A/N: Hi everyone! I'm here with the first chapter of the First Annual CHB Peace Assembly, but I want to say a few things beforehand.
The first being I'm so sorry this took so long to upload! A bunch of things came up and I didn't have a lot of time to write. I don't like excuses, but sometimes they're needed. From now on, this story is top priority.
The second being that not every character appears in the first chapter, which is for two reasons: 1) this was getting excessively long and 2) The introductions were beginning to blend together in a rut of same-ness, so I wanted to give some of them different entrances which will come in the next chapter. I would reccommend that you read this chapter, though, because it has some important points in it :)
That's all, I think. Happy reading!
{{{{{O}}}}}
Chiron gazed out at the campers gathered before him, even the most arrogant of them appearing as if they wanted to sink into the wooden benches and never be seen again. He shook his head gravely. The demigods stayed silent, awaiting their sentence. It had been the third time that week in which "foul play" was at hand among the cabins, and Chiron had just about had it.
On Sunday, it had been a prank from the Hermes cabin on Aphrodite's... delicate children, led by that Maverick boy. Fredrick, was it? The girls had forgotten to lock their doors and regretted it greatly the next morning when they opened their arsenals of make-up to find at least one mascara missing from each. They arrived at activities with bare eyelashes and a thirst for vengeance. Elle White had complained all day.
A fight broke out on Wednesday at the archery grounds. A hunter of Artemis, at Camp Half-Blood for a week-long visit, with a particularly big mouth had insulted an Apollo boy with a particularly fragile ego on his accuracy skills. One thing led to another, and the infirmary had their work cut out for them for the rest of the day.
That afternoon had been the last straw, and Chiron called a meeting with the entire camp after he caught wind of the story. A daughter of Ares with a side-gig as the Scorned Girlfriend of Your Nightmares had dug up every daisy in the Demeter's cabin garden and replanted them in the unlucky guy's trunk, soiling all of his clothes permanently and quite literally.
Add that incident to the past two, and the product was a very unhappy Chiron. A Chiron who was trying his best to be reasonable while still letting these kids know that their behavior would not be tolerated. He cleared his throat and addressed the anxious crowd sitting around the depressed campfire, "As you all know, there has been a series of events over the past week. And do you know what all these events have in common?"
"They could have been avoided if you let us use physical violence to work out our differences!" Someone under the Ares banner shouted.
The campers would have laughed if they weren't about to cry.
Chiron ignored it and continued on, "Well, since you are so quiet tonight, I'll just tell you. They were all vendetta between the cabins. Boys and girls, you are turning on each other! Destroying yourselves from the inside!"
The head counselor from the Athena spoke up gingerly, "Don't you think that's a little... extreme? The cabins have always had their rivalries. That's what makes us want to improve, after all."
"Capture the Flag is a rivalry. This is down-right brutal," The centaur said, "You all need to stop focusing on your war training and take some time to find a little bit of peace!"
The demigods chattered among themselves nervously. Peace? At Camp Half-Blood? Impossible.
He waited for the din to die down, then said, "That's why we've decided to take action immediately. I'm sure you have all heard of the Old House, correct?"
The Old House was a property in Findley, New York purchased by the camp and protected by the Mist during a particularly crowded era. The seven-bedroom mansion situated on the shore of a fresh-water lake and surrounded by an evergreen landscape housed the "over-flow campers" for a few years, but had been empty ever since. It had come to be known simply as the "Old House" for obvious reasons. The throng of demigods murmured in confusion. What did the Findley house have to do with any of this? They nodded, nonetheless.
"We won't all fit in that house, Chiron." The Hermes cabin head counselor shouted out, gesturing to the pack of demigods around him. "How are you planning on doing this?"
"You're right, there isn't enough room for all of you. Which is we've decided to commence the First Annual Camp Half-Blood Peace Assembly." The camp administrator explained, "In the spirit of solitude, each cabin will elect one camper to represent them at the Assembly, with an additional two from the minor gods' cabins. These representatives will then be brought to the Old House and, without argument, will live with their fellow demigods for the next month, learning to appreciate each other's unique talents and differences."
A mixture of shock and outrage broke out in the benches. This was unheard of. Living in close quarters with what would most likely be complete strangers, and even more likely would be the one's polar opposites. The campers whispered and conversed between each other, already scanning their groups for which of them they would want to get rid of for an entire month.
