Rey sat in the Hermes cabin after the campfire. He was constantly given looks from people who thought he wasn't looking or that he didn't notice. The main question on all his "Cabin-mates" mind was: "Why hasn't he left yet?"
The answer was simple: he was waiting. Observing to be precise. He was curious as to how everything would change in a matter of minutes. The people who thought they were leaders of the cabin ignored him, no more teasing. Just a silent agreement of begrudging respect.
After about what felt like 5 minutes, but in reality was 5 seconds, he grabbed his backpack and walked out of Cabin 11 after a heartfelt goodbye from Travis and Conner, sights set on Cabin 1. His cabin was lonely oddly enough. It seemed the big man, Zeus, didn't have much time on his hands to make more children.
Rey invested his time in anime as crazy as it sounds, he couldn't find creative ways to use his newly found powers. He could barely control it when he was calm, he had a plan. Agius was a part of that plan. His cousin! Agius was powerful, Rey could tell from a mile away. He was just oblivious, Rey had to either be an equal or better, he finally felt like he might be able to trust someone after so many years.
The Anime he'd been..studying for lack of a better term was very well known Naruto. However the character that possessed the lightning power, or nature, was nothing like Rey, his attitude conflicted with Rey's heavily and while they both had goals, they were very different types of goals. Rey was never top tier in any of his classes like Sasuke was.
He wasn't cool, the only similar thing the two had was confidence. Rey invested his entire night watching how the character controlled the lightning in his hands. By the end of the night, he had an idea, it didn't quite feel original. Some child of Zeus just had to have thought of this before him, he couldn't have been the first.
The plan was for him to be able to manipulate lightning to the point that if a lightning bolt fell he could teleport there. He knew full well that would take a while, so he simply stared at himself in the mirror and tried to flex his control over his father's domain. He concentrated solely on lightning, that's all that ran through his mind. Eventually, he passed out from the strain of the amount of concentration he was exerting, but he had managed a small spark that briefly illuminated his cabin.
It was noticeable the morning after, that he had not gotten sleep from the bags under his eyes. Along with the small tendrils of lightning sparking in his palm that vaguely resembled an orb.
The most it could do was power a charger or something, but he didn't mind in the slightest, it was a start at least. He caught up with Agius afterward, however, when one did not get any sleep and the only thing on one's mind is Agius, well everyone looks like Agius, Rey talked to basically half the camp before actually talking to him.
When he finally did, the conversation wasn't smooth or interesting or nearly at all as cool as he would've liked. Instead, Rey said, "Look Age! I can make a ball! Can you make a ball? I think not." He then promptly collapsed in his arms.
Agius blinked hard, utterly confused, "Erm…are you okay?" he questioned, cautiously poking and prodding the boy with a dull stick he found after slowly setting Rey down, noticing the boy was out cold he began to drag him out to the sand surrounding the lake so he'd have access to a source of water, once close enough to smell and see the lake, he set Rey down once more and raised his left hand concentrating.
Sunniva had told him he could control water, so it was time to put that to the test, he focused hard on the water, trying to will the waves to him, a slight barely felt pull at his mind was the only indication he'd even actually moved it. Agius sighed before he walked forward and stepped into the water, once he made contact with it his sea-green eyes shone slightly brighter, he felt around his connection to the "sea" and once he had a good feel of it he stepped out of the water.
Agius took a deep breath, exhaled and focused on the lake again, left hand outstretched, focusing on the image of some of the water flowing out of the lake and towards him. There was a slight tug in his stomach and a tendril of water moved towards him, forming into an orb that he struggled to keep suspended in the air,
he made it hover over Rey's face before relinquishing his control over the ball of water making it drench the sleeping boy; who shot up like a rocket wide awake sputtering. "Welcome back sleeping Beauty, so why'd you pass out like that?" Agius said with a grin crouched next to the sputtering boy.
Rey woke up seeing his newest...friend? Rival? Time will tell. He stared at his friend and stood. With a fire in his eyes he thanked his rival then whipped out his staff by clicking the lightning emblemed compus, he had trained the entire night to the point of passing out from exhaustion, for this very moment.
A simple five letter word that he zeroed in on, a simple word that spiraled through his mind, "Rival". He stared at Agius for what seemed like 3 minutes, before Agius got the message and stood up fully. The two exchanged a smile, then it all began.
