IC: Camp Halfblood was... peaceful for once, Chiron reflected. The campers were just waking, there was no impending "Great Prophecy." Life was good.

He should have known better than to jinx it. A massive thunderclap shook the cabins, a storm front not too far off.

Zeus was angry.

IC: Alexandra snapped awake, Runeweaver already snapping into existence in her hand. She took a deep breath and sighed, shaking her head.

Just thunder...

The son of Ares flinched slightly at the sound of thunder. He looked up at the sky frowning. Adrian woke up earlier then others so he could go running or train. He watched the sky for moment before he continued the trek to the cabin. Hopefully it was nothing major... Just a small argument.

Kellen was not a heavy sleeper. Dreams were one of her many fears; the idea of being alone with her thoughts sent a visible shudder through her body. She was one of the stranger children of Hephaestus. As far as she knew, there weren't any other schizophrenics at the camp. Kellen had become a target for taunting and teasing that was just as merciless from demigods as from regular mortals. At least the humans had been afraid of her metal-kinetic abilities.

That being said, she suffered from another case of insomnia, only having just woken from am onminous nightmare. Kellen's nightmares weren't your typical dreams of a monster chasing you or the like. No, she suffered that enough during the day. At night, it was mental suffering that traumatized her. The faces in her dream were blank, stony and expresionless. Rows upon rows of faces that bore into the very essence of her being, silently screaming to her for something, something... but what was it? What did they need?

Her body was juxtaposed into a fetal position when she heard the thunder. Camp Half-Blood was gifted with perfect weather, as far as she knew. What could this mean? The roar of the thunder reverberated in Kellen's ears, the deafening clap distorting itself into layers upon layers of screams, screaming for help, help, help-- until Kellen realized that it was she screaming, not the voices inside her head.

Staying up all night, Deuce was just about to retreat under the covers of her bed. One or two hours of sleep wouldn't hurt. After all, she'd gone by without rest plenty of times before, always finishing her projects at the break of dawn. Putting down her paintbrush, still moist with colour, Deuce crawled towards the mattress. As soon as she pulled the covers around her, Deuce slipped into an unconscious state, dreaming. Usually, she was engulfed in swirls of colour, bright lights and soft whispers. She liked to imagine that the whispers were messages that her mother was in charge of, though Deuce never could decipher them. But this time, it was different. The colour scheme of the air around her was pale and there were more cold colours than warm. And it was quiet. She stood still inside her dream, trying to pick up the smallest voices, but there were none.
Breaking the eerie silence came the deep rumble of thunder. She awoke with a start and frowned. Deuce had only gotten 45 minutes worth of sleep.

Jason rose from his bed, awoken by the thunder. He rolled his eyes and slowly got out of bed.
"I swear, Hera and Zues either need to divorce or get some counseling." Jason muttered. "I'm sure Hermes or someone could handle it."
After putting on a shirt and some pajama pants, Jason walked outside to see how the weather was holding up. So far, there was only a little bit of rain, or at least from what he could tell.
"Bummer, I was wondering if I could sneak around, now that I'm awake. Curse the rain."

IC:

Camp Halfblood.

For some, it was a home away from home, a place they looked forward to throughout the winter months. For a handful it was their permanent home, for even more it was a safe haven away from the chaos of the outside world. Not that the camp wasn't its own breed of chaos, though at this hour, it was truthfully very peaceful. Not a noise disturbed the quiet tranquility, nor could a soul be seen walking about from the hill above the Big House. The rising sun was framed perfectly over the landscape, casting the world in hues of red and orange as it slowly drove away the night's shadows and terrors. It was beautiful, this rare moment of peace in a sea of unrelenting disorder and chaos.

But despite the beauty, the camp's newest arrival found himself with the dreary task of getting set up, and notably, of going through another summer here. The camp wasn't bad, not at all. Capture the flag was always interesting, and there were few better sources in the world for knowledge on all things ancient. But that's all it was. In a few minutes he would be back in his empty cabin, back to this... It was difficult even finding the term. It was indescribably boring here when one didn't interact much with the others, but he didn't have a lot of opportunities for that anyway. On the bright side, he'd have all the peace and quiet within his cabin that he'd ever want.

