i'm never changing who i am

tasaria // daughter of hermes // roma // she/her just a young gun with a quick fuse i was uptight, wanna let loose i was dreaming of bigger things and wanna leave my old life behind not a yes-sir, not a follower fit the box, fit the mould have a seat in the foyer, take a number i was lightning before the thunder

[tasariaamiel]

After the party, Tas had wanted the earth to open up and swallow her whole. When this hadn't happened, she'd settled for just avoiding Lex as best as possible until the end of time. Apparently, fate had other ideas - a phrase that might be horrifically true, actually, she vaguely remembered hearing about the Fates, she'd have to check what that meant - because she found herself on washing up duty with Lex. After they'd greeted each other, she wracked her brain for what to talk about. They would be here a while, so they had to discuss something. "So, uh... you and Trystin, huh?" Why did she bring that up? Was she insane? Maybe it was Lex's doing. Dionysus was also the god of madness.

[larkdehaven]

-noticed Tas staring at Lex when she'd pointed her out, and decided she'd play matchmaker; she's been talking Lex up to Tas for days, and getting them to spend time with each other where possible; now feels that tonight's party is the perfect time to push them together- C'mooooon, Tas, you look lovely -very aware that they are late and the harpies will eat them if they catch them, drags Tas bodily to the party and gets some alcohol into both of them while looking around for Electra-

[tasariaamiel]

-dragging her feet getting ready hoping that Lark will get bored and leave her, because she doesn't really want to go to this party - yes Lex is beautiful and kind and funny but Tas has been at Camp for about five minutes and doesn't want to date, or go to a party that might get her into trouble- Okay, fiiiine -lets Lark drag her because she's not getting out of this, is she?; after some drink she's beginning to enjoy herself and relax, bopping to the music, until she spots Lex and Trys kissing and comes to her senses- Right, well, that's enough of that -goes straight to bed, deciding never to speak to anyone ever again-

[tasariaamiel]

Tas had been at Camp for a couple of weeks, and thought she was beginning to get the hang of it. She knew the names of the main twelve gods, she understood the rules and when meals and cabin inspections were, and she had mostly memorised her timetable. It was basically a lot of very intense training for a battle she really hoped wasn’t coming, and not much in the way of learning, aside from Ancient Greek. According to Lark, year-rounders who were interested in learning went to classes or studied in their free time, and Chiron taught some regular lessons during the school year, but at Camp the emphasis was on survival. Apparently the Roman camp - and that was mind-boggling - had more in the way of education, so it might start to become more of a thing here. Tasaria had asked what year-round demigods did if they wanted jobs, and Lark had laughed, which she supposed answered that question. Lark didn’t particularly strike her as somebody who would want a normal, human job. She’d been glad to learnt that there were famous demigods, though. Tas had wanted to sing for as long as she could remember, and she would have been devastated if this whole “godly father” thing got in the way of that. 

It was Saturday today, which meant that they could choose what they wanted to do - much like boarding school, she supposed. Breakfast was still at 8am, sadly. Why they would make a bunch of teenagers with ADHD get up that early was beyond her. Lark booped her on the nose at breakfast and said cheerily, “I thought we could hang out with Lex today!” 

Tas batted her hand away and agreed; she’d met half the camp by this point, and Lex was one of her favourite people so far. She said as much to Lark as they left the mess hall, grass crunching under their feet, and Lark looked strangely pleased. “Lex!” Lark shouted, waving - this seemed unnecessary since she was about eight feet away, but what did Tas know? “Hey! I thought we should go to the beach today- oh no.” Lark suddenly went wide-eyed and bit her bottom lip. “I just remembered. I have a thing. You guys go on without me!” She flashed them a grin and dashed off. 

Tas watched her go, flabbergasted, and turned to Lex. “Hi,” she said, realising she’d not said that yet, and she had manners somewhere. “Uh, too much caffeine? Uh… should we just go, then?”

[electralemay]

Lex didn’t have many plans for the day, considering it was a Saturday. Honestly, having breakfast at 8am was completely ridiculous on the weekend, especially as Friday night was party night. Although their cabin had only hosted a small get together last night - they were doing a massive one in a couple of weeks - Lex was still a little hungover and had struggled to get out of bed without throwing up this morning. After taking some her siblings’ home-made remedy, though, she was feeling fresher and (almost) ready to face the day. After breakfast, she was just making her way towards her cabin to bug some of her siblings when she heard an extremely-enthusiastic Lark shout her name. As a social person, Lex was more than happy to spend the day going to the beach with Lark and Tas. Lex had got to know Tas over the last few weeks and thought she seemed really cool and was willing to get to know her better - and she was always pleased to spend time with Lark.

When Lark suddenly made an excuse and ran off, Lex narrowed her eyes slightly. She’d been at this Camp for too long to consider that natural behaviour, especially knowing Hermes’ kids. Still, she did like Tas’ company and Lark was a little strange anyway, so she figured, why not? “Hey,” she said, smiling at Tas, amused at her flabbergasted face. “I think that’s just Lark’s normal state, to be honest. Let’s go, then she can always come later if whatever she’s up to doesn’t take too long.” 

[tasariaamiel]

Tas conceded that Lex was probably right: Lark was strange. From the tidbits she’d picked up, Lark had been at Camp for a long time, which might go some way to explaining the strangeness. “Yeah, Hermes kids are pretty weird, to be honest. I say that like I’m not one, but I like to think I’m on the less-weird end of the spectrum.” Maybe she should stop talking soon. She nodded in reply to Lex’s suggestion, and they set off for the beach; it wasn’t far from the mess hall, but it was a nice, long walk. Oh, they were going for a long walk on the beach together. That sounded like a tinder profile. Before she started laughing at that, she said, “So you’re the head counsellor, right? How do you get that job?” Their head counsellor was Connor, whose brother had left to attend college, which gave her hope that it could happen. Kestrel’s was Will, a nice guy who was rarely seen apart from his boyfriend, Nico. Apparently, Nico had been part of some big quest, and was well-regarded at Camp. Something to do with the Romans and a war and an evil Earth goddess. Tas was just glad she’d arrived after all that; Lark had spoken about it like it was all normal and fine, but she’d said people had died, and the look in her eye had stopped Tas from asking any more questions.

[electralemay]

“Hermes’ kids are quite flighty, I think, which probably explains why Lark’s just run off and is all over the place. You do seem less… well, excitable, is one way of putting it. To be honest, all of us lot are weird in different ways, but you do seem a bit more normal than some of them. I can’t imagine you stealing someone’s treasured possession just to make friends with them, for one,” she said with a laugh, recalling Trystin’s rage which practically reverberated through Camp when Lark decided to make friends with him. “Yeah, I’m the Dionysus Head, for better or for worse.” She snorted. “I have it ‘cause the previous Head was Pollux, and he was going through a rough time a couple of years ago when his twin died. You can challenge them to a duel if you want to take it over and some of my siblings convinced me to, ‘cause I’d been here the second longest. He wasn’t enjoying the role anymore, I think he was really relieved when I stood up to challenge him, ‘cause he was just doing it out of duty. He didn’t wanna just step down, of course, which is another way you can get it, ‘cause with old daddy dearest around, everyone wants to do him proud.” She explained with a shrug. “Usually you get it when you’re the oldest camper, like Elsie in Demeter. She got it when the previous eldest died.” Lex said this a little bluntly, which she regretted, realising Tas hadn’t been around as long as she had and probably wasn’t used to the casual mention of death. Thankfully, a lot of the drama and wars seemed to be over now, so hopefully Tas wouldn’t have to face any death.

