Camp Half-Blood: Into the Storm - Closed!

[indigo']

Augusta Reynolds|17|she/her|Hades|Head counsellor|the woods|tags:Reese

At this point, the tree was looking as badly as her arm must have beneath the fabric of her hoodie sleeve. Her sword cut clean slashes in the bark, leaving marks that would’ve disintegrated a monster into dust. She was barely aware of the pain in her arm anymore, or the pounding in her head that grew worse with every swing. It was a relief to exert herself in this way; if she focused all her energy into practice then she couldn’t dwell on the mess of thoughts inside her head. It would be easier to keep her mask up if she couldn’t remember anything that had nearly broken it in the first place.

Then her focus was broken by somebody clearing their throat nearby. She’d been so intent on mutilating the tree, she hadn’t heard her half brother approach and she whipped around with an expression that was half belligerent, half startled. She raised an eyebrow, noting the distance at which he stood. A flicker of amusement crossed her face, though it was quickly dampened. She couldn’t say she blamed the boy for standing back, if he’d snuck up on her from closer he may have ended up with a blade in his chest. She didn’t want to hurt any of the others at camp—much—but she couldn’t control her self defence reflexes.

She eyed him suspiciously, glancing at the wrapped bundle he was holding, then back at his face with a look of distrust. “What do you want, Titanic Boy?” She snapped, naturally assuming that bringing her food was not a good enough reason for anyone to be looking for her. He must have some ulterior motive or he wouldn’t have bothered. She looked down at her left hand, not seeming surprised in the slightest at the blood that ran down her fingers. She shook her hand, splattering droplets of dark red into the snow. “That’s not from my hand,” She stated simply, as if that cleared anything up or made it any less concerning.

[*Lovel*]

Aydan Tags: Ophelia Location: Outside Cabin 10

Aydan raised an eyebrow as she called him Aurora. "You know if you keep calling me Aurora I'm going to have to give you a nickname. " he told her with a smirk. Phel? Maybe Lia? He realized he wasn't very good at coming up with witty nicknames and mentally shrugged, he'll come up with something eventually. "I'll see you in 5, who knows what horrors I'll come across between my quarters and the dining pavilion!" he called after her.

Once she was out of the cabin he made his way over to the chestnut wardrobe and pulled it open. A maroon hoodie and black joggers caught his eye, he pulled them out and placed them on the bed. He quickly discarded the rest of his cold stiff clothing and replaced them with the warmer ones. He brushed his hair a few times and brushed his teeth before slipping on some beat up maroon converse. He made his way out into the what he assumed was frigid cold and looked around trying to remember the way to cabin ten. He finally remembered after a minute and jogged over. He stopped once he got to Ophelia "Before you say anything... I am new... remember? I don't know.... where everything is yet..." he said between breaths. He still wasn't completely back to full strength yet. He took a moment to recover before looking at her. His eyes traveled from her raven colored hair to her face, by looking at her facial expression it seemed something was bothering her. "Hey, you ok?" He asked her softly.

Emerson "Emmie" Tags: Caleb Location: arena

Emerson noticed his growing curiosity towards the quest. Though her brother Orin may have better information for the son of Athena she was willing to tell him all that she did know or at least has heard. "I'm not exactly sure, they think the situation involves a camper that used to go here named Vivienne I believe.
They may try to bring her back here if possible. " she said. Hopefully this information helped calm some nerves. She looked over at him fidgeting, she stopped and put an arm on his shoulder. "Hey, you ok?" she asked concerned he was stressing too much about something he couldn't control.

[WitchHazel]

|⟡|Mirabelle Everhart|17|She/Her|Aphrodite|Head Counselor|Location: Dining Pavilion|Tags: Celeste|

Mirabelle felt a flustered rush of heat to her cheeks when Celeste assured her that all was well, and even called her bijou. The thought crossed her mind that she hadn't actually asked Celeste who her godly parent was - though given her stunning looks and French vocabulary, amongst other things, it was fair to assume that she was a fellow daughter of Aphrodite. The fact that she had come to sit at the Aphrodite table was certainly another indicator. She listened politely to her potential sister's words, nodding when she mentioned the part about the dryads. She couldn't help but smile at Celeste's enthusiasm over the buffet. Mirabelle herself didn't take any more food - the lingering interaction with Hurricane Lucy had destroyed what little appetite she had.
As they headed back to their table, Celeste's question about the quest caught her a little off-guard. She must have noticed my bags, she realised. Either that, or Lucy's conversation had clued her in.
"Oui," Mirabelle confirmed, nodding. It took her brain a moment to process that she had replied in French, a fact that did little to abate her previous mortification. "All signs are pointing to Khione being involved - she's the goddess of all things cold, and is known to despise demigods and mortals alike. Why she chose now to launch an attack is still an unanswered question, but after Chiron's speech last night, I get the feeling that this runs much deeper than a goddess and her grievances." She slid onto the end of the bench when they arrived at the table, paying her half-eaten omelette little mind. "There have also been some rumours concerning the involvement of one of her demigods - even Chiron himself said that she may be involved. I wouldn't be surprised if she was... when she left the camp, she was consumed with rage and pain. It was suffocating." Mirabelle shifted her weight slightly, forcing her mind back to the present. "Anyway, welcome to Camp Half-Blood," she offered Celeste a genuine smile. "I do wish we didn't have to part ways so soon, but... the quest is set to leave later this morning. Assuming you're also a daughter of Aphrodite - a fair assumption, I think, seeing as Mr. D hasn't yelled at you for sitting at our table - Ophelia is taking over my duties as head counselor while I'm gone. She can give you a proper tour and introduction to our cabin..." Mirabelle trailed off as she scanned the table for any sign of her friend, concern gnawing at her stomach when she came up empty. "She's - oh, she'll be here shortly, I hope." She worried the inside of her cheek between her teeth and took a quick drink of her peppermint tea. "But if you have any questions or need anything, feel free to Iris message me. Ophelia can show you how to do that if I haven't the time before I go."


