Camp Half-Blood: Into the Storm - Closed!

[The Fox]

-^^,--,~ -^^,--,~𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖉 𝕭𝖆𝖐𝖊𝖗~,--,^^- ~,--,^^-

Chad ran and ran straight towards Thalia's Tree. He used his shield to bash and batter any of the undead he ran across, making no effort to go entirely out of his way to help anyone. Not yet at least. He tripped over a dropped weapon just before running downhill. He hit the ground pretty hard, but the healing properyies of the fleece quickly caused any injury and pain to vanish. Chad decided he'd roll with his stumble and take his shield from his arm. He put it in front of him on the slope as his momentum carried him on to it. "Could be worse times to learn to surf. Why not without water?" he said to himself.

His plan wasn't without merit. He knew sliding down hill would make him go faster. Faster targets are harder to shoot. Took more effort to aim at him. The biggest drawback is that he wasn't sure on how to stop himself. "Could always crash. It would hurt, but the fleece would heal me. Still don't think I want to though..."

[WitchHazel]

|❄|Vivienne Isole|18|She/Her|Khione|Location: Centralia, PA|Tags: Nicholas; Audra's Spirit|

She met his eyes with a cold indifference as his words rang through her mind. If she had a sense of humour, she would have laughed at his speech about optimism. My darkest hour was when I lost her, you ignoramus. This is nothing compared with that cruel agony. She didn't dare speak her thoughts aloud. But she was used to keeping those kinds of things to herself.

Vivienne stiffened as Nicholas gripped her by the shoulders, though not from the coldness of his hands. She barely even felt the cold anymore. Perks of being a daughter of Khione. She made no move to react when he shook her firmly; much of the fight had drained from her by that point. She wanted to bite his head off. She wanted to yell at him to leave her alone; tell him that he had no right to speak to her in such a manner. But she simply let him.

It was only when Nicholas started to speak of closure that a spark ignited in her dull, fractured gaze. Closure. The word felt alien in her brain; an impossible intruder amidst a storm of conflicted thoughts. Closure. How in the name of Zeus himself could he possibly give me closure? The answer came all too soon as he traced a figure in the air; bringing forth an achingly familiar face.

"Au-Audra?"

"Hey, June."

There was only one person who called her that. There was only one, and she was standing right before Vivienne as beautiful as she was the day she died. But she looked older; sadder, somehow. "You have aged." Vivienne wanted to slap herself the minute the words were out of her mouth. Way to state the obvious. But she was too flabbergasted to say much else in the moment.

Audra laughed a little; a small chuckle that was just a sliver of her usual full, dolphin-esque laugh. "You too, you know," she replied with a hint of humour. The sadness never left her eyes, however. "Why do you seem to have aged? I thought -" Vivienne bit her lip, though she couldn't bring herself to look away in case the girl's misty form should vanish. "That's a story for another time, sweet June. Come. Let's go inside so we can sit and talk properly."

Vivienne's mind reeled as she followed Audra's spirit back into the church. If Nicholas could do this all along; summon her forth like this... why did he not do it sooner? She reflected back on what he had said - "She might have my head for this, but screw her, I don't care what she says. What's she going to do, kill me?" Had Khione ordered him not to? Her world was coming apart at the seams. She felt like she might be sick, if she had anything in her stomach to lose, that was. Despite her spinning head, Vivienne followed the spirit of her best friend into the pews and took a seat beside her. Could ghosts sit? Well, Audra was pretending to, at least.

The first thought she had burst out of her mouth as if she had no control whatsoever. "How do I know this isn't some sort of trick?" Audra regarded her with a sad smile. "You don't. That's the truth of it. I know I can't convince you that I'm not some sort of illusion dredged up from the depths of whatever magic to manipulate you or whatever. But just - hear me out at least, please, please June. I've been wishing for this moment for so, so long, and I just - there are some things I need you to know. Important things. Things about - well, us, yeah, but also... there's something more going on here, June. Spirits talk. And a lot of us - well - we're scared. But that doesn't matter right now; we can get into that later. What matters now is you." Audra reached out for Vivienne's hand, only to have it pass through in a rush of frigid air. Her expression saddened even further as if she'd forgotten she was dead for a mere moment. "June, I - this is going to be hard for you to hear. But I need you to know - I never left you. I know it's what you think, and I know you know it's not my fault, but I've been here the whole time. You just couldn't see me. And that's no fault to you - you weren't born a daughter of Hecate or Melinoe or even Hades. It would be silly to hold that against you. But I need you to know - this - you - this path of pain and suffering - I never wanted this for you. I - I want you to be happy, June. To move on. I never wanted you to do all - all this for me."

Silence descended upon the pair like a suffocating blanket as Vivienne let it all sink in. "There is no happiness without you." She broke the dusty quiet with a low, uncharacteristically soft statement. She had been happy, she thought, back in the field of forget-me-nots in the haze of summer love. But that had all been ripped away from her when Audra's life was. "Audra - I - I do not think I even know what it means to be happy anymore. I am not certain I could achieve it."

"Oh, sweet June... please, please don't give up on yourself." Audra's tone was gentle yet filled with sorrow. "I know you've been hurt. I know you've been - you've been broken. But you don't have to stay that way. Please, listen to me."

