Camp Half-Blood: Into the Storm - Closed!

[Kveykva]

──── Ａｉｄｅｎ Ｓｅａｖｅｒ
【✦】| Athena Head Counselor | 15 | Male | Medical Tent ➡ Dining Pavilion | Tags: Teilo
❝𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚜❞

Four or five years; it didn't confirm his theory, but it didn't quite deny it either. There still could have been more to the prophecy dreams. In fact, there should be. Why else would a goddess care to get involved with mortals? Gods held grudges, sure, but they also were on an entirely different power tier. If they had a problem with a mortal, they smote them or something, like the story of Arachne getting turned into a spider after trying to out-weave Athena. Or if it was a group of people, generally the same rules applied.

In response to Teilo's question about mortals and prophecies, Aiden nodded. "Yeah, actually. Oracles are completely mortal; not a drop of demigod blood in them. We have one here in camp, actually. He gave us the prophecy in the big house. He's a bit of a shut-in though, so you probably wouldn't have seen him around." He rubbed his nose a second time. "Only thing special about oracles is that they see through the Mist really easy. Better than even the Hecate kids. I'm not saying your buddy was an oracle, but it's not unheard of for mortals to be involved in this stuff. Just rare. This is the first time I've heard about someone having dreams about this before now. I don't think anyone knew we were seeing the signs." He shifted his hands in his pockets. The question, offer, it kept coming up in the back of his mind. He didn't want to admit it. He didn't want to think about it.

"I..." The sentence trailed off barely as it began. Aiden's voice cracked, as did his facade. "I want to go on the quest." He said, caving. "Mirabelle, Jamie, Skylar... you, even. They're all campers I know. Mira's kept the Aphrodite cabin off my back since she became a head counselor. Skylar and I are almost always on the same team during camp events, though it's a mystery how or why. Jamie's tried to get me to teach him how to play chess for years now, even though I still always beat him." He threw up his arms for effect. "I know them. They're all my friends, and I can't--I can't just sit here inside the camp and let them go. I care about the camp, but... I care about all of them more, and if there's something I can do to help, I'm going to."

──── Ｎｉｃｈｏｌａｓ Ｓｔｏｒｍ
【✦】| Horseman of the Apocalypse | 56 | Male | ➡ Harper's | Tags: Vivienne
❝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑❞

As Vivienne exited the building, a stray cat wandered into her path, only for it to stop and begin to growl at something on the street corner. Ozymandias perhaps, until the mythical creature was spotted in a similar fashion, attention directed towards the same corner. The source of both animals' distress was a horse, strangely out of place in the downtown area. It walked with a purposeful gait, arousing anxiety in the air. This turmoil was only accentuated by the emptiness of the street, the only sources of sound being the dull roar of the bar and the clack of shoed hooves against the pavement. Xaliphax was a stunning specimen to behold nonetheless; it appeared young and fit, carrying itself with a kind of known nobility. It wore a pristine coat, white at a glance, but closer inspection revealed it to be almost ivory, like the color of bone, with a hint of green. The stallion carried full tack, leather and flawlessly handmade, that bore the same recognizable Inner Eye as Nicholas' ring. It seemed to have its sights set on Vivienne, as it fearlessly approached her, puffing a hot breath into her hand as it butted it with its muzzle. Despite the uncanny aura it produced, it appeared sociable enough. Now that it was closer, Xaliphax's most distinct trait was called to attention; its eyes, or lack thereof. Instead, the horse's sockets were empty voids, sharing the same primordial power as the eyes of its owner. These were the eyes of a creature who would see the world burn, and carry its end across the earth.

"Careful now,"

The voice of the bouncer, Paul, addressed Vivienne. "Wouldn't wanna scratch the paint. Nick loves that car. Gift from his dad." A look back to Xaliphax would reveal not a horse, but a car. An off-white, cream-colored '67 Ford Mustang Fastback. Where her hand had been on the horse's muzzle, it now rested on the hood of the car. Yet somehow, even in this form, Xaliphax still maintained a hair of its haunting aura.