|⟡|Juliet Pratten|16|She/Her|Hermes|Location: Dining Pavilion|Tags: Cass, Aggy|

"No, just... asking for a friend," Juliet supplied, albeit hastily. It wasn't a lie, perhaps, but not entirely the truth either. Despite how much she wanted to deny it, she still cared about Mirabelle a good deal. Not romantically - not anymore, at least. But once you share that bond with someone else, you never really stop caring about them. Thankfully, she was saved by responding when Aggy arrived at the Hermes table. She waved at her, but her mouth was once again full of pancakes so she neglected to greet her verbally. Instead, she listened to Cass talk, glad for the chance to eat more of her breakfast.

|⟡|Chuck Oakes|He/Him|Satyr|Location: Dining Pavilion|Tags: Laika|

"Like, uh, thanks, man - er, ma'am - uh, Lieutenant?" Chuck stammered, though he had eaten plenty of silverware in his day. It was nice of her to warn him, though... maybe she wasn't so bad after all? That didn't change the fact that she was still intimidating as Tartarus. "Oh - uh, cool, Mira's got an older sister now. Sounds pretty wango." His gaze flickered over to the Aphrodite table, where Mira was talking with the woman - Celeste, and - wait, was that Lucy? Since when had they been friends? Hadn't Mira even warned Chuck about her a few times? Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to Laika. "Uh, yeah, like, hi - um, I'm Chuck. Uh, nice to like, meet you in person?" The uncertain response came out more like a question than a statement.

|⊙|Zahra Al-Amin|217/Looks 32|She/They|Magician; Eye of Sekhmet|Location: Cabins Area|Tags: Open|

Zahra's breath came in short puffs as the Duat spat her out at the borders of one Camp Half-Blood. She shifted back to her human form, though her ribs cried out in pain. The Magician used some of her power to heal her injuries as best she could, though she felt significantly drained from her attempts to combat the dark forces within the Duat. She was still soaking wet, and the sudden frigid temperatures certainly weren't doing that condition any favours. With a frustrated groan, she heated her body temperature and evaporated the water off of her.
Perhaps it was due to her bond with Sekhmet, but Zahra had no trouble walking past the coiled dragon guarding what looked to be a sheep's pelt made of gold. She passed through the barrier surrounding the camp unknowingly, cresting the hill with little strain. The ruins of a sky-blue house caught her eye. She sniffed the air, almost sensing the tragedy that had befallen the night previous. Blood. Old, about twelve hours, give or take a few. She didn't need to be in animal form for Sekhmet's connection to tell her that.
The ruined house seemed like it must have been important, given that it was perched atop a hill. Overlooking the area, Zahra could see a multitude of buildings arranged in a rough ovalline shape - a horseshoe, perhaps? Nonetheless, she started to walk towards the buildings, hoping to find someone who could help her.


|Vivienne Isole|18|She/Her|Khione|Location: Mount Marcy Caverns|Tags: Nicholas|

Vivienne was fully prepared for her mother to object at being called Nick's 'Queen of Diamonds', but the goddess simply raised an eyebrow. She looked strangely pleased, Vivienne realised with a bit of a shock.
"Vivienne, if you would take care of Dr. Storm's... horse." Her coffee-brown eyes flickered seamlessly in her daughter's direction.
Vivienne simply nodded and turned to walk down the hallway. Though she was silently miffed at being ordered around like a servant, part of her was glad for the chance to escape the suffocating presence of the gods.
"Xaliphax." The word rang down the hall. She felt rather silly calling his name like that, but it was what Nicholas had said to do. "Come to me."
Meanwhile, Khione waited until Vivienne was out of earshot before turning back into the room where Nicholas had just come. "I see you possess one of those mortal... devices." Her tone was flat and disinterested, with notable disgust marking the words. "This revelation concerning the Roman demigods is acceptable, however. I had heard rumours of an attack against them through my sources." She paused, assessing the Horseman with a calculative gaze. "I would be most interested to converse with this... 'Malcolm Kingston'," she supplied, recalling the name on the screen. "I do wonder if he is in league with similar forces to I. There was talk of Eris joining the cause... I shall confer with my sources and see what I can learn of this new development. In the meantime, feel free to pass my name along. If that is all, I would like you to inform me of how the task of opening the Doors of Death goes. We would prefer that they be chained sooner than later. Of course, you'll have to remove that pesky death god." She spoke Thanatos' title as if referring to a particularly annoying insect that had evaded her godly flyswatter. Though she was a goddess herself, she did not dare speak his name aloud in case he were to tune into the conversation at hand. Better to keep their plans close to her chest than not.

