➵ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴘʜᴇᴄʏ

tags; everyone location; institute lawn, cabin remnants word count; 1,065

Rain drenched the earth as the sky opened above them, increasing in intensity each time a new bolt of lightning struck the ground. The daughter of Zeus didn’t exactly look as if she were totally in control of these strikes, the bolts of electricity striking the earth at random, but thanks to a dark haired daughter of Nemesis holding her hand and pushing some luck her way, at least a few of those wild bolts struck down some of the remaining manticores.

Ezara and Desarae weren’t the only lucky ones, though. Ashton himself could feel his flora soldiers buzzing with life as the rain moistened the earth, making them stronger. Coraline, basking in the newfound moisture while striding across the lawn no longer looked the meek little girl getting her ass kicked, she looked like a force to be reckoned with. Even Jesper and Lyra with their shadows seemed to be thriving in the chaos.

Honestly, they were all pretty damn lucky that they hadn’t been totally wiped out by the beasts by now. They could all thank Nemesis for that.

Ashton was ripped back to reality at the sound of his old friend’s greeting, green eyes briefly darting over to the familiar son of Dionysus as he ran by, bringing manticores and chaos with him. “Keep that trouble to yourself, mate!” He called back, a cheeky smile on his face as he sent yet another vine off to strangle another manticore.

The son of Demeter followed his planted warriors with his eyes, watching as they trapped manticores to the ground, waiting to be slain by one of his peers. Some slithered through the grass like snakes, slinking up and around the necks of the beasts before tightening like an anaconda, strangling the life from them. Then there were his trees, the strongest of his soldiers, whipping at their assailants and falling to crush the feline like terrorists Silently, he thanked them for their noble deaths, their willing sacrifice to save himself and his friends.

Before he’d even realized it, the remaining students and professors had gathered around him in a small group. Again, the boy noted that he had really ought to start trying to be a little more observant - he’d been so focused on commanding the flora all around the clearing that he’d hardly even noticed what was going on within six feet of him. Thankfully they had his back, and he felt protected surrounded by his fellow demigods.

Ash nodded his silent agreement to Jesper and Ezara’s frustrated statements. “You and me both, brother.” Ashton replied with a huff as the dark haired boy expressed his disdain for nearly dying every thirty seconds. “Agreed.” He followed, glancing towards the Nemesis girl.

A quick sweep of the grounds revealed that for maybe the first time this whole evening, the Institute had the upper hand. Only a few manticores remained, and they were definitely outnumbered by the demigods they slowly closed in on them. A small smirk appeared on Ashton’s lips as Malcom and Jesper bid him to join the fray, and he did so willingly. Raising his hands, small green sprout sprung to life at his feel. As he turned his palms upwards, the tiny saplings responded my springing forward, racing towards the two remaining manticores. One thick root coiled around the ankles of one of the beats, pinning it to the ground, and another circled the neck of the last remaining feline, much like a collar and leash on a pet. The manticore struggled in place, thrashing against it’s restraint, but mercifully was put to death quickly. Jesper managed one, while Lyra and Coraline each handled the remaining two.

Ashton surveyed his classmates as they returned to the small group, eyes scanning to see that everyone who still stood was, for the most part, relatively unharmed. A sigh of relief escaped him at the sight, although the feeling of calm was short lived as an elderly man, a senior instructor of the institute and one of the few who ran the school, rose his voice.

“You all have been chosen.”

Everyone fell silent, an eerie feeling washing over the small group as the man’s eyes blurred over as if he’d suddenly come down with an awful case of cataracts. Whatever he was seeing, his lips mumbling at a rapid speed though no words came out, was blinding him. “The time has come. They have mounted their attack, the God’s are angry and you will be the ones to save us all... may they have mercy.”

Ashton shared a very confused look with his friends, eyeing the man curiously and with a little caution as he continued. “My sight is gone.” Said the professor. “But I see more clearly now than I ever have. You all will need courage, you will need guidance and strength and trust.” He paused. “Rest now, children, for tomorrow we will begin the biggest journey of each of our lives.”

The old man was gone within a blink of an eye, leaving all of them confused, exhausted, and full of questions. The rain had began to dwindle, and wordlessly the group of young adults migrated towards the remnants of what used to be one of the larger cabins. The walls were caving in, the roof leaked, windows were busted and the furniture had been destroyed - yet still, it was better than being out there exposed to the elements, unsure of when the next attack would strike.

After a short bout of awkward silence and curious looks, Ashton finally stood from his seat amongst the rubble. “Well, if we’re all about to go on some life altering mission, then we should probably at least get to know each other a little bit.” He began, green eyes scanning the rest of the group. Sure, some of these kids he had grown up with, but others only visited for short stints or were new altogether. If they were going to survive whatever it was that they were about to embark on, then he figured there had to be at least a small level of trust established between them. “And eat, I’d assume… Ax, if you would be so kind?” He prompted, motioning towards what loosely resembled a fireplace that had been crushed. It would have to do in a pinch.

With that, the son of Demeter left their not-so-cozy cabin to go raid the remnants of the kitchen.

tags; cora, lyra, axel, jesper, ash, juniper, luca location; malcom's bedroom, institute lawn word count; 1,359

He was being yelled at -- and it was far too early for him to brush it off. At the deep rumble of Axel’s words, Malcom sent an annoyed glare towards the brute before rolling himself out of bed, the sheets wrapped around his hips lazily and dusting the floor as he walked towards his dresser. However, the son of Acheron leaning against his doorframe had other ideas, for Mal was barely able to turn and register the boy’s words before a stabbing pain tumbled through his mind. With fierce eye contact, Malcolm grit his teeth and nearly tumbled to the ground as the feeling of thousands of needles ran rampant through his head. He placed a fist on the side of his temple, cursing the boy furiously until the pain ebbed away.