[indigo']

Augusta Reynolds|17|she/her|Hades|Head counsellor|Big House|tags:Orin

Auggie was slightly surprised when he finally met her gaze, though she didn’t show it. At least she could tell he had been sincere in what he’d said earlier that day, he wasn’t harbouring any harsh feelings towards her, at least not for the way she’d acted then. It didn’t make sense for the two of them to fight, the more she thought about it, the more she realized how similar their situations seemed to be. She’d already been angry, she’d been bottling up her feelings for a long time, and the flag trick had been the last straw. She had been mad at Orin for being happy about it, for acting like he’d won, for looking like everything was okay—she could see now that she’d been wrong.

She gave a bitter laugh when he expressed his desire to be treated like a real person. “Wouldn’t that be nice.” She glanced over at him again, squinting her eyes as though she were deciding right then whether someone would take his act to be real or not. “No...but if you never give them any reason to believe otherwise why should they?” She shrugged, talking about herself as much as him.

She gritted her teeth at his next statement, unsure how to proceed with the information he’d revealed. She didn’t want to seem pitying and make him feel worse. She stayed silent for a moment, staring straight ahead. “I’m sorry about your nan, that’s...you should be able to be there.” She didn’t finish her thought, the thought that even if he should, he couldn’t. As a child of Zeus, he was one of the most powerful people at camp, they’d be drastically weakened without him. “Fighting gods? Sounds fun.” She commented with a raised brow before her frown returned. “There’s no way you could’ve known,” She said quietly. “I don’t...obviously I didn’t know her but, I’m sure she’d be proud of you.” She offered, not feeling like she was making up comforting lies this time. Surely any loving family member would be proud of someone for going through the things they did, for staying put and holding the weight of the world on their shoulders—literally. Part of her wondered what that must be like, to know that there’s someone out there who’s actually concerned over your wellbeing. She shook the thought away quickly, this wasn’t about her.

She looked over as he began to spiral again, concern spreading across her face. “I know...it is.” She agreed, then rolled her eyes at his apology and statement that she ‘didn’t wanna hear it’. “Hey, listen, if I was anyone else you could say that,” she said, her harsh tone returning suddenly. “If I was anyone else you could think I was just sitting here listening to you to be nice and polite, but I am neither of those things. I have never been either of those things. I’m here because I want to be and if I didn’t want to be I would’ve left the second you walked in.”

Jamie Wallace|16|he/him|Iris|Big House|tags:Azumaril, Hank, Laika

Jamie nodded to Azzy, smiling at her appreciatively. “Yeah, yeah I’m good.” He confirmed, seeming to have recovered from his brief scare. He turned his attention to Hank with a shrug. “She was asking around for a whetstone earlier, I told her to ask the Ares campers—and I did tell her to be careful,” He clarified. “I guess she thought I tricked her?” He shrugged again. “Doesn’t matter, she’ll warm up to me.” He said with a confident grin, as though he really believed he could make the new camper like him. He wasn’t used to not getting along with people, he tried to make friends—or at least be on friendly terms—with everyone he met. If someone didn’t like him, he tried to make them like him. If they still hated him, eventually he’d get the message and give up, but he hadn’t given up on Aggy just yet.

He jumped back in a combination of surprise and fear as a lioness landed in front of them, sending him staggering against the wall. He couldn’t keep his jaw from dropping as he watched the lioness turn into the human form of one of the hunters of Artemis. Of course they could turn into animals, big, terrifying ones. He nodded numbly at her frighteningly accurate prediction, not trusting his voice to come out as anything other than a pathetic squeak. “I’m not— I didn’t—I didn’t do anything to her.” He managed to say defensively. He knew the hunters weren’t fond of guys, and he didn’t want to give her any reason to turn back into her lioness form and claw him to shreds.