[tasariaamiel]

Tas was a little offended at being called flighty, but she supposed it fit the rest of the Hermes kids. Maybe she’d become more flighty the longer she stayed there. “Well, I like to think I’m fairly calm,” she replied, then raised an eyebrow at Lex’s anecdote. “Who did what now? I don’t know why I’m asking, I assume that was Lark. Who did she do that to?” At least Lark had made friends with her in a normal way. Maybe Hermes kids were exempt from her stealing. “Oh,” she said, and was quiet for a moment. She’d just referenced two deaths in a minute, in passing, like it was normal. Lark said that demigods didn’t always survive long, but was it this common to die young? “Um, I’m sorry for your loss,” she added, realising that Pollux’s twin must have been Lex’s sibling, too. She was starting to see the downside of your dad living at Camp with you. Poor Pollux. She made a mental note to ask Lark later about the mortality rates in demigods; she didn’t feel like she knew Lex well enough to ask yet, and Lark was kind of like her Yoda. “So do you reckon kids with the same godly parent tend to be similar, then?“

[electralemay]

Lex nodded in agreement. “You do seem calm, but you’ve only been here a couple weeks, I’ll give you some time,” she said with a grin, nudging Tas gently. Some kids needed some time to come out of their shell at Camp, but actually Tas was settling in surprisingly well. “Of course it was Lark, yep, she did it to Trystin, he’s an Ares kid. The balls on her, honestly, I wouldn’t piss off an Ares kid even if I got paid for it, but she was perfectly happy to do it for free. Somehow, they get on really well now, though,” she said thoughtfully. Once you got to know him, Trys was actually a really good guy, so she wasn’t surprised he’d forgiven Lark, but she was surprised at how quick it seemed to be. “Thank you, it was a horrible time back then but things seem to be changing for the better now,” Lex replied, attempting to reassure Tas. Try not to mention anyone else’s death again, Lexie, she thought to herself. “Huh, that’s an interesting question. There definitely tends to be similarities between siblings, but I don’t think it’s always necessarily true. Like, we have a Dionysus brother who hates other people and socialising, so there’s definitely some outliers. I think a lot of their kids tend to have some personality traits which crop up frequently, like Ares’ kids often have anger issues” - she said the last two words in a loud whisper - “and Athena kids love learning stuff. But, then, it’s not that they are all the same, sometimes it presents itself differently in some kids. Like, with Hephaestus kids, Leo loves to make machinery and all sorts, while Teagan is more artsy and likes to make pottery. So they both are creative but it comes out in very different ways. Does that make sense?” She asked, realising she’d been rambling on for a while. At least Tas was probably used to that, being friends with Lark.

[tasariaamiel]

“Good, I look forward to going off the rails,” Tas deadpanned, wondering what her mom would think if she returned from Camp a completely different person. She’d probably just be supportive, because she was the best mom ever. “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me. It’s funny, I would say she has no self-preservation instincts but I’ve seen her training. I think she’s just a bit of a maverick.” That was a bit of a Hermes thing, really. “Oh, yeah, I’ve met Trys. He seems quite sweet, but I hear that’s rare for Ares?” There it was again, the siblings being similar to each other. She was glad to hear that things were changing for the better, though she wondered how bad things had been and how long the change had been going for and how long it might take. It was interesting hearing Lex’s take on it; she’d been here a long time, if Tas remembered correctly, and had probably met an awful lot of demigods. “Yeah, that makes sense. I guess it’s like how regular siblings are similar. Not that we’re irregular… well, I guess we are.”

[electralemay]

Lex snorted; she enjoyed Tas’ dry sense of humour. “You better look forward to it, the best time of my life was going off the rails.” Lex had never been fully on the rails, but as soon as she’d started coming to Camp she’d left the rails behind even more, having the freedom to party and get drunk whenever. “Yeah, watching Lark train is kind of scary; you wouldn’t expect someone that small to be so scary, but,” she replied before shrugging. “She’s definitely a bit of a maverick, but she fits in well with the rest of her cabin.” Lark was awesome, really; Lex didn’t think there was anyone at Camp who didn’t like her. “He is sweet, but don’t let him hear you say that. He has a bit of a grumpy side. Definitely not as bad as a lot of the Ares kids, though, they’ll pull their swords out if you even look at them.” She’d heard horror stories about Clarisse and had been extremely intimidated by her when they were at Camp at the same time. “Exactly, yeah! It’s weird to think how Gods pass on their traits, like, do they have genes? Anyway.” She shook her head so she didn’t try to understand the science behind the Gods; she was pretty sure they didn’t conform to mortal science. “We are pretty irregular, we’re one of a kind, baby!”

[tasariaamiel]

“I can’t wait?” Tas said, doubtfully. Before coming to Camp, she would’ve pinned herself as a bit of a rebel, but compared to some of the kids here she was a model student. After all, they nearly all had ADHD, and had less solid home lives than her. “She’s pretty much the epitome of small but mighty, isn’t she? I don’t think I’d want to be on her bad side.” It was true, the Hermes kids were mavericks. Tas wasn’t entirely sure how well she fitted in, yet. “Yeah, I just get the impression that even if you get on his bad side, you’ll be ok,” she said, though she made a mental note to avoid annoying anyone in the Ares cabin. “It’s definitely an argument for nature over nurture, isn’t it?” she mused. “I mean, we’re a lot of a kind,” she said, but couldn’t help but smile.

[electralemay]

Lex laughed. “You don’t have anything to worry about, really. If anything, you seem better-adjusted already than some of the kids who’ve been here longer.” Having been there a while, Lex had seen a whole range of people, some of whom really couldn’t take life at Camp and had had complete meltdowns on day two. Tas would be fine. “Oh, definitely. Gods, I hope I never piss her off.” Lex could imagine herself making some drunken mistake and annoying Lark, so she’d try and avoid that if possible. “Mostly, yeah. I think if you’re on his bad side he mostly just ignores you, to be honest, so you’d be pretty safe. Unless you’re like Lark and are so persistent that he can’t ignore you…” She snorted. “It is, true. I’m more inclined to believe in the nurture side, though, I don’t wanna be anything like my mother.” She made a face. “We are a sizeable bunch, yeah,” she had to agree. The gods needed to keep it in their pants, honestly.

[tasariaamiel]

“I guess I’m just used to settling in to new places,” Tas said, with a shrug. “It helps that no-one here’s called me a slur yet, which must be a record.” It was a really diverse place; definitely better than any high school she’d been to. It would suck to go back to school after this, actually, but at least she only had one year left. And she wouldn’t want to be away from her mum. “Oh, ok, I won’t worry too much about annoying him, then,” she joked. She wanted to stay on everyone’s good side, really. It seemed safest. “What’s your mum like?” she asked, hoping that wasn’t too much of a delicate question. “You’d think the gods would have better things to do than procreate,” she said, before glancing up, wondering if they were listening in.

[electralemay]

“How often did you move?” Lex knew Tas had done a lot of travelling as a Roma, but wasn’t very well-versed on the group. She wasn’t even sure how schooling worked if someone moved around that much. “Well, hey, that’s a relief. I guess we’re all marginalised here, being demi-gods, so hopefully that makes us less likely to discriminate.” Lex wasn’t good at thinking before she spoke, so it was only after that she wondered if maybe she shouldn’t have said that. Eh, it was too late, she wasn’t the kind of person to take back what she said. “You’re mates with Lark, anyway, no-one would dare hate you.” She waved a hand. “Oh, she’s super prim and proper and can’t stand that I’m not ‘ladylike’. She had a fit when I came out as pan, too. We don’t really agree on anything.” Lex was well aware that she didn’t have the worst parent - some people at Camp had some real problems - but, gods, her mum sucked. “I guess living so long must be boring sometimes, and they’ve chosen sex to be their hobby,” she shrugged.

[tasariaamiel]

“A lot. Less once I started secondary school, but still a lot. Mum home-schooled me in between schools, best she could. It’s easier these days with the internet.” That was maybe a little too much exposition. She wrinkled up her nose. “Well, nobody knows we exist, so I don’t think we count as marginalised on that front? But most of us are ADHD and/or dyslexic, and there’s a lot of diversity, so that probably helps.” She felt like Lex wouldn’t mind her ‘correction’; even if she did, Tas would stand by it. She’d never been one to hide what she thought. “Ooh, nice, I am protected.” She scrunched her face up into what she hoped was a sympathetic expression. “Ew, does she even know what century she’s living in? Oh, you’re pan? That’s cool! I’m...” She hesitated, and did a sort of wiggly hand gesture in the air. “...not straight.”