Panting, Malcolm rose back to his feet before pointing a ring-clad finger towards Jesper. “Fuck you,” he stated, his voice still clad in velvet, but just with a hint of malice this time around. “I can play mind games too, don’t you forget that.” The threat was a devious hiss through clenched, white teeth, but it was Cora’s little joke that snapped him out of his rage. He passed the daughter of Poseidon a smug smile before turning over his shoulder and heading back to the black dresser once more. He pulled on a pair of black denim pants with a busted knee and then a button up, maroon floral shirt, leaving the top halfway open to reveal a tan, sculpted chest.

“Oh, and if you choose to use me as bait,” his eyes slowly slid to Lyra as a smirk fiddled across his lips while sliding a button through his shirt. “Be prepared for a hell of a show.”

And then his room collapsed.

The wall on which his extensive bed rested on crumbled into dust, shaking the entire room at the impact. Debris flew in the air, coating his skin like the glitter from the night before. Felix stirred awake in the corner and passed Malcom one terrified look before fleeing out the door, leaving him and the others face to face with a beast he had only seen in his nightmares, when not even the wine could grant him a peaceful night’s rest. The manticore snarled and readied itself to strike and Malcom, with a look of pure horror on his face, stumbled into the rest of the group, attempting to push them out the door. “Run!” he called to them, just as a bundle of mist began to form in front of the entourage -- only to unveil a sword that Lyra wielded powerfully. The manticore leaped in the air and she blocked the attack quickly, but it was not enough to stall the beast for long and Malcom hastily ran out of his destroyed bedroom with the others, his black boots colliding with stone and nearly slipping on pools of blood.

Sprinting furiously, he continued to follow the group, Axel’s tall frame leading the way, until they reached the front lawn of the facility.

It was worse than he had imagined.

The manticore’s had flooded the place, attacking demigods left and right as screams of terror shattered the once serene, peaceful aura about the place. Never in his years of living here had the wards been breeched -- danger a reality instead of a mere threat. He paused on the steps, his stance wide and golden eyes filled with horror.

What could he do? There were children of Demeter and Zeus and Apollo using everything they had to fight the demons… And what could he wield? A cup of wine? A few stray vines here and there? His pyrokinesis was simple at best and his insanity only worked from close distances.

He was useless out here.

Vines and foliage weaving through the air snagged his attention and Mal’s gaze landed on Ashton -- a song of Demeter in which he knew fairly well. Their powers were often cohesive, although Mal’s vines were nothing compared to the trees Ashton was able to forge like weapons. On instinct, he ran towards the boy. “Morning!” Mal called to Ash, a wry smirk appearing on his face right before a beast lunged towards him. He dodged the attack by rolling on the ground, his arm shooting out, fingers splayed wide as vines uprooted from the earth, wrapping around the manticore’s ankles and gluing it to the dirt. With dirt smeared across his face, he used every last bit of strength to shoot one last vine with purple grapes interweaving through it right into the manticore’s open jaw. Malcolm grit his teeth as the vine coursed through the manticore’s body, the beast screaming in agony, until silence eventually ensued.

Malcolm stood, adjusted his shirt, and then ran a hand through his hair before spitting on the ground. “Disgusting.”

Axel’s booming voice caused his head to whip towards the action, a furrow in his brow. At the other man’s threat, Mal couldn’t help but to bark a laugh, even in the midst of a battle. “Don’t threaten me with a good time, big guy,” he called over to him as he outstretched a hand towards the vines in Axel’s way, unwrapping them from his feet until they sank back into the dirt.

Thunder cracked above and Malcom rolled his eyes. “Of fucking course,” he grumbled as rain began to pour, soaking every inch of his form and plastering his shirt to his body and his dark hair to his forehead. Another beast caught sight of him and began to make its way over, fangs protruding and already covered in blood. With eyes blown wide in fear Malcom outstretched both of his hands as the manticore charged forward, its large body colliding with his hands. Reflexively, he gripped its thrashing head as it pushed him back into the ground, mud soaking into his back. Fangs snapped at his throat as streams of saliva coated his face. Instinct coursed through every vein in his body as Mal continued to grip onto the monster’s head.

And then began to squeeze.

Delusion.

Hysteria.

Mania.

Delirium.

Every ounce of those words swam through his hands and right into the manticore’s skull as Malcom looked right into its black, soulless eyes, his teeth bared and locked as determination then replaced fear. The manticore began to scream and wail, the sound more bone chilling than anything else on the lawn. It threw itself backward and into the mud, sprawling and screeching until it began to gnaw on its own limbs.

And then its poisonous tail.

The manticore was dead in seconds -- slain by madness.

Malcom laid there, panting and frozen in place at what had just transpired. He had never killed anything with that power -- had rarely used it unless necessary or to play a stupid trick on an enemy. It was the first time he had slain anything…

A slow, mischievous grin spread across his face as he rose from the ground. Mud clung to his back, but he no longer cared.

It was only when Jesper’s voice cutting through his reverie did Malcom take another step, his attention no longer on the carcass, but on the son of Acheron. “Yeah and I could you a fucking drink!” he called back with a scoff, but carried himself towards the group nonetheless. More seemed to be gathering as three lone manticores slowly became surrounded. He took a claim to the middle of the group, surrounded by Ezara and Cora and a few other demigods like a redhaired daughter of Apollo and the golden charm of a son of Hermes. Malcolm only passed them a wink before raising his hands, vines spouting from the earth, rich with berries, and hurtled towards the manticores. They wrapped around the beasts’ ankles, securing one of them in place -- for he wasn’t powerful enough to handle the other two.

But a son of Demeter could.

“Oi, Ash!” Malcolm called over the roaring rain, jerking his chin towards the other two. “Come play!” Wind began to ripple across the lawn as the sky grew angrier.

