Yes. You read that right. Greece has fallen...or at least the camp that has catered to Greek demigods for over three millennia has fallen. Camp Half-Blood had a traitor in their midst. A traitor with powerful allies who quickly burned the camp to the ground. Some were lost, some killed, and the rest who remained began the long trek across the country to the only place where they might be safe: Camp Jupiter.
Chiron banded what campers they had left, told them of the other camp and sent word to Camp Jupiter pleading for shelter. Chaos now threatens the camp daily with the arrival of new Greek campers to this foreign camp. This camp with strange customs and rules. While on the Roman end the Praetors are forced to hold up a balancing act of providing sanctuary while also trying to find the traitor before their home suffers the same fate as Camp Half-Blood.
New alliances are forged, new enemies are made, and these two worlds have to find some way to work together for the future of them all. Which side are you on? Which position will you take? It's time to jump in the fray because Greece has fallen.
ANNOUNCEMENT
Welcome to our site! We are so glad you are here my friend. Pull up a seat, set your weapons down and let's chat. We are a non-canon, percy jackson RP site based in Camp Jupiter. Both Greek and Roman demigods allowed. Legacies are limited. We have a very small word requirement for posting and we're pretty relaxed around here. We like drama but not the RL kind so keep this place nice and friendly. If you've got questions don't hesitate to ask!
GHF is the product of the mind of Addi; inspired by the percy jackson and heroes of olympus series by rick riordian. this is a work of fiction. names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. several beautiful remodels (including mini profile, profile) were designed by deltra of gangnam style and edited by Haya to fit the site's concept and needs. most images and gifs used for the skin are taken from assassins creed, the percy jackson movies and various google finds. all contents are copyright to their original owners. all characters belong to their original creators, and may not be used or replicated without permission. all images are copyright to their original owners. if you see an image/gif which is yours and you would like us to specifically credit you or remove it please do not hesitate to let us know in the cbox with a link.
Avery had missed her training class. To be fair, she hadn't known that she was required to actually go. In Camp Half-Blood the classes were more of a voluntary thing. There was no set strict curriculum or schedule that demanded participation. She spent most of her days helping new campers adjust, making art or sometimes if she was feeling especially lucky, creating crafts. She helped in the pegasus stables and in general she simply followed whatever whim she had that day. It was a system that she had not appreciated. She hadn’t realized how much that she had truly taken for granted. Here they were not only given a strict schedule and expected to follow it, but they were also punished if they didn't follow through. A fact that she was learning first-hand today.
She was assigned to clean the weapons in the Armory. A task that she hadn't really thought too much of. It didn't seem like a terribly awful thing to be assigned with. On the way to where she was instructed that it was, she began envisioning helmets all lined up in a row, one quick spray of Lysol and she'd be done. Perhaps she'd have to do a bit of sweeping? She could do that, she assured herself as she walked into the building. Two girls in purple shirts gave her an odd look as they walked past and she shrugged as if to say, 'I know, me being here is weird right?' At least in this case common ground wasn't too hard to find.
Avery walked towards the door marked Equipment and stopped as she opened it. To call it a mess would have been a disservice to all messes that had previously come forward. This place looked as if a tornado had come through. Then an earthquake. Perhaps after that some children tossed around a few things before another tornado came through. Did they truly use all of this equipment every day? She wondered to herself. She took a deep breath before shaking off the shock, tilting her head to the left and right as she murmured to herself, "Okay. You can do this." She gave a curt nod and decided to jump right in, grabbing the spears first.
There were about fifteen on the floor and she could just barely get them all in her arms, baby-stepping with them in tow to where their space was marked on the wall. She was within a foot of the area when she looked down and noticed that all fifteen had turned to Camp Half-Blood orange. Avery's eyes widened as she moved to immediately put them against the wall and out of her grasp, the spears of course sliding and slipping back into a large, bright orange pile on the floor. Panic had just struck as she heard the equipment door opening. Avery turned, red-cheeked to face the door, her foot trying to kick the bright orange sticks out of sight as she called out, "Uhm sorry. Scheduled maintenance. Please come back later."