[rabbit_with_a_fedora]

✵ 𝐋 𝐀 𝐈 𝐊 𝐀--𝐊 𝐑 𝐈 𝐄 𝐆 𝐄 𝐑
────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ➸
❨ Mountie, Canadian navy admiral, hunter of Artemis ❩ ❨ lieutenant ❩ ❨ ♀/25 years/lived 97 ❩ ❨ daughter of Pluto ❩ ❨ tags: Hank, Jamie❩ ©



Watching the soldier boys trip over themselves in an attempt to defend themselves had been hilarious; it showed they really were still humans under a killer’s mask. Turns out, watching campers trip over themselves was just as fun.

Laika smirked, a glint in her eye. “From the stomping, it sounded like ‘she’ is a bastard. I’d call her a swine, but that would be unfair to the pigs.” she remarked. “From the shouting, it sounded like ‘she’ has a terrible temper. From your reaction, I can tell we’re going to have a fun time together.” Laika knew she was making the boy nervous, and she enjoyed it. “I’m Laika Krieger, Lieutenant of Artemis and former commander of the HMS Puncher. Also the death wish of a few hundred Axis U-boats, kamikaze planes and the lumps of dough the Italians called tanks, but that’s unimportant. What is important is that for one, you know that I can rip you to pieces, but I won’t. Unless you do something idiotic, like leave the bloody door open once more, then you’ve cast your last anchor.” with a pause, she said in an undertone “I spent too much time with the Brits, it’s rubbing off on me. Anyways, for two, the math doesn’t add up,” she said, using a common phrase she had heard and used often at the meeting table when discussing enemy tactics. “June on Long Island should mean suffocating heat and boiling air. Camp half-blood should have a protective layer around it, perfecting the weather. Yet it decides to pull a French leave and comes to the conclusion that snow is the best choice.” (French leave means AWOL). “Right, now where’s Chiron?” the lieutenant of Artemis smirked once more, and fixed her piercing gray eyes on the campers in front of her.

[sammy,]

╔xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx╗
𝚝𝚎𝚒𝚕𝚘 𝚐𝚛𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚜
forest
thanatos
mentioned: aiden
╚xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx╝

teilo pondered the thoughts for a while. the idea that the things they had played out in the forest as children - where the 'invisible man' always won against the monsters that hunted him - could have been premonitions, visions of the future, made him a little unsettled. they'd been detailed, yes, and every so often a word was spouted that should not have been in the mouth of a twelve year old, but it was a rather interesting theory nonetheless.

"hindsight's twenty-twenty, in't it?" he said, reflecting on the thought. "i don't - i mean, they weren't prophecies. maybe he just had a wild imagination. or he was particularly receptive to stuff like that. it was a tiny village. it would beg the question on how likely two kids being born there who're -" a general wave between himself and aiden. "like this. a bit of a statistical anomaly, really." though he didn't imagine the gods cared much about statistics.

his eyebrow rose as aiden began to speak of going on the quest. "here, you can take my place if you want," he said, only half-joking. two sides to the coin - aiden, who hadn't been summoned and yet yearned for it, and teilo, who would have really rather have done anything else. that would make quite the team. "i mean, if you're - i don't know the rules on all of this stuff, but surely they don't just bar it to people who happen to have a little dream. what if you had the dream and you don't remember it? happens all the time." he shrugged. "and i've no idea how quests work, and even less of an idea on how to - you know, talk to the people who're gonna be on the quest, so - really, you're more qualified than me. there's no reason you shouldn't come."

-

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𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚗 '𝚕𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚢' 𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚗
big house
zeus - counselor
mentioned: auggie
╚xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx╝

everything that was going on seemed so surreal. there were so many things that had happened in the day alone, all stacking on top of each other, things that he could have never anticipated. the snow was - quite ironically - only the tip of the iceberg for a lot of it. there was something going on behind the scenes. there was always something going on behind the scenes. it was the things that had happened centre stage that sent him down the rabbit hole of what was real and what wasn't.

every story needs its scene in the desert - the point in which the lost travellers find themselves, come to confront the things that they've been hiding from the light. and though it wasn't warm enough to be an exact parallel, the canopy of clouds over the big house and the warm lighting inside seemed a fitting replacement. this was where everything would begin to change. it all started here, listening to the soft, careful tones of auggie. the teacup had been shattered - there was no going back from it. "i don't know," he said gently. "i just kind of assumed that everyone was in on the joke." he supposed that made him the joke.

