Location: Seattle, Wa: The Woods
Skills:
Location: Seattle, Wa: The Woods
Skills:
”I’ll be there someday, I can go the distance. I will find my way, if I can be strong. I know every mile, would be worth my while. When I go the distance, I’ll be right where I belong.” Demetri’s voice rang throughout the woods, though it wasn’t his voice exactly; it sounded exactly like the Roger Bart rendition from Disney’s Hercules. It was good to try and practice these weird abilities that he had gained, and what better place than the monster ridden woods of his hometown. Though he was fully unaware that it was only infested due to his comings and goings within them, his Demi-god blood drawing them there for a feast. The lush grass felt nice beneath his converse as he kept his eyes peeled for a new kill.
”Come out, come out wherever you are. Can’t hide forever, or―don’t tell me―have I scared you all off?” A loud crash could be heard some distance away, as if a massive tree had toppled over.
”There you are.” The sound had resonated throughout the empty forest, possibly larger prey than usual, which was perfect because one could only take cyclops’s for so long.
“Of course it’s Laistrygonians, why wouldn’t it be? Go pick up after Hephaestus, they said. It’ll be easy, they said.” Aster complained to the son of Ares currently diving behind the same hiding spot Aster found. A few moments later, a heavy looking log went flying past them.
“No wonder mother despises him. Throwing tantrums and making messes for us. And don’t even think about saying anything. I’m fantastic and you know it.” Aster snapped at the look the Ares kid was giving him, wiggling his finger at him threateningly. Whatever retort the other kid was going to throw at him became instantly inconsequential as the eight foot giant slammed his iron club into their makeshift cover.
“Thank Aphrodite for giving me the wisdom to wear Ford instead of Armani.” He muttered under his breath as the pair split, Aster plucking an arrow out of the wind and losing it in one smooth movement at the giant. It went wide but did it’s job as it passed through the giant’s field of vision. The monster turned to face him who waved before he bolted deeper into the woods. The quest’s leader, one of the Hephaestus kids ironically, took a hard blow to the chest earlier and was out for the count. Aster fled away from her as the giant stomped after him, hoping the Ares kid would have the good sense to take care of her first. Aster knew how to stay out of a monster’s reach for a while. What child of Aphrodite didn’t?
Demetri began to make his way towards the source of the sound. Moving as quietly as he could, his ears twitching at the smallest sounds, alerting him to his surroundings. His ADHD wasn’t much help at school or home, but out here, in his world, it was practically part of his survival instincts. He neared the area, broken tree branches, snapped and gnarled across the ground. There appeared to be a large gape through the trunk of one of the trees, whatever this was, it was powerful it seemed. Demetri moved towards the nearest bush, hiding behind its foliage as he surveyed the land as best he could. There didn’t seem to be anyone or anything around, and if it wasn’t for all the destruction, he’d wonder if it was all just his imagination.
Again there was a sound, loud footsteps like a lumbering oaf was wading through the forest. Demetri began sprinting towards the direction of the sound, going from tree to tree so as to maintain some semblance of cover as he looked for the monster in question. His heels dug into the ground as he halted himself, a giant looming in the distance. Definitely bigger than the cyclops he was used to, so range was most likely the best bet, but what was it following? As he looked closer he noticed a small boy around his age running away from the giant. He seemed way too overdressed for this fight, and clearly didn’t have anything under control.
”Oye! This is my woods, my fight!” Demetri ran 10 feet forward before his bronze earring shifted into a celestial bronze dagger which flew to his hand. He stuck his tongue out, aiming at the beast before finally doing a full spin to launch the dagger towards the giant. His dagger flew true through the air yet stopped just short of hitting anything before it made its return back to Demetri.
”Damn it!”Aster plucked another arrow from the wind, courtesy of the ring he
found laying around on his last quest, and snapped it to to his bow string, the familiar tension on his fingers a comfort as he pivoted on his feel and launched it at the giant. The child of Aphrodite swore and darted off again when another voice rang out. Both the giant and Aster halted, heads swiveling in unison at the intrusion just in time to see the dagger stop in front of the giant’s face and wisk itself back into some boy’s hand. Apparently a boy with no fashion sense, given the balck hair on black jacket on black pants and
zero accessories. Always use accessories to contrast your outfit when committing to monotone. Fashion rule number one.