[rabbit_with_a_fedora]

✼ 𝐓 𝐇 𝐄 — 𝐒 𝐇 𝐀 𝐃 𝐎 𝐖 “𝐌𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐢”
────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ➸
❨ it/it's ❩ ❨ Immortal ❩ ❨ Primordial Being ❩ ❨ tags/mentions: Malcolm ❩



June_22_Chicago_10_PM

The streets on the outskirts of Chicago were silent. Not a single noise filled the air, and the unsuspecting mortals were all sleeping soundly.

A stormy cloud seemed to drift down from the night sky, dark and swirling. It looked harmless at first, but then its tendrils started extending, slipping under doors and through cracks under windows.

That's when the first scream cut through the night. More ensued, all shrill and terrified. Most were quickly cut short. Some of the bodies from which the voices had come were now in possession of a primordial being more powerful and malevolent than ever imagined, some others had blood dribbling down their necks, pooling on the floor.

The Shadow left some alive. They would be the whistle blowers, the start of more chaos. Satisfied, it swept away, drifting away from the scene of crime.

June_23_New_York_City_8_AM

"And now, a massive panic attack and massacre that occured last night on the Northern side of Chicago. 12 dead, and a whole neighborhood terrorized. The dead are reported to have had their throats slit methodically, each cut is the exact same length and depth. The survivors are in panic, they seem to be in utter terror and none have responded with intelligible speech. The tragedy is under official investigation-"
The news reporter faltered as a large mass of shadow creeped into the broadcast room. The lights went out, and the camera fizzled to an end of the broadcast. There was terror and utter panic in the news room, and all that could be heard in televisions nation-wide was screaming, in terror and in pain.

Then the broadcast started again. Everything was back to normal, it seemed. "Sorry for that interruption, folks." said the reporter. He acted as if nothing had happened, the screams hadn't been heard. But his voice was deeper, slightly more sinister. "As I was saying, officials assume this incident is just a matter of a serial killer. Yet some, who are open-minded and willing to accept new ideals, have stated that perhaps these attacks lead back to the speech defense minister of the United Kingdom Malcolm Kingston gave earlier this morning."

And not a single soul noticed the expanding gash on the reporter's neck, the dribbling blood, until it was too late.

[rabbit_with_a_fedora]

.

♛ 𝐖 𝐀 𝐍 𝐆 — 𝐉 𝐈 𝐔 — 𝐇 𝐔 “𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐟𝐨𝐱 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐱”
────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ➸
❨ head counselor ❩ ❨ ♀/15 years ❩ ❨ daughter of Poseidon ❩ ❨ tags/mentions: Caspia ❩


Hu listened intently to Caspia, nodding while trying to keep Ling from chirping some rather questionable comments. As she mentioned the seafood, no, sea creatures, Hu raised an eyebrow. "That's.. if I know anything, then if a demigod connects to anything, that's the sign of a power. Maybe you can have some connecting time with a goldfish?" She meant it as a joke, and for now the sisters were blissfully unaware of the goldfish related trauma to come.

"You're probably rather confused about all this. And you have a very good reason to. So I'll just explain everything best I can.

So basically everything in Greek 'mythology' is real. The gods, the monsters, the demigods. And when gods have kids with mortals, that's us, then that's a demigod. These demigods have special powers based on their godly parentship. So we would likely have powers related to the sea. And monsters are basically what you think they are: monsters. They love to eat and destroy demigods. Yay.

And here at Camp Half Blood, we're trained to be able to defend ourselves from these monsters, and it is the only safe place for demigods." Hu's energy faded a little at camp's supposed safety. "Chiron is our trainer, and don't be surprised if he turns out to be half horse. Mr. D is actually the god Dionysus, and he's our camp director. He hates all of us and is forced to drink diet pepsi, so is usually in a really bad mood and will likely bonk you with a pinecone on a stick. That's basically it, and of course there are some details left to cover, but we'll go over those when we get to them. So after you finish that giant muffin, let's get your stuff unpacked in the cabin."

.
.

✵ 𝐋 𝐀 𝐈 𝐊 𝐀--𝐊 𝐑 𝐈 𝐄 𝐆 𝐄 𝐑 “𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤”
────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ➸
❨ Mountie, navy admiral, hunter of Artemis ❩ ❨ lieutenant ❩ ❨ ♀/25 years/lived 97 ❩ ❨ Pluto ❩ ❨ tags: Chuck, Zahra❩ ©



"Well I certainly hope it is nice to meet me in person," Laika said. "Actually, it depends. An enemy wouldn't be glad to meet me in person, certainly. But I rather hope you aren't an enemy, I would have to deal with you if you were."

Just then, Laika spotted a feline shape pass through camp's barrier.
"I've got to go. See you around." she told Chuck.