One of his barrack-mates had decided to throw down a wager, a little inter-cohort bonding that involved spears and the Ludus and probably a lot of injury. Espen liked to think he was as decent as any other legionnaire, but the truth of the matter was that he preferred swords. They were less wieldy, they were bulkier and heavier and he could get their balance better, and there were more ways of attacking with them than just running them through someone, like a spear. But apparently his friends were keen to practice with those in the evening, so Espen had just shrugged and offered to collect them. Unlike his barrack-mates, Espen didn't feel the particular need to put in extra hours for Latin; he'd be the only one free that afternoon to collect whatever they needed.
With a hand in his pocket and the other reaching for the armory door, Espen heard a loud crash from within. That wasn't entirely unusual, of course, considering the sheer amount of weaponry and equipment housed in the building - they were a Roman legion, after all - but what was unusual was the colour of the spears. As Espen stepped in and took in the sight of chaos, his eyes were instantly drawn to the sole occupant of the room and the pile of orange spears around her. The complete unexpectedness of the whole scene, as well as the deliberately nonchalant tone of the girl in front of him who was trying her darnedest to look innocent, made Espen laugh loudly.
Still grinning, he took a step towards the girl. She was Greek, judging by the fact that she apparently tried to pick up a whole bunch of spears only for them to all come crashing down about her feet, as well as the lurid orange colour of the weapons. He didn't know what kind of god had that sort of power, and Espen wasn't sure he wanted to find out. The son of Pluto sincerely hoped this wold be a better interaction with a Greek female than his first one with the girl from the gardens. "Do you... need a hand?" he asked, confused despite the grin on his face. "I'm not sure I can change the colours back - that's all you - but I can put them on the wall for you." Without waiting for her answer, Espen bent down to start retrieving spears. He needed them for that evening, anyway, although he wasn't sure he could explain their colour to his friends.
Avery was trying to think very quickly on her feet. She could pretend that the orange had been commissioned by Camp Jupiter to promote unity, though that could backfire horribly. She could also go the route of acting completely shocked as to why they were orange, though she wasn't a very good actress. As someone opened the door, she decided to abandon all hope and simply face punishment.
A very large and clearly Roman boy stepped into the space and Avery's eyes widened, looking very much like a deer caught in headlights. Her mouth parted slightly as she expected him to begin shouting at her or perhaps drag her to their Praetors to face punishment. Instead, thankfully, he began laughing.
Avery remained still, almost not believing that he was genuinely laughing. As her senses registered that he indeed was laughing in humor and not in a yay I get to murder a Greek way she gave a relieved smile. He looked around and asked if she needed a hand and Avery shook her head, gesturing as if that was a crazy thought, "Whaaaat. Nah, I clearly have this all under control. Very in my element right now."
She grinned, moving forward to get the spear from his hand. He brought up the color of the spears and she was quick to reply, "I honestly didn't mean to. This isn't some weird attempt at rebelling or something. Sometimes I just change things and I can't really control it and I can't un-do whatever happens and I was holding them and it just kind of…happened." She gave an awkward shrug not sure if he was going to believe her. She couldn't blame him of course. And it didn't help that she couldn't replicate the action to prove it.
He moved forward, picking up the spears and she pursed her lips a moment before replying, "Thank you but you really don't have to help. I know what I'm about to say makes the situation much more suspect, but I'm actually being punished." She moved to pick up one of the larger swords that was taking up space. She couldn't lift it though, giving up after a small grunt. Instead she picked up the hilt as best as she could, all but dragging the heavy sword in a half squatting position as she moved backwards, struggling with it "Come on sword, aaaaalmost there." She got the sword at least out of the way from the middle of the room, giving a celebratory first pump with her arm and hand. A big grin on her face as she turned to him, "See? I can totally do this. I'm gonna have muscles for days." She gave an obligatory flex of her non-existent muscles.
The amused expression on Espen's face only deepened further as the Greek girl tried to defend herself and tell him she was fine. He didn't even know if she was being sarcastic or was trying to be genuine about 'being in her element', even though they both clearly knew that wasn't the truth at all, but that in-between tone only had him laughing some more. She was a tiny thing, so short and skinny that Espen was pretty sure she could get blown away by a breeze. For the first time, Espen actually felt sympathy for a Greek demigod for having to live in Camp Jupiter. The son of Pluto had the sobering thought that this girl wouldn't be treated with any difference by the legion - she would be expected to fall in line like all the demigods who had been trained for this life.
