Bewitched || P. Jackson

𝔹irthday wishes

Nicki waddled awkwardly through the cold corridors of Mount Othrys. Her concentration was focused on the buttercream coated lemon cake in her left hand.

The cake was white with a dotted assortment of fruits across the top. In chocolate writing, it read: "Happy 20th Birthday Luke!"

The girl had collected it from a random store in San Francisco before returning to the Titan Palace. She was hoping it would put Luke in a good enough mood so she could talk about Annabeth's suspicions without being yelled at.

Luke wasn't exactly the pinnacle of emotional health.

Nicki knocked loudly on the dark oak door. The room behind fell silent.

After an agonisingly long moment, a tall blonde demigod opened the door.

He instantly stepped to the side when he saw Nicki. The 13 or so Titan recruits who were in the room scrambled to their feet to stand at attention.

"Oh no. Why are you doing that?" Nicki questioned, turning to face the blonde boy. "You don't need to do that."

"Sir said we had to, ma'am."

"Sir? Ma'am? I'm pretty sure you're older than me."

The blonde nodded, avoiding Nicki's eyes. "I'm 17, ma'am, but uh- Luke said we have to treat you with the same respect as him."

Nicki hummed, shifting her weight. "What's your name?"

"Asher. Thomas Asher, son of Mars, ma'am." Thomas nodded formally, meeting Nicki's eyes with his hazel ones for a split second.

"Well, Thomas and all of you, you don't have to call me ma'am. If you want to that's alright but really it's not a big deal, I much prefer Nicki."

Nicki smiled at Thomas, and he allowed the corner of his lip to twitch up in reply.

"How can we help you then, Nicki?"

"Oh yeah, I'm looking for Ethan." Nicki motioned to the birthday cake in her hand. "Gotta give Luke his cake."

A tall brunette girl piped up from toward the back of the bedroom. "I think he's taking a shower, even though it's outside shower hour." She muttered the last part under her breath, earning a snigger from the girl beside her.

"What was that?" Nicki questioned, despite having heard the girl clearly.

"Nothing. Nothing at all, Nicki."

Nicki's fingers buzzed impulsively. "What's your name?"

"Ella."

"Well, Ella, I'm sure we'd all love to hear what you have to say about him."

"I was just saying he clearly doesn't have a clue and I can't wait until someone like Luke puts him back in his place."

Nicki's wrist flicked and a shimmery stream of purple slammed into the girl's mouth. It coated itself around her lips like a twisted spider web, rendering her speechless.

"Anyone else have something to say about Ethan?"

The room listed away from Nicki. Hurried shakes of heads accompanied averted eyes.

"That's what I thought. And Ella? Don't you dare call me Nicki again." Nicki spat the words out angrily. "No one will be putting Ethan back in 'his place', am I understood? Ethan is under me, not anyone else. He's on route to be my second, not any of you."

She nodded formally at Thomas as she stormed out of the room.

She easily navigated her way to the shower rooms in her anger-driven haze. The room was bigger than the recruit bedroom as it hosted 15 shower cubicles.