careful how you proceed, good man // gryff

simon’s main job now was collecting information. after the battle with the new and improved monsters, kronos kind of lost interest in him. he still had the label of general, but with no new plots stirring as of yet, simon was used more as a spy than a combat veteran. which was fine, because he still felt useful. kronos’ army was finally giving the one thing he always wanted after all these months of being lost. they gave him a purpose. it had always been simon’s dream to join the army, and since tessa had forbidden him from joining the king’s army, the boy decided that this was the next best thing. 

at first, there was always this gut feeling of him doing something wrong. when he’d first stumbled upon the camp, simon wasn’t sure if he could handle their rough ways and the torture they inflicted on others. because that wasn’t what heroes did, and simon wanted to be a hero. tessa told him about what kronos had done, and he was so close to quitting. he could have gone mia or awol, and no one would have been the wiser. however, one night, kronos had pulled the boy into his magnificent tent, fed him food he had been longing for, (finally the son of athena had gotten some bloody brilliant treacle tart) and asked him if he’d like to become general. at that moment, simon said yes without hesitation. he wanted to command, to be a war veteran of the highest degree, and if this was the way to do it, then so be it. he blamed tessa. if she would have just let this go, everything could have been avoided.

now he sat on top of a filing cabinet, sucking on a strawberry popsicle, sticky fingers turning pages of a specific camper. livia malcolm, daughter of athena. his step-sister. simon found he’d had lots of those, but livia was a special case. she’d been here for a long time, knew the ropes, and was bloody brilliant in battle. naturally, simon crane wanted her for his ranks, so he was reading up on her to blackmail her. 

once he was finished, he stepped outside the hut and threw the empty wrapper away, moving with an intention like a snake. the poor boy’s mind was warped now, his grey eyes cold and horribly cruel, mouth twisted into a permanent frown. simon just scanned the camp with a hawk’s eye, and found her. he found livia, all alone by a tree. he sauntered up to her, like the way a predator stalks ones prey.

“you had a boyfriend named nikolai, didn’t you?” he asked, not bothering to ask if he could sit down besides her. “he’s dead, right? what an idiot."

simon remembered seeing his father as he and his sister pulled away from the house for the last time. he remembered the sadness that pulled at his slightly sagging cheeks, he remembered how much older he looked. he hadn’t been that old. only forty-seven. it pained him to see his father look like that, to give his children away because of the war. it hurt simon to think that he might have caused his father emotional pain. at that point, he might have had a heart. he might have cared if he was blackmailing a fellow camper. he might have cared knowing that what he was doing was wrong.

but his heart was gone now, alone with any morals he would have had. he liked that livia rolled her eyes at him, that she spoke with a sharp, sparking tone. it made him feel powerful, manipulative. it made him feel like kronos would reward him when he got home. he stepped towards her, looking at his nails like a sly cat polishing claws for its prey.

“nikolai. little niky-boy. he died, didn’t he? was it because this camp wasn’t protected? was it because he didn’t get enough love and support? was it because he had to look at this sick excuse for a camp? i bet he didn’t feel safe around you. i bet you’re dangerous. are you dangerous, livia?"