The girl calmly took the first spear he'd collected, no longer with that flash of worry that he'd first seen on her face when he'd walked in. Espen was glad for that - he was a warrior, not a monster that scared girls. He wouldn't have liked it very much if she'd continued to be nervous around him. Apparently, she had completely negated any sort of threat he might have presented with his appearance, because she instantly started talking a mile a minute, and Espen grinned again as he listened to her. He didn't even need to respond as she went from one thought to the next, defending herself and her lack of control over her powers, picking up spears and somewhat contentedly carrying out what she was doing - her punishment(?) - while chatting on, her flow of words uninterrupted.
Disregarding her instructions not to help, Espen continued to anyway, strangely content with helping this girl with her chore. He'd just finished picking up the last spear when the girl - still talking - moved on to another weapon. Of course, that weapon just happened to be a broadsword that Espen was pretty sure no one used at all. He smirked and stood a little ways off with his arms crossed, his eyes alight with amusement as he waited for her to give up on the weapon and maybe move on to something else. Hilariously, she began talking to it as she dragged it along, and Espen laughed again before moving forwards and finally helping her as she stopped in her Herculian task to pump her muscles at him.
"Gods," he chortled almost to himself, easily picking up the broadsword and propping it up against the wall. His eyebrows quirked at the girl as the smile remained on his lips, entertained by her flex, and assured her, "Yeah, you'll be a tank in no time." He glanced around the room, connecting the dots of her punishment himself. If he was right, she was going to be in here into the night without help. "You're on spittin' and shinin' duty, huh? You're going to miss dinner if you don't have help. Seriously. Why don't you do the actual cleaning part and I'll help you move this stuff?"
Avery had rattled on, unaware that she had actually been rattling on. A little thing she tended to do. She didn't want to talk over anyone of course, but she had found that most people were not as extroverted as she was. So, it sometimes helped when she was the first to initiate conversation. Sometimes that made people relax and feel comfortable enough to respond and sometimes it made the people who didn't want to talk but who didn't exactly hate her presence relax enough to smile or laugh.
She had dragged the sword for giants as close as she could and the boy had laughed before moving towards her, easily picking up the thing. Avery grinned, "Well, someone ate their Wheaties this morning."
He commented that she would be a tank in no time and Avery laughed lightly, "Absolutely. The greatest warrior your camp has ever seen. There will be sonnets written about me." She still had a grin on her face as she picked up the nearest helmet. It was a big thing, and had a plume of red sticking out of it like the mane of a very fashionable horse that had gotten electrocuted or something. She ran her hands over the plume before putting the helmet on. It was as heavy as it was large, but using two hands she could maneuver it well enough to see properly out of it.
The boy guessed her punishment correctly and Avery tried to nod, the action with the helmet on not exactly working in her favor. "You got it. I didn't realize that you guys actually have to show up for the stuff you're assigned to. We always looked at our schedules like a list of suggestions." Avery picked up another small dagger looking thing and put it on a small hook on the wall. She had to admit that the more she wore the cool helmet, the cooler she felt.
He began speaking and Avery picked up the next smallest dagger, pretending to jump forward and use it against an invisible opponent. "Ha!" He very kindly offered to help and she gave him a grateful smile as she paused in her attempts at murdering a ghost, "Thank you. If you're sure you don't mind?"
She put the dagger up and moved towards the door where she had first come in, picking up a spray bottle and a clean folded towel. She walked over to where he was sorting and picking up weapons. She began with the spears first, spraying them down before beginning to wipe the dirt and grime off. "My name is Avery by the way."
With the spray bottle still in her hands she drew it like it was a gun in an old-timey western movie, spraying another spear down. "I get why you guys like these things." She twirled the bottle in her hands, ala western cowboy again. "I'd wear this bad boy everywhere if I were you."
