halfbloodhill | action ❁ nov 9

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action ❁ nov 9

[ She misses them.

Most days she’s perfectly fine, spending time in the strawberry fields or listening to music from her friends in Apollo cabin. But some days, she wanders off to be by herself, spending time with her thoughts instead.

Once she’s reached the lake, Anna dangles her feet over the dock, daring herself to even get the roles of her ballet flats wet. She thinks of Wendla and Ilse and Martha and everyone else and wonders if they think of her, and what they might think of her sudden disappearance from their group. She doesn’t want to admit that she wishes to be missed. And now that she no longer has the option of returning home -- well, she has to ask herself, what good will that do? Does she risk putting her friends and family in danger? What will they think of her now, investing time and belief into what they consider pagan rituals and mythologies?

Anna says nothing, instead plucking out the flower resting behind her ear and tossing the daisy, the last of the flowers, into the water, watching it float over the placid surface. ]

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[ There is considerably more freedom here than at Camp Jupiter, Gale has noticed. They hardly train at all in comparison. Little wonder so few of them survive after camp.

Still, it means he gets a little more time to himself. He's using that time by taking a walk, and that's when he sees Anna alone on the dock, tossing flowers in the lake. ]

The water spirits don't mind?

[ Anna looks up, breaking her train of thought as she immediately puts on a small smile in greeting. ]

I don't think so. They wear them a bit before they get soggy. [ She lowers her voice conspiratorially. ] A few of them are quite vain.

[ His eyebrows go up in amusement. ]

That so? I've never seen them wearing flowers before.

Well, it is true that they prefer the plant life available in the water.

[ Anna rests her elbows on her knees, chin in her hands, watching the water nymphs slide by beneath the surface. One of them catches the flower she's dropped and Anna looks pleased. ]

[ He nods at the naiad, not smiling, but fascinated. ]

Looks like she likes it.

I'm on quite good terms with the nymphs, I like to think.

[ As if performing a magic trick, another flower appears in her palm and Anna tucks it behind her ear again. ]

It's also good to keep flowers around when the cold months are coming fast upon it. Keeps things bright.

You're a daughter of Ceres?

[ He shouldn't be surprised - flowers and all. ]

You going to put garlands up for Christmas? [ That was one of the few things his family could afford to do to celebrate. ]

[ She nods with a little hum in response to his first question. ] That's the plan! Poinsettias are very nice in moderation, though I find that in America, people tend to, ah, overdo it in the holiday season.

Though -- I suppose we wouldn't really be celebrating Christmas here, would we?

[ He snorts. ] Yeah, sometimes we do. But if you need any help setting them up, let me know. I'll lend a hand.

[ It would be a good distraction from wondering where his family got off to, and thinking of how they can take out the Red Room. And it would feel wrong to skip one of the only traditions they have, even in hard times. ]

Why not? You Greeks don't do Christmas?

[ It's not meant to sound rude... but it probably does. Gale has a way with words. ]

There are other holidays to celebrate the end of the year. And - I have asked this question once before - I've been told that the Christian God is in a realm entirely from the ones we encounter.

[ She frowns, just slightly. ] It's a bit difficult to see where the paths cross, living in this bubble for the better part of the year.

[ Frown. ]

I wouldn't know much about that. I grew up in New Rome. Christianity isn't acknowledged often there.

But a lot of you guys grew up with it, so I don't see why you couldn't celebrate anyway.

It's a tricky subject here, largely unacknowledged, but no one seems to judge if you hold onto the beliefs you were raised with.

There are winter celebration in the place of Christmas in camp, but you could celebrate the holiday itself if you wished.

Hey there. [Elizabeth had been out for a jog when she'd passed the lake, seeing a young girl there, decided to make a pit-stop.] Careful, don't wanna wreck your shoes.

[She doesn't sit down, though. She'll just stand next to Anna, looking out over the lake. It was still as beautiful as it had been when she'd first come to camp.]

Oh, dear.

[ Drawing herself out of her thoughts, Anna curls her feet in an attempt to keep her shoes on as she pulls her legs up, hugging her knees to her chest. ]

Can't have waterlogged shoes now.

And it's getting cold, [Elizabeth reminded her with a soft smile.]

Hey, I don't mean to interrupt you, but- are you doing okay? You looked pretty lost in thought. I just thought, if you needed to talk or something... [Please don't think this was a recruitment thing, please please please don't.]

You've not interrupted anything, I ensure you.

[ Anna looks up and scoots over on the dock to give Elizabeth room if she would like to join her. If this were a recruitment session, well, Anna would be flattered to even be asked, though she would rather not live an eternity as a young girl. ] Please, sit, if you'd like.

If you say so. [With a smile, Liz takes a seat next to her on the dock.] It's so beautiful out here. I always forget just how much until I come back to camp.

It is lovely, isn't it? I don't think I have ever been much of a city person, having grown up on the countryside and all.

