Hey there, welcome to the second chapter of seeing shadows. The fog has descended!
Thanks to everyone who submitted an OC, I got an awful lot so I'm not sure I'll be able to include every one though I liked pretty much all of them; this chapter introduces four of them anyway.
First is Trinity Sanchez, a plucky daughter of Hermes who inherited his very important skill of stealing whenever possible. She's quite bright, has had a few boyfriends in the past, though she's only 13. Oh and she's lived on the streets for years before arriving at Camp Half-blood. She was submitted by Sugarlover08010818. Thanks!
Next we have Kryo Wells, a solitary son of Khione, who's 16. He's very skilled with both a bow and knives, plus he's good at making things freeze. Oh and Boreas once blessed him with some power over winds. All in all, he's rather dangerous but hasn't much contact with others and so it rather quiet. Submitted by Trevor607, thanks!
Then there's Damien Silverworth, a charming 14-year-old son of Aphrodite who has some power with charmspeak and over his own appearanceand is surprisingly skilled with his weapons too. He has some dark secrets in his past and is rather lacking in self-confidence, still he has that first to prove himself. Thanks to The 6th Spectral King for submitting him.
Finally there's Alejandra or Alex for short. She is from Buenos Aires and sometimes interjects some Spanish into conversation, particularly if she swears. She 15 and a child of Apollo, she has a rare gift called photokinesis allowing her to bend and control light as well as being an archer and healer. There's no pretences with her so she says what she thinks but she's a bit humorous at times too, and fairly easy going. Submitted by TheGoddessOfWriting, thanks!
Sorry for long intro, now onto the story proper.
The entirety of the camp gathered on the pavilion for dinner that night. This in itself was nothing unusual but it soon became clear that something was amiss as Chiron drew attention towards himself for an announcement. Truthfully, the camp was far from full capacity as many demigods were away from camp until the summer and it wasn't yet April.
Trinity couldn't help but think that their mentor giving an announcement was the perfect opportunity for her to demonstrate her sleight of hand. True, she ought to pay it at least half a mind, but whatever he said was unlikely to affect her as she wasn't one to be called on for adventures. In fact, she had hardly left camp half-blood in years. Even entering the mortal world for a short time would seem strange and surreal.
Okay, so most campers did leave from time to time, to go shopping and meet with their families and such, but it wasn't like she had to worry about that sort of thing! Anything she wanted, she could obtain herself and if Hermes ever wanted to speak to her then he would (not that he ever would). So what, if others thought her weird - she was willing to bet that most of them had a far easier childhood.
She scanned the area around her, looking for any potential targets but found her fingers twitching pointlessly instead. Pickpocketing the other Hermes campers was pointless, they never had anything good on them and would probably notice anyway. Of all the rules Percy Jackson had somehow fixed, why couldn't he have added one to allow campers to sit wherever they chose for meals? Those children of less promiscuous gods would appreciate it almost as much as she would!
Her eyes met those of a Hephaestus boy, who immediately shot her a fierce glare. She returned with an unrepentant toothy smile, not allowing any pain to show on her face. Mike Jay was an idiot and dating him was a mistake. Why then, did he still have her attention? She turned away from him, forcing herself to think about anything other what it had been like to kiss him. She found herself listening to Chiron instead, like all the other rapt campers.
"...it seems that we must act soon for it has become clear to me that danger is fast approaching," he was saying. Trinity hadn't realised it was such a serious announcement.
"Most of you are unlikely to be unaware that anything is wrong, however-"
Whatever Chiron was about to say was cut off by a deep cutting voice from a minor god's table. "It's obviously this accursed fog," a dark-haired boy said, seemingly indifferent to fierce looks sent his way.
Trinity wondered how she'd never noticed him before, even sitting down it was clear that he was very tall and the massive black bow strapped to his back looked very sleek. He wore an all black garb, making his pale skin seem all the more striking. His eyes were obscured by a pair of black sunglasses but it was clear that he wasn't looking towards her. His attention was solely on Chiron and he seemed oddly relaxed given that he was sitting alone and had inevitably just drawn the attention of the entire camp.
"Kryo? You are indeed correct about the malicious nature of this fog, but what alerted you to its danger?" Chiron asked in his gentle authority voice.
Kryo - what a weird name - gestured dramatically with one arm and even several tables away, Trinity could feel a sudden stiff breeze, which quickly petered off. He could create wind?
"I've tried creating gusts of wind and usually I can blow away mist but it has no effect on this fog," he explained in a crisp voice. Though those sunglasses obscured much of his face, she thought he was faintly annoyed.
Chiron nodded. "Then it is as I feared. We are in danger and this demands a quest to... clear the air, so to speak."
Suddenly murmuring broke the otherwise tense atmosphere. A new quest would be exciting and many young campers were anxious to try and participate, what with their battle instincts. There hadn't be any major quests in nearly two years, since Kronos had been defeated in New York - not that the camp had been necessarily quiet with many monsters still roaming and so many new demigods joining and so much building being done.
