To EponymousAnonymous-Thank you, Kate! I try very hard to be sadistic.
To ObsessedwReading- I'm glad you enjoy it. Thank you. I'm working on the next chapter now.
Read And Review
I awoke to my body violently colliding with the floor. I sighed as my cheek rested on the cold marble floor. I could hear the oh-so-familiar chuckle of Apex behind me and I knew this was his fault. I pushed myself up and turned around to face him, thanking any God that was listening that I wore long cotton pyjama trousers with a strap top. That could have been embarrassing.
Apex stood over me, fixing me with the glare and frown combo I'm sure never left his face. Around me at least. "What?" I yawned, rubbing my eyes as I stood up.
"What?!" He repeated in obvious annoyance.
It was when I moved my fist away from my eye that I saw what had caused him to give me a concussion. Birds of many different sizes and colours, ones that weren't even supposed to be in this part of the world, were perched all around the Cabin. On the spare bunks, on the giant statue, in the rafters, a few even perched themselves on Apex, but he whacked them off, muttering words that I'm sure would get his mouth washed out for. I looked at the collection of birds, Macaws, Hawks, Owls, Crows, Ravens, even a Hummingbird, you name it, it was probably here. The only ones that weren't here were Eagles. That being so because I only see Eagles if it's my Father. Checking on me I guess, though I wouldn't know, I've only talked to him twice. Once in a dream when he first claimed me and second, when I visited Olympus on the solstice. The birds all stared at me, waiting for me to make a move. Whether spoken or physical it didn't matter.
Maybe I should explain. Well I got to Camp Half Blood when I was seven and I've been training ever since. I spent most of my free time practicing my powers, so now I can summon a storm cloud without batting an eye. But due to my Godly parent, I have developed the ability to talk to animals that lived in his domain. Like Aden can, along with other children of Poseidon, with any aquatic animal. So, normally, if it has wings, I can talk to it, Except Peacocks, they hate me, for obvious reasons. But on the whole It's cool but can be annoying.
"Get these stupid birds out of my Cabin!" Apex growled.
I rolled my eyes at him, "Why would I do that? They're much better company then who you bring round" This was completely true. Many nights have I gotten back to the Cabin to find it infested with his friends and most of those nights they ended up with something broken, courtesy of me, and I slept in either the Apollo or the Hermes Cabins, a few times I even slept in the forest.
Apex growled, clearly not liking my early morning sass, "You get them out of my Cabin now or me and the boys will be enjoying a spit roast later!" He threatened, gaining a symphony of outraged caws and squawks. I let my eyes wander over the sea of now ruffled feathers and I wasn't shocked to see that some had put up their warning displays and some of the more predatory birds had their talons out and were waiting to see if I allowed them to use them. As tempting as it was, I still had my morals.
I only smiled him, confusing him, he knew I loved my birds, "Go ahead but know this" I said as I picked up some fresh clothes and my wash bag "This spit roast bites back". I headed to the bathroom, taking a slice of satisfaction as Apex shifted away from a hawk uncomfortably, as I went I turned to a white-backed vulture and stroked his feathers gently as I muttered to it so Apex wouldn't hear "If he tries anything, you have my permission to protect yourselves by any means necessary". He nipped at my hand gently as he replied "Thank you, My Lady". I cringed slightly as I walked off to the section of the Cabin I had sectioned off to be able to get changed in privacy, I needed it as Apex's friends were pigs and openly came and went out of the Cabin as they pleased, but what could I do? They couldn't call me Lord could they?. No they could not, as Aden once put it "I'm missing one vital piece of equipment to be able to be referred to as that".
I laughed slightly as I changed. Dark red tank top, pair of shorts and my old combat boots, nothing fancy. Just practicality. I walked out of my sectioned off area, registering the birds had left, and in their stead they'd left a few feathers here and there, and returned my folded up pyjamas under my pillow as I started to remake my bed.
"You're lucky I wasn't hungry" Apex snapped from his bunk, as he tossed a clear glass ball up and down.
I didn't even so much as glance up "You're always hungry".
He caught the ball and glared at me "You know, I'm not a big fan of your attitude".
I scoffed, my hands going to undo the sleep tousled halo braid I had in "The feeling, my incompetent companion, Is most mutual". I brushed my crisp white hair, untangling the few knots and letting it cascade down my back to my waist in loose curls, before I started to put it into one french braid, leaving out my side fringe to sweep across my face.