Aster thought maybe that was someone from Camp Jupiter but the dagger was clearly celestial bronze, not imperial gold. Had someone gotten to the objective before the team? No, whatever step-daddy’s little tantrum resulted in was only half finished so it wouldn’t have any sort of magical power just yet. That meant… Aster’s eyes practically shone as he turned and bolted for the boy so rudely interrupting them. He ground to a halt, pulled out another arrow, and this time launched it into the giant’s knee. It connected and the giant let out a thunderous roar as it snatched at the boys.
“Run and talk, run and talk!” Aster shouted over the commotion. He took off back towards his teammates, expecting the new kid to follow.
“Keep up or it will eat you! Once we get back, we can―” Aster shut up as another shout rang out and Ares’s idiot charged the giant.
“Oh, Athena I know mother’s had some problems with you but please help me now. Okay change of plans. I distract and you wait until you have a clear shot with that fancy dagger of yours since that idiot is going down in a moment.” Surprisingly, Ares child managed to avoid that next blow. Aster ran his fingers through his hair, dropping into that central space where he could reach all his emotions. He felt them, every form of love his mother could conjurer. So many people saw love as sexual but in reality, love was a gorgeous prism that so few fully understood. The children of Aphrodite knew the truth and could manipulate it as easily as spinning a top. Aster reached out for the one he wanted,
obsessive love, and bundled it on his fingers, blowing it towards the giant with a kiss. It settled on the giant’s cheek just as the Ares kid took a few steps back after a particularly brutal swipe nearly sent him flying.
Nothing happened for a few moments. The giant did pause for half a moment though, snorting as if it was trying to clear its nostrils of a bad smell and turned to peer at Aster with… amusement. No,that wasn’t quite right. That look was far more cruel, dark and twisted, and goosebumps erupted along Aster’s skin. He immediately regretted his rash actions as the giant turned away from the Ares boy and charged him instead.
“Love an ugly brat like you? You’re not even fit for eating!” The giant roared.
“I’d be the best thing you’ve ever had the luxury to eat, you pig!” Aster snapped back, goosebumps warring against an irritating prickling.
Ugly? Him? He was a child of Aphrodite and no one would call him ugly and live to say anything about it! But the goosebumps quickly won out when he realized his own internal fury gave the giant enough time to reach him and he stared up terrified at the monster.
Demetri started running alongside the strange boy, demanding that he keep up with him unless he wanted to be the giants lunch.
”Yeah, yeah, I know the whole spiel. He’ll grind my bones to dust and make me into bread. How original. And just who the fu-Oh come on!” Another guy appeared, charging at the large brute like some dullard.
”Hey that’s- oh for the love of-“ Demetri’s eyes darted between the two new arrivals, wondering if he should follow the dunce charging a giant, or if he should listen to the well coiffed kid. He rolled his eyes as Aster made a “plan” and awaited some form of signal. The boy blew a bloody kiss towards the beast and as confusion began to strike Demetri, he realized this kiss must of had some sort of affect on the giant as he started to move closer to the pair, anger in his voice.
”Suppose that’s my cue” He turned his dagger back into and earring and leapt into the air, transforming into a bird and flying just out of arm’s reach of the giant, above his head. Once positioned, he transformed back into himself, dagger springing to life as he careened downwards onto the giant, impaling his blade into the top of its head while Demetri’s legs lay spread on each of the giants shoulders.
”Haha! I did it, I-“ the giant poofed into a cloud of gold dust, cutting off his celebration and having him fall eight feet toward the ground. His reactionary instincts kicked in and he transformed into a bird once more before shaping back into himself, feet firmly on the ground.
Aster brought his hand up in front of his face to hide the relief and couldn’t help but giggle at the other’s antics. He took a moment to compose himself and moved his hand, watching the new kid with a quirked eyebrow and just the hint of a frown. He pulled out his compact mirror, check his perfect as usual reflection, and snapped it shut before settling his hand on his hip and appraising the new guy now that they weren’t actively fighting. Tall, dark hair, brown eyes… Definitely needed some time in the sun to help that sickly look. And a new wardrobe but that would have to be put on the backburner. The boy had a celestial bronze weapon which meant… That excited glint returned to his eyes as Aster approached him. New meat. And new meat meant
gullible. Maybe he could convince the kid to take his chores from him or at least get a lackey.
“Okay, walk and talk, walk and talk. The sooner we’re out of this forest, the sooner I can take a bath and put on a face mask. My poor pores feel like they’re dying!” Aster cried dramatically, throwing a hand over his forehead in woe.
