&& audacious.

dominic vale of erebus rivers and roads, widow and wide. I left my body, but I didn't leave my mind. I saw the sign, it was hung from the sky. right here above the water, but they didn't seem to mind. I'll cut you down, for I know you are weak. and will those who love you, love you when you're free?

[dcrkborn]

a r w e n .

arwen tried to keep her head on straight as often as she could. anger was a waste of energy, panic would only lead to more distress, losing it would never bode well for anybody. however, the news about olympia had barely even come out of chiron’s mouth before she was volunteering to go. granted, she had been working on a few things during her spare time…pendants for herself and her siblings engraved with sigils and protective charms, enchanting her bow with carved runes and whispered commands to set arrows ablaze as she fired them. none of it actually felt like it was enough, but she wasn’t about to have time on her side and her knee-jerk reaction to the problem was something she had every intention of following through.

it was hardly an hour after she volunteered when they began heading towards olympia. there was a basic plan…get into the apartments, take the first few floors in trios and everybody else would create a temporary base in the lobby of the building they were clearing; a rendezvous for all of the heroes and survivors to come to before taking them back to safety…or at least slightly more safety. it would have gone well too, had arwen not been in a very familiar building with a very familiar person living three floors above the first round of extractions. it would have gone very well had arwen not decided to break off from her partners and climb a flight of stairs alone to go after her closest friend.

with an arrow nocked and ready, arwen kept her bow at her side as she made her way down the hallways towards his door. whether it was her enchantments or just lady luck watching out for her, she wasn’t sure, but before she knew it she was unlocking the door to dominic’s apartment and stepping inside before closing it tightly behind her and twisting every lock the thing had. 

@dcrkborn

     dominic heard the chaos erupt beneath his apartment. he’d been sleeping in, trekking home after another late night in the city. so far he hadn’t been caught by chiron, but he wasn’t sure his streak of good luck was going to last.

     though, this morning, he was thinking about anything except for good luck. he heard the yells, the screams, even the battle cries of demigods and monsters alike, fighting for their lives in the streets of his city. he didn’t ponder his next move, jumping into action immediately. he was up, mostly dressed and armed within a matter of minutes. 

     when he heard the door open, his heart nearly stopped beating in his chest. did monster know how to open doors? he wouldn’t have much longer to think about it. drawing his sword, he peered out into the living room.

     arwen frightened him more than the monster did, stepping out quickly to meet her. “what the hell are you doing here?” his tone was harsh, but full of concern. “do you see the hell breaking out around us?”

[dcrkborn]

m i l o .

     Milo’s cheek flared the warmest shade of pink shortly after Dom spoke, his mind spiraling around the intention of his words. The son of Psyche wasn’t a prude, most of the time, but his lack of experienced mixed with his ever growing storm called his hormones seemed to creep up on him in an embarrassing way. “Ahh got it, t-that’s.” swallowing harshly, trying to find his words, “—cool.” 

     Finally finessing the pin into the slot, he smiled with pride before moving on to the next trap, and probably still had about ten more to tend to. His eyes glanced back from the forest floor, back to Dom, and back to the traps. Even if Milo wasn’t replying, he wanted to make sure the son of Erebus still knew he was paying attention; that he was engaged. As for children of Hermes, Milo had little to no interactions with them honestly. Not that he did it on purpose but being claimed the moment he entered the camp, kept him from their cabin and generally who he hung with wasn’t really in any circle that concerned Hermes’ children.

    “Yeah, that would blow.” finally speaking up, as he was knelt down staping the stakes into the ground before him. “So how long have you been here at camp?” he figured changing the subject felt natural. 

     dominic reeled back in his head, trying to remember the first time he came. “been a while. 8 years, i think?” if he remembered and got all of his dates correctly, then it was 8 years.

     “came when i was 13, the age most kids get claimed.” he moved onto the next trap, conversation mingling with the sounds of the forest around them. once he got into the flow of it, setting them became like clockwork. he’s mess up, and mess up, and mess up, until it finally clicked into place. running the wires and mounting the actual traps were the easy parts.

     “been here since. gotta job in the city, come in and out through there a lot. been in olympia for almost two years now. makes it a home, i guess.” he glanced over at the other camper. “what about yourself?”

[dcrkborn]

j u n i .