He needed a damn drink.

tags; everyone location; institute lawn word count; 922

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Being chased down by a mutated feline with some major anger issues wasn't exactly on Jesper’s "To do" list for the day, but here he was. Black boots thudded against the earth as he picked up his pace, he could feel the ground being ripped up behind him as the manticore grew closer with every outstretch of its legs. For once in his whole time of being at the institute, he judged himself for not taking his training seriously. His legs burned and his lungs felt like they were constricting. He didn't dare a look back at the creature, instead, he made a sharp turn between two cabins. The beast followed him in pursuit while slamming into the walls, destroying them, and sending pieces of debris flying all around them.

Jesper knew the manticore was gaining on him. He needed to do something and quickly. His eyes darted around, taking in everything that was happening around him. Arrows flew from multiple directions, buildings were on fire, the foliage was being manipulated and a storm quickly brewed above his head, accompanied by the sound of rolling thunder.

Darkness dressed their world in windswept grey and the sound of rain could be heard. It grew stronger and faster, splattering against rooftops and fallen leaves. Jesper's ebony strands of thick hair stuck to his forehead and face while his black button-up shirt and jeans clung to his skin. Everyone's powers came together in a cinematic masterpiece, perfectly choreographed. Except his own of course.

A snarl ripped through the storm behind Jesper. His legs ready to give out on him, he came to an abrupt stop, closing his eyes and he forced his heaving chest to settle, the footfalls of the manticore were deafening, but he refused to break his concentration, even as the cold breeze of its tail whipping towards him grazed his back.

It felt like he had fallen through the earth, every atom of his body being pulled in every direction. Jesper's figure disappeared into a tornado of black smoke, the manticore's tail striking through it with a look of confusion crossing its expression. The smoke spiraled quickly through the air, reappearing his figure, but this time behind the manticore. As the smoke around him disappeared and the beast thrashed angrily, whipping its large head back and forth in search of him. Jesper took this moment to raise his hand out one more time.

The rain fell harder now. Droplets streaked his features and dripping off his dark lashes as he closed his eyes and focused. Jesper thought back to the pain that radiated from the dead body before. The feeling seeped back into his chest and hung there heavily, all the while, the manticore had spun on Jesper, jaws stretching in an agitated growl. Jesper didn't move. He kept his hand out and his brows creased with focus.

Images began flashing behind his closed lids, blood, screams, teeth, and skin. His eyes snapped open and the manticore was stretching out its claws towards him. Its talons shredded through Jesper’s shirt, leaving red marks along his chest before its pupils grew in size and soon its iris socket was filled with black emptiness. The manticore released a sharp whine, curling in on itself and it barreled into Jesper, knocking him to the ground with it.

Mud covered Jesper as they tumbled across the lawn, the manticore still trashing as it rolled away, clawing at its own head as if it was hallucinating. Jesper laid sprawled out in the dirt, his hand slowly closing into a fist as he held his bleeding chest with the other. The manticore snarled and spit, its tail rising up into the air as it did. With a sharp twist of Jesper’s wrist, the manticore sent its own tail shatter through its skull, impaling itself and then crumpling to the ground with an empty thump.

With aching muscles, he pushed himself onto his back and his chest rose and fell heavily as a white-hot burning sensation clung to his wound. After catching his breath, Jesper shoved himself to his feet, darkness clinging to his features as he forced his achy legs to carry him towards the downed beast. It laid with its tongue out like a hunted deer, its scorpion tail wedged into its head. Suddenly, a strike of lightning danced across the dark skies, brightening the world around them for a moment. Jesper looked out towards the creation of the strike and noticed a group had formed - some familiar faces, others not so much.

Forcing himself towards the group, Jesper took in what they were up against. It looked like they were down to the last of the manticores, but they weren't done yet. Stopping beside the group, Jesper stared out at the three circling manticores.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting really fucking tired of almost dying," he muttered blatantly.

"Nice of you to join us," a dark-haired daughter of Nemesis named Ezara gave him a false smile.

"I'm sorry, I was too busy trying not to become a human pin-cushion," he shot back, turning his head in time to see a daughter of Hecate rejoining as well.

"Let's get this over with," Ezara nodded and Jesper disappeared into darkness once more, reappearing behind one of the manticores. He pointed towards the sons of Demeter and Dionysus

"Could use some mother nature over here," he called out to them, implying that he could use their powers to help pin them down.

tags; cora, axel, jesper, malcom ☽ location: the grounds ☾ word count; 1544

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The walls of Lyra’s bedroom shook.

For a moment, she thought it must have been some training exercise. Some over-eager demigods who had gotten a way too damned early start. Lyra groaned and turned over in her bed, praying that whoever was making all that noise would knock it off so she could get another solid hour before she had to be awake.

But then she heard a scream.

And it wasn’t the normal scream that could be heard on the grounds of an Institute who housed hundreds of children. No, this was blood-curdling.

Lyra sat straight up in bed, her muscles tense as she waited and listened. More voices and screamed joined with the first until it was a cacophony of chaos. She threw the blankets off of her legs and swung out of bed, jamming her feet into a pair of boots and threw open the door to the cabin to find a stream of demigods running past.

She recognized a familiar face—a daughter of Aphrodite—who had been at the Institute for nearly as long as Lyra had been. The blonde’s typically manicured appearance seemed disheveled, and she had speckles of blood covering her face and arms—seemingly not her own.

“What the hell is happening?” She asked.

“We’re being attacked.” It took Lyra a moment to register the weight of those words. The Institute had always been heavily guarded by wards, and not to mention a slew of powerful demigods. It had been the safest place she had ever known.

“Where are they?” Lyra asked, already feeling the need to jump into action. This was her home. The only one she had ever really known, and there was no way in hell someone was going to take that away from her.

“Most of them are on the lawn,” the girl managed to stammer out. The blonde was frightened, and still shaking from whatever horrors she had already witnessed.

“Go find somewhere to hide,” Lyra told her, squeezing her arm reassuringly before turning toward the lawn.

Lyra had been at the Institute almost all her life. While most demigods bounced between this place and back home with their families, Lyra had been a steadfast resident. She barely remembered her life before the Institute, just remembers a father who hadn’t been up to the task of raising the child of a goddess. And she, of course, felt resentful at times, but she had made her own home here—and she wouldn’t trade it for anything.