With a sigh, the teenager pushed himself to his feet, dusting himself off, and gripping the handle of his luggage. No point in delaying any longer. Pulling his rolling bag behind him, he set off down the road that led to the Big Hose, moving at a leisurely pace that, nevertheless, brought him to his destination inside of five minutes. The mildly bureacratic procedure of signing in took but a few moments, and before he knew it, he was headed towards his cabin.

A few people were stirring here and there, but few had taken notice of him. Even fewer were likely to recognize him. After all, he'd made it a point not to stand out too much last year. Easier that way. No expectations to deal with.

OOC: This post operates on the assumption that, as with the last time, the construction of cabins for minor deities that began at the end of The Last Olympian were carried out.

And thus, with that, Abraham is open for interaction.

Danny was awoken by a deafening thunderclap, plus someone screaming bloody murder a few cabins away. Sitting up in his bed, he groggily glanced around the cabin, at the walls amateurishly splashed with red. From somewhere else in the cabin, he could almost hear the thrumming bassline of a song. When he first arrived at the camp, they decided to just lump him together with the Ares kids since there weren't many Deimos ones. Maybe he was even the only one. After all, not a lot of people would find the idea of getting it on with the personification of terror appealing. He couldn't stop himself from scoffing at the thought. God, his mum must've been pretty damn smitten to agree to something like that.

Rolling over, he attempted to go back to sleep. It was still dark and in Danny's opinion, no one had a good reason to be up at this ungodly hour. But the howling winds that signalled the oncoming storm kept him awake. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he finally gave up after a good while of tossing and turning. He got out of bed, decided to go for a walk. The demigod changed into something a little more presentable, an emerald green t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. A shark-like grin grew broad on his face at the prospect of scaring some fresh meat. Strapping on his boots, he grabbed his favourite leather jacket hanging from a notch on his bedpost and threw it on before exiting the cabin.

Danny jokingly saluted the leering boar's head hanging above the cabin's front door when he got outside. He wasn't so sure about the children of Ares when he first arrived but after spending a good three years here, he almost saw them like his family. Although they were technically a generation older than him. Say what you would about the Ares kids, but man, did they know how to scare people. Turning on his heels, he started to wander about the compound, looking for his next victim.

Seth had been off on his carrying out a certain ritual. It was a necromancy ritual meant to summon a spirit, but instead of asking it for prophecies, Seth's plan was to ask it for some knowledge on more dark spells. He was just about to add the finishing touch to it, when BAM, thunder. This effectively distracted him and made him lose his focus, causing the summoning runes to blur and disappear.

"You've got to be kidding me. It took me nearly half an hour to get that far, now it's ruined. What a waste."

Seth sighed and stood up from his kneeling position, then made the arcane crystal dagger he was holding fade jnto magical wisps. Pulling the sleeve of his black shirt over his left arm, he walked away from the lonely spot and to the center of the cabins area. Some people were already out and about, most likely awoken by the thunder. Seth spoke to none of them, and simply headed to the breakfast place to nab some more food than usual before more campers got there.

IC: Alexandra rubbed her eyes and sat up, slipping a t-shirt over her camisole and swapping her sweatpants for a pair of jeans.

The shirt had an owl holding a gavel on the front, with the caption 'Owl be the judge of that.'

Another gift from her dad.

She started moving more quickly when she heard the clicking of hooves through the camp and Chiron's voice calling campers to the main lodge urgently.

Adrian tilted his head and ran to the main lodge. He hated Chiron, but whenever he sounded that urgent he knew something was wrong. Especially when it's starting to thunder in camp where the weather is always perfect. And he was the head of the Ares cabin.

"What, really?!"

Seth had just begun to eat his huge plate of breakfast when he heard Chiron's loud voice call the camp to the main lodge. The day was sure starting out great! Ha no.

"Maybe I could at least eat the food standing up... yes, that sounds good..."

