It was October 31st, at long last. Oliver, while he loved the spooky season, knew that not everybody cared for it or celebrated it. So he decided to make the night fun. How so, do you ask? Well, the son of Momus ran about the camp, getting a ton of things setup.

Did he go all out? No. He was saving that for a bigger event which he had planned. Instead, Oliver decided to get the Canoe lake ready for a party! Why the Canoe lake? Why not? Besides, the amphitheatre was for campfires, and besides, a beach party felt bland at some points. Change it up.

Oliver stood up at the ‘Entrance’ to the party, his blue hair brushed ever so subtly in a way that made him look a little bit more formal, and less like a gremlin. He was adorned in a purely blue attire, almost as if trying to look like watergirl from that old game co-op puzzle game... “Alrighty, folks! Welcome to the Halloween party here at camp! I decided to go ahead and give you guys a little something since, let’s face it, Since not everyone cares about or celebrates Halloween- I decided to throw a party to try and keep the spirits alive! So relax, have fun! We’ve earned it!”

Lights of all colours (Minus the more dull colours, such as those of skin…) illuminated the lakesides as tables were scattered about. Oli had managed to, after a long day, bake a ton of cookies by hand (he believed that the ones magically conjured through the usage of the magic plates weren’t as good- which is debatable…), preparing them for this party. Tables of all sorts were there- those to hold food, those to hold drink, and those to hold people.

Tables with two chairs (meant to seat couples, or those who are interested in pursuing a relationship with their fellow camper, perhaps…), tables with four chairs, and a table with a karaoke machine for those who are into that kinda thing. Of course, since it’s a party, don’t be expecting any meal foods. It’s snack foods all the way!

#Menu

###Food

• Popcorn- Salty/Sweet
• Cookies- Chocolate chip/Gluten-free available
• Jalapeno poppers
• Pretzel bites

###Drinks

• Apple cider (Cold/Warm)
• Hot chocolate
• Soft drinks
• Magic cups available if none of the above are appealing

Oliver himself sits at the edge of the lake where the canoes are set in to start one’s time, well, canoeing. He sits down, a gentle grin on his face as he takes in the fruits of his labour. As if the gods were praising his work, the weather was perfect for this time of year. A slight wind chilled some, and cooled others. The moon was in full view as it illuminated the surroundings further, making the lake seem even more mesmerising.

OOC: Hiya! Welcome to the Halloween party! Feel free to drop your characters in whatever costume they would have-- if they would have one! Also, in regards to the food, feel free to write whatever you think your character would want in a snack food-- what's provided is just a list of examples! Have fun!

#Family:

#Powers:

Name | Type| Description ---|---|---|--- Scene Enhancement | Domain | A trait where the environment appears to respond to a Muse child, especially when they are being overly dramatic. Spotlights seem to shine on them. Footsteps follow a certain rhythm. There are even fabled moments of dramatic music playing near them, even if there are no nearby sources of sound. Psychometry | Domain | The ability to glean information from manufactured items, such as material make-up, general value, legitimacy and history. Demigods with this ability can't be affected by Value Manipulation (Chrimatakinesis). Summon Treats | Minor | the ability to summon treats. these can be anything from chocolate to dog treats to cute little items Memory Diving | Major | The ability to enter the memories of others. The user experiences the target's memory in real-time, either as the target themself or as a spectator.

#Favorite Things:

• Foods: Anything Orange-Flavored

• Drinks: Iced tea in the summer and tea/matcha when it's cold out

• Media: Gilmore girls. Gilmore girls when he wakes up, Gilmore girls when he studies, Gilmore girls when he goes to sleep. Gilmore girls. Gilmore girls. Gilmore girls. Oh, and he likes Bojack horseman, too. but mainly just Gilmore Girls.

#Items and Equipment:

#Appearance:

Faceclaim | Height | Weight | Hair color | Eye color | Body type ---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--- https://docs.google.com/document/d/10osi7NOM8K8RBw6MrfHVDowUdzt-GwrJEHXx_-AyaxQ/edit | 5'7”| idc/ light| dark brown | greyish something | Skinny

#Personality:

Shy and reserved. he has a hard time teusting people enough to be himself around them but then he kind of becomes a bit clingy. he's very insecure and copes through reading and imagining himself in those books or creating art with original characters.

#Trivia

• Loves animals a lot but they never seem to like him much, except for the cat at one of the libraries in his city. Felix often finds himself missing that cat

• His favourite music artist is Hozier

#History:

Felix was born im Luzern, Switzerland to a very busy father who never had much time for him. he never really had friends because most people found him weird, except for the boy living mext door named Liam.

they stuck together until Liam had to move away when they were 13. they could only keep in contact online and Felix never made irl friends again after that.

#Present Day:

Felix could feel his skin crawl. seriously, what kind of an evil peraon invented airplanes? sitting in one place for 9 hours was bad enough but squished in between a window and some stranger was worse.

Now, he had finally collected his luggage when some asshole guy bumped into him and spilled coffee all over his shirt so he had to change into one of those god-awful "I love NYC" shirts.

at least he found the strange guy picking him up fairly fast. the dude had eyes all over his body, which was kind of freacky but who was Felix to judge? he didn't make much conversation on the ride and thought over his current situation. maybe camp would be better than home? well, the standard for that wasn't that high.

When they finally arrived at Camp Half-Blood and a satyr began leading him around, Felix only half-listened. he needed a shower and a change of clothes right then because the crawling feeling was still there and if it didn't stop, he would lose it.

After a well-needed shower, he was just sitting in front of the Clio cabin with his nose half-buried in 'The Odessey' and half people-watching.

With everything that was going on in New Argos, one might almost forget that there were still counselor duties people had to attend to. In theory, said counselor duties could wait. There was over a month left in the current season, which meant there was enough time to host three things. The reality was different however. The attack on New Argos worried Brent a lot. Not just because of the people living there, but also because of Matt, his boyfriend, currently staying in the city.

The son of Hades could handle anything perfectly fine, Brent knew, but that didn’t stop him from worrying. To distract himself and bring a little holiday joy to camp, Brent decided to host a question-of-the-day. It was not an event he had done before, but for someone as curious as him this kinda was the perfect way to distract himself. He posted the questions directly to the notice board at the dining pavilion.

IC Questions

• Given unlimited artistic talent, what would you carve in a pumpkin?
• What is the best trick-or-treat strategy?
• What are you dressing up as this year for Halloween?

OOC Questions

• Who is your favorite spooky god(dess)?
• What is your favorite spooky season movie or TV show?
• Do you celebrate Halloween?

Format

Name Activity | Day Activity | Day

You can only reserve up to two slots per character. If you have multiple characters, make one comment for all of them instead of one each.

There can only be one Meal per day, at any time! Any camper can host them.

Campfires happen twice a week. Campers coordinate these with the camp directors, so anyone can host them!

Open Slots happen every day and can include Lessons, QOTDs, Cabin Inspections, Cabin Meetings, Games, movie nights, social gatherings, etc. Lessons, Cabin Inspections and Meetings can only be hosted by a Camp Leader.

Counsellor Meetings are hosted once a month by a moderator and can only be joined by a Camp Leader.

Once a week, a camp-wide activity such as a party, Trip to the City, Beach Day, etc. Each week the event will be different. While they're normally hosted by the mods, a regular camper can host them.

Comment below what you'd like to host!

NOTE: Failure to meet your own slot three times in a row will lock you out of commenting on the Schedule for a month. (You can still post activities outside of the schedule, just not meals or campfires.)

Monday

Meal -

Open Slot -

Tuesday

Campfire -

Open Slot - Brent Carter

Wednesday

Meal -

Open Slot -

Thursday

Meal -

Open Slot -

Friday

Meal -

Open Slot -

Saturday

Campfire -

Meal -

Open Slot -

Sunday

Meal -

Open Slot -

_______________________________________________

Leave your name below in the shown format to sign up for an activity!

View the rest of the month in our Character Log in the Calendar sheet.

You can reserve slots in advance!

If you are new welcome! You can check out this post to get started. If you aren't new, please answer this form to be featured on the character log and visit the Link Hub.

The call had gone out to the champions of the tournament, the second round was to begin. A proclamation had been pinned all around the city informing the citizens that had long last the time had come:

Citizens of New Argos

Our sincerest thanks to you for hosting our guests. You have made our city proud and the tourism board has had a great number of enquiries.

In honour of our guest the Great Lord Ares, the second round of the tournament shall be gladiatorial combat. Each of the groups in the tournament shall have internal rounds to produce a champion, they shall then advance to face the others.

Scores shall be taken and added, once this round concludes we shall begin our grand and final round.

In the name of the Gods, we are grateful.

Queen Anastasia

At the Camp Half-Blood area, both Mr D and Lady A stood in front of the assembled demigods, both of them wore clothes from the classical Greek period, very different from the usual relaxed clothes that they wore.

“Right then. It’s the round we’ve been expecting. Not this… ‘how well do you know your buddy’ rubbish,” Mr D announced putting his hands on his hips. “We’ve been given the arena for two days to find ourselves a champion. That’s right, only one of you gets to fight under our banner.”

Clearly not impressed with her husband’s tone, Lady A took over.

“Now, obviously we want our best to represent us. However, that does not mean that there will be nothing for those who aren’t participating. We are going to hold our own small tournament to see who will represent us. You shall have five minutes against an opponent, the person who we believe has done the best shall advance and so forth.”

Mr D looked at the demigods and shook his head and waved his hands in a dismissive way.

“Come along then, go get your weapons. Some speed please…”

Inside the arena, lots of smaller battlezones had been created with the use of sandbags, each battlezone was only 5 meters across in diameter evidently not to give the duelling demigods much room. On the platform that overlooked the arena stood Mr D and Lady A who were looking down into the centre. However, they were not alone, joined by a figure who would be familiar to some but not all.

He was wearing a motorbike jacket that was decorated with images of swords, skulls and boars. A short beard adorned his face which only drew attention to the intense and piercing gaze. This was Ares, the god of war. It was he who addressed the assembled demigods not the more friendly faces of Mr D or Lady A.

“Old Dio has asked for my opinion on who would be best to represent you. So I look forward to watching you al-”

The sound of screams caused the god of war to stop his speech His eyes flashed with rage at being interrupted, and he let out a huff through his nose. He tried to continue talking, caring not for the source of the screams. But, he never got the chance to begin.

One of the New Argos attendants ran into the arena. She was drenched in sweat and struggling for breath.

“Help…” She managed to get out, her voice both breathy and hoarse. “We are under attack. On multiple fronts. Too much for us to deal with alone.”

Mr D and Lady A looked at each other both showing obvious signs of concern, but Ares started to laugh. “A battle? Alright game on, not such a boring day. Go off and fight ,‘heroes’. We’ll all be waiting here for you to continue when it is over.” The god of war failed to notice the death glare that Lady A was giving him. She let out a silent sigh and gestured for the demigods to go and help.

Just outside the Arena, one of the guards had created a magical map of New Argos revealing the locations that were under attack and currently needed support. Each of the areas would have a small voice-over explaining the threat and current ongoing crisis in that area.

It was up to each demigod to decide where they thought their efforts would be best suited.

Johnathan woke up early once more to get a lesson ready, he gathered training dummies for the lesson, this time he didn’t need any special weapons or equipment. All he needed was his fists and some good old-fashioned gloves. He grabbed his worn red gloves and stuffed them in his pocket as he stacked the dummies and brought them all over to the arena. After getting there he set up two areas, one open area and the other with two rows of training dummies.