orin rubbed his eyes one more time, willing the waterworks to halt. "it's alright," he said, even though it wasn't. it would be. "it shouldn't be surprising. i relied on her for too long and now she's gone, and that's just poor planning. i should have expected it. i should have known that it could happen. it just - i thought she was untouchable. i thought i was untouchable. and now..." he shut his eyes. "this is it, you know? it all starts here. this is what growing up is, losing it all." maybe that was why he was so set on acting in such a childlike manner - the fear of that realisation. "yeah. she was. proud of me, i mean. she -" a little smile. "she knew about the - the demigod stuff. not all of it. but i told her when i got claimed, and she was -" a low, bittersweet chuckle. "she said she didn't expect anything less."

"you're nice, auggie," he said, giving her a little nod. "i won't tell anyone that. if you want to keep it a secret between us, then that's fine. i'll make sure everyone still believes that you're unapproachable and - and mean." a final wipe of his red eyes, a juddering sigh. "i was gonna say - you know, 'so long as you don't tell anyone you saw me cry', but - i don't know if i care anymore." orin took his knees away from his chest, settled them on the ground, and leaned back. "god, this is so mundane." he murmured. "look at us. we're supposed to be the big guns."

[takara]

Ophelia Rogers | 16 | She/her | Aphrodite/Cabin 10 | Location: Cabin 10 | tags: Mirabelle | Mentions:

"Hmmm," Ophelia hummed, Mirabelle's longing not lost on her. She wasn't about to press the issue, but she did gently drape an arm across Mira's back, her hand resting by Mira's opposite arm, ready to pull back at the slightest sight of discomfort. Instead of talking, she patted Mira carefully, a little too stiffly, as if she didn't know quite how.

She searched her brain for words to help, but they just kept falling flat. 'Camp is your home now!' Didn't cover it, not at all. And Ophelia knew how flat that fell, even when you didn't have anywhere else to call home.

Henry "Hank" Walker|17| He/him | Apollo/Cabin 7 Head Counselor | Big House |tags: Jamie, Azzy, Laika | mentions:

"Huh," Hank said. He'd go check up on her later, because that was an odd response for a new camper. He was about to tell Jamie it wasn't his fault and give him the customary comforting shoulder pat, but something moving behind them caught his eye. Is that a...lion? He blinked hard at the approach of the thing, trying to discern if it was a monster in disguise, or some deity or other. He stood frozen, hand drawing toward his knife. When it turned into a woman-like form, he let out his breath and bowed his head, aiming to avoid disrepecting them.

Hank relaxed, a little, Laika introduced herself as a hunter of Artemis. Still, he kept his gaze averted. He raised a hand to rub his neck at mention of the open door, I knew I was forgetting something! "Lieutenet Laika, Ma'am," He said, not entirely sure how to address her, and all too aware that any mistep could result in him getting smited. "The last I saw of Chiron, he was headed toward the medical tent." He said nodding toward the door. , "I could take you there if your hunterness would prefer that?" He added, not a hint of a joke in his voice. Chiron may kill me for this, but at least Laika won't kill me first.

[indigo']

Augusta Reynolds|17|she/her|Hades|Head counsellor|Big House|tags:Orin

As she listened to him speak, part of Auggie felt grateful that she’d never relied on anyone. She’d never needed anyone else but herself to hold her up so there was no way she could suddenly have her legs ripped out from under her. But the way that he spoke, the way that he seemed to smile despite the heartbreak he was feeling, made her think maybe it was worth it, that maybe she understood why people would put up with the pain in exchange for fond memories and someone to lean on for a little while. But it was safer to avoid that. She’d rather have to push everyone away than deal with this.

When he called her nice she looked genuinely surprised for the first time. She was fairly certain Orin was the person she’d been most mean to today—maybe second considering she’d tricked a new camper into jumping in the lake—but she must be slipping. She blinked, realizing how much of hypocrite she was just for thinking that after the conversation they’d had.