And staying at the Institute full time had its perks—like the training. It had taken her years to even grasp the most rudimentary command of her powers, so in the meantime, she learned to wield a sword. And once she had grown a little, her powers had come to her more easily. She learned to weird Mist and steel as if they were extensions of herself.

As she raced between houses, she could feel a giddiness blooming in her chest. She was beyond enraged that her home had been attacked, but something in her was almost excited for the encounter. She had grown tired of training drills and exercises, Lyra was eager for a true battle.

But before she even made it to the lawn she ran into Axel and Cora who were pounding on doors and trying to get as many people out of the fray as possible. As eager as she was to actually fight one of these things, she knew they had the right idea.

“This has been one hell of a morning,” Lyra told them as she joined their ranks. She followed their lead and pounded on doors to cabins, shouting at the sleeping residents within to get moving, before rushing to the next house. Soon, the son of Acheron joined them too.

The four of them pounded on the door to the Dionysus cabin, and when they heard no one even rustling behind the door, they made their way inside. It was exactly as she remembered it the last time she’d been there: littered with empty wine bottles, clothes, and half-naked people. Lyra had gone through a phase where she’d hung around with the children of Dionysus for a time. Although it hadn’t taken her long to realize being hungover at training wasn’t worth the previous night’s fun. They did still throw the best parties though.

Lyra couldn’t help the twitch of a smile on her lips as Cora used her powers to empty a glass of water in Malcolm’s face. “I could always turn him into a pig and use him as bait?” She offered, half-joking. Lyra shrugged as Jesper sent a jolt of pain towards Malcolm, he’d deserved it. “That’s one way to get his ass out of bed,” she conceded. “At least now you know how the rest of us feel after one of your parties,” Lyra joked.

Lyra was already itching to get back out into the fight, they didn’t have time to sit around and make sure that Malcolm and his companions shook off their night of hedonism. She turned with Cora to leave but before they could even make it out the door, the wall behind them collapsed.

Manticores.

Lyra had read about them, but they were even more gnarly in person. The sheer size of them made her mouth go dry. This was definitely nothing like training. She scanned the creature, trying to find weaknesses but only finding thick hide and a very large stinger at the end of its tail.

She jumped out of the way as the thing came tunneling toward them all. Lyra reached out her senses, trying to get a grasp on the Mist around her. When she focused, she could feel the veil of magic that was settled over them, like a silk blanket. She plucked at an invisible thread of magic and felt the Mist spooling in her fingers until the familiar weight of her sword had materialized in her hand.

It appeared at just the right time too, because as soon as she had the steel in her hand, the manticore swept its tail toward her. Lyra used her sword to block the stinger from making contact, but just barely. There was no room to really fight this thing, it was cornering them. So Lyra followed the others and bolted out the doors and on to the lawn.

It was pure chaos. Manticores littered the lawn, as did blood and bodies, but there was no lack of demigods defending their home. Lyra spun the sword in her hand as she watched manticores begin to stalk her and the others who had just joined the fray. Lyra broke into a sprint as she watched Cora get toppled by one of the beasts, but as Lyra ran toward the other girl, the tail of another came out of no where and tripped her. Her reflexes alone saved her from being impaled as she quickly rolled out of the way and jumped back onto her feet.

The beast swiped at her again with its stinger, but Lyra planted her feet, raised her sword, and managed to lop it off with a single blow. That small victory was short lived because the attack seemed to only further anger the creature as it blindsided her with one of its paws. She felt the claws tear through the skin on her left side and she ground her teeth as she tried to pick herself back up.

Pain radiated down her body but she took a deep breath and shakily rose to her feet. This was definitely not going as planned. Lyra’s mind raced as she tried to thing of a way out of this situation without becoming this thing’s next meal. She began spooling the Mist around her again. The veil kept humans from being able to witness the magical, so with a little manipulation maybe Lyra could hide herself too.

She imagined the Mist wrapping around her like armor. Imagined that she was folding herself into the very fabric of the veil. Lyra heard a whine come from the manticore’s throat as it looked around as though she’d vanished. Because she had.

Lyra knew she couldn’t keep this illusion up for long so she wasted no time and silently circled the creature until she had the tip of her sword pointed at its heart and thrust up. Blood sprayed down on her as she dropped the Mist surrounding her and reappeared. The creature cried out once and then crumpled.

She yanked hard on her sword, pulling it free from the flesh of the creature and looked up to where the others were fighting. She saw a child of Demeter controlling a tangle of trees and vines with ease, there was also a daughter of Apollo on the roof with her bow pointed at a manticore below, and finally she witnessed a dark-haired girl place her hand on the shoulder of another and not even a heartbeat later the loudest crack of thunder sounded overhead. Rain began pouring around them.

Lyra sheathed her sword in a scabbard she materialized on her back and began sprinting toward the others. Maybe with all of their powers they’d actually be able to pull this off.

tags; Luca, Axel, Malcolm location; institute roof/ lawn word count; 1257

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Perched on the rooftop, Juniper felt like some sort of watchful bird as she surveyed the chaos beneath her. Scarlet splattered against the canvas of grey stone. Bodies lay amongst the debris of crumbling brick, their hands limp around bent weapons. She watched unable to move as fellow demigods ran forward to retrieve those that were fallen, heaving them back to safety. Even from this distance, her stomach coiled with the indescribable urge to help. But what use would an archer be down on the ground? Besides, Juniper had never fared well in high pressure situations. Down there, Juniper was sure the only use she'd be was a walking target, a distraction. No. She was better up here where no one could hear the trembling note in her throat itching to turn into a scream.