Once people started to pile in he got everyone’s attention by firing a gust of wind in the air. “Welcome once again! I’m Johnathan Walnut and today we’re going to learn about how to fight hand-to-hand, if you’ve done this before you can go and practice with someone else in the open field, if you haven’t try with a dummy. Now I’m just going to teach you two basic moves, jab, jab, punch, and blocking.”

He shows a demonstration with another kid who volunteered to help and did a jab, jab, punch before asking the kid to attack him and blocking with his hands making a shield in front of his face. “It’s very important to always have your hands next to your face to protect your vital organs when needed. That’s about it if you need help call me over and I’ll be there ASAP,” he says before letting everyone go.

Nora lay sprawled in her bed, her breath steady, her face serene in the moonlight filtering through the cabin window. But beneath the surface, her sleep was anything but restful, her body twisted in the sheets, fingers clutching at the fabric like they were the only thing tethering her to reality.

It always started with the ocean. Calm at first—just the sound of gentle waves lapping against the boat. Then the sky darkened, a bruise spreading across the horizon, and the water turned from tranquil blue to ominous black. The boat beneath her feet lurched, and a cold wind cut through her, the kind that came when something unnatural was about to happen.

Her stepfather’s voice was the first thing that broke through the tension. He barked commands to the crew, his tone steady, calm, as if nothing could ever shake him—not even the ocean’s fury. She stood by the rail, watching him take control like he always did, a figure of strength in the chaos. She wanted to be like him—strong, unshaken, unfearful.

But then it happened. The water beneath the boat heaved unnaturally, the waves twisting as something enormous stirred from below. A low, bone-chilling sound rumbled from the depths, and the sea itself seemed to open up. She turned in time to see the slick, glistening tentacle of the squid rise from the black water, impossibly large, blocking out the sky.

Fear paralyzed her. She should move, scream, anything—but she stood frozen, watching in horror as the tentacle smashed into the side of the ship with a sickening crack. The boat groaned under the force, wood splintering and shattering. The crew’s shouts filled the air, swallowed by the roar of the storm and the thrashing of the monster’s limbs.

“Nora!” Her stepfather’s voice cut through the noise, filled with panic—panic she had never heard from him before. She turned, her heart racing, and saw him gripping a length of rope, his eyes wild, pleading. “Get below deck, now!”

But she couldn’t move. Her legs were locked in place, terror rooting her to the spot. Another tentacle lashed out, and this time it caught him. The thick, slick limb coiled around his body, lifting him into the air like he was nothing.

“Dad!” she screamed, her voice cracking with desperation.

For a brief moment, their eyes met—his filled with fear and regret, hers with helplessness. Then, with one final crushing squeeze, the tentacle dragged him down into the black depths.

The boat broke apart beneath her feet, the ocean surging up to swallow her whole. She was plunged into the freezing water, the icy cold tearing the breath from her lungs. She fought to keep her head above water, but the current was too strong, pulling her under again and again.

And then came the voices.

“You abandoned us.”

“It’s your fault.”

“You let us die.”

The words echoed through the water, louder and louder, until they drowned out everything else. She tried to scream, to tell them it wasn’t true, but the sea choked her, filling her lungs. She was sinking, deeper and deeper, and the cold was everywhere, pressing in, suffocating her.

Her stepfather’s face appeared before her in the dark water, pale and lifeless, his eyes accusing. “You left me.”

She tried to reach for him, but her arms wouldn’t move, weighed down by guilt and water and fear. The ocean dragged her further down, the voices swirling around her like the currents, relentless, merciless.

And then, just as she was about to be swallowed completely, she jolted awake.

Nora sat up in bed, her heart racing, her body drenched in sweat despite the cool night air in the cabin. Her breath came in short, ragged gasps, like she’d just broken the surface of the ocean after nearly drowning. But she wasn’t in the water. She was here, in the safety of her cabin at Camp Half-Blood.

But it didn’t feel safe. Not tonight.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and pulled on her boots, her hands trembling as she fumbled with the laces. The walls of the cabin felt too close, too suffocating. She needed to get out, to clear her head, to escape the weight of the dream pressing down on her chest.

Slipping silently out of the cabin, she stepped into the cool night air. It was quiet outside, the camp still under the blanket of sleep, the moon casting a pale glow over the grounds. She didn’t have a destination in mind, her feet just carried her forward, the need to move overpowering the need for direction.

As she walked, her thoughts raced. The voices from the dream still echoed in her mind, accusing her, blaming her.

She found herself at the lake, the water dark and still under the moonlight. The surface was calm, almost peaceful, but all she could see in it was the black, roiling ocean from her nightmare. The same water that had taken her stepfather. The same water that had tried to take her.

Nora sat down at the edge, her boots sinking slightly into the damp earth. She stared out at the lake, her heart still pounding in her chest. The nightmares had been bad before, but since coming to camp, they had only gotten worse. The guilt, the feeling of helplessness—it was all too much sometimes.

She leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees, her gaze fixed on the water as if it held answers she desperately needed. But the lake gave her nothing—no comfort, no solace. Just silence.

The voices had stopped, but their accusations still lingered in the back of her mind, haunting her in the quiet of the night.

Name: Helia Bosley Age: 13 Godrent: Apollo Birthday: May 7th Typical powers: Talented in instruments + archery, and has ADHD

Apperance: Shoulder length wavy, ash brown hair. Deep blue round, doe eyes, and olive skin, covered in light freckles and acne. About 5,6 and an athletic build, but also a bit pudgy. Has almost an aura of grace. Has a mix of formal + casual fashion sense and wears thin silver circular glasses. Mostly wears camp tees and shorts, and her hair half up half down. Often very feminine, or masculine at times. Also wears thin arm cuffs half way between her wrists and elbows on both arms.

Personality: Usually thinks things through and yet still rash, Kind of person who would talk to cats like their a human, awkward + Introverted. Very anxious. An amazing archer, with pretty good battle skills. Really sarcastic sometimes, + Super respectful of personal space.

Quirks: Not very flexible + good at tricks like flips and cartwheels, Loves to sing but dies of embarrassment if someone hears her, Awful at Public speaking, loves falafel + popcorn, and Doesn't like to be touched unless their a close friend.

Present: Helia had just gotten to Camp Half-Blood. She stood at the top of the hill and gazed down at the valley below. Her cat, Eurydice, sat next to her feet, and looked up at her. She was a small, white, Birman Cat with big blue eyes. Basically, Helia though, the cutest thing in the world. She was almost shaking she was so nervous. She fiddled with her glasses, her hair, and basically everything she could find, as she walked down the hill. She decided she would try to find the Apollo cabin, which wasn't too hard, and drop off her backpack of things. Eurydice seemed to walk like she owned the camp, as she walked alongside her, and Helia giggled quietly to herself. She placed her bag on an empty clean bunk, and looked around. A real sunny place she thought. She left the cabin, still a nervous wreck. She wandered around hoping that somebody would show her around, before she got to lost.

Boston, Massachusetts, earlier that day ...

Somewhere in Boston, inside a school bus, Kailani nervously fidgeted with a shiny, hanging pendant of a spiral seashell on her neck. That has never been unusual coming from her, but that nervous gesture had been oddly frequent this morning. It seemed that every second, her fingers would cling to the item as if it was her life support. And in a sense, it was. It has always been since the day her mother gave it to her, the one and only thing that made her feel closer to home, despite being separated by the vast Atlantic Ocean.

“Kailani,” she heard her name being called by Silas, her closest friend since first arriving in Boston — the friend who had revealed himself as a Satyr the day before —, his worry evident in his voice, although he didn't look at her. Not since they had left the house. Instead, his eyes flooked from side to side, wearily, as if looking out for anyone that could be paying too much attention to them. As if waiting and watching out for anything that could be following them. "Are you okay?"

Well, that was a loaded question, considering everything that had happened the day prior.

“I... I'm not sure.” Kailani said, taking a deep long breath, trying her best to keep herself calm, even if her instincts were screaming warning signs inside her head. "Silas, are you sure returning to school is a good idea? I really... don't want to run into... whatever that huge dog thing was. Again."

Silas sighed by her side. It seemd as though it pained him to hear her say this. Of course she wasn't fine. She was terrified. Justifiably so, considering her being attacked by a hellhound out of nowhere the day before, while at school. Had he been just a second too late, she... she probably wouldn't be here anymore.

"I understand why you don't want to. Believe me, I do. And if I could, I would have taken us away from this place as soon as possible. But it will be easier for the help to come find us that way. W-we won't have to stay for long." He said, taking a breath and shaking his head to himself at his pitiful attempt to comfort the young girl. “They should be arriving soon, surely. Until then, I promise you, I won’t let anything happen to you, okay? I won't let them harm you. You have my word, Kailani."

Kailani felt Silas' hand on hers, making him look at him for the first time since this trip to the school started, only to be greeted by the comforting smile from the Satyr. And she couldn't help but give a small smile back.

She was still scared. She still feared for their lives. There was no denying that. But she had decided to trust Silas. He was her friend, her savior, her one and only ally right now. If she couldn't trust Silas to keep her safe then... who else could she trust?

They didn't have much of a plan, they were on their own for now and their time was running out fast. It was only a matter of time before more monsters would come after them.

But they would survive.

They had to...  

Name: Amber

FC: This is her

Age: 17

Hometown: Los Angles, California

Powers and Abilities:

• Emotion Aura

• Emotion Inducement

• Dazzling Appearance

• Illusory Faceshifting

• Appearance Manipulation

• Summon Make Up

• Animation

Amber has been at camp on and off for a few years now. She comes and goes with the seasons. Not much is known about her. She has stared in some smaller movies but is still looking for her big break.

Amber got out of the fancy car and pointed to her bags. Using her power to animate objects she left them to make their way to her cabin. Looking back inside she spoke to the driver. "Please let daddy know that I made it to Camp safe and sound. I will call you when I am ready to come home."

Closing the door she turned back to the camp and made her way down to see what has changed in her absence.

To Sam being able to play soccer was as essential as drinking water or getting a good night’s rest. It wasn’t uncommon to see him playing keepie uppie or hear him make references to funny moments in past soccer games like they were general knowledge. He liked sharing his love for the sport with the rest of the world, so he grabbed a ball and some other supplies before setting the activity up near the Big House.

Last time Sam hosted an activity, only a handful of people showed up. He had prayed to Nike to send enough campers for him to form an eleven. ‘’Salut.’’ Sam greeted the wannabe soccer players in attendance with a small wave. ‘’If you don’t know me, my name is Sam. I am from the Poseidon cabin and today I’ll be playing soccer with you.’’ He said before rolling a soccer ball in front of him. ‘’I prepared something -’’ He said before pointing behind him.

Behind Sam were two goals, one of them was a regular goal and the other one was covered in black fabric. The fabric had holes of different sizes, each hole big enough to fit in a soccer ball. ‘’While we wait for enough people to show up so we can do an actual match, I was thinking this would be cool. You can try to make trick shots through the holes or if you don’t feel like it, shoot your ball at the normal goal.’’ He explained hastily.

Next Sam gave a ball to each camper in attendance, before sitting in the grass and observing if there was any soccer talent at camp at all.

