Alec leaned back against the thick wooden trunk. The gulping shadows from it's leaves saving him from the harshness of the sun. A book was carefully placed in his fingers. It was, of course, a book about greek Mythology. Instead of reading teen fiction, or fantasy like most teens his age. Alec read history, encyclopedia's, or other informative books. Mythology was really just a easy read for him. Something he could read and enjoy the lovely day. Silv, was tucked on his bony shoulder. Her feathers fluffed up as her head curled into his neck. His curled blonde hair was damp from having just come from the lake. Where he had orginally tried to read. However, a group of water loving freaks decided to 'surprise' attack him. "Silv." Alec suddenly said as he closed his book, and glanced over at his feathered friend. The elegant barn owl opened her eyes. Looking up at him calmly. "Any word from Mom?" Silv simply shook her head. Letting out a soft sigh as she tucked her head back into his neck to hid her eyes from the bright light of the sun.

The Rebellious One

"Stupid gods." A teenaged boy sitting in the Poseidon's Cabin said while looking outside of the back window and into the sea. That boy's name was Troy, demigod son of the "great" Poseidon. "Always fighting each other and not caring about what it does to the planet they reign over or what it does to their bastard children." He wasn't scared about talking about the gods in such a way. It wasn't that he thought he was invincible. He definitely wasn't. He just didn't care what the gods thought about him or what they would even be willing to do to him for such blasphemous remarks. His mother loved his father and he let her die. He was sure the great Earth Shaker could find the most suitable way to kill a rebellious son if he wanted to. If they were all lucky the gods would end up killing each other in this conflict and their children could become gods to take their place. He honestly wasn't even sure if that was how it worked. Heracles became a god, but it wasn't a poof automatic thing. He knew that his older half-brother could be a good replacement for Poseidon. Troy even heard that he was once offered godhood, but turned it down. If being a god automatically turned you into a jerk he understood why he declined.

Troy sighed and moved from the window. It was time for the students to come piling in. He looked at his nightstand where a picture of his mother in a frame stood. He was glad that he was able to recover two pictures of his mom. He kept one in his nightstand and another in his pocket. That way he'd always have her with him. Each time he looked at her picture his anger for his father grew, but she seemed to calm his anger whenever he looked at her in battle. Maybe it was because his anger was projected somewhere on one point instead of all around like it tended to be when he lost control. He patted his pocket making sure that his pen was still inside. He liked that it would always be in his pocket when he wasn't using it or if it got away from him. Well, it did take some time before returning to him if he lost it in a fight. Those moments of not having it almost cost him his head a few times. His father would have to do better than that if he wanted to kill him.

He finally exited the cabin and stretched as the rays of the sun hit him. "Time to see what this Summer brings us."

Death's Kid

Dorian had said goodbye to his mother the previous night and decided to visit his father before the first official day of Camp Half-Blood's summer. He passed into the Underworld and spoke to his father who had warned him of the Civil War that was happening between the gods of Olympus. This was his first time hearing about it and was told that the war would come to the doors of camp as well. That didn't sound good, but Dorian didn't know if he could even do anything about it. He tended to cause people to want to kill each other even more with his Death Drive ability. He could try speaking with them, but he never tried his oratory skills on such a large audience. He definitely wasn't sure that he could even convince the Ares Cabin with his words considering that they loved war. His best bet was to stay out of it, right? His father warned him that campers might die when they go against each other, but could that really be true? Would they let a war between their parents force them to forget about the friendships that they made?

War made people do horrible things. Civil Wars were even worse. Brother against brother. Friend against friend. Neighbor against neighbor. The relationships between people didn't stop the blood flow or even slow it. It only made it worse. He didn't really have many friends to worry about having to fight if he did choose a side. He barely had anyone there who he would even consider his friend. Most stayed away from him despite there being a child of Hades there, but apparently being a child of Hades wasn't as frightening as a child of Death. He spent the rest of the night and early morning with his father before he decided it was time to go to camp.

He appeared in front of the camp's field and walked inside. "Here goes nothing."

Sierra

Sierra day quietly in the Artemis cabin, her thin fingers running up and down the walls as she observed her fellow Hunters. They talked to each other, fiddled with their bows, and some prayed silently to Artemis. One burned an offering in the campfire the group had made in the middle of the floor. This made Sierra smile, it was why she joined the Hunters in the first place. They were so calm, looking glum to most people. In all honesty though they were happy and rather cheerful in their own company.

Sierra stops from her spot, and as soon as she did the other Hunters ended their conversations, finished their prayers, and set their bows aside. They looked to their leader, who stood there with set shoulders and an encouraging smile that could turn into a grimace in seconds. "Hunters, the campers approach from their schooling. Be nice to them, because their nerves may already be frayed. I'm unsure if all of them know the situation on Olympus or not, but since we don't have a full understanding of this Civil War yet I doubt they do. I will confront Chiron and ask him if he understands what is really going on. The rest of you may rest or wander the camp. Understood?" The speech was rather rusty, but all of the Hunters nodded in understanding. They remained in their current positions, at least most of them did. Others picked up their bows and wandered out. They all grouped up, which made it easier to hang out around the normal Demigods, seeing as they wouldn't be tempted to break their vows.

Sierra however, exited the building alone. She was going to find Chiron, but she was probably going to take her sweet time doing so. It had been quite a while since she had been at camp, and she wanted to wander. She also wanted to visit her brother, but she decided she would do that later in the evening. Maybe at the campfire, if they still did that. She was unsure of the situation here. She didn't even know if the campers knew about Olympus or not, and she realized they might be in the dark because of how much the gods were feuding. She knew that sometimes the Hunters were the first to know things, because of how close they were to Artemis.

Before Sierra could even finish thinking a girl with thick, curly purple hair pushed past her. Sierra looked over her shoulder to see where the girl was going, and she realized it was in the direction of Cabin 9. Someone was homesick, Sierra thought. With that she continued walking.

Rhea

Rhea was finally home again, after her long year of school and tutoring sessions she had finally made it back to the place where she belonged. Camp Half-Blood was one of the only places she could go where people didn't ask her about how she dealt with adhd, and where she didn't have to look at the sour old faces of the teachers who never learned how to have fun. Her mind ran through a thousand thoughts at once as she entered the Camp. Two big thoughts swam in her head though, Cabin 9 and Festus! After a whole school year she finally got to see Festus again!

She ran all the way to the cabin, bumping into a girl with straight raven black hair. The girl wore a silver outfit and a bow, making Rhea almost stop and question the girl. Instead she kept plowing ahead, determined to get to the Cabin. As soon as she made it through the familiar doors of Cabin 9 she ran to her bunk, on it there was a satchel and she grabbed it before typing a code into a keypad. She sucked in a breath and smiled, waiting as the bunk lowered down into her private room.

As soon as she was lowered all the way down into her room, she started running through the small tunnel she had built there. The tunnel lead directly into Bunker 9, where Festus was probably jumping around waiting for Rhea's return. She made her way into the bunker, past tool boxes and scrapped machinery. She passed by weapons and other items that she had handcrafted, and as she did she looked at their amazing bronze gleam.

What really caught her eyes though, was at the center of the room, curled up on his warm little sleeping pad. Rhea shouted out in glee, her voice going shrill and girly. "Festus!" She screamed, like a kid in a huge candy store for the first time. "I missed you!" She ran and practically leapt on the Dragon, his bronze hide warm and welcoming. Festus' eyes glowed a beautiful shade of red, and he let out a few creaks. Rhea listened to the morse code message, and nodded thoughtfully. Festus was ready to fly.

Rhea opened up the hanger doors, and ran back to Festus. She hooked her feet into his plating, and as Festus lifted off she felt giddy. They shot out of the bunker, and Rhea glanced behind her to see the hanger doors closing swiftly. In an instant the bunker was left behind, and they started approaching the Camp.

Rhea glanced at her satchel which still hung safely across her chest. She reached inside of it and took out a bottle of Tabasco sauce. She wiggled it in front of Festus' eye and smiled. "As soon as we get back to camp I'll let you have some Tabasco. I know how much you hate plain old motor oil."

Festus creaked in a seemingly happy tone, and Rhea sat back. Soon they made it back to the Camp, and Festus hovered over a few patches of ground for a few seconds before settling on one he felt comfortable with. Rhea unhooked herself and climbed off of Festus, hugging his neck and opening the bottle of Tabasco. He unhinged his metal jaw and let her poor it down his throat. "You're the best Festus." She muttered, tapping 'I love you' against his hide.