Apex studied me before a cruel smile worked it's way onto his face "You should really go to the Aphrodite Cabin for advice on your hair colour. It looks like one of your oh so precious birds shat on you".
And yes that was his idea of a good insult. I turned to him, my trademark, mischievous smirk working it's way onto my face "Thanks for the concern but I don't think I'll take fashion advice from a guy who decided to run round camp wearing a purple bra". Apex flushed red with anger. I strode to the door, picking up my bow and quiver as I went before throwing them over my shoulder, as I reached the door I stopped and looked over my shoulder "Oh and if memory serves, I remember it to be your fault my hair colour changed". With that said I left the Cabin and made my way towards the arena.
You see, a few years back, a few campers bet that Apex couldn't summon a storm cloud inside Camp boundaries, due to the barrier that moves rain clouds away from camp. Apex, being the prideful git he is, tried it and he succeeded. But the problem was the idiot was too ill trained to sustain control over it and the storm quickly got out of hand and began shooting bolts of lightning at random. Being the only other Child of Zeus there, after Apex fled, I had to try and get control of it and dial it down. I, being more patient and mentally cut out for it, managed to gain control and kill the storm, but not before I had been hit with a rouge bolt of lightning that had somehow changed my hair colour from it's original ruby red to a snow white. The bolt had also fried my nervous system and for months afterwards I couldn't go anywhere near water, not that I would, or have any physical contact with anyone. Unfortunately Nathan had found that out the hard way. He didn't know about the accident and he went to scare me from behind while I was reading and as soon as he touched me he was electrocuted and sent flying backwards into the wall around the arena. After he came round in the infirmary I had apologised repeatedly and after an explanation of what happened, Nate had gone and punched Apex in the face, which had been cool. I had managed to get the electricity out of my system a few weeks after that. Aden, Will, Nate and I had been on border patrol and a few Empusai had ambushed us and after a hard fight Aden and Nate had been hurt and I took a risky chance and had unleashed all the pent up electricity inside me. I had collapsed out of exhaustion and had woken up in the infirmary two weeks later. Everyone telling me how "Stupid" and "Reckless" I'd been. But hey, It'd saved their lives right?
I turned the corner and my first reaction to what I saw was to tilt my head in confusion. Now I know children of Apollo were supposed to be the best archers around, but Nate was better with a sword, yet here he was, back to his normal skin tone, standing in front of the targets, training bow in hand as he stared down it and towards the targets, where arrows were littered around the target, only a few had actually hit it.
Next, I noticed Aden and Will sparring off to one side, most likely Will trying to get revenge for his hair, even though it was back to it's natural medium brown. Aden had left one of her twin swords by the stands and was using her favorite to knock Will all the way to Olympus and back. I decided to leave them to it. Neither would give up.
I walked up behind Nate, taking pleasure in the fact he hadn't heard me approach. It pays to be light footed. I watched his stance and how he nocked an arrow and pulled it back. It was quite obvious the guy had no idea what he was doing. My point was proved further as he let the arrow fly and it flew over the target and embedded itself into the stone of the wall. He sighed in frustration and loaded another arrow. By now I was only a few metres away from him "You're doing it wrong" I scolded.
As soon as the words left my mouth, Nate spun round and shot an ill aimed arrow at me. "Bollocks!" I threw my self to the ground with a shout and stared over my shoulder as the arrow dug into the sandy floor a small distance away. I turned and glared at Nate, my violet eyes intense.
"Thanks for the assassination attempt." I accused.
Nate held out his hand "It was bound to happen eventually".
I took his hand and let him pull me to my feet "Well then, next time you try, at least be a bit more creative, I would like to die with honour and in a way people will never forget".
He laughed at me "I can arrange that".
I laughed back and my gaze traveled across the arena and to where his arrows had decorated the area around his target. How can a guy who's dad is known for archery be so bad? Nathan saw where I was looking and his laughter faded, "Yeah, I was practising" He said lamely.
I smiled at him, I knew not being able to do something brilliantly was a huge impact to his ego, So I had a plan. I pulled my own bow off of my shoulder, running my hand over her surface. It's name was Creda, it meant faithful, she certainly lived up to her name as she was the first weapon I had received when I got to Camp. She was made of a rare pure white wood (My friend from the Hermes Cabin, Helena, says it's from a tree that grows only on Olympus but you can never trust a child of Hermes) and was embellished with patterns of silver and gold.