Espen grinned and tilted his head slightly as he arranged the broadsword properly so it wouldn't topple over. "That's me," he responded to her joke about having Wheaties. Really, he'd had what every other Roman had had for breakfast, but apparently that still had greater sustenance or maybe protein than anything the Greeks had. This girl was tiny, being a whole head shorter than him, and practically waif-like despite her big personality - Espen briefly wondered if she was the smallest in their own camp. Although, the Greek girl he'd seen with the dark hair and blue eyes in the gardens was probably shorter; she probably didn't get up to his shoulder. A small smile briefly appeared on his face as he imagined her height against his, before he refocused on the present events in the armory.
The son of Pluto had moved on to arranging the swords closest to him, if only to make it look less like a mess from the front, laughing at the girl's words despite not looking in her direction. "I think you overestimate how much we like writing sonnets," he said over his shoulder, bending down to pick another sword off the floor and putting it with the others. "Isn't poetry more a Greek thing?" From what he'd heard, the Greeks were more into arts and crafts and poetry and pottery; all pretty useless things in Espen's opinion. But hey, if that was what made them happy, then all power to them. It would be a shame that they wouldn't be able to practice it here, and they had to replace all those fun things with actually attending combat training or drills in the morning, but it was what it was.
He'd just turned around to glance at her and make sure she hadn't been flattened by a falling chest plate when she'd pulled a centurion helmet over her head and peeked out at him through the eye slits. The disproportionate size of the metal over the small Greek girl's face had Espen wheezing, laughing so hard at the image that he had to lean on his knees to stop himself from falling over. The hilarity was so sudden and so strong that Espen actually felt tears coming to his eyes, and when he'd finally controlled himself, he had to swipe a finger at the corner of his left eye to clear his vision. "Tartarus, that was hilarious," he said as he shook his head and turned back to his task, body spasming slightly as he fought to keep the giggles down. If he laughed at everything she did, he was sure they'd both be here until well past bedtime.
The shields were next to the swords, and this one was a bit more to tackle. They were heavy and made of solid metal, meant to be able to withstand many kinds of weapons. Espen had to put a bit more elbow grease into this one, and his lips parted as he bent down and began rearranging them. "Yep, and marching drills every morning." He looked up as he put a shield away, trying to give her a reassuring grin. The helmet on her head, while still somewhat funny, had just reminded Espen of the level of responsibility and duty the Greeks now had to learn to fill. "You'll get used to it. It's hard at first, but eventually you'll settle into a rhythm."
It was something Espen himself had to remind himself of. They'd all been probatio once, even the ones who had grown up in New Rome. They'd all had to go through Lupa, they'd all had to adjust to legion life. Some of the legionnaires themselves were still learning to adjust, or were dragging their feet - if they hadn't, they wouldn't be getting in trouble, and then who'd be washing the dishes or doing the laundry? It was hard to remember the Greeks were new, too, despite many of them having been demigods for years. Espen would have to try harder to be considerate, he supposed, but if they were actually like this Greek girl and willing to pull in their weight when it mattered, he'd find himself far more accommodating.
As the girl double checked if he'd be okay with it, he waved an errant hand over his shoulder as though it hadn't mattered. Truly, though, it didn't; Espen could be mean at times, but he'd always tried to be nice first. This girl hadn't done anything to offend or insult him - of course he was going to lend a hand. "Espen," he replied as he arranged the last shield. She'd have to clean it, of course, but at least it was easier to get to and she wouldn't trip over them. The sound of the spray interrupted the brief silence, and Espen turned again to look at the girl - Avery - and make sure she hadn't done come across any complications just yet. He grinned and nodded at the helmet on her head. "You should definitely wear it during a War Game. It'd suit you." The mental image of Avery yelling a battlecry, dragging the broadsword behind her and with the huge helmet over her head, trying to keep it from falling off - Espen had to turn away to smother his giggles.
Avery found herself returning the Roman boy's grin. She was pleasantly pleased that he wasn't at all what some of the other kids in her camp had made them out to be. Not that he was the all-encompassing representative of his camp or anything like that. He was nice though and was actually helping her, which was more than she could say of a few of her own camp-mates. Affirming the belief that people were people and could not be sorted and made to fit into pre-affixed boxes.