"Why can you not see that I am too far gone?!" Vivienne's voice broke as her eyes stung with unshed tears. "You always attempted to see the good in me, Audra. But I am not a good person. I never have been, and certainly not now. I - I am filled with darkness and I cannot escape it, no matter - no matter how hard I have tried. Why can you not see that!?"

Audra's spirit was silent for a moment; her indigo eyes shining with sympathy. "All it takes for you to come out of the darkness is for one person to shine a light." Vivienne scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Spare me your poetic pity." I do not deserve it. A rain cloud passed over Audra's face as a melancholy hope took hold. "Please. Death - Nicholas - he wants to help you. He's on your side. I wasn't sure at first because there was so much he was holding back, but June - he really opened up to you. You of all people know that opening up isn't an easy thing to do."

"How do I know this is not some cruel trick he is playing to make me believe that?" Something new had presented itself in Audra's unforgettable eyes - concern. "My dear sweet June... are you really so paranoid?" The care was there, but it always had been. "The fact of the matter is, you don't. But you have to trust someone. You can't go on like this; cut off from the world and shutting everyone out. You need someone, June, and - I can't be your sounding board anymore. Not -" Pain and regret stained her features. "Not like this." A gesture to her ghostly form. "B-But - Nicholas is Death - literal Death itself - surely - surely he can bring you back?" The tears spilled from Vivienne's icy blues now, trailing down her face in rivulets of desperate hope. "I don't -" Audra's voice broke, if a ghost's voice could break. "I don't know. I would have to go to the Underworld, and I don't know if I know how to get there. And even then - I don't know if I could find my way back."

The small stream of tears became a rushing river as a wave of crushing grief threatened to drown Vivienne. She slapped a hand over her mouth to smother a sob that clawed itself from her throat like a wild animal. "I - I'm sorry. I can - I can try, but - I don't know if it would even work. Nor if - if I could, I - I'm so sorry." Audra reached a hand up to wipe a stray tear from Vivienne's cheek, but her thumb passed right through.

"N-No - please - d-do not apologise," Vivienne managed. She took a shaky breath as she attempted to reassemble the pieces of her shattered composure. "You - You have nothing to apologise for. You -" You left me. Everybody always leaves me. " - it is not your fault. It was never your fault; I - I -" "But I was still gone in your eyes, that's what matters. I know." Another strangled sob ripped itself from Vivienne's chest. "Look - June - I - I'll try. I can promise you that. For whatever it's worth, I'll try my damndest to get back to you. But you have to promise me that you'll try, too. Please. Try to trust Nicholas. He's the only person who has been looking out for you. Khione is... well, to put it flatly she's terrible. She's a horrible mother and you deserve so much more. She has been manipulating you and lying to you from the start - I don't blame you for not seeing it. You needed someone and she swooped in like a conquering hero. But she's no hero, June. She's a monster. She's been pushing you down this path of vengeance and suffering the whole time, feeding you lies so she can hone you into a weapon. Please. Try to stop this, June - please. For me. It's going to consume you in the end if you're not careful. Camp Half-Blood was our home - my home. Please don't blame them for what happened. It wasn't right, and yeah, maybe someone could've done something more, but - they're just as lost as you are. Don't blame them for what they did not do. Don't you think they have suffered enough?" Audra allowed a momentary pause to let her words sink in before she continued. "I know enough to know that this won't stop even if you decide to stop - Khione has her own agenda. I - I've seen things. Heard things. There's a lot you pick up when you're invisible to most people. She's - she's working with this - this thing. I don't even know what it is, just that it's bad. Really, really bad. And it wants to destroy everything. Please. Don't let it destroy you too. Get out while you still have the chance." A brief glance towards the door. "Listen - I have to go soon, but -"

"No!" Vivienne had remained silent as Audra said her piece. But the talk of leaving, a cry of pure desperation erupted from the depths of her heart. "Please, please don't - I cannot do this without you. I cannot lose you again." "Vivienne..." The use of Vivienne's actual name chased the breath from her lungs. "You won't. Even if you can't see me - Even if - even if I'm not here - I'll be with you. Always. Forget-me-nots, remember?"

For the first time in a long while, Vivienne smiled. It was a teary, bittersweet smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Forget-me-nots." Her gaze dropped to the tiny flowers inked into the flesh of her left wrist as she traced them with a thumb. "Audra, I -" But when she looked up, Audra was gone. Or was she? She might've been there, just out of sight beyond the veil separating the living from the dead. Vivienne got the feeling Audra already knew what she had been about to say. And for once in her life, she didn't feel completely and utterly alone.

[sammy,]

( *:･ﾟ✦ ) xx❝xx𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 ！！ x─────ix ♔
x──────i ii zeus iii eighteen. iiii tags: chuck - open but not.
ivithe beach - outside.

he hadn't missed his own funeral. that was good, he supposed, in an odd little way. the reminder of the others was heavy, but seemed to drip off him like water upon a stone. "well, you know, they're in a better place," he said curtly. he was reminded of their method of bodily disposal and cringed inwardly. "you're right. stupid me. guess i forgot." something like a glaze over his eyes, shaken off quickly with the news of auggie. he didn't want to assume the worst. no one had died, apparently, which meant that she was probably fine. everything was probably grand. and he would return the daggers. and it would be fine.