I readjusted my quiver on my back and turned to Nate "And practice more you shall".
He only sighed but he knew better then to argue with me, I was stubborn. "Now, square your shoulders so they make a line that points towards the centre of the target" I instructed. He did so, a bit reluctantly though. "Now fire an arrow so I can see what you need to work on".
I watched as he nocked another arrow and shot it, taking in all the details. I know I watched for that earlier but five seconds later I was mimicking an ostrich, trying to get my head in the sand. The arrow hit the ground just before the target.
"See" Nate sighed "I always miss".
"So did I when I started learning"
"No you didn't"
"I know, but I had to be supportive"
Nate rolled his eyes, but he kept his cocky smirk "Of course, so what do I do now?" He gestured to the bow in his hand.
Like that I snapped into training mode "When you pull back the string, use your mouth as an anchor, it gives all the arrows the same power and keep the arm holding the bow slightly relaxed or you'll end up back as a smurf" I pointed out after spotting the forming bruise on the inside of his left arm, he was standing too rigid and the string caught his arm what looked to be numerous times. It hurts, most people do it a few times then adapt their technique to avoid it.
"Alright" Nate pulled another arrow back, following my advice and when he released the arrow, it landed on the outer red ring on the target. Nate's dark green eyes widened and he pulled me into a side hug "Thanks, Thora". I started clawing at his hand, not being a great fan of physical contact after the whole overdose of lightning episode. I saw Nathan give me a look of concern before he let me go and tried to brush it off "So any other advice?".
"Yes, Try, fail. Try again, fail better" I laughed.
Nate sighed in false exasperation, "What is it with you being so difficult?" He placed his training bow down on the stand that was wedged into the ground next to him.
"Like I always say, If you can't bedazzle them with your brains, baffle them with your bullshiit" I giggled.
Nate gasped and prodded me in the ribs, making me emit a high pitched scream that actually managed to make Aden and Will stop fighting and briefly look over in our direction, "No swearing!".
I gave him a look of mock horror "No swearing? There goes most of my vocabulary".
Nate threw his hands up in the air "I give up with you!" He exclaimed.
"I thought you would've given up with her years ago, Gnat" A voice sneered behind us.
Nathan sighed before turning round to face the owner of the voice "It's Nate".
When my eyes landed on the speaker my fingers immediately started itching to put an arrow between the guys eyes.
Kleiss Vanderhart, Son of Hades. At 6"5 he was quite intimidating, adding on his short, almost army cut, black hair, Extremely broad chest, Muscular physique and his cold, dark brown eyes that practically radiate ruthlessness onto other people, he was not someone you wanted to meet in a dark alleyway. He was one of Apex's friends. And also the main reason I had to section off a bit of my Cabin for privacy. I've lost count of the amount of times he's come into my Cabin when he knew I was there and Apex wasn't, just to be a dick. I've also lost count of the amounts of times I've broken his nose when he does.
"Why are you here Kleiss?!" Nate snapped.
Kleiss shrugged and took out an arm length Stygian iron blade and began to play with it."Oh you know, the usual.".
"And that would be?"
Kleiss smirked, something cold and brutal was hidden in it and I felt a shiver go down my spine when I realised it was aimed at me. "Revenge!" He stated.
Suddenly, faster then anyone could blink, Kleiss leapt forward and swung his sword in a wide arch towards me. Now normally, someone would try to block it, or move. And believe me my instincts were screaming at me to Get the hell out of there! But I knew Kleiss' fighting techniques and I knew he liked to toy with his opponent and make them suffer. So with that information in mind, I forced myself to stand stock still.
Like I anticipated, Kleiss stopped the blade right next to my neck, My face gave nothing away but I was having a heart attack inside. Kleiss' smirk fell from his face and he scowled at me.
"Are you done, Kleiss?" I asked pushing his sword away from my neck.
He growled at me taking a step forward "You better watch it, Sparky, or else you're going to get hurt".
Nate made a move to forward but I grabbed his arm "Don't" I warned quietly "He's not worth it".
Kleiss ran his eyes up and down Nate slowly, like a predator, sizing up it's prey before it attacked. Cold and merciless, Kleiss may be, but he was also quite strategic. His brown eyes landed on me once again "Gotcha self a guard dog have you, Sparky?" He barked a laugh and turned to walk away, throwing his sword across his shoulder "You'll need him".
I heard a deep rumbling sound and I thought Mrs O'Leary the Hellhound was about somewhere before I realised it was coming from Nathan.