Slipping into her lion form, she bounded up the hill where the figure, now a woman, was standing. As she neared, Laika gave a soft hiss, flicking her tail and crouching down, eyes piercing the woman before her. It was a sign of peace and truce, though temporary. If this newcomer were truly a benevolent being, she would understand Laika's gesture. If not, at least she would have something to rip to shreds.

Laika wouldn't reveal herself as a shapeshifter at first. She could tell this woman was a magician, but of what alliance?

[sammy,]

╔xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx╗
𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚘𝚒𝚜
dining hall
aphrodite
mentioned: mira, lucy
╚xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx╝

the french that mirabelle responded with was actually rather welcome. a case of familiarity in such unfamiliar times - one that brought the dimples to her cheeks and a quirk in her brows. this joy, however, was contended with by the story that was spun. a sordid tale, no less.
"that sounds dangerous," she said, though it seemed obvious. "you are... how old?" there was no jurisdiction in her mind to judge the young for 'doing their bit', as it were. though she had been an adult when the war effort began for her, she had been an incredibly isolated one. the real world had been avoidable until it wasn't, and she had had to learn rather quickly what the facts of true life were. the person she had been before was a pale shadow in comparison to who she was in the new present. it was uncertain whether this was a good thing or not. often, she yearned for that innocence again.

regardless, if this camp had fought as many threats as moss had claimed, then age was of no matter. perhaps it was better, to be thrust into these things when they were still 'plastic'. "thank you. i look forward to exploring it further," she replied to the welcome. "and i hope that i will see you again shortly after you exit." it seemed dire, acknowledging the nature of her leaving - the idea that hung over her head, that this could be the first and the last meeting, but one that she was familiar with nonetheless. "aphrodite is correct. though i - i had no idea until i left. this is all very... i feel as though i have switched universes." it did make sense, retrospectively. celeste had always been aware of the fact she was adopted, the question mark over her beginnings now scrapped for an explanation that seemed less believable than that of a birth that had occurred out of wedlock, but was true in spite of. "i hope to meet her soon. i'm sure, given time, i will have many questions." as she spoke, she absently took a bite from the grapefruit she had procured, bringing an elated smile to her face. "this is far too tart." a chuckle. "i can direct my questions to her. i don't want to be bothering you while you're on your journey."

-

╔xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx╗
𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚖 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗
new york -
hotel
proxy of eris
mentioned: n/a
╚xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx╝

relaxation, apparently, was out of the question.
when malcolm went to check the headlines, he was faced with a new article - live footage from a scene in chicago. his name plastered across the length of the article, harkening back to the words that he had used. in any other case, this would have been cause for anxiety, but he kept his cool.
picked up his phone, called one of his favourite journos. "i'd like to speak on what happened in chicago. you have my email, copy me into a call," he said briskly.

the next step was appearances. he shed the tie, mussed up his hair some, pulled on the sides of his face to create an image of a man who was under undue stress. once prepared, he sat in front of his laptop and waited for the call to come through.

"we're here now with malcolm kingston," said the newsreader, whose image was stretched across a pixellated screen. "it's believed that these attacks are linked to your statement on - on demigods this morning. do you have anything to say to these claims?"
he shut his eyes, took a deep breath in. "i'd like to say sorry," he said, manufacturing a waver in his tone. "i've had no dealings with these demigods in the past. i had no idea they would be so reactionary in response to exposition." a deep frown. "but this has nothing to do with how it's impacted me. my heart breaks for the families who have been impacted by this, by them, trying to send their message. i wanted to protect families, and in turn, i may have ruined them. and i am so deeply sorry." a pause. "if there's anything i can do - i'm looking into paying for funeral costs, memorials. anything of the sort. the families can contact me through the press office, they'll pass my information along. there is no reason for me to be sitting high and mighty in my hotel room while the people i was trying to protect have suffered such brutal loss. it wouldn't be right."
"that's admirable," said the newsreader, as though almost awe-inspired by his response. "do you believe, personally, that these attacks are linked to them? to these camps?"
"they're trying to send a message," malcolm answered. "painting themselves as untouchable. i should have expected that. poor vision, on my part, but it is further evidence that these camps have something to hide. that they're dangerous, and they're creating havoc for the normal families that they have nothing to do with."
"one of the anchors from world at one perished in a broadcast. were you aware of this?"
"yes," he whispered, just loud enough for the microphone to pick up. he ran his hands over his face. "stewart hinton. he had two sons. a wife, didn't he? i'm trying to reach out to them now. to know that your name was the last words on someone's lips, it's - it's brutalising. i think it was a warning. they're trying to silence me. but i won't be silenced. they think they have the upper hand, that they hold all the cards, but it's time that we, as a collective, as a community that has been so torn, come together."
"you claimed that you had surrounded one of these camps. if that's right, then how did this happen?"
"there's more than one," he replied. "i don't imagine they would have taken well to hearing that their sister camp had been stabilised. i'm looking into getting the armed forces in. the military, if your government permits. i can't allow this to continue. no more families should have to face this." a tear fell from his left eye. funny. he hadn't felt it coming. he wiped it away. "sorry. sorry."
"no, that's alright, sir," though the image on the monitor was a tad choppy, malcolm could gauge a sympathetic look from a mile away. "we'll be updating the story as we identify more of the victims. thank you for your words."
"no. thank you," he said, sniffing. "like i said. i will pay for any costs that have come of this."
"and that's malcolm kingston. if you're just now tuning in -"

the call cut.
crisis managed. he shut his laptop and leaned back, stretching and cracking an aching neck.