Marco

Marco had rushed into Camp before anyone had the chance to speak to him. Unbeknownst to him, his sister would have seen him if he had taken his time. Marco did know however, that he was very glad to be back home. His bunk was the way he had left it, with a few of his personal belongings sitting in the trunk at his feet. He laid himself down in his bed and relaxed, letting himself become calm and really embrace being back again. It had only been one school year sure, but he had struggled because of his dyslexia and because he was always concerned about monster attacks. Sometimes he wished for the attacks though, just to do something interesting. Marco closed his eyes, letting a wave of peace rush over him. He felt like sleeping right then and there, until he heard the noise.

He heard the loud noises and creaks of metal right above the cabin, and he groaned. He lazily got out of bed, muttering curses in Ancient Greek. He walked out of the cabin and signed, realizing the noises were nothing other than Lady Dragon and her bronze sidekick. He waved briefly at the girl and walked back inside of the cabin. He laid back down in bed and sighed realizing that since everyone was back, the Camp would be loud again.

David grinned as he slashed with his right sword. He was practicing his technique in the arena, and was excited for the upcoming civil war. David would have loved to have an actual sparring partner, but everyone at camp was either too scared fight with him- imagine that- or was off moping about the war for some reason. He didn't care though, this war was going to be his chance to prove he was the best. David knew he'd be a real hero too- he'd kill dozens of enemy soldiers. David didn't even really understand why there was a civil war, he wasn't even sure who the enemy was, but he did know it was going to be epic. No one would be able to stand in his way, he'd probably be singlehandedly responsible for his side's victory.

He couldn't spend too much time practicing though, this was when all the new campers were coming in, and he had to make sure to have a good impression on them, otherwise they wouldn't know whose boss. Nothing was worse than not getting the respect you deserve from someone beneath you, David knew that.

Blake & Cole

The sun had just started to peek in through her window before Blake began to stir from her sleep. The past couple of days had been long ones that dragged out into the next, so much so that if her room didn't have a calender in it, she really would have lost track of how many had passed.

Ignoring her body's plea for her to stay in bed, Blake pushed herself up and onto her feet, wobbling slightly before a monster yawn escaped followed by the popping of bones as she stretched. As she lazily made her way around her cabin and got herself ready for the day. After dressing and such, she patted her cheeks hard, bringing some much needed color to her face as she attempted to fully wake herself up. No one was allowed to see her as sleepy as she felt. They would see it as a weakness, and Blake was far too confident to admit that as one.

As soon as she left the cabin, she jogged her way towards the entrance to the camp. It was there, standing at attention, she would greet all the campers who were coming in for summer break, new and returning. She would smile and wave to those she was not too familiar with. To those she knew better, she would greet by name and grasp their arms in her usual form of a handshake. It mattered not what cabin they resided in, nor if they returned the greeting at all. She would be seen by all of them and welcome them back to the camp.

For nearly a week now, they had been coming in at all times of the day and night, but in all honesty, it was only one particular person Blake really was waiting for during the day. She wanted him to be the first one he saw when he arrived. She wanted to run into his arms as soon as she spotted that messy off-black hair of his, and so she waited. Day and night for as long as she could stand up straight. As Blake finished her thoughts she would feel arms wrap around her from behind, then would feel a peck to her left cheek. Her first instinct was to lash out in anger, but her second thought along with the familiar smell of roses reminded her there was only one person in the whole camp who would dare even come close to her, let alone make contact. "Good morning, my little demi-goddess," the familiar voice spoke. Without giving her much of a chance to react, Cole spun her around, and with a smile he let his eyes gaze over her face. "Oh how Aphrodite yearns for your beauty," he spoke softly before gently pressing his lips against hers, holding her tightly.

Blake's eyes widened as she was spun around rather easily and finally looking back into the eyes of her lover. Before she got a chance to finish her good morning greeting, his lips had found hers and a few moments later, she was crushed against him in a tight hug. Saying nothing for a long moment, she just let Cole hold her. After some time her hands pressed against his chest and she pushed him away gently. Though she was happy to see him, there was a pout on her face.

"How in the world did you manage to escape my detection? I was searching for you and I didn't see you approach, and yet you managed to get behind me. Tell me how you pulled such a trick." she demanded.

A sad expression placed on Cole's face after he was pushed away. It was obviously fake. Though he did want to stay in that position, it had been three months since he'd been able to do that after all. He gave a small laugh after she spoke. He found it cute when she demanded stuff from him, mostly because he was probably the only one who could get away with not telling her anything...some of the time, at least. "Maybe I'm just better than you now," Cole teased before a finger raised to poke her forehead. "Either that or I waited in the bushes for you."

Scoffing and crossing her arms, Blake turned her head away from him. "Your first assumption is quite unlikely, seeing as in the time you've been away, you have clearly gotten soft." she said moving one arm and poking his belly. She was, of course, teasing him, as his abs were as toned as ever. Hell, by the way he'd held her, she figured the rest of him was also considering it felt like she was hugging a rock dressed in clothes. The thought brought a blush to her face and she cleared her throat.

"Fret not though my love, after a few days with me, you'll be right back into shape."

Shifting her weight onto one leg and leaning as a camper passed the two, she looked around for the bushes he had spoken of. Sure enough there was a well groomed bundle of them right behind her. She smiled and her blush deepened. He had wanted to surprise her just like she wanted to for him.

"A few days? Now that's what I call a welcome back gift. You're more than I deserve, love," he spoke with a grin. His attention never left her, even as the camper passed the two. They didn't matter. Only thing that mattered at the moment was Blake. "But before that, fill me in. Gone three months, ma' has been gettin' better, and that's pretty much it for me. What about you? What's been happening here?"

Reaching out and slipping her hand into his, she turned and pulled him along with her. "Walk with me." she said before continuing to pull him. As they walked, her fingers laced with his and she almost wanted one of the teachers to see the two and complain about PDA so she could yell at them. "The days grew longer and the nights colder while we were seperated." she said quietly. "Things grow uneasy here among the campers. Many returned with rumors or stories that the Gods fight and are divided. They turned out to be true and I fear soon even it may influence distress here in the camp. I hope things don't come to that, but now things seem to be in a slow decline. I cant begin to imagine what will happen once everyone arrives and start to but heads."

Cole listened as they walked. Gods going at it again? What else was new? He looked down at Blake, an eyebrow raised. "And what exactly are the gods fighting about this time? Is it really that serious that you think it'll influence people here?"

With her free hand, Blake combed through the long strands of her dark brown hair. "More than half of the Gods believe Zeus is no longer a fit to rule Olympus. I think it is a silly effort to try and change things that have worked for hundreds of years. Regardless who leads, there will always be things such as pain and suffering and danger in the world. A leader, no matter how great, cannot change that." She paused and shook her head. "Of course those of us who are close to our God parents will have no problem siding with them. Even those who hate them will likely move to the opposing side just to spite them. Some may stay neutral but still... I am worried things may get out of hand if the Gods continue to fight over petty things such as this. Imagine a war between the God's and their children. Sounds like a work for the history books."

Cole sighed. "Alright, I see your point. Things can get pretty ugly if they continue being this petty. And they see themselves above humans." Cole scoffed before stopping and placing his hands on the side of Blake to stop her. Once she turned towards him he would begin speaking. "But how about we don't become apart of those history books," Cole spoke softly, "Let the gods fight it out between themselves, and if people in this camp get involved in petty fights then so be it, but...me and you...we can just...leave. Just go, right now. We don't have to get involved in any of it if it even goes that far."

When Cole finished speaking, Blake's heart felt heavy. She loved him even more for wanting to leave with her, and sad because she knew there was no way she could stay out of it. She bit her lip as she searched for the words, her hands crossed at her chest and her eyes on the ground. At one point she looked at him and opened her mouth to speak but just side and ran both of her hands in her hair.

"This cycle is dangerous. Every time a group of people decide to rise against a ruler, they start a war and people are killed. Then a new one will step in to lead for a time and then what? After some time their followers will think that they too should be overthrown and a new war starts. Over and over as if perfection can be found in one being. In the end things don't get fixed by just switching out the one who claims the title of a leader. If things get ugly down here for us, I can't just run away. No matter how much I want to avoid pointless fighting, I was born with the talents to fight... and win under any circumstance. With so few followers, Zeus will need someone like me to at least try and keep things the way they are, though I know he and the other Gods on his side wont ever admit to it. "

Reaching up to stroke Cole's cheek, she smiled at him. "I wish for a day when we can live together in peace and I want to be a part of whatever struggle there is to maintain that peace. Do you understand?" her eyes searched his, hoping he understood somehow what she was trying to say.