In the past few minutes, the sky had broken apart and rain clattered down from the heavens. Large and heavy droplets splattered against the roof. Juniper did her best to dig her heels into the ground but she could feel the tiles getting slippery. Biting her lip, Juniper shoved her shoulder into the nearest wall and pressed her weight against it. Flashes of her dream returned to her, the wind picking up, plants seeming to erupt from the ground and wrap around the beasts until they struggled for air....But that was impossible. She knew she was a daughter of Apollo (though this was quite recent news) and thankfully, Juniper had retained a surprising amount of knowledge from her short childhood obsession with Greek Mythology. Apollo was the God of prophesies but, Juniper was no all-seeing-fate-predicting oracle.

In the past few minutes, the sky had broken apart and rain clattered down from the heavens. Large and heavy droplets splattered against the roof. Juniper did her best to dig her heels into the ground but she could feel the tiles getting slippery. Biting her lip, Juniper shoved her shoulder into the nearest wall and pressed her weight against it. Flashes of her dream returned to her, the wind picking up, plants seeming to erupt from the ground and wrap around the beasts until they struggled for air.

Trying and failing to shake off the deja vu, the ginger haired girl notched another arrow from her quiver and pointed it straight at the nearest monster. She shivered from the cold, her hair drenched in water. It took all her strength to keep the arrow straight. Blood ran down her arms from new re-opened scars. She'd always been good with healing seeming to recover from injuries far quicker than anybody else. But, she hadn't had the heart to heal herself. Something quelled in her chest. Fear; mixing horribly with the adrenaline pumping through her small form. Juniper could almost hear the harpies taunting her, "Daughter of Apollo," they had chided right before they-

Juniper fired the arrow, her breath as sharp as it's point and watched as it flew into the heart of the manticore. Firing arrows hadn't always been so easy. It took time to get used to the weight of a bow. Looking at one, you wouldn't believe a bow could be so heavy. Juniper hoped soon she could get a lightweight one. Her shoulder was beginning to ache. She straightened, pleased with herself and glanced down into the courtyard. Her soft brown eyes caught the gaze of a blonde haired boy staring up at her in awe. Then, he was shouting something to her, something she couldn't quite make out over the noise of the battle.

Narrowing her face in confusion, Juniper followed the point of his finger. He was pointing straight at one of the last remaining beasts who was flinging it's tail side to side with reckless abandon taking out the structural supporting-

Oh no. Realising too late, Juniper flung her bow over her back and began to run towards the next rooftop. As a child, she'd loved leaping from trees in the forest pretending she was a monkey. That had been innocent fun and it was nothing like this. Around her, the rain continued to fall as if foreboding some greater disaster yet to come. Throwing a glance behind her, she saw the unrelenting tail collide with the first pillar of her roof. The world seemed to shake. Juniper lost her footing, her ankle twisting as she fell. A scream left her. She tried to scramble to her feet. She could still make it-

Juniper suddenly felt herself get thrown sideways as the left wing began to tilt. Grit filled her mouth as she rolled towards the edge, unable to stop. Her fingers curled around the guttering as it broke free from it hinges. Juniper gripped harder until her fingers gleamed white. She screamed, dangling, her legs flailing. 'I'm going to fall and die. I'm going to-' Her thoughts were silenced by a loud creaking sound. The guttering began to swing forwards, bending with the daughter of Apollo attached. Screwing her eyes shut, Juniper felt her grip slip from the guttering. She prepared to welcome death. Instead, her body slammed into the same blonde haired boy. He seemed to break her fall, dragging her away from the crumbling wreckage.

"I-I," Juniper couldn't breathe. She felt entirely sick. Her mouth opened but, she closed it again afraid she might vomit all over him. Her ears rang. Dust spewed up from the destroyed left wing of the institute. Juniper prayed their was no one under the wreckage. She could feel her chest tightening, her skin warm beneath the collar of her shirt. Then tears overwhelmed her vision, "T-thank you," she finally managed trying to subtly wipe her eyes. She tilted her head at him sensing some sort of injury. "Your thumb," she muttered. "Broken...must've landed on it! I'm so sorry!" She reached forward and touched it tenderly and hummed. Singing had always worked on her mother or any kind of music for that matter but Juniper wasn't sure whether she could even manage a single note without crying. Besides, she'd seem insane if she randomly started singing to him.

Feeling the broken bone click back together, Juniper stopped singing. "I'm so sorry," she repeated, as they scrambled behind fallen debris for cover. In the centre of the battle, the daughter of Apollo could barely focus on anything other than apologising. As she crawled, dizzy with fatigue, she kept stopping to perform the same healing ritual on others that had fallen. "It's okay." She murmured to them. Her voice seemed to have a soothing effect, silencing their whimpering as their wounds began to close.

Finally, they rounded the corner. She counted two remaining monsters. A giant of a man was fighting one of them, though she noticed he struggled for balance as his artificial leg kept getting caught in what appeared to be grape vines that were curling around the creatures paws. "Malcolm!" Juniper recognised the voice as someone who had introduced themselves as Axel on the other side of her door several nights ago. "If I trip over one more fucking grape vine I swear to god I will run you through." Juniper thought this was quite harsh considering the grapevines appeared to be quite effective at immobilising the creature. Amazing even. She was transfixed, gazing in awe as the demigods used nature to combat the supernatural. Tears ripped across her face again, as she drowned in overwhelm.

Romantic poets would have called this feeling 'witnessing the great power of the sublime.' Juniper had never quite understood the phrase before this moment but now, as she stood shivering against the earth with grit in her mouth, she wavered in its great power.

tags; des, juniper, ash, ezara ➶ location; institute lawn ➶ word count; 1,454

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Luca had been at the institute for three months.

Truthfully, it was the longest he’d stayed in one place since he was ten. And while there was nothing wrong with it, other than the overly zealous demi-gods who took training way too seriously, he was already planning where he’d move on to next.

Luca had always been that way. Had an itch to be anywhere other than where he currently was. Luckily, he and his mom were nearly always on the road growing up. They stayed where they could, took what they needed, and never let a place—or a person—tie them down. That was their credo, their mantra. They had no one but each other, until...well, until Luca only had himself.

