Thunder on the Water
Pandora walked up the Half-Blood hill with Serena, Nesaea and Chiron, when they finally came to a stop at the top of the hill by the entrance to Camp Half-Blood Nesaea and Serena turned to face Pandora who stared at them through teary eyes. Pandora rushed forward before attaching herself to the women's legs, "Are you leaving me here because of what I did to that Minotaur?" Pandora whispered as she looked up to the two with glossy eyes.
Serena and Nesaea shared a quick glance before they crouched down to the girls level, "of course not hunny this is for your safety" Nesaea said with a sad smile as a tear ran down her cheek, "this place is better equipped to keep you safe then we ever could, please don't think this is retaliation against you for keeping your family safe" Nesaea said with a shaky smile as she let out a soft laugh when Pandora's smaller hand gently wiped away a few tears. Nesaea pressed a tender kiss to the girl's forehead before she rose to her feet and walked back over to the car to grab Pandora's duffel bag so Serena could say her goodbyes, "Eleftheria i Thanatos, An me enkataleípsoun oi theoí, den tha péso sta chéria tou Krónou óses apoláfseis ki an prosférei, eísai i kóri tou Poseidóna allá poté den xechnás apó poú írthes. Kai poté den xechnás póso agapitós eísai" Serena said with a sad smile as she cupped Pandora's face.
(Freedom or Death, If the gods desert me, I will not fall into the hands of Kronos no matter what pleasures he offers, you are the daughter of Poseidon but you never forget where you came from. And you never forget how loved you are)
Pandora nodded as a smile took over her face, "Eleftheria i Thanatos, An me enkataleípsoun oi theoí, den tha péso sta chéria tou Krónou óses apoláfseis kai na prosférei, eímai kóri tou Poseidóna kai den tha xecháso poté apó poú írtha. Kai den tha xecháso poté póso agapitós eímai" Pandora recited her Greek phrase with a smile as she made a few changes.
(Freedom or Death, If the gods desert me, I will not fall into the hands of Kronos no matter what pleasures he offers, I am the daughter of Poseidon and I will never forget where I came from. And I will never forget how loved I am)
Serena smiled proudly as she pulled the girl in for a tight hug and kissed the top of her head, she let out a soft sigh as Nesaea came back with Pandora's duffle bag. Nesaea passed Pandora her bag before she crouched down again and pulled something out of her pocket, "your dad already gave you his gift and I wanted to give you mine now" she said with a small smile as she revealed what was in her hand. A Clear Quartz Arrowhead Necklace dangled off one of Nesaea's fingers making it glimmer in the noon sun, "this has been passed down through generations of our family. It was rumored to have the power to create illusions, whether it be to distract someone or show someone whatever you want them to see. All you have to do is channel some water around you and think about what you want someone to see" she explained as she started to pull some water from the plants as she created an illusion of a flowery meadow in a clearing of the woods that looked like the one by their house. Pandora smiled in wonder as she slowly twirled around to get a full look before it slowly started to fade away, "when ever you want to see me and Serena this will allow you to see us, now you won't be able to talk to us but this will hopefully bring you some comfort until you've been trained and know how to properly protect yourself and then we can talk about you coming home for a little bit" Nesaea explained with a smile as Serena gave her a cheeky wink.
Nesaea pulled Pandora in for another hug before she finally stepped away from her daughter and stepped past the magical borders that surrounded the camp, Serena gave Chiron one last hug before she joined her friend. The two waved to the girl as they walked down the hill but when they turned away from the girl to start the trek back to the car they couldn't stop the tears that followed.
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Pandora lugged her bag with her as Chiron gave her a brief tour of the camp before arriving at cabin 3, Poseidon's cabin was low, long and solid, with all the windows facing the sea. The outer walls are rough gray stone with pieces of seashells and coral that made it look like the bottom of the ocean floor. Chiron motioned for her to go in, she nodded hesitantly before stepping into the cabin. On the inside, it had six empty bunk beds and the walls glow like abalone, the cabin had a sea shell over the door and waves on the top. Nightstands sit next to the bunks and a lamp is stuck to the wall near the top bunks, the bunks have light blue bed sheets with blankets that have navy blue waves on them with a light blue couch sits next to the window. Pandora did a small spin to look around the room when a door on the other side of the cabin lined with white pillars caught her attention, she walked over and flipped on the light to reveal it was a bathroom. That had a dubbed sink right next the door with a mirror that had seashells intricately embroidered on the outside of the mirror, and to thwart back wall there was a walk in shower with Ocean Waves Stained Glass for the door and a white toilet on the other wall. Pandora smiled slightly at the stained glass door before walking out and pulling the door closed behind her, she walked over to the bunk closet to a window and placed her bag on the trunk at the end of the bed. She smiled as she took a final look around the cabin before clipping her necklace around her neck and slipping it under her shirt then she adjusted her trident ring on her middle finger, once she felt ready she walked out to meet Chiron who greeted her with a cheerful smile.
"How did you like your cabin?" Chiron asked curiously.
Pandora smiled up at the centaur, "it's very pristine" she said with a soft giggle.