Cole returned the smile, although his face expressed concern. "I guess there's no convincing you, huh? You were always stubborn, I guess that hadn't gone away these past three months." He let out a small chuckle. His hands grabbed hers, fingers entwined. "I understand what you're saying. It's just that...I don't want you in any danger, even though I think you're the strongest and by far scariest one in this camp, I know you can handle yourself. But it's my job to worry. You, my mother, Chubbs...really the only three things I care about. I need you all safe. So if you're doing this, on the chance that it does go that far...then I'm with you. Only to make sure you're safe though, alright?"

Blake's eyes practically sparkled at his words, and in response, she gave a small nod. Slowly she would wiggle her hand free of his before moving it to the collar of his shirt. She fisted the thin cloth in her hand and pulled him down towards her while standing on her toes. Closing her eyes, she waited for their lips to touch. "Oh-"Were the only words able to escape Cole's mouth as he was grabbed by the collar and pulled down into a kiss. He couldn't keep the smile off his face as she did so though, despite the small shock. Words couldn't describe his love for her.

When she was satisfied after what felt like a long moment, she lowered her heels back to the ground. She kept her grip firm on his shirt as her eyes met his again and her cheeks turned red. "So. Will it be my cabin or yours?" she whispered.

Skylar was lying in bed with her eyes closed. Her breath was soft as is sleeping, but she was quite alert. Dreaming was dangerous during these times. No telling what her father would try on her if he had the chance. Until this stupid conflict ended she was going to avoid him by taking short naps and drinking tons of red bull.

Sighing and deciding that she had rested her eyes long enough she kicked her legs out of the bed and gracefully landed on the floor of the empty cabin. The cabin stayed nice and warm despite the camp being on the side of the ocean, so Skylar was only wearing a t-shirt and her underwear. Rubbing her eyes quickly as if it would help her mind catch up to speed faster she looked out the window that was facing the ocean. It reminded her of her home back in California. Now that she was old enough to own a place Skylar had moved to the west coast, living in camp was not really an option after her 18th birthday, besides it was rather boring. It hadn't taken her too long to raise money due to her new hobby working with computers. Her power over electricity seemed to give her a natural gift with the electronics. Yeah, she missed California already, with it's nice weather, warm water, and her boyfriend. But camp was camp, and it was a tradition for her now after eight or nine years.

Throwing on some random clothes that were hanging around on the floor, Skylar stepped out the door into the light. Groaning, she headed towards the smell of coffee. A combination of homesickness, a lack of a coffee cup in her hand, and lack of sleep had made her very irritable. Some first year stumbled into her way with a plate of sticky waffles. Luckily he managed to tip the plate out of her way before it splashed all over her. Still she growled the the unfortunate kid, "Watch it kid."

@Shadowcatcher

Alec felt as though not matter where he wet. He could not find a place of peace to read. Demi-gods of all parents and ages seemed to want to bug him. He tried his best to avoid largely populated areas of the camp. Just wanting some time to read. But being one of the smartest in camp did not always pay off. He was always ransacked with ridiculous questions he did not want to waste the breath to answer. Silv was still perched on his shoulder. Watching the people he passed by with gentle amber eyes. "You should be less grumpy." Silv advised him simply.

Collab: Wintergrey and Kindred (Skylar and Troy)

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The Rebellious Duo in "Daddy Issues"

As Troy walked through the camp he could hear his stomach start to growl. The longer he walked the louder it seemed to get. He understood why his stomach was torturing him. He had tortured it the previous night by skipping dinner and training instead. He always needed to train when he wanted to get his mind off of the stupidity of his father and the rest of the gods of Olympus.

A sigh escaped his lips before he changed directions and headed towards the smell of food. It seemed that the year rounders and returning campers were already getting to that Camp Half-Blood breakfast. He finally arrived to see a number of campers. He didn't recognize all of them. "First years." He guessed. They were pretty easy to pick out. One of the returning campers that he recognized was another of the Big Three. Her name was Skylar and they were more alike than people might think. At least when it came to first glance. Despite their opposing powers they both had problems controlling their anger and they both had problems with their fathers. They were like two sides of the same coin. He found it strange that she returned here. She didn't have to come back. She was practically an adult now and they weren't required to return. Troy always figured that was one of the reasons his older brother hadn't returned.

Troy shrugged his shoulders and walked up to Skylar. "Already giving the first years trouble?"

Skylar glared up from her coffee. It had embed her mood, but it was still much too early for her to be considered close to happy. "Yeah Troy, so? Bloody things walk around like a new born deer." She turned back to the black drink in her cup and took another deep sip. Looking around her she could see the table was empty. Anyone that had been sitting down there had quickly moved when they saw the moody Zeus child. Skylar noticed that the kids at the other tables were laughing with each other, having a good time, even for being so early in the morning. They had all kinds of interesting food on their plates; chocolate chip pancakes, ice cream, even a rack of ribs for some big Ares kid. The food at Camp Half-Blood was amazing, but Skylar was never hungry first thing in the morning. Noticing that Troy still standing next to her she turned back to him, "What? You need something swamp-face?"

Troy smirked when Skylar asked him if he wanted anything and even called him swamp-face. He surprisingly didn't get angry when she called him stupid names. He took it more as a challenge. "For once, no. I just wanted to talk to you. No daggers of words aimed." He sat down at the table across from her and just looked at her. He didn't even know how to start this off. He was about to speak, but was interrupted by a plate being placed right in front of him. It was a blue colored waffle. The wood nymphs played this trick on him at the beginning of every summer. Apparently his older brother loved blue colored food. It was honestly the oddest thing he even heard of. "Funny." He muttered. "Can I have my regular colored pancakes now?"

He looked down at his plate to see the waffles replaced with pancakes. He turned to Skylar while picking up a fork. "Now. I wanted to know if you heard about this war between the gods that's happening and what you think about it."

Sighing inwardly as Troy sat down across from her, she chose to take her time answering. Instead she picked up her mug and took a deep, long sip, intentionally drawing it out. Meanwhile she kept her eyes locked on the kid across from her, "Yeah I heard. So what, daddy issues acting up again? Nervous of Poseidon's wrath?" She shook her head, hair whipping around her face. It settled back into place bisected by a braid running down her head, separating the shaved part of her head from the not. The tattoo of a rose stood out, as small bolts of lightning flashed along the side of her skull. The bolts indicated that he had irked her, though he may not have known that, and they quickly died out soon after showing themselves. Another indicator, this time that she was hungry. Not for food, but for energy. She was going to have to recharge soon. Maybe she'd visit some of the Hephaestus kids after she finished her drink.

Skylar definitely knew how to irk someone. He sat there impatiently as she took a long sip from her coffee mug. He had half the mind to attack her with this fork, but he really wanted to use it to attack his pancakes. The flash of lightning along the shaved part of her head caught his attention. It was enough to almost get his mind off of her comment. "Pft. As if I'm scared of Poseidon's wrath. If I was I wouldn't be joining your old man's side just to spite him. As much as I'd love to be neutral in this conflict I'd love to go against the Earth-shaker more. There's nothing he could do to me that would hurt me more than what he didn't do those years ago." Troy was sure that she knew why he hated his father so much. He hadn't really talked to anyone about it, but the Satyr who brought him to the camp wasn't the type to keep his mouth shut. He almost hated him for it, but he didn't really blame him. He wasn't Poseidon. He didn't know that tragedy would strike his mother if he didn't get there in time. Plus they weren't the types to keep stories to themselves while flirting with tree spirits. "I'm sure you're not scared of your father's wrath either."

Skylar nearly laughed when he said that. She stood up abruptly from the table and still laughing made her way around him to the nearby toaster that was sitting on a table. Plucking at the her gloved fingers, she quickly pulled off the black rubber glove that kept her from electrocuting people she touched. "Phhh, what's he going to do? Strike me with lightning?" With that she unplugged the toaster and grabbing a fork, shoved it into the open socket. Electricity flowed out along the metal conductor and straight into her body. Instantly Skylar's mood improved as her eyes rolled back and her head tilted up. Perfect morning pick me up. When she was done she turned to him and said, "I'm a fucking battery, all he would do is charge me up again."

