Thank you all for the wonderful support for my SYOC! I just wanna say that there was some problem with that didn't let me read the reviews on the site until only a couple of days ago. Other than that, I thought I'd reply to your awesome long reviews in the chapters, but if you prefer it to be done by PM, just let me know :)
To Magick From Your Heart: I'm really really glad you liked Fairy and the prophecy. As for the other characters, I'd get into more detail as we go along the story :)
To Deadly Animals Are Cute: I really am sorry that your OC isn't in the story. As I've mentioned previously, I've got plenty of good submissions (which definitely included yours) and it was really hard to choose. I still feel really bad for those OCs that I can't use in the story, so I hope you understand. Okay, maybe I'd send a PM to each submitter the next time I decide to write and SYOT. I've no idea that you were actually waiting for a some sort of reply. I'd thought that by sending a reply, it'll be harder to reject OCs that I'm not going to use. Once again, I'm terribly sorry your OC isn't in, and thank you for the compliments :)
To MadnessAndMe: You liked the little competition? Score! Fairy's awesome, thanks to the wonderful author who wrote her. I didn't expect Kai to be the leader either, but after thinking about it, I thought it would be interesting. Thank you for the long review!
To SilverDiamonds: Hehe, you'll never guess what the prophecy means...;)
To HappyAnimalLover: I guess prophecies are always this confusing. There'll definitely be more character development as we go along :) I'm glad you liked and are still reading this even though your OC wasn't picked. Rain was a good submission by the way.
Enjoy!
Kai Lequinte, 18, daughter of Boreas
"I'm going!" a girl shouted quickly from the side. "I can be really useful in a quest. Who knows if you might need some fixing."
I identified that voice to belong to Fairy, and so I turned in her direction. She wasn't exactly hard to miss; you just couldn't miss her unless you were blind. She was really tall. Taller than all the girls in Camp Half-Blood, and taller than a fair few guys of her age. And to top that off, she was well built.
Now, look. I know Fairy is a nice person to hang out with sometimes. She's friendly, cheerful, and always there if you need someone to lighten your mood. But some part of me just felt queasy when she came too near. It wasn't only Fairy that made me feel a little bit shaky. In fact, it was the Hephaestus cabin.
They were children of the god of fires and forges. Just thinking about fire made my knees feel weak. Let's just say fire and I don't get along one bit.
"Um…" I said, clearing my throat.
How was I supposed to put my message across without hurting her feelings? Besides, I saw no need in launching off into a long and painful story about why I hated being near fire. No need to dull the spirits of the campers anyway. There was no need for all the negativity.
"I'm in too!" Nea shouted from the Athena table. "You'll need me to help you in this quest."
I resisted the strong urge to roll my eyes. Has Nea really not seen that we don't work well together? Fine. Maybe it's not her. Maybe it was me all along. But certainly do not appreciate the fact when others insist that their ideas were better, and never hear my own ideas out. Somehow, this applied more to the Athena campers than others.
I didn't really understand Chiron's need to have three campers go on a quest. I liked working alone. It gives me space to make my own decisions.
"What are your thoughts on Fairy and Nea going?" Chiron asked me.
"No." I said. "I don't mind Fairy coming along, but I don't think I can go along that well with Nea."
I sent an apologetic look in direction of the Athena table, especially at Nea. I felt guilty at having to reject her in front of everyone. But this quest was important.
Most of the Athena campers muttered in disapproval. Some of them even patted Nea lightly on the back in sympathy. I tried not to look in their way.
"But if Nea can't come with us on the quest, I won't want to go either." Fairy said quietly.
Ah crap. I wasn't expecting that to happen. They were close friends in camp, so I should have assumed this was going to happen.
Chiron locked his gaze on me, waiting for my verdict.
"Fine. You can come with us, Nea." I said, then turning to Fairy, "For you."
"Good, so now we have three demigods up for the quest." Chiron said to everyone at large, "any objections?"
There was some murmuring as the campers spoke in hushed voices, their eyes darting around to see if anyone had something to say on the matter. Personally, I crossed my fingers, hoping that no one would kick up a fuss.
Five seconds went by, and it seemed like I'd managed to get away with it.
Five more seconds came and went….perhaps it wasn't so bad after all. Having two other demigods on this quest with me to keep my company.
Five more…. I smiled inwardly - but then….
"Hey! Count me and Aden in!" shouted Nile from the Hermes table at the back.
I looked at Nile. I knew him as a friend. He was a pretty nice guy, who shared my hobby of sparring with a sword or in his case, two swords. To put it simpler, he was just a cool person to hang out with. Mischievous leaf-green eyes, long and wavy dirty blonde hair that was tied into a man-bun. And his trademark grin that was always in place everytime I happen to bump into him.
Nile Argall was like a brother to me.
Fun. Always cheerful guy. Pretty much what I am like...or at least try to be like. But that's not important. The thing was: If he wanted to come along, I wasn't going to object.
As for Aden, well… I don't know him much at all. Sure, I'd seen him around sometimes during dinner or the campfire, but I never actually got to talk to him.
You see, there was this one time - about two days after he came to camp - I tried to make some friendly conversation just to break the ice and see how he was fitting in with the rest of us demigods. There we were, standing on the beach and gazing into the sea when I just posed him a simple question.
"If you don't mind me asking, Aden, how did you find your way to the camp?" I said.
He spared me a glance to acknowledge me before fixing his eyes on the horizon.
"Just...came." Aden shrugged.
There it was. Big conversation stopper. I haven't really got to talk to him since.
