Nick moved in after her, amber eyes guarded. What she was saying did make sense, but there was a difference between getting a door shut in his face and somebody dying in front of his eyes. "I do agree, however," he paused, glancing back at the door. "Wouldn't it also be my fault for not making sure the door can't be shut in my face? Wasn't I supposed to make sure that I wouldn't get shut out? Who knows what could happen during the time I have to open the door again," he replied, a small, curious light slowly coming into his gaze.
Different viewpoints were the most fascinating thing, at least when one took the time to actually listen. Nick was known for his stubbornness, but he usually took his time to understand people. Another glance was sent to the leather band with beads around his wrist, an almost bitter smile on his face. Seconds later, he wiped it off his face, going back to the mostly neutral expression he had held beforehand. "Life is... a very fragile thing, isn't it? Life can be taken from somebody in the blink of an eye." As a child of Hades, he could feel when somebody died, so his stance on that was heavily influenced by his abilities.
The man regarded her, then his gaze snapped over to Ian, who instantly stood a little straighter when the girl looked at him. "A child of Demeter," he said, ignoring what Val had said for now. "You're lucky I'm not in the mood to anger your mother even more. We didn't always... get along the greatest." Ian, being himself, couldn't help his cat-like grin, giving the god a thumbs up. Somewhere to their left, Sanaa groaned into her hand.
Not paying any more attention to Ian, he looked at Val. "Who gets hurt from this? I'd say all of you. Not directly, mind you, but you can already see what a few months without my blessing for prophecies can do - just look at your camp." His voice sounded a little dark, but not as threatening as before.
"Yes, we can see that," Sanaa's voice was tense. Her brows were furrowed while she was glaring at her father. "Because of your little spiel, my brother is in danger. Not only him, other campers, too! They aren't part of this! Nobody except for me and Naomi is!" Her voice had risen in anger and volume while talking.
"Sanaa," he said, only regarding her shortly. "I was talking to Valentine. She has brought up some good points." He seemed to almost flash Val a wink at that, but it was as quickly gone as it had been there. "However," he continued, voice growing more threatening again. "You do have a point. You two are the problem."
Sanaa's breath caught in her throat when he said that, her eyes never leaving Apollo. Yes, it was between them, but if he tried going for Naomi, Sanaa would attack her father without any second thoughts. It never came to that, though. Instead, Apollo waved his hand and the illusion of the temple began disappearing. What was left were a few pillars and the floor. It was dark around them once more, until a few torches lit up magically.
Her father moved backwards, grabbing a sword out of nowhere. Sanaa swallowed, but stayed determined. "Sanaa, fight me and prove to me why I should change this old oath. I'm giving you a real chance here by not using my bow."
She saw Ian about to move towards her, only for him to get flung backwards by a strong force, knocking into Val. Great. Some dumb powers were at play here.
Post by Cloverheart ✿ on Mar 26, 2017 12:24:36 GMT -5
Serena shook her head, patting his back gently. "Nick, you could see the door. You realized the possibility of it closing on you. All that matters is you attempted to get in. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The only ones controlling it are the ones shutting the door, and their minds are beyond our control. Whether or not we get to the door in time is completely up to chance. All we can do is ready ourselves for the possibility of our door--or someone else's--closing." She turned towards the cabinets of medical supplies and sighed, looking up at all the stuff she needed to organize. "And I guess it's up to me to fix a broken door." Sere added with a laugh, turning to smile kindly at him.
Valentine frowned as he disregarded her statement at first, but was pleased when she mentioned her name. She was a little miffed, however, that he didn't mention her family--considering she was the child of one of Poseidon, one of the big three, who also happened to be his uncle. That was a little confusing. She tensed when he challenged Sanaa. What was he thinking? A god fighting a demigod?! Not to mention his own daughter! She wanted to argue more, to prove her point further, but just as she opened her mouth to speak, Ian crashed into her and sent them skidding onto the ground. "Ouch." Val muttered, dizzy and confused. "Are you okay, Ian?"
Naomi had barely enough time to grab her sword before Ian was sent back crashing into Valentine. Great so now I don't even get to join in the action, and help my girlfriend fight a god.
"I'm sure you have a 50% chance of not dying Sanaa!" Naomi shouted, not the best encouragement but she was still sort of stunned from how quickly that had escalated. She then went over to Valentine and Ian to make sure they we're alright, "Appears we'll have to sit this one out. Sorry for ruining this anyways..." Naomi said, sending another glare at the god for an extra measure. Death by sun beams if anything sounded like a pretty epic death if she had to die. CitrineCloverheart ✿
(Citrine, for some reason I'm laughing with the quest campers and apollo. ///KNOCK EM DEAD SANAA!)