"no, no," he shook his head at the question. "you gotta keep this secret for me, chuck. just for a little while. i wanna stick the landing when i come back, and if loads of people know, it ruins the element of surprise, you know? it's gonna be a mess anyway. might as well make it a little theatrical." a pasted smile. "i can trust you, right, chuck? don't be a gobermouch. it's important." he pointed in his direction. one of those words was not his word. it didn't really matter.

"i'll see you later, man. good eatin's to you." and with that, he drifted away, whistling a little melody as his feet took him from the beach and away. the glasses redonned as people began to spill through the camp - he didn't particularly fancy another meeting. instead, he was drawn back to where he had found the knives, the notches in the snow left in their absence.

glasses off, looking down. orin scooped the snow into his hand, watched it filter through his fingers, the cold left behind barely making its mark as an afterthought. it was all getting rather loud.

( *:･ﾟ✦ ) xx❝xx𝐚𝐥𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐬 ！！ x─────ix ♃
x──────i ii janus. iii sixteen. iiii tags: vittorio. ivi dining pavilion.

"if you feed kids misinformation and then... and then get surprised when they don't know the difference, then - then -" aldous screwed his eyes shut. maybe it wasn't worth it. "it's just stupid. gets me real mad." but the subject was, thankfully, changed - to the food. 'alright' was good. 'alright' was better than abysmal. he imagined they wouldn't be fed gruel, which was the worst case scenario, so anything above that was golden. "well, wine guy just sounds bad. and horsey guy doesn't. it's all about the - the syllabic kinda rhythm. the way it feels to say it. and, you know, the grape god is a god. the horsey guy's just... you know. going around town with a few more legs than normal. i'm not gonna give him the same graces as i give a literal god." maybe there was a flaw in his pattern of respect, but he didn't particularly care.

the spread inside was bountiful. and it smelt good. "alright. i can get behind this. just need to -" a glance around. chiron in the back - there he was. "right. nice meetin' you, vittorio. i gotta... talk to the man with the abundance of legs. but thank you. for -" they hadn't really done much. he hadn't particularly given him any pertinent information. "the company."

( *:･ﾟ✦ ) xx❝xx𝐞𝐮𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨 ！！ x─────ix ✩
x──────i ii dionysus. iii sixteen. iiii tags: hank. ivi cabin circle.

the laughing was cut off when hank muttered the rather sudden and morbid thought. "but not today," she said, breathless. "we're like... every day that we've lived, hank, we've been - we've been immortal. every day there's been a chance we'd die, and we just - we haven't. we cheat death every day." the profound thoughts were spilling. they meant nothing, in their essence, but felt like a wave of sudden consciousness in the moment. a lucid state of being. "nothing's ever killed you, right? everything that's tried to kill us has never killed us. so we're like... immortal. until we're not."

"i never win," she whispered, like it was the biggest secret. "even when i win, i lose a little bit." her expression switched from the joyous laughter to something dread-ridden and horrified. a clear thought rose to the surface, a bubble that popped - she knew the way this spiral was going. needed it over, wanted the happy bit back.

"why's she... why's she herding us? we're not sheep," she frowned at the dog, but turned attentions to the dining pavilion as they approached, the warmth of the building hitting as their jilted gaits led them into its vicinity.

( *:･ﾟ✦ ) xx❝xx𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐥𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐬 ！！ x─────ix ♖
x──────i ii thanatos. iii seventeen. iiii tags: quest group.
ivi the van

"i'm not being funny, i'm not sleeping in the same room as anyone who snores," sleep was important to him - that was all he had to say on the matter. "otherwise, i don't mind. but if any of you have sinus issues that you wanna come clean about now, i'd appreciate it before i actually just personally remove your noses." he was a little bolder - he supposed it was the stress, the action of being behind the wheel, in control of something. a memory in the air that refused to dissipate, of empty water bottles and abandoned car parks. teilo didn't want to think about it.

music was fine. singing, however - "if you start singing, i'm gonna - christ." avoiding a swerving car in front, which stalled and lagged at a light that was clearly green, couldn't have been any greener if he'd watered the damned thing. he slowed, uttering a slew of words under his breath, only some audible: "blind, dense, monkey placenta. idiot, stinking - useless as a marzipan -" and to distract himself, he leaned to turn the radio on. some manner of classic rock station, he assumed, by the sound of the guitars. "will that do? will you put a sock in it now?"

[*Lovel*]

『♕ 』 Elios Castellanos『♕ 』

Son of Dionysus ☺ Cabin 12 ☺ 17 ☺ Bisexual

≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎

Tags: Zeke and Hamish
Location: Near Cabin 7

Elios made himself comfortable perched on a branch. He was twiddling a pocket knife his father had given to him between his fingers while simultaneously taking out venti with his whip. He was actually starting to get bored when the fighting had stopped. His ears perked up as he heard two boys talking amongst themselves about weapons and fire. He stood and leaned against the tree as he closed the pocket knife, he jumped from his perch landing behind them with a soft thud. "Hey boys, whatcha chatting about?"he inquired trying to prevent smirking as he smiled.

