Well damn it's been awhile. No excuses really I just really couldn't write at all. I had opportunities too and I tried too but I really couldn't. But I guess this will be something I'll try my best to get the next full chapter out but in the meantime another side story. Cesar or Tempest here by the way.
Camp Cookout With Jax, Cee, Lou, Jules and Special Guest Katie
Jaxson P.O.V
"As you all know today we'll be having a cookout in The Arena. And the counselors of every cabin will be judging each group. A maximum of four people can be in a group and you are allowed to work with members from other cabins." Luke read off the rules of the cookout. This was my chance to prepare myself before cooking for Bea. "Any questions?"
"How much time will we have?" Chris asked.
"Everyone will have 30 minutes to create their meal," Luke answered. "Before someone asks, the Demeter and Dionysus cabins have grown enough fruits and vegetables and all meat can be summoned from the plates from the mess hall. If any member of your group summons precooked food the entire group will be disqualified." With that, no other questions were asked and we went to The Arena.
"So we're going to work together right?" I asked Lou, Cee, and Jules.
"So we're going to work together right?" I asked Lou, Cee, and Jules. Jules and Lou nodded as Cee looked at me skeptically. "Listen, just help me out with this. I'm just going to have a cooking tutorial going in the background. You just gotta help me follow it." I pleaded to Cee. I really wanted to cook for my candlelight dinner with Bea.
"I'm only gonna do this to watch you fuck up." That's fine by me. I'm going to make a chicken sandwich that'll make Gordon Ramsay blush.
"That's good enough. Can you get me some ingredients, please? I have the list on our table?" I pointed to the table in question. Hopefully, he doesn't back out already.
"Sure thing." I could see him flash a smile. Huh, that's weird.
"So you already set up a table huh?" Lou looked curiously.
"Well obviously. Just can't get the ingredients till it starts."
"That confident we were going to agree?" She asked.
Well, honestly I was surprised all three agreed that easily. But even if they didn't I still would've gone through with it. "Not really but that's beside the point. I have one job for both of you right now. I need you guys to bake some buns in the oven section. The instructions are also on the table.
"Alright then, c'mon Jules." The two walked off. Time to get to work then.
I started with the chicken. I got chicken thighs and salted them lightly with a pinch of msg. There wasn't much fat on them thankfully so I got some paprika, garlic powder, and other spices in a separate dish and began whisking them together. I poured buttermilk into another container and finally a dish of nothing but flour. I still needed the vegetables to be cut for the side of the dish.
I waited a little bit till Cee returned with them and a water bottle. I sorted out the vegetables and diced the onions up as best as I could. "Could you start snapping apart the asparagus please?" I asked Cee who nodded.
I returned to the chicken thighs and began coating them with spices and buttermilk. Dipping them into the flour making a flaky soon-to-be crispy piece of chicken. "Hey Jaxson, I think the asparagus is alive."
"What?" Looked over and the asparagus was somehow standing and growing tiny cute faces, arms and legs. "What the fuck? What type of vegetables did you get?" Cee shrugged in response.
That's when the vegetables began their revolution. They began liberating the other ingredients I hadn't cut up yet and magically turning them alive.
Some vegetables broke down crying seeing their relatives cut up and dead, and others began throwing themselves at me. It was all very surreal. "So how are you doing Bobby Flay?" Lou said before witnessing the battleground that was my makeshift kitchen.
"I think I might've committed some war crimes, Lou." She slowly nodded as she ran away. How wonderful. I turned to Cee "how do we fix this?" He shrugged again in response. "Just keep this shit contained. I'm going to get Katie." The head of the Demeter Cabin she'll help, right?
Now even though they're just vegetables, the fact they gained sentience made me hesitate in how I handle the situation. I could just murder them. But maybe I would genuinely be charged with murder. Instead, I trapped as many as I could under a box and returned to setting up my chicken keeping an eye on the box.
After I finished off with the chicken Lou, Cee and Katie arrived. "They're in the box," I told them before they asked.