Chiron raised a hand to silence them, "You will have the night to pick your representative. No appointing yourself, and the head counselors must see to it that a fair vote is taken. Representatives will meet at the Big House with their belongings and first thing tomorrow morning. Now, back to your cabins."
As soon as he finished explaining, the cabins resumed their anxious chatter, sure that this was going to be quite the interesting month for ten among them.
{{{{{O}}}}}
Cabin Four was surprisingly peaceful after its members had watered the flower boxes outside the windows, given the tulips one last dash of fertilizer, and changed into their pajamas. They sat in a circle in the main room of the cabin, looking around at each other and trying to decide which Demeter child would be the least likely to seek vengeance should they be chosen.
Katie Gardner cleared her throat, "Well, this is certainly unexpected. But we still have to pick someone, so... any volunteers?"
No hands were raised.
Poppy Mason peered at her half-siblings from her place at the far end of the circle. She fiddled with the drawstring of her shorts, nervous that she was a candidate. A fear that Poppy deemed unreasonable. Sure, these people knew her, but they definitely weren't about to offer her up. She might as well have been invisible. For once it was working to her advantage.
"Come on, guys. Someone has to do it." Katie said in response to the silence.
"So why not you, Katie?" A boy seated a few spaces away from Poppy questioned.
The head counselor sighed, "I have to tend to that mess that the Stolls made in the spice garden. Besides, someone has to watch over all of you. We all know that this would be in shambles when I came back if I did disappear for a month."
It went around for another few minutes, each camper giving their excuse as to why they weren't up for the job. Poppy grew ever more aware that she didn't exactly have one. Not a substantial one, at least. She tilted her gaze up, only to see Katie looking right at her, her eyes hopeful, "Poppy?"
The Mason girl took a deep breath. A whole month living in a secluded house with nine other campers, essentially strangers. Not an activity she would have done back home. Then again, most of the things she participated in at camp fell under the category of "Irregular", even "Semi-illegal." And clearly it was her or no one. "Fine."
"Great," Katie grinned and rose to her feet. Her fellow Demeter children followed suit, dispersing to their bunks to retire for the night. She placed a light hand on Poppy's shoulder, "Thanks for doing this. I think you'll do a great job with this slightly inconvenient and relatively abrupt little project."
"Yeah, well..." Poppy shrugged in response, walking with the head counselor to the sleeping area, "It's nothing."
"And think about it," added Katie, "The Old House is in the middle of a deciduous forest. There's bound to be A+ soil everywhere you turn."
Poppy laughed slightly, "I'll be sure to take some samples."
"That's the spirit." The older girl said before saying goodnight and heading off to her bed.
With a resigned sigh, Poppy did the same. She slipped into her sheets for the last time until a month later. That is, if she survived the ordeal.
{{{{{O}}}}}
Cabin Six wasn't quite so fortunate in the whole "peace" department. The Ares children weren't thrilled with the concept in general, and their voting methods weren't nearly as civilized as that of the Demeter kids'. Clarisse La Rue was shouting at her campers, who were rushing around participating in a high-volume Blame Game, in a voice reserved for war-time, "People, can we just get this voting over and done with?!"
No response.
She rolled her eyes and inserted two fingers into her mouth, blowing a piercing whistle through the layer of white noise. The younger Ares children turned to their counselor impatiently, "Now, this is going to be done the easy way, because I'll probably get thrown out of camp for doing it the hard way. Everyone sit down."
Everyone sat down. Nathan Hawthorne leaned against a pillar nearby, maybe a bit too sure of his secure position.
"Okay, here's how this is going to work," Clarisse announced, "We're going to vote in a calm manner or I will not hesitate to obliterate anyone who opposes."
Nathan scoffed without thinking, and realized his mistake as soon as the head counselor's eyes landed on him and narrowed, "You think this is funny, Hawthorne?" She demanded.
"Well, I mean, yeah," The son of Ares said with a roll of his eyes, his light Australian accent lining his words, "The fact that you think this whole "peace assembly" thing is for real is ridiculous."
"Are you saying you don't think they'll go through with it?" A younger camper questioned. Nathan had the whole cabin's attention now, which he didn't mind one bit.
