I'm back again!
Fanus Obscurus- Thanks for pointing that out! I'm not a weapons nut, but I'm pretty sure it just says she releases it, so I'm not gonna change it. And I never thought about the arrows exploding… I might include that later in this story! Great point! (No pun intended.)
Featherflower: That sounds just like you!
Hobbitfangirl: I'm glad you like it!
I don't own anything but plot and more OCs who are just kinda there as other demigods. Yay! (Sarcastic much, Spirit? Wait, why am I talking to myself in a story again? Oh, yeah, I'm a Fanfiction writer. Duh.) Oh, and the Latin word pestem actually only means bane. But references must be made!
Rythian Pov
I was the last one dropped off at my cabin. The Hecate cabin was made of stone bricks with strange runes inscribed on them. Chiron left right away, saying he had to go help a few campers sort out an argument. Great, this place had infighting. I lifted my plain black suitcase and immediately noticed the one other person for this cabin.
She sat on the small front porch of the cabin, reading small black leather bound book as she balanced on the railing with ease. Her hair was dark brown, almost black, with navy and purple streaks. Her skin was quite tanned and her bright green eyes flitted quickly over the book. She wore black shorts and a navy t-shirt, which should have been way too hot in the sun, and she was the same age as me. She didn't look like a relative of mine, but I shrugged that aside as she wrote something down quickly in her book and came towards me.
"You're the new Hecate camper?" She asked me. I nodded.
"My name's Rythian. You're counselor for this cabin, right?" I ask.
"My name's Renara. We're the only people in this cabin right now. Come on in." She said, leading me in. I paused for a moment to look at the cabin's decorations on the outside. A set of double torches rested on either side of the door, which was engraved with a key, a dog, a polecat, and a frog. I'd forgotten about frogs being the third sacred animal of Hecate. A dagger and a rope were engraved in similar fashion on either side of the door. Inside, a dozen bunk beds were filling half the cabin. One was covered in books and sheets of paper which I assumed to be Renara's bunk. The other part of the room was full of cabinets, shelves full of books, scrolls and glass vials of strange liquids. A few desks sat against the wall. A large painting of crossroads hung on the wall. Weapons filled a corner of the room.
"Take any of the bunks on the left side as you want. That's the boy's side. Try and keep it clean, because we have a cabin inspection every morning." She said, going to her bunk.
I didn't argue. I could tell she was probably used to being alone. Like me, actually. I wondered how Zoeya and Teep were in the Hermes cabin. I hoped no one would tease them about Teep's hoodie or Zoeya's toy mushrooms. Or else they would pay badly.
"What's your shirt size? Because you'll get a free Camp Half-blood shirt sometime in the next couple of days, once I tell them what size." Renara said suddenly. I looked up from my unpacking.
"Adult small normally fits me. And if I'm going to go in that Capture the flag game thing tonight, don't I need a weapon?" I ask. Renara started.
"Oh, yeah. We can pick one now, if you want. All we have for our cabin is that pile in the corner, all of which are magic. We're allied with the Athena cabin tonight." She hopped of her bunk and went over to aforementioned pile. I followed.
"Let's see. Swords are most common, and we have quite a few. No spears, a dagger, three sets of bows and arrows…" She trailed off, gazing thoughtfully at the pile. "Try that sword."
I looked at the sword she was pointing at. Unlike the other swords, which all appeared to be bronze, this one was silver. It also glimmered dark purple around the blade. Simple leather wrapped the hilt.
"It's called pestem, which is Latin for "bane" or "ender". It's enchanted to ward off dark magic. If there is dark magic around, it glows. Brighter it glows, the more or closer it is. It also damages anything containing dark magic heavily." Renara explained.
I picked up the sword. The handle fit nicely into my hand, and despite the shorter length than the other swords, it was still at least two feet long without the handle. It also was heavier than I'd expected, though I could lift it without much trouble.
"It works for you." My half-sister said with a grin. "Here's a sheath for it." She handed me a dark leather bound sheath, and I managed to put it onto my belt after a few tries. My new sword fit it perfectly.
"I think you're all set, which is good because our free period is almost over. We have archery now. What do you know about it?" Renara shuffled around some of the pile of weapons before standing up. I shrugged.
"I watched a lot of my friend Teep's archery practices and meets. I tried it a few times, but I wasn't very good." I said sheepishly. Renara laughed and led the way out of the door.
"I'll have to teach you, then. Because I rock at archery."
And as we walked out the door, I realized she'd never questioned my mask.