"I hate him" He growled. Now that didn't surprise me. Most people hated him. But they were also scared of him. And fear is stronger then hate. Nathan had always been protective. But no way near as bad as Zane, but what do you expect from an older brother….That can actually stand to be in the same room as me.
"Aww come on!" I pulled on his arm lightly "He couldn't hurt me. I'm too fast and way smarter. Besides, I have you as my guard dog remember?" I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
He still didn't look too happy "And what if I'm not there?".
I groaned "Then I'll just have all his arse to kick myself!".
"Thora" He said in a warning tone.
"Or Aden can help, Zeus knows she won't leave anything identifiable".
He just looked away, folding his arms over his chest. I nearly whacked him over the head with Creda for being difficult. But I knew what he was worried about. He knew about my rocky relationship with Apex and that Kleiss and him were friends. Nathan was worried Apex and his friends would gang up on me and beat me to a pulp in our secluded Cabin because the closest Cabin belongs to Hera so it's always empty.
"Anyway" I announced, desperately wanting to shift his attention, I pointed to Aden and Will, who had gone back to fighting and didn't seem interested in our scrap with Kleiss "How long have they been fighting?". My strategy seemed to work as he turned to me and that confident smirk worked it's way back onto his face, though his eyes seemed a bit off.
"No idea, They were already at it when I got here about an hour ago, I watched the for a while, I stopped when Aden threatened to castrate him" He finished with a slight shudder.
I laughed "That does sound like something she'd do".
Nathan nodded, his dark hair falling in his face "Unfortunately it does".
I turned my head to face him and laughed at his scared impression before dragging him over to Will and Aden.
Will turned to watch us as we approached, giving Aden an opening to sweep his legs out from under him and point her sword to his face. "Rule one of combat" She pressed it closer, the point scratching his nose "Never look away from your opponent".
I cheered and walked towards her "Nice one, Addy!".
"Thanks" She came towards me and I backed away. Aden raked her fringe out of her face and looked down at herself. Her hair was coming out of the ponytail it was in and bouncing around in wild black curls. Her entire body was damp with sweat, and Will didn't look better, in fact he looked worse, his sweat made the sand stick to him as he got up off the ground.
"I was going easy on you, Ice Queen" Will muttered as he got up.
"Oh what was that?" Aden questioned "It sounds like your dignity up in flames, Dollophead!".
Will charged forward and Aden sidestepped at the last second, sticking her foot out and tripping Will over. He let out an oomph as he landed on his front. We all laughed as he got to his feet and turned to face Aden, taking out his sword he charged again when he saw her cheeky grin.
I sighed and summoned air to push him back down onto the ground "Simmer down hothead" I snickered.
He glared up at me, and I gave him my trademark smirk back.
"Don't make me toast you, Veton" He jested.
"Oh who would want to be toasted? That's so unoriginal. I'd rather be put in a Brazen Bull if I have to die by fire, thank you!" I those of you who don't know, a Brazen Bull is a Greek means of torture, it was made by Perillos, an inventor, He made it for Phalaris, The tyrant of Akragas. Perillos had been expecting a healthy reward in return but instead he had become the Brazen Bulls first victim. It was designed to look like a life size bull. The unlucky victim would be placed inside the hollow stomach of the bull as a fire was lit under it. The heat would eventually suffocate the victim and they would roast by boiling metal. The bull was constructed so that the roasting victim's pained screams would sound like the cry of a bull. It was completely barbaric but I had to admit it was interesting.
Will rolled his eyes at me and opened his mouth to retort but a cry cut out across the arena and we all turned our heads to see where it came from.
"Thora! Thora!".
Helena Norton. Daughter of Hermes and my partner in crime. (Besides Aden). She was running across the arena, her shoulder length, wavy brown hair flying behind her and her green eyes twinkling with excitement.
I waited until she was closer before I bounded up to her, mimicking her enthusiasm "What? What?"
"Zane's back! He's back from his quest!".
My eyes widened and Aden and Will's recently founded bickering died down Immediately "Seriously? I swear to Zeus, Helena, If you're lying".
She shook her head vigorously "I'm not! I'm not! He's down in the pavillion with the rest of his team! They completed the quest! We're having a party to celebrate!".
I think the smile that spread across my face might have broke my cheeks.
Helena Norton Belongs to YAY13
Aden Firestar Belongs to Divergentshadowhunter99