“Thanks,” She replied, with the barest hint of a smile. “I’m not sure anyone would believe you anyway.” She leaned back against the chair, absently picking at a loose thread on her jeans. “Big guns,” She scoffed. “We’re really just kind of pathetic, huh?”

She stayed silent for a moment, a thought beginning to form in her brain. She knew she shouldn’t say it, that she would probably only make things worse, but once the idea had formed she couldn’t seem to shake it. She wanted to help Orin. If he was going to trust her and say that she was nice, she wanted to at least earn that, and she didn’t think she had. She knew that she could help him, but she also knew that if she offered and failed, it would only make things a whole lot worse.

“What if I could contact her for you?” She asked suddenly, turning around to look at him again. “My powers I mean. What if...I could help you talk to her? I don’t know if it would work,” She clarified quickly. “Obviously I don’t have the best control over my powers and I don’t want to get your hopes up just to fail miserably but...” She paused to take a breath, slowing down from the rush of words that had just tumbled out. “I’ve contacted spirits before.”

Jamie Wallace|16|he/him|Iris|Big House|tags:Azumaril, Hank, Laika

Jamie opened his mouth to protest at Laika’s words, even if Aggy had overreacted a little bit he didn’t feel like they should be insulting her behind her back. He didn’t get the chance to respond and he frowned as the hunter continued, unsure if he was being mocked or not. His eyes only widened further as she began to list the things she’d done, and he made a mental note never to cross her—or any of the other hunters for that matter.

His eyes drifted to Hank as he addressed the hunter, bowing his head and speaking in a respectful tone. Was that how you were supposed to address a hunter? Jamie wasn’t sure, but he didn’t want to get eaten by a lioness so he copied Hank and bowed his head as well, glad that the other boy was offering to take Laika to the medical tent and that he could hopefully get away from this situation as quickly as possible.

[WitchHazel]

|Mirabelle Everhart|17|She/Her|Aphrodite|Head Counselor|Location: Cabin 10|Tags: Ophelia|

Mirabelle was certainly relieved when Ophelia didn't press the issue. She tensed at the arm placed around her back, but quickly forced herself to relax. It's okay, she reminded herself. You can trust her. The remembrance of her father had caused something to come through; a more recent memory that just barely scratched at her consciousness. Something about Lake Placid, where she had grown up. Something about the quest. Her mind was still a bit jumbled, especially concerning memories from Capture the Flag and the time around it. Heck, she barely remembered how she'd even wound up in a state that she was now realising resembled hypothermia. Her head started pounding just thinking about it. Unconsciously, she reached up with her free arm to gently massage one of her temples. Pushing through the slowly mounting headache and her growing exhaustion, Mirabelle forced herself to come into the present once more. Childhood wishes and dreams... The Aphrodite counselor glanced back at the soon-to-be interim counselor. "What about you?" she said softly. She didn't want to upset Ophelia by bringing up any potentially painful memories from before camp, but the question seemed innocent enough. That, and it was the polite thing to do.


|Juliet Pratten|16|She/Her|Hermes|Location: Outside Cabin 11|Tags: Open|

Once inside Cabin 11, Juliet stripped off her armour, leaving it laying haphazardly on the floor. She briefly checked Romeo to make sure the little ferret was doing alright. Thankfully, he was curled in his hammock, sleeping soundly. Seeing that everything was tip-top, she donned her puffy brown aviator jacket once more and strode out into the snow. Though worry still nagged at her about the whole situation she'd just gotten out of, she reassured herself that the Aphrodite cabin was warm, and Mira would probably be fine. Besides, she hadn't left her alone in there. With that in mind, she started trekking over to the Big House. Man, I hope everyone left some of Orin's awesome hot chocolate for me. Though she'd already had a mug, she certainly wouldnt've minded a second one.