Chevy hugged her brother despite it being an awkward hug though she didn't even care at all about it, "....We kill monsters that turn to ash so we never get to see the dead remains of e'm....." she began to say with her voice becoming more quiet and she sounded like she wasn't going to cry, "I.. I saw a friend's... Grimm the horse..." she didn't know the mare personally but she knew that she belonged to the Hades campers' mainly their counselor Prue and they both loved eating marshmallows.
---
Prue let out a deep sigh with her giving a small nod, "Yea... if you take me there..." she said quietly as she sounded grief-stricken her face remained stoic with her amber eyes showing a flash of anger for then goddess- got stubbornness from her godly father so grudges will be held long time even if she died herself... that's what's called a haunting yet in any case she would have to let it go eventually since you couldn't get though anything in life if you had things like that tying you down.
"I'm coming too," Satoru spoke up from behind the hades couneslor as he could tell that if given the chance his cousin would try to wander off and try to kill any monsters or even the goddess if given the chance he would be there to keep her on track, plus he cared about the mare too and hated his godly mother like every other camper here.
"Hmm...my favorite memory? I have too many to count,but i guess, it would be the memory of meeting all you and making friends here on the forums. :3" ”One day I’m going to sit down and make a list of all the books that I finished reading....” “It's going to be a long list...”
Nick let out a small laugh that sounded rather hollow. "What broken door do you have to fix, Serena? I can't see any," he said lightly, walking past her to sit somewhere. Letting out a small breath, he glanced around the room. "It's weird to think that so much is changing, isn't it? People at the camp leave because they're too old... new counselors come around. I... knew the counselor before Sanaa took over. It's still a little odd for me to see her in here most of the time. And don't take this badly, but it's even weirder to know that you're in here while Sanaa is gone."
While the Apollo cabin switched through with the infirmary, the counselor was the one who spent most of the time there, though. Not because they had to, but because they wanted to most of the time. Still, Nick felt like time was slowly catching up to him, a small voice almost reminding him that he had to finally move with the time again - take what was thrown at him and keep on walking regardless.
Ian rubbed his head, groaning a little. "I'm fine," he answered, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. "At least, I think so. If I had any damage I suppose I-" he cut himself off while talking by moving his attention back to Sanaa when Naomi shouted out to her. Sanaa didn't look all too pleased by being told she had a "50% chance of not dying".
"I don't have a sword," he heard her say, only for her to flinch a little when a sword appeared next to her. She rolled her eyes, taking it. "Way to be dramatic, father. Either way," she paused, grabbing the sword and getting into a fighting stance. "I plan to survive with the 50% chance my girlfriend gave me."
The second Sanaa swung at her father, Ian felt the hairs on the back of his neck rising, He dodged to the side when rye sprouted out of seemingly nowhere where he had been sitting. "Uh, guys," he told the others. "I think the Karpoi followed us here. I... probably angered them more than I realized. Whoops."
Noel listened to her with a passive expression, but his eyes seemed to soften a little. "Death is... normal," he answered quietly. "It's just of great luck for us that the monsters turn to dust. It makes everything... less gruesome, doesn't it...?" He wasn't good at comforting anybody, but stating his opinion was something he could do.
He left the hug for a few minutes longer, then moved away when the close contact was starting to make him feel nervous. He just wasn't a people person.
--
Lucia turned when she saw the younger camper. For a second, she debated whether or not to take him along, but then nodded. "Alright, but stay close to me and Prue," she answered. After making sure that her sword was by her side, Lucia began leading the way back to the forest, eyes straying to Prue once in a while. "Don't do anything rash," she told her gently. "Nick does that often enough - we don't need two injured children of Hades." The children of the big three were some of the strongest around, so it would be best for as many as possible of them to fight. Lucia couldn't do too many cool tricks while in a tunnel system, anyway. It wouldn't help much for her to float up with the wind or use too much lightning.
Post by Cloverheart ✿ on Mar 27, 2017 20:05:36 GMT -5
Valentine winced in pain as she tried to move. Apparently the force of Ian knocking into her had bruised her ribs. It didn't really help that he was still on top of her. "Uh, anytime you wanna move would be--" She stopped mid-sentence, noticing the Karpoi. Val shoved Ian off and got to her feet, pulling out her spear. "Oh, joy." She muttered, glancing back at Sanaa. "Naomi, can you stay here and make sure she's okay? Ian and I can take care of them." Looking over at him, she nodded and beckoned for him to get up and walk over.
Serena shook her head, laughing coldly at Nick. "Well, time does that. Life goes on." She closed the cabinet door she had open and sat over by him. "Look, Nick, believe it or not, I think really highly of you. You're a great person, strong-willed, cool, etcetera. I'm sure we would be great friends. But you need to learn how to be an optimist." Sere stood up again, walking over to the blinds and opening them. "You can sit around, worryin' about the future, or you can embrace life and enjoy yourself every once in a while. I know you're the son of Hades, and it's kind of a stereotype, but just because the god of the underworld is your dad doesn't mean you have to be sad all the time."