[tasariaamiel]

Tas had been at Camp for a couple of weeks, and thought she was beginning to get the hang of it. She knew the names of the main twelve gods, she understood the rules and when meals and cabin inspections were, and she had mostly memorised her timetable. It was basically a lot of very intense training for a battle she really hoped wasn’t coming, and not much in the way of learning, aside from Ancient Greek. According to Lark, year-rounders who were interested in learning went to classes or studied in their free time, and Chiron taught some regular lessons during the school year, but at Camp the emphasis was on survival. Apparently the Roman camp - and that was mind-boggling - had more in the way of education, so it might start to become more of a thing here. Tasaria had asked what year-round demigods did if they wanted jobs, and Lark had laughed, which she supposed answered that question. Lark didn’t particularly strike her as somebody who would want a normal, human job. She’d been glad to learnt that there were famous demigods, though. Tas had wanted to sing for as long as she could remember, and she would have been devastated if this whole “godly father” thing got in the way of that. 

It was Saturday today, which meant that they could choose what they wanted to do - much like boarding school, she supposed. Breakfast was still at 8am, sadly. Why they would make a bunch of teenagers with ADHD get up that early was beyond her. Lark booped her on the nose at breakfast and said cheerily, “I thought we could hang out with Lex today!” 

Tas batted her hand away and agreed; she’d met half the camp by this point, and Lex was one of her favourite people so far. She said as much to Lark as they left the mess hall, grass crunching under their feet, and Lark looked strangely pleased. “Lex!” Lark shouted, waving - this seemed unnecessary since she was about eight feet away, but what did Tas know? “Hey! I thought we should go to the beach today- oh no.” Lark suddenly went wide-eyed and bit her bottom lip. “I just remembered. I have a thing. You guys go on without me!” She flashed them a grin and dashed off. 

Tas watched her go, flabbergasted, and turned to Lex. “Hi,” she said, realising she’d not said that yet, and she had manners somewhere. “Uh, too much caffeine? Uh… should we just go, then?”

[electralemay]

Lex didn’t have many plans for the day, considering it was a Saturday. Honestly, having breakfast at 8am was completely ridiculous on the weekend, especially as Friday night was party night. Although their cabin had only hosted a small get together last night - they were doing a massive one in a couple of weeks - Lex was still a little hungover and had struggled to get out of bed without throwing up this morning. After taking some her siblings’ home-made remedy, though, she was feeling fresher and (almost) ready to face the day. After breakfast, she was just making her way towards her cabin to bug some of her siblings when she heard an extremely-enthusiastic Lark shout her name. As a social person, Lex was more than happy to spend the day going to the beach with Lark and Tas. Lex had got to know Tas over the last few weeks and thought she seemed really cool and was willing to get to know her better - and she was always pleased to spend time with Lark.

When Lark suddenly made an excuse and ran off, Lex narrowed her eyes slightly. She’d been at this Camp for too long to consider that natural behaviour, especially knowing Hermes’ kids. Still, she did like Tas’ company and Lark was a little strange anyway, so she figured, why not? “Hey,” she said, smiling at Tas, amused at her flabbergasted face. “I think that’s just Lark’s normal state, to be honest. Let’s go, then she can always come later if whatever she’s up to doesn’t take too long.” 

[tasariaamiel]

Tas conceded that Lex was probably right: Lark was strange. From the tidbits she’d picked up, Lark had been at Camp for a long time, which might go some way to explaining the strangeness. “Yeah, Hermes kids are pretty weird, to be honest. I say that like I’m not one, but I like to think I’m on the less-weird end of the spectrum.” Maybe she should stop talking soon. She nodded in reply to Lex’s suggestion, and they set off for the beach; it wasn’t far from the mess hall, but it was a nice, long walk. Oh, they were going for a long walk on the beach together. That sounded like a tinder profile. Before she started laughing at that, she said, “So you’re the head counsellor, right? How do you get that job?” Their head counsellor was Connor, whose brother had left to attend college, which gave her hope that it could happen. Kestrel’s was Will, a nice guy who was rarely seen apart from his boyfriend, Nico. Apparently, Nico had been part of some big quest, and was well-regarded at Camp. Something to do with the Romans and a war and an evil Earth goddess. Tas was just glad she’d arrived after all that; Lark had spoken about it like it was all normal and fine, but she’d said people had died, and the look in her eye had stopped Tas from asking any more questions.

[electralemay]

“Hermes’ kids are quite flighty, I think, which probably explains why Lark’s just run off and is all over the place. You do seem less… well, excitable, is one way of putting it. To be honest, all of us lot are weird in different ways, but you do seem a bit more normal than some of them. I can’t imagine you stealing someone’s treasured possession just to make friends with them, for one,” she said with a laugh, recalling Trystin’s rage which practically reverberated through Camp when Lark decided to make friends with him. “Yeah, I’m the Dionysus Head, for better or for worse.” She snorted. “I have it ‘cause the previous Head was Pollux, and he was going through a rough time a couple of years ago when his twin died. You can challenge them to a duel if you want to take it over and some of my siblings convinced me to, ‘cause I’d been here the second longest. He wasn’t enjoying the role anymore, I think he was really relieved when I stood up to challenge him, ‘cause he was just doing it out of duty. He didn’t wanna just step down, of course, which is another way you can get it, ‘cause with old daddy dearest around, everyone wants to do him proud.” She explained with a shrug. “Usually you get it when you’re the oldest camper, like Elsie in Demeter. She got it when the previous eldest died.” Lex said this a little bluntly, which she regretted, realising Tas hadn’t been around as long as she had and probably wasn’t used to the casual mention of death. Thankfully, a lot of the drama and wars seemed to be over now, so hopefully Tas wouldn’t have to face any death.

[tasariaamiel]

Tas was a little offended at being called flighty, but she supposed it fit the rest of the Hermes kids. Maybe she’d become more flighty the longer she stayed there. “Well, I like to think I’m fairly calm,” she replied, then raised an eyebrow at Lex’s anecdote. “Who did what now? I don’t know why I’m asking, I assume that was Lark. Who did she do that to?” At least Lark had made friends with her in a normal way. Maybe Hermes kids were exempt from her stealing. “Oh,” she said, and was quiet for a moment. She’d just referenced two deaths in a minute, in passing, like it was normal. Lark said that demigods didn’t always survive long, but was it this common to die young? “Um, I’m sorry for your loss,” she added, realising that Pollux’s twin must have been Lex’s sibling, too. She was starting to see the downside of your dad living at Camp with you. Poor Pollux. She made a mental note to ask Lark later about the mortality rates in demigods; she didn’t feel like she knew Lex well enough to ask yet, and Lark was kind of like her Yoda. “So do you reckon kids with the same godly parent tend to be similar, then?“

[electralemay]

Lex nodded in agreement. “You do seem calm, but you’ve only been here a couple weeks, I’ll give you some time,” she said with a grin, nudging Tas gently. Some kids needed some time to come out of their shell at Camp, but actually Tas was settling in surprisingly well. “Of course it was Lark, yep, she did it to Trystin, he’s an Ares kid. The balls on her, honestly, I wouldn’t piss off an Ares kid even if I got paid for it, but she was perfectly happy to do it for free. Somehow, they get on really well now, though,” she said thoughtfully. Once you got to know him, Trys was actually a really good guy, so she wasn’t surprised he’d forgiven Lark, but she was surprised at how quick it seemed to be. “Thank you, it was a horrible time back then but things seem to be changing for the better now,” Lex replied, attempting to reassure Tas. Try not to mention anyone else’s death again, Lexie, she thought to herself. “Huh, that’s an interesting question. There definitely tends to be similarities between siblings, but I don’t think it’s always necessarily true. Like, we have a Dionysus brother who hates other people and socialising, so there’s definitely some outliers. I think a lot of their kids tend to have some personality traits which crop up frequently, like Ares’ kids often have anger issues” - she said the last two words in a loud whisper - “and Athena kids love learning stuff. But, then, it’s not that they are all the same, sometimes it presents itself differently in some kids. Like, with Hephaestus kids, Leo loves to make machinery and all sorts, while Teagan is more artsy and likes to make pottery. So they both are creative but it comes out in very different ways. Does that make sense?” She asked, realising she’d been rambling on for a while. At least Tas was probably used to that, being friends with Lark.

