The Legacy of Aphrodite
Another friend
When I woke up the next morning, I couldn't make sense of where I was. The blanket was too warm, the air was too thick with perfume, there were way too many people in my bedroom. I bolted upright, then slowly lay back down again as I remembered what I was doing here. How this was the Aphrodite cabin, not my bedroom. I looked at my watch, and sat right back up again. 8:00 o'clock. Dammit. I was going to be late for my training session with Lily. I quickly got changed into the Camp t-shirt, and a fresh pair of jeans. Even though I usually woke up every morning with my hair tangled, the smooth do from the Aphrodite's blessing hadn't changed in the slightest. And the make-up was still there. I sighed inwardly. I quickly brushed my teeth and splashed some water on my face. Then I grabbed the bow and quiver from under the bed, and head out into the cool air.
The campers were already out and milling around, training, and going about their day. I headed up to the archery fields, where Lily had said she was going to meet me. She wasn't there yet. I looked at my watch again. 8:20. Ten minutes to go. I leaned against on of the pillars supporting the roof above my head, and thought about the past two days. I wondered if my Dad had sent out a search yet. Would he care? They wouldn't find me here, would they? Chiron had said something about magical borders. Maybe only demigods could come into this place. I thought about Lily and Amy, smiling. All my life, I had been a loner, and I come here for a couple of hours and made two friends already. I wondered how long they had been here. They both seemed nice, but I was nervous. How did I know if I was being a good friend? Was I supposed to give them birthday or christmas presents? And did they stay here all year round? What if they went home during the term break? Where would I be then? I wasn't going home, thats for sure. And there were only two weeks left of school when I had left. School. What was I going to do about that? It wasn't like I cared very much-I knew the basics, but would I need to know anything else? I didn't exactly see anyone studying in this place, apart form maybe the Athena cabin. But then their mum was the goddess of wisdom. That was kinda expected. Maybe they had lessons here or something.
By the time these thoughts had finished running themselves around in my head, Lily had materialised next to me. She waved a piece of paper in front of my face. "Olympus to Jess", she said. I snapped out of my reverie. "Oh, hey Lily."
"Hey yourself. Sorry I'm late. Chiron wanted me to give this to you. She handed me the piece of paper. It was a timetable.
7:00-7:30 Breakfast
8:00-10:00 Archery training-Lilian Waters (Target practice)
10:00-12:00 Winged Horseback Riding w/Demeter Cabin (Trail, or aerial combat)
12:00-12:30 Lunch-Mess Hall
12:30-1:30 RECREATIONAL TIME - Choice of: Climbing Wall, Swimming, Canoeing, Arts and Craft w/Hephaestus Cabin
1:30-3:30 DAILY THEORY - Mathematics, Greek, Monster Assault Techniques w/Athena Cabin
Well, I guess that answered the question of school. Dammit. Maths? MATHS? well. At least it wasn't English.
3:30-4:30 - Sword and Shield Combat w/Ares Cabin (Full combat armour required)
4:30-6:30 FREE TIME
6:00 WEEKLY CABIN INSPECTION
6:30-9:00 CAPTURE THE FLAG (Combat Gear Required, all magical items allowed)
9:00-10:00 CAMPFIRE w/Apollo cabin
10:00 PREPARE FOR SLEEP-lights out before 11:00
"This'll be your timetable until Chiron gives you a new one. You've missed breakfast, I'm afraid. I didn't see you at the mess hall", she said
I shrugged. I was used to not eating breakfast. I pointed to the first one. "Lilian Waters. That you right?" she grimaced.
"Yeah, but don't call me that. I hate my name." I didn't mind. I had gotten used to Lily, anyways.
"Shall we start?" she said cheerfully. I nodded, gesturing at the bow Amy had given me. She picked it up carefully, running her hands over the curve of the bow. "Nice choice", she murmured. "Light, for a beginner. Nice shape. This should be perfect." She strung an arrow into the bow, positioning herself carefully, and let loose. The arrow shot forward and embedded its tip into the target. A perfect bulls-eye.
I stared, wide eyed. "How did you do that?"