"Hope I didn't scare you two." his smile slumped but his eyes still kept their hint of mischief. He ran a hand through the green hair that was sticking out from his vine crown. He recognized the dark skinned boy as Zeke, a child of Hermes. But, the blonde he couldn't quite place. He looked the curly topped boy over Apollo perhaps? that was his only guess. Most of the Apollo kids were blessed with luxurious blonde hair. Though this boy didn't share the tan skin that most of the other Apollo kids had. He looked forward to where they seemed to be heading. "Cabin 7? You guys ok?" he wasn't one to notice injuries. Those have always went over his head, even his own.

〖 ☾ 〗Ash Davis〖 ☾ 〗

Son of Hypnos ☼☽ Cabin 15 ☼☽ 17 ☼☽ Bisexual

☆═━┈┈━═☆═━┈┈━═☆═━┈┈━═☆═━┈┈━═☆═━┈┈━═☆═━┈┈━═☆═━┈┈━═☆═━┈┈━═☆═━┈┈━═☆═━┈┈━═☆═━┈┈━═☆═━┈┈━═☆═━┈┈━═☆═━┈┈━═☆

Tags: Quest Group
Location: Impossible to name van

He understood why it may be odd for the front desk clerk to just randomly fall asleep. He shrugged as a means to tell her he was unbothered by the rejection of the idea. When she asked about room mate preferences his gaze flicked to Teilo momentarily be fore returning to the window. He had so much he wanted to talk with him about but didn't know what exactly. Something in him was nagging him to talk to Teilo about earlier but he didn't know what about and why. He turned his gaze back out the window. "I'm fine with whomever." He didn't want to be picky right now and didn't want to get Teilo trapped in a room with him to talk about whatever seemed to be gnawing at him. If Teilo would room with him better to be on his own accord.

Ash didn't mind Aggy mentioning music but when she decided to jerk to try to reach the front seat he could feel his eye twitch. He hardly ever lost his temper but this girl, she was pushing it, he wanted to get to wherever they were heading fast and without any bumps preferably. "Gods give me strength," he whispered to himself. "you're Agatha Clemson right? Sit your ass down... On second thoughtlet me do us all a quick favor." he pulled out a small handful of sand , as much as he wasn't a fan of the girl he didn't want to put her into a coma, they needed her after all, he blew the sand into the girls face. "Sweet dreams Cannon." he watched and waiting to see how deeply and quickly she'd go to sleep.

『☼ ☀』 Mateo Cortez『☼ ☀』

Son of Hephaestus ♫ Cabin 9 ♫ 17 ♫ Pansexual

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tags: Will
Location: Campfire

Mateo chuckled at the excitement his brother showed after the pieces clicked. He stiffened, though hardly noticeable, at the contact. He rubbed the back of his neck bashfully "You know, visiting the family, Blanca had twins. They are three now and Inez is getting so big...." he realized he could talk about his niece and nephews all day if someone let him but now wasn't the time. He had to check on his half sisters condition since Will seemed relatively fine physically. He scanned his eyes over Will just to confirm.

He raised an eyebrow, doing that often lately, as Will mentioned Jude nearly dying. "Nearly died, what do you mean nearly died? Diablos, deberia haberme quedado." he shook his head and rested his elbows on his thighs leaning forward. "You think I could sneak in?" he said only half joking. In his opinion most of the Apollo kids weren't the brightest bunch.

▶ ▷ ☁ ◁◀Emerson "Emmie" Grey ▶ ▷ ☁ ◁◀

Daughter of Zeus ☂ Cabin 1 ☂ 16 ☂ Heterosexual

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tags: Conan
Location: Cabin 1

Laika was a somewhat familiar name. A girl that had been staying with the hunters, Emerson didn't know her too well though. He seemed to lose track of his explanation and she turned her head to look at him. Eyre seemed to have an emotional connection with him but she didn't pry as he continued. A politician? How would a normal human know to attack camp Jupiter? "Yeah seems pretty intense, I'm sure we can help you. I'll definitely help you guys. If mortals are attacking you surely they'd come here next. Better to stop it before then." she wanted to apologize that they've already started to attack his home camp but he probably already knew she was sorry, or at least could figure it out.

"I didn't know it ran that deep so he'd feel their emotions. I can understand it being harder then." she wondered what his brother would feel if he dug into her past. A shiver ran through her body "Are you ever able to see your own? Death I mean, or is it against the rules?" she couldn't imagine how she'd feel if she knew how her last day would be. Would she attempt to change it for a possible better outcome?

"If I'm not then who would take care of my friends and family." flashbacks of herself as a kid and cooking dinner while standing on top of a step stool flitted through her mind. Never mind that. Focus on Conan and the tv. she peered back at Conan as he laughed. "One of the perks of being able to control electricity." she grinned at his amusement of her powers.

Emerson jumped slightly at the sound of the dinner horn. Her stomach grumbled softly at the reminder of food. She only remembered then that she hadn't eaten anything all day. She didn't fancy the idea of going back into the cold just for food. "I'll be ok, you seem tired and you need to warm up after being outside in just that t-shirt." she thought a moment before getting up and heading over to her dresser. "I should have a hoodie in here that could fit you." she dug for a few minutes before pulling out a large dark gray hoodie and tossing it to Conan. "That should help. You can take your shirt off and put that on, it'd be warmer." she stated as she turned away from him so he could change if needed.