Troy shrugged and started eating his pancakes. After he finished chewing he looked back to Skylar and said, "Well, he could turn you into a tree or constellation. Both of which is pretty boring. What would Poseidon do to me? Drown me? I can't drown. We're basically mini versions of our parents."

Her nose crinkled at the thought and anger flowed into her body. She pointed the finger of her left hand straight at Troy, still ungloved. "Listen, muck-brain, I'm nothing like my father!" The words came out of her mouth a low hiss, adding on to the loud crackling, humming sound of the electricity that was running along her hand. At this distance he would be able to see the sparks flying of her white hands, they hair on his head would raise, and the fear of water-boy being electrocuted would be envoked.

Troy's expression seemed to remain the same, but inside his anger started to slowly boil. How dare she threaten him with a shock of her lightning? He sighed heavily before standing up from his seat at the table and placing his fork back onto his plate. "Right, because father dearest wouldn't electrocute someone because they were a little angry. Listen, Sky-Bird." He admittedly wasn't as good as her when it came to the naming game. What bad thing could you really say ab---Aha. He finally got it. "Sparky." Yeah, that'd do it. "You probably hate your father almost as much as I hate mine, but you have to realize we are similar to them. As much as I hate having any similarities to the damned Earth-Shaker I don't go around denying who or what I am. You may scare the other kids here, but you don't scare me. We're both kids of the Big Three. Strike me if you want to, but you'll see why they call me his son." He clenched both his fists and tried to control himself, but he could already feel the ground beneath them start to shake.

A grin spread across her face. "What, you gunna soak me with your super-soaker? I don't deny what I am, fish-brain. I relish in the fact that I'm the daughter of one of the most powerful gods in the world. And that I can kick your bloody ass." As the ground beneath her began to shake she collected the wind around her, levitating above the ground. This fight was stupid, silly really, but Skylar never backed down from a fight. And besides the idiot had thought 'sky-bird' and 'sparky' were good insulting nicknames.

"Dammit." Troy thought to himself. "Here she comes with more good insulting nicknames." He watched as she started to float off the ground. He almost forgot that she could do that, but it didn't mean much. "Soak you? I'm sure you've guessed it by now. I'm going to bury you. I do find it funny that you think you could kick my ass." The ground started to shake more and Troy slightly unclenched his fists before slowly lifting him in the air. He could barely lift them before he felt a hand around his right wrist. He turned and yelled, "WHAT!?" before realizing who he had been talking to.

"That is enough, Troy. You've been here long enough to know better than that. Look at the picture and calm down." Chiron released Troy's wrist and let him fidget in his pocket for a Polaroid picture before turning his attention over to Skylar.

Skylar's eye's widened slightly as she saw Chiron stand up behind Troy. After quickly reprimanding him, Chiron turned to Skylar and jerked her out of the air. "What do you think you're doing, picking a fight with the camper? You're a guest here and an adult." He smacked her across the back of the head and the hair on the right side of her head flipped around her face. Indigently she refused to say anything, walking off back towards the cabins. Despite the anger in her she knew that Chiron was right. She was supposed to be the bigger person here, but man was that stupid squid annoying.

Kiran exited her empty apartment. Her mom was at work, too busy to see her off, but Kiran didn't care. She was going to camp! As a sudden rush of dopamine and adrenaline ran through Kiran's spine, she couldn't help but grab her two heavy suitcases and backpack and rush down the stairs. Kiran giddily greeted everyone she saw in the apartment complex. After dealing with the anxious atmosphere that spread across the school at the end of the school year, Kiran was ready to finally DO something. After sprinting to the nearest main road, Kiran vigorously waved her arms around, unable to keep her excitement under control. Soon a bemused taxi driver stopped by the side of the road. Kiran threw her bright, tye dye luggage into the trunk and clamored into the back.
"Delphi Strawberry Service, please," she beamed. Her face was starting to hurt, but Kiran couldn't stop smiling.
"Got a hot date?" The driver laughed.
"No, I'm just going to camp," Kiran said, forcing herself to calm down. "It's a really great camp. I have tons of friends, and the activities are so much fun! Our director is the best. And I can't wait to see my relatives!" While Kiran wanted to vent, she made sure to be generic and make it sound like a normal camp. She continued to talk to the taxi driver until they reached her destination.
"Thanks for the ride!" Kiran said, handing the man a was of cash.
"No problem," he chuckled. "Have fun at your camp."
"I will!" Kiran exclaimed, before closing the car door and retrieving her things. She then walked into the camp, taking in her familiar surroundings. "I'm home!" She saying to no one. Then she vigorously jogged to her cabin. She placed her belongings in their respective location, trying to be neat and organized. However, she knew by the end of summer, her things would be a mess. While unpacking Kiran chatted with her siblings, complaining about school and parents, and talking about some monster in counters during the school year. Those who had stayed year-long also had stories to tell. After everything was put away Kiran wandered the camp, greeting old friends and introducing herself to new faces. But, as the day wore on, something seemed off. Unbeknownst to Kiran, a civil war was brewing.

It had taken Elektra nearly 5 days to travel from San Francisco because her Aunt Polly had booked them on a scenic train trip through Canada finally arriving in Long Island, New York. Elektra was still in mild disbelief that she go to Camp Half Blood wondering why she couldn't just continue to learn her skills under Polly, her fellow demigods sounded mad though the idea that she might meet a true daughter of Aphrodite did intrigue her.

"Now Elektra as I said you will be staying in the cabin for Aphrodite's children where you should be welcomed with open arms. Be nice to them and remember it has been over 1,000 years since your mother had a child so many won't even know your position in the pantheon. Watch out for offending Mr. D and also his wandering hands, he was always in need of self restraint. Keep safe and remember that your mother and I love you. babbled aunt Polly as Elektra drug her large framed Hiking pack from the back of the rented Escalde.

"I'll be fine Aunt Polly, you worry too much" answered Elektra as she slipped the shoulder straps on,

Polly suddenly hugged the beautiful Platinum haired girl she'd come to think of as her own daughter.

"Goddess I wish I could go with you as your serving maid" said Polly just before kissing Elektra and letting her go.

Tears glittered like liquid crystal in Polly's eyes as she stood by the SUV and waved Goodbye but soon the nymph was hidden by the trees as Elektra walked down a faint trail. She had listened to everything Polly had told her about the Camp but till she saw with her own eyes what lay ahead of her was still more fantasy than fact. She moved so quietly that she was halfway past a doe and fawn before they realized she was even there. It was not with stealth Elektra moved but a natural grace that made her flow over the landscape like a gentle wind.

She stopped at something that she couldn't see yet sensed a puzzled expression on her face, it was the barrier of the fleece and for a moment she thought of turning back. The thought was banished by her curiosity and she took her first step into a strange world that she knew deeply was her birthright and destiny. Adventure lay ahead and though coupled with danger still promised a life worth living whether long or short and she meant to have it.

@King Kindred

Sierra

Sierra had been walking around the camp for quite some time, just getting a feel for it again. She passed the best parts of camp, including the pavillion, which is where she stopped. The food smelled interesting, and though it probably wasn't as good as the hot chocolate the Hunters made for trips it was good enough to make her get a plate of pancakes dripping in syrup. She sat at a table with only a few others, that stared at her with interest. A couple of first years asked her about her parents, and she politely told them she was a Hunter. They didn't really understand, and it looked like they wanted to ask more questions, but she ate her pancakes and stuffed her mouth signaling them to walk away.

After she had finished her food, she listened in to other conversations. It was very boring, until a fight broke out. She heard very little of the argument, but as soon as she felt the ground shake, she notched an arrow and lifted herself from the table. She knew that shooting at a camper waa very severe, but so was an earthquake. By the time she started walking to the scene, Chiron had already shown up.

"That is enough, Troy. You've been here long enough to know better than that. Look at the picture and calm down." The centaur said in his booming voice. "What do you think you're doing, picking a fight with the camper? You're a guest here and an adult." Sierra smiled slightly, and lowered her bow. She approached the three people, but the girl who had been a part of the argument walked away. Sierra shrugged, focused directly on Chiron. The centaur turned towards her. "Ah, Sierra I believe? Have you and your Hunters settled down?" He said, smiling. Sierra and nodded and pursed her lips, glancing at the boy who had gotten in trouble. "We've been doing very well Chiron, the Artemis cabin is amazing. I would like to talk to you about the trouble in Olympus though. Maybe during the campfire? Since you seem to be busy right now with a very powerful...nuisance." Sierra said, looking once again at the boy. Chiron nodded, "that sounds quite fine. Maybe you can keep Troy out of trouble while I greet some of the first years? I'll see you at the fire, Sierra." Chiron then turned around, trotting off.