PREVIOUS

-Early September 2038, Friday evening

Photographs, a window to the past. A moment in time captured still. I stare right on through, wondering about you. The kid in the photo with his dad. You’re the same as me, aren’t you, really? Human through and through. Still, I wonder, how can it be? That you were that kid there, staring back at me?

After my talk with Father Ante, I went home in a flash. I couldn’t let people see me dashing at full speed. They’d, well, I wasn’t sure exactly what they would think. I sort of imagined them seeing me and saying, “oh my gosh, that’s a 35 mile an hour teenage girl, she should be in the Olympics! Also, how is she doing that?!”

Great thing about being me is that I can turn invisible. So after I got out of the church, I focused on that feeling of wanting to disappear. Sometimes it can happen inadvertently when I let my feels get the best of me.

So off I went. It was about ten minutes from the church to my mom’s apartment, and I could stay invisible for about ten minutes. There wasn’t a moment to waste. I weaved between the crowds, a few people looked stunned as I passed them by. I guess they could feel the wind from me moving. Which, well, I gotta say, that’s pretty darn cool. My theory was confirmed when I ran by a dude with a newspaper and his newspaper got blown outta his hands. He looked absolutely flabbergasted. Oof. “WOOHOO!” I yelled. I felt like a freaking superhero. A few of the surrounding people looked bewildered as they tried to find the mysterious woohooing 15-year-old girl. Legends say that the mysterious woohooer of Astoria is still out there, still running, still woohooing, even to this day. 

Some dude crashed hard on his skateboard in front of me; he tumbled over the sidewalk. I jumped over him and landed right in front of someone else. If they had taken one more step, I’d have slammed right into them.

Finally, I reached the apartment building. The receptionist looked confused as the door was blown open by me as I ran inside. She sat up and walked over to inspect the door. While she did that, I hustled up the stairs and made it home just as my invisibility wore off. I closed the door behind me and rested against it. Huffing and puffing as I did. To celebrate, I did a little dance and finished my victory celebration with an arm pump. I could hear the Final Fantasy victory theme playing in my head. Duh duh duh duh duh Da duh duh!

“And our triumphant hero returns home,” Martin said, clapping. “Did you have a good day at school, Lu?”

“Yeah!” I said. Well, it wasn’t exactly a good day. But it wasn’t a bad day, either. Honestly, I was just glad it was over and the weekend was finally here. I rushed over to Martin and threw my arms around him in a hug.

He returned the hug after a moment and chuckled. “Well, I’m glad to see you, too, Lupa!”

Mom rounded the corner, and it’s at that moment that I caught a whiff of something in the air. Her cooking. I instantly knew what it was: lasagna and garlic bread. Yum! As she saw me and Martin hugging, she smiled. “Hey, you have a good day at school?” She asked.

“Yup! I’m starving though!”

“Dinner will be done in about half an hour. We’ll be eating at the table tonight, okay?”

That was something I was still getting used to, y’know? Sitting and eating at the table wasn’t something me and mom ever did. Like, we had a table, sure. But we never really sat at it. It kind of was just there for looks, I guess. It was the token table, y’know?  

“Okay!”

It was time for a shower and a much needed change of clothes. Like the uniform might’ve been cute, sure. But it definitely left a lot to be desired in terms of comfort. Maybe It’s just me, but it felt scratchy. The hot water from the shower felt amazing against my skin, too. I used to dislike taking long showers. Sometimes I did because the hot water sort of comforted me. But the dysphoria was just awful. But now, since my body has changed so much, it isn’t as awful. Not perfect still, but definitely a lot less awful.

I got out of the shower just in time for dinner. Martin and Mom were sitting around the table getting their plates ready. And I happily went to join them. As I sat down, there was this moment where I felt that wholeness sort of feeling I mentioned before. But it vanished all at once when I noticed what - no - who was missing: Rose. There was an empty spot at our table across from me where she should be sitting. “Lupa?” Martin said. “Are you okay?”

I blinked and looked at him for a moment. I smiled, then frowned, then smiled again. “Yeah,” I whispered. “I’m okay.” The last thing I wanted to do was ruin the moment by being sad. Martin looked over at the spot and frowned. Then he looked back at me and slowly his smile came back.

“So, how was your day at school? Did you learn anything today?” Mom asked.

I didn’t know if Mom did that on purpose, but she probably pulled me and Martin out of a really sad place. “Um. Yeah. A lot of stuff.”

“Like?”

“Uh. Well, I learned about the story of Saint Sophia.”

“I’ve read about some of the saints. Want to tell me about her story?” Mom asks.

So I did.

Martin nodded after I finished recounting the story. “Yeah. I remember that from back when I went there.” He had this sort of nostalgic look on his face. 

I tried to imagine what Martin would look like as a 14-year-old kid. It was hard. It was also hard to imagine myself as a 20 or 30 something year old adult. “Hey Dad, um. Do you have any pictures of you when you were younger?”

Mom gawked at me from across the table. I didn’t know why at first, then it occurred to me; it was because I called Martin dad. I hadn’t really done it around her before. I was still getting used to the idea myself.

Martin caught onto Mom’s reaction quicker than I did. “I think so, yeah. After dinner, maybe we can go looking.”

Mom brought her hands to her mouth. “Aww,” she said. “I. . . I didn’t know if you would call him Dad or not. It almost feels unreal.”

I laughed at that. “Yeah, tell me about it.”

The three of us laughed at the awkwardness of it all. And that feeling of wholeness came back again. 

After dinner, me and Martin went searching through old photographs. It took a while, but we found some of him when he was my age.

It was unreal how different he looked. He was skinnier, had less muscle. A bit more fat in his face. He looked like a kid. I could see some similarities between him and Rose.

Then I saw a picture of him and his dad. Martin’s dad had the same sort of vibes as he does now; he looked intelligent, wise. No wonder Lady Athena was attracted to him. “You look so different,” I said, staring at the photographs.

“Tempus fugit, Lu,” Martin replied with a slight frown.

Now I didn’t understand Latin the same as Greek, but I recognized what this phrase meant: time flies. And it really does. I remember when I was younger how the days seemed so much longer than they do now. How the hours would stretch on for what felt like an eternity.

“We should take more pictures. I have a camera.”

“Oh? Did your mom get you that as a gift?”

I went to my room and returned a few seconds later with the camera Thoth had gotten for me. “No,” I shook my head.

“A friend?”

I paused. I didn’t know what to consider Thoth. It was all so confusing.

Martin must’ve noticed my hesitation. “Lu? Are you okay?”

Thinking about the old man, it was hard. I needed to talk about him. About what happened. I just didn’t know if I wanted to do that with Martin.

“Yeah,” I whispered, nodding.

“Lu, whatever is going on, you know you can tell me, right?”

I sighed and sat on the floor beside him with my legs crossed. “Did Mom tell you about what happened?”

The look on his face immediately changed to one of worry. “You mean how she was kidnapped?”

I nodded. “Yeah. The guy who kidnapped her gave me this camera as a gift.”

Martin shook his head, clearly confused. “But why?”

“I think. . . Well, I guess I know, really, that he felt guilty about it all.”

“About kidnapping you guys? Then why do it?”

I didn’t really feel like explaining the story to him. I didn’t want to remember it again. I didn’t want to break down. So instead, I showed him the notebook that Thoth gave me. I showed Martin Thoth’s final goodbye note. His eyes darted over the page as he read each line. He breathed out deeply through his nose as he handed the book back to me. “She told me some of what happened, but I could tell that your mom was being sparse on the details. I guess I know why now.”

Martin handed the book back to me after closing it. “Do you need a hug?” He asked.

I nodded, and Martin wrapped his arms around me. He patted my back and scratched the back of my head. There were so many times when I wanted my dad to do that for me. And now I finally had someone to hug me like that and call dad. I thought I would never get to experience it. I felt safe there, all wrapped up in his arms. It was warm. Comforting. It reminded me of when Hermes hugged me in my dreams. “Will you sit with me again tonight?” I whispered to him. “At least until I can fall asleep?”

It was still difficult to fall asleep on my own. To be honest, having to have help with something that should be so simple made me feel helpless. It made me feel like I was 5 years old or something.

“Of course I will,” he whispered back.

Right as we were hugging, Mom came out of her room. She spotted me and Martin. “Hey, is everything okay?” She asked, walking closer.

Martin released me from the hug and turned to her. “Yeah. Everything’s okay. Hey, want to join us for a photo?”

Mom smirked. “Sounds good to me.”

The three of us sat on the couch together as I sat the camera on a timer. 30 seconds later and we had a photo of us. “I’ll see if I can get it printed,” Mom said. “I think I’ll be heading to bed now, though. Off to dreamland for me,” she chuckled.

“I’ll join you soon. I have to help someone else reach it first though,” he turned to face me. “Are you feeling tired?”

I really needed to start collecting extra copies of the obvious question award. Cause man, so many people liked to ask those kinds of questions. “Yeah. I’m beat.”

A little while later, I was lying on the couch on Martin’s leg. “What’s on your mind, Lu? We can chat while you drift off.”

Whenever the night came, my worries bubbled up inside my mind. And gosh, there were so many worries. “School.”

“Are you having a tough time in your classes?”

“Some of them. Mostly math.”

“Ah, yeah. I saw they put you in remedial math. I’m guessing you’ve always struggled with math?”

“Yeah. It’s. . . really difficult.”

“What about it, exactly?”

“It’s just. . . I don’t really know. Like I’m great with language stuff. I can write well. Y’know? But whenever I try to do a math problem. . .” I fidgeted with my hands like I was trying to solve a Rubik’s cube. “I just can’t get it.” 

I guess Martin could tell that I wasn’t quite able to put it into words. “I’m not sure I understand, but I’m here to help you, like I said.”

There were other worries, too. “I’m worried about these two other kids.”

“Oh?”

“They’re demigods. Simon is their satyr.”

“It sounds like they’re in good hands. Simon is fairly experienced as a keeper.”

“They don’t know. . .”

“It’s better that way,” Martin said, shifting around. “If they knew, that would only draw the monsters to them quicker. And they get to enjoy their ignorance for just a little white longer.”

I had conflicted feelings about that idea of blissful ignorance. Not knowing definitely made them safer, sure. But did it make them happier? Somehow, I doubted it. I read about a thing called Roko’s basilisk once. About how knowing something can be hazardous. I never understood that before. But now that I know I’m a demigod, well, I understand the basilisk perfectly. “I know. . . but. . . It just feels bad. Y’know? Like. . . we shouldn’t have to be lied to. Even if it is to protect us. When Rose got to camp, she was so hurt by everything that happened. She thought. . .” I hesitated. I knew Martin wasn’t in a good place with everything that was going on with Rose. I didn’t want to hurt him.

“She thought I abandoned her,” he said, as if he could read my mind.

I kept quiet, not wanting to confirm his theory.

“I suspected she would feel that way. I wish I didn’t have to send her to camp. But. . . there are skills she needs to develop there. I can’t teach her everything that she needs to know to survive life as a demigod. And I wanted her to be able to bond with people like her. It's difficult to bond with regular mortals in the same way. We have such a different perspective and experience in life compared to them. Especially if they can’t see through the mist.”

“I wanna help keep them safe. . . Y’know? Like I did for Rose. I don’t want them to get hurt. Or worse. . .” There’s so much wrong about the reality we have to face. About fighting monsters. About getting dragged into petty drama between the gods. We deserve better. But, unfortunately, things will probably never change for the better. 