Why let a nice plate of breakfast go to waste? Seth headed where everyone else was heading, looking around to see if any of the other Hecate kids were in the crowd of campers. Though he was certainly more skilled than the current counselor at his cabin, Seth obviously... wasn't counselor. It had mainly to do with the fact that that position attracted much attention, something Seth didn't need or want due to the nature of the magic he practiced. It was dangerous and oppressive. Still though, Seth did run things in a behind the scenes sense, pitching in much needed ideas and settling disputes quickly. Maybe he should try nabbing that position...

Danny sighed when he heard Chiron's voice booming through the camp, calling an assembly. So far, he'd only made two girls cry today. "I must be losing my touch," the demigod thought to himself, circling back to the main area. He managed to grab a plateful of assorted bread and cheese for breakfast before Chiron launched into another one of his extremely time-consuming speeches. He was sure it was something important, but almost nothing was important enough to forgo breakfast for. Plus, he missed dinner last night because he had been busy rigging up a harmless but terrifying trap in the Aphrodite cabin. It was nothing too serious, but just recalling the look on their faces cracked him up. Sure, he had the power to instill pants-shitting terror in a person just through eye contact, but it was always a hell of a lot more satisfying to do so manually. One of the younger kids had even peed himself a little bit. Which was probably why his victims from the night before gave him a wide berth as he sauntered an unerringly straight line towards where Chiron was making an announcement.

Seth was standing there munching on several pieces of bacon when he saw a familiar face in the crowd, Danny's. The son of Deimos was one of the few people at camp he got along with at least moderately due to the fact that his magic and Danny's abilities could actually work well together when paired up. Since Seth's dark magic was heavy on exploiting and feeding off fear, Danny's talents made it easy to pinpoint such things and then create horrible illusions or more efficiently strengthen the effects of other spells.

"You seem pleased, who did you terrorize now?" Seth asked the demigod as he approached him. As he did so, Seth noticed the face of one particular camper he wasn't too fond of. Adrian. Most children of Ares ticked Seth off what with their bullying behavior and arrogance in physical prowess. They ranked second only to the children of Hades, who seemed to believe that their easy, natural access to the dark power of the Underworld instantly made them superior to most other campers.
Anyway, out of all the Ares kids, Adrian took the hated cake. Counselor of the Ares Cabin meant that he was the "worst" (figuratively speaking) of all his half siblings. Seth thought it well due that the hot tempered demigod have his pride humbled, and he suddenly had an idea, one which he'd need Danny's help in pulling off.

"It's easy to tell you're still a bit unsatisfied with your latest victims... how about a challenge?"

A broad grin formed on Danny's face when he spotted one of his few, if not only, friends. He was probably the only person who could stand being around him any longer than absolutely necessary. In fact, it even seemed like his powers benefited from the aura of fear surrounding him. Carefully balancing the plate of food on his forearm, he continued to eat while the son of Hecate came over. When Seth asked who he terrorised this time, Danny let out a sharp bark of laughter in response. "The Aphrodite kids!" he sniggered, barely managing to keep the plate of food balanced on his forearm. "Man, you should've seen their faces. That Jacob kid? Pissed himself. It was fuckin' hilarious."

Just then, Danny caught the other's gaze flicker over to a familiar face. It was Adrian. Shockingly, he wasn't off being all angry and beating up anyone who looked at him wrong. He knew that the two hated each other's guts, which was putting it gently. So when Seth brought up a rather intriguing idea, the son of Deimos was all up for it. "Hell yeah, what did you have in mind?"

Adrian stood near the front of the group, trying to stand in a position where he could see both Chiron and most of the group. Nearly impossible in truth. He hand was rested on his always present sword, his shield on his back. His exposed skin shined slightly in the sun, a tale tell sign of sweat and that he was exercising. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted both Seth and Danny. He immediately scowled with dislike as he looked at them. They were not someone he liked. Of course, he only liked and trusted one person.