[norvina!]

𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐚 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐬☀️
(seventeen;female;posideon)
(dining hall)(tags;hu)

caspia laughed a bit at her statement, connecting with a goldfish? that'd top the strangest things to happen to her. the idea of her having some sort of abilities had crossed her mind, after destroying the sink pipes in an argument she knew something had to be up. as hu explained things, she knew a few of the things but it was nice to hear about things more in depth. monsters gave her the shivers, the thought of being eaten alive made her skin crawl, as things continued to be explained to her she realized how unrealistic all of this sounded but this was her new life. she had to accept that. "who trains us?" she asked, wanting to be able to protect herself.

finishing up her food, she enjoyed the last bit of her muffin. the familiarity of it gone as soon as she finished, crumpling the wrapper she looked down at her bags. "alright, lead the way." she spoke, excited to see what their cabin looked like, she couldn't help but be curious about her new surroundings. glancing back over at orin she waved a goodbye, although she was pretty sure he didn't see it, looking back to hu she gave the girl a smile.

[Kveykva]

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

Aiden was ecstatic to see Will again. "How long's it been?" The boy already knew the answer. "Three years." The past three summers had been bland ones without Will's company to liven them. Aiden instead spent them busying himself, doubling down on his training classes and, more recently, keeping his cabin together as its head counselor. Technically, Aiden was supposed to wait around for his cabin to make sure they made it to breakfast on time, but he'd become pretty familiar with his half-siblings' autonomy. Cres was up not long after he was, choosing to do a few morning warm-ups, while Caleb had begun to stir as Aiden left the cabin. He spotted the other camper making his way towards the dining pavilion, actually. "Man, I bet you've been so out of the loop." Aiden nudged him, heading towards the buffet and grabbing himself a plate. "There's a lot more that's happened besides me becoming a head counselor."

It may have been the same breakfast spread as always, but somehow it looked even more delicious this morning. Eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, waffles, hash browns, grits, toast, it was a breakfast galore. Best of all, it was some of the healthiest food around. The grains and proteins were complemented by a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, and if you were really nice, sometimes the harpies would make you an omelet. Aiden was never quite nice enough, so he fished a golden drachma from his pocket. "A southwestern omelet, please." The harpy crowed something unpleasant and snatched the coin, getting to work on the requested omelet. In the meantime, Aiden loaded up his plate with sausage, hash browns, tomatoes, biscuits and gravy, and a few pancakes. They were pretty restrictive on the chocolate chips, so Aiden grabbed himself a single cup of the bittersweet cooking chips for his pancakes. The last item was the omelet, which he set on a plate on its own, before making his way to the Athena table. He stopped by to dump his biscuits into the fire before doing so.

──── ＷｉｌｈｅｌｍxＷａｔｔｓｏｎ
【✦】| Hephaestus | 18 | Male | ➡ Dining Pavilion | Tags: Aiden, Open
❝𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚎❞

Aiden seemed to have found his spark. That was good. When he first saw Aiden this morning, his eyes were dull, almost lifeless. Will knew the Athena camper was taking all this hard, as apparent by his short breakdown moments earlier. But he was here now, and he'd do what he could to make up for lost time. Aiden led him to the buffet spread, and Will paused to take it all in. "It's a buffet now?" He asked. Aiden looked at the table for a moment. "Oh, uh yeah. They changed this right after you left, actually." He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's all still just as healthy, but it's set up like this for some of the more picky campers. Anything that's leftover gets sacrificed to the gods." Will nodded, grabbing a plate for himself. "Why'd it get changed?" Aiden grabbed a muffin while he was waiting for his omelet and threw it. It went sailing across the mess hall and pegged Juliet right in the forehead. "She's why." Aiden turned around quickly to pretend it wasn't him. Juliet Pratten. He recognized her from the night before. As a Hermes kid, he wasn't surprised she was the one to cause the change. Wilhelm gathered his own spread of fruits and veggies, though he was rather partial to the selection of grits and biscuits. Afterward, followed Aiden to the fire to make his own sacrifice, but he diverged for the Hephaestus table after.

"Where are you going?" Will paused. "T' my table?" It didn't look as though table assignments had changed. Aiden rolled his eyes and grabbed Will by the arm, dragging him with to the Athena table. Will cast a look towards Mr. D; the god didn't seem to notice. "What 'bout Mr. D? He'll be none too happy campers 're minglin'." Aiden blew a raspberry. "Dionysus can suck it; if he comes over and whines like the wine god he is, I'll─" There was a pause, Aiden casting his own look to the wine god. "... if he says anything, just brush it off as you forgot." Aiden took a seat, remarkably deflated. "We lost one of the Dionysus campers in the Big House collapse." "I 'eard. Real shame there, Mr. D's taken it 'ard, I bet." The Athena head counselor nodded, but slowly their conversation diverged away from such topics and grew to be more lively as the two refreshed one another on how the past three years have gone.