[tasariaamiel]

“Good, I look forward to going off the rails,” Tas deadpanned, wondering what her mom would think if she returned from Camp a completely different person. She’d probably just be supportive, because she was the best mom ever. “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me. It’s funny, I would say she has no self-preservation instincts but I’ve seen her training. I think she’s just a bit of a maverick.” That was a bit of a Hermes thing, really. “Oh, yeah, I’ve met Trys. He seems quite sweet, but I hear that’s rare for Ares?” There it was again, the siblings being similar to each other. She was glad to hear that things were changing for the better, though she wondered how bad things had been and how long the change had been going for and how long it might take. It was interesting hearing Lex’s take on it; she’d been here a long time, if Tas remembered correctly, and had probably met an awful lot of demigods. “Yeah, that makes sense. I guess it’s like how regular siblings are similar. Not that we’re irregular… well, I guess we are.”

[electralemay]

Lex snorted; she enjoyed Tas’ dry sense of humour. “You better look forward to it, the best time of my life was going off the rails.” Lex had never been fully on the rails, but as soon as she’d started coming to Camp she’d left the rails behind even more, having the freedom to party and get drunk whenever. “Yeah, watching Lark train is kind of scary; you wouldn’t expect someone that small to be so scary, but,” she replied before shrugging. “She’s definitely a bit of a maverick, but she fits in well with the rest of her cabin.” Lark was awesome, really; Lex didn’t think there was anyone at Camp who didn’t like her. “He is sweet, but don’t let him hear you say that. He has a bit of a grumpy side. Definitely not as bad as a lot of the Ares kids, though, they’ll pull their swords out if you even look at them.” She’d heard horror stories about Clarisse and had been extremely intimidated by her when they were at Camp at the same time. “Exactly, yeah! It’s weird to think how Gods pass on their traits, like, do they have genes? Anyway.” She shook her head so she didn’t try to understand the science behind the Gods; she was pretty sure they didn’t conform to mortal science. “We are pretty irregular, we’re one of a kind, baby!”

[tasariaamiel]

“I can’t wait?” Tas said, doubtfully. Before coming to Camp, she would’ve pinned herself as a bit of a rebel, but compared to some of the kids here she was a model student. After all, they nearly all had ADHD, and had less solid home lives than her. “She’s pretty much the epitome of small but mighty, isn’t she? I don’t think I’d want to be on her bad side.” It was true, the Hermes kids were mavericks. Tas wasn’t entirely sure how well she fitted in, yet. “Yeah, I just get the impression that even if you get on his bad side, you’ll be ok,” she said, though she made a mental note to avoid annoying anyone in the Ares cabin. “It’s definitely an argument for nature over nurture, isn’t it?” she mused. “I mean, we’re a lot of a kind,” she said, but couldn’t help but smile.

[electralemay]

Lex laughed. “You don’t have anything to worry about, really. If anything, you seem better-adjusted already than some of the kids who’ve been here longer.” Having been there a while, Lex had seen a whole range of people, some of whom really couldn’t take life at Camp and had had complete meltdowns on day two. Tas would be fine. “Oh, definitely. Gods, I hope I never piss her off.” Lex could imagine herself making some drunken mistake and annoying Lark, so she’d try and avoid that if possible. “Mostly, yeah. I think if you’re on his bad side he mostly just ignores you, to be honest, so you’d be pretty safe. Unless you’re like Lark and are so persistent that he can’t ignore you…” She snorted. “It is, true. I’m more inclined to believe in the nurture side, though, I don’t wanna be anything like my mother.” She made a face. “We are a sizeable bunch, yeah,” she had to agree. The gods needed to keep it in their pants, honestly.

[tasariaamiel]

“I guess I’m just used to settling in to new places,” Tas said, with a shrug. “It helps that no-one here’s called me a slur yet, which must be a record.” It was a really diverse place; definitely better than any high school she’d been to. It would suck to go back to school after this, actually, but at least she only had one year left. And she wouldn’t want to be away from her mum. “Oh, ok, I won’t worry too much about annoying him, then,” she joked. She wanted to stay on everyone’s good side, really. It seemed safest. “What’s your mum like?” she asked, hoping that wasn’t too much of a delicate question. “You’d think the gods would have better things to do than procreate,” she said, before glancing up, wondering if they were listening in.

[tasariaamiel]

Tas had been at Camp for a couple of weeks, and thought she was beginning to get the hang of it. She knew the names of the main twelve gods, she understood the rules and when meals and cabin inspections were, and she had mostly memorised her timetable. It was basically a lot of very intense training for a battle she really hoped wasn’t coming, and not much in the way of learning, aside from Ancient Greek. According to Lark, year-rounders who were interested in learning went to classes or studied in their free time, and Chiron taught some regular lessons during the school year, but at Camp the emphasis was on survival. Apparently the Roman camp - and that was mind-boggling - had more in the way of education, so it might start to become more of a thing here. Tasaria had asked what year-round demigods did if they wanted jobs, and Lark had laughed, which she supposed answered that question. Lark didn’t particularly strike her as somebody who would want a normal, human job. She’d been glad to learnt that there were famous demigods, though. Tas had wanted to sing for as long as she could remember, and she would have been devastated if this whole “godly father” thing got in the way of that. 

It was Saturday today, which meant that they could choose what they wanted to do - much like boarding school, she supposed. Breakfast was still at 8am, sadly. Why they would make a bunch of teenagers with ADHD get up that early was beyond her. Lark booped her on the nose at breakfast and said cheerily, “I thought we could hang out with Lex today!” 

Tas batted her hand away and agreed; she’d met half the camp by this point, and Lex was one of her favourite people so far. She said as much to Lark as they left the mess hall, grass crunching under their feet, and Lark looked strangely pleased. “Lex!” Lark shouted, waving - this seemed unnecessary since she was about eight feet away, but what did Tas know? “Hey! I thought we should go to the beach today- oh no.” Lark suddenly went wide-eyed and bit her bottom lip. “I just remembered. I have a thing. You guys go on without me!” She flashed them a grin and dashed off. 

Tas watched her go, flabbergasted, and turned to Lex. “Hi,” she said, realising she’d not said that yet, and she had manners somewhere. “Uh, too much caffeine? Uh… should we just go, then?”

[electralemay]

Lex didn’t have many plans for the day, considering it was a Saturday. Honestly, having breakfast at 8am was completely ridiculous on the weekend, especially as Friday night was party night. Although their cabin had only hosted a small get together last night - they were doing a massive one in a couple of weeks - Lex was still a little hungover and had struggled to get out of bed without throwing up this morning. After taking some her siblings’ home-made remedy, though, she was feeling fresher and (almost) ready to face the day. After breakfast, she was just making her way towards her cabin to bug some of her siblings when she heard an extremely-enthusiastic Lark shout her name. As a social person, Lex was more than happy to spend the day going to the beach with Lark and Tas. Lex had got to know Tas over the last few weeks and thought she seemed really cool and was willing to get to know her better - and she was always pleased to spend time with Lark.

When Lark suddenly made an excuse and ran off, Lex narrowed her eyes slightly. She’d been at this Camp for too long to consider that natural behaviour, especially knowing Hermes’ kids. Still, she did like Tas’ company and Lark was a little strange anyway, so she figured, why not? “Hey,” she said, smiling at Tas, amused at her flabbergasted face. “I think that’s just Lark’s normal state, to be honest. Let’s go, then she can always come later if whatever she’s up to doesn’t take too long.” 

