//Currently 15 Chapters ahead over on my Patre0n with 10 more on the way. Help me reach my monetary goals and I'll drop 30 extra chapters at the end of every month.
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Chion thought back to the moment when he had first utilized magic, back when he was being chased down by a flock of pigeons. From the ongoings of his own environment to his inner thoughts and feelings before, during, and after the attack, the youth tried to remember as much as possible.
If he could recollect his own memories and then deduce the probable cause, he could attempt to try to reignite the ice within him and halt the battle before it got too serious.
He was going with the third option.
Tap!
Chion parried a spear jab that was meant for his head, a strike that almost interrupted his thought process. Luckily, due to the plenty of practice he had had in the last day and a half, the white-haired teen was more than capable of maintaining two different thought processes at once. One for analyzing and another for keeping himself from eating the blunted end of a wooden spear. Dancing around the ring, Chion remained on the defensive, keeping the angry Ares descendant at bay as best he could. Slowly but surely, however, the white-haired youth was losing his ground. He had to speed things up.
The most prominent thing that Chion could remember from the ordeal was the fact that he was almost certain he was going to die, the birds having completely swarmed his escape routes.
Within that certainty came a sort of defiance, a feeling of desperation that stemmed from his own will to live. That feeling had been so strong that his chest had tightened subconsciously, his heart slowing instead of beating faster, a rather odd reaction given the perilous situation. In other words, the catalyst for dragging out his own latent magic and perhaps controlling it was through his own emotions, at least until Chion could find some other way of harnessing it. It made sense for the most part. All the youth had to do was use intense turmoil like fear, desperation, or anger to draw upon an internal power source. Obviously, it was easier said than done but it was worth a shot.
WHAM!! WHAM!!
Chion was caught off guard as a sword came swinging out of nowhere, hitting him in the gut, followed by the side of his head. Forced to the floor, he tried to get his barings, the world briefly spinning in every direction except the one he needed. He could hear laughter, the two assailants enjoying themselves.
A flash of anger ran through him. Normally, Chion would repress it. Emotion had no place on the battlefield. It was a hindrance.
This time was different. He needed it.
Instead of letting the feeling pass, he chose to foster it. He thought back to the various situations he had been in during his short time. Hunted down like a dog by a rampaging bull, attacked by demonic crows with a taste for flesh, chased by a pack of overly large mutts from hell. All the fear, the anxiety, the frustration, the anger, the hatred. Everything he had kept bottled up bubbled to the surface, rearing its ugly head to the world like some sort of demented hydra that desired destruction. A sort of calm washed over him, a cool feeling similar to the one Chion had felt during the pigeon attack, his heartbeat slowing down drastically.
The temperature took a plunge. The two Ares campers seemed to feel it as they immediately stopped laughing, tensing up as the white-haired youth slowly pried himself from the floor.
Frost began to spread from Chions' feet, creeping outwards. The wind picked up, a freezing gale that one would only feel during a winter blizzard. Snow mixed with shards of ice swirled around the individual as he rose to his feet, neon blue eyes slightly glowing as the youth fixed his gaze onto the two combatants, of whom weren't entirely sure what was going on. One of them took that chance to lash out, stabbing towards Chions head with his spear, but it was easily caught. The moment his hand wrapped around the weapon, enormous shards of ice erupted into existence, moving down the length and onto the wielders very hands and arms. Latched to the instrument, the Spearman found himself unable to get away.
"I'm sorry." Chion let out a breath, a blast of visible oxygen escaping his lips. "But I'm gonna be taking my emotions out on you guys."
Without waiting for any of them to respond, the youth yanked the spear wielder forward before spinning on a foot. Chion slammed the tip of his shoe into the stumbling demigods temple, sending him sliding across the now ice covered floor.
The Aries swordsman saw this and immediately turned around to run, but Chion was having none of that.
As if by instinct, the white-haired youth slammed a foot onto the floor. From the ground, frozen chunks of liquid wrapped themselves around the fleeing individual, sending him into a tumble. Chion wasn't even sure how he had done it, or really any of it. It was like having an extra arm that he could use without even thinking, already knowing how to utilize it as if it had always been a part of him.