“We’re gonna train tomorrow, right?” I asked. My eyelids were feeling heavy. Hard to focus. My eyes were fluttering now. Guess Martin must’ve noticed I was getting close to falling to sleep.

“Yeah. But we can talk about it tomorrow. No need to worry about that tonight. Just. . . breathe deep and relax, okay?”

“Okay. . .” I whispered.

Just as I fell asleep, right on the threshold between consciousness and unconsciousness, I felt Martin lift me again. I murmured something. Or tried to. Heck, everything was so foggy, even I didn’t know what I was trying to say. I remember him chuckling and saying something in response to me. But the words all sounded like garble. Something like, “mgrlrgl to you, too.”

There weren’t any dreams. I was just floating peacefully in the dark. Thankful for the quiet, for once.

The next morning came, Mom and Dad let me sleep in, thank gods. Not for a ridiculously long time, mind you. But when you’re me - and trust me, it sucks to be me - you need every drop of sleep you can get. People pinch pennies, I pinch sleep. Don’t tell Lord Hypnos about me, or the sandman, for that matter.

The smell of breakfast roused me. I could almost picture myself as some sort of cartoon character rising from their sleep and floating toward the smell of food. I sat up in bed and looked over at my alarm clock; it was about an hour after sunrise; about eight in the morning.

Somehow, I felt well rested. It wasn’t often that I actually got a good night’s rest.

I went through my usual routine of waking up. I showered, got dressed, and met Mom and Dad at the table for breakfast. “Morning, sweety,” Mom said, smiling. “Surprised to see you up so early. How’d you sleep?”

I stacked my plate with breakfast food. Bacon, eggs, pancakes, toast, the whole shebang. Who would’ve thought that sleeping could work up such an appetite? “I slept okay. No nightmares. No dreams.”

She smiled. “I’m glad to hear it.”

Her smile made me happy. I loved when I could make my mom smile. Heck, when I could make anyone smile, really. Mom was usually so worried. And I was often the source of that worry. So the idea that I could make her happy was a relief.

Martin watched as I dug in. “It never ceases to amaze me how much you can eat. It’s nuts.”

“Well, I’m a growing girl. What can I say? And I mean, didn’t you eat a lot when you were a teenager?”

“Yeah. I suppose I did. With great power comes a great need for a snack.” Martin chuckled.

“I got you Uncle Ben,” I laughed.

As we were eating, Mom asked another question. “So, where will you two be practicing?”

“I know a place in a park we can go to. Nice and secluded.”

To be honest with you, the idea of sparring with a much older, more experienced demigod was daunting. I’d learned my lesson with Thoth; you don’t mess with adult demigods. They’re badasses. They had to be in order to survive as long as they have. In this life, there really isn’t room for weakness. The monsters will take advantage of any weakness they can find.

After breakfast, the three of us headed to Central Park. We walked deep into the woods and arrived at a familiar-looking location. Martin and I knew it, but Mom didn’t. This was the place where I almost became cyclopes stew during Christmas last year. It was our little secret. Both of us agreed never to tell Mom about what happened that night. Better that she didn’t know. Y’know? But why would Martin bring us to this spot specifically?

Martin stretched his hand out, and a spear manifested within his grasp. Apparently, he can just do that. “Get your weapons ready, Lu.”

I nodded. “Uh, right.” I clicked the ends of my bracelets together and my celestial bronze gauntlets manifested and covered my arms up to just before my armpits. Next, I took out my pen and slid the bolt all the way down before pressing it in. In my hands, my celestial bronze thrusting sword manifested. Lastly, I put on the mask that Jules made for me. It was totally my style, too. It was stylized like a wolf and matched my jacket perfectly. My senses sharpened. It was like I could hear everything in the forest. Like I was really a wolf.It was at this moment that Mom looked worried. Her gaze passed between me and Martin. “Wait, you guys are going to practice with actual weapons?” She asked, shocked.

“That’s how we do it at camp, too, mom,” I explained.

“We won’t hurt each other,” Martin said, trying to reassure her. “I just want to see how much Lupa has learned. How well she can defend herself.”

I could tell that Mom really didn’t like the idea of us practicing with real weapons. But she relented. “Just be careful, you two, okay?”

Both of us nodded.

I took on my stance and held my blade in front of me with one hand. Martin hunched into his own stance as the two of us circled around one another.

“You really do look like a wolf, you know.”

I knew what Dad was trying to do because Thoth did exactly the same thing; he was talking to distract me. So he could catch me off guard. I wasn’t going to fall for it. Instead, I lunged forward and started my assault. The terrible thing about fighting against a spear is that the person using the spear has such a huge range advantage. I had to get close and close the gap. If I could make it past the tip of his spear, then winning would be much easier.

Martin knew that too, though. As I got close, he jabbed at me with his spear several times in quick succession. I stepped back to avoid each thrust. Martin seized the opportunity and started his own counterassault. I parried each of his strikes as we continued to spar. I kept looking for a chance to grab his spear. But Martin knew better than that; he always retracted the spear before I had the chance to make a grab at it.

A plan formed in my mind. I had no idea if it would work, but it was worth a try. In the heat of battle, I backed toward a tree. I was hoping Martin wouldn’t catch on. “You’re not holding back, are you, Dad?” I asked, trying to psyche him out.

It seemed like my plan worked; Martin immediately applied more pressure. The speed of his attacks grew. As he lunged forward with a spear thrust, I stepped to the side and his spear plunged into the bark of the tree and sent a shower of splinters out in all directions. This was my chance! I sliced down and shattered the shaft of his spear.

“Not bad!” Martin said, backing away. He reached into his pocket as I rushed at him. I ran full sprint at him and used my momentum to jump off the base of a tree. I clashed against him as he activated another weapon of his: a xiphos. That’s a short sword for those of you who may not know.

I had the advantage, so I began a flurry of jabs and slices to keep up the pressure. Martin was really good at sword fighting, too; he parried each of my blows fairly easily. Another idea formed in my head. Trickery. I heaved for breath and backed away. 

“Had enough, Lu?”

I smirked at him. “In your dreams, I’m not just gonna give up.”

“If you insist. . .”

Dad took the bait and ran at me to continue his assault. I focused on that feeling of wanting to vanish, and I could feel my power activate. But, I sort of modulated it. Basically, I turned it on and off really quickly, like a kid constantly flipping the light-switch on while pretending to be a ghost. OooOoOOoOOooOOOoOOoOooOOoOoooOOoooOoooOOOooOOooOooOOo. Spooky.

It must have worked, because Martin looked absolutely stunned as he continued to stare at me.

I ran full speed in a circle around him. Occasionally, I would switch directions to throw him off. Both of us clashed, and the battle continued. Clang after clang of bronze rang out through the forest clearing. But Martin was slowing down. I had to keep pushing, just a little longer. But I could feel the strain. Between using my power and running like I was, well, I was getting worn out, too.

Finally, Martin made a mistake, a tiny error. He jabbed at my side with his xiphos and wasn’t able to retract his weapon quickly enough. I grabbed hold of his sword with an iron grip. But Martin also grabbed hold of my sword hand. He smirked as the two of us struggled against each other. “I gotta admit, you’re pretty skilled, Lupa.” he let go of his sword and grabbed hold of my jacket. Then he tossed me across the forest clearing, heaving as he did so. I tumbled across the autumn foliage on the ground and slammed into the base of a tree. My entire body ached as I tried to catch my breath.

“Lupa!” Mom yelled, running toward me.

I tried to stand and shoo her away. But Martin spoke up. “I think that’ll do for today, Lupa,” he said, coming closer. “Are you okay?” He asked, extending his hand.

I looked down, then back up. Martin was smiling. “I almost had you!” I said, heaving for breath and taking his hand.

Martin laughed at that. “Yeah, you did. You’re pretty skilled, I have to admit. That trick where you flickered - what was that?”

It took me a few minutes, but I was able to catch my breath. “I can turn invisible, so I thought that if I flickered it, I could use that to confuse you.”

“It was pretty effective, pretty clever. I have to admit. Why not just stay invisible, though?”

I shrugged. “I guess I just wanted to show off.”

Martin frowned at that. “Hubris, Lu. Showing off doesn’t matter. All that matters in a real fight is whether you win. Whether you survive.”

I knew that, of course. “I understand.”

“Next time we spar, all I want you to focus on is winning. That’s all that matters, okay?”

“Okay, Dad.” 

“You’re sure you’re okay?” Mom asked, looking concerned. She was checking me for cuts and bruises. I was a little banged up, but not severely injured by any means.

“Yeah, I’m fine, Mom,” I said, exasperated.

“I can’t help that I’m worried about you. . . Lupa. You’re my baby.”

I knew what she meant, kind of at least. “I know. . .”

“What do you say we get pizza tonight?” Martin asked.

No one had any complaints about that idea.

#Family:

#Powers:

Name | Type| Description ---|---|---|--- Strength sharing | Domain | The ability to impart on another individual the user's strength. Recipients of this power report an improved or calmer state of mind that leaves them feeling more assured and confident. Induced emotions are known to be cleared away by this power. Legendary Strength | Minor | A trait where one displays one of the highest levels of strength and stamina known of demigods. Those with legendary strength have been reported to lift up to 600 Ibs. (or 272.16 kg) and supposedly can punch through concrete. Berserker Conbat| Major | A trait where some demigods can channel their rage and bloodlust to amplify their fighting ability. Their fight response overrides their non-battle related inhibitions and compels them to fight recklessly. Summon Weapon | Domain | The ability to summon a set of weapons. The user can produce and distribute up to 10 of these weapons at any given time, but they are fragile. After 30 minutes (5 turns), they will dissolve and leave no trace. Though made of iron and wood, these weapons are still capable of slaying monsters.This power works best if the user summons the signature weapon of their godrent. (Heracles=Pair of Cestus)

#Favorite Things:

• Foods: Anything spicy. He loves curry.

• Drinks: Coffeee or Energy drinks, anything with caffeine.

• Media: Loves 80s-90s Slasher films. He loves how trashy they are and they don't really scare him anyways.

#Items and Equipment:

#Appearance:

Faceclaim | Height | Weight | Hair color | Eye color | Body type ---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|--- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-zVi-sypZAVv-El2NMCI5zWHxcdA0OJQY_-nadmmWDc/edit | 6'0”| idc | platinum blonde | hazel | Lean

#Personality:

Cahir has no idea who he is. He is deeoly attached to the people he loves to the point of forgetting himself. Since his sister left him, he had been trying to figure out who he is supposed to be without any luck.

#Trivia

• Loves dogs, especially guard and hersing dogs, because he had always related to them

• His favourite color is black

• Cahir is secretly scared of the dark and can't sleep without a nightlight

#History:

Cahir was born in Dover in the UK to his mother and sister, Alicia. His father had known Cahir was a demigod child even before he was born. The man had insisted they would treat Cahir as his son or he would kick both Alicia and Lily out because he and Lily had tried for a son but were unable to have a second child. Of course she had agreed to the deal since she wouldn't be able to support herself and two children.

Cahir's father was a strict man. He had sent Cahir to a military kindergarden and later a military primary and highs school. He had taught Cahir that he had to be a 'real man' since he had to pass along the family name later on.