|Chuck Oakes|He/Him|Satyr|Location: Medical Tent|Tags: Draco, Ayden|

The sudden address startled Chuck so much that he dropped a tray of medical supplies he's been carrying, creating a cacophony of clattering as their contents rolled over the floor. "Uh, like, I think Ayden could use a transport?" he managed when he had comprehended the centaur's words. Chuck pointed to the unconscious boy stretched out on a cot nearby as he started to gather the fallen medical supplies. "Like, everyone else was mostly okay with some nectar and ambrosia, man. And like, a bunch of the other dudes working the med tent have been helping out in transport too." He absently chewed on a roll of bandages as he spoke, though they had mostly been rendered unusable when they'd tumbled to the ground anyways. "Like, he's not hypothermic, I think? Just like, totally overexerted or something. I think like, Hank said something about him trying to control the blizzard, you know?"


|Vivienne Isole|18|She/Her|Khione|Location: Outside Harper's|Tags: Nicholas|

Despite the inexplicable anxiety rising inside of her at the sight of the horse, Vivienne stroked its soft nose as it nuzzled her hand. It was a remarkable specimen, she noted, albeit otherworldly. Even the tack gleamed with finery and expertise. But what else would she expect from what she assumed to be Death's pale horse? Xaliphax, she recalled. Nicholas said its name was Xaliphax. Her gaze was strangely drawn to the haunting voids of the horse's eyes. Although that same primal fear bubbled inside, clawing and screaming to be let out, she could not look away.
The sound of someone's voice broke her out of her trancelike state, making her jump for the second time that night - much to her embarrassment. She turned to lay eyes upon the man at the door. Paul, Nicholas had called him. She knitted her brow ever so slightly at his words, turning back to see not a horse, but a car. If she had known cars well, and been more of a humorous individual, she probably would have made some sort of horse joke right about now.
"Ah - yes, it is a - nice car," Vivienne responded stiffly, uncomfortably aware of the awkwardness of her tone. She gave the hood a careful pat before nodding back to the mortal and continuing on her way.

[rabbit_with_a_fedora]

✵ 𝐋 𝐀 𝐈 𝐊 𝐀--𝐊 𝐑 𝐈 𝐄 𝐆 𝐄 𝐑
────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ➸
❨ Mountie, Canadian navy admiral, hunter of Artemis ❩ ❨ lieutenant ❩ ❨ ♀/25 years/lived 97 ❩ ❨ daughter of Pluto ❩ ❨ tags: Hank, Jamie❩ ©



“Call me Laika,” the hunter responded, “you’re just wasting breath otherwise.” with a smirk that meant ‘all is great for me, but you might be about to die’, she turned to the blonde boy. “Alright then, son of Apollo, let’s go to the medical tent.” she then eyed the boy with glasses. “I assume you’re a son of Iris, is that right? Well, come on. Surely you have no reason to stay here, unless you’re using the big house as some magical base to make a rainbow that could somehow cure everyone in the medical tent of hypothermia? Of course, surviving the cold intact requires heat, not light mixed with rain, but what do I know? Also, if you would rather have your hair wetted gradually rather than all at once with an avalanche of snow, I'd suggest getting out of this house right now. The roof is going to collapse anytime now; it can't hold anything it wasn't meant to hold, including snow.” Laika slipped into her lion form, flicking her tail impatiently.

[FerretMonarch]

|Draco Eqquum-magno|19|Draft Centaur|He/him|Gay|The late Pan|Location: The medical tent|Tags: chuck, Ayden, medbay|

"I'm sorry!" Draco yelled while moving to help pick up the medical supplies. The large cenetaur tried to get in the tent in his true horse form, but he was just a bit too big for it, so he had to revert to the one that the humans saw. The one he hated; the one with the prosthetic leg that pinched and rubbed and was clunky and made people stare.

Draco grabbed some of the medical supplies and held them for a few seconds. "Where do you want these?"

Draco had no idea what Chuck was talking about a blizzard, but didn't ask. He wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"So he's the only one?" Draco asked.