And maybe it had. He wasn't exactly in a position to recall it.
The power was immense. Chion could feel how much of it was still left even after he was finished venting his emotions, the magic within still bubbling beneath the surface, ready to be released. Being half god though, it made sense that he possessed such power. He didn't know who his parents were, but he thanked them nonetheless. It was because of the power that he managed to save himself twice now though it was also because of who he was that he was being targeted and attacked in the first place. So it kind of evened out at the end of the day.
Chion wasn't exactly sure when the onlookers had arrived, but he definitely saw them when he was finished. Around twenty or so individuals were gathered around the dueling grounds, which included Clarisse, Annabeth, Luke, Chiron, and Milenia.
Morphing the snow and ice around his body into water, the white-haired youth moved in Annabeth and Clarisse's direction. Giving the Ares assailant a side eyed glare, he stopped just by the side of the grey eyed blonde, barely eyeing her.
"You asked why I'm so calm. If I'm afraid." Chion glanced back slightly. "Those are my emotions. Why don't you ask those two what they think about it?"
Without another word to anyone else, the youth walked away, heading in the direction of the Hermes Cabin. He didn't feel exhausted or anything, but he was in desperate need of a bath and a change of clothes. He wasn't sure how the camp worked in terms of hygiene or showers, but he was gonna find out after getting some lunch. Mentally, he was pretty much over that day, but it wasn't like he could just sign out and go to sleep. So, he was hoping that a nice relaxing shower and some rest would help him out a bit.
It was hard to believe what she had seen, even though she had been around from the beginning of the act to the end.
Initially, when Annabeth had stepped onto the scene, she had wanted to step into the battle immediately, having seen Chion collapse onto the ground with his two assailants standing over him, laughing. Even for a newbie and with a firm belief that everyone should be able to hold their own, they were close to taking their hazing of the new guy a bit too far. Granted, the white-haired idiot had struck out first, causing the trio to deviate from their usual rough housing antics and head dunking rituals, but there was still a limit. Especially after Chion had just gotten into the camp without fully settling in.
However, just when she was about to end the beat down, the air got freezing, as if she had suddenly stepped into a freezer, only five times worse. It was so cold, she could see her own breath and breathing in felt like inhaling shards of ice.
Flecks of snow appeared around Chion, spiraling outwards as far as she and Clarisse were standing, some 20 feet away. The snow thickened as the seconds ticked by, the area now so chilly that Amnabeth couldn't stop her own teeth from chattering. As the white-haired individual rose back onto his feet, she couldn't help but notice how different he looked, a look of controlled rage, one that made the developing blizzard seem like a warm fire. She watched as the youth completely decimated the spear wielder and locked down the fleeing swordsman within seconds of each other.
As effortlessly as squashing a bug. It was like watching an adult scold a toddler. There was nothing they could have done.
When Chion walked by and said the things he said, she didn't say anything, merely taking note. What she had thought to be a calm and collected newcomer actually has a dangerous side to him.
If anything, her assumption that he was indeed the one was now at an all-time high. The hidden strength behind him. The intelligence to survive without memories. The adaptability. The collected demeanor not ruled by emotions.
Even if he wasn't from one of the Big three, he was definitely important in some way.
"Who the hell is he?" Clarisse asked as the youth walked away. "Just another demigod?"
Annabeth let out a breath, the temperature starting to return to normal, though she was still shivering rather heavily. Before she could say anything to Clarisse though, an article of clothing hit her on the side of the face. Taking it off, she saw that it was a blue hoodie, freshly cleaned and free of any mud or debris. Looking towards the retreating Chion, she saw that he no longer had his on.
(("He saw me shivering?")) Annabeth looked the hoodie over, having swore she saw dirt on it when they were in front of the Big House. (("Just who are you, Chion Pagos?"))