The one person Cahir had grown up to care for was his sister, Alicia. He had always been incredibly protective of her, since she was the only person he ever trusted. But things went wrong when Cahir turned 17, leading to Alicia giving him the ultimatum of him either going to CHB or he would never see her again.

#Present Day:

Cahir glared down at the airport employee currently staring from Cahir's passport, at him and then back at the passport. The woman had been doing that for at least a minute now. Cahir's jaw clenched. An 8 hour flight had already been too much for his temper and he would've snapped if the woman hadn't handed his passport back to him right then.

He didn't bother wishing her a good day - he wanted her to have a terrible day. As Cahir headed to baggage claim he wondered what the fuck he was doing here. He should turn around, catch the next plane to London and- and what? It wasn't like he had any place there anymore. As he waited for the suitcases to be rolled out, he glanced around.

"Oh... you gotta be fucking kidding," he groaned as he spotted a huge guy with a single eye stormed towards him through the crowd.

A few minutes, and definitely a lot of bruises later, Cahir stood outside the airport with his suitcase, waiting for the guy from CBH who would apparently come and pick him up. His relief was little when a car pulled up and a driver with Cahir's name on the sign got out.

"Oi, have you got a phone?" he asked not too kindly as soon as he dropped into one of the backseats. the driver's phone showed the time; 5pm. 5pm here was 10pm england but Alicia didn't pick up. Cahir handed to phone back and let his left leg bounce up and down nervously for the entire ride.

The rest of thw day felt like some sort of weird dream. Some camper showing him the cabin, the rest of the camp. He took a shower, the headed for dinner. It felt weird to be around strangers and he didn't like it. Normally he had something to do, someone to protect. Now he just sat there and glared at everyone who looked like they would approach him.

Apparently everyone was heading for some sort of campfire after dinner. Just what I need, he thought sarcastically, to act like everything was fine while doing campfire singalongs or whatever the hell.

So, he decided on sitting down on a tree trunk away from the rest and watch them while once again wondering what the fuck he was even doing here.

TL;DR: Talk to Harper if you want to help with the newspaper! Also, please vote in the Campers Speak poll or ask a question to our mediator for the Advice Column.

Background: The Camp Half-Blood Chronicle is a community project where subreddit writers write creative pieces about camp events or their camper's personal interests. These articles are published in a newspaper at the end of the season. This fall season ends on the winter solstice, December 21. Check out our most recent issue Summer 2039.

-----

A portion of the arts and crafts cabin is set up for the newspaper team's late afternoon meeting, with clustered desks and a whiteboard. The ever-present voting booth has been set near the entrance of the cabin, decorated in fake cobwebs and paper leaves.

Water and apple cider have been set on another table for consumption, along with cut fruit and veggie trays. Campers are invited to the cabin to listen in on the meeting, work on their art projects, or just hang out as Harper runs through the meeting agenda.

-----

Newspaper Outline

• Camp News
  • Halloween Events???
• Olympus and the Outside World
  • New Argos Games
• Advice Column (Sadira Andersen)
• Camper Columns
  • Winter Weather Report (Robert Bridger)
  • Toby’s Terrific Tales (Toby Eversfield)
  • Adrian’s Curated Playlist (Adrian Carmody)
  • Elias's Fun Facts (Elias Carmody)
  • Campers Speak (Harper Morales)
    • QOTD: Does a Cyclops wink or blink?
    • Anonymous Appreciations
• OOC

---

Get Involved

• Submit to the QOTD, Anonymous Appreciations, or Advice Column for a chance to be featured in the paper!
• We are always welcoming new writers!
  • Requirements: Write an article about any subject of your choosing (following Reddit/CampHalfBloodRP rules), or choose an unclaimed topic from the list above. Please format your article. (I can convert it to Markdown myself but it would be easier to have a reference for how you want it to look)
• Don't have the time to write a full article? We always welcome any ideas, suggestions, or potential news tips for the future!

----

After giving her announcement, Harper takes a seat by the voting booth, ready to talk to old friends and greet new ones.

New Argos was fun and all but nothing quite beat a campfire back at camp with the cabins and all of the strange and colourful blankets that people would bring to the campfire. Therefore to try and recreate a bit of that in New Argos and to try and bring the two locations closer together, especially the divided camp. Matt had naturally roped his boyfriend Brent into the idea and with his approval, the idea was set. He just dreaded the cost of any drachmas that he had.

Just outside the tent that the campers had been staying in New Argos, Matt got the fire going in the firepit that had gone unused for a long time, he'd keep it small for now and just keep feeding it with firewood over time so that people who wanted to attend in New Argos could. As always it was low stakes, he wanted to create an atmosphere and something for people to attend, if people had better plans in the city then good for them. New Argos had a lot of stuff to offer them.

Later in the day, Matt would begin part 2 of his plan. Using a small pump, some water and torchlight, he was able to successfully create an Iris Message. He had as always requested to talk to his boyfriend, who hopefully was by the Camp Half-Blood campfire. This way people in New Argos could have a campfire with those who were at Camp, new campers could meet some old veterans and those who had stayed behind could speak with friends.

It was the best that could be done given the distance between New York and Georgia. To tempt more people, Matt had managed to put together some hot chocolate powder, hot water and some mugs. While it wasn't 'smores it was something warm to have by the fire. It was the same idea right? Regardless, he hoped that people would appreciate the effort, even if they chose not to come.

Whilst New Argos was a great place to explore and a good place to live due to it not being threatened constantly by monsters, it was important that the demigods there still practised their skills with weapons and with powers. With that in mind, Matt had booked the arena for Sunday afternoon for the campers from Camp Half-Blood to shake off any combat cobwebs and know that they were in one of the safest and best places to do so.

In the morning Matt had prepared training dummies for those who were seeking to practice with any ranged weapons including spells and he had managed to persuade the arena master, with the promise of a talk to some of the students on what life was like beyond New Argos, some combat training automatons which could act as sparring partners for those who didn't want to spar with a fellow demigod but also didn't want to simply just wack away at a training dummy all afternoon.

Just after 1pm, Matt greeted those who had arrived for the training. "Well, here we are. We can do some practice here for the next couple of hours. Of course, if you want to spar amongst yourselves, go for it that is the easiest bit. We have training dummies if you are an archer or just want to try and destroy some stuff. I've managed to get us some combat automatons which will give people who don't want to spar something to fight against. There should be something here for everyone."

It was at that point Matt pointed to the different sections of the arena, in the southwest were the training dummies, in the northwest were the automatons, the northeast had been reserved for those who were sparring whilst the southeast was for taking a break, watching or getting any injuries looked at, notably also in the southeast there was a water station filled with ice cold water that would not run out thanks to some enchantments.

"I've got some medical supplies for anything minor and we've got people on standby if anything bigger happens, but try and help each other and not kill each other. If anyone wants to talk about anything come and see me. Otherwise, good luck and have fun." Matt said with a grin as he gestured with his arms for the demigods to begin whenever they were ready.

((OOC, please note this is for characters currently in New Argos. If you are not in New Argos but wish to attend, declare in the Bus Stop post on the weekly schedule for last week found here.))

Format

Name Activity | Day Activity | Day

You can only reserve up to two slots per character. If you have multiple characters, make one comment for all of them instead of one each.

There can only be one Meal per day, at any time! Any camper can host them.

Campfires happen twice a week. Campers coordinate these with the camp directors, so anyone can host them!

Open Slots happen every day and can include Lessons, QOTDs, Cabin Inspections, Cabin Meetings, Games, movie nights, social gatherings, etc. Lessons, Cabin Inspections and Meetings can only be hosted by a Camp Leader.

Counsellor Meetings are hosted once a month by a moderator and can only be joined by a Camp Leader.

Once a week, a camp-wide activity such as a party, Trip to the City, Beach Day, etc. Each week the event will be different. While they're normally hosted by the mods, a regular camper can host them.

Comment below what you'd like to host!

NOTE: Failure to meet your own slot three times in a row will lock you out of commenting on the Schedule for a month. (You can still post activities outside of the schedule, just not meals or campfires.)

Monday

Meal -

Open Slot -

Tuesday

Campfire - Matthew Knight

Open Slot - Harper Morales

Wednesday

Meal -

Open Slot - Samuel Leclerc

Thursday

Meal -

Open Slot -

Friday

Meal -

Open Slot - Johnathan Walnut

Saturday

Campfire -

Meal -

Open Slot - June the Dryad

Sunday

Meal -

Open Slot - Nyx and Luke Shepard

_______________________________________________

Leave your name below in the shown format to sign up for an activity!

View the rest of the month in our Character Log in the Calendar sheet.

You can reserve slots in advance!

If you are new welcome! You can check out this post to get started. If you aren't new, please answer this form to be featured on the character log and visit the Link Hub.

Leaving New Argos wasn’t hard. Stuff all the things that Max had taken with ‘er, and dip. Well, minus having to wait to get on the bus, but whatever. That was besides the point. She’d not seen Kiran since the first NA event, which was sucky. She wanted to give him a hug. But she could iris message him later, right?

– – – –

Max had only been back at camp for five minutes when she’d started packing her bags. But she also needed to leave, mainly because she was already missing cross country and track enough as is, but also because she missed her mom. Mommy’s girl, amiright?

Stuffing her duffle bag full of her clothing, they look down at a small trinket. Something they’d picked up the day she’d met Michael. It was just a random little seashell, but that wasn’t what was important. What was important was that the demi-daughter of Ares knew she was going to return. If not at least to see the two people who mattered most to her, then at least to see her siblings. That caused more of an ache in her chest though. Siblings.

Max had spent the last, what? Three or four, maybe five months getting to know these new siblings that she has through a man she doesn’t even know? Sure, they’re all cool, Jeremiah and David, all of ‘em, but gods above did Max miss their stepsiblings. And their cousin. She had so many hair-ruffles to give him later. And her step-dad, or, soon-to-be step-dad. 

Leaving camp wouldn’t mean ditching, forgetting all about the ‘Hey! Your dad is an angry god of war!’ (though some parts of the time at camp… Well, Max wishes she could forget those.) but it would mean that when they came back, they’d be more refreshed, and hopefully better at managing their anger. Heck, maybe she’d go to the anger-management classes the school counselor had been nagging about all of the previous school year. And Spike would get to see his old hang-space back home in her room, he’d get to pester Max’s mom, and fly in for a faux attack on Max’s little sister again.

The only thing that sucked? Max had not a single clue where their boyfriend was. And, well, he was one of the only people Max cared to say goodbye to at the moment. Last they’d checked, he was in New Argos, but they didn’t see him around. The list had been: Kiran, Michael, and then a quick bye to her siblings in Ares cabin. She’d already said bye to her… fashionably angry friend, Theo. He was, well, too busy fussing over her messy haircut to actually respond until they’d gotten off the bus to come back into camp. But like they’d thought about before, they could iris message people later. If they had enough drachma, that is. Then again, Max hadn’t really used much, as they weren’t the… shopping-type.

Before leaving the Ares cabin, Max ran their fingers through their newly chopped hair. It would take some getting used to. Max had had long, wavy red hair for years, and now it was chopped, not very clean, and didn’t even reach quite to her shoulders. Her mom would probably throw a fit, mainly because it was such a messy job, but hey, it was pretty good for Max having done it, A, by themself, and B, with a dagger. Spike had not been happy with the development, as he’d liked clipping his talons around her braids and trying to drag the poor girl when he was feeling playful or hungry. And Max’s track-mates will probably chew her out for getting rid of their favorite pastime: playing with the girl’s hair while the couch yaps about new competitions.