[tasariaamiel]

Tas conceded that Lex was probably right: Lark was strange. From the tidbits she’d picked up, Lark had been at Camp for a long time, which might go some way to explaining the strangeness. “Yeah, Hermes kids are pretty weird, to be honest. I say that like I’m not one, but I like to think I’m on the less-weird end of the spectrum.” Maybe she should stop talking soon. She nodded in reply to Lex’s suggestion, and they set off for the beach; it wasn’t far from the mess hall, but it was a nice, long walk. Oh, they were going for a long walk on the beach together. That sounded like a tinder profile. Before she started laughing at that, she said, “So you’re the head counsellor, right? How do you get that job?” Their head counsellor was Connor, whose brother had left to attend college, which gave her hope that it could happen. Kestrel’s was Will, a nice guy who was rarely seen apart from his boyfriend, Nico. Apparently, Nico had been part of some big quest, and was well-regarded at Camp. Something to do with the Romans and a war and an evil Earth goddess. Tas was just glad she’d arrived after all that; Lark had spoken about it like it was all normal and fine, but she’d said people had died, and the look in her eye had stopped Tas from asking any more questions.

[electralemay]

“Hermes’ kids are quite flighty, I think, which probably explains why Lark’s just run off and is all over the place. You do seem less… well, excitable, is one way of putting it. To be honest, all of us lot are weird in different ways, but you do seem a bit more normal than some of them. I can’t imagine you stealing someone’s treasured possession just to make friends with them, for one,” she said with a laugh, recalling Trystin’s rage which practically reverberated through Camp when Lark decided to make friends with him. “Yeah, I’m the Dionysus Head, for better or for worse.” She snorted. “I have it ‘cause the previous Head was Pollux, and he was going through a rough time a couple of years ago when his twin died. You can challenge them to a duel if you want to take it over and some of my siblings convinced me to, ‘cause I’d been here the second longest. He wasn’t enjoying the role anymore, I think he was really relieved when I stood up to challenge him, ‘cause he was just doing it out of duty. He didn’t wanna just step down, of course, which is another way you can get it, ‘cause with old daddy dearest around, everyone wants to do him proud.” She explained with a shrug. “Usually you get it when you’re the oldest camper, like Elsie in Demeter. She got it when the previous eldest died.” Lex said this a little bluntly, which she regretted, realising Tas hadn’t been around as long as she had and probably wasn’t used to the casual mention of death. Thankfully, a lot of the drama and wars seemed to be over now, so hopefully Tas wouldn’t have to face any death.

[tasariaamiel]

Tas was a little offended at being called flighty, but she supposed it fit the rest of the Hermes kids. Maybe she’d become more flighty the longer she stayed there. “Well, I like to think I’m fairly calm,” she replied, then raised an eyebrow at Lex’s anecdote. “Who did what now? I don’t know why I’m asking, I assume that was Lark. Who did she do that to?” At least Lark had made friends with her in a normal way. Maybe Hermes kids were exempt from her stealing. “Oh,” she said, and was quiet for a moment. She’d just referenced two deaths in a minute, in passing, like it was normal. Lark said that demigods didn’t always survive long, but was it this common to die young? “Um, I’m sorry for your loss,” she added, realising that Pollux’s twin must have been Lex’s sibling, too. She was starting to see the downside of your dad living at Camp with you. Poor Pollux. She made a mental note to ask Lark later about the mortality rates in demigods; she didn’t feel like she knew Lex well enough to ask yet, and Lark was kind of like her Yoda. “So do you reckon kids with the same godly parent tend to be similar, then?“

[electralemay]

Lex nodded in agreement. “You do seem calm, but you’ve only been here a couple weeks, I’ll give you some time,” she said with a grin, nudging Tas gently. Some kids needed some time to come out of their shell at Camp, but actually Tas was settling in surprisingly well. “Of course it was Lark, yep, she did it to Trystin, he’s an Ares kid. The balls on her, honestly, I wouldn’t piss off an Ares kid even if I got paid for it, but she was perfectly happy to do it for free. Somehow, they get on really well now, though,” she said thoughtfully. Once you got to know him, Trys was actually a really good guy, so she wasn’t surprised he’d forgiven Lark, but she was surprised at how quick it seemed to be. “Thank you, it was a horrible time back then but things seem to be changing for the better now,” Lex replied, attempting to reassure Tas. Try not to mention anyone else’s death again, Lexie, she thought to herself. “Huh, that’s an interesting question. There definitely tends to be similarities between siblings, but I don’t think it’s always necessarily true. Like, we have a Dionysus brother who hates other people and socialising, so there’s definitely some outliers. I think a lot of their kids tend to have some personality traits which crop up frequently, like Ares’ kids often have anger issues” - she said the last two words in a loud whisper - “and Athena kids love learning stuff. But, then, it’s not that they are all the same, sometimes it presents itself differently in some kids. Like, with Hephaestus kids, Leo loves to make machinery and all sorts, while Teagan is more artsy and likes to make pottery. So they both are creative but it comes out in very different ways. Does that make sense?” She asked, realising she’d been rambling on for a while. At least Tas was probably used to that, being friends with Lark.

[tasariaamiel]

“Good, I look forward to going off the rails,” Tas deadpanned, wondering what her mom would think if she returned from Camp a completely different person. She’d probably just be supportive, because she was the best mom ever. “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me. It’s funny, I would say she has no self-preservation instincts but I’ve seen her training. I think she’s just a bit of a maverick.” That was a bit of a Hermes thing, really. “Oh, yeah, I’ve met Trys. He seems quite sweet, but I hear that’s rare for Ares?” There it was again, the siblings being similar to each other. She was glad to hear that things were changing for the better, though she wondered how bad things had been and how long the change had been going for and how long it might take. It was interesting hearing Lex’s take on it; she’d been here a long time, if Tas remembered correctly, and had probably met an awful lot of demigods. “Yeah, that makes sense. I guess it’s like how regular siblings are similar. Not that we’re irregular… well, I guess we are.”

[electralemay]

Lex snorted; she enjoyed Tas’ dry sense of humour. “You better look forward to it, the best time of my life was going off the rails.” Lex had never been fully on the rails, but as soon as she’d started coming to Camp she’d left the rails behind even more, having the freedom to party and get drunk whenever. “Yeah, watching Lark train is kind of scary; you wouldn’t expect someone that small to be so scary, but,” she replied before shrugging. “She’s definitely a bit of a maverick, but she fits in well with the rest of her cabin.” Lark was awesome, really; Lex didn’t think there was anyone at Camp who didn’t like her. “He is sweet, but don’t let him hear you say that. He has a bit of a grumpy side. Definitely not as bad as a lot of the Ares kids, though, they’ll pull their swords out if you even look at them.” She’d heard horror stories about Clarisse and had been extremely intimidated by her when they were at Camp at the same time. “Exactly, yeah! It’s weird to think how Gods pass on their traits, like, do they have genes? Anyway.” She shook her head so she didn’t try to understand the science behind the Gods; she was pretty sure they didn’t conform to mortal science. “We are pretty irregular, we’re one of a kind, baby!”

[tasariaamiel]

“I can’t wait?” Tas said, doubtfully. Before coming to Camp, she would’ve pinned herself as a bit of a rebel, but compared to some of the kids here she was a model student. After all, they nearly all had ADHD, and had less solid home lives than her. “She’s pretty much the epitome of small but mighty, isn’t she? I don’t think I’d want to be on her bad side.” It was true, the Hermes kids were mavericks. Tas wasn’t entirely sure how well she fitted in, yet. “Yeah, I just get the impression that even if you get on his bad side, you’ll be ok,” she said, though she made a mental note to avoid annoying anyone in the Ares cabin. “It’s definitely an argument for nature over nurture, isn’t it?” she mused. “I mean, we’re a lot of a kind,” she said, but couldn’t help but smile.

[tasariaamiel]

Tas had been at Camp for a couple of weeks, and thought she was beginning to get the hang of it. She knew the names of the main twelve gods, she understood the rules and when meals and cabin inspections were, and she had mostly memorised her timetable. It was basically a lot of very intense training for a battle she really hoped wasn’t coming, and not much in the way of learning, aside from Ancient Greek. According to Lark, year-rounders who were interested in learning went to classes or studied in their free time, and Chiron taught some regular lessons during the school year, but at Camp the emphasis was on survival. Apparently the Roman camp - and that was mind-boggling - had more in the way of education, so it might start to become more of a thing here. Tasaria had asked what year-round demigods did if they wanted jobs, and Lark had laughed, which she supposed answered that question. Lark didn’t particularly strike her as somebody who would want a normal, human job. She’d been glad to learnt that there were famous demigods, though. Tas had wanted to sing for as long as she could remember, and she would have been devastated if this whole “godly father” thing got in the way of that. 