He laughed briefly, "Of course not. It's just a threat to get us to tolerate each other. There's no way they'll actually make ten campers live together like that. Half of them will come back in body bags."
Mark spoke up, "If you're so sure, why don't you go then?"
Nathan scanned the faces of his siblings for something that could have shown they were on his side. But the only thing he saw were challenging smirks. His confidence faltered slightly when he realized they believed every word of the Peace Assembly propaganda. Determined to let himself waiver, Nathan shrugged, "Sure. Why not? I'll play along."
"It's settled then," Clarisse said with finality, "Nathan is going to represent the rest of us at the Week in Tartarus," The Ares children dispersed and began readying themselves for bed. She kept her eyes trained on her brother as she made her way over to him, "You sure about this?"
"Clarisse," Nathan said, "I'm going to be fine. That is, if this thing even happens."
"It will." The eldest of the family nodded gravely, repeating it once more for good measure, "It will." With that, she turned and went to her bunk, settling in for the night.
As Nathan did the same, his certainty faded. What if they were honest about the situation? He had to admit the animosity was at an all-time high. Just like that old cliche went: Desperate times call for desperate measures. And this sure was desperate.
Who knows? he thought to himself, Maybe it will be a good time; watching these other kids go at it for a whole month. It could be interesting.
Little did Nathan know, it would be the most interesting month in his life.
{{{{{O}}}}}
The Athena cabin, never wanting to be anything less than painstakingly efficient, opted to do a written ballot. Using index cards scraped up from around Cabin Six and an old shoebox found under a bunk, Annabeth Chase told her campers to write one name of whom they believe would make the best representative. "Choose wisely," She advised her siblings, clicking a pen to make her own vote.
Emmie Clarke tapped her pencil against the desk she was writing on and rolled the thought around in her busy mind. A peace assembly, she thought as she tucked a strand of auburn hair behind her ear. Could be beneficial. You know what they say... close quarters bring people together. And all the aggression really has been pretty irritating.
She glanced around the cabin. A few of the others had already finished writing and were folding their slips into precise creases. She spotted one of her half-sisters carefully transforming her card into an origami bird. Emmie chuckled slightly and looked back down to her own. Would it be wrong to vote for herself? It wasn't that she considered herself excellently fitted for the job, but she did think it would be a new experience. She was a people person to a fault.
Would anyone even find out? After all, it was anonymous.
As more and more campers began ambling over to the box and dropping their papers in, Emmie scribbled down "Emmy", misspelling her name on purpose to decrease suspicion of self-voting. She hastily placed it in the shoe box and ambled over to sit down with the rest of her siblings.
Annabeth checked to make sure all votes had been casted, before picking up the box and raising off the lid. With all eyes on her, she carefully read the slips one-by-one, showing no expression throughout the process. The tension in the room could have been cut with a knife.
She cleared her throat at last, with the final index card in her hand, "Well, it seems we have a landslide win for-" The head counselor's gray eyes landed on... "Emmie Clarke."
Emmie felt a mile-wide smile break onto her face, "Really?"
"Yes. Everyone voted for Emmie," Annabeth said with a sigh, "Even Emmie." The blond rubbed her temples resignedly. The Cabin Six campers knew their counselor practically held the world on her shoulders, and the effects of her stress were revealing themselves. They could tell she was relieved it wasn't her own name that won out.
That night, as Emmie lay on her bunk, her eyes were wide open with excitement. Of course, she wasn't very surprised by her nomination. Though she tends to be quite modest, there was denying she had a circle of friends that could wrap around the surface of the moon twice. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration. But the point was true.
Still, that wouldn't stop her from being excited. The First Annual Peace Assembly. This could make history! And there was only one thing an Athena child liked more than history itself, and that would be making it.
{{{{{O}}}}}
Guitars can be really loud when you want them to be. They can also be mellow and smooth, but at the moment, Will Solace was fighting fire with fire. Or, in this case, fighting noise with more noise. The head counselor of Cabin Seven had given up on using vocal commands and had simply reached into his case and brought out the instrument. He calmly positioned his fingers in preparation for a E-minor chord and strummed. The sound resonated through out the cabin perfectly, blanketing the din with a clear note.
Any surplus noise died down soon after. Will smiled to himself and addressed the other campers, "Well, now that I have your attention, we have some important business to take care of."