Trinty felt the flutterings of anxiety, knowing it was unlikely she'd be involved and therefore worried that whoever got the job wouldn't be able to prevent more damage to her home. She didn't want to end up on the streets again.
Chiron allowed the discussions to continue for a short while before addressing the camp once more, or rather the strange boy Kryo. "You seem knowledgeable about the situation so I think it'd only be fair to offer you the chance to participate. Do you accept?"
There was a hush as Kryo paused before answering in his clear, deep voice. "Yes, I accept. But I've never lead anyone before."
"That's quite alright, I expect there will be a few volunteers who wish to join you," Chiron replied, before glancing to the rest of the pavilion at large, silently asking who wished to take part.
A glance around showed a lot of eager volunteers, none more so than the attractive Aphrodite boy who was way out of her league. Damien Silverworth. He was just a year older than her but he seemed so much more than that. Of course, he wasn't just dreamy to look at, he had more intelligence than the average bubble-headed Aphrodite camper and was utterly charming. Maybe she ought to try going on the quest if her was going.
Damien stood up and turned away from her to face Chiron. "I believe that I have a duty to this camp. If it falls to me to prove myself then I will do my best," he claimed beseechingly. There was this rich note to his voice and Trinity couldn't help but think that he deserved to prove himself.
Around her, she could see a lot of people nodding there heads in agreement, clearly coming to the same conclusion that she was. The worry she'd had of this quest failing seemed to diminish, knowing that he'd be part of it. The rather solemn Kryo seemed to relax slightly too, which hopefully meant they'd work well enough together.
It was Chiron's opinion who mattered most however. He frowned at Damien, apparently unmoved by his words. "Please don't use your charmspeak to influence decisions. However if Kryo wants you to help then I won't prevent you from participating," he cautiously replied.
Kryo gave a single nod and it dawned her that he was probably a bit of a loner. Now that she thought about it, Trinity was certain that she had seen him around before, he just wasn't a social butterfly. Unlike Percy Jackson who had been able to invite his dependable friends on his quests, Kryo would be choosing people he probably didn't know.
"Before anyone else volunteers, I think we should retreat to the campfire so that you all have a chance to properly consider your participation," Chiron spoke up again, before anyone else had the courage to stand up, as many were obviously considering.
Trinity grinned, reminded of the fact that she hadn't yet found an opportunity to 'persuade' more campers to part with a few of their possessions. Maybe she could try sneaking up on the blind girl? Actually it'd probably make more sense to take advantage of the apparently unnatural fog, it was certainly distracting. She quickly scampered into the crowd of campers, integrating herself into a pack of Apollo kids. Her cabin-mates were likely behaving similarly.
Sure, she should probably be focussing on the super-important quest but vague warnings of possible danger were practically meaningless to her. Ever since she was young, stealing had been a means of survival and she knew that distractions could be fleeting, meaning it was vital to take advantage when they appeared.
One particularly distracted girl caught her eye. She looked utterly detached to the rest of the crowd, staring intently at her raised hands as she walked and not paying the slightest attention to her surroundings. Trinty didn't have the faintest idea of what the girl was doing but she certainly looked like an easy enough target.
Trinity smoothly approached her from the side, and kept pace with her as she walked. So far the girl hadn't spared her glance, no doubt walking to the camp fire on autopilot, allowing her to be fully absorbed in her thoughts. Trinity surreptitiously examined the girl's clothes, looking for any hint of valuables and avoided smirking when she noted a slight bulge in the pocket of her hoodie. It would be a single deft movement to reach in and grab the item. Hopefully it'd be at least moderately valuable.
However, just as Trinity was leaning in, she found herself jumping back as a bright yellow light flared out of nowhere, right in her eyes. Shocked, she let out a pained yelp and closed her stinging eyes, waiting for the sudden pain to dissipate.
After a brief pause, she heard some barely stifled chuckles and snapped open her eyes furiously, ignoring the spots that appeared in her vision. The girl she'd attempted to pickpocket had stopped and was looking at her with a mixture of apologetic and amused and Trinity quickly gathered that she must have been somehow responsible for the light. Therefore she shot her a glare and resumed walking with as much dignity as she could muster.
"Oh, oh sorry about that, I didn't even notice you there," the girl apologised, struggling to control her expression as she awkwardly kept pace with her. She spoke in a slight accent that Trinity wasn't savvy enough to identify though she was clearly very fluent in English.
"What was that anyway?" Trinity replied irritably, but couldn't help but note that the girl did seem genuinely sympathetic. It made it harder to be truly annoyed, especially as the stinging pain was quickly dying down.
"It's one of my powers," she revealed in a hushed voice, looking anxious, like it was some sort of secret.