Sierra's eyes widened, and she looked with a steady glare at Troy. "Hmph. Chiron is a fool for letting you off this easy, you're very lucky. But even with my supervision I doubt you'd behave, so I'll leave you to your mischief." Sierra walked off, not bothering to put away her bow.

Rhea

Rhea had been sitting on Festus for a long period of time. She had fed him all the bottles of Tabasco she had in the satchel and was now checking his wires. People came around, asking her if they could pet him as if it was a stranger's dog. Rhea complied of course, and Festus loved the attention. He squeaked and puffs of steam floated from his mouth. He spread his wings and flapped them for effect, making all the first years squeal in awe. This made Rhea's task a lot harder, but as he did this she was able to see if oil dripped from his ears or if he was malfuctioning. He seemed to be doing fine though, so she let him prance around.

There was one time though, Rhea thought he was malfunctioning for sure. Suddenly, as Rhea started to open his control panel, he shot out a few short bursts of fire. He squeaked and started to run forward. Rhea had to grab hold of his neck before she was flung off of him. "Festus stop! Bad! Bad Festus! What's wrong with you?" Rhea screamed, smacking Festus' hide. Soon, Festus came to a stop, right in front of another camper. Festus creaked in greeting, and Rhea shimmied up his neck to see what the fuss was about. She stopped when she saw the first bit of olive green hair. "Dorian! Dude! When did you get here?" Rhea said, sliding off of Festus so she could give inspect Dorian. "How was your summer?" She said, after checking his condition. A bit more oil and maybe he'll smile. She thought with a crooked smile, she laughed at her own silent joke, though it wasn't at all funny. Her eyes wandered, she had already started losing focus. Festus creaked behind her, saying "Hi" repeatedly. "Festus says hi." Rhea said, looking at Dorian again. "Have you had breakfast? I heard they were serving pancakes."

Soon enough, Kiran's stomach began growling. "See ya!" She waved to the two new Hermes kids and made her way to the pavillion. Unfortunately, Kiran knew A LOT of campers and each wanted to talk with her about her school year. Unable to say no, Kiran ended up being later than she had expected. As she reached the creast of the hill, the earth began to shake. Oh no! Kiran thought racing up the hill. The earth shaking usually meet one of two things. Either they were under attack, or one of Poseidon's kids was fighting.

It turns out it was the latter of the two which was the best option out of the two, but still not good. Kiran ran over to Troy and Skylar. While Kiran wasn't BFFs with either of them, she still thought that they shouldn't interfere with the other camper's experience. Especially on the first day. What would the first years think of this? It's suppose to be a safe haven. Fighting with each other is not a good example of that, at least when it isn't authorized.

Just as Kiran assessed the situation, Chiron stopped the brewing battle. "That is enough, Troy. You've been here long enough to know better than that. Look at the picture and calm down." The centaur said in his booming voice. "What do you think you're doing, picking a fight with the camper? You're a guest here and an adult." Kiran sighed in relief, good old Chiron was there to save the day, as usual. Kiran continued her approach as Skylar left, and Chiron talked with Sierra. Kiran walked over to the trio wanting to at least greet Chiron after a long school year. However, he left before she could get a word in.

"Hmph. Chiron is a fool for letting you off this easy, you're very lucky. But even with my supervision I doubt you'd behave, so I'll leave you to your mischief." Sierra said before also leaving. Jeez what's with everyone? It's the first day of summer! They should at least try to have some fun. Kiran thought to herself.

"So, are you good?" Kiran asked Troy. "I mean obviously there wasn't a fight so you have no wounds. That's good. And, uh," Kiran paused unsure of what to say next. "Would you rather be alone, or? I can if you'd like." Kiran offered.

The Rebellious One

Troy retrieved the picture from his pocket while Skylar was heading off. She was lucky that Chiron stepped in. He'd definitely see her in the arena later. He still wasn't convinced about this war, but he could see himself being dragged into it. He may have not necessarily liked the daughter of Zeus, but he had no intentions of killing her. He didn't want to kill any of his cousins or siblings. That's why this whole war was stupid. These gods were going to let their kids practically fight their battles for them and then lose kids as it continued. He couldn't believe that these powerful beings were so selfish and stu--. No he could definitely believe that.

He held the picture of him and his mother in his hand. He was about five years old then. He didn't know what was up with his mother's fascination with Polaroids back then and he didn't understand it now either. He could feel his anger slowly waning as he just simply stared at the picture. He caught the words between Chiron and Sierra, but didn't move to look up at them. He would have reacted to being called a nuisance, but the words "very powerful" before then made it better.

He finished looking at his picture when Sierra spoke to him and pretty much told him that she wasn't going to babysit him and that he could go back to his mischief. He wouldn't have really called it mischief per say. He honestly didn't even know what to call it. A rivalry didn't fully describe it. He shrugged and was about to follow her because he never got to hang out with a Hunter of Artemis before, but then Kiran started speaking to him.

She was beautiful and someone he wanted to get to know. There was just something about her that just sparked with him. It was weird though. The only time something sparked for him was when he was talking to daughters of Athena and they went on about different things to show their brilliance. That was it. Kiran had to have some great knowledge.

"Actually. I wouldn't mind if you sat with me. I didn't get to finish my pancakes before the whole thing happened. You're probably hungry too, right?" He started to put away the picture before sitting down and grabbing his fork. He was going to eat whether she ended up joining him or not. He wasn't going to starve on the account of a girl. He liked them, but he didn't like them enough not to eat.

Death's Kid

Dorian was startled by a metal dragon running towards him. He would have been more terrified if he hadn't known what had accompanied the metal beast. It was one of his friends, Rhea. He was surprised that they even became friends. She was more wild and loud than he ever was. She was nice and didn't care at all that he was the son of death. That's one of the reasons he decided to let her get somewhat close to him. At least as close as he would let someone get.

He gave her a smile. It wasn't a full one, but it wasn't a dead one either. It was just pretty average. "Hello Rhea. I just got here a bit ago. My summer was... fine. I spent time between my home and the Underworld." One of the positive things that came out of being the child of Thanatos was that he had more interaction with his godly parent than most of the other children had. One of the reasons was that he was his only child and because he was able to travel freely between this realm and the lower one. He wouldn't exactly brag about it though. He knew how a lot of the children felt about the negligence of their parents. When she told him that Festus said hi he walked up to the dragon and placed his ungloved left hand onto his nose and said, "Hello to you too." He didn't remove his hand yet. It felt nice touching the metal dragon. Despite his right hand being the dangerous he liked being able to touch Festus without worry. He wasn't entirely sure if he could harm the dragon with his decaying ability and he certainly didn't want to try it out to find out.

He looked to Rhea while still touching the dragon's nose and shook his head. "Not yet. Let us head over."

Sierra

For just a moment, Sierra looked back at Kiran and Troy. Her face changed from unreachable to somewhat unsatisfied. She thought about Kiran and how lucky she was to be so beautiful, to have no limits on what she could or could not do. Sierra frowned for just a second, stopping in her tracks. She almost thought about walking back, and trying to talk to the handsome boy. Then she remembered her vows, her honor, her duty, and her sense of pride. She thought about her Hunters, the ones that Artemis herself had put under Sierra's command, how ashamed they would be if they knew she had turned around and let herself fall loosely into a conversation with a young male. How would Artemis feel? The eternal maiden who had made her vow she would never let herself go like that.

This is what made her remember the bow that was loosely held in her hand. That and her own insecurities made her grip that bow until her knuckles turned white. Deep inside of her, Sierra heard a voice, the one that was still looking forward to turning sixteen. It told her to turn, and to make something happen. The other, stronger part of her, the one that knew sixteen would never come-the one that spoke in a voice more like Artemis' than Sierra's'-told her to turn around and stay away from the threat. To let Kiran have the boy, because boys weren't worth the trouble anyways.

With a decision she wasn't sure was hers, Sierra turned back around, set her shoulders, and walked forward. Her frown became a set jaw, and she forgot about her slip-up.