And right now, if he was volunteering to go on a quest with us, I really had no heart to reject that guy. Maybe from all the time we spent in this quest together, he'd slowly break out of his shell. Maybe we could be friends.
I'd made up my mind pretty quickly. "Okay, you two can come along too."
Nile pumped his fist into the air. "Awesome!" he said.
"Alright, now that you guys are done choosing your pals, it'll be my turn to choose someone." I said.
Surprised at my pronouncement, everyone had their attention back on me. That included Nile, who'd just turned to Aden and ruffled his hair, earning a shove in retaliation from the latter.
Wow, really? As if it was not a normal sight to see the elected leader of the quest choose her own friends to come along with her. Fine, maybe I prefer to work on my own, relying only on my skills and abilities, but that does not mean I love to shove everyone away. I have my own bunch of close friends too.
Just seconds ago, looking at the adorable squabble between Nile and Aden had reminded me of a little conversation I'd had in the training arena last week. Anyway, last week, I was sparring with Marius just to make sure my sword fighting skills were up to scratch - mind you, he's the best person around here who can keep you always on your toes by pulling sneaky little tricks on you. That guy basically had knives stuck in the least expected place around his body and could pull one up on you if you were not carefull.
But that's not the point. The point was, after the sparring, he happened to mention something about wanting to 'go explore a little outside', and 'hopefully be part of a quest soon'. I didn't really know what to say at that time, since quests are not issued all that often. Even if Chiron allowed a couple of campers to go for a quest, there was no saying that you'll be chosen to go along.
All I could say at the moment was to tell him that he'll have a chance eventually and that he just had to be patient.
Now that I was assigned the leader of this quest by Chiron, I could choose my own companions. Maybe I could help him out here. He'd owe me one.
"I'd like Marius to come with me on this quest." I announced.
Everyone hushed. I knew what they must be thinking: Had Kai Lequinte lost her mind for choosing him over every other more worthy person to go for the quest? Marius was a generally nice guy, sure. Funny, the entertainer in the group. But when it comes to serious stuff like this quest? You choose a guy who puts himself first over others? It spells out 'DISASTER' in capital letters.
Marius whooped, but after realising that everyone seemed to be stunned, he said, "What? Is there something on my face? Why does everyone look so shocked?"
That was it. Everyone burst out in laughter, some of them clutching their stomachs as they looked at him. There really was dried Mashed Potatoes stuck to his face from the earlier food fight.
I turned to look at Chiron to see his reaction to my choice, and the centaur gave a curt nod and a small smile. It wasn't a reassuring smile that meant that I'd made a right choice, but at least it meant that Chiron approved of my decision.
"Well, if that's all," Chiron raised his voice to address the campers, "The six questers - Fairy Cooper, Nea Whitley, Nile Argall, Aden Sennett and Marius Evans, led by Kai Lequinte, will get ready and leave for your quest by tonight. You all better get your stuff packed immediately."
I was the first to leave the dining pavilion. If we were going to leave in less than an hour, I wanted to make sure that I had packed all my necessary stuff. However, on the way across the courtyard to the Boreas cabin, Marius caught up with me.
"Hey, Kai, wait up." he said.
I didn't stop walking, but I shortened my strides. "I thought you were the one who told me that you wished you had the chance to go on a quest?"
He jogged a little to keep up with my pace. "Yeah, yeah. So thanks."
I smiled, but in the evening light, I doubt he could see it. "Well, then. You owe me one, Marius."
He humphed but laughed and ran away back to the Aphrodite cabin. Now that he was gone, I too, hastened my steps towards my cabin, located just beside the forest lining. It wasn't much. From the outside, It looked like a normal cabin. A little shabby, made of large rocks that let the wind seep through. It was windier than usual on the inside.
I grabbed my clothes and sweater which I hoped would keep me warm on my nights spent outdoors. I threw my toothbrush, and toiletries into a backpack. Snatched a small water bottle and chucked into the pack too. I thought of bringing a weapon, but decided against it since I could manipulate ice - came along with being a daughter of Boreas - I could literally craft it again when I needed it.
I packed a few squares of ambrosia and a little flask of nectar before zipping up my backpack. Slinging it on one shoulder, I started to walk out of my cabin. But just as I opened the door to my cabin to step out, a small picture caught the corner of my eye. My breath hitched.
I stopped in my tracks and took the framed passport sized photo down from the wall. It was a picture of me about eight years old, with my arms around my little two year old brother Gerald. We were smiling, and one of my hands reached out from the view of the photo as I held the camera in front of us to take a selfie. Gerald had managed to blink his eyes as the photo was taken.
Even as a smile formed on my face from that memory, I felt my heart ache and tears started to well up in my eye, misting up my vision. I held the picture to my chest, not wanting to let go or to forget Gerald. I wished I could just erase the horrific last time I'd seen him. His usual black eyes had been replaced by an eerie strange gold which I later learnt was the sign that someone was possessed by Eidolons.
That night, I'd done something so terrible. That night, I'd discovered my powers to control ice. That night, I'd killed him, along with my abusive mother. That night, was one that I wanted to forget.
I stowed the picture of Gerald and me into my jeans pocket, wiped off the tear tracks on my face, shouldered my backpack, and strode out of my cabin, heading to the entrance of Camp Half-Blood.
Thanks to MadnessAndMe for the creation of Kai! I hope I did a good job writing her.
Please review! Some questions:
1) Thoughts on Kai?
2) Rough thoughts on the brief glimpses of Nile and Aden?
3) Scream yourself hoarse on whatever random thing you wanna scream about? HAHAHAHA!