Agius' hand flew to his pendant and tugged, his black, bronze lined xiphos sprung to life in his grip. Rey spun his staff in his hand quickly, subconsciously using his father's sky domain; causing a wind to pick up, a wind that seemingly originating from the celestial bronze staff.
With something akin to a grunt or muffled roar, he swung down on Agius; deceptively fast for the diameter of the quarterstaff, Agius' sword came up as a slight blur that deflected the staff away with a sort of 'clang' that only clashing metal could produce.
This went on for a while, their little dance of wild staff swings that were blocked and deflected, until Agius decided to switch up the tempo, spinning wildly he began hacking and slashing away at his cousin, who was forced to twist and contort his arms and body in odd ways to fully block the flurry of blade slashes.
Agius continued his assault on Rey, as merciless and relentless as crashing waves. Rey being put on the defensive decided he'd up the ante he called forth more of his father's domain and immediately felt a tug in his stomach before sparks began to flow through his staff,
he roughly kicked Agius back sending the boy tumbling before he concentrated and roared out as the light tug grew to a painful burn, a bolt of white-hot bluish lightning shot forward, rushing towards Agius, who rolled out of the way just before the bolt struck. The lightning fizzled out after leaving the boy's hand and the sand where it hit was blackened and burned.
Panting Rey grinned victoriously at finally managing a lightning bolt, regardless of how drained he felt, Agius feeling challenged looked towards the lake and definitely turned back to his older cousin, "'I see Zeus' lightning is as deadly as I've read about, but…"
He trailed off, sea green eyes gleaming in the sunlight as the waves began to churn and crash violently against the shore, "You chose to fight the sea god's son next to a lake, and well that wasn't too bright, so let me show you…" He started once more as the tug in his stomach grew to painful levels, causing him to sweat slightly as he grit his teeth and began calling on his father's domain more and more, the water rising out of lake forming a mass of water that seemed too small to a Tsunami but too large to be truly classified as a normal wave, behind him.
"Just why that was a bad idea." He thrust his right hand forward, as his left gripped his sword, it's blade long having been stabbed into the sand to keep him upright, the water rushed forward at his command crashing into Rey, sending him back rolling a few dozen feet before the water receded back into the confines of the lake bed,
Agius fell to his knees, his hands being the only thing keeping him from a face full of sand. He panted heavily, sweat dripping from his face and sinking into the sand. "I-I did it!, I beat you, Rey." He said between breaths as the pain in his gut slowly ebbed away into nothingness. He promptly fell face first into the sand, losing consciousness nearly immediately, not being coherent enough to feel the water slowly pull him in, drawing him beneath its depths. He never noticed the brown cloaked figure who willed the water to cover him, nor did he notice the smell of sea breeze as the figure vanished seemingly into thin air.
Sunniva woke up, excited to hang out with Agius today. At the foot of her bed was a trunk that had all of her clothes and necessities. She pulled out a bikini and walked into the bathroom. The bikini was purple; the top had a little bow in the middle and the bottoms had a bow on each side of her hips.
She smiled as she brushed her hair, putting it up into a high ponytail, thinking about how long it's been since she went swimming. Happy with what she was wearing, she grabbed a towel and a little pink sundress that she put over her bathing suit and headed out to find Agius. She didn't think much as she walked from her cabin to the woods.
Just enjoying how nice it was. The temperature was perfect, the birds were singing. She said hello to some tree spirits and they waved back. Sunniva was in such a good mood when she was by the lake. She laid out her towel on the ground, taking off the dress before laying down on the towel. She closed her eyes, letting the warmth of the sun hit her body and face as she waited for Agius.
Agius' eyes fluttered open as he looked around confused, before he quickly deduced he was underwater, 'This is becoming a way too familiar feeling, passing out and waking up at the bottom of the lake.' He thought out bemused, he stretched out, his movements disturbing the water causing fish to scatter, "Sorry guys."
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes fully, and kicked off the bottom of the lake, swimming towards the surface. Agius slowly walked out of the water reluctant to feel that feeling of home and comfort leave him, he stopped when he saw Sunniva laying on the sand with a swimsuit on, he was severely confused before it hit him, "RIGHT!, we're swimming today." He exclaimed
Sunniva's eyes shot open and she jumped up, reaching for her bracelet before she realized who it was. "Oh… hey Agius, glad to see it was you." She started blushing but turned her head away before he could see.