After a quick glance to check that no one around them was paying them any mind, Trinity replied in an equally soft voice, wondering why the girl cared enough to hide it. "You're saying you can create some light?" She asked, trying to sound underwhelmed.
She nodded. "It's a really rare power for us Apollo kids. Mi ma says I ought to keep it hidden and there I go stunning random kids with it. Bit idiotic, no?"
Trinity's smile came out as more of a grimace at the mention of a parent; she'd never had a mother. "Yeah, what were you trying to do then?"
She let out a nervous chuckle, and Trinity mentally reminded herself to ask for her name. "Just seeing what effect it'd have on all this fog, while I can't blow it away, I was thinking that the light would do something. Actually I don't know what now," she replied in good humour.
"No, it's a good idea. As far as I can tell, no one seems to know anything about it other than it, well, being foggy. I'm Trinity by the way," she said.
"Alejandra, but you can call me Alex." Alex, apparently, returned. "Uh, shouldn't you be joining your friends right about now?"
Trinity looked around, noting that all around her, people were sitting down by the currently green campfire, and Alex seemed to be lingering near a group of Apollo kids. However, her own friends never expected her to sit with them for camp songs, perfectly aware of how she liked to take the opportunity to 'exercise' her twitchy fingers.
Just then, she noted that Kryo and Damien had somehow managed to sit together on the fringes and were for the most part avoiding everyone else, presumably to quietly discuss their quest. She was curious as to how they managed to slip out of notice from most people when they by all rights should be the centre of attention, but Trinity was more interested in taking advantage of her perception.
She was going to join them. Just doing it to meet Damien was reason enough, but even beyond that it could be exciting. And she thought that they might even agree if she had the right amount of persuasion. She grinned, and grabbed Alex's arm before she could sit down.
"Actually, I think it's about time we make some new friends. Come with me," Trinity replied, as Alex looked at her in confusion.
Without waiting for a response, Trinity lead her through the throng of other campers, heading towards the fringes. Alex was now muttering irritably in Spanish but she hadn't tried to break away just yet, which Trinity took to mean that she was at least curious.
The crowd soon thinned out and Trinity shivered. Though it had been a warm evening, now that they were farther from the fire, it had quickly turned cold. She was tempted to turn around and get near the fire again before all the good spots were taken but persisted anyway, seeing Kryo and Damien were just ahead.
"Why are we going over there? They're about to leave on a quest, Trinity!" Alex reminded her, heavily implying that she thought they were being idiotic.
"Yeah, and maybe they'll want our help, it's a great opportunity!" She responded, grinning, though Alex wouldn't see it. By now the boys had noticed them.
Trinity couldn't help but feel nervous though. Up close, it was obvious that they were both way taller than her and now she had their attention. Plus she was really feel the biting cold now. Maybe she was a little young to go out questing, and she didn't really know anything about magical fogs.
"Hello," Damien greeted serenely enough, which Trinity took as an invitation to sit down. Alex reluctantly sat beside her.
"Hi, I was wondering if you needed more people for your quest?" She addressed both of them, unsure which one of them was the leader. She tried to avoid shivering, though it was extremely uncomfortable, so far from the fire.
"I was under the impression that it would be decided after the camp fire," Kryo noted, unfazed.
Trinity shrugged like it didn't matter. "This is Alex and she has a rare ability to create light with her mind, which could be really important if you have to deal with fogs which would subdue natural lighting," she explained, putting an arm around Alex.
"I told you I was keeping that a secret," Alex hissed, shooting her an admittedly deserved glare, squirming a little.
"It is a secret. They won't tell anyone else but it's sort of important for them to know if we're going to join them on a quest, right?" Trinity, waved away her complaint.
Kryo gazed at her, at least she thought he was with those dark sunglasses hiding his eyes. Wasn't it a little dark to be wearing them now? "You both wish to join us then," he stated.
"Yes, I'm very quick and Alex's talents go beyond creating light," Trinity agreed, before Alex protested. She inwardly hoped that Alex did have more skill than just creating light, as she honestly had no idea of her capabilities.
To her delight, Alex spoke up then. "Yes, I can bend and control light as well as create it, though it takes focus. I'm also a fair archer and healer." Maybe she was actually interested?
Damien quirked his lips into a slight smile. "They're better than any of my cabin mates, and I daresay that they're better than any of yours too."
"Perhaps," Kryo conceded. Trinity thought he looked rather uncomfortable at the amount of attention he was receiving. "I will make my decision after I have consulted the Oracle."
What did you think? I won't restrict myself solely to Trinity's point of view. Next chapter, I'll probably explore the dark and dangerous mind of Kryo.
Please do leave a review and tell me whether you liked the characters (or anything at all actually). If you gave me one of the characters then tell me if I presented them okay so far. I do want to introduce a couple more next chapter too so don't be discouraged if you haven't seen your character yet.
At some point I might have to get the plot moving, Trinity is one that can get distracted from it sadly.