[Takara]

✁ | ℜ𝔢𝔢𝔰𝔢 𝔇𝔞𝔴𝔰𝔬𝔫
17 | Hades/Cabin 13 | Location: Outside Cabin 7 | tags: Auggie, open

"What an astute observation, mademoiselle," Reese grit out, then winced. He had been too slow to catch the bitter words before they passed his lips, and the damage was done. August was not in the business of apologies. He pressed his lips closed, and reviewed the field before them as they walked in silence. I wonder how many poor souls were dragged back for this. A morbid thought, but the shattered and scattered remains were telling. Eternal rest, aye. I will have to move them later. His fingers flexed at the thought, but he had no strength left to try now.

Reese breathed in deeply. He wanted to yell at her. 'Why would you? Damn the Fleece, I care about you!' "So should you! Aug, we are the same age, you do not need to baby me!" The words formed in the still burning chasm of his chest and spewed out like lava, scalding all those unlucky enough to be in range. He sighed heartily, sputtering when the air aggrevated the pain.

"I got you a snack." He said finally, running a hand into a pocket to procure a sad looking orange. He held it out, but her face was pale. "Hey, hey, it is alright. I can manage," A blatant lie. He forced a smile and set about extracting himself from her. Once his weight was all on his feet, he swayed uncomfortably. Gritting his teeth, he shuffled, penguin-like, toward the cabin.

➹ | 𝐇𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐲 "𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐤" 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐫
17 | He/him | Apollo/Cabin 7 Head Counselor | Location: Dining pavilion | tags: [Izzy], Elfie, open

Hank nodded solemnly, caught in the depths of Elfie's words. Shoot, she's, she's so right! Dang, we need to get this out. Apollo would be proud of such prophecies...that is what a prophecy is? No, a prophecy is different, it's what you make of it. This is just fact. "Yeah, that's it. I bet we could bottle it, sell it like strawberries. 'a taste of immortality,' I bet camp wouldn't even need the fields anymore!" His thoughts were a jumble, but they felt so right.

Her mouth was moving. Hank watched it, lips fluttering away with such ease, such grace. He tilted his head, trying to unstick her words and make them flow all the way to his brain. "Aww, that stinks. It won't happen when you're with me!" He said with confidence. He tapped her shoulder to confirm it. To show that he meant it, deep in his chest, in the part of him that wasn't racing clouds. "I'll be like, like a personal rabbit's foot. And you won't even have to carry me around! We'll make you win all the way, always!" In his state of mind, he didn't register the way her face sunk.

Hank frowned and turned back to the creature following them. Izzy, "Shouldn't she be closer for that, herding is a-" His thought cut off, replaced by the simple food! as they approached the dining pavilion. He rushed it, eyes caught on the way that the flood lights spilled golden rays over the snow. "-Later," He finished, waving a hand as he rushed the building.

*Aggy will be up soon eventually c:

[WitchHazel]

|♡|Mirabelle Everhart|17|She/Her|Aphrodite|Head Counselor|Location: The Van|Tags: Quest Group|

"Snore? Well I for one certainly don't snore," Mirabelle huffed, feigning offence. It would do well to keep the mood light, especially given what they were up against. "Well... unless I've got a cold or there's a cat in the room." She had been a little congested with the cold weather and all, but that would likely clear up in a heated room. Mirabelle was never one to handle the cold well, especially not the frigid winds that would blow in off of the lakes back in her hometown of Lake Placid. Why in Olympus would the gods pick me for this quest knowing full well I can't handle the cold?

Mirabelle was broken out of her thoughts as Teilo narrowly avoided a swerving car. Her stomach gave a small lurch at the motion, but otherwise she was feeling remotely alright. Even, steady breathing. Keep your eyes on the horizon. The music certainly helped to take her mind off of things, but she wasn't exactly a fan of classic rock. It reminded her a little too much of a time she would have liked to forget. Not everything was bad, she reminded herself. Remember ice skating? Secret meetings in the woods. Celebrating Hanukkah. Angela's pancakes. Oh, those were good. And when I had the flu and slept through most of that silly movie Juliet put on... what was it? Ferris something. Ferris wheel? No, that's nowhere near right. They stole a sportscar though I think... Ash would know. I should - no wait, I can't ask him! Gods Mirabelle, do you want to give yourself away to everyone? She didn't think he would judge at least, but her cabinmates might not be so forgiving. For children of the goddess of love, they could be awfully judgmental about - well, anything. She wouldn't put it past some of them to judge her for her romantic proclivities; love goddess or no. All the while, she kept her expression casual and relaxed, though her mind was far from it.


|⟡|Juliet Pratten|16|She/Her|Hermes|Location: Cabin Seven|Tags: Tulip, satyr/nymph NPCs|

Juliet had been about to try and get herself up when a satyr approached her - Tulip; she recalled. One didn't soon forget a female satyr. "Heya, Tutu, what's up?" She tried on her best smirk, but the fatigue tugging at her bones made it seem sleepy and unfocused. She let loose a small scoff as the satyr asked her question, rolling her eyes a little. "Uh, we were attacked, duh," she informed the curly-haired girl. "A bunch of venti and undead schmucks. You should've seen 'em; it was like a horror movie out there. Except with less stupidity and more yelling." She offered Tulip a lackadaisical grin as she gave the rundown, complete with dramatic sounds and gestures. It was reminiscent of the tale she had told Ryan earlier, though starting at the beginning of the attack instead of summarising the past few days.