She smiled. "Daughter of Apollo, remember? They're always awesome at shooting arrows, its one of the many skills we have. Not as good as the Hunters of Artemis, probably, but pretty good."
"The Hunters of Artemis?"
"A gaggle of teenage girls wearing silver that never age or date anyone, spending their glorious eternal lives shooting and tracking down monsters. I'll tell you more later, but we have to get on with this lesson. You shouldn't be too worried. Aphrodite's kids never join the Hunt. Goddess of love, and all. The no-dating part doesn't stick with them."
She handed me the bow. "Alright, feet apart, arms straight, bow in your left, yes, thats it…." She taught me how to stand, how to aim carefully, how to watch as my arrow flew through the air and to watch its path. For the first few tries, I couldn't get anywhere near the target. But on my fifth, it finally got in a solid stick into the black band. "YES!" I yelled triumphantly.
Lily smiled. "See, wasn't that hard, was it? You either have the potential or you don't. But don't get too happy. This is only the start."
I fired arrow after arrow, most of them sticking into the target, but a fair few still flying sideways. Lily tried her best in coaching me. Every time I missed, she would adjust my posture, and give a demonstration, which was more depressing than helpful, because she looked so very perfect doing it. She noticed my glum expression, though.
"Hey, don't get depressed", she said. "You've only been learning for 40 minutes. I've had 4 years to perfect this. You'll get it someday."
I groaned and lifted my arms again. After an hour and what felt like two million arrows, I collapsed onto the bench. "WHY is this so TIRING?" I groaned, my arms and shoulders aching.
Lily shrugged. "It's your first time. Don't be too hard on yourself."
I took a swig of water out of the bottle she offered me, and just sat there, the cool wind blowing through my hair comfortingly.
"Hey Lily", I ventured.
"Mm?"
"Do you like Michael?"
She almost spat out the water she was drinking. "NOOOOO!"
I burst out laughing. She glared at me murderously.
"Where in ZEUS's name did you get THAT idea?"
"He does seem very…attracted to you…and your hair…."
"NO. I DO NOT LIKE HIM, AND I SERIOUSLY HOPE THAT HE DOESN'T LIKE ME EITHER. EVEN APHRODITE WOULDN'T BE THAT CRUEL." then she heaved a sigh. "I should've known I would have to put up with this. WHY am I friends with you again?"
I smirked. "Aw, you know you love me. But not as much as….Michael…."
I grinned and sprinted for my life as she growled and and ran after me. I didn't have a chance. She followed me around about half of the archery field, before she caught hold of my shoulder. We stopped, panting, me still grinning widely, while she glared at me non stop. "I swear to the Gods, if I had time, I would KILL you right now. But you have pegasus riding to get to. She shooed me away. "You can leave your bow here. It'll be safe. The Hermes kids rarely come here. The pegasus stables are near the strawberry fields, near the armoury. You should be fine. Just ask any person."
Waving to Lily, I turned and powerwalked in the general direction she had told me to go, before she changed her mind about killing me. It took me a while, and a few peoples help, but I finally got to a grand, homey stable. it was pretty big. There were about 50 stalls, Funny though, the stalls didn't have doors. They were wide open. There were CLEARLY animals here though, judging by the smell and snuffling. Why they would be left to roam, I had no idea. I peeked into the first stall. I was not disappointed.
Like a creature out of a fairytale, A snowy white pegasus occupied the stall, it's legs tucked cleanly under it, and a silky white mane falling into its eyes. A pair of strong, feathered angel wings grew from its shoulders. I got why the stalls were left open now. It would just be sad if this creature was cooped up inside a stable all day.