The Apollo children knew exactly what he meant, and once again launched into a debate thirteen voices strong. Some suggested a random drawing or a vote, other's weren't as civilized.
"I say Justin should go." One of them suggested, in a tone that was less than friendly, "He's the one who got us in this mess, after all."
"She kept insulting my archery skills!" Justin argued.
"So you shot her with an arrow?!" A girl added.
"Well... yeah." Justin shrugged.
Will cut in, "Considering what happened recently, I don't think it would be a great idea to send Justin. Any volunteers?"
Waverly Braxton stood toward the back of the gathering, fiddling with his shark tooth necklace anxiously. He didn't like conflict, and this whole Peace Assembly seemed to be injecting quite a lot of it into the usually relatively relaxed Apollo Cabin. He thought the idea was pretty good, and stemmed from the universal truth that when you're forced to be with someone, you learn to tolerate them. Maybe you even learn to enjoy them. Innocent concept. Somehow it had resulted in this.
Waverly, being the person he was, was thinking about the ocean. He wanted nothing more than to leave this big, stressful discussion behind and hit the waves. Even if the sun was faded and the tide was particularly choppy at the moment. The worst day surfing is still better than this accusation-fest. The sport was practically his life, seeing as he was essentially a celebrity internationally ranked in surfing competitions. All he wanted at the moment was to get his board and just ride until he could find his peace of mind.
Alas, that wasn't possible at the moment. He would need to take action or the augments would go on all night.
You know what they say: If you want something done right, do it yourself.
"I'll go." Waverly spoke up. All eyes turned toward him, but no one objected.
Will shrugged and said, "Okay, Wave will go."
With that decided, the demigods expressed their gratitude ("thanks for taking one for the team"), although the newly-minted representative wasn't exactly sure why his fellow campers were so reluctant. It couldn't be that bad. A Peace Assembly might actually end up being pretty interesting. Apparently the Old House was on the water, so Waverly could get some water time in. He didn't get much of that at Camp Half Blood, that was for sure.
What's the worst that could happen? Waverly thought as he packed his trunk later that night. Maybe you'll even meet a nice girl and start something.
Oh, he'll meet a girl, all right, just not the variety he had in mind.
{{{{{O}}}}}
"This," Nyssa patted the contraption beside her lovingly, "Is the Randomized Selection Machine. Prototype number one, of course."
The Hephaestus gathered in their cabin listened contemplatively. After the campfire, they had trudged back to their dwelling and started discussing how the choosing of their representative should be done. They settled on using the one thing each of them trusted: their technology.
Although, perhaps the creaky Bingo roller in front of them couldn't be categorized as "technology." The Randomized Selection Machine, Prototype Number 1, which had been scraped up and put together using excess materials and a bird cage, looked like it belonged in a nursing home recreation room. "It's the best I could do in twenty minutes, okay?" Nyssa had said when one of the Hephaestus children brought that point to her attention.
"Everyone write your name on one of these," She handed out paper to each of the demigods and after coming across a particularly prank-prone girl, added, "Your name, Renay."
Renay snickered slightly before flipping her pencil over to the eraser side.
Marcus Cutler fidgeted with the card, glancing around at his siblings who were busy doing what he should have been doing, too. To say he was nervous would have been an understatement. Being thrown together with nine strangers wasn't what Marcus would call a good time. He would prefer staying at camp with his siblings, working in the forges or maybe even making this Selection thing acceptable. Why couldn't they just vote like the other cabins? He certainly would have been safe with that option. Marcus was the quietest and most reserved person there.
But perhaps that was needed. After all, did it make much sense to send one the hyper-active Hephaestus kids to an operation aiming for peace?
He finally scribed his name and folded up the slip, dropping it into the opening on the top of the R.S.M. Who was he kidding? He wasn't going to get picked. What were the odds, anyway? One-in-fifteen?
Nyssa checked to see that all campers were entered, then closed the lid of the machine. She gripped its handle and began rotating it, sending the little white papers fluttering about in the steel-cage holding tank. They spun and spun while the Cabin 9 residents stood by and watched.
Nyssa slowly made it come to a halt and cleared her throat. She pushed a button near the bottom of the machine, dispensing a single slip into a tray jutting out from the body of the R.M.S. The brunette reached down and took it between her fingers, unfolding it carefully. "And the representative is..." Her eyes swept across the writing before she announced, "Marcus Cutler."