Rhea

Rhea lifted herself up onto the tips of her toes a couple of times, feeling anxious. She wanted to start moving already. As soon as Dorian said he hadn't had breakfast, she tugged on his arm and smiled, starting to pull him towards the pavilion. "Okay dude. You've been spending too much time with your daddy. You're starting to talk like him! Too calm, too sophisticated. Right Festus?" She said, looking up at the Dragon who stepped behind them and used his long neck to look into their faces with his red glowing eyes. He creaked a response, and Rhea frowned. "Festus you aren't helping! Festus said he liked your lingo, I think it's bit on the dull side. Let me be completely honest, you'll never pick up chicks like that. Unless you're trying to take them to the underworld." Rhea laughed a bit, giving Dorian a noogie. "After a bit of work I think that someday you'll talk like me and you'll make people all happy. For now though we just need to work on the kinks in your software. Maybe install a few new facial features? Because I don't know about you, but I think smiles look good on that pretty face of yours."

Rhea continued to lead Dorian by the arm, though it was kind of awkward to be touching him. She didn't notice though, instead focusing on a bunch of other things. After she finished rambling she rubbed her stomach with her free hand and fidgeted impatiently. She was ready for breakfast. She loved all things sweet and spicy, so she usually just put syrup covered pancakes on one side of her plate and tabasco covered bacon on the other.

Collab between King Kindred and Knight of Doom (Troy and Kiran)

"Yea, I haven't eaten yet." Kiran smiled, happy that she could make someone's day better. She sat next to Troy. A plate was set in front of her and she began to carefully cut her maple syrup covered chocolate chip pancakes. "So who's in that picture?" She asked, treading carefully. She didn't want to make him angry, and the person in the picture seemed to lighten Troy's mood up.

Troy looked at Kiran as she sat next to him. He almost expected her to sit across from him instead. Her pancakes looked better than his and he started to wonder why he had never tried chocolate chip pancakes. It had to be good, right? Chocolate chips tended to make a lot of things taste better. He was caught off-guard by her question. People didn't typically ask it and even though it was a touchy subject he had no problem answering it. He glanced down at his plate before glancing back over to her. "My mother. It's a picture of me and her when I was five. She was killed by a monster when I was twelve years old." He paused for a moment and ate another piece of his pancakes. "Her death is why I'm angry most of the time. Yesterday was the anniversary of her death. She loved my father and he did nothing to save her."

A sigh escaped his lips before he looked up as if he was seeing through the roof of the pavilion. He wondered how the dead worked. Most of the time he wished that his mother was an Angel or constellation so that she could look down and watch him. Hopefully her spirit lived well down in the Underworld. She always said that he was special, but she was the special one.

"Well, it seems that your mother was a really nice lady. Especially since she still loved your father, even after he left. That takes a lot of dedication. I'm she would forgive your father if she had the chance. I'm also sure she'd want you to move on and become a stronger person. That's what mother's are there for right?" Kiran moved her hand slightly closer to Troy's arm, before deciding against it. "The gods on the other hand, aren't always as forgiving or helpful. It's difficult to admit, but they tend to choose favorites. I know because I'm one of my father's favourites. It's difficult to live up to his expectations, but at the same time I don't know what it's like to be ignored by my godly parent. So I guess I don't really have a say in the matter."

Kiran wanted to comfort him, but honestly there was only so much she could do. As a healer, she wish she had the ability to comfort souls. That was the only thing the Aphrodite children were good at. When they used their charm speak, they could comfort someone's soul. Kiran had to do it the hard way, with words and actions. She gave Troy a small smile hoping that if she stayed positive, he would too.

Troy knew that Kiran was mostly right. He was sure that his mother forgave his father a long time ago and she'd want him to do the same, but he couldn't just bring himself to do it. He never liked or understood the whole favouritism thing that the gods had for their kids. How could you choose favourites out of your children? It wasn't even that Poseidon even had a lot of living children. That was unless you counted the Cyclopes. Hell, apparently he even loved his Cyclops brother Tyson more than he loved him. The only thing that Poseidon really did was give him life and claimed him at a campfire. That didn't really make up for sixteen years of not being there. Sometimes he wondered if he was a mistake. Gods tended to make mistakes all the time despite their perceived perfection.

He looked at Kiran and wondered if she had heard of the Civil War that's coming up. She seemed to be more carefree than some of the older campers right now. It was true that not all of them heard of it, but it almost seemed like the majority did. "Have you heard of this Civil War of the gods? What do you think about it? I asked Skylar the same thing before we almost got to fighting."

"Civil War?" Kiran had never heard of it. "That sounds pretty bad. I've talked to Apollo a couple times earlier in the school year, but eventually he got busy. What's it all about?" Kiran couldn't imagine a scenario where the words 'Civil War' ended in a good or even neutral way. The gods usually fought, so maybe it was a small event? At least that's what she thought.

Troy was right then. She didn't know about it. He figured that he understood why he got busy. "A lot of the gods don't believe that Zeus is fit to rule the gods and that Athena should be their new leader. Normally I would have agreed with them and sided with Athena on this one, but my father is on her side so... yeah. Zeus it is. Some think that the fight between the gods will eventually become a war between their own kids. It sucks and the gods don't even care. They're stubborn like that. I don't know who's all on whose side, but it won't be a good war." Then again no war was necessarily good. Troy really didn't even want to get into all of this, but he felt that he would be dragged into it regardless. With his anger unchecked most of the time in battle what would he do to his very extended family?

"Hmm," Kiran thought. "I really don't want to take a side. A war like this, usually has side affects on the mortal world." Kiran sighed. While she wanted some excitement over the summer, she didn't want anyone to die. But of course, in a world filled with gods with serious egos, lots of people were bound to die. "Are you really willing to pick a side based on your parentage?" Kiran asked. While she may not have any reason or motivation to pick a side in a war she had no idea about 2 minutes ago, she might still have to pick a side. It's probably better to learn as much as she can about everyone else.

Troy felt like a rotten brat when Kiran put it like that. Was he really going to pick a side in a war just because it opposed his father? The answer to it was of course yes, but it didn't make him feel better about it. He finished up the last of his pancakes and sighed. "Yeah. It sounds bad when you put it that way. I mean the picking the side just on parentage. I was already concerned about the condition this war would put the world in. Nothing good can come of this."

Troy then stood up from his seat and stretched a bit. "I'm going to go to the fields to train. You can come if you want."

Kiran bounced out of her seat. "Definitely!" She exclaimed. "It's been so long since I've trained. I'm so rusty, it not even funny." The Civil War could be put on the back burner for now. If Kiran couldn't fight decently, then let's just say the summer wouldn't be any fun.

Blake and Cole

Blake had officially found something about Cole she hadn't missed while they were seperated. He was a snuggler.

"Cole... my chest is being crushed under the weight of your arm. Remove it and you wont have to lose it." she grumbled as she turned and tried to relieve the weight that was smashing her already unimpressive chest. She tried and failed to slip free of his grip as she was starting to get even sweatier from his body heat. Sighing, she would look at him and raise her brow.

Instead of moving like she had demanded, Cole had snuggled closer to her. He was grinning. "Aren't you Ares children supposed to be all strong and tough? If you don't want me in this position then move me yourself, because I'm comfortable. Unless you're the one who's gotten soft over the time I've been gone." Cole gave her a kiss on the cheek before going back to snuggling.

"Tough, yes I suppose. Though I am no more stronger than the average person." she said trying to muscle him off of her again. She managed to turn and face him, which really didn't help much other than she could now get a push at his chest. "As much as I would like to stay here with you, I need to get some things done. Now if you would kindly..." she pushed at his chest hard. "Release me."

Cole raised an eyebrow before sighing. "Well, if you say so," spoke Cole before he suddenly released her. He let out a laugh once he heard a thud due to Blake falling off the bed. She had winced when her bottom hit the floor painfully, and for a moment she just sat there, stunned by what happened. Then her face turned red and she shot to her feet. Grabbing the pillow closest to her, she began hitting Cole repeatedly while mumbling curses at him. Holding his arms up to block his face, Cole continued laughing at the event. Suddenly, he reached up and grabbed the pillow then pulled, pulling her down onto the bed. "Hey, maybe you should do something productive with all this anger," Cole spoke in a teasing manner.

"You would enjoy that far too much." she said. Though she attempted to stay mad at him, she couldn't. Soon that goofy smile of his made her smile as well. Leaning in and kissing him once, she would say, "We really do need to get up. Well... I do, but I suppose you can come along with me if you like." before scooting away from him and retreiving her clothes from the floor.

"Where are you even going?" Cole asked as he sat up stretching. He would stand and retrieve his clothes from the floor as well. "I might as well get up anyways. Should visit Chubbs soon," spoke Cole before getting dressed.