It was Saturday today, which meant that they could choose what they wanted to do - much like boarding school, she supposed. Breakfast was still at 8am, sadly. Why they would make a bunch of teenagers with ADHD get up that early was beyond her. Lark booped her on the nose at breakfast and said cheerily, “I thought we could hang out with Lex today!” 

Tas batted her hand away and agreed; she’d met half the camp by this point, and Lex was one of her favourite people so far. She said as much to Lark as they left the mess hall, grass crunching under their feet, and Lark looked strangely pleased. “Lex!” Lark shouted, waving - this seemed unnecessary since she was about eight feet away, but what did Tas know? “Hey! I thought we should go to the beach today- oh no.” Lark suddenly went wide-eyed and bit her bottom lip. “I just remembered. I have a thing. You guys go on without me!” She flashed them a grin and dashed off. 

Tas watched her go, flabbergasted, and turned to Lex. “Hi,” she said, realising she’d not said that yet, and she had manners somewhere. “Uh, too much caffeine? Uh… should we just go, then?”

[electralemay]

Lex didn’t have many plans for the day, considering it was a Saturday. Honestly, having breakfast at 8am was completely ridiculous on the weekend, especially as Friday night was party night. Although their cabin had only hosted a small get together last night - they were doing a massive one in a couple of weeks - Lex was still a little hungover and had struggled to get out of bed without throwing up this morning. After taking some her siblings’ home-made remedy, though, she was feeling fresher and (almost) ready to face the day. After breakfast, she was just making her way towards her cabin to bug some of her siblings when she heard an extremely-enthusiastic Lark shout her name. As a social person, Lex was more than happy to spend the day going to the beach with Lark and Tas. Lex had got to know Tas over the last few weeks and thought she seemed really cool and was willing to get to know her better - and she was always pleased to spend time with Lark.

When Lark suddenly made an excuse and ran off, Lex narrowed her eyes slightly. She’d been at this Camp for too long to consider that natural behaviour, especially knowing Hermes’ kids. Still, she did like Tas’ company and Lark was a little strange anyway, so she figured, why not? “Hey,” she said, smiling at Tas, amused at her flabbergasted face. “I think that’s just Lark’s normal state, to be honest. Let’s go, then she can always come later if whatever she’s up to doesn’t take too long.” 

[tasariaamiel]

Tas conceded that Lex was probably right: Lark was strange. From the tidbits she’d picked up, Lark had been at Camp for a long time, which might go some way to explaining the strangeness. “Yeah, Hermes kids are pretty weird, to be honest. I say that like I’m not one, but I like to think I’m on the less-weird end of the spectrum.” Maybe she should stop talking soon. She nodded in reply to Lex’s suggestion, and they set off for the beach; it wasn’t far from the mess hall, but it was a nice, long walk. Oh, they were going for a long walk on the beach together. That sounded like a tinder profile. Before she started laughing at that, she said, “So you’re the head counsellor, right? How do you get that job?” Their head counsellor was Connor, whose brother had left to attend college, which gave her hope that it could happen. Kestrel’s was Will, a nice guy who was rarely seen apart from his boyfriend, Nico. Apparently, Nico had been part of some big quest, and was well-regarded at Camp. Something to do with the Romans and a war and an evil Earth goddess. Tas was just glad she’d arrived after all that; Lark had spoken about it like it was all normal and fine, but she’d said people had died, and the look in her eye had stopped Tas from asking any more questions.

[electralemay]

“Hermes’ kids are quite flighty, I think, which probably explains why Lark’s just run off and is all over the place. You do seem less… well, excitable, is one way of putting it. To be honest, all of us lot are weird in different ways, but you do seem a bit more normal than some of them. I can’t imagine you stealing someone’s treasured possession just to make friends with them, for one,” she said with a laugh, recalling Trystin’s rage which practically reverberated through Camp when Lark decided to make friends with him. “Yeah, I’m the Dionysus Head, for better or for worse.” She snorted. “I have it ‘cause the previous Head was Pollux, and he was going through a rough time a couple of years ago when his twin died. You can challenge them to a duel if you want to take it over and some of my siblings convinced me to, ‘cause I’d been here the second longest. He wasn’t enjoying the role anymore, I think he was really relieved when I stood up to challenge him, ‘cause he was just doing it out of duty. He didn’t wanna just step down, of course, which is another way you can get it, ‘cause with old daddy dearest around, everyone wants to do him proud.” She explained with a shrug. “Usually you get it when you’re the oldest camper, like Elsie in Demeter. She got it when the previous eldest died.” Lex said this a little bluntly, which she regretted, realising Tas hadn’t been around as long as she had and probably wasn’t used to the casual mention of death. Thankfully, a lot of the drama and wars seemed to be over now, so hopefully Tas wouldn’t have to face any death.

[tasariaamiel]

Tas was a little offended at being called flighty, but she supposed it fit the rest of the Hermes kids. Maybe she’d become more flighty the longer she stayed there. “Well, I like to think I’m fairly calm,” she replied, then raised an eyebrow at Lex’s anecdote. “Who did what now? I don’t know why I’m asking, I assume that was Lark. Who did she do that to?” At least Lark had made friends with her in a normal way. Maybe Hermes kids were exempt from her stealing. “Oh,” she said, and was quiet for a moment. She’d just referenced two deaths in a minute, in passing, like it was normal. Lark said that demigods didn’t always survive long, but was it this common to die young? “Um, I’m sorry for your loss,” she added, realising that Pollux’s twin must have been Lex’s sibling, too. She was starting to see the downside of your dad living at Camp with you. Poor Pollux. She made a mental note to ask Lark later about the mortality rates in demigods; she didn’t feel like she knew Lex well enough to ask yet, and Lark was kind of like her Yoda. “So do you reckon kids with the same godly parent tend to be similar, then?“

[electralemay]

Lex nodded in agreement. “You do seem calm, but you’ve only been here a couple weeks, I’ll give you some time,” she said with a grin, nudging Tas gently. Some kids needed some time to come out of their shell at Camp, but actually Tas was settling in surprisingly well. “Of course it was Lark, yep, she did it to Trystin, he’s an Ares kid. The balls on her, honestly, I wouldn’t piss off an Ares kid even if I got paid for it, but she was perfectly happy to do it for free. Somehow, they get on really well now, though,” she said thoughtfully. Once you got to know him, Trys was actually a really good guy, so she wasn’t surprised he’d forgiven Lark, but she was surprised at how quick it seemed to be. “Thank you, it was a horrible time back then but things seem to be changing for the better now,” Lex replied, attempting to reassure Tas. Try not to mention anyone else’s death again, Lexie, she thought to herself. “Huh, that’s an interesting question. There definitely tends to be similarities between siblings, but I don’t think it’s always necessarily true. Like, we have a Dionysus brother who hates other people and socialising, so there’s definitely some outliers. I think a lot of their kids tend to have some personality traits which crop up frequently, like Ares’ kids often have anger issues” - she said the last two words in a loud whisper - “and Athena kids love learning stuff. But, then, it’s not that they are all the same, sometimes it presents itself differently in some kids. Like, with Hephaestus kids, Leo loves to make machinery and all sorts, while Teagan is more artsy and likes to make pottery. So they both are creative but it comes out in very different ways. Does that make sense?” She asked, realising she’d been rambling on for a while. At least Tas was probably used to that, being friends with Lark.

[tasariaamiel]

“Good, I look forward to going off the rails,” Tas deadpanned, wondering what her mom would think if she returned from Camp a completely different person. She’d probably just be supportive, because she was the best mom ever. “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me. It’s funny, I would say she has no self-preservation instincts but I’ve seen her training. I think she’s just a bit of a maverick.” That was a bit of a Hermes thing, really. “Oh, yeah, I’ve met Trys. He seems quite sweet, but I hear that’s rare for Ares?” There it was again, the siblings being similar to each other. She was glad to hear that things were changing for the better, though she wondered how bad things had been and how long the change had been going for and how long it might take. It was interesting hearing Lex’s take on it; she’d been here a long time, if Tas remembered correctly, and had probably met an awful lot of demigods. “Yeah, that makes sense. I guess it’s like how regular siblings are similar. Not that we’re irregular... well, I guess we are.”