“Now have you seen a glowing metal weapon, something like that cute little dagger you have but bigger? We have to retrieve it but my admirer got in the way.” He smacked an insect off his arm with a muttered curse.
“Aphrodite help me. These woods are awful. The sooner we leave, the happier I’ll be.” Aphrodite? He doesn’t exactly look like he’s Greek but...still, do they even follow that pantheon nowadays? Weirdo Demetri followed the short kid silently, trying to get a reading on his age, or why he was here, or how he could see the monsters.
”Well i was a bit distracted by all the racket you were creating, and you know, saving your life; but I think I know where your glowing weapon dropped. There’s a small clearing just over there; a tree seemed to be ripped into by something sharp going straight through it. Whatever it is it probably is somewhere there. I’ll lead the way pipsqueak.” He ruffled the kids hair as he walked past him, leading Aster towards the area he was at just before the fight.
“Pips-" Aster gaped at the taller boy. How
dare he? Aster flipped out his mirror again, despite knowing full well his glamour would hold just fine, and stormed after the bastard.
“To make this perfectly clear, we had everything under control! You were just convenient! Everything would have been fine without you. We just needed a few more minutes!" It took the child of Aphrodite a few moments to catch up considering the monstrous strides the rude brute was taking. Saving his life? Ha. As if a silly giant was going to be the end of Aster Luxie. And just because he was freakishly tall didn't mean Aster was a pipsqueak!
“Is everyone around here so rude? Here I am, about to bring you back to a place where you can explore your heritage and other stuff, and you're calling me a pipsqueak! I'll have you know I'm barely under average height! You're just a monster for your age." Aster's hair had long reverted to its pristine state after the
heathen had the audacity to mess with it.
“And for your information, messing with a child of Aphrodite's hair is practically a one way ticket to being cursed. You're just lucky you crossed one as generous and nice as me." Aster scanned the area, peering through the tree and noting the slight glow from the rocks ahead.
“Oh sweet, sweet nectar there it is. I don't want to be out here for one moment longer than I have to. Well come on, let's put your gangly arms to good use." Aster hurried to the outcropping. Indeed, a glowing shaft of celestial bronze embedded itself in the rock and after one glance, Aster knew he wasn't about to get his hands dirty.
“Well, come on! Get this out and then I can go laugh at the scouts for not finding you first! Who's your parent by the way?"”My parents are none of your concern. Just some blokes that live in the area, and what do you mean by a child of Aphrodite? you in some sort of LARP or something?” Demetri elected to ignore the mention of scouts or anything else the smol boy had said, attempting to focus on what he found important. He walked up towards the spear that was wedged into the stone and rolled his eyes. If that kid was part of a LARP it wasn’t very creative, a spear in the stone, really? Well that’s just nice. He tugged on the shaft of the weapon and the rock split in half, allowing the top section of a glowing bronze spear to be set free. Demetri tossed it over to the kid.
”Here, what’s your name anyway? child of Aphrodite” He was fighting a grin that threatened to break out on his face.
“Aster Damien Luxie.” He responded eagerly as he caught the shaft easily.
“And I mean my mother is Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty? I’m sure you’ve heard of her somewhere. Probably only everywhere honestly. She is one of the most important after all. Just like one of your parents. Obviously, someone cheated on someone and had you. Probably Apollo, considering your… demeanor. And fashion sense. But let’s not dwell on that! Let’s get back to the pegasus and we’ll be on our way! Oh, wait one second. Hold this.” He tossed the spear back to the other kid. He flipped out his mirror and checked his reflection thoughtfully.
“Do you think this outfit screams Victory? I don’t think so either. Let’s try a new look. Maybe something more whispy to catch the breeze.” Aster asked rhetorically. He took a moment to consider, turning his face this way and that, until he finally settled on an idea. With a snap of his fingers as he passed his hand over his head and a shimmer of bright blue light, Aster’s entire outfit changed. The previous suit was replaced with a much flashier version, the jacket that draped down to the back of his knees and pants practically sparkling with golden fleur-de-lis on a black background. The shirt acted as the traditional blue background with gold buttons and the boy’s hair slicked itself back. A pair of sunglasses materialized on his face and he pushed them up for a second to check his makeup, just a dash of color and glitter to accent his eyes like he liked it, and a bit of lip gloss. He slid them back down and grinned at the other.
“Just copied a little something from home. Didn’t want to put too much effort into it. Now come along. Let's see if our Ares compatriot got the Hephaestus girl in flying shape!” Aster instructed as he sauntered off, making sure to flash the Dolce & Gabbana label in the process.