Nodding to him as Blake began buttoning the top part of her shirt, she would leave a few unbuttoned just above her belly button before slipping on her dark camo pants. "I'm sure he will be quite pleased to see you. I, on the other hand, want to get some training done. I need to make sure I am in top shape once things start up around here. I've decided to help out with teaching some of the newer campers basic combat skills. Maybe that will help them stay occupied instead of spreading rumors and such."

"I guess I'll join you then. I haven't trained in months. I figure I've fallen behind a few people. Would be nice to get back to it." Cole gave a snap, watching as a bit of hellfire sparked from his fingertips. His eyes gazed over Blake, watching as she dressed.

Knealing down to tie her boots, Blake would hesitate a little before saying next what was on her mind. "I've been having trouble sleeping."

Cole's face expressed concern. "Yeah? What's up? You know why?" Cole asked as he took a few steps closer. Standing, Blake turned to him. "My theory is that my powers have gotten stronger. I seem to have too much energy at night and I can't sleep. I would during the day but there is always something to do." She crossed her arms and her brows pushed closer together as she started to get upset. "I also have reason to believe it is starting to affect how well I perform in combat. Which... as you know, upsets me greatly. I've yet to find a solution for this."

Cole rubbed the beck of his neck. "I've always found your powers a bit weird. But maybe it's just a new development that you need to learn how to control. You always figure it out," Cole gave a soft smile before continuing, "And how about we test out that combat part with a spar? You've always been able to beat me, so if someone who hasn't trained in three months is able to gain the upper hand all of a sudden then we'll know for sure." Cole wasn't exactly sure how effective that would be considering he knew how she fought, but it was certainly worth a test.

"Alright. I suppose it's worth a shot." she would say, nodding and stepping over to hug him. "Let us be off. And... dont forget your shoes." she said, pointing to his bare feet. Turning on her heels, she would make her way out of the Hades cabin and stand next to the door in wait for him. To a few that passed by, likely fellow Hades children, Blake would glare at them, telling them to keep moving with just her gaze.

After making sure he was fully dressed, Cole would make his way outside the cabin. He wondered why his half-siblings hadn't come back yet. Shrugging the thought off, Cole would begin walking towards the training field alongside Blake. Secretly, the two would take the longest route there, as Blake had wanted to avoid more than a few stares by going straight through the camp. It was odd how everyone knew the two were together, and yet they still looked at the pair with wide eyes whenever they were seen holding hands together.

The notorious camp playboy dating the scariest girl in camp was really not the weirdest thing to be seen around here.Though as a result of the others not keeping their eyes on the ground when the two passed, they opted to just go through the quieter parts where few people wandered around.

@Silen Syanka
As they got about halfway there, the two passed a camper, a boy who was sitting in the shade and reading a book. An owl was perched on his shoulder, casually stuffing her head under her wing and doing whatever it is owls do. Blake eyed the boy though continued walking a few steps before coming to a stop. Turning, she would walk back towards him, get about as close as she could manage without trampling over him, and crossed her arms.

"You there. I believe I know you." she said, looking down at him with her eueal fierce expression. If her memory served and she recognized the blonde mop of hair on his head, that was one of the smartest kids in camp. Arguably the smartest. Argueable because Blake doubted he knew anything extensive on battle strategy, combat protocol, weapons management, team leading, proper ways to lift weights as to not injure yourself, and... well she could go on about the things she assumed he didn't know. But that would take all day. Instead she placed her hands on her hips and spoke to him again.

"Not to be rude... I'm sure your book is very interesting, but there are things to be done in preparation for the first day back to camp. I suggest you make yourself useful and do something to help out." She turned and started to walk away as she had little else to say to him. Looking over her shoulder, she would add, "In the least stand and walk around. If I pass by here again and see you on youre arse still, i'll find something for you to do that you may not like."

Walking back over to Cole, she would take his hand in hers and they continued their way towards the training grounds. "Well that was certainly something," Cole mumbled as he walked alongside Blake. Once they reached the training field, Cole would look around at scattered weapons. People could atleast have the decency to pick up after themselves. "I assume you aren't going traditional," Cole spoke as he stuck his hand out and absorbed shadows from a few trees. He then dissipated the shadows around them.

Blake took some steps away from Cole, her eyes travelled over the field even though she had pretty much memorized every dip in the earth. "Seeing as you've been gone so long, my first mind says I should take it easy on you." Turning to face him, she would crack her knuckles. "Though my second mind thinks you and I would both enjoy it more if I left a few bruises on you."

CallaLilly and King Kindred (Dorian and Rhea)

Death's Kid and Little Miss Tinker

Dorian found Rhea to be a really hands-on person. She loved to touch people and when she noogied him he crouched down a bit. She was a fun person to be with and that was the reason why she was so cool. He wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to talk and act like her though. It wasn't something he could actually see himself doing. The son of death with a cheery and loud personality? He shuddered at the thought. He let her drag him through the camp towards the pavilion. She must have been really hungry. He was actually hungry himself. He didn't get to eat last night because he didn't want to be trapped in the Underworld like Persephone was going to be. He looked at Rhea and wondered if she would have the same cheery attitude that she had if she found out the war. Honestly, she probably would have. She was just like her famous brother Leo. He heard that despite all of the foreboding and dangerous things that he went through when Gaea almost destroyed the world Leo had the same fun attitude. It was weird considering that their father Hephaestus didn't really seem to have the greatest life of the gods.

"You can slow down, Rhea. It is not like the food will be gone when we get there." As Dorian said this, Rhea hissed her disappointment. "You just don't get it Dorian. I starve if I don't have at least two plates of something. And Festus does too. We always share." Rhea looked up to face her metallic companion, and she grabbed his head to kiss it. "He's got an even bigger appetite, right baby?" Festus swooned, as much as a robot could. Rhea peeked at Dorian from the corner of her eye and quickly let go of Festus. She cleared her throat and looked away. "You'd understand if you were a Hephaestus kid."

She whistled to distract herself from the awkward situation, and looked at some of the sour faces of the other campers. "Hey Dorian, what do you think happened to them? Maybe they got bombed with some Apollo music. Strong stuff ya know?"

Rhea was able to temporarily distract Dorian from the whole interaction she had with Festus just now, but he didn't forget it. He looked at the faces of the other campers and slowly shrugged. He wasn't sure what had gotten into them. They didn't seem to have the faces of those who had just found out about the war between their parents so that couldn't be it. He took note of the stains on their clothes. Maybe there was a small food fight or something. "They seem to have spilled something on their clothes. Their expressions are almost ghastly. Speaking of ghosts I also do not think that your relationship with Festus is healthy no matter how 'awesome' he is. You might be in love with a machine. No offense, Festus."

"Yeah, yeah. I know, I get the whole machine talk daily from old man centaur. Festus doesn't care, robots don't feel the same way we do." Rhea hugged herself, and bit her lip to avoid frowning. She ignored Festus' creaks for once, and her face became cold. "I don't love him. I'm not that crazy. He's just my only real friend. You guys-humans in general-don't realize that." She took a step back, distancing herself from Dorian. "Hey. Sorry about that, that was kind of crazy huh? I think I forgot to take my psycho meds this morning." Rhea laughed, but it sounded a little fake. She felt like she had when she had gone home, her parents felt like she had been spending too much time with her machines. She didn't know if she Would ever be able to rebound from those conversations like she had with others.

Dorian felt like his chest was just hit by a flying brick when Rhea said that Festus was her only friend. He thought they were friends. She barely made it sound better by saying she forgot to take her psycho meds. He was probably a bit insensitive, but he didn't entirely mean it in a negative way. The way she interacted with Festus was honestly really cool. They were practically two peas in a pod which was similar to the relationship he now had with his father. They were so much alike it was crazy. "Forget about it, Rhea. You should not have to apologize. I was the one in the wrong."

He looked up to see that they were almost at the pavilion. He grabbed her arm with his left hand and said, "Let's go get you your two plates."

Rhea stopped in her tracks when Dorian grabbed her for once. It was usually the opposite way around. She took a deep breath and nodded, feeling a bit better than she had. "Dorian. Why don't we hang out a bit later? Just me and you, no Festus? Maybe you can teach me a few things about being average. And then we can get back to being our normal crazy selves." She gave him a quick pat on the back before heading over to the food in the pavilion.

Dorian didn't know if he liked being called average, but he knew Rhea didn't mean it in a negative way. "That sounds fine. You and I. No Festus." He didn't know what they would end up doing, but maybe he could learn something about being a bit more like a normal teenager as well. He headed over to the pavilion smelling the sweet smell of food.