──── Ｌｕｃｙ Ｂｌｉｔｚｅｎ
【✦】| Apollo | 16 | Female | ➡ Dining Pavilion | Tags: Mirabelle, Celeste, Open
❝𝚒 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚗 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛❞

Mira was reduced to a shuddering mess. Good. Lucy denied herself a smile for now. Instead, she looked rather crestfallen, reluctantly putting her coat back on. She was thankful for the warmth, but a little upset Mirabelle hadn't accepted her gift. At the sound of the newcomer's voice, Lucy perked up. "Oh!" She twirled back and forth, looking rather sheepish. "I didn't mean to interrupt your reunion, Mira. It's nice to meet you, Celeste! My name is Lucy." The daughter of Apollo grinned. "I'll be over at that table," she pointed. "with the rest of the Apollo cabin. And Mira," her voice seemed to lose all its fluff, swelling with concern. "Be safe out there, okay? I'd hate to see anyone else die." Her final farewell sounded the most genuine out of everything she'd said so far. Was it just as much of a lie as the rest? It was hard to say. Lucy had no bounce in her step this time, she just retrieved her plate from the table and moved over to the Apollo table, sitting with the rest of her siblings. There were notably less lively than usual, but Lucy didn't concern herself with trying to lighten the mood. If she saw Hank, however, she'd definitely try to ask him about what all happened the day before.

──── Ｎｉｃｈｏｌａｓ Ｓｔｏｒｍ
【✦】| Horseman of the Apocalypse | 56 | Male | ➡ Mount Marcy Caverns | Tags: Vivienne, Khione
❝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑❞

As expected, Xaliphax knew to come when called. Following the utterance of his name, the sound of hooves appeared from seemingly nowhere. The pale horse approached Vivienne as he had before, allowing the demigod to take its reins. His coat was flecked with a few stray snowflakes, likely from roaming around outside the caverns. Xaliphax appeared almost grateful for the dryer change of scenery.

"Call it what you will, but that doesn't make it any less useful." The horseman countered. He pocketed the device as Khione continued her thoughts on the current state of events, though the mention of her sources caused his brow to furrow. Not yet. There were a couple of other issues he'd need to address first, first and foremost "Malcolm Kingston." Nicholas confirmed. "I'll give him a ring if that strikes your fancy." He tilted his head, examining the goddess with eyes not quite as chilly as her own. "You look different today, I believe." He searched for something to catch his attention. "You've always been a diamond in the rough, but you're so much sharper this morning. It's sending shivers down my spine just looking at you." He offered the goddess a warm smile to contrast her chilling gaze. "Your eyes glitter with ice and lips sparkle like a glacier... Whatever it may be, keep it up. Your frigidness is stunning in every way." He offered a graceful bow to his queen of diamonds as the cherry on top. "I'll refrain from wasting your time with flattery, my queen." He abstained from going further for the time being.

"As for those Doors, you never specified how soon you needed them?" He raised an eyebrow, noting the "we" in her statement. "The Doors of Death are at my beck and call, so retrieving them is simple. All I need to do beforehand is take a trip to Tartarus to make sure the other three are still in their cages." a pause. "Horsemen." he clarified. "My little brothers, in a sense. They're a handful on the best of days, and it's best they stay put until the Last Judgement. I'll just do a once over to make sure the locks haven't withered and I'll be back before you know it. And your death god..." A conceded sigh. "Father and I haven't been on the best of terms, so if I can avoid seeing him I will. There's no need to go chaining down the Doors, for now, I have just as much power over them as he does. If he starts causing problems," Nicholas held his cane and pulled on the top of it, a Stygian Iron blade peeking out from inside the wooden sheath. "I'll take care of it." The horseman returned the cane to resting on the floor. "I would like to ask, however; who are these sources you speak of? Forgive me, but I am rather curious." For a multitude of reasons, and the list never seemed to stop growing. "From how it sounds, I was one of the only gods left out of the loop. And frankly, I'm a little insulted."

[WitchHazel]

|⟡|Mirabelle Everhart|17|She/Her|Aphrodite|Head Counselor|Location: Dining Pavilion|Tags: Celeste|

