he was curious about.
"So what were you actually planning on doing? Since you decided to drive the vehicle, were you planning on crashing it somewhere?" he asked, and suddenly Rachel looked embarrassed.
Silva waited, seeing that she did not reply. Realizing that he was not going to let it go, Rachel finally caved in.
"Well… the plan was to use the cutters to create a sort of art form. Basically, we were planning on arranging the claws in such a way that they would have to dismantle every part to actually use the machines," she replied, her face turning red.
"And how many people among your group knew how to drive the machines?" he asked.
"Nobody," she replied meekly.
"And when did you realize this fact?" he asked, this time leaning forward a bit as he grew curious.
Rachel looked like she was struggling to spit it out, but she finally did.
"When we finally pressed the foot on the accelerator," she mumbled, looking like a blown-up tomato.
For a moment, there was silence in the room. Then Silva's shoulders started shaking slightly and slowly increased in intensity.
"SHUT UPPP!!" Rachel screamed in embarrassment and tackled Silva, who was trying to hold back his laughter.
"I… didn't… say anything," Silva managed to say while struggling not to laugh out loud.
"Arrgghhh!" Rachel screamed, punching him in embarrassment. While Silva tried his best to not let his laughter out.
After a few minutes, Rachel stopped her attacks and realized her current situation.
She was currently on top of Silva, and their faces were just a few inches apart.
For a moment, there was complete silence.
Silva's expression changed as he too realized what was happening.
Neither of them had ever been in such close proximity before, and at that moment, being alone in a house after being away from each other for more than a month was making their emotions go in directions it had not gone before.
Rachel made the first move.
She slowly moved toward his face. Silva watched her. Her lips were a bit redder than he remembered. He had never seen her face so clearly in all the time they had been friends.
But at the last moment, Silva used his hand to stop her and turned his own face away.
Rachel's eyes widened in shock at what he had done. Startled, she immediately pushed herself away from him and turned aside.
Silva also gently stood up.
The silence came again, but this time there was something sad within it.
Rachel had turned her face away from Silva completely. He was not able to see her face at all.
"Sorry about that, I think it's time for me to go home," she quickly said and rushed out of the house, trying her best not to show her face to Silva.
But even though Silva was not able to see it, he knew she was crying as he saw a few teardrops fall.
He turned to see that she had left the souvenirs he had brought for her in the couch.
He looked around the house and, for the first time in this life, felt loneliness creep into him.
He curled up in the corner of the living room and put his head on his knees.
"I wish I never knew about the future. I wish I never knew that she would be the next Oracle," he muttered, and for the first time ever, felt powerless in this world.
A/N – Hope you liked it.