[tasariaamiel]

Tas had been at Camp for a couple of weeks, and thought she was beginning to get the hang of it. She knew the names of the main twelve gods, she understood the rules and when meals and cabin inspections were, and she had mostly memorised her timetable. It was basically a lot of very intense training for a battle she really hoped wasn’t coming, and not much in the way of learning, aside from Ancient Greek. According to Lark, year-rounders who were interested in learning went to classes or studied in their free time, and Chiron taught some regular lessons during the school year, but at Camp the emphasis was on survival. Apparently the Roman camp - and that was mind-boggling - had more in the way of education, so it might start to become more of a thing here. Tasaria had asked what year-round demigods did if they wanted jobs, and Lark had laughed, which she supposed answered that question. Lark didn’t particularly strike her as somebody who would want a normal, human job. She’d been glad to learnt that there were famous demigods, though. Tas had wanted to sing for as long as she could remember, and she would have been devastated if this whole “godly father” thing got in the way of that. 

It was Saturday today, which meant that they could choose what they wanted to do - much like boarding school, she supposed. Breakfast was still at 8am, sadly. Why they would make a bunch of teenagers with ADHD get up that early was beyond her. Lark booped her on the nose at breakfast and said cheerily, “I thought we could hang out with Lex today!” 

Tas batted her hand away and agreed; she’d met half the camp by this point, and Lex was one of her favourite people so far. She said as much to Lark as they left the mess hall, grass crunching under their feet, and Lark looked strangely pleased. “Lex!” Lark shouted, waving - this seemed unnecessary since she was about eight feet away, but what did Tas know? “Hey! I thought we should go to the beach today- oh no.” Lark suddenly went wide-eyed and bit her bottom lip. “I just remembered. I have a thing. You guys go on without me!” She flashed them a grin and dashed off. 

Tas watched her go, flabbergasted, and turned to Lex. “Hi,” she said, realising she’d not said that yet, and she had manners somewhere. “Uh, too much caffeine? Uh… should we just go, then?”

[electralemay]

Lex didn’t have many plans for the day, considering it was a Saturday. Honestly, having breakfast at 8am was completely ridiculous on the weekend, especially as Friday night was party night. Although their cabin had only hosted a small get together last night - they were doing a massive one in a couple of weeks - Lex was still a little hungover and had struggled to get out of bed without throwing up this morning. After taking some her siblings’ home-made remedy, though, she was feeling fresher and (almost) ready to face the day. After breakfast, she was just making her way towards her cabin to bug some of her siblings when she heard an extremely-enthusiastic Lark shout her name. As a social person, Lex was more than happy to spend the day going to the beach with Lark and Tas. Lex had got to know Tas over the last few weeks and thought she seemed really cool and was willing to get to know her better - and she was always pleased to spend time with Lark.

When Lark suddenly made an excuse and ran off, Lex narrowed her eyes slightly. She’d been at this Camp for too long to consider that natural behaviour, especially knowing Hermes’ kids. Still, she did like Tas’ company and Lark was a little strange anyway, so she figured, why not? “Hey,” she said, smiling at Tas, amused at her flabbergasted face. “I think that’s just Lark’s normal state, to be honest. Let’s go, then she can always come later if whatever she’s up to doesn’t take too long.” 

[tasariaamiel]

Tas conceded that Lex was probably right: Lark was strange. From the tidbits she’d picked up, Lark had been at Camp for a long time, which might go some way to explaining the strangeness. “Yeah, Hermes kids are pretty weird, to be honest. I say that like I’m not one, but I like to think I’m on the less-weird end of the spectrum.” Maybe she should stop talking soon. She nodded in reply to Lex’s suggestion, and they set off for the beach; it wasn’t far from the mess hall, but it was a nice, long walk. Oh, they were going for a long walk on the beach together. That sounded like a tinder profile. Before she started laughing at that, she said, “So you’re the head counsellor, right? How do you get that job?” Their head counsellor was Connor, whose brother had left to attend college, which gave her hope that it could happen. Kestrel’s was Will, a nice guy who was rarely seen apart from his boyfriend, Nico. Apparently, Nico had been part of some big quest, and was well-regarded at Camp. Something to do with the Romans and a war and an evil Earth goddess. Tas was just glad she’d arrived after all that; Lark had spoken about it like it was all normal and fine, but she’d said people had died, and the look in her eye had stopped Tas from asking any more questions.

[electralemay]

“Hermes’ kids are quite flighty, I think, which probably explains why Lark’s just run off and is all over the place. You do seem less… well, excitable, is one way of putting it. To be honest, all of us lot are weird in different ways, but you do seem a bit more normal than some of them. I can’t imagine you stealing someone’s treasured possession just to make friends with them, for one,” she said with a laugh, recalling Trystin’s rage which practically reverberated through Camp when Lark decided to make friends with him. “Yeah, I’m the Dionysus Head, for better or for worse.” She snorted. “I have it ‘cause the previous Head was Pollux, and he was going through a rough time a couple of years ago when his twin died. You can challenge them to a duel if you want to take it over and some of my siblings convinced me to, ‘cause I’d been here the second longest. He wasn’t enjoying the role anymore, I think he was really relieved when I stood up to challenge him, ‘cause he was just doing it out of duty. He didn’t wanna just step down, of course, which is another way you can get it, ‘cause with old daddy dearest around, everyone wants to do him proud.” She explained with a shrug. “Usually you get it when you’re the oldest camper, like Elsie in Demeter. She got it when the previous eldest died.” Lex said this a little bluntly, which she regretted, realising Tas hadn’t been around as long as she had and probably wasn’t used to the casual mention of death. Thankfully, a lot of the drama and wars seemed to be over now, so hopefully Tas wouldn’t have to face any death.

[tasariaamiel]

Tas was a little offended at being called flighty, but she supposed it fit the rest of the Hermes kids. Maybe she’d become more flighty the longer she stayed there. “Well, I like to think I’m fairly calm,” she replied, then raised an eyebrow at Lex’s anecdote. “Who did what now? I don’t know why I’m asking, I assume that was Lark. Who did she do that to?” At least Lark had made friends with her in a normal way. Maybe Hermes kids were exempt from her stealing. “Oh,” she said, and was quiet for a moment. She’d just referenced two deaths in a minute, in passing, like it was normal. Lark said that demigods didn’t always survive long, but was it this common to die young? “Um, I’m sorry for your loss,” she added, realising that Pollux’s twin must have been Lex’s sibling, too. She was starting to see the downside of your dad living at Camp with you. Poor Pollux. She made a mental note to ask Lark later about the mortality rates in demigods; she didn’t feel like she knew Lex well enough to ask yet, and Lark was kind of like her Yoda. “So do you reckon kids with the same godly parent tend to be similar, then?"

[tasariaamiel]

Tas had been at Camp for a couple of weeks, and thought she was beginning to get the hang of it. She knew the names of the main twelve gods, she understood the rules and when meals and cabin inspections were, and she had mostly memorised her timetable. It was basically a lot of very intense training for a battle she really hoped wasn’t coming, and not much in the way of learning, aside from Ancient Greek. According to Lark, year-rounders who were interested in learning went to classes or studied in their free time, and Chiron taught some regular lessons during the school year, but at Camp the emphasis was on survival. Apparently the Roman camp - and that was mind-boggling - had more in the way of education, so it might start to become more of a thing here. Tasaria had asked what year-round demigods did if they wanted jobs, and Lark had laughed, which she supposed answered that question. Lark didn’t particularly strike her as somebody who would want a normal, human job. She’d been glad to learnt that there were famous demigods, though. Tas had wanted to sing for as long as she could remember, and she would have been devastated if this whole “godly father” thing got in the way of that. 