"Seventeen," Mirabelle admitted. It sounded so young in the face of someone perhaps half a decade older than her, if not more. "I've had a lot of combat training, though, and a lot of experience beyond Camp Half-Blood. For someone my age." As if that makes it sound any better. She'd also seen a fair amount of tragedy too, though the events of the previous night certainly took the cake on that front. A genuine smile crossed her face when Celeste aired her hopes to see Mirabelle again, despite the sadness that lingered in her eyes. If there was any quest she didn't know if she would come back from, it was this one.
'I feel as though I have switched universes.' Mirabelle knew that feeling - it was precisely how she'd felt when she had killed her first monster. Pulling a shortsword from a lipstick tube was shocking enough, as was walking in on the creature attacking her father. But the reality hit when the empousa had exploded into dust, and Chuck's frantic voice sounded on the telephone, dialing 911.
The mention of meeting Aphrodite brought her back to the present. It piqued her interest in particular - her memory of her mother's dream appearance had fully returned to her after her recovery from her hypothermic condition. "She actually visited me last night," Mirabelle confirmed. "In a dream. She showed me some very useful information concerning the quest... I think. I might've just been delirious." She chuckled ever so slightly, though internally she was still chastising her poor judgement for allowing herself to get in such a condition in the first place. Nonetheless, she knew where the quest group needed to go now. Or so she thought.
Celeste's enthusiastic smile warmed her heart, and she couldn't help but return it. It was nice to see someone taking pleasure in the little things. It reminded her to look at the world with fresh eyes; to try to see things from a new perspective. Her attention shifted when Celeste aired her concerns about bothering Mirabelle on the quest, the head counselor's brow quickly creasing upwards.
"Oh - no, please, don't worry about that! You can contact me at any time, no bother. Though I have full faith in Ophelia's ability to replace me for the time being." Or permanently. She offered the older woman another smile, though her pensive eyes betrayed her unspoken thoughts. "That being said, I'm sure you yourself have a lot of wisdom to offer us. It'll be a shame to leave so soon without learning a thing or two from someone with such an interesting perspective to offer."


|⟡|Juliet Pratten|16|She/Her|Hermes|Location: Dining Pavilion|Tags: Cass, Aggy|

"No, just... asking for a friend," Juliet supplied, albeit hastily. It wasn't a lie, perhaps, but not entirely the truth either. Despite how much she wanted to deny it, she still cared about Mirabelle a good deal. Not romantically - not anymore, at least. But once you share that bond with someone else, you never really stop caring about them. Thankfully, she was saved by responding when Aggy arrived at the Hermes table. She waved at her, but her mouth was once again full of pancakes so she neglected to greet her verbally. Instead, she listened to Cass talk, glad for the chance to eat more of her breakfast.

Juliet's pleasant pancake-eating was rudely interrupted as a muffin came sailing over and hit her square in the forehead. "What the-?" She whipped around to search for the culprit, but no one conspicuous stood out. Setting her jaw, she grabbed the muffin and stood up on the bench she had been seated on only moments ago. "Whoever threw this -" she held the muffin aloft like Rafiki holding Simba "- thanks! How did you know blueberry was my favourite?" With that proclamation out of the way, Juliet smirked and plopped back into a sitting position. She continued working on her stack of pancakes, though she paused to wrap a napkin around the muffin and stuff it into her pocket as a snack for later.


|⟡|Chuck Oakes|He/Him|Satyr|Location: Dining Pavilion|Tags: Laika --> Open|

Chuck gulped at Laika's words, raising his shaky hands innocently. "Like, n-nope. Not an enemy, uh, at least, I hope not?" Just as quickly as he started to be at ease around the intimidating Lieutenant, he was back to a quivering mess. When she left, he released a breath in a huge puff, slumping down into his seat. Still, the interaction hadn't killed his appetite! The satyr shoveled the remainder of his food into his mouth, and stood up to get seconds.


|⊙|Zahra Al-Amin|217/Looks 32|She/They|Magician; Eye of Sekhmet|Location: Cabins Area|Tags: Laika|

Zahra's scarred eyebrows rose at the quick approach of another lion. A pale one, at that, distinctive in colour. She relaxed when she noticed the lioness' posture - the big cat was pacified, for now. "Easy now," Zahra said softly, using the language of the lions. "I mean you no harm. I am Zahra Abubakar Nashwa Al-Amin of the Ninth Nome. I wish there was more time for introductions, but I am here to deliver an urgent message to Effendi Chiron." She would have shifted herself to talk with the lioness, had the feline's eyes not been trained so intently on her. Her own lion form would have allowed for better communication between the two - a human couldn't flick its ears or lower its tail. But she refrained; the last thing she wanted was to startle the lioness. Instead, Zahra stared the big cat in the eyes, blinking slowly and methodically to indicate trust and honesty.