[Kveykva]

──── Ａｉｄｅｎ Ｓｅａｖｅｒ
【✦】| Athena Head Counselor | 15 | Male | Medical Tent ➡ Dining Pavilion | Tags: Teilo
❝𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚐𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚜❞

"You'd be surprised." He answered frankly. "Sometimes the gods have a thing for a certain area, or have history with a specific family. Then you end up with fifteen demigods from varying pantheons that are related by their mortal blood. This stuff just gets super weird super quickly, so I wouldn't put anything past the big guys upstairs." The Athena camper gestured to the clouds. Teilo's experience with all this seemed scarce, but Aiden couldn't blame him. If he grew up in a small little place, sometimes the stories of gods didn't quite reach that far.

At the coin of Aiden trading places with Teilo, he admitted a chuckle to try and lighten the otherwise grim mood. "Bet you'd enjoy that, huh? If it were just as easy as switching spots, you could just talk to the Ares cabin. They're always itching for murder." As it seemed the more touchy topics were coming to a close, Aiden began his pace again towards the dining pavilion, though it seemed that all the campers were gradually flooding towards the big house. I guess Mr. D moved the campfire inside. He actually felt bad for Chiron when considering how the conversation must've gone. "Whether I'm more qualified or not doesn't matter with these things. The fact that you were having dreams and I wasn't already makes you more qualified. Chiron could bar me from going; more demigods out questing means less protecting the camp. It's… part of why I've avoided going on a quest for so long." They made it to the dining pavilion in one piece, Aiden shaking the snow off his shoes. He was just glad he didn't freeze in place, standing out in the snow.

"I haven't been a head counselor for that long—only about a year, but I've always had a role to fill, you know?" He grabbed two of the last cups of hot chocolate, passing one to Teilo. "Everybody needs a friend, and people tell me I'm approachable. Easy to talk to. I think it's because I still look like I'm ten." Aiden took a sip of his hot chocolate, surprised to find the ones he'd grabbed were infused with nectar. Immediately, he felt much better. "Every demigod has their weak days, and everyone has to put on a strong face. Especially those that've been here the longest. People need a place to have that weakness where it's not going to affect how the rest of camp sees them. I've just gotten really good at helping them out."

──── Ｎｉｃｈｏｌａｓ Ｓｔｏｒｍ
【✦】| Horseman of the Apocalypse | 56 | Male | ➡ Harper's | Tags: Vivienne
❝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑❞

Whether or not Xaliphax responded well to Vivienne's engagement was uncertain, as it wore a far more mundane mask than it did moments before. Regardless, she'd greeted the steed as requested by its horseman, and her task in Pennsylvania was completed.

"Mox, don't start berating me over this." He fixed the other bartender with a moody look. "I told you, it's a family emergency. Viv's my cousin."
"She looks nothing like you!"
"Because she's on my stepdad's side! You know I have like four aunts and uncles." He rolled his eyes in her direction. "Look, my aunt Khera is in a bad way up in New York. And I don't even have to tell you about the weather up there; she and Vivienne live on their own, but Khera's disabled and now with the freak cold front they've gotten, I don't think Viv should handle it on her own." Nicholas dropped a bill off to one of the groups at the bar top. "So she's going to stay with my parents in Tennessee, and I'm going to take care of Aunt Khera while her health's failing. She came by to let me know they're releasing her from the hospital soon, so I've got to head out as soon as I finish tonight."

The web of lies was spun so casually and confidently, anyone found it difficult to doubt its truth. Who would want to tell someone it was wrong for them to drop everything and care for their elderly aunt? Moxie seemed to sense the genuineness of his explanation, but she still folded her arms. "What about Jessica, then?" She asked, referring to Nick's receptionist. "What about her?" He offered an almost calloused response. "I sent her home. She gets a vacation." "You put her out of a job, Nick." He didn't answer her, which only seemed to increase her frustration. She grabbed him by the shoulder. "What the hell is wrong with you? Don't you care about any of the people here?" Nicholas rolled her hand off. "You know the answer to that. Just look at them." He gazed out into the sea of people, their drunken laughter and cheering fists like waves in the ocean. "They're brutish, crude, incredibly loud—but they're strong. Steadfast. They'll be fine without me. I wouldn't leave if I didn't think they'd be alright."
"That doesn't change how much they're going to miss you, either here or at the parlor."
"I know. But I have to."