It was Saturday today, which meant that they could choose what they wanted to do - much like boarding school, she supposed. Breakfast was still at 8am, sadly. Why they would make a bunch of teenagers with ADHD get up that early was beyond her. Lark booped her on the nose at breakfast and said cheerily, “I thought we could hang out with Lex today!” 

Tas batted her hand away and agreed; she’d met half the camp by this point, and Lex was one of her favourite people so far. She said as much to Lark as they left the mess hall, grass crunching under their feet, and Lark looked strangely pleased. “Lex!” Lark shouted, waving - this seemed unnecessary since she was about eight feet away, but what did Tas know? “Hey! I thought we should go to the beach today- oh no.” Lark suddenly went wide-eyed and bit her bottom lip. “I just remembered. I have a thing. You guys go on without me!” She flashed them a grin and dashed off. 

Tas watched her go, flabbergasted, and turned to Lex. “Hi,” she said, realising she’d not said that yet, and she had manners somewhere. “Uh, too much caffeine? Uh… should we just go, then?”

[electralemay]

Lex didn’t have many plans for the day, considering it was a Saturday. Honestly, having breakfast at 8am was completely ridiculous on the weekend, especially as Friday night was party night. Although their cabin had only hosted a small get together last night - they were doing a massive one in a couple of weeks - Lex was still a little hungover and had struggled to get out of bed without throwing up this morning. After taking some her siblings’ home-made remedy, though, she was feeling fresher and (almost) ready to face the day. After breakfast, she was just making her way towards her cabin to bug some of her siblings when she heard an extremely-enthusiastic Lark shout her name. As a social person, Lex was more than happy to spend the day going to the beach with Lark and Tas. Lex had got to know Tas over the last few weeks and thought she seemed really cool and was willing to get to know her better - and she was always pleased to spend time with Lark.

When Lark suddenly made an excuse and ran off, Lex narrowed her eyes slightly. She’d been at this Camp for too long to consider that natural behaviour, especially knowing Hermes’ kids. Still, she did like Tas’ company and Lark was a little strange anyway, so she figured, why not? “Hey,” she said, smiling at Tas, amused at her flabbergasted face. “I think that’s just Lark’s normal state, to be honest. Let’s go, then she can always come later if whatever she’s up to doesn’t take too long.” 

[tasariaamiel]

Tas conceded that Lex was probably right: Lark was strange. From the tidbits she’d picked up, Lark had been at Camp for a long time, which might go some way to explaining the strangeness. “Yeah, Hermes kids are pretty weird, to be honest. I say that like I’m not one, but I like to think I’m on the less-weird end of the spectrum.” Maybe she should stop talking soon. She nodded in reply to Lex’s suggestion, and they set off for the beach; it wasn’t far from the mess hall, but it was a nice, long walk. Oh, they were going for a long walk on the beach together. That sounded like a tinder profile. Before she started laughing at that, she said, “So you’re the head counsellor, right? How do you get that job?” Their head counsellor was Connor, whose brother had left to attend college, which gave her hope that it could happen. Kestrel’s was Will, a nice guy who was rarely seen apart from his boyfriend, Nico. Apparently, Nico had been part of some big quest, and was well-regarded at Camp. Something to do with the Romans and a war and an evil Earth goddess. Tas was just glad she’d arrived after all that; Lark had spoken about it like it was all normal and fine, but she’d said people had died, and the look in her eye had stopped Tas from asking any more questions.

[tasariaamiel]

Tas had been at Camp for a couple of weeks, and thought she was beginning to get the hang of it. She knew the names of the main twelve gods, she understood the rules and when meals and cabin inspections were, and she had mostly memorised her timetable. It was basically a lot of very intense training for a battle she really hoped wasn’t coming, and not much in the way of learning, aside from Ancient Greek. According to Lark, year-rounders who were interested in learning went to classes or studied in their free time, and Chiron taught some regular lessons during the school year, but at Camp the emphasis was on survival. Apparently the Roman camp - and that was mind-boggling - had more in the way of education, so it might start to become more of a thing here. Tasaria had asked what year-round demigods did if they wanted jobs, and Lark had laughed, which she supposed answered that question. Lark didn’t particularly strike her as somebody who would want a normal, human job. She’d been glad to learnt that there were famous demigods, though. Tas had wanted to sing for as long as she could remember, and she would have been devastated if this whole “godly father” thing got in the way of that. 

It was Saturday today, which meant that they could choose what they wanted to do - much like boarding school, she supposed. Breakfast was still at 8am, sadly. Why they would make a bunch of teenagers with ADHD get up that early was beyond her. Lark booped her on the nose at breakfast and said cheerily, “I thought we could hang out with Lex today!” 

Tas batted her hand away and agreed; she’d met half the camp by this point, and Lex was one of her favourite people so far. She said as much to Lark as they left the mess hall, grass crunching under their feet, and Lark looked strangely pleased. “Lex!” Lark shouted, waving - this seemed unnecessary since she was about eight feet away, but what did Tas know? “Hey! I thought we should go to the beach today- oh no.” Lark suddenly went wide-eyed and bit her bottom lip. “I just remembered. I have a thing. You guys go on without me!” She flashed them a grin and dashed off. 

Tas watched her go, flabbergasted, and turned to Lex. “Hi,” she said, realising she’d not said that yet, and she had manners somewhere. “Uh, too much caffeine? Uh... should we just go, then?”

[tasariaamiel]

it’s time to begin

It had been one hell of a day. Or, one Tartarus of a day, maybe, if she had to live in Greek references now. God...s, this was confusing. She'd woken up to their caravan being shaken. That wasn't totally unusual; people were not big fans of travellers, and the shit they got for it was unbelievable, sometimes. Still, they'd only just arrived, and it was new that they'd already been taken against. Her mom had been woken, too, and was already grabbing for her phone. Tas had tweaked the curtain to look out, and what she saw... well, it was a person, except for one thing: he had only one eye, in the centre of his forehead, and it was leering at her. Letting out a shout, since his face was right in front of hers, she'd jumped back. He'd smashed the window, she'd leapt off of the bed and pulled her disbelieving mother out of the door, dragging her away from the caravan. As if he'd decided to be courteous, he'd come around the caravan instead of smashing through it, which saved them both time and money. It'd surprised her at the time, when her mom called the police, but she understood now. Then, she'd wondered what they could do against a monster. And he was, there was no doubt in her mind about it. A Cyclops, and she didn't understand quite how that was possible, but that you had it. Chaos had pretty much ensued once the police showed up, and eventually a man with a strange gait had turned up with a woman who'd clicked her fingers, pulled out a sword, and fought the monster. It was a short fight, ending in the monster literally disintegrating, and Tas had caught her breath as she stared around, dazed. Nobody else had reacted, not even her mom, who would have a lot to say about that usually. But she'd been in shock, gasping for breath, and panicked. The police left at another click of the woman's fingers, telling them they'd catch the culprit if he'd turned up again. Then the man with the gait had turned to her mom and told her she needed to explain to her daughter. And boy, did she explain. So it turned out, her dad wasn't a deadbeat who'd run out on them before she was born, he'd been a fucking god. Not God, a god. As in, Greek 'mythology'. He was a god. And not even one of the cool ones. No, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades were forbidden from having kids. Although sometimes they did anyway, and it caused a lot of shit, but the woman wasn't supposed to be telling her that and after a stern look from the guy, she had somewhere else to be anyway. Then the guy wasn't a guy, he was a fucking satyr, and she had no idea how to take any of it apart from to just nod slowly and accept it. Thirty minutes later and with tarpaulin over the broken window, they were on the way to Camp Half-Blood in their caravan, with the satyr along for the ride to make sure they made it. Since being a half-blood was dangerous, but unavoidable. It was all just noise to Tas. Just stories. None of this was possible, or real, and she couldn't take it in. Only when her mom stopped the caravan and told her she had to go with the satyr, did she finally react, shaking her head and refusing. It took them hours to convince her, but then she was walking up the hill, turning to look back at her mom, and half-crying with confusion. Her head was spinning. It was at the top of the hill that she collapsed, unable to take it, and passed out.