Elektra finally made it to the camp proper and was surprised by the enormous amount of activity going on. All around her she saw others walking or running about on their various errands or to simply exercise. As she walked through the camp she was surprised that she encountered no one who wanted to stop her or do more than glance in her direction. Polly had been detailed in her explanation about Camp Half Blood and the layout of the cabins so Elektra had no trouble finding the place she was to call her new home.

It was like the vacation cabin of Barbie if she'd have been greek. It had a painted roof, with pillars out front and down the sides with a blue-and-white checkerboard deck with steps and gray walls. The cabin, if it could be called a cabin smelled very heavily of perfume which she caught on the breeze. When she stepped inside Elektra covered her mouth to keep from giggling when she saw inner walls of the cabin are pink with white window trim and the curtains and beds pastel blue and green.

"Oh my, so this is where Barbie summers or maybe Elle Woods" giggled Elektra as she walked through the main hall.

She soon found the section reserved for the children of Peitho towards the rear. She was pleased to see that it was decorated in a more subdued scheme of colors, soft blue and white and indirect light the room specially made for her. The art that decorated her walls showed her mother whispering the secrets of seduction to both bride, groom and lovers. In an alcove set aside for reading were scenes of orators standing among friend and foe alike their audiences listening raptly to their words as her mother hovered above.

As she stood smiling several snow white doves flew in cooing sweetly in greeting as they landed on silver perches. One of her welcoming committee landed on a beautiful alabaster box tapping it with the tip of it's beak as if saying "Look in here"

Smiling Elektra walked over and held out her left hand on which the dove hopped then with her right she opened the box and found inside a ball of silver twine to which was tied a dark blue silk ribbon that said "To bind them together."

It was a puzzling gift and Elektra had no idea exactly what it meant, she knew in images of her mother that sometimes she was pictured with a ball of string but there was never any explanation of it's use of meaning.

Peitho’s sacred ball of binding twine could be linked to Tykhe’s ball of fate; the goddesses had the same parentage, and the links between love–or, at least, sex–and chance or fate were extremely strong but that still offered explanation of what the ball of twine represented or it's power so Elektra reached in and picked it up. She felt a tingle of energy flow up her arm and because of it didn't notice as the silver thread wrapped around her forearm till it became a ribbon and cut it's self from the rest of the ball.

She looked at the ball then the ribbon a little freaked out but also curious about it's meaning and or purpose. The doves suddenly took flight and disappeared in mid air which caused Elektra to laugh with delight. She didn't know what was going on yet but she did know now that everything about the camp her aunt Polly had told her must be true.

Alec watched as the woman stormed off. Her steps shook the earth before his eyes. He simply huffed. Continuing to read his small book of Mythology. Alec didn't talk to much. However, that didn't mean he was a push over. Simply because someone came to him, snapping at him to push him around. Didn't mean he would do anything. In fact, now he was determined to stay where he was. And continue to read about his mother. "Maybe you should go and help" Silv cooed softly, lifting her head up from her wing. Her amber eyes calmly looking up at him. Tilting her head slightly to see him. Since her actual eyes couldn't move like any other owl. "I'm not going to let anyone push me around" Alec said stubborn in a small grumble as he continued to turn the pages. Trying to seem enveloped in the sentences that the familiar story had to offer. His mind was focused in Silv though, causing the words that his eyes adsorbed to pass through his head without meaning. "You haven't used your blade since spring" she explained to him, nudging her feathered head against cheek. "Practice would do you well." Alec glared over at the silver owl. Possibly the only person in the while world he could possibly ever care able. "I used it last week." He stated simply, trying to strengthen his argument. "Cutting Carrots doesn't count Alec." Silv said stubbornly as she stood up and stretched her wings. Fluttering on top of his mop of blonde hair. Her feet padded against his skull. Gently encouraging him to get off his ars and walk. "Silv you are as annoying as hell" Alec grumbled as he stood up, closing the thick book and shoving it beneath his arm to carry. A fluff of silver feathers blocked the top half of his vision. Distracting him from the green grass that would lead him back to his cabin. "You know you love me" she teased lightly, her golden eyes gleaming. Which almost got a smile from the male. But his lip didn't even come close to curling. Silv wished she could make him smile, she wished she could make him laugh like he used to. She felt like a bad friend for no longer being able to cause him joy.
The walk back to the Athena's cabin was short and brisk. With Alec walking at A rushed pace. Despite Alec not actually appearing threatening at all, with his scrawny body and dorky glasses, it didn't stop people from moving out of his way as he walked. Alec simply radiated a hateful aura. Alarming those around him, with his heavily negative presence. Dispute being the smartest kid in the camp, he was surprisingly depressed and negative. No one really knew why. But Silv knew. And she wished that their was some way to make him happy gain. "You should start carrying your blade with you" Silv advised he took his blade from beneath his bed. He shook his head "I don't need to" he said simply "It couldn't hurt to be careful" she advised. He should know better than anyone that 'Better safe than sorry' is a principle to live by.
@Shadowcatcher
The sun itched Alec's eyes as he stepped out from the cabin. His sword at his side. He shook his head with a sigh. Looking down the dirt paths that were clustered with half-bloods. Where they were laughing and skipping along with their friends. Making there way to various activities. Alec ignored the laughter and happiness that buzzed through the sun filled camp. Heading to the training area. Where he could maybe find a place to practice in peace. Drawing he sword upon arrival, he planted himself in a rather barren stretch of grass. Where there were less people training as well. Alec twirled his blade in his hand, and Silv flew up into the trees to watch. Knowing sometimes the blade slipped from his hands while he practiced. So moving higher up in the branches would be a wide decision. His muscles flexed and stretched, bending and working as he swung the blade through the air. Slicing it with sharp precision. Practicing his strikes and different tricks to be used in a battle.

The harsh, morning sunlight streaming through the curtains woke her first while the alarm simply served to drag her from her half-slumber and force her to focus. Shifting into a sitting position, her back arched with her stretching as her yawn slowly shifted to a groan. Letting her blue eyes slip open, she peeked around the room - it was her friend's apartment which she had been crashing in for the last few weeks. Blood-red swathes of hair suddenly covered her vision before she idly brushed it away, sighing - she hadn't been looking forward to this day.

Once she had showered and packed, she briefly explained she would be leaving town to visit family friends before ushering herself out the door and into a taxi. The driver seemed a bit confused when she told him her destination and more than hesitant but once she passed a wad of cash to him, he somehow found his footing.

Camp Half Blood offered answers to the questions she had been asking all her life, or so she'd been told. The others that had found her told her that she could finally find out who her mother was. After that, they blabbered on about her being able to finally have a family. Acacia didn't want a family nor did she need one - she wanted answers and she wanted a bitch to pin all her problems on. She very rarely agreed with her dad but if her mother was there, things would have been different.

The driver didn't understand when she told him to stop in the middle of nowhere but she was only following the instructions of those who had sent her there. He already had his money so once she was out, he zipped away and left her with one route to take - up the hill. It wasn't an overly difficult hike but eventually, she came to a clearing boasting of a single tree with what appeared to be a golden fleece clasped around its branches. Beyond that, reality itself seemed to warp. She could just see the forest continuing but she had a heavy feeling that wasn't the case.

Passing the large tree, her hand slipped along the fleece as she crossed the boundary between two very separate worlds. Instead of long, unbroken wilderness, she was met with the sight of a sprawling camp that had literally not been there before hand. Her breath momentarily caught in her throat before she huffed, dragging a pair of earphones into her ears and flicking on her music.

Acacia guessed that the massive house at the start of camp was where she was meant to go but her resolve faltered then collapsed completely as the gentle aroma of the Dining Pavilion's breakfast graced her senses. With a frown, she also took note of the characteristic, angry grumble of her stomach.

Eventually, she made it down the hill but had an awkward feeling about the whole thing. People were very definitely eating but uncertainty dragged her feet back, stopping her from pressing forward. She was standing out. Her hair looked almost like fresh blood in the morning light and her scar certainly earned her a few cautious glances. Plus there was the whole fact that she didn't look like she wanted anyone to approach her; what with her earphones and all that. Grumbling at her own indecisiveness, she balled her small hands into smaller fists. Staring daggers at a particular girl who looked too pompous for her own good and who had armed herself with what appeared to be a bow, Acacia casually brushed her bags around behind her back and climbed to the Dining Pavilion.

She was hungry and there was no one, mortal or immortal, who was going to stop her from eating.