Avery commented about the poetry and she found herself grinning yet again as he commented about the Roman tendency to avoid poetry. When he mentioned that it was more of a Greek thing she laughed lightly before replying, "Ah, touché. You have me there. Hmmm." She tapped her finger against her chin in thought for a moment before her eyes widened as the idea came to her. "A statue then!" She turned to him, "Show me your best warrior pose. Go on, I know you have one." She was beaming of course, a bright smile on her lips as she watched him. So far he had seem to roll with her randomness and humor, she hoped he wouldn't disappoint, though she knew that some people weren't as comfortable as she was when it came to making a fool of themselves. Not that she expected a silly pose. He could pull out something serious of course, but somehow she didn't see that one happening.
Avery had just gotten the helmet on when she turned to face him, their eyes meeting at the most perfectly arranged time. Hers caught in the act of being mischievous and his in surprise at said random act. He began laughing, a genuine and honest deep laugh that caused her to grin in return. The grin spreading into a full once again beaming smile as he all but doubled over with laughter. A pleased feeling came over her as she watched him recuperate. She liked making people laugh. Her camp wasn't the easiest when it came to her antics and making them smile. It was nice being around someone who seemed to at least get her humor.
Avery moved her attention back to the weapons that he had arranged for her, moving down the list as she sprayed and wiped until the grime was off of them. She fell into step with him, following behind his organization and pick-up as she cleaned. When he spoke about marching and drills Avery gave a small grimace. She couldn't imagine doing that every single morning, day in and day out. He glanced over, assuring her that she would get used to it and she nodded, the action causing the helmet to dip lower than she intended. Avery balanced the cleaning supplies as she righted the large thing before replying with a bit of positivity. "Rome wasn't built in a day right?" She gave a small grin before turning back to her work.
It would be hard. There was no question about that, but there wasn't another alternative. This is what her new camp required and although she was going to fail, quite possibly in every aspect until she left the place, she would at least try to do what they demanded of her. It was the least she could do and she didn't mind putting in the work. She wasn't necessarily lazy, she was just utterly uncoordinated and the clear opposite of strong. So it would take time and patience which she just to happened to have in abundance.
He gave her his name, "Nice to meet you." Avery nodded, again forgetting that the helmet was on her head. Righting it once more, she turned back to her task. "So where are you from?" The whole job was much quicker with his help. What could possibly have taken her hours upon hours, he had accomplished in mere minutes. Not that her job was done. Still, he had cut her task at least in half already and he had been pleasant company, she couldn't have asked for more.
He mentioned her wearing her newly acquired headpiece into a war game and she gave a small chuckle, "Is that like your version of capture the flag?" She asked, glancing over at him. Not that it truly mattered. She wasn't exactly the person that her camp relied on. Though, she had never donned a cool looking helmet during her games so who knew what possibilities this new one brought.
Espen had never been the most serious legionnaire - much to the constant consternation of his Praetors. He wasn't very much into pranks or practical jokes, but he'd always been one to do his own thing, never been one to really be pushed to do things he didn't want to do. It wasn't that he was rebellious; he was just very self-aware, and grounded, and confident in himself. His personality could be like a mountain - steady and heavy and comforting in its size, but not exactly moveable. He was like his affinity, which only made sense considering his parentage. So when the girl had suggested he strike a pose instead of recite poetry, Espen only shook his head and laughed, before doing as she asked about five seconds later.
It was only for a grand total of three seconds, of course: Espen's face wiped clean of its humour, instead looking proud and regal and maybe a little constipated as he twisted his body and face to look up in a generic upwards and to the side direction. His left arm was pulled up in front of him, bent at the elbow and wrist curled forwards and inwards, while his other arm was pulled up more towards his right shoulder. Both hands were in fists, facing in the same direction as the rest of his body. His legs were strong and solid, his feet a foot apart as he rested his weight lower on his body. Even his chest was puffed slightly, trying to put in a bit of drama and pizazz in his pose for the hilarity of it.