Kaeyi Pov
I was little anxious about meeting my cabin. Okay, scratch that. Really nervous. I had a bit of a problem with being nervous at times like this, and now was no exception. My little ADHD part of me kept worrying that because it was apparently the cabin of the love goddess, would my secret crush remain secret? The other part of me was alternately wondering how my parents kept this a secret for so long, and trying to remember what my shirt size was for when I got my Camp Half-blood shirt as I followed Chiron up to the door of the cabin.
The cabin was fancy, with pillars, a blue and white checkerboard deck, and gray walls. I could smell the perfume from inside from twenty feet away. Chiron tapped his hoof on the deck instead of knocking.
"Cabin ten, you have a new legacy!" he called, and I got even more nervous. The door opened, revealing pink walls the colour of my hair and white trim. Then, a familiar face appeared, one I hadn't seen for years.
The girl, my age, had dark brown hair done up in pigtails, bangs and a lock of long hair on each down on each side of her face, which clearly had make-up on it, but she was so pretty you kind of forgot about that fact as you took in her big eyes and bright smile. My nervousness disappeared right away, and I called out her name.
"_!"
Rythian Pov
Archery wasn't so bad.
After a few stray shots, an Apollo camper came over and decided to help me out, probably because Renara was trying to teach me, but I couldn't figure it out. A couple minutes later, I turned out to not be too bad of a shot.
"Hey, Michaela? Where's your head counselor? You've got a new cabin member!" A voice called out. I looked over at the call, in time to see Nick, the Hermes cabin counselor, jog up to the deputy of the Apollo cabin.
Everyone stopped and looked over.
"He's helping out the Nike cabin with something, but he should be here any time now." The blonde girl replied, lowering her bow. "Who's the new camper? One of the ones who came earlier today?"
I started. Which one of my friends could be part of this cabin, so full of blondes with blue eyes and tans? Not many of us fit that description.
"Right on the nose. Meet Teep."
That actually made sense, I realized. Teep waved hello.
"There's space at the end, by the Hecate cabin. Do you know how to use a bow?" Michaela asked. Teep nodded and lifted a simple wood and bronze bow up.
"Alright, we have lunch after about fifteen minutes. If you already know how, just practice." She continued.
Teep jogged over to the open spot, right next to me. I gave him a high five. He pulled down his dinosaur hood and nodded.
I tried to concentrate on shooting, but it was a bit hard when Renara was threatening to shoot some random Apollo kid that was hanging around and hitting on her. Finally, someone broke it up- and I knew that voice.
"Leave Renara alone already. I have to meet with our new camper!" Someone yelled at the kid. The camper scurried off.
"Sparks?" I asked incredulously, turning around.
"Rythian!" The redhead said. "I knew you'd survive to make it to camp."
"Wait," I said. "You left our school in grade five! Did you find out that you were a demigod before then? What about the rest of the band? And that girl that sang a song with you-"
"We were all demigods too! We came to camp because we were attracting monsters to the school. We stay year-round, and we even made an entire album!" Sparkles* exclaimed. "So, Teep's my little bro, huh?"
Teep nodded. I was still a bit stunned. Area 11 had left my life entirely years ago. What were the chances that we'd meet again, at a demigod camp of all places?
What were the chances that you had a half-sister? What were the chances that Greek gods actually exist? What are the chances that you now own a magic sword? What are the chances that Zoe-
Shut up, I told my ADHD brain. So life's weird. So am I.
A strange horn sounded- or was it a giant seashell, a conch maybe?
"Lunch!" someone yelled, and my stomach growled. I hadn't eaten much breakfast, and I was hungry.
"Apollo, fall in!" Sparkles* called. They all lined up, Michaela right behind Sparks, Teep at the very end.
"Just follow me, Rythian." Renara called, dashing off towards the dining pavilion.
"Our table's here. Tell what your cup what you want to drink and you'll get it filled magically. Once our plates are filled, we sacrifice a part of our meal to the gods before we eat." She instructed. I saw Teep sitting with his new cabin, and Lomadia and Zoeya talking about halfway across the pavilion. Sjin and Sips laughed nearby, and for a moment I felt right at home. The setting didn't really matter- I had family and friends here- and that made it home for me.
Food! My stomach complained.
I smiled underneath my mask joined in Chiron's toast to gods.
For once, I felt I truly belonged.
So, yeah! Happy holidays! (And it's not late, because it's not New Year's yet!)
So, who do you think the mystery girl from the Aphrodite cabin is? It's not an OC!
Did you peeps catch the part about Rythian's sword's name?
Are you happy I brought in Sparkles*?
Did this update make you smile?
Let me know!
-Spirit (P.S. I don't own anything except OCs and plot!)