Max tossed their bag over their shoulder, waved for Spike to come over, and then walked out of the cabin for the last time till next summer.

Tyler stood at the entrance of the Hermes Cabin, Emily had dropped him off yesterday, but it was already starting to feel like home. The cabin closely resembled a cozy summer retreat, with its log walls, forest-colored windows, and shingled roof.

Tyler pushed the door open and was greeted by the new scent of aged wood mixed with hints of leather and adventure. The first floor was alive with activity, as his fellow children of Hermes made their ways around like a tornado of arms and legs.

Tyler climbed the stairs to the second floor, where the living space awaited. It was a massive room that could be rearranged as needed, filled with bunk beds, cushions, and plenty of space. He crossed the room and opened the dresser that he had housed his belongings in. Taking a quick inventory he saw that everything was still there. Taking his backpack he collects a few of his things before heading back downstairs.

He had overheard some campers talking about a forge somewhere in camp and he wanted to check it out. He knew that there was a workshop in the basement of the Hermes Cabin but at this time he didn't want any of his siblings to be peaking over his shoulder.

Stepping back into the morning sun he started his trek towards the Forge.

Emily's day had started completely normal, but she had decided to go into the woods by herself to practice her singing. Though most people were okay with her reading and occasionally spouting history facts, she more than anyone knew that her singing got annoying.

Which was a bit of a problem for Emily, since singing had been a large part of both her life and her personality long before she had been claimed as a daughter of Clio.

The young girl still didn't know how to feel about her godly parent, since she'd been in the Hermes cabin for FOUR YEARS before her mom had finally claimed her. She didn't hate her mother, but she did have a resentment for the goddess who took four years to admit she existed.

Deciding not to think about her complicated mommy issues for the moment though, Emily stared down at her true nemesis, the creek in camp half blood.

Emily had always been skittish around the water and that creek in general, after the history notebook her brother had given her, one the two of them compiled together of the findings they managed to take with them after her father... stole most of her historical findings. Went sailing down the river.

The daughter of Clio stumbled, admitting to herself it was mostly her own fault, since her lack of direction was what led her to be faced with her old enemy. "Hey!" Emily shouted just as her foot slipped, sending her tumbling into the creek.

She splashed and fought against the evil waters, accidentally nicking her knee in the process. Another wave crashed overhead, leaving to the other girl spitting out water and fuming mad. "I swear! I will end you!" She screamed at the waves.

Of course, the water didn't answer, not being sentient. Emily didn't at all care, and anyone who saw her at camp would be surprised to see the quiet, mild-mannered camper lose her cool at a body of water.

Pulling her head above the water and furiously shaking her pigtails to get all the water out, Emily finally braced herself on a rock, using it to pull herself out of the evil clutches of the goodness forsaken creek!

Standing on her wobbly legs, Emily finally collapsed right underneath a large tree overlooking the same stream.

Dripping wet, sporting a bloody knee, and an ever-growing hatred for this stupid creek, all Emily could be relieved about was that no one had seen her lose her temper at the creek, even if that son of a gun deserved it.

General info
Name: Kayla Ang
Age: 13
Birthday: November 15
Ethnicity: Asian
Godly Parent: Morpheus (God of Dreams)

Characteristics
Appearance: Has a skinny and average body, pale skinned, dark brown eyes, medium wavy black hair. Usually prefers to wear hoodies and jeans than dresses and skirts.
Personality: Keeps to herself, usually calm and laid-back when talked to. Often told that she's mature for her age. Rather not be near battle.
Fatal Flaw: Holding Grudges

Powers:
Domain
Shadow Manipulation (Umbrakinesis)
Shadow Blending
Minor
Soothing Aura
Amnesia Inducement
Major
Drowsiness Inducement

Backstory:
Kayla had always been an imaginative soul. She'd spend hours in the library reading, or at home drawing while humming. When she thought that life would stay the same, she started having weird hallucinations- or, at least she thought those were hallucinations. After a while, she expressed these weird situations she's experiencing to her best friend Cassie, who is actually one of those 'mythical creatures', a satyr. That's what led her to Camp Half-Blood today.

Present:
Still a distant kid, Kayla remained by herself in her cabin reading about Greek Mythology. Her life may have changed, but she would still be herself.

Name: Tyler Hitch

Age: 17

Parentage: Son of Hermes (God of trade, thieves, and travelers)

Hometown: Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Appearance: Tyler has tousled, sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes that always seem to sparkle with mischief. He’s tall and lean, with an athletic build that makes him agile. He often wears casual, comfortable clothes—like hoodies and cargo pants—perfect for quick getaways.

Personality: Tyler is charming, witty, and a bit of a jokester. He has a knack for getting into trouble, but his charisma usually helps him talk his way out of it. He’s adventurous and loves a good challenge, often testing the limits of his skills. Underneath his playful exterior, Tyler is fiercely protective of his friends and has a strong moral compass, often finding ways to help those in need.

Powers:

Basic Enchantment: The ability to imbue weapons, crafts, machinery and automatons with basic magical properties.

Lock Manipulation: The ability to sense and control lock mechanisms. Although vision is not required for this power to work, touch is.

Stealth: A trait where some demigods can go unnoticed. This power is distinct from invisibility. The user retains a visible form, but those who look at them either do not notice their presence or forget about them immediately after.

Legendary Speed: A trait where one displays some of the highest levels of speed, agility and dexterity known of demigods.

Legendary Communication: A trait where some children of Hermes can understand any living or recorded languages.

Dead Communication: A trait where some demigods can communicate with the dead.

Hermesian Alchemy: "A trait where some children of Hermes are attuned to alchemy. This school of magic involves the manipulation of matter to achieve particular effects and includes potion brewing and transmutation.

Background: Tyler grew up in a happy family in a small town in Michigan. His mother is a supportive and caring figure, married to a college engineering professor who encourages Tyler’s curious nature. One day, while hanging out in a local park, Tyler met a satyr who recognized his demigod aura. Intrigued by the satyr’s stories about Camp Half-Blood and the adventures of demigods, Tyler decided to check it out for himself.

The morning sun spilled golden light over Camp Half-Blood, illuminating the dew-kissed grass and the vibrant colors of the cabins. Tyler stood at the edge of the camp, a nervous energy thrumming through him. He adjusted the straps of his backpack, feeling the weight of new beginnings on his shoulders.

“Okay, you got this,” he murmured to himself, taking a deep breath. He stepped forward, the sound of laughter and chatter growing louder as he approached the central area.

Teagan knew the kids around here needed a break from snacks and whatever food they magicked up, so she decided to make some wraps for them. So she whipped up a colorful spread for the demigods lounging around the Dining Pavilion. It was impressive to see so many kids excited to eat wraps; hunger had a way of making even the pickiest eaters dive in. In theory at least.

###Wrap Options:

• Whole wheat tortillas
• Spinach wraps
• Roasted red pepper wraps

###Fillings:

• Grilled chicken strips
• Sliced turkey
• Hummus
• Sautéed bell peppers
• Fresh spinach
• Avocado slices
• Shredded carrots
• Feta cheese
• Sliced cucumbers

###Sides:

• Greek yogurt dip
• Quinoa salad
• Pita chips
• Fresh veggies

###Drinks:

• Water
• Iced herbal tea
• Lemonade
• Sparkling water

When the savory spread was ready, Teagan absentmindedly filled her wrap with a bit of everything, then set some aside to share with a couple of friends. She settled at Cabin Eleven’s table, took a moment to thank her father, and then took a bite out of her wrap. Okay, so this wasn’t awful, she’d definitely have to start eating these before runs now.

Format

Name Activity | Day Activity | Day

You can only reserve up to two slots per character. If you have multiple characters, make one comment for all of them instead of one each.

There can only be one Meal per day, at any time! Any camper can host them.

Campfires happen twice a week. Campers coordinate these with the camp directors, so anyone can host them!

Open Slots happen every day and can include Lessons, QOTDs, Cabin Inspections, Cabin Meetings, Games, movie nights, social gatherings, etc. Lessons, Cabin Inspections and Meetings can only be hosted by a Camp Leader.

Counsellor Meetings are hosted once a month by a moderator and can only be joined by a Camp Leader.

Once a week, a camp-wide activity such as a party, Trip to the City, Beach Day, etc. Each week the event will be different. While they're normally hosted by the mods, a regular camper can host them.

Comment below what you'd like to host!

NOTE: Failure to meet your own slot three times in a row will lock you out of commenting on the Schedule for a month. (You can still post activities outside of the schedule, just not meals or campfires.)

Monday

Meal -

Open Slot -

Tuesday

Campfire -

Open Slot -

Wednesday

Meal -

Open Slot -

Thursday

Meal -

Open Slot -

Friday

Meal -

Open Slot -

Saturday

Campfire -

Meal -

Open Slot -

Sunday

Meal -

Open Slot - Matthew Knight

_______________________________________________

Leave your name below in the shown format to sign up for an activity!

View the rest of the month in our Character Log in the Calendar sheet.

You can reserve slots in advance!

If you are new welcome! You can check out this post to get started. If you aren't new, please answer this form to be featured on the character log and visit the Link Hub.

Nova had been craving her Oma’s cooking for a while now, which was a problem right now because they were continents apart. Luckily, Nova remembered, her Stepmother currently had Oma’s cookbook, so after Sneaking out going on a sanctioned excursion to Manhattan and obtaining the book, Nova got to work. 

Rushing between pots, pans and a million different things she needed to make sure didn’t burn, Kitchen Nymphs helping wherever they could, Nova hastily prepared the food. She used her telekinesis to hold up the cookbook as she worked because, gods, even three hands was not enough when she was cooking and baking so much. 

After a lot of hastily running about, and maybe, potentially burning some of the food once or twice- or 5 times- it was done. She laid the food out in order of appetizers, mains, sides and finally desserts. 

• Cheese Croquettes
• Tomato soup
• Steak tartare
• Flemish Meat-Carbonade
• Belgian Fries
• Red cabbage with apple and bacon
• Speculoos cookies
• Waffles

After she’d laid it all out she dusted off her hands, proud of her hard work and ready to answer any questions about the food that came her way.

The son of Enyo stood in the doorway of his cabin, he held the flyers his had written up that afternoon. On the flyers it said;

A campfire!! For all you tired, cold and hungry demigods!! I am Jackson Marquis, Counsellor of my cabin and I am hosting a campfire on Friday the 12th
Anyone is allowed and welcome, food and drinks will be given out. 

Alec walked back in and got a jumper on, before walking out and over to the camp store, the son of Enyo, grabbed some snacks, including. Smiths chips, KitKat, other chocolate, marshmallows, smore ingredients and finally all sorts of drinks. He then walked to the campfire ring.

The son of Enyo placed the snacks and drinks down, going back to his cabin to grab some cushions, placing the cushions around the yet to lit campfire the son of Enyo breathed a sigh of relief as he finally finished the pillow placing. He then went to the camp store room and grabbed some tables, further snacks of course! He wouldn't let them sit on the ground afterall.

Alec place the snacks on the table, in a sort of array that looked pretty, he had an esky for the drinks, so that's where he put them, he then lit the campfire. He got it to a very high position and sat on one of the cushions waiting for people to show up.

‘’The Winds assembled within the house of storm-blowing Zephyrus were taking part in a feast, and the son of Aeolus paused to watch and fall from a very high place.’’