Ian quickly hopped to his feet, looking a little out of it. "Do Karpoi seriously hate me just because Demeter is my mother?" he complained quietly, taking his dagger out. Then again, maybe he could trap them with some sturdy tall grass? He threw that thought away for the moment when one of them zipped towards him, knocking him backwards. He landed hard, letting out curses. "Why do these things move so fast, Valentine?" he whined, rolling to the side when it tried another attack, seeing it coming.
--
Nick looked at her with a rather unimpressed face, watching her open the binds. "I'm not sad all the time," he reply, not shying away from the bright light. "I'm barely sad. At least outwardly. If you're not an optimist, you can expect the worst and then always get surprised with some better situation, can't you?"
He held up the wrist with the beads. "At one point, you just start expecting the worst, especially when your optimism has killed people before. I used to be optimistic." He looked up towards the sky he saw through the binds before brushing a strand of hair out of his face. "Let's be honest, I'm already much better off again than back when I left the camp for a while, Serena."
Post by Cloverheart ✿ on Mar 28, 2017 18:37:11 GMT -5
"They probably run marathons." She responded in a joking tone, throwing a seashell into the field of Karpoi. Now she only had one left. Taking a deep breath, Valentine channeled her energy and water erupted from the seashell, washing back a bunch of screaming, tiny monsters. "Ha-ha! Suckers!" She exclaimed before one of them grabbed her feet and dragged her down. With a swift kick, she escaped, but another one grabbed her hair. Talk about ouch!
There was nothing she could do. They had grabbed her ponytail and were dragging her. About seven others grabbed her right arm and legs. If she could just get her head up.. Then it hit her. Without even thinking, she raised her spear towards her head and chop. The Karpoi holding her head down flew back, clutching a chunk of silky, forest-brown hair. In a swift movement, she kicked the others off and got to her feet, using the sprouted water to push them away. Val felt her hairband slide off and her stomach did a flip as she raised her hand to her uneven, short hair. Nonetheless, she had no time to weep over her lost tail. Another burst of water sent about ten more Karpoi to a watery doom, and she looked over to Ian. "How are you holding up?" She called.
Serena rolled her eyes, going to sit by him. "Nevermind. I'm just saying that if you weren't thinking such depressing thoughts, you might be more confident going into battle. But it doesn't matter, and we don't have time to argue. You need sleep." She pulled the covers back, patting the bed for him to lie down. "I'll set an alarm so you have time to prepare when you wake up, but I better not catch you out of bed until that goes off, got it?"
"Yeah I guess...." Chevy said quietly but she did seem better after getting some comfort from her brother as she knew he wasn't a huggy person though she was thankful for him being not himself for a minute, "Thanks for being here for me," she then relied with a smile appearing slowly on her face with her becoming more of her 'bright' side now and she then grinned a little, "Could we spar? You said you wanted to go training right?" She might have not listened to what he had said to her earlier however if he didn't like hugging people then fighting with real weapons might be more up his alley.
-----
"Thank you!" Satoru breathed with him following quickly after the two campers which it was hard with them having longer strides then him as he made sure to have his weapon at the ready in his short's pocket which he hoped that they didn't encounter any monsters but being a demigod made you a magnet to them at all times and he had almost gotten eaten alive once- he didn't catch the monster's name when he somehow managed to stab it's eye with a pen before running like his feet were on fire away.
Prue nodded slowly to her cousin which she had no need to become rash as the young camper being with them, "You don't need to worry about me," She said with her glancing back to her cousin who walked quickly behind them in order to keep up with them and she knew that if she offered him a piggyback ride he would say 'no' out of embarrassment since he wanted to prove himself to be a capable demigod that can fight off monsters and such yet he still had a long way to go.
"Hmm...my favorite memory? I have too many to count,but i guess, it would be the memory of meeting all you and making friends here on the forums. :3" ”One day I’m going to sit down and make a list of all the books that I finished reading....” “It's going to be a long list...”
Yeah, feel free to join! Just be aware that we'll be moving to a new thread once the plot here is over))
Ian winced a little when something sharp cut his cheek, not getting enough time to see what had happened. Probably some sharp piece of wheat being shot his way. Moving backwards, he looked towards Val, eyeing her. The first thing that he noticed was her now short hair. "Well, I'm holding up fine, I think? What happened to your hair?" he replied. Ian couldn't wait for an answer, though, as a Karpoi lunged his way. This time, he was quick enough to stab it with his dagger, turning it to dusk.