Marcus's eyes widened as those of his siblings trained on him. He looked around for a moment, "Me?"
"You, Marcus." Nyssa nodded, beginning to dump the surplus entries from the cage absent mindedly. Clearly, she wasn't as alarmed as Marcus.
He couldn't be the representative! Representatives were supposed to be noble and have, well, leadership skills! He was just a quiet kid who could draw up a pretty killer blue-print.
You're peaceful. Marcus thought to himself after his small panic had settled. Trust yourself that you can do this.
He sighed. Trust wasn't his strong suit. He tended to place it in the wrong people, resulting in disaster.
But if there was one thing he was going to learn through the experience, it would be that if there's only one person you decide to trust: let it be you.
{{{{{O}}}}}
"I never thought I'd say this," Drew Tanaka crossed her arms over her chest and tipped her nose to be sufficiently high in the air, "But I refuse to take the attention this time."
"Well, none of us want to do it." Lacy pointed out.
"And I don't want to have to deal with you little ingrates. Looks like we're all a bit unhappy." The head counselor smiled a saccharine smirk, and continued, "So, as for this Peace Assembly nonsense, I, for one, think it's no place for an Aphrodite child. We're the most peaceful cabin around," She walked up and down the aisle in the area of the cabin the Aphrodite kids were gathered. They lounged on their bunks and stood among the trunks, rolling their eyes frequently. Drew tried to rally them to share her opinion, "I mean, come on. Our mother is the goddess of love, of all things. Love and peace are pretty much interchangeable, so-"
Noelle White scoffed loudly from her place perched on her bed, twirling a strand of raven hair between her fingers and looking bored. Drew's brown eyes narrowed at her blue ones, stopping the oldest Cabin 10 member's monolog. Elle's challenging gaze never faltered, even when Drew began click-clacking in her five-inch heels over to her. "Is something funny, Noelle?"
"Yes, actually." Elle straightened her posture and cleared her throat, "It's funny the amount of crap we all take for being in this cabin, yet we all act like that." She flicked her hand toward the space where Drew had been lecturing.
Her siblings' eyes seemed to flash with agreement, but none of them cut into the face-off. When Elle and Drew battle, no one dares to interfere.
Drew threw her head back and laughed, "Ah, I see Little Miss Tyrant is at it again. Interesting you would say that when the word around camp is that the stereotype is all thanks to you."
Elle huffed and gritted her teeth, knowing that if she pushed it any further she would be digging her own grave. Drew's words were remarkably true. Yes, Noelle she wanted to do away with the weak Aphrodite child image, but she was no better than the rest of him. She was just as girly, flirtatious, and vain. The thought was bitter in her mind. She pushed it away as the head counselor began to walk away."So. Let's get to voting."
"I vote Elle." Lacy announced before the official process had even begun.
A few other campers muttered their agreement.
"Seriously?" Noelle said over their words. They silenced and looked to her.
"Seriously, Noelle." Drew nodded. She directed her attention to her campers, "Is the decision unanimous?"
No one objected.
Elle glanced at the boys in Cabin 10, some of her only friends. All of them merely looked at her with an expression that could have been apologetic but certainly not for the right reasons. It was only a barely perceivable shake of her head that she offered them in return. The newly elected representative then sighed and rose from her cot, crossing her arms, "Fine, if that's how it's going to be, I'll go," She wiped the hurt from her heart and began striding to the bathroom to gather up her things.
When she reached the counter, she looked at herself in the mirror, deciding she wouldn't let this Peace Assembly change her, which was assumedly the point of the whole thing. There was no way Elle would come back at the end of the month and begin preaching to her siblings about the importance of civility and unity at camp. She'd seen Cabin 10 girls go soft and it never ended well. Noelle White can't change.
Unless someone changes her.
{{{{{O}}}}}
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it!
As for the character authors, I am so sorry if your demigod was a bit OOC or not as delved into as you would have liked. I had to move pretty quickly with their introductions, but I will definitely expand on your characters further in the next chapters. I had so much fun writing this, and your submissions are working perfectly! Also, I did end up using some of your submissions that weren't chosen as minor characters, which I'm happy about :D
See you in two weeks!