You know how people say that when you’re having fun it’s like time flies by? Well, that was definitely true for the son of Aeolus; his time in New Argos had flown by like a hypersonic jet. These past months had happened in a blur. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and summer turned into fall. Robert missed the people of Camp Half-Blood and the quiet of his small Maine hometown, but before he went back to either of those, he had to thank New Argos.

And what better way to thank a Greek city than by tending to their temples? Exactly; there was no better way. 

The temple Robert visited was the West Wind’s. A weather kid tending to a weather god’s temple maybe wasn’t the most surprising thing, but he really admired Zephyrus. Robert admired all of the Anemoi, lovingly referring to them as his uncles and to their children as his cousins. Even if they technically weren’t related, he still cared a lot for his tempestuous, stormy family. They were to thank for all the amazing weather events he liked, like storms and tornadoes.  

As he set foot in the temple, Robert realized how immensely underprepared he was. He had no idea what he was supposed to do here. How could he tend to a temple if he couldn’t even tend to his own homework? He was sure there was an assignment due for history class, but his head was so much of a mess that he couldn’t even remember what. The son of Aeolus promptly bumped into a pillar he could’ve sworn wasn’t there when he entered the temple. It hurt his head, but at least it snapped him back to life and reality.

Zephyrus’ temple was beautiful. Robert had never been in a temple before. He didn’t know they were this grandiose… and this dusty. Or was it pollen? Either way, he felt like he could sneeze up a storm. He guessed that this was what ‘tend to the temples’ was about. Compared to taming wind spirits and saving a giant eagle, sweeping up piles of dust was a piece of cake. However, Robert had managed to screw up easy things before. He didn’t have very high hopes for himself.

The son of Aeolus grabbed a broom he found on the streets and headed back inside the temple to sweep the dust-up. He quickly learned that it wasn’t dust he was dealing with, it was pollen. Robert didn’t suffer from hay fever or anything, but this was quite intense. His eyes started to become teary, his throat started tickling, and… ‘’Achoo!’’ He sneezed rather dramatically. Great, just his luck. He was catching a sneezing fit on a job.

As well as Robert could he started to sweep the pollen away, collecting it in one huge pile near the doors. He was almost done when he realized that he still had to take it higher up. On the raised cella lay another layer of pollen. The issue? The cella wasn’t just a couple inches of the ground, it had to be at least a couple of feet. Wind god logic, Robert figured. He was too busy to worry about the strange cella because his stomach was twisting and turning like he had just ridden the Big Thunder Mountain.

Robert was deadly afraid of heights. Falling from great heights to be more specific. One son of Aeolus he was. The raised cella definitely classified as high in his book. Normally he would steer clear from situations like this, afraid he would fall to his death, but there was no weaseling himself out of this one. He was a diligent worker, he wouldn’t leave this temple before he had cleaned the cella.

Except for getting a ladder. A really safe ladder.

Robert returned to the temple with a ladder he borrowed and put it up against the wall. From down here the distance between the floor and the cella seemed gigantic, made even worse by a statue of Zephyrus staring down at him from above. ‘’Hey uncle.’’ He muttered helplessly while he stood at the bottom of the ladder. ‘’Don’t be disappointed in me when I start yelling for my mom. I can’t help it.’’ He said, pushing out the words carefully.

One nonsensical prayer to Zephyrus’ statue later, Robert placed his feet onto the first rung. Then the second and then the third. On the seventh rung, his anxiety started to play tricks on him. A nagging voice in the back of his head taunted him at what would happen if he made a slight misstep. He would fall down and likely break all his bones. Robert looked down - a mistake - and feared it would take hours to hit the ground when he fell. It didn’t help that the ladder rocked.

Strong winds, unwittingly manipulated by the son of Aeolus, started to dance around the temple, blowing the pollen all over the place. Robert felt his heart sink when he saw he had to start over. That was a problem for later, he repeated to himself, first take care of the cella. Shaking, he moved up the ladder and eventually arrived at the final rung. The winds hadn’t calmed down and seemed to be only getting stronger. With a quick move of his arm, he swept the pollen off the cella.

Unlucky as he was, a strong wind had Robert lose his balance, slip away, and fall from the ladder. He didn’t know what he was supposed to while he fell all those feet to the ground. Maybe he should have reflected on how reckless he was, but all he could think right now was: ‘’AAAAAHHHH!’’ His hoarse voice echoed through the large temple. As he closed his eyes, Robert swore he could see his short life flash before his eyes. His meeting with Aeolus, befriending that wind spirit, the giant eagle…

As Robert had expected the fall took long. Not hours like his doom thinking had him initially believe, but it was definitely more than a minute. The nauseous, heavy feeling in his stomach had been replaced by a light, airy one. Was this what dying felt like? Scared of what he was about to see, Robert opened his eyes. Maybe he saw the Styx, or maybe he had turned into a ghost and was watching his broken body from afar. Neither option was true, because the only thing he saw was the temple floor slightly underneath him. He was floating above the floor.

Somehow Robert had saved himself from falling to his death by using the winds. He was flying. The moment he realized that, his brain decided that was enough for flying today and slowly dropped his body to the floor. Still shaking, he pushed himself to his feet and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. ‘’Okay.’’ He muttered. ‘’That was new…’’

What happened next Robert couldn’t exactly recall. All of it was a blur to him. He swept up the pollen, again, and moved them out of the temple. His visits to the other major temples weren’t nearly as adventurous as the visit to Zephyrus’ temple. All was good to him, because one near death experience was enough for today. After he finished tending to the last temple, he moved back to the camp pavilion to report back to the staff. 

Since the day she first arrived, Sasha had been contemplating on how to contribute to Camp Half-Blood. Granted, she didn't need to, this wasn't New Argos after all, and there was nothing forcing her to, but she still felt the need to do it. She just didn't really have a clue on how to do that. There were already many people hosting activities that she would probably have done, and she wasn't a leader or a counselor, nor was she interested in becoming one. So, what could she do?

The answer would come in the form of the Job Board. The extraction job was simply something she couldn't ignore. Of course she couldn't. These were two demigods, likely only now finding out about what they were, and being chased by monsters on top of it all. She had to do something about it, so she decided to sign herself up for it.

What Sasha might have failed to account for was that she would be working on this job with other people she didn't really know anything about. She had met Oliver before, obviously, but she only knew that his father was Momus and he was the matchmaker, and in contrast, she knew nothing about Aoife. Considering that, and the fact that they would be five demigods in the same place at the same time and with monsters on their trail… the daughter of Bia didn't like how easily things could go wrong. Hopefully, her partners would be competent enough to help her avoid the worst case scenario.

So, she got herself ready in her more mobile and flexible combat clothes, equipping her trusty gauntlets, ἀγωγή and ἰσχύς in their ring forms, and of course, bringing a bag with a reasonable quantity of nectar and ambrosia, some money, and a medic kit, just in case. With that said, she was ready. Or as ready as she could be in this situation, considering she's never done this before.

Now she found herself waiting for her partners at the border in Half-Blood Hill, praying to the gods that all of them, including herself, would be prepared for what was to come.

PREVIOUS

• Early September 2038, end of the first week of school

"A temple I find myself within, though not one of my own kin. A stranger I am just passing through. Pay no mind, I owe no due."

The first week of school went smoother than I thought it would. I was handling my work. No monsters had attacked me, either. Thank gods. Me, Ryan, Leon, and Simon had been hanging out. Ryan still pestered me about my magic items. Dude really wanted to know what they did. Leon was still acting weird to me. And Simon? He was cool. Just doing his job as a satyr. He seemed to do really well.

I had also been reading through the first Percy Jackson book. To my surprise, it actually was about camp. The author writes so well; he somehow combines humor and seriousness in a way that melds together perfectly. That’s something that’s incredibly difficult to do. Could I ever tell stories as well as he can? Is that even possible? My brother Luke is in it. He is one of the antagonists. It sucked that Dad inadvertently spoiled how the story ends for me. Gosh darn it Dad, next time give me a spoiler warning! Rude!

It was Friday; the end of the week. Thank gods it’s Friday. I was in the last class of the day: world history. Now, despite it being the last class, that actually didn’t mean my day was over. We apparently had to go to church after class. Which, uh, well, felt really freaking weird for me, to say the least.

The teacher was an older dude named Mr. Tipton. Or Mr. Kristoffer. Mr T. Mr. K. I preferred to call him Mr. T, cause I pitied the fool. He had long since lost his hair, and his beard was a wild mess of salt and pepper. He had dark tan skin and olive-colored eyes. We’d been covering the beginnings of history as far back as we know. It was kinda interesting. It was just difficult cause I was so eager to get outta class. Tick, tick, tick. The clock counted down each second. Time flows a lot slower when you pay attention to it. I try not to. But, well, sometimes I just can’t help it.

Finally, the bell rang, and we were off to church. Hooray! I mean that hooray in a totally ironic sense, just to be clear. I was in no way happy about it. I wondered if the gods would smite me for going to church. Frankly, it would have been a jerk thing to do. It wasn’t like I was choosing to go.

The church was actually a really beautiful building that was only a short walk from the school. It had this beautiful golden dome on the outside, topped with a cross, of course. The inside was also really fancy. There were pews all facing toward the center where the priest or whoever would talk. There was also a throne, strangely enough. And there were these really beautiful mosaics as well. I recognized one that was on top of the inside of the dome; Jesus. I mean, Jesus Christ, who wouldn’t recognize Jesus Christ? There were also a lot of other people, too. I think Jesus’ mom, Mary? And she was holding him as a baby. And Greek words that I couldn’t read. Gosh darn it, I really wish I could read Greek.

Maybe Jesus was a demigod? I mean, he had the whole one parent thing going on, after all. And he supposedly had these amazing powers. I never really gave credit to the supernatural before. But now, I know it’s real. So maybe there’s more out there that I haven’t seen yet. I mean, if the Greek pantheon is real, why can’t other pantheons also be real? Everyone is searching for the capital T truth. But what if there isn’t such a thing? What if there’s just a bunch of smaller truths? I dunno, it’s just interesting to think about, y’know?

Everyone’s voices echoed in the building like crazy. It had some wild acoustics going on. Maybe something kind of similar to an amphitheater? I think they were specifically designed to help carry sound. There was this guy standing up on the stage. He was dressed in black robes and had hair that was only just graying.

I tried so hard to stay awake and listen and watch. But gosh darn it, my afternoon naps call was too strong to resist. The words and sounds got farther and farther away. I told myself I’d only close my eyes for a second. Next thing I knew, I jolted awake in an empty church.

Sitting in the church alone was kind of weird, in a way. I talk about liminality a lot. But there was something very surreal about that moment. It was quiet. So quiet. The sounds of the cars outside were muffled somewhat. I looked around me and thought about it all. The church was a place of worship. A temple, in a way. To a god that isn’t mine. I was an outsider. Just like I am everywhere else. Guess some things never change, huh?

People have been worshiping gods and deities and all that jazz forever. Heck, the cavemen probably did, too. And temples were made. Remade. Repurposed. Over and over. The veneer may change, sure. But the spirit? The spirit kinda remains the same, I think. It was a place of worship. A sacred place. No matter the mask.

“Ah, you’re awake,” a man’s voice said.

I flinched and turned toward him. It was the same man from earlier. The one who was making the speech. “Uh, sorry about that. I was just exhausted.”