Lou lifted the box showcasing a bundle of vegetables huddled together. "Where exactly did you get them from?" Katie said not looking up from the vegetables.
I looked at Cee who refused to meet my gaze. "Ask Cee."
"Well most of them came from the ingredients stand but I may have stolen the asparagus from one of the Demeter teams. But that was only because there was barely any left at the ingredients stand." He defended himself.
"Well, is there any way we can take away their sentience?" I asked.
"Yeah, by murdering them. Can't really take away life any other way." She stated.
Lou looked at her with an eyebrow raised "and you're cool with that?"
"I mean it's fine. But I would rather not see it happen." She elaborated, sounding a little jittery.
Well, that's fine then. I think. "Cee it's your mess to clean up." He nodded and grabbed a knife. "So Lou, how's the buns?"
"Well, they're almost done. I just came here to check on you two. I'll go get them with Jules in a second. We could definitely salvage this. I got a pot to deep fry the chicken and I could see Jules walking with the buns. They were a beautiful golden brown.
"Well, shit they look fucking amazing. Y'all did amazing." Jules placed the tray on the counter and did a formal bow.
"Not that hard, just keep an eye on the bread." She told me and Cee.
"Well if you can could you help me fry these thighs. Then we'll be almost done with time to spare."
"Sure I just don't want to drop them in the oil. Not a big fan of having boiling oil on my hands." She confessed.
"It's all good just hand them to me."
Lou arrived and helped Cee create a vibrant salad. As I and Jules began setting the sandwiches up. We were done with 2 minutes left on the clock. We looked down at our plates and they looked like something out of a Michelin-star restaurant.
We spent our two minutes eating the leftover fried chicken. Which thanks to me and Jules were a fabulous crispy and juicy combination. As the timer rang we waited for our table to be called. Number fifteen.
We were quite a ways away from the judging table. So I couldn't really see any reactions to any of the other meals. When we were called I Carried a tray of thirteen sandwiches carefully to the stand and awaited their judging.
Mr. D was the first to critique the sandwich. "What did you do to the pickles, lettuce, and tomatoes? Why do they taste so fresh even compared to the other dishes?"
How am I going to explain this? "Well, some of the vegetables we used were sentient once if that means anything. You can ask Katie to confirm." Katie gave a nod of validation. Mr. D inspected the sandwich again before continuing to eat.
"These buns are probably my favorite part of the sandwich," Beck stated.
Should've made more, we could've eaten them too. "Well, that's thanks to Lou and Jules here. Cecil cut up all the vegetables and created the salad along with Lou. While I set up the chicken and fried it with Jules."
Chiron drank out of his cup "well thank you, Jaxon, Lou Ellen, Cecil, and Julia. We will announce your placement after everyone has come up."
We nodded and walked back to our table fingers crossed. After watching many tables go up and come back the judges began to announce their top three tables.
"We've had some fabulous meals today of a variety of different styles and cultures. However only one can be the winner. But we must give credit to two groups who fell just shy of victory." Chiron announced. "Group twenty-six with their Omurice and herbal tea, and Group fifteen with their Chicken sandwich and a small salad." Second place? I'll take that with pride. "Both groups will be exempt from any duties for a week. The winner Group 7 with their baked salmon and a side of Shrimp Scampi with Linguini." A round of applause began. Well damn, they made two meals in thirty minutes. "They will be given two weeks exempt from any activity they wish along with the power to organize their own event."
After that, the four walked back to the cabin. "Thanks, you guys. Even though we didn't win, it was really fun making something with you three." I told them.
"No problem Jax. I had a good time too." Jules told me.
"I'm pretty sure we all did," Lou added.
Cee nodded. "Other than having to slaughter families of vegetables. It was pretty fun. Plus a week off." A week off does sound nice.
Didn't realize I'd release this chapter on New Years. Happy New Years! Like I said earlier I'll try to work on the main chapter again. I've had a story board type thing set up for a long time now I just need to implement it in a chapter to chapter format. With that Cesar or Tempest out.