Soon after she had finished, the sound of a horn being blown signaled a call to dinner. A late dinner, but dinner nonetheless. Juliet was at loathe to leave the confines of her blankets. Luckily, it didn't seem like she would have to. A flock of satyrs and nymphs soon flooded the cabin, taking food orders from the campers who couldn't leave the cabin. Juliet figured she would simply ham up her injuries and get some free labour out of it. Besides, she was fairly certain one of the Apollo kids would yell at her if she tried to leave. A tall, beautiful nymph was soon whisking out of the building to fulfil Juliet's requests. She had made a face at the quantity, but if there was anything Juliet was known for, it was her large appetite. Well, that and her notorious pranks.

|✂|Liv Keary|15|She/Her|Iris (Unclaimed)|Location: Cabin 11 --> Dining Pavilion; Hermes Table|Tags: Hermes NPCS; Open|

Liv didn't have much to unpack, not that she really unpacked at all. Why would she, if this was just another temporary home? With any luck, her oh-so-mighty godly parent would descend from the heavens and claim her as their child - however that worked. She didn't even have the slightest idea who her parent could be - most of her knowledge about Greek gods came from Hadestown and Xanadu, not that she would ever admit that.

As she finished up getting herself sorted, Liv noticed that the few people who were inside the cabin had started to head out. Someone muttered something about food, so she assumed they were headed off to eat. A bit late for dinner. Unless you're European. Criticisms aside, the young demigod - wow, that was a weird thought to get used to - started to follow the others into the snow. It looked as if they were walking towards a big building with very prominent columns. Maybe I should've kept that goat boy around to give me a tour. No matter, she would find her own way. She always did. Exploring was part of the fun.

When they reached the building, it was no doubt a dining hall of some sort. The mingled scent of food wafted towards Liv as she followed the Cabin 11 kids to a buffet, picking and choosing her dinner choices with great scrutiny. Eventually, she made her way to a table, where she noticed the two people she had come in with sitting. It was notably less crowded than usual, but she wouldn't have known that. Even so, it was too crowded for Liv's tastes. That goat boy said I can't switch tables, but there are only a few people at that one... would it really be so bad? I mean, what are they gonna do, kick me out? Or can I just go eat somewhere less crowded?


|❀|Chuck Oakes|He/Him|Satyr|Location: The Beach --> Dining Pavilion|Tags: Orin --> Elfie, Hank, (Izzy)|

"Like, uh - a secret?" Chuck bleated, nervously shuffling his hooves against the ground. "Yeah, I'm rad at secrets! Uh - I think." He had kept a few of Mira's so close to the chest that they were practically inside of him by now. But secrets were supposed to stay inside, so that was good - right? He figured he would just have to treat Orin's with the same care as he'd treated hers. But he could do that. Totally. Especially if Orin wanted to make his big surprise entrance - Chuck wasn't about to ruin a perfectly good surprise! Even if surprises were scary most of the time.

He bid the newly returned son of Zeus farewell as he turned and started towards the dining pavilion. The cold, sharp scent of snow masked a lot of things, but not the delectable bouquet of food smells that trailed from the columned building. In his haste to get to the food, he nearly tripped over his own hooves, sending him knocking into a nearby camper who was apparently in just as much of a hurry to eat as he was. "Like, sorry, man! Oh wait - Hank dude! Glad to see you made it outta the battle, man. Hey Izzy! Always a good time, man. And is that Elfie over there? Groovy!" He offered the two a gap-toothed grin. As he looked them over, he couldn't help but notice they seemed a little... weird. "Hey uh - you guys okay? 'Cause like, you're totally giving off some whack vibes right now, you know?"

[indigo']

━━━ 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐬

[✩]17|she/her|Hades|Head Counsellor|outside|tags: Reese, Orin

“Watch it, Titanic Boy, or a bullet in the chest will be the least of your problems,” she growled, resisting the urge to jab him in the side. She heard the breath before his retaliation came, felt the weight of his next words building up. Neither of them had been thinking about themselves. “I’m not babying you, idiot. Just...be less stupid next time.” She cast a glance towards him, concern briefly marking her expression, then she was stone-faced again.

She didn’t hear his next words, everything else around her drowned out by the high-pitched buzzing in her ears, rattling her brain. She couldn’t feel Reese’s weight on her anymore, and it took a moment to realize that it was because he’d removed himself from her. She was being ridiculous. He needed help, she could push aside the panic in her chest for a moment. “Reese, wait—” She never had a chance to finish the sentence. Someone stepped out of the cabin and the world was spinning again. The face had changed since she’d last seen it, but she knew it right away. Even through the haze in her brain, there was no circumstance where she wouldn’t recognize the eyes locked with hers.