Despite the short duration of his posing, Espen was glad to see it made Avery smile a little bit. The son of Pluto didn't usually think of himself as the comedic relief in a group of friends - although he did find himself in that position more often than not, because he tended not to take too many things seriously - so it did please him a bit that she could appreciate his humour, too. And while Espen wasn't usually in the habit of trying to cheer up people he didn't know, he was quite glad that this Greek girl was at least having hopefully a little bit more fun than she'd expected while having to deal with her punishment. Espen could only imagine what it would be like to be dealing with a new camp and new rules then getting punished with the most droll chore in his opinion. At least washing dishes or doing laundry could devolve into a water fight. What would demigods do to make cleaning the armoury fun, throw shields at each other?
As Avery nodded, the disproportionate helmet on her head swung heavily, and Espen watched it flop in amusement. The Greek girl wasn't bothered in the least by it, though, instead continuing on with her chores with the helmet still on. "No, you're right," Espen replied, turning away to get started on propping up bows. This was the least messy section, mostly because legionnaires didn't use bows very much - archery was the least prioritised combat skill. "Camp Jupiter was built in three." His tone was very matter of fact, although after a few seconds the son of Pluto shrugged. "Or at least, that's what they say. The whole of Camp can be disassembled and reassembled in three days. We haven't ever needed to the whole time I've been here, so I'm not sure how accurate that is."
To be quite honest, though, Espen didn't doubt it in the least. All the legionnaires had had duties digging up trenches or on latrine duty, and they often ran drills in breaking parts of camp down as quickly as they could then building it back up. It was usually termed a 'team-building exercise', which Espen could admit did tend to work considering anyone who was lazy tended to get stuck with the worst chores if they didn't pull their weight. That would mean if the Greeks didn't start pulling themselves together, they would be stuck on the dirtiest and smelliest tasks. Espen would feel bad if they had practice sessions with the Greeks - he'd hate to see Avery stuck on latrine duty.
The son of Pluto glanced up from the last bow, glad to put off sorting out the arrows a bit. He'd rather deal with bigger and heavier weapons than sorting out toothpicks. He might leave that one for Avery completely. "Not really from anywhere," Espen said easily, shrugging casually as he spoke. He'd never belonged anywhere else, really; Camp Jupiter had been the longest home he'd known. Even when he'd been a kid, his mother had always moved them around. It was only when he'd gotten older and into camp that she'd told him it was because things had always happened around him - things that he knew by then were related to his parentage. "We always moved around when I was younger. How about you? You guys are from New York, right?" Belatedly, Espen remembered that Camp Half-Blood had burned down, and he winced internally. He hadn't been the most sympathetic to the other Greeks, but it felt strange bringing it up with such a sunny and sweet person like Avery.
Avery was following every motion that he made as he shook his head, waving away the idea of turning himself into a human statue. She had given him a sad puppy-dog pout, her eyes wide and large before he seemed to have changed his mind. Before her very eyes he shifted into the personification of Roman leadership and strength as he flexed and moved into perfect form. She grinned widely, hands pressing together for a short clap as he got into position, his face serious and battle-ready. She gave a dramatic bow, "We're not worthy." She stood up, palm pressed to her heart as she chuckled lightly, "That was perfect."
Espen's form dropped the statuesque pose and she couldn't have wiped the grin off of her face if she had wanted to. He went back to assisting her in her task and she did the same. She listened to him silently as he spoke of camp. Three? Only three days? She thought that was an insane amount of time to build a whole camp but she had seen the Romans do things that she had never would have thought possible before so what did she know? "Three? What took you guys so long?" She glanced over with a grin still on her face at the obvious joke. Turning back to polishing, she sprayed one of the helmets, cleaning off the grime.
Once the row of helmets was completed she moved to where he was, gathering up the arrows. She took extra care to ensure none of the pointed parts came near her. She wasn't moving quickly or anything of the sort, but they looked sharp enough for that not to matter. She began carefully assembling them together and grouping them by their matching colors. She assumed the various colors meant something, not that she could even begin to imagine what.
Avery listened quietly, nodding when he spoke about not being from anywhere in particular. She looked curiously over at him. "Was that hard?" She didn't mind moving around. She liked being in new places and meeting new people. She thrived on it. Other people weren't always like her though.