Chiron chuckled, "your cabin, Zeus's and Aphrodite's cabin's are the only ones with bathrooms, now as for the dining pavilion you will have to sit at your godly parent's table. It is expressly forbidden to sit at another god's table" Chiron explained with a small frown as they finally reached the Pavilion. The pavilion was framed in Greek columns on a hill that overlooked the sea. There were no walls or roof that cover the mess hall. Torches blaze from the columns and a central fire burning inside a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each table has a white cloth with purple trim, "The tables in the Pavilion are arranged so that there is a table for each god, similar to the cabins. Therefore, children of Hermes sit at the Hermes table, children of Aphrodite at the Aphrodite table, etc" Chiron explained as they walked towards Poseidon's table. He motioned for her to sit down as he walked to the front of the Pavilion and stomped his hoofs to gain everyone's attention, everyone stoped their conversations to look toward the centaur. "It has been determined, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Pandora Nightgood , Daughter of the Sea God!" Chiron proclaimed making everyone clap, he stomped his hoofs again to draw everyone back in before he continued, "in this revelation today will be our last game of capture the flag before the Autumn Equinox, signifying the end of summer. On that note the necklace bead will tsunami to signify the appearance of Poseidon!" Chiron explained happily as a few people clapped excitedly while others rolled their eyes but clapped nonetheless at to not disrespect the god. Pandora rolled her eyes and didn't bother to clap knowing her mother had won the fight against her father, "now everyone dig in and after lunch I shall announce the teams and I'll leave you to get ready before we meet up and polish up on the rules as I know many tend to forget every week" Chiron said with a playful glare to which everyone booed or scoffed loudly. "YES! Yes I know you all do! But let us enjoy our food!" Chiron said before he went to the Dionysus table where he seemed to start a conversation with Naomi, he quickly looked back to Pandora and nodded suddenly making Naomi grin. She quickly removed herself from Dionysus's table before darting toward Pandora, Chiron then walked over to Dixie who smiled smugly at the people around her before she got up from her spot at the Apollo table and strutted over to the Poseidon table. Pandora gave her two friends questioning looks as Naomi sat next to her while Dixie sat across from them. Chiron caught Pandora's confused gaze and gave a slight smile, "seeing as it's your first day, and since you were claimed when you showed up I thought it only be fair for you to have someone to talk to for your first few meals. And I think the gods will understand" he said with a sly smile as he winked at her before walking back to Dionysus's table.
"I thought it was "expressly forbidden" for toy to sit with me" Pandora said as she rolled her eyes as she put air quotes around Chiron's previously stated words as they started to fill their plates with BBQ, grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, and fresh bread.
Naomi let out a soft laugh as Dixie snorted, "yes but Chiron thought you missed out on your chance for a true camp welcome because you were claimed right off the bat" Naomi explained exaggeratedly as she made funny faces to 'express' how she felt before giggling.
"She's right, you didn't experience going into Hermes cabin and getting pranked and I'm guessing he didn't show your the orientation video because your godly parent escorted you and your mother into camp" Dixie said as she dramatically rolled her eyes before popping a grape into her mouth.
Pandora groaned as she put her head in her hands, "gods don't remind me" she said dramatically as she peered through her fingers and gave a smile.
The three girls burst into giggles as they continued to eat, once everyone was done eating Chiron stood before everyone once more. "Now is the time to decide the teams!" Chiron exclaimed as everyone started to cheer, "now the first team captain will be Apollo, Dionysus, Ares and Demeter, with Lee Fletcher as captain" the Apollo cabin exploded with applause as they congratulated their head of cabin. He jogged up to Chiron with a smile, Chiron handed him his flag which shimmered a golden color before a sun with a lyre in the middle appeared as the teams flag. Everyone cheered once more before they simmered down once more, "and for the second team, Hephaestus, Hermes, Aphrodite and Athena with Charles Beckendorf as captain!" Charles smiled brightly as his brothers and sisters congratulated him. He joined Lee beside Chiron and graciously took his flag, everyone watched as it shimmered for a moment before two crossed smith's hammers appeared on the flag. "As for the daughter of Poseidon, she will be on Lee's team, but as a reminder teams are not set in stone and they change every game!" He explained loudly, "Now everyone get your magical items, your weapons and armor and meet back here so we can go over the rules" before Chiron could even finish everyone was already pushing each other to get their weapons and armor. The Apollo, Dionysus, Demeter and Ares cabins excitedly swarmed around Pandora as Naomi and Dixie looped their arms with Pandora's. They lead everyone to the cabins, everyone broke off to retrieve their weapons and armor leaving Pandora outside when she felt a presence behind her, she turned expecting to see one of the campers coming to talk to her but let out a shriek of terror as lightning struck before her. She practically ran backwards away from it but was thrown off balance when she crashed into Naomi who caught her with wide eyes, her jaw dropping in shock as she watched the man who appeared from the thunder.
"Zeus" Naomi signed almost dumbstruck at the sight of him before them. Pandora's eyes shifted across Naomi's face to see if she was serious but felt her heart stop and drop to her stomach as she realized Naomi wasn't pulling her leg.
What the fuck did her father do now?!