That makes sense. I don't mind cities- I've always liked being around people. I grew up in a small town outside of Boston... But anything that wasn't Boston was pretty much the country then. You're from... Germany, right?

Indeed! [ She perks up at the mention of her birthplace. ] How long has it been since you have seen Boston as it was when you were a child?

I've been to Germany before. [Not during it's best times, unfortunately. But she'd seen it since, and it really was a beautiful country.] It was lovely.

As it was? Y'know, I never even got to see Boston until after I joined the Hunt. So it's been 90-some years since I saw it like it was. It just keeps changing. But so does the world.

How simply fascinating. [ Anna sighs dreamily, bringing her knees closer to her chest. She wishes she could even watch a stop motion film tracking even the way her little town changed over the centuries, since it seems impossible for her to experience it herself. ]

I expect that you have seen many changes in this camp alone.

You bet. The scenery stays the same, but the campers come and go. There are so many more cabins now- I'm sure more will be built, too. Gotta say, I like it. When I was here, I stayed in Hermes' cabin- Eris, my mother, doesn't have her own cabin, which, to be fair, is pretty in-character for the goddess of discord.

[Elizabeth pauses, for a moment, then holds out her hand.] I'm Elizabeth, by the way.

Anna. It's a pleasure. [ She politely shakes her hand, smiling brightly. ]

It does not bother you that your mother does not have her own cabin? The others here seem to be quite content to be sharing spaces with non-siblings, but I think there are some naysayers around who would like spaces of their own.

Well, I'm kind of an unusual sort in that respect, I guess. When I first came here, before I joined the Hunt, yeah. I didn't really like having to share a cabin with all of the Hermes campers, all of the others who had been unclaimed, or just didn't have another cabin to go to. But I wasn't used to living with people, either. And the more I learned about Eris, the more it made sense that she shouldn't have her own cabin. She goes in, makes a mess, and leaves someone else to clean it. [A wry smile.]

Now, since I joined the Hunt, Artemis is both my Lady and my mother, of sorts. [Elizabeth had a complicated history of mothers.] And I've got a pretty cool cabin.

Two mothers - that is not always a bad thing, is it? I do feel much closer to the woman who raised me. I'm much more comfortable referring to her as my Mater. [ She shrugs a little bit. ] Demeter seems like a distant figure, even now.

Three, I suppose. I never got to know Eris. I think she's disappointed that I joined the Hunters, but it was my own decision. I never knew the woman I thought was my mother, either. [She'd died early on in Elizabeth's life.]

It's sad, though.

I wish you felt closer to her.

[Well, he's not Jehan. It's not like he can spontaneously make another flower grow behind her ear - though that'd be damn cool.

So he rips a little bit of grass out of the ground - just a few blades, and sprinkles it above her head, like it's snowing. Though it's not like she can see him, because Gabe's using his illusions to hide, as usual.]

Oh, no! Don't do that, those were just tended to! [ Anna complains, somewhat startled to see fresh blades of grass before her eyes and in her hair. She shakes it out. ]

Jehan'll get back on it.

[He shrugs. Gabriel brings himself back into vision again, snapping his fingers and parking it next to Anna, cross legged.]

You're thinking too much, princess. What's going on in there?

[He points to her head.]

[ She brushes the grass out of her hair, shaking it into the water. ] What do you mean what is happening in here? Thoughts, of course, many thoughts.

[He watches the grass fall into the water with a sigh, because it was kind of fun making it snow on her while it lasted.]

They say too many thoughts can make a person's mind go bad places, princess.

Who says that? Thinking is a far better thing than not thinking.

I don't know who says that. I've just heard it before.

Tell me what's going on in there. What're you thinking about?

[Naomi, as per usual, is oblivious to any of Anna's thoughts. All she knows is she sees her big sister by the lake and changes her direction. It's only as she gets closer that she slows down, then opts not to do her original plan of tackle hugging her.

Instead Naomi takes a seat next to Anna, swinging her legs with her own flower tucked behind her ear.]

What'cha doin'?

Hello. [ She smiles gently in greeting, ever placid and welcoming. ]

I am not up to much. I just came here to think, that's all. What have you been up to?

I was playing hide 'nd seek with Tobias!

[Aka she's not sure where her kittens gotten off too, but since last time he wandered off he ended up at the Iris Cabin she's fairly sure that's where he is.]

[ She looks at her amusedly, raising her eyebrows. ]

Are you winning or losing this game, Naomi? [ And she gets a nudge. ] Since you've found me and not kittens.

... 'm hiding...

[Totally losing.]

So if you see him you should totally tell me so I can, um, hide!

Absolutely, without a doubt. [ Crossing her heart too, just in case. She smiles genuinely, her spirits already alleviated somewhat just by Naomi's presence. ]

What happens if you win the game?

If I win... I donno, I guess I just win.

[She taps her finger to her chin in thought.]

But! If Toby wins I have to get him tuna from the mess hall!

That sounds reasonable. I say that Toby owes you cuddles if you win.

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action ❁ nov 9

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