For someone who had just finished making their own makeshift blizzard, Chion's hoodie was actually quite warm, as if it had been sitting next to a heater. In no time at all, Annabeth felt nice and toasty down to her bones. She didn't know why she bothered putting it on, but now she had no regrets, even if the hoodie was slightly big on her. As the crowd of onlookers began to break up and head to the Pavilion for lunch, Luke approached her, his sandy blonde hair sticking out from the crowd. Quickly, Annabeth made sure that her hair wasn't out of wack and straightened out the hoodie.
"Annabeth. What happened?" Luke looked a bit concerned, glancing from her to Clarisse, brows narrowed. "What happened to you?"
"That guy is insane, that's what." Clarisse turned around and walked away, heading along with the crowd, wiping the blood that was still trickling from her nose.
Luke looked at her for a second before turning back to Annabeth, a questioning look.
"Clarisse and her goons tried to 'initiate' Chion into the camp by dunking his head into the toilet," She explained simply. "He struck her in the nose, took off, and fought her two friends alone. Obviously, you saw what happened."
"Yeah. Little guy has some power behind him." Luke rubbed the back of his head, looking at the shards of ice covering the field and the dual Aries descendants. "Wonder who his parent is."
"What's the strategy on tonight's game?" Annabeth asked. "Athena and Hermes are on the same squad."
"About that. There won't be any game today." Luke smiled matter-of-factly. "There's been a slight change of plans."
Annabeth raised an eyebrow. It was very rare for them not to have Capture The Flag on Fridays, it being a sort of tradition. Even when the camp had barely any members, such as during the autumn months, they did what they could with what they had. There were usually 20 or 30 members who stayed at the camp year round though, so there was always someone to join the game. The fact that Luke was telling her no meant something else, and it was probably exactly what she was thinking.
"The hunters?" Annabeth guessed. They showed up every now and then when they were in the area and they always played a game when they took root in Cabin 8.
"That's right." Luke grinned. "This time, we're gonna win. We'll spend today coming up with a strategy to be ready for when tomorrow comes. Judging by the powers of our new friend here, we have found our trump card for sure."
"Can he even control his powers?"
Luke looked towards Annabeth, tearing his gaze away from the shards of ice. He was quite a bit taller than she was, so he was forced to look downwards. As if for the first time since talking, Luke's eyes fell upon the blue hoodie she was wearing, and the largest grin spread across his face, the mischievous look of someone who had just found something new to mess with.
"That's an interesting looking hoodie you got there," Luke pointed out. "Where'd you get it from?"
"Found it."
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Chion never did manage to find out where he needed to go for a bath, but he did find a change of clothes. Some of the Hermes members showed him in the direction of the camp store, a place where he could freely buy some garments for some standard money or for something called 'drachma'. The amount of money wasn't really an issue since he still had plenty, but the lack of variety to the clothes was a slight annoyance. Everyone seemed to wear the standard Camp HalfBlood shirts, though it could've admittedly looked worse.
After he had shifted into a nice, clean set of clothes, Chion headed into the direction of the Pavilion, the place where they were eating lunch.
Annabeth had told him about it before Clarisse had made her appearance, in extensive detail. She probably didn't want to be embarrassed if he happened to sit at her table.
The pavilion was framed in Greek columns on a hill that overlooked the sea. There were no walls or roofs that covered the mess hall. Torches blazed from the columns, and a central fire burned inside a bronze brazier the size of a bathtub. Each table had a white cloth with purple trim. The tables in the Pavilion were arranged so that there was 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. Although children of the Big Three, whatever the heck that meant, would have to sit on their own anyways, it was expressly forbidden to sit at another god's table. There were no exceptions. The Hunters of Artemis sit at the Artemis table when visiting, and the satyrs and nymphs can sit at any table they please, but generally sit at the table that Dionysus sits at, which was table twelve.
It wasn't too complicated to understand, really. All Chion had to do was sit with Luke and the other inhabitants of Cabin 11 and never sit anywhere else until he was 'claimed'.