He asked about where she was from, mentioning New York and she nodded. "Yeah, that was where camp was based, but I grew up near Boston." She didn't pause in her work, moving along the row, sorting the arrows as she continued speaking. "We traveled a lot though. My dad was a marine biologist with Boston University so we were always in new places all the time." Her voice never wavered, nor got sad. She missed her father of course, there wasn't a day that went by that she didn't think of him, but she never was one to dwell on the sad parts of life. "There was this small little seafood restaurant off the Keys that made the BEST fish tacos. I swear, I've dreamed of them." She grinned, moving the last of the arrows. "How about you? Any favorite places I can add to my bucket list?"
It felt like he had achieved something, quite truthfully, with Avery clearly cheered up by his dramatic posing. He wasn't usually the type to poke fun at himself, although he of course wasn't above laughing at himself if he did something stupid. He just wasn't usually the class clown, but if it meant making Avery laugh some more, he most definitely would not mind getting into more funny shenanigans like that. Espen's smile was wide as he briefly turned to meet Avery's eyes, her clap gleeful and even doing a little bow. It actually felt natural for Espen to flutter his fingers at Avery as though batting away her praise, and it felt good and warm to joke around with the Greek girl. Had anyone told Espen a few days ago when he met his first Greek girl - a memorable experience, let me tell you - that he would meet another that would completely flip any and all expectations he had of their camp, he would have laughed in their face. And yet, here he was completely at ease, in fact a lot funnier than he usually was with his own friends. All within less than an hour of being with Avery. She was definitely quite the breath of fresh air.
"Pshaw, you're just teasing," he replied, his voice in a falsetto as he pretended to blush at her words. He chortled in his natural timbre before turning to the last task. He was definitely going to pass on those arrows. The son of Pluto was half bent over as he moved some heavy boxes around to straighten them, grunting as he moved them into place, and straightened just in time to catch Avery's last words. He rolled his eyes at her playfully, but wisely refrained from making a joke about seeing if the Greeks could do better. Considering how their camp had been burned down to the ground, Espen felt it might be in poor taste if he did bring it up, and look ladies and gentleman he was maturing right in front of everyone's eyes. He might even ripen at the end of the season. He was pretty sure the first Greek girl he'd met would be flabbergasted at all this tact he was displaying right now.
It seemed that Avery hadn't noticed Espen skipping the arrows, or maybe she did but chose not to comment on it. Either was fine with Espen as he moved out of her way, instead now choosing to lean against the wall next to the spears as he watched her work. He wasn't going to leave in the middle of such an interesting conversation, and besides, he had committed himself to wait for Avery until she finished. There might be something they had both missed and if a centurion came in and caught them, Avery might be stuck in here until late in the evening. At least if he was still here, he could help in case someone came along. Besides, she was fun to talk to, and his friends would hardly miss him anyway.
Crossing his arms, Espen shook his head slightly even though Avery couldn't actually see him. "No, it was what I was used to, I guess," he answered truthfully. He had never known any other life than the one he'd been raised in, and it had never bothered him that they had moved around a lot. All he had ever needed in his childhood was his mother, as the son of Pluto was quite an unattached person. New schools, new neighbourhoods, new friends - none of that had mattered much to him at all. "I think I ended up liking moving around. A bit freeing, you know. You're not really defined by where you live or where you're from." He supposed that was the easiest to define reason why he liked moving around; Espen had never needed to belong anywhere, and couldn't understand people who needed to live in one static place or have a solid place to call home. For him, home was wherever he was.
The East Coast wasn't really a place he'd been to often, though, considering he and his mother had stuck mostly to the western side of the country. "That's pretty neat," Espen replied, actually genuinely interested to hear more about where Avery used to live. He'd never been much of an ocean / beach / sea kind of guy, so it was quite interesting to hear about someone whose life revolved around it. "Are you a child of Neptune then?" When Avery asked about his favourite places to visit, Espen thought hard about it for a brief minute, before shrugging his shoulders. He had always wandered, never travelled with a specific destination or goal in mind. He'd been to a fair few places, but none that really stuck to him. "Not really. I don't think I've been anywhere really interesting - I like small towns and the country, you know? Places people wouldn't really visit as a first choice." Not only was it more interesting to see the lives of the people in those areas, it also meant he was less likely to run into monsters. Not that he was scared of them or anything, but it just felt like a more logical thing to do. Besides, Espen was not unnecessarily extroverted. "How about you? If you had to pick one place to visit next, where would you go?"