“You’re simplifying the idea of us staying in our cabins. It’s not as though we can’t fight the monsters in the cabin. We can work on defenses while being close to others. If people are more spread out then how would we help each other?”

“so we just let them rampage through camp while we watch through our blinds? i’m not saying everyone needs to fight, but if you’re able to, then yes, we can’t just be sitting ducks.”

[dcrkborn]

m i l o .

     Hostility was evident, but Milo didn’t want to fan the flames that Dom seemed to keep at a steady b l a z e—yet tried to coax it in the best way he could. Being so idyllic often was more of a double edge sword than anything, as Milo found others constant wanted to break his spirits, thought it was all an act, or a volatile mixture of both. So instead of bringing a cheer thought into the mix, he fgured keeping his partner distracted could work for both of them…..maybe.

     “Oh, are you close with Betty then?” he named off the more memorable name from Hermes, along with trying to make small talk. “I feel like they have their hands in everything, I say some son of Hermes making a catapult like it was the easiest thing in the world.” which to Milo seemed more difficult than fun.   

     Shaking his head, noting that his logic was frankly sound, “True, but I figured the barrier kept most of the animals away or at bay, like mortals?” he kind of asked and stated all in one. “Though poor bunny if it gets caught in these things….definitely not the typical domestic trap I guess.” 

     milo was always one of the kids that dominic didn’t get. he could see him and arwen getting along, maybe some of those other happy-go-lucky campers. dom would never admit it, but when he saw him, jealously was the first thing to flow through him.

     dominic would never not have the dark cloud of his own bad attitude following him around, making even everyday interactions like this scare people off. “close?” he chuckled, coming out of the fog in his own head. “you could say that.” he didn’t say more, though the smirk had pretty much said it all.

     “whoever said hermes didn’t have useful powers, has obviously never needed a lock picked or their wallet stolen back from them.” dominic had quite a few memories of being on both sides of a hermes kids, bringing that smirk right back to his features.

     “bunny would have some rotten luck.” he felt himself warming up to the situation, successfully clicking another wire into place, moving on to the next.

[dcrkborn]

     dominic vale && his powers —

night vision: unlike most children of erebus, dominic cannot see in the dark. his vision is better than most demigods, yes, but he doesn’t get the crystal clear vision like his siblings do. 

shadow traveling: dominic does have the ability to shadow travel, one of the few he possesses. it took him a lot of work, and drains most of his energy, but he can still do it. he does still have weak moments, and often when using it in a panic, he can send himself and whatever else he is traveling with to an opposite location.

echolocation: much like a bat, dominic can use echolocation in the dark. this helps him since he cannot see in the dark. he often uses whistles, long or short, trying to locate how the sounds bounce off to find things ins the dark.

manipulation of darkness and shadows: dominic can elongate shadows or darken them when concentrating. summoning darkness takes more work, and much more concentration. it often has to do with shadow traveling, and the manipulation of shadows. however, when needed, dominic can create a pool of darkness in which to shadow travel through if needed.

[dcrkborn]

m i l o .

    Perhaps the son of Erebus’ aura wasn’t a true understanding of him, as each time Milo tried to get a reading off him, it was obscured by a cloak of shadows—a cluster of black that caused his reds and greens that flared from his skin to look disturbing if he stared for too long… That didn’t bode well for Milo, having age and mixed emotions against him but none the less he felt like it was important that he was out here and he didn’t want to squander it. 

       “So, have you made a lot of trip wires or traps in your life?” he asked, filling the forest air with something other than silence. The son of Psyche focused on remembering the instructions from that morning, but when he knelt down to set up the hair trigger that fired the trap his mind went blank. “—’Cause, I’m stuck on the last step cause my firing pin won’t stay in place.”

   his gruff nature seemed only increased by the banal task. chiron’s view of the son of erebus had never been one to hold much praise. he knew he was seen as one to blow off work that he didn’t find important. which was true, in some matters. he always got around to the tasks chiron had asked him to do. but these? they only put fuel to his fire. the whole idea of a curfew in the first place had him rolling his eyes. now putting up defenses around camp? sure, it was necessary... but trip wires? come on.

     “made one or two, here or there. get too friendly with some hermes kids and you’re on the receiving end of them.” he fumbled, his own firing pin falling out of place. he cursed, mumbling angrily before pushing it back, the lock clicking into place.

     “not that these will make that much of a difference. a fuckin’ bunny rabbit could trip one off and we’re gonna be weapons blazing.”