Phloem said
A broad grin formed on Danny's face when he spotted one of his few, if not only, friends. He was probably the only person who could stand being around him any longer than absolutely necessary. In fact, it even seemed like his powers benefited from the aura of fear surrounding him. Carefully balancing the plate of food on his forearm, he continued to eat while the son of Hecate came over. When Seth asked who he terrorised this time, Danny let out a sharp bark of laughter in response. "The Aphrodite kids!" he sniggered, barely managing to keep the plate of food balanced on his forearm. "Man, you should've seen their faces. That Jacob kid? Pissed himself. It was fuckin' hilarious."Just then, Danny caught the other's gaze flicker over to a familiar face. It was Adrian. Shockingly, he wasn't off being all angry and beating up anyone who looked at him wrong. He knew that the two hated each other's guts, which was putting it gently. So when Seth brought up a rather intriguing idea, the son of Deimos was all up for it. "Hell yeah, what did you have in mind?"

"I knew you'd agree," Seth said with a smirk. He began to quietly explain the plan to Danny.
"It's quite simple what I need you to do. Just go and find out Adrian's worst fear and return to me with the info. At the very least, find out something he's afraid of, taunt him with it. Once he's all riled up, I'll step in and handle the rest."

IC: That one person stepped up behind Adrian and put her hand on his shoulder gently, blue eyes twinkling. "Hey. Any idea what this is about?"

IC: Chiron stepped side to side a bit worriedly, beginning to speak. "Campers, you may have noticed the lightning storm brewing above our heads. Fortunately, we've received word from Olympus that Zeus isn't angry, but..."

"This means the barrier that surrounds camp is having problems with its power source. Since the Fleece is a magical artifact, that can only mean one thing."

"Something must have happened to Hecate."

IC: Alexandra gasped.

What?! Seth had almost dropped his plate of food when he heard Chiron's words. Something had happened to his mother, and whatever that was, it was affecting magical items. Did that also mean it would affect his abilities?

"That certainly won't be good..."

Under this comment lied a growing anger and concern. Seth's magic abilities were pretty much his pride and "joy". He had worked quite hard to advance with them to where he is now, and especially with dark magic, the level of skill he had was something to be admired. It was everything to him. It was what set him apart from most of his siblings...

Adrian smiled softly and turned slightly, wrapping his arms gently around her waist. He then shook his head," I don't have a clue." He glanced up at Chiron appeared and said," but I think we are about to figure out what happened." He listened to him speak, his eyes widening in shock and his arms tightening protectively around Alexandra. He looked down at her, a worried look in his eyes, worried for her and her well being more than Hecate's, but indirectly worried about her because of Alexandra's connection.

Late to the party as always, Mal, son of Haphaestus, who had been spending countless hours day and night tinkering in the workshop under the cabin, was pulled from that delicious toil by a series of happenings, all of them auditory in nature. First, His cabin mate and half-sister, Kellen's screams, -he stretched a blanket over her woven with celestial bronze wires that generated a soothing heat and, with some help from the cabin of the children of the god of sleep, blessed the fabric itself with enough Mist to ease even her troubled slumbers. He'd placed it around her shoulders after easing her into a seated position, advising her not to close her eyes, but also not to remove it until she felt she could face the day on her own strength. the next disturbance was the lightning bolt that rent the clear morning sky. He knew his Father's handiwork anywhere, that bolt had 'straight from the hand of Mr.-I'll-stuff-a-lightning bolt-up-your-nose himself' written on it, and everyone knew who crafted those mighty weapons for the deity. But with Camp Half Blood's mystically blessed weather, such a thing, as Chiron had undoubtedly said, was improbably, and it's occurrance had some sort of grave underpinnings. And speaking of that old horse-man, he's calling an assembly at the big house. Third incident. He'd intended to get there quicker, he really did, but there was a grove of Naiads and Nymphs along the way, and well, he was distracted. but get there he did, in time to hear the tail end of what had been said so far, which was enough to puzzle out the rest from what he'd already surmised himself as he stepped into the crowd of campers, hoping Kellen would make an appearance herself before too much longer.