The sound of the wooden floors cracking apart beneath her feet filled the office of the camps director as her patience began to wear thin, and her frustration about the whole situation began to show in the expression upon her face; disgust… pure unadulterated disgust. The camp was filled with plenty of other demigods who would both volunteer, and do a much better job than she would; so why she was picked for it in the first place was far beyond her comprehension. What it came down to was the fact that the camp director, Lord Dionysus, had it in for her; even after she chose to put up with that psychotic daughter of his- Arianna was a raving moron with mental issues, everyone knew it, but she was the only one who was brave enough to speak the truth, “You have got to be kidding me! I’m the daughter of the Underworld, not some bloody glorified babysitter that you can just go and dump all the fresh meat on whenever you don’t feel like doing your damn job, Mr. D.”

“Actually, I can Eirene; you see, as much as I hate being here looking after you lazy lot, this is my camp… and I’m the one who makes the rules! You’re on tour duty; so hop to it, or whatever it is that you kids do these days…”

“Oh for Zeus’ sake..! My name is not Eirene and you know it..! I’m like completely on the other side of the family to that snow freak..!” He didn’t even seem to flinch at all the moment that both of her fists slammed down upon the desk in front of him- it was clear that she was losing her patience with him and his stupid games… she had lived in the camp for Gods knew how long; and each time, without fail, he had gotten her name wrong- choosing instead to call her by the name of one of his many sisters who lived up upon Mount Olympus with most of the other Gods, “I’m not going to do it; the newbie is supposed to live in the Ares cabin right- so get Elena to greet her, you got that..? I didn’t come to this stupid camp so that I could show all the damn freshmen around like some tour guide. Next time, get your psycho daughter to do it.”

“Miss Eleanor is down at the obstacle tower with all the others; but I’m sure we can work something out… in the meantime, you’re really beginning to test my patience; watch your tongue, unless you want me to turn you into a pathetic little minno-…”

“Empty threats again, Mr. D..? You should really take a page out of my father’s book- if you’re going to threaten them… make sure you can back it up.” Not bothering to even give him the chance to go and respond to what it was that she had said, she turned on her heel, her long and wavy dark brown locks bouncing lightly upon her back with each and every single step as she made her way out of the office, and in turn out of the big house and into the fresh air of the camp- she didn’t care about what the great Lord Dionysus had to say; he could sit there and insult her for days, but it was never going to change a thing. The relationship between the two of them had never been a great one; the both of them arguing almost every single time that they came face-to-face, it was just a normal routine, and everyone in the camp knew it too.

“..Erin..? How did it go..? Is he going to let us swap so you don’t have to worry about greeting the new camper..?”

The sound of a soft and sweet voice hit the brunette’s ears, causing her to turn her head so that she was able to look over the girl who had spoken to her- the girl herself sitting patiently on the edge of the porch where Erin had left her when she had first entered the big house what felt like ages ago. It was typical behavior of the girl… she was too nice to just get up and leave to do what she wanted to do, and then with the smile lighting up the girls features, Erin couldn’t even tell whether or not she actually enjoyed sitting there waiting for her return, “You sat there this whole time..? Seriously Syleste, you’re too nice for your own good; grow some backbone will ya…”

Rolling her dark eyes though unable to keep the small smile that flickered across her face, Erin sighed softly before making her way down the steps and over to where Syleste was sitting, her head tilting ever so slightly and her hands slipping down into the back pockets of her black denim shorts as she looked over the girl in front of her for a few moments before finally answering her questions, “The answer is no. The drunkard refuses to let me swap with you… but it doesn’t mean I didn’t get my way. He said he’d work something out, so I’m no longer stuck as the damn welcoming committee for all the little greenies.”

“Well, that’s good isn’t it..? It means we can go down and cheer on the others at the tower..!” Lifting herself up from where she had been perching upon the porch, Syleste smiled brightly in the direction that she could hear her friends voice coming from; her beautiful sky-blue though ever unseeing eyes staring in her general direction as she slipped her hand into the back pocket of her light pink denim shorts, the girl pulling a light blue bit of material out of it before bringing her hands together in front of her body, her fingers lightly playing with it, “At least this way you won’t be alone, and as a bonus, I get to spend time with my friend in the process. Please… please can you come with me, Erin..?”