Auggie was frozen again, heart pounding like a caged bird in her chest. It wasn’t real. None of it was real. Because she couldn’t be there, looking at her the same way she had all those years ago. She wasn’t supposed to be there. “I need to…” Her throat was suddenly dry, closing up, the words barely getting out. “My knives. I need to find my knives. You’re…” Reese would be fine. He was right next to the cabin and someone would help him. She didn’t give it much thought. She couldn’t. She forced her legs to move, to stagger back, to get away. Because that was what she did when confronted with things she couldn’t face, she ran away.

Her mind was in a fog, breath coming in short gasps. Her hands were cold again but she didn’t want to think about it. It hadn’t been real. It had been someone else, her mind was playing tricks on her. After everything that had happened, she wasn’t thinking straight. She was losing it, and that was the only logical explanation.

With that settled, she set her focus on finding her knives. She knew where she’d had them last, remembered throwing them at the undead soldiers, and her feet guided her back across the snowy field, head down and exhaustion forgotten—or at least ignored for the time being. It might have worked. The walk might have cleared her mind, helped her to convince herself she had simply imagined the person she thought she’d seen, subdued the panic. Until she looked up and saw the person standing a few paces in front of her. “Orin…”

For a moment, all she could do was stare, waiting for the illusion to fade, waiting to wake up with a jolt and realize it had just been a cruel dream, that none of it was real. Because it wasn’t real. The only way it could possibly be real was if...but she didn’t want to see ghosts. Not him. “You...you’re…” The words weren’t coming. “You’re not…” Alive. She hadn’t wanted him to leave. She’d wanted him to stay but she hadn’t wanted to see him like this. Because it wasn’t real. Because this facade of the person she knew did nothing to reconcile what had happened.

She took a stumbling step back, the small action the only indication of the war being waged against her instincts, the suppressed urge to turn and run away again and not look back. Her heart was beating too fast. Her hands were colder than they had been. And there was no way that anything around her was real. “What are you?” Her voice came out quiet and weak, wavering slightly. The fear was plain on her face, no mask trying to hide anything anymore.

━━━ 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐞 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐨

[☾]16 (immortal)|she/her|Hunter of Artemis|Outside Cabin 7|tags: Auggie, Reese

There were too many bodies in the Apollo cabin, and she wasn’t helping anyone by standing around, so Stella decided to head outside and see if there were any stragglers who needed assistance. She didn’t make it very far. One foot outside the door and her eyes landed on the face she’d been dreading seeing since arriving at Camp Half-Blood. The moment had been played over in her head a million times, she’d had five years to think about it; the things she’d say and how Auggie would respond and how it would all go down. It had shifted and changed over time, but she'd never anticipated the complete lack of anything now that the moment was staring her directly in the face.

Luckily, that didn’t matter, because she soon realized there were bigger things to worry about, namely the boy stumbling away from her friend who looked as though he’d been shot. Given what she'd heard inside the makeshift infirmary, it was likely he had. She crossed over to him quickly, noting the retreating form of Auggie in her peripheral. She’d have to track her down later. “Hey, careful. Can you tell me where you’re hurt?” He clearly needed support, but she didn’t want to injure him more. “I’m going to help you, okay?” She shifted gingerly to his side, wrapping an arm around his middle in an attempt to take some of his weight. “You’re alright, just stay with me and we’ll get the Apollo kids to fix you up.”

[sammy,]

( *:･ﾟ✦ ) xx❝xx𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 ！！ x─────ix ♔
x──────i ii zeus iii eighteen. iiii tags: auggie auggie auggie.
ivioutside.

he heard the footsteps behind him. it wasn't difficult to. they were heavy, disjointed in rhythm - someone was on their way, and they were injured. orin kept his eyes on the snow, nearly defaulting to counting the strange crystals as mere distraction, just for the sake of shutting everything up for a little while.

and then the voice. a voice that had been in memories that he'd lost, a voice that had been in wounds reopened, that populated blood spilt into the lake of mnemosyne. he turned, and purple, like the forks of lightning. almost automatically, like reflex, he fiddled with his hands, felt a golf-ball sized sphere spark as result of the friction. "hello, you," he said, trying rather hard not to sound torn up, to sound stable. she didn't look well. hurt, and stressed, and tired. "listen, it's a hell of a long story, and -" his voice died in his throat. the words were thick.

her question was a good one. it gave him pause. "a bad penny. a master mixologist. a disruptive influence. public menace. general dirt of the earth, but, um..." they were jokes, most of them, but it wasn't the time, and didn't match the fear on his face. "scared. mostly. and alive. very alive. being alive, it's properly loud, you know?" but there was something else - something he'd ignored because it felt too good to note, just in case looking it in the eye would make it go away - as he stared auggie down, he heard nothing. no chatter, no chirp of birds, no trees rustling. they were in a soundless vacuum. the bubble reinstated. "and i come bearing gifts, you know. i know it's a bad time, chuck just told me you were attacked by ghosts, and now i'm here, and that doesn't - that lines up too well with my face being stolen by some wraith, but it's not. it's me. i swear, it's me. you gotta believe me auggie, i'm alive, and -" he dug his hands in the pockets of the jacket, retrieved the pair of knives. "you know, i was looking for you. i found these, i found - i found them, i wanted to give 'em back, i knew that you'd be missing them. but they were in the snow, and i thought - well... i thought 'what if something's happened?' and i - i couldn't - jesus." he was talking too fast. "here. here, take it. i wouldn't be able to hold it if i wasn't, you know, tangible, would i? i dunno. i dunno the rules. i didn't - i just -" he reached out, holding them, something of a peace offering. "alive."