|Vivienne Isole|18|She/Her|Khione|Location: Mount Marcy Caverns|Tags: Nicholas|

Vivienne gently took Xaliphax's reigns, leading him off through a twisting labyrinth of tunnels. She almost got lost a few times herself, if not for the occasional familiar decoration or marking on the walls. When they reached the training hall, she stepped through the threshold onto the cold stone floor. Shards of ice and drifts of snow lay scattered across the cavern, no doubt the remainders from Vivienne's last sparring session. She cleared them away with little fuss, using her abilities to do the work for her. She even lifted the light dusting of snow from Xaliphax's flank, carefully dispersing it through the air. Now that her duty was done, she hesitated. Vivienne debated returning to her mother, but quickly stopped herself. Surely if her mother had wanted her at the meeting, she wouldn't have sent her away. And she still had yet to eat breakfast. However, she was also unsure about leaving Xaliphax - sure, he was the Pale Horse of Death itself, but that didn't mean he didn't get lonely. Maybe... maybe staying put was best for the time being. Yes, that's what she would do. Stay with Death's oddly comforting horse.
Meanwhile, Khione listened intently to Nicholas' words, at first examining him as if he were a riddle that needed solving. The flattery was not lost on her, however - the idea of a pleased smile tugged at her lips. Still, it was evident that he wanted something, or that he was about to deliver some bad news.
And then it came, and the goddess was none too surprised. Her deep brown gaze sharpened with interest at the mention of his brothers, but she nodded nonetheless. "Do what you must - so long as the Doors remain open. We would prefer them chained, however. If the forces that be have their way, your Horsemen may be called for after all." She failed to elaborate, instead addressing his next concerns. "My sources, you ask? I have blizzard venti - niphoi, if you will - reporting back to me with any potentially pertinent fact. Though some seem to have a rather loose definition of the word 'pertinent'..." She narrowed her eyes, both at that and at the mention of Nick feeling 'insulted'. The goddess herself didn't necessarily care... but the alliance was running smoothly thus far, and she would have preferred it stay that way. "If you'd like to meet with the Vessel yourself, then by all means, be my guest," Khione stated. "That is, if you can discover a way in which to contact Them. Frankly I'm surprised They haven't yet paid you a visit. Perhaps if and when we conference with this 'Malcolm Kingston', They shall make their presence known."

[indigo']

Caleb Thomas|19|he/him|Athena|Arena|Tags:Emmie

Caleb nodded quickly, not seeming to be too enthralled by this information, considering it was something he’d already known. He’d been at camp when the incident with Audra had happened, he’d been there when Vivienne had lost it, and he knew exactly what rumours everyone was muttering about that incident now. He raised an eyebrow at the suggestion that they may try to bring her back to camp. That didn’t sound like a brilliant plan, endangering the other campers who weren’t part of the quest, though he figured that was more likely to be the confused musings of a young demigod than something he should take as a fact.

He looked mildly surprised at the question if he was alright—the answer to that was a bit too loaded to unleash on an unsuspecting person who was just trying to be nice. He plastered on a wry smile, eyes twinkling with amusement despite the circumstances and the tired look on his face. “Me? Fine and dandy, as always.” He said with a wink as he continued walking towards the arena. “Just got a lot on my mind at the moment.” A lie of omission possibly, but he wasn’t being totally dishonest. When they reached the arena, he pulled the door open, gesturing for Emmie to go first with a gentlemanly bow.

“You said you want to train right? How about a spar?” He asked, unhooking the tiny silver dagger from his ear, watching as it transformed into a real celestial bronze dagger that was weighted perfectly in his calloused hand. The corner of his mouth curled in a smile, he didn’t think he’d ever get over that trick. He looked back at the girl, raising his eyebrows in question.

Jamie Wallace|16|he/him|Iris|dining pavilion|tags:Aiden, Wilhelm

After quite a while of nervously doodling on his own hand, Jamie found that his nerves had calmed enough to actually eat—that, and he had run out of room. He clicked the pen shut, slipping it into his pocket as he got up and headed towards the buffet table. He loaded a plate with pancakes and anything else that caught his eye before heading back to his table alone.

His eyes scanned the dining pavilion as he ate, noticing the absence of a few familiar faces, as well as the presence of a few new ones. There were a lot of bitter looks this morning, sadness hung over them like the storm clouds that refused to let up. Tragedy had already struck, and something had to be done to stop it, to avenge those who were lost and to prevent anyone else from meeting the same fate.

He had been given the opportunity to be a part of that. As much as he hated the idea of leaving the safety of camp—though one could argue it wasn’t really so safe anymore—by not going, would he be letting all of these people down? The people who were always there for him, who he’d played capture the flag with, who’d stood up for him when some of the less than friendly Ares campers saw him as an easy target? Just the thought of going on a quest made him shiver, but the idea of staying behind? Of being the coward he’d always let himself be and couldn’t seem to stop being? That made him feel sick.

His eyes landed on the Athena table, where he spotted the head counsellor talking to someone he vaguely recognized, but couldn’t quite put a name to. He didn’t want to disrupt their conversation, but now seemed as good a time as any to get his weapon back, if it could even be called that anymore. Leaving his half eaten food behind, he got up and headed over, hovering awkwardly at the edge of the table. He wasn’t about to risk sitting down and getting called out by Mr. D, his nerves were rattled enough for now.

“Uh...hi,” He said, with an awkward smile and a nod to the boy he didn’t know before he turned his attention to Aiden. “Was just wondering if I could get my uh...knife back?” He’d hesitated for a moment, frowning. Surely it was still a knife, there had to be a way to turn it back. Though he wasn’t sure if Aiden had figured that out and was aware he may be getting a useless paintbrush back. “It didn’t...” His eyes widened suddenly as he realized he hadn’t spoken to the Athena head counsellor since their brief encounter in the woods, but surely the attacking storm spirit had been defeated somehow. “That venti...you didn’t...” He gestured to his neck with a finger, sticking his tongue out as he mimed the action of killing. “With the paintbrush, did you?” He knew what he was saying sounded absolutely absurd and Aiden was probably going to laugh at him, but he had taken the brush, so surely he must’ve done something with it.