Avery shook her head, laughing along softly with the boy as he spoke. He was playing of course, his voice a full octave higher than normal. It was too perfect for words. "No, I'm really not. That was perfect." She was grinning from ear to ear. She hadn't met too many Romans and she hated to lump whole groups of people together, but she found herself hoping that more of them were like this boy. He was easy to get along with. He rolled with all of her jokes, not once pausing or chiding her for being too silly. He had went along with it all, and all while he continued helping her do a chore that he hadn't even been required to do. It was truly more than she could have hoped for.
He finished up with the heavy equipment and she continued to work as quickly as she could with the grin still on her face. He had made the task go by not only quickly, but smoothly. Plus, with him being here, she knew that she wasn't mess anything up as far as where everything went. She didn't doubt that he would correct her if she misplaced something so she continued to do what was in front of her in the way that she had started.
She nodded to his reply as her hands continued stacking and sorting arrows. He paused before adding on to the sentiment and she turned to face him then, a softer smile on her lips. "Yeah, I get it completely. I loved it too. I love meeting new people and seeing new places. Everything is always an adventure, nothing is ever the same." Her face turned wistful for just a short moment before she turned her attention back to her work.
She couldn't picture ever sitting still in one place that never changed. At least when she was at camp, there was always something new going on. There was always a new camper or a new member in their bunk. Any un-sorted campers were welcomed in the Hermes cabin and Avery couldn't have been more pleased about that. It was the perfect situation. Even if she had to be in one single place, it never felt unchanging or stagnant. Another set of arrows was sorted and stacked and Avery dusted her hands off on her pants. "How's that look?"
She had told him about Boston and as he commented on it, her other hand fingered the small Boston U charm that was on her bracelet. "Yeah, it was." She knew it was a kid's sentiment but sometimes she wished she could go back to that time. Just for one day. To see her brother and dad under the same roof without fighting. To listen to her dad geek out about some weapon that he had found. She would give anything to get one more day like that back. As Espen asked about her parentage she shook her head, "No. I wish sometimes, I think those would be much cooler than the powers I have now, but no. I'm a Hermes kid. You?"
She then asked him about his favorite spots and as he spoke she listened quietly, though when he said that he'd never been anywhere interesting her eyes widened, a look of playful shock filling her features. She waited until he was done speaking before commenting. "Well that settles it then. We need to take a road trip." She grinned brightly, "I can show you all of the best places to eat on the east coast. Even some cool small towns. A lot of them are supposed to be haunted, but that's according to my brother and you can't always take what he says seriously." He asked her about where she'd like to travel to and Avery tapped her finger against her chin in thought. A thousand places popped into her head but she didn't have to think too long before she answered his question.
"Greece. My dad always wanted to visit it. He talked on and on about seeing all of the historical places and about the species of fish that lived in the Mediterranean. I think that's where I would go first if I could." She thought, just for a moment, about how happy her dad would be. How much she'd like to walk along the beaches, maybe send up an offering in his name. It wouldn't be the easiest trip, but she could imagine that it'd be the most meaningful by far.
"What about you? One ticket to anywhere in the world. Where are you going?" She watched him, curiosity filling her before she grinned and spoke rather excitedly, "Wait! No. Let me guess…." He was a small-town loving guy and very kind. Her first instinct was to see him somewhere like Spain or perhaps somewhere tropical but no. That didn't fit him. She could see him being somewhere that had lots of welcoming locals, somewhere he could get lost in. "I got it. New Zealand?"
Ave, demigod! Over the next month, all new threads created may be attacked by the Fates at any time, unless specified in the subheader. All random events will be based on prompts from the randomizer. Please refer to the event guide #2 for further and more detailed information about your character's possible fate.
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