"Hey!" A friendly voice called out. I turned to see a dark skinned, curly haired boy walking towards me, his hands tucked inside his jean pockets, looking as at ease on the ground and amongst the winged horses as Lily did shooting. He looked like one of the slightly older campers. 16, or 17. "You're Jessica, right? The Aphrodite girl?" he asked, extending a hand. "Yep", I answered, shaking it. "I'm Adam, son of Demeter." he turned to the pegasus in the stall. "Hey Feather", he said calmly. He whickered softly. The pegasus, I mean, not Adam. "He says hello", he said, smiling at me. "Feather here is one of our showier horses. Most of the horses here aren't 'white'-they're actually technically grey- and their manes and forelocks aren't that long. It gets caught in the saddles, when we use them. But this boy here is a vain thing he is, tryna attract all the mares within a mile of his glorious presence." He winked at Feather, who snorted. "You speak horse?" I asked, surprised. "All children of Demeter and Poseidon can. In fact, all children of Demeter can speak to any animal. But I spend most of my time here, so 'horse' is my preferred language." He laughed lightly. Then he led me away from Feather, waving goodbye to him in the process. We walked along the row of stalls.
"Since it's your first lesson, I'll just use this two hours to get you acquainted with an equine friend. If we have any time left, I'll show you how to saddle up on a pegasus. Thats not too important, though. We usually ride bareback. But you'll need it for a beginner. Not every horse here is a pegasus, but none of them are ordinary horses. They all have some kind of magical talent, or are just a collection of the best horses on Earth. Some of them are off limits though, as they belong to campers and don't take too kindly to other people riding them. But since this is meant to be a winged horse riding lesson, I'll get you to focus mainly on the pegasi, not…" he talked on and on about the occupants of the stable, so I tuned out. Half intentionally, and half accidentally, because I was too distracted staring in awe at the variety of equine life in the stables. Adam had been right, Feather HAD been showy. But that didn't make the rest of the horses any less beautiful. Most of them just looked like normal horses, but with a pair of large, matching wings. But they looked a lot sleeker, their coats shinier, and just basically just much healthier. NOT that mortal horses were all old nags. Just that these were so much better. I walked past each stall, greeted by pegasi of a whole range of variety. An Arabian-looking mare nickered gently. A buckskin threw his dark mane back and whinnied in challenge. A seriously buff looking one just glared at me as I went past. I stayed away from him. All of them passed in a blur of black, brown, dun, bay, roan, and the occasional grey, until I got up to the 40th something stall. I didn't go any farther.
A golden palomino mare stood there, her wings spread outwards (the stalls were actually pretty wide) in a grand display of feathers, as if she were stretching them. A creamy coloured mane and tail rippled slightly in the small wind, not as long as Feather's, but long enough to give an air of grace around her. She noticed me looking at her and folded her wings back to her side. Her eyes were more human like than any horse I had seen so far. They were wide, circled with deep chocolate brown irises. They glittered at me, curious, but also held a little sadness in them.
"What's her name?" I asked Adam breathily, reaching out a hand. She butted her head gently against it. I played with the strands of her forelock.
"This is Merena. She draws the chariot for the Aphrodite cabin in chariot racing. She used to belong to Silena, the head counsellor for Aphrodite's cabin before Drew and Piper, but she….." he trailed off. I nodded to say that I understood. Amy had said something about her. Something about dying a hero in a war with the Titans. "Most pegasi just fly off when their companions…pass away. Nobody stops them. Most can't bear to be in the presence of another human being. But Merena is the somewhat mother to all the pegasi here. She's very caring, but she has a fiery spirit, and the stables could very well fall apart without her, even with the Demeter and Aphrodite cabin helping. Drew's tried to strike up a 'friendship' with her, though that didn't end too well." he cringed slightly at the memory. I didn't find it very surprising. The mean girl of the camp and this gentle creature just didn't click. "She seems to like you though. And she would be a brilliant choice for your introduction to winged horseback riding. That is, if you two agree to each other."
Merena neighed, nuzzling his shoulder.
"She says she thinks it would be wonderful", Adam translated.
I smiled. "It would be an honour", I told her, placing my hand on her cheek. For a tiny second, I thought I could see a spark of happiness light up the sadness in those dark, soulful eyes of hers.
Adam clapped his hands together. "Excellent", he said, excited.
And just like that, I had a pegasus to call my own.
-PurplePegasus
AN: I'm so sorry for the sudden ending. But I wanted to get this chapter up-I know some people have been waiting impatiently. And I am sorry for the wait. Anyways, read, and review please!
P.S Sorry for all the horse terminology. I AM somewhat of a horse lover :D