“If you really want me to tag along and watch people getting beaten to a pulp by a stupid tower; I’m not gunna say no Syl; but the minute someone tries to get me to participate, I’m out of there, you got that..?” Shoving her hands deeper down into her pockets as she shrugged her shoulders lightly in response, Erin slowly began to make her wander away from the big house and through the camp, keeping in mind to drag her feet over the ground to make noise for the girl to hear as she led the way towards where she could hear the roar of the crowd growing louder with each and every moment that passed them by- from the sounds of it, it seemed like apart from the few rare stragglers, the whole of camp were watching as people ran around like dogs, chasing their tails and trying to fetch the disk at the top of the tower. Truly, it was pathetic… but it was also quite amusing too.

Seeming to light up the very moment that her friend had given her the response she had been hoping for, Syleste hurried to catch up to where she could hear Erin’s footfalls, her own bare feet brushing lightly over the top of the grass causing a gentle tickle against their souls with every step that she took to keep up; her free hand coming up to softly brush some of her long wavy bubblegum pink locks back off of her face, neatly tucking them back behind her ear as her expression turned to one that was seemingly more thoughtful- her unseeing eyes staring off into the distance making her seem as though she were in her own little world, when in reality she was once again thinking about who was going to be making their way through the entrance to the camp, “I wonder what type of camper we’re supposed to get today… I know they’re meant to be in the Ares cabin; but everyone is so different- Oh! Guess what! The last time I spoke with Matt, he said he was coming back soon! I can’t wait to see him again. I really hate being on my own in that cabin…”

Unable to help the scoff that slipped through her lips at the girls words, Erin shook her head lightly from side to side before she closed the gap between the both of them, her arm brushing softly up against her friends out of habit; a sign that they were there and that they were going to be stopping in a few moments, “I’ll pass on the whole siblings thing… I happen to enjoy being alone and having a whole cabin to myself; means no one is there to mess around with your things… Unfortunately, I’m stuck with Vanessa… But if you really hate being on your own, go move in with the hot head; I’m sure Ky’ vie would just love having someone else to look after when she’s actually here…”

“Oh… that could actually be a lot of fun..! We all have to have a sleepover soon..!” Seeming to miss the point the brunette was trying to make completely, Syleste quickly came to a stop by the entrance to the obstacle tower, her head stooping ever so slightly as she lifted the material, wrapping it delicately around her head and being sure to secure it firmly so that her eyes were now completely obscured from vision- it wasn’t as though she particularly liked hiding herself from people… but then she also knew that not everyone she met was going to be as comfortable about her disability as she or those she had known for years were. It was something that could be unnerving… that could make people feel uncomfortable… and that was the very last thing she wanted to do; make people uncomfortable when they were around her- that was what Erin was for.

“You care too much about what people think. Take off that stupid blindfold; if people can’t handle your eyes, then they aren’t worth a bit of your time…” Turning her head away from where Syleste stood happily bouncing up and down on the spot in her excitement for what it was that she could hear coming from the crowd, Erin let her sentence trail off into nothing, her dark eyes scanning over the stands until finally, they fell upon a familiar figure sitting not too far away from where they were situated- if he was here waiting, it could only mean one thing… that drunken whack job was actually attempting the tower… well, it seemed as though today was going to be a lot more amusing than she had first thought. Unable to help the small smirk that played over her lips at the very thought of Arianna having her ass handed to her by a bunch of cogs and gears, she reached out to lightly place her hand against Syleste’s elbow, leading her over to where Ivan was sitting before the two of them finally took their place a couple of rows in front of him- by the way things were going, the infirmary was going to be busy… and for once it wouldn’t be because someone pissed her off.

The thrum of the crowd was almost too much to bear as the event she knew for a fact that she would never be able to see continued on around her, causing the daughter of Morpheus to sit forward, and perch herself upon the very edge of her seat, her fingers curling ever so slightly as she placed her hands down on either side of her legs, her grip upon the stand where she sat both soft though still firm as she leant just that little bit further in towards the action that was going on- it all sounded so wonderful; so exhilarating..! Hunching her shoulders over, a gentle and almost inaudible sigh fell through her lips at the very thought that she would never experience that rush of adrenaline that came with competing against the others... she was never on the front lines; the girl who was always destined to sit on the side lines, “..hey Erin..? I’m really sorry to ask you this, but... do you think you could tell me who’s actually on the tower today..? It sounds like it must be really good competition...”