Ok. So it appeared that there were others like him, well...similar in the sense that they had some form of extra-ordinary power. So we have Aphrodite, Ares, and Hephaestus it seemed. Aster never did answer if this was all part of some silly game, but Demetri didn't have much better to do at the moment and decided to play along.
"So let's play pretend that gods actually exist in this world, and that they made children. How would someone know if they're a demi-god? Moreover how would they know whose child they were? It sounds to me that your limiting the spectrum to only the greek pantheon thus far, and while that would make sense in the sense that they’d be the worst at watching over the world, again assuming gods exist, it begs the question why only that pantheon?" “Silly, silly boy. Why pretend? The Gods like to get around, not that that’s our business really, and we’re living proof of that! So be happy your family had a bit of a crack in it!” Aster practically beamed.
“When we get back to camp, your parent will claim you eventually. It’ll be intense and fun and all that, you’ll be the talk of the camp for a while, and I’ll take you under my wing, teach you the ins and outs of the place. It’ll be great!” And he would get to boast he found this new kid already in fighting shape and ready to roll! Already he was thinking of ways to spin the tale so he was the main star, saving the poor lost soul from danger he was clearly barely able to hold off. Apparently, the Ares kid did have enough common sense to patch up their quest mate and he beamed at the pair, gesturing at Demetri.
“I found a new comer! Look at him, all safe and sound thanks to me! No need for applause but it probably wouldn’t hurt.” Aster was practically glowing with pride. The Hephaestus girl snorted as she leaned against her chariot.
“And how do you know that?” She asked dryly, clearly less than impressed. Aster shot her a dirty look but his glowing grin returned shortly.
“Not only does he somehow have a celestial bronze dagger but he also has a fun little trick that lets him shapeshift into animals. Probably one of the nature Gods’ kids.” Aster shrugged as he explained.
“We’ll find out when we take him to camp! Mr. D can scramble to explain to the family; he’s had an easy week after all.” Aster chuckled, holding out his hand to Demetri with a grin.
“Time to fly, little bird! Let’s see what real wings can do!”Demetri could hardly contain his laughter as Aster boasted to him teammates.
”You sure that giant didn’t hit you in the head? I saved you. You were just running away in what can only be described as the worst possible fighting attire. Besides, if you’re all children of greek gods and goddesses shouldn’t you be in togas or something?” He neglected to mention that his control over his shapeshifting wasn’t absolute. Honestly he was trying to become a kangaroo earlier but had accidentally shaped into a bird. Those were never fun to be as Demetri and heights did not get along too well.
”I will say thank you however, if you hadn’t blown that brute a kiss and pissed it off I wouldn’t of been able to get so close to him in.” Aster was cute enough, so Demetri figured that he’d give him a break. After all, being called ugly by a giant? Yeesh.
Demetri saw the Pegasi that were strapped to some chariots and tried to hide his astonishment at the majestic creatures. Fighting monsters was one thing, but he had never seen beasts of legend that didn’t want to eat him. Ok, so the LARP idea was essentially out the door, the monsters were real sure, but that didn’t stop them from using it to fuel a fantasy. But now they have chariots and Pegasi? To say Demetri was interested is an understatement. Demetri called forth his dagger once more, his earring shifting into the form and flying into his hand. He inspected the weapon that he has held for the better part of two years now.
Celestial Bronze huh? Wonder if that’s something special or if all Demi-gods get one. Oh what am I thinking? That would imply that gods actually exist and they don’t. He got onto the chariot, ignoring Asters hand and just standing behind him.
"So what? We just get pulled there? Sounds like it'll take forever.""It's okay. I know the stress of it probably put a few holes in your memory. I saved you, little bird, and that's that!" Aster sang with a chuckle.
"Togas are so last millennia. Fashion moved on and so must we! Now hold on, we have quite the flight ahead of us!" With a practiced flick of the wrist, Aster snapped the reigns and the pegasus's wings unfurled. A few steps and they were off, soaring skyward as Aster let out an exuberant shout.
"I think you have a few ho-oh my gosh!" As Aster cracked the reigns, the pegasus took to the sky and Demetri's stomach began to do flips. He quickly wrapped his arms around Asters waist, holding tight as his instincts kicked in and he began to shape into a snake, coiling his body around Asters waste as he tucked his head into his back.
1x Thank
