sketch the infinity

“So what was this about the skeletons?” Piper asked Hazel during their three-way call with Annabeth. Hazel’s eyes widened as she began her story.

“It was so strange! I was in town with Frank the other day and I saw that one of the stores had all these skeletons outside! At first, I thought I’d accidentally summoned them, but Frank said it was for Halloween. Isn’t it a little early though?” Annabeth chuckled ruefully.

“You would think,” She replied, “But I bet stores will start putting out Christmas stuff in a few weeks.” Hazel furrowed her eyebrows in disbelief.

“But why so early?”

“Capitalism.” Annabeth and Piper answered in unison. Hazel nodded, slightly confused, and continued.

“Honestly it shouldn’t be a surprise, but it’s sure changed a lot since the last time I was alive.” This peaked Annabeth’s interest, judging from her raised eyebrow.

“What was Halloween like in the thirties and forties?”

“Oh, the community would have big parties and the older boys would pull all sorts of crazy stunts!”

“Did people trick-or-treat back then,” Piper asked.

“Well,” Hazel said, “A little bit, but I never did. My mother wouldn’t let me. I can’t imagine what the other kids would’ve tried to do to the “witch’s”daughter.” There were many things Hazel had opened up to them about growing in the South during the thirties that were hard to hear, and that was up there. 

“Gods that’s awful,” Piper replied, “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Hazel gave a half-hearted smile and shrugged.

“Yeah, I’m glad things have changed. So tell me more about modern Halloween!” 

“Oh, I’m not the best person to ask,” Annabeth admitted with a slight grimace, “I never really had what you’d call the ‘normal’ Halloween experience,” She said with air quotes. 

“What, Camp doesn’t do stuff for Halloween?” Given the vibe of Camp Half Blood and its inhibitors, Piper was sure they would’ve gone all out for Halloween.

“Well, we do,” Annabeth said, “Cabin 5 liked to scare people in the woods by jumping out on them in costumes before too many people got sent to the infirmary. And the campers in Cabin 11 would always steal a bunch of candy and scary movies, but I never really went trick-or-treating.” 

“Hmm, that makes sense,” Piper responded, “Plus you’re a pretty powerful demigod.” Annabeth rolled her eyes with mirth.

“That, and my dad was always too busy.” Piper laughed sarcastically.

“Isn’t this sad, we’ve all had bad experiences with Halloween.” Annabeth and Hazel looked at her in confusion. 

“What do you mean,” Hazel asked, “What’s gone wrong for you?” Piper sighed before answering.

“Well, when I was younger it was fine, but then I realized how many people would appropriate Native Americans by ‘dressing up’ as them with feathers and facepaint and it just makes me so mad! It’s a culture, not a costume! Anyways, it’s kind of been ruined for me ever since.” Hazel frowned in sympathy.

“That must be really frustrating.” “Yeah,” Annabeth said, “It’s just a caricature.” There was silence for a minute before Hazel broke it.

“What if we had our own Halloween,” She suggested, “I know I’m not familiar with modern Halloween practices and it’d been hard to get together-”

“That’s a great idea,” Piper exclaimed, “We can have a Halloween movie marathon and eat candy and… I don’t know, what do you think, Annabeth?” 

“I’d loved that,” Annabeth replied with a smile, “the Demeter campers would grow pumpkins for Jack-o-Lanterns, would you two be interested in carving pumpkins?” Piper grinned.

“I like your style.”

“I have to go soon, but let’s figure the details out later,” Hazel said.

“Okay, but who’s going to remember?”

“Don’t worry,” Annabeth said, “I jotted some stuff.”