He’d been alone, and he’d been angry. There had been nothing keeping him from getting into fights in every small town he blew through. It was probably lucky he’d found the institute when he had or he’d more than likely find himself dead in a ditch after some senseless bar fight. His mother had firmly believed there was nothing Luca couldn’t talk his way out of. Words always made more sense to him than fists. Still, even with his charm and powers of persuasion, he’d managed to earn himself a number of brawls. And it was those that he learned a thing or two from his mother: play dirty, bank on a trick shot, and book it at the first opportunity. All three of which had come in handy throughout his life--but especially in the months leading up to his arrival at the institute.

Luca had always known the institute existed, had always known what he was. His mother never kept secrets from him, and suggested he even come here, but he hadn’t been interested. His father had never so much as acknowledged him, so Luca felt he could do the same. 

But after his mother died, he figured he’d see what all the hype was about.

The hype had apparently been 5am training drills and team building exercises. Neither of which Luca was particularly interested in. He found that his siblings weren’t intolerable, but they didn’t really feel like family. At least, not family in the way he knew it. Maybe that was why he had come here and been disappointed by what he’d found. Either way, he spent as little time as possible in his own quarters.

He’d spent the last several months wandering the institute’s grounds, finding his way into rooms he should not have been in, “acquiring” some new possessions, and partying with several children of Dionysus—those were kids he could see himself befriending. But he’d still felt out of place. While the Institute was undoubtedly the nicest place he’d ever lived, it was hard to feel like you belonged somewhere—that you were the child of a god—when you’d grown up living out of motels and the backseat of a Toyota Corolla.

By the time the sun crested over the horizon, Luca realized that he’d been awake all night. Since he’d gotten here he’d had a hard time being able to sleep. It was much more entertaining to explore the Institute than it was to sit on a couch in the Hermes quarters and listen to his half-siblings who all had years of inside jokes and familiarity that he lacked. So he found himself sitting on the dewy grass a ways away from the Institute’s grandiose front doors until he heard a blood-curdling scream ring out in the otherwise peaceful morning.

Luca whipped his head to see where the screams had come from. On the other side of the quad, people were running. There was commotion on the other side of the quad. People were running, more screams were joining in with the first. And Luca had been in enough risky situations to know that he should probably be running in the opposite direction, away from whatever the hell was causing all of that panic and chaos. But he was bored. And curious. And quite frankly, he liked to get into trouble. 

He didn’t have to run very far to see the giant beasts that had apparently taken over the institute and the grounds surrounding it. They were like nothing he had ever seen. They looked like some kind of fucked up science experiment, not a magical creature. The thing stood a head or two taller than Luca himself, and sported the body of a lion, scaled wings, and the tail of a scorpion. They were straight out of someone’s nightmare. And one was barreling straight towards him. 

The creature had blood dripping from its maw, and still had flesh wedged under its claws--likely belonging to one of the residents of the institute, hence the panic he witnessed earlier. And it’s black, beady eyes were trained on him. 

Luca cursed under his breath as he tried to assess his options--his best bet for escape. His powers weren’t an option, at least not like the other demi-gods had. Give him a deck of cards or lock, then he’s your man, but fighting magical fucking hellspawn weren’t exactly his forte. There was one thing he could do though. Run.

The winged creature had slowed its pace and moved into a crouch, circling him, hunting him. “Good...kitty?” Luca cooed at it. It merely cocked its head and narrowed its eyes at him. He could smell the metallic tang of the blood around its mouth, and could almost feel the creature’s hot breath on his face. Luca wished he could say this was the closest he’d been to death, but that would be a blatant lie. 

“I’ve got to be honest with you,” Luca told it, backing away one small step at a time. “You are one ugly fucking cat.” And with that he spun around on his heels and ran like hell toward the towering building in front of him. 

This thing was fucking fast. But the children of Hermes were faster. 

Luca ran faster than he had in his entire life, and he still felt the things snapping at his heels. He zigzagged across the lawn, trying his best to avoid the creature’s stinger. 

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath. There was chaos all around him. Blood and gore coated the grass, and demigods continued to spill from the doors to the Institute. Those things--manticores he heard someone call them--were everywhere. Luca had no idea how creatures so big could arrive at the Institute so suddenly and without triggering any alarms. Sure, he’d barely done anything since he’d been here but he did know that the grounds were supposed to be covered in protection spells. 

Finally, Luca felt like he’d gained enough ground to look over his shoulder at the creature trailing him only to find that it had been distracted by something else. Someone else. 

The girl it now hunted was slim with light hair--he’d seen her around before, a daughter of Zeus. Luca almost cried out as the creature crouched down and pounced on the girl but before he couldn’t even speak, she had sent a blast of air into the manticore and slammed it into a nearby tree. 

Luca let out a laugh. Even he couldn’t tell if it was genuine amusement, fear, or utter disbelief at the girl’s power. Luca’s father was the messenger to the gods. Luca could, what? Deliver a package? And she could do that? 

He glanced at the girl's feet and saw another dead beast, only this one had an arrow protruding from its heart. He looked up to see another demigod perched on the rooftop with a bow and arrow. Luca felt utterly useless next to these women. 

From behind him, another manticore was swept up by a complex working of vines--a child of Demeter. The other boy was controlling the foliage around them with only his mind it seemed. The woman next to him was shrouded in shadows, and she placed a hand on the daughter of Zeus and the ground below them began to quake and erupt in plants and roots. Luca had absolutely no idea what the fuck was happening. Coming to the Institute had obviously been a very bad idea.

A flash of lightning lit up the sky, followed by a crack of thunder so loud Luca could feel it in his teeth. And then it started pouring. It had been the white-haired girl who had caused the sudden torrential downpour. 