[dcrkborn]

do you ever think you're capable of anything other than hurting people?

“well damn, thats insinuating i only hurt people. i think i am capable of more. i make a damn good old fashioned, and in my opinion, that does the opposite of hurting people.”

[dcrkborn]

do you ever wish you weren't a demigod?

“all the time.”

[dcrkborn]

have you ever been in love?

“in love? i mean, i’m 21. so not really. i love my sister, but in love? ... i don’t think so, not yet, anyways.”

[dcrkborn]

id you had the chance to bring any one person back to life, would you do it? and who would it be?

“i think the answer is pretty obvious. i mean, my mom, man, who wouldn’t want to bring their mom back to life? but would i? … i dunno. maybe it was for the best. rosie doesn’t need her back in her life.”

[dcrkborn]

would you rather have sex with zeus in secret or not have sex with him but everyone thinks you did?

“i mean… who wouldn’t pass up the chance to bang the god of the sky? okay, maybe i’ll pass. i’m sure we’re related… somehow. and it’s probably not worth hera’s wrath.”

[dcrkborn]

deepest fear?

“having to sit through a dumbass punishment for this damn curfew.”

[dcrkborn]

most obnoxious demigod in camp?

“theres too many of them. probably jo. there’s always something with her, you know?”

[dcrkborn]

[dcrkborn]

j u n i .

“i bet that kid who died at the party would want a curfew. it’s not a big deal to have to stay inside after 9 pm. there are plenty of things to do. all of them are better than being dead. so what if we have to go inside a bit early. if it means people will be safe then that’s what should happen.”

her words caused him to pause, thinking before opening his mouth again. “the curfew won’t keep us safer. we’ll just be sitting ducks until the monsters figure out how to break into our cabins... we need defenses. lots of them.”

[dcrkborn]

w i n o n a .

“Oh, Dominic. Who do you take me for? I’m perfectly aware of the risk.” Her tone wasn’t chiding – barely even stern; Winona still giddy at what she was proving herself capable of. “I promise,” she said, the gleam of her gaze a wildfire in the making. She wasn’t the kind to let someone else take the fall – but beyond that, she felt a certainty she couldn’t deny. She had to try.

“C’mon,” she said, giving the son of Erebus a quick nod as if to say hit me.

There was no crash of thunder to herald its coming – but the diamond shield was a shock of lightning all the same; blinding white in the glow of the sun. It held – until Winona broke.

With the force she used to parry, the spear shot off the side of the shield, nicking her right cheek and narrowly missing her eye; burying itself into the ground a few feet behind her.

The shield was, and then it wasn’t; the diamond crowning the ring again, the gemstone whole and glittering. A steady hand reached up to touch the gash – it would leave a scar, if the healers on duty didn’t get to it. Slowly, she held her smeared right hand out, Winona almost.. mesmerized as she watched the blood stick to her skin, one thick drop running down her middle finger only to course a river through the lines on her hand.

She could have lost an eye.

It was only common sense – I should probably get this checked out, even if I don’t think I’ll bleed to death from it – that held her back from asking Dominic to take his stance again.

“I should probably find a healer,” she said, and whoever it was that had watched the blood trickle down her finger was gone like a ghost, Winona herself again, charming sensibility and all. “Thanks for trustin’ me,” she continued, and there wasn’t a hint of anger or spite – just gratitude, Winona honestly thankful for what she’d gotten to prove to herself.

She could do it. Now she needed practice.

as soon as the spear left dominic’s hands, he knew he’d made a mistake.

winona’s promise of her ability rang in his ears like a warning bell, only seeming to seal her fate as he was sure he’d killed her.

the thud of the spear was the only noise in the arena, echoing off the empty walls, dominic’s slack jaw and hasty breathing being the only things to accompany it.

her words sounded years away, his heartbeat still thundering in his ears. he almost killed her, or at least, blinded her. it was a miracle the two of them were only walking away with one incident.

he stepped aside, letting her pass to go to the inifamry, still in shock from the whole event.

he could of killed her.

[dcrkborn]

j u n i .

“is your blood sugar low?”

“because you’re sort of acting kind of mean and i don’t really think i deserve to be treated like that.”

“you know what? fine, fine. you’re right. i just don’t think chiron should be treating us like children. we’re been taught from a young age that monsters were after us.... this shouldn’t be a shock.”