“There’s a bunch of fresh meat out there- I find it amusing that the little freaks think they’re good enough, though they’ll soon learn their place when they get a foot to the face.” Unable to help the amused and slightly dark chuckle that fell through her lips at the sight of one of the campers falling from their place on the tower, Erin shifted lightly over her place on the stands, being sure to make herself comfortable before finally, she crossed her legs and leant forward; her elbow resting upon her knee, and her chin resting upon the palm of her hand respectfully as she kept her dark gaze on the people scrambling for first place, her expression seeming to hold the pleased glint to it as she finally chose to finish answering the question asked of her, “The usual dogs are chasing after that stupid frisbee as well- you know; the metal-head, the geek, the Ares freak and oh look, the bird-brain is there too. I think I even saw our resident psycho somewhere.”

Frowning ever so slightly at the names that she was calling their friends, Syleste let her attention drift away from where she could hear the most noise, and instead focused herself in the direction that she could hear the daughter of Hades voice; her eyebrows furrowing together slightly in concern underneath the blindfold that she wore over her bright baby blue eyes, “Erin... you know, you really shouldn’t be so mean; and you really shouldn’t call people names like that either, it’s not nice... I mean, they are your friends too.”

Resisting the urge to scoff at the reprimand she was receiving from the pink-haired girl sitting beside her, Erin rolled her eyes before letting her gaze wander off to the side, the sight of a familiar looking figure approaching the both of them causing her eyebrow to quirk in curiosity- Eli King... the son of Eris... It wasn’t as though she had a problem with him per say; the two of them had been on pretty decent terms until quite recently. He had blown her off. Ever since he had returned from his last quest, he had been acting as though she was public enemy number one; and if that wasn’t bad enough, it seemed he was doing everything he could to get to Syleste, even though it was clear to all that the daughter of Morpheus became visibly uncomfortable and weary whenever the both of them interacted with each other... Either he was doing it on purpose to piss her off; or the drugs he seemed to continuously smoke finally got to his head and killed off the remaining part of that thing he insisted was a brain.

“Well, well- look who finally decided to drag himself out of the smoke house, and grace us all with his presence... I haven’t seen your ugly mug around for a while, Eli; so tell me, to what do this pleasure..?”

“Erin..! You need to be nicer, remember..?” Catching some of the conversation that seemed to be going on between her friend and the son of Eris; Syleste seemed to shrink back slightly within her seat, her body becoming just that bit more smaller as she partly hid herself behind daughter of death- it wasn’t anything against Eli... he was just one of those rare people that she never seemed to be able to relax around; something about him put her on edge, made her worry and feel the need to protect herself... it was unnerving to say the least, “ S-Sorry Eli... I-I’m sure she didn’t m-mean it-...”

Her sentence trailed off into nothingness as the sound of a familiar voice caught her off guard, whispering into her ear and causing her soft pink lips to part for a brief moment before finally, they split into a bright smile which lit up her features and helped her to forget the uneasy feelings she had been focusing on moments beforehand... He was here- he was finally back home. Not bothering to even show an inch of hesitation in her actions, Syleste quickly stood herself up from where she had been sitting and turned around so that she was facing where she knew he was standing, her body tipping off balance and falling into his own as she shot both of her arms up; wrapping them tightly around the back of his neck, while her head tilted down to rest gently against his collar bone. By the Gods, she had missed him so much- but then that was the problem with her being a full-time camper, and he only being around for the summers, “Matty..! You’re home..!”

Seriously..? What were they- some kind of beacon..? Flinching slightly and pursing her lips together as the sound of Syleste’s excitement reached her ears, Erin narrowed her eyes and turned to look at the source of the girls sudden outburst- of course it was her brother. The bubbly sixteen year old had mentioned earlier on that he was supposed to be coming back to the camp, though he hadn’t told her exactly when he would be doing that. Well, it looked like they all knew the answer to that question now. Doing all that she could to keep herself from rolling her eyes at the public display of affection going on right beside her, she once again let her attention wander around the rest of the area, her dark eyes only flicking up to look upon the new addition to the ever growing group of guys around them once he had spoken- had she known that she was going to be this popular, she would have gone back to her cabin to read instead, “First the Joker; now the cowboy... What the hell is next...”

“W-What..?” Quickly pulling herself away from her brother as she heard the sound of a new voice entering the group, and Erin’s confirmation as to who it actually was; Syleste stooped her head down slightly as a gentle shade of red began to cross over her cheeks, the young girl seemingly intent on playing with the ends of her long bubblegum-pink locks as she once more took her place sitting next to her friend. Gabriel was sweet- and while he hadn’t been a camper for very long, he was one of the few who had quickly accepted her for who she really was. It was refreshing to say the least... and he was different to any of the guys she had ever met before; so why was it he made her feel nervous all the time..?

“..I mean-uh... h-hi Gabriel..”