“I’m sticking with you guys,” he stated. If there was one thing Luca knew, it was how to survive--and this group was his best chance at getting the hell out of here. 

tags: axel, jes, cora, mal, des, ezara location: intitule lawn

word count: 1,560

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Ashton was ripped from his dreams by a harsh knock at the door, his body startling as he fought his mind’s grogginess to come into focus. It was still somewhat early for most people to be awake and moving around, especially so for himself, so he knew whoever was seeking his attention at this hour had to have been pretty serious. He was just beginning to rouse himself out of bed when he heard the shouting from outside, the panic in their voices motivating him to kick it into high gear. Ashton dug the heels of his hands into his eye sockets for a brief moment, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and giving himself a moment of reprieve before tugging on his sneakers and leaving his room, headed toward the panicked voices.

It was then, once he had exited his room that he finally processed just what his peers were yelling about… they were under attack. It had only happened once before in all of his years at the Institute, and even then the assault was quickly squashed by the senior demi-god’s and instructors. Aside from that they’d had the occasional monster break through the barrier, but they were always alone and never incited this much panic. For a moment Ashton considered ducking back into his room and waiting out the attack, avoiding this conflict in the same way he did most others. Ash was gentle by nature, and any type of violence or heightened emotions made him wildly uncomfortable - and battle was no different.

Maybe it was silly, but the second thought that crossed his mind was that if he were going to engage in a fight with literal monsters, then maybe he should change out of his pajamas. Glancing down at his ratty tshirt and pair of sweats, Ashton released a deep sigh and decided that surely now was not the time for vanity.

It had been the sight of a few familiar, but very scared, faces that finally convinced him to join the fray instead of slipping back into his room as if he’d never even noticed what was going on. Axel and Cora were running, Lyra following them as they pounded on every single door and begged for their occupants to come out and help, alerting them of the crisis at hand. Jesper followed a few paces behind, and even Malcom made an appearance after some very impatient prompting from his peers. It was them, these people that he cared for and considered his friends (even if the feelings weren’t exactly mutual for some of them) that convinced him that this wasn’t a fight that he could hide from. Loyalty to his friends, to the Institute was his final push.

Raking a hand through the tuft of dirty blonde hair on his head, Ashton took in one more deep breath before forcing his feet to kick into action, following the others as they scattered in different directions. Once he had cleared the entryway of his cabin and took in the sight before him, it became abundantly clear that the situation was much worse than he had imagined, and everyone else’s panic was completely justified.

Manticores and students flooded the small clearing that the Institute used for training, even more of the viscous beasts spilling from the tree line and targeting the other demi-gods.

It was already a blood bath.

The sharp tangy smell of iron flooded Ashton’s senses as he took a moment to scan the battlefield before him, all of the mangled corpses of people he had grown up with, along with the lifeless bodies of the manticores that his peers had already managed to kill. They were unlike anything he had ever seen before, something of scary stories and the type of mythical creature you read about in books. A feline body coupled with the tail of a scorpion, fur that was thick and rough, not to mention the fangs that rivaled butcher knives - they were ghastly, to say the least.

Ashton’s moment of observation was short lived, the crash of a building falling and the shouts of Coraline and Jesper ripping him from his trance. He worried for a brief moment if he should intercede, but ultimately decided that they could handle the beast who’d knocked through the cabin wall - or at least he hoped they could. Instead, Ashton headed to the center of the lawn where he had the best view of the tree line the manticores poured from. He was close enough to the wooded area that he could feel the vegetation singing for him, stirring to life as if they were preparing for battle as well, just waiting for his command - but he remained far enough away where he felt somewhat safe, far enough that if something were to go wrong he would at least have time to try to run.

Trying to block out the ear piercing screams and sounds of carnage all around him, Ashton’s green eyes locked in on the trees feeling the surge of power in his chest as the forest responded to his presence. The trees began to sway despite the stillness in the air, small sapplings springing up from the earth and growing at an alarming speed, vined plants slithering into view like snakes in the grass, and if he really focused he could almost feel the earth quivering in anticipation beneath his feet. Ashton had mastered his craft at a very young age thanks to his time at the Institute, and had spent the following years perfecting his skills and occasionally unlocking new ones. Unlike most of his peers, Ashton hadn’t even needed to raise his hands for the plant life to spring into action.

All around them vines snatched at the ankles of manticores, pinning them to the ground before snaking around their chest like a cobra, squeezing around them until the air left their bodies. The saplings, more easily pliable than their grown counterparts, would bend and weave together to form cages and trap some of the beasts until someone else could finish them off. Even the giant oaks began to fall, shaking the earth as they crashed to the ground and crushed the manticores beneath them. The fallen oaks began to form a sort of barrier along the tree line, slowing the manticores down as they now had a hurdle to overcome before they could reach the Institute’s lawn, making the flow of incoming monsters much more manageable for the students and staff who had remained to fight. He sent them a silent thank you for their sacrifice, and though it felt a little silly, he could feel each of their noble deaths like a pang in his chest.

Green eyes darted all around, following the movement of his flora soldiers and commanding the next all within a second’s thought. The blonde tried to keep track of his friends as well, occasionally interceding on their behalf if he noticed any particular struggle. Ashton recognized that his powers were primarily defensive, but he still considered them valuable in a fight like this. Sure, he couldn’t kill or cripple the beasts near as easily as some of his peers, but he sure as hell could slow them down until they could. The intensity in the air was beginning to rise as their numbers began to dwindle, the death count slowly rising the longer they spent out here, and many people (understandably) scattering to hide and wait out the attack. Ashton was nearly ready to join them when things took a turn in their favor.

The shadow girl, daughter of nemesis, was who caught his eye first. A look of determination was planted on her face, and not even an ounce of fear showed anywhere on her. She was helping a daughter of Demeter, a girl Ashton knew well, before heading in his direction.

CRACK!