[indigo']

━━━ 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚 𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐬

[✩]17|she/her|Hades|Head Counsellor|outside|tags: Orin

He turned and it was immediately clear that something was wrong. Of course something was wrong, he wasn’t supposed to be there. The fact that he was standing in front of her at all was wrong, but it was him. It looked like him. But that wasn’t how it worked, and she knew that better than anyone. People left and it hurt but that was how it was. They didn’t come back. You didn’t get second chances. People left and that was it. She’d accepted that, and as much as she wanted to believe otherwise, the fear on her face was washed over with scepticism.

“What do you...what do you mean?” She stared him down, refusing to take her gaze from his face, as if she risked glancing away for a second he might disappear again. “How are you…how?” she demanded, voice cracking slightly.

Then the knives were being held out to her, she risked looking down at them, struggling to understand anything that was happening before her. “Something did happen.” Her voice was low. “You died that’s what happened.” It hurt to say, but she couldn’t stop now, the words tearing out of her throat without thought. Her eyes were burning, but she wasn’t thinking about it anymore. “You—you left and…” That wasn’t fair, because he hadn’t meant to, but she’d already said it. She was avoiding his face now, the words spilling out before she had a chance to stop them. “You left and then all hell broke loose and I think I almost died but I didn’t really care because you were—you were gone and now you’re telling me you’re just...you’re just alive? And I’m just supposed to believe you? I’m just supposed to believe that this isn’t some kind of trick?” Something had snapped inside of her, but she wouldn’t have said any of it if some part of her didn’t want to believe him.

She hesitated, then reached out, aware of how much her hand was shaking as she did. She took the knives gingerly, careful not to actually touch his hand. She didn’t want a repeat of her uncle’s funeral. If it was an illusion, she didn’t want it shattered just yet.

[Kveykva]

──────── 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦
[✦] | Horseman of the Apocalypse | 56 | Male | ➡ Centralia, PA | Tags: Vivienne
❝ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑠𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑛 𝑖𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ❞

As promised, the horseman gave the two reunited their space, stepping away from Vivienne and taking Xaliphax's reins. He breathed a silent sigh when the couple took their conversation elsewhere, and although Death could still hear the conversation through Audra, he tried his best to respect their privacy. "How're you holding up, Xali?" He asked, running transparent fingers through his steed's blonde mane. Xaliphax huffed impatiently, appearing rather disgruntled. Nicholas allowed himself a chuckle, going to retrieve the discarded brush. "Don't be so fussy, I'll brush you."

Settled with his one loyal companion, Nicholas busied himself brushing dirt and grime from Xaliphax's impeccable coat. It was a practiced motion, rhythmic and autonomous, spawned from decades of care. He could clean his car just as perfectly. It gave him time to think, as well as a second head to bounce ideas off of when something was on his mind. It was still a mystery how he understood anything the pale horse said, but their relationship was truly something else. "You can tell it's been bothering me, can't you?" a single hoof tapped on the earth. "Guess it's obvious, then." Nicholas pursed his lips, patting Xali's flank. "This goes deeper than Vivienne and Khione, that goes without saying. But it's still just the tip of the iceberg, and -"

"There's something more going on here, June. Spirits talk. And a lot of us - well - we're scared."

"- and they don't know the half of it." He rested his head against Xaliphax's neck, just barely able to feel the warmth emanating from the stallion's hide. Their pain - Audra's moreso than Vivienne's - was difficult to ignore. Too many familiar emotions floating around, which made keeping their conversation out of his head difficult. "I'm not even sure if they know how much I know about this - Khione's a pawn herself, though I'm sure you already knew that." Xaliphax grunted and shook himself, knocking its horseman back a pace. It seemed as though he'd had enough pampering for now, and Nicholas knew what came next. "No." He said firmly. "You ate all the ambrosia I had, you aren't getting any more." Nicholas was in no mood for these shenanigans.

"Nicholas is Death - literal Death itself - surely - surely he can bring you back?"

"Were it so easy." An unintended response, one that Audra likely heard from his end among the white noise. If Nicholas could just bring people back, he wouldn't be here. He wouldn't be loaning out his prowess to others. He wouldn't even be considering himself a horseman at that point. It was all getting to be a bit much, as selfish as it was. Audra seemed to catch on, and it didn't take her long to wrap things up before Death sent her away. Dismissed for now.

Nicholas returned to the church, passing through the door instead of opening it. "You look better." He said, despite Vivienne's tearstained face looking worse than before. "I don't blame you for not trusting me, Viv. Can't say I've done anything to earn your trust, either. But I made you a promise, and I've stuck to it so far. Counts for something, right?" He was bumbling this so far. "Look - bringing people back from the dead, more than as a ghost or zombie, or whatever level of undead strikes your fancy - it's complicated. Physically, yes. It's within my power to do it, and it's not hard. But that doesn't mean I can, and that - that's the hardest part about it."