Agius blinked at her slightly confused before he shook his head, "Yeah I forgot we were doing this, I just woke up in the lake, anywho I don't wanna keep you waiting any longer than I have so I'll just take off my shirt and swim in my jeans." He said stripping out of his long-sleeved variation of the camp shirt, placing it on one of the larger rocks protruding from the sand. "Ready!" He said with a grin.
Sunniva looked at him as he took off his shirt and began blushing more. She then looked down at what she was wearing and blushed way more than she thought possible and wrapped her arms around herself. "Y-Yeah I'm ready too."
Agius walked towards the water, motioning for her to follow. He stepped into the water and immediately dunked. Sunniva looked at Agius dunk into the water jumped in after him. She closed her eyes as the water enveloped her. She always secretly loved the water, always visiting the lake after archery practice. But for some reason, she hasn't swum in quite a while. It was great to be back in the water.
Sunniva looked around for Agius and upon finding him, she swam over and waved at him. Agius dived under, resurfacing next to her seconds later before they both dived down and a thought occurred to him "Y'know surprised you can be in a source of water this big without any problems, I guess Dad's hate/warning only stems to Zeus' children?"
She looked at him and pointed to her mouth, quietly showing him, she's unable to speak underwater like he can.
"Ohh right." He swam up, and once above the water he re-asked his question.
"I'm not sure. I mean I don't think so. It's never been a problem for me, I've been swimming in this lake for years. I love the water. Even some of the fish swim up to me. It's quite nice." She smiled at him and gave a little shrug.
"That's great! speaking of...I have an idea but don't freak out of it works though, okay?" He asked gently.
"Um, okay…" she said curious and a little bit unsure. He silently prayed to his father, 'I don't know if you're listening, Dad, but...can I get a sea creature? Doesn't matter what it is.' For a few moments, nothing occurred and Agius looked disappointed until a dorsal fin pierced the water a few dozen feet in front of them and began slowly making cutting its way through the water towards the pair. She squeaked really loudly and moved back a little.
"I-is that… o-oh god…" She tried to stay calm in front of her friend but that was really hard to do. And honestly? She was screaming inside.
Agius slowly swam in front of Sunniva, just as the dorsal fin came to a stop. The creature it belonged to rose slightly out of the water revealing tough gray skin with a white underbelly, a Great White Shark. Agius unsure of what to do simply placed his hand on the creature head; expecting some sort of volatile reaction he braced himself; only to be utterly shocked when a sort of purring sound resonated in his mind, 'Sire sends his regards Milord.'
Hearing his father had sent his greetings nearly made Agius choke on happiness but he managed to keep his composure and managed to choke out a meek "T-tell him thank you," to the aquatic creature before he guided it over to the slightly shaking Sunniva, "Sunniva this is my new friend, he says hello."
She squeaked again and shakily raised her hand in a wave, managing only a "H-Hello." The shark gently nudged her and then dipped forward into the water in front of Agius as a sort of pseudo bow, before finally turning and swimming out of the lake and into open water.
Agius smiled at the retreating shark before he turned back to Sunniva with a grin in place, "So, how was your first shark meeting?" Sunniva gave him a nervous laugh before replying. "That was honestly the terrifying thing I've ever had to do." She gave him another nervous laugh,
"Yeah, I can see how I was kinda scared he was going to bite me at first." He conceded looking slightly bashful as he sank further into the water, leaving only the top half of his face exposed.
"Aw, is Shark Boy feeling embarrassed and blushing?" She asked mockingly.
He rose out of the water slightly "S-shut up lightbulb."
She giggled and dived under, swimming as fast and as far as she could. Agius grinned and took off after her like a rocket, his sea-green eyes gleaming. She turned her head back for a quick second and saw Agius quickly advancing. She tried to speed up but she knew he would soon catch her. She turned back and saw the water behind her distinctly missing a certain raven-haired son of Poseidon, 'oh no.'
Agius appeared in front of her blocking her path, "Hiya, where'd ya think you were going?" She stuck out her tongue before swimming up to the surface. Once Agius swam up as well, she said, a little out of breath,
"That was so fun!"
Agius grinned at her, sea green eyes sparkling "Yup, it feels so natural here; anyway time to get out, you're pruning." His eyes darkened as his inner thoughts took a less than positive turn, 'And besides, I've got to start training for that prophecy.'