When the white-haired youth eventually got to the Pavilion, everyone was already seated and grabbing themselves some food. Annabeth, Luke, Clarisse, Chiron (of whom now somehow had the bottom of a horse?), and Mister D.
That was another thing. Based on Annabeth's explanation about the Pavilion, it seemed that Mister D was actually a god. It made sense if you truly looked at him and acknowledged what he was capable of. It still was hard to digest, though, even if one applied logic and common sense to the subject. The idea of a god running a summer camp seemed a tad.....underwhelming, especially since there were probably a million better things to do. He didn't know what the camp director was a god of, but he wasn't going to walk up and ask right that moment.
He was hungry.
Luckily, the youth wasn't expecting a five star meal going in. Annabeth had kindly explained to him what to expect shortly after he had tossed her a Snickers Bar.
The pavilion's goblets were apparently enchanted with a type of magic and, on voice command, would be filled with whatever drink one desired (non-alcoholic though with even Mr. D being forced to drink Diet Coke). Another quality of the goblets were that they never emptied, like a free refill until the owner was satisified. The type of food in the Pavilion included BBQ, grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, and fresh bread, bread that the dryads served...whatever the heck dryads were. All in all, it was definitely a step up from his tuna, mayo, hot sauce cracker combo.
Though it was a step down from his oreos.
"Chion. Over here." Luke waved from the table he was at, the one that, of course, was the most packed. "Saved you a seat."
Apparently the white-haired had shown up a tad late because everyone was already in the middle of chowing down and goofing off. Luckily, Luke had managed to snag him some food before all the good bits were gone, it was enough to make him cry. Almost. Thanking the man for his kindness, Chion took his seat and began to scarf down his plate. The food was almost heavenly, a huge increase in quality to what Chion had eaten in the past few days. It definitely gave him some rejuvenation.
"I didn't fill your goblet for you." Luke nudged the golden cup sitting beside the white-haired youth. "I didn't know what you liked.
Chion swallowed his food. "That's okay. I don't know either."
Luke let out a chuckle as he grabbed the cup. "Here. Coke."
Just as Annabeth had described, the cup immediately filled with liquid, a bubbling brown almost black drink that looked cool to the touch. Unsure of what it was, Chion took a quick sip.
"It's good!!" He was quite surprised and went in for another sip.
"It's called Coca-Cola and it's arguably one of the best drinks ever invented." Luke grinned. "Coke over Pepsi."
"What's Pepsi?"
"It's like Coke but inferior."
Chion nodded, taking note of it. He started picking apart the grapes, the sweet flavors exploding over the inside of his mouth.
"That was some impressive magic you used today," Luke said, taking a sip of his drink. "Poor guys didn't even stand a chance."
"Mmm." Chion simply nodded, unable to speak with a full mouth.
"How'd you do it?"
Chion carefully chewed his food and swallowed. "I showed them my emotions. At the moment, it's not really the most proficient way to project my powers, but it gets the job done. After a bit of expirementation and some calculations based on the quantity produced, amount of force, temperature emitted, and so on, I think I'll have a decent grasp on it. I previously thought that the type of magic exuded was linked to my thoughts on emotions but that's out the window. Seems I can only use ice and snow based magic at the moment."
As Chion rambled on, Luke just sat there smiling, a hand touching his chin. It was unclear what was going through the man's head but the white-haired youth didn't really mind since it seemed like he was actively listening. After a minute of sharing his thoughts and findings, the youth went back to eating. When the individual fell silent, Luke took that moment to speak up.
"When you're done eating, come with me for a bit." Luke took one more gulp from his goblet and stood up from the table.
"Where?" Chion was expressly confused about the sudden turn of events.
Luke briefly explained the newest development, about how some people called the Hunters were coming in tomorrow and would most likely play Capture The Flag with them. Apparently, they had an enormous winning streak that Camp HalfBlood had yet to break. But, now, with the added addition of Chion, they might stand a chance.
"You want me to participate?" The youth asked.
"Yep." Luke gave a thumbs up. "Not only that but you're gonna help me and the Athena Cabin strategize."
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