He ran his tongue over his dry lips, tasting a little blood from a cut there. Still, his attention went back to Val while he tried evading the Karpoi. While the Karpoi were annoying, Ian was also trying to block out the sounds of Sanaa fighting in the background. If he focused on too much at once, he would just end up getting overwhelmed with the monsters attacking them.
--
Nick regarded Serena for a bit longer, then shook his head. "I think what I need to do first is finally let go of the people who died. Maybe then I'll feel better." He paused, stretching a little. His wound did protest at being stretched, but Nick didn't show any outwardly signs of any pain. "Still... I'm not averse to the idea of sleeping. Save me some dinner, though, alright? I wouldn't want to put my life on the line in a battle with an empty stomach."
He laughed a little, then kicked his shoes off, sitting down on the bed. "I still stand my case that I could've rested just fine in my own cabin."
Noel stopped by the door, looking back at Chevy. He remained quiet at first, thinking it over. He couldn't remember sparring with her before, but he'd heard enough stories about her. He tapped the sheath by his side thoughtfully, then shrugged. "Fine. Let's go," he said simply. Noel opened the door before stepping outside, black hair catching the sunlight. It was annoying for him during the summer, as he always felt too hot when outside.
-
Lucia led the two through the forest carefully, keeping an eye out for any monsters. There was no saying that the chimera wouldn't attack again. Still, if she had understood Nick correctly, then everything would be over soon. They'd attack in the early morning.
Lucia paused when they reached a familiar part. She was nervous about this - nervous about Prue seeing her dead horse. Something else made her also pause, turning back to the two. "I don't mean to be rude, but are you sure you want to see what's about to come, Satoru?"
Sanaa kept telling herself to see this fight like one against Asher. The form her father had taken was a little different, but she could still try to think of Asher with how he looked. It did help her a little, as she didn't find herself with the impossible task of fighting a god and rather with the one to beat her loud-mouthed brother.
Sanaa moved backwards when another attacked came, parrying it to the best of her abilities. A sword wasn't her main weapon, so she was struggling a little. Sanaa did have a plan, however. When the moment presented itself, she planned to drop her sword, switch to her bow and win the fight before he reached her. Then again, she couldn't really beat him either way. He could only let himself get beaten, which meant that Sanaa really did have to prove herself.
She barely evaded another strike her way, jumping to the side sharply to avoid it. This could prove... difficult, honestly.
~~ Kat ~~ 25 ~~ Discord: Kat#5036 <> Instagram: ciitrinee
Post by Cloverheart ✿ on Mar 31, 2017 21:43:17 GMT -5
Jumping back as a Karpoi lunged for her, Valentine punted it and sent dust flying into the air. "New hairdo!" She called back jokingly. "You like?" Val grinned at him, about to add more when two more leapt at her. Zeus, how many were there? As she expertly danced around, trying to avoid them, she began formulating a plan in her mind. A shock sent through her as she felt something deep, like a calling far, far underground. A well..? No, a water source down below. As the pieces came together, Valentine looked around for Ian. Upon spotting the Greek boy, she called out, "Ian! I have an idea! Can you distract them?" With that, she pulled away from them. If they could round them up, she could pull the water up and blast them to the heavens. And then, they'd be clear of their little pest problem.
Serena chuckled, getting up and closing the blinds. "I'll see what I can do about dinner. Now, go to sleep. You'll feel much better after a good nap. With that, she pulled up a chair, put on her reading glasses, and opened up a book. It was what she usually did when tending to patients who were asleep.
Having been pacing around, Pippa had nothing to do. Soon, a battle would be upon them. Could she even fight? She hadn't been claimed, she didn't have any powers or special skills.. What could she do? Breaking out of her trance, she notices Noel walk out of the Dionysus cabin with his sister. Jogging over, she gave him a kind smile. "Hi Noel, Chevy. What are you two up to?"
Ian grinned a little at the new hair comment, throwing in a "I can't decide whether or not your hair is longer than mine right now". He let some grass wrap around a Karpoi and stabbed it before he heard Val again. He furrowed his brows a little, but nodded. While not aware what Val wanted to do, he did trust her to not just turn him into Karpoi food. Ian was still left to find a way to get all of them after him, though.
An idea suddenly came to him. He could have probably thought it through better, but he was already yelling out, "Hey, cornflakes! It's no wonder my mom has the power over you, I'm sure even I could control you!"
It seemed to work a little better than expected. With a loud, enraged roar, the Karpoi all seemed to come his way. Ian swallowed, laughing nervously. "Val, any minute now!"
Noel glanced at her, frown back on his face. It seemed stuck there at times. While he would have just brushed her off on his own, Chevy was with him, which meant that she was going to get acknowledged either way. The one thing Noel could do was keep the talk short.
"Sparring," he muttered out, but didn't stop while walking. It wasn't that he disliked her more than others, but he simply didn't like being around people most of the time. While it seemed laughable, even two people around him were too much at times.