***Extras***
1.0: Overwatch & 1.1:The Mist: A brief summary
AN:These chapters will be for your entertainment while I work on the actual story/receive OCs
If one were to look in the air near Caldecott tunnel several months after the Titan war had ended, one would have seen two teenage boys, each strapped to an eagle, throwing paper airplanes into the wind. One of them was removing his lunch from a carry-out bag. Of course, what many mortals saw was actually a pair of seagulls circling and depositing bird droppings. Some may ask why this was, but the only answer that has been confirmed by the New Rome Institute of Mythology was: "The mist works in mysterious ways". Someone who had a bird dropping hit them on the head may have asked "Is this even a real bird dropping if this is a vision generated by the mist?" To this, they would have received the same answer with an emphasis on mysterious ways.
"Hey Hank." One eagle rider said to the other "Do you really think that Centurion Steiner's plan to attract more demigods is going to actually work?"
"Well it sure beats me, Larry." The demigod known as Hank replied, taking a sip of his soda "As long as I don't have to dig fortifications for the war-games tonight, I could care less about whether or not it works."
Larry, undeterred by Hank's lack of interest in the subject, carried on.
"I mean, have you seen some of the stuff on here? New recruits will be wondering about my podex on the first day they arrive. That's definitely going to be awkward during the introduction tour; I'll know that everyone will be subconsciously thinking about it as soon as I tell them my name ."
Hank put his sandwich down, unfolded one of the paper airplanes he was supposed to throw, took a look at the form, and groaned.
"They're going to think that I'm obsessed with my shoes. At least they had the tact to hide the podex comment in latin, which very few of the new recruits understand well enough."
" The funny thing is, I don't even remember saying any of this stuff about your shoes-" Larry paused and took out a pair of binoculars "Hank, if you look just past that house with the white car in front, do you see that kid in an orange shirt?"
Hank fumbled for his own binoculars for a bit and couldn't find them.
"Yeah, what about him?" Hank rolled his eyes, deciding to ignore Larry in favor of eating his sandwich. "Last time you saw a pelican fly past you said it was a gorgon; is this kid the minotaur in disguise or something? It looks like he's just shooing away some birds from up here."
"I don't know what he is, but I'm pretty sure he just hit a gorgon with a snack tray."
"Oh come on Larry, what are you going to say next? That he's coming down the hillside riding on a pillow pet?" Hank had stopped looking by this point.
"Well, not exactly, he's actually sledding down on a garbage can lid." Larry put the binoculars in front of Hank.
Hank choked on his sandwich and dropped his drink. Predictably, it spilled all over his shoes.
Several minutes later…
Hank and Larry were looking at the boy through the binoculars again. Hank's lunch and the leaflet distribution assignment lay forgotten on the eagles' backs. Hank had finally found his own pair of binoculars and was looking through them.
"Did he just pick up some random old lady from the side of the road?" Hank took another look. "This guy is definitely crazy. Pass me your bow, I'm going to try to hit one of those gorgons."
Larry took another look at the unknown demigod who had just run into the tunnel guards.
"Nah, it looks like he's doing just fine on his own. We might as well just keep throwing these leaflets out. Last time you used a bow, you managed to make the whole camp think someone was trying to assassinate Praetor Grace."
"Hey! We all agreed on it later that it was an accident and a pretty decent idea for a surprise drill in case the legion starts to get soft."
"It still doesn't change the fact that Reyna issued a decree that banned you from the handling of ranged weapons of any kind within camp borders."
The Mist: A brief summary
by J. Obscura, Warlock 7th class, Archmage of the Irregular Polygons, Professor of Inadvisably applied Magicks, New Rome University.
The mist is the substance that can obscure most mythological things, it acts as a barrier to things too complicated/unimaginable to make sure that mortals don't go insane whenever they look outside. Demigods often have varying degrees of control over the mist, with some easily seeing through it, while others see things in almost exactly the same way as the average mortal. Some of the more unbelievable things are invisible even to demigods (paths through the Labyrinth, your friend being a cyclops, etc.) until they are informed about it. Seeing through the mist also relies on subconscious belief in something, which is found in both demigods and mortals to varying degrees. The funny thing is, some mortals who have only learned the greek myths through bedtime stories often have a stronger subconscious belief than some demigods who have been fighting monsters for their whole lives.
In most myths, a person who has perfect vision through the mist is mortal, female, young, and will probably become the protagonist's love interest; just look at the legend of Theseus and Ariadne. Unfortunately for our cohort, the person able to see through the mist is a male who has received extensive training in the arts of sorcery (though he has done some interesting activities involving crossdressing in the Sea of Monsters). So far, the department can conclude that those who have the natural ability to see through the mist the best would be young children who are somewhat idealistic and have had some preliminary exposure to mythology; this natural ability can be honed if discovered at a young age to make a demigod who will be nearly impossible to deceive with mist manipulation, but this natural ability is nearly useless or has been dulled down by the time a demigod has reached Junior High (It probably has something to do with history classes). Through other tests on animals, we have also found out that cats can see through the mist quite well, though nobody has any idea why this is.
What most people don't know about seeing through the mist though, is that there are certain substances that allow for one to see things for what they are. For example, alcohol and certain hallucinogens will allow one to see through the mist quite well, but no one is quite sure whether they're seeing through the mist or if its just their brain making things up; this method also impairs reflexes and thinking, a serious disadvantage if you're a demigod. Or you can try having exactly one tablespoon of Bacchus' special after-party mixture (made for those God-sized Olympian parties) while sober for nearly the same effect; this mixture only has the undesirable side effects of causing spontaneous combustion if consumed in large amounts, being dangerous to handle without special equipment, and taking your mind into sobriety and through the other side, where the average person is driven insane within five minutes should they be lacking extensive mental training {Note from Octavian 1st cohort: This should be studied for its possibilities in weaponization}. Of course, the Alchemy department of the University is working on new ways for the average demigod to see through the mist, that is when they're not getting hammered (as part of "research") or blowing up their department lab.