He held up his hand. “It’s alright. There’s no need to explain. And there’s no need to apologize. I am not offended.”

The man walked closer and stopped about ten feet away. “What’s your name?” He asked.

“Uh, Lupa, sir. Lupa Hines.”

“Lupa,” he echoed, a curious look on his face. “Interesting name. I don’t think I’ve ever met a Lupa,” he chuckled. “Did you rest well? Do you need me to call your parents for a ride?”

I shook my head. “No sir, I live here in Astoria. Just a little ways from here. I walk home.”

He nodded as I explained. “Excellent. Well, you’re free to go whenever you’d like.”

He turned to leave. “Hey wait,” I said. “I was wondering what your name was? I missed it.”

The man turned back with a slight smile. “Father Ante Alinari, you can just call me Father Ante or Father Alinari.”

“Don’t think I’ve ever met an Ante,” I said, smirking.

Ante grinned and chuckled. “Fair enough.”

This was an opportunity to learn more about other people. To learn more about the world. “Father, can I ask a question?”

He put his hands into the sleeves of his robe and leaned back with a curious look on his face. “Certainly. I’ll allow for another question.”

“Do. . . do you really believe it all?”

“Believe all of what?” He asked, quirking a brow.

I gestured to the mosaics on the ceiling above. “Of this, y’know? Like the stories in the bible.”

He nodded. “Yes, I do.”

“How come?” I asked. “Like there must be a reason, right?”

The father sighed. “Yes, there is a reason. There’s always a reason for everything. My personal experiences in life- they led me here to the church. My faith is. . . comforting. It gives me answers to so many of those big questions.”

“But how can you be sure? Have you seen it?”

Again, the father nodded at my question with an immediate answer. “Yes. I have.”

“Is. . . is it okay if I ask what you saw that convinced you?”

Father Ante sat on the pew opposite of me. He clapped his hands together and looked up at the mosaics above us. “When I was younger, I was. . . very lost in life. I didn’t know where I was going. Who I wanted to be. And I found the answer to those questions in. . . a very hard way. . .”

He sighed. “I lost the person I loved the most in the world. She was taken from me before her time. . .” The father twisted his lips and sighed again.

Ante paused to let me process all of what he was saying. “I spent a long time wondering why everything had to happen the way it did,”” he chuckled. “Why did my beloved have to die? Why did I have to remain here? And, well, the answer I came to was this. . .” He gestured to the surrounding room.

The last person I expected to empathize with was a priest. I don’t mean that in a heartless sort of way, of course. Father Ante was a human being, just like me. Regardless of his religion, we were both human. “It’s scary,” I whispered.

“What is?” He asked.

“Dying.”

“Change is scary, yes. But death isn’t the end of us. We go on. Our spirits.”

He was right, of course. We do go on. But it’s still scary.

“What scares you about death?”

I looked over at him. “Not getting to do all the things I want to do. Not knowing exactly where I’ll go.” I know that I’ll go to the Underworld. But will I have been a good enough person to earn Elysium? I don’t want to end up as some mindless shade in the fields of Asphodel. I read about them. It sounds like an awful way to exist. Or worse, to get the fields of punishment. “Not knowing if there will be anyone I care about waiting for me. . .” They could go for rebirth. Go to Lethe and drink until they forget everything- including me. Mom said she would wait for me. But. . . if I become a Hunter, it might be a really long time before I die. Would she wait for me all that time? What about everyone else? Was I being selfish by wanting them to wait for me? It’s their life and their afterlives, after all.

“Have you ever read the bible, Lupa?”

I shook my head. “No, I haven’t.”

“There’s a verse that I think might be helpful to you. It’s one that I keep close to my heart whenever I think about the end.”

I looked at him and waited for him to say what the verse was.

“Psalm 22. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; he leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

“It reminds me of my dad,” I said.

“How come?” Father Ante asks.

I didn’t mean to say that, so I ended up having to fandangle my way through the conversation. I kept my cool and didn’t blow my poker face. “He works with dying people. Helps them in their final moments. I guess you could say he’s like a shepherd.” Well, I mean, really, he is a shepherd. A guide. The psychopomp.

Father Ante leaned back in his pew. “Your father sounds like a wise and kind man. It is. . .very difficult to stay by someone’s side in those final moments.”

The memories of him bubbled up again. He must have a terrible burden to bear. I didn’t really understand it back then; I don’t think. But he has to lead all of his children, his lovers, everyone that he cares about into the Underworld. And then he has to say goodbye forever. And one day, that’ll happen to me, too. I’ll say my last goodbyes to my dad. And that’ll be that. I sucked on my lips as my vision got blurry.

“Are you okay?” The father asked. “Do you need some tissues? Some water?”

I wiped my eyes and sighed. “I’ll be okay, thank you, father. Thank you for talking with me.”

“Of course. You can always approach me for a chat, if you’d like, Lupa.”

I shook my head. “I don’t feel like I belong here.”

“How come?”

There were a lot of reasons. But I couldn’t say a lot of them. The big one, of course, was that I was trans. Part of me wondered if it was okay to tell the father the truth. Another part of me was much louder. “I’m sick of lying about it. I’m trans.”

The father’s eyes widened. “You. . . want to be a boy?”

I laughed and shook my head. “No. I’m a girl. I was always a girl. I just. . . I wasn’t born in the right body. I hear so many religious people talk about how awful we are. How evil we are. How sinful we are just for existing.”

The father recomposed himself. “Our faith is about love at its core. People often use scripture and belief to justify hate. I think that’s a narrow view of things, and that sometimes, we have to reconcile the world with our faith.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He looked at me with a small smile again. “People forget that God created all things. He created the night and the day. Men and women. But. . .” Father Ante spread his arms wide. “He didn’t just make the world black and white. God also created the dawn and dusk. And intersex people. Transgender people, too, are a part of his creation. People forget that we aren’t just matter, we are also spirit. The spirit of a thing is the most important aspect of it. The truest aspect. The soul knows itself, the mind simply has to listen. The mind is often led astray by outside voices. The truest answers to our questions, they always come from within us and not without.”

Father Ante continued. “I form the light and I create the darkness. I make well-being, and I create evil. I, Yahweh, do all these things. Isaiah 45.”

It surprised me that Father Ante didn’t react more negatively. And I found myself agreeing with a lot of what he was saying. “You. . . didn’t react how I thought you would. The way you talk about God, the world. It. . . it’s nice.”

He grinned. “One only has to look around themselves to see all those things in between. Do you know the story of Saint Sophia?”

I shook my head. “Nope.”

Father Ante nodded, his smile dampening into a frown. “It’s a sad story. She’s a martyr. She had three daughters. Pistis, Elpis, and Agape.”

I knew those words. I couldn’t read Greek, but I could understand it. “Wisdom, faith, hope, and love.”

“Correct. Are you taking Greek at school? You seem to have a firm grasp on it.”

I nodded. “Yeah, so what happened to them, father?”

He sighed. “Back in the days of the Roman empire, when the pagan gods were still being worshiped, Christians were persecuted for their beliefs. They often hid themselves in secrecy. Emperor Hadrian caught wind of the fact that Sophia and her daughters were Christians, and he had them brought before him.” Father Ante paused before continuing. “He demanded that each of the girls make an offering to the goddess Artemis. Each of them held fast in their faith and refused. Hadrian, he did horrible things to them. All of them died. And Sophia wept by her children’s graves for three days before passing herself.”

I looked down at the floor as I tried to process the story. It was horrible. How could someone do such a thing? Lady Artemis wouldn’t have approved of it, I’m sure. She’s wrathful, sure. But she’s the patron of maidens. She especially wouldn’t like that some man used her as a tool to manipulate maidens. Truly, that was maidenless behavior on Emperor Hadrian’s part.

“Sad isn’t it? But there is wisdom to be found in the Saints’ lives.”

“What sort of wisdom is there?” I asked, skeptical about the whole thing.

Father Ante nodded and leaned back in his pew. He breathed in and out deeply through his nose and closed his eyes. “Integrity in the midst of hardship. They could have lied and perhaps they would have been spared. But that would have violated their faith. I admire your courage, Lupa. Your integrity, your bravery, those are wonderful traits to have. Keep your faith and never let anyone dissuade you from your path.”

I looked up one last time at the mosaics above me, then back at father Ante. I nodded. ‘I will, father. Thank you.”

After that, I left and sprinted back home, ready for the weekend to start.

NEXT

Posters went up in the arena on Monday, advertising that there would be an activity there on Thursday morning at 11:00am.

When campers arrived, they would find that The arena has been transformed today for Arete's activity. 35 ft×50 ft rectangles have been marked out by bright oranges sports cones, with spot markers at both ends of the rectangle. A training dummy is at one end of the plot, a mark placed right in front of it (see diagram).

Arete stands by the arena entrance, spear planted in the sand. A 4 ft bike lock chain is looped around her torso like a sash. Her watch alarm sounds at 11:05am, and she addresses everyone who is present.

"So. We don't fight just to fight. Or be in tournaments. Or games. There's usually a reason for it. Sometimes, it's for self-defense. Survival. But if you're going to be a hero, it's because you have something to defend. Another person, a building, or for this camp, sometimes a flag in Capture the Flag. We're practicing something like that today."

Arete goes to stand in front of a training dummy.

"I know you usually fight training dummies for practice. You can still do that today. You just have to get around your opponent first."

A transluscent Defensive Order Manifestation forcefield flares up around her, the training dummy just within its range. She asks for a volunteer to throw a construct weapon at her. A hatchet made of a purplish substance flies at her, sent by a Phobos kid, and it clatters off of the forcefield.

"So yeah. That won't always work, so I need a backup plan. That's what this is for. Figure out where you are weak and prepare for it. Figure out where you are strong and use it. You can just do this for practice, but if you want to make it a competition I made some rules for it."

Then, she lists the guidelines for today's activity. They're also written down on a sheet by the arena entrance for people to look at if they need reminders.

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Goals:

• Defend an unmoving person and/or object
• Practice prevention of collateral damage during power usage.

Rules/ Guidelines:

1. Find a partner. Decide who will attack and who will defend.
2. Go to your plot and start on your marks. The defender will start in front of the training dummy.
3. The attacker will destroy the training dummy by any means necessary, or incapacitate the defender so that they are incapable of protecting. The defender can do the same thing or focus on blocking dummy attacks.
4. You are welcome to attack the training dummy with the full extent of your powers. If you decide to target your fellow campers, restrain yourself. Remember that your enemy in this game is your ally in every other situation.
5. Optional win conditions: A round will last a maximum of one minute (OOC: 5 turns each, 10 comments total once a power is used or attack is made) or until one camper is incapacitated. If the dummy has not been destroyed by then the defense will be considered to have won. If the dummy is injured by either camper, the attacker wins.
6. OOC: Please see the sub's combat rules and power list for information regarding turns, durations, ranges, and concentration.

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"There's training weapons in the storage room if you didn’t bring one today. Talk to me if you have questions or if you need help finding a partner. Once you find your partner, take a free space. Okay. Go."

Arete ends her speech abruptly, dismissing her audience by walking away from them. If someone wants to talk to her, they can find her stuffing straw into a dummy's repaired burlap casing.

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OOC: hello I'm trying something new lol. you can tag me (/u/theinertialobserver if you want to partner with Arete but she will be on offense lol.