A crack of thunder boomed overhead, ripping his attention away from the dark haired girl as he turned his eyes up to the sky. Rain. A sigh of relief escaped him as the skies opened and poured onto them, a grin slipping onto his lips as he realized that they finally had the upper hand. Ashton’s vegetative warriors were stronger when they were nourished, and he could already feel that strength coursing through his veins as trees began to rise all over the lawn. Coraline, Poseidon’s child, had also begun to struggle without having a source of water near - and now it was all around her. It was relieving to see the panic on her face relax into confidence as she strode towards their small group that was forming in the center of the yard.

A second smack of thunder sounded above, but this one lit up the sky. Whipping around, Ashton soon realized that the Nemesis girl hadn’t been coming towards him at all, no, she had been coming for her. Her dark hair was a stark contrast to the white haired girl who’s hand she held - one of the newest to the Institute, a girl he didn’t quite yet know and definitely didn’t seem very sure of herself.

Suddenly lightning struck down all around them, the field erupting into action once again as everyone fed off of it’s energy. 'Ah' he thought, 'of course.' They'd been due for a child of Zeus to appear, and she certainly fit the bill.

tags; cora, ash, des, jesper, luca location; institute lawn word count; 1,130

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Cognac brown eyes surveyed the face in front of her with little emotion. The guy had shaggy locks of dirty-blonde hair and forest green eyes that held an impish glimmer behind them. Her eyes dropped to his nose, it had a crook in it from a hard punch he had taken just two weeks ago when he'd gotten himself into a fight. Revenge didn't always have a happy ending for the children of Nemisis. On his lips was a cut, making it look fuller than usual - also from the fight.

"What? Now you're suddenly not in the mood for a little fun?" Eli smiled crookedly at Ezara, moving closer to her, his face just inches from her own as she sat draped over a love seat in one of the cabins on the institute lawn.

With a roll of her eyes, Ezara rose her eyebrows at him, leaning just a little closer, her breath brushing against his chin as she reached up and curled her fingers around the fabric of his shirt. She could see in his gaze which settled on her pink lips that he wasn't on the same page that she was. That was what she wanted.

In a swift symphony of movements, her boot hooked around his ankle and she gave his chest a push backward, sending him to the floor as she brought herself to her feet, brushing off her clothes. He grunted irritably as he hit the wood beneath them and she stepped over him, heading for the door with a smile curling onto her lips.

"I've got better things to waste my time on," she gave him a wiggle of her fingers as a farewell and reached out for the doorknob when she heard a bloodcurdling scream erupted outside, followed by the deep growling of something massive. Her hand quickly recoiled from the door and Eli was on his feet in seconds.

"What the fuck was that?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing at her like she would have all the answers.

She shook her head, eyes wide as she listened for anything else. Her eyes ran over the cabin windows, searching for an answer, but she couldn't see a thing. Suddenly more screams were expelled outside, some close and others far. She grabbed ahold of Eli's hand quickly, pulling him away from any windows and her free hand formed a ball of black smoke. She nodded to him to reach for the door and he pursed his lips, giving her a "hell no" look. With a hard squeeze of his hand, she managed to get him to follow her instruction and he slowly pulled the door open.

Nothing could be heard for a moment and he slowly let loose of Ezara's hand. She watched him, ready to fight behind him as he stepped outside. She leaned over to watch him when the door got slammed open by Eli's body and his yell flooded her ears. She was sent flying to the floor by the force and the air from her lungs was knocked out of her. Brushing the hair out of her face, she could finally see what was in front of her and she wished she couldn't.

Standing on all fours, a muscled creature with the body of a lion stood over Eli's unmoving body. Bat-like wings curled in on the monster like a shield, tattered and torn. The sound of bones crushing filled her ears and she finally caught her breath, a horrified sob escaping her lips. The manticore turned on her, blood pooling out of its jaws. Eli's blood. The creature let out a rumbling roar in her direction, its scorpion tail swinging out towards her. She rolled over, the point barely missing her face. She quickly stumbled to her feet and the beast turned on her, reading to pounce. She put her hands out instinctively, large clouds of smoke rolling around her. She sent the cloud whirling into the Manticore, wrapping it around its face, letting it seep into its airway. She could hear its strangled snarls as it suffocated and without any visibility, she watched as it slammed through the wall, exposing them to the outside world.

Taking in her surroundings, she could see more students all around her, using their powers to take down their uninvited guests. The Manticore from earlier seemed to find new targets. Its prey being whatever was in its line of sight. In this case, it happened to be a Posiden and an Acheron. Soon enough, more bodies exited the cabin and she glanced back towards Eli who's mangled body laid exposed to them all. She clenched her jaw as deep anger sunk into her chest. She wanted justice, and she would get it.

The manticore and others took off running, the manticore following them. She stepped forward to help them when someone ran into her, grabbing at her arm and sobbing jibberish at her.

"Please! Help! I can't use my powers. . ." the younger child of Persephone cried, she had blood all over her body but Ezara couldn't see any injuries. Ezara grabbed her face and held her eyes with her own.

"Slow down," she ordered with a shaky breath and the girl quickly explained her situation. A group of manticores held a group of students up near the tree line. A Demeter boy, Hermes boy, and a daughter of Zeus.

Ezara set a hand on the girl's shoulder and closed her eyes, trying to focus as she granted her a burst of fortune. The girl must have felt it too because her eyes lit up and her hand shot out causing one of the trees to creak and come to life, its roots shifting underneath the earth causing erosion, the roots shot out of the soil and wrapped around one of the Manticore's legs, opening up the ground and sucking it in alive before closing up around it as if nothing had happened.

"Oh my god," the girl inhaled and Ezara smiled for a moment before running in to help them, a large cloud of smoke wrapping itself around her body as she did. Once she was at their sides, she sent a cloud of smoke around the group, cloaking them from the Manticores vision and she nodded towards the daughter of Zeus who seemed to have a defeated look on her face.

"Grab my hand!" she yelled out to her, tails whipping all around them. She reached out her free hand and once they locked fingers she let down the smokescreen and focused her energy on giving Deserae luck for a moment, she could feel her body growing tired but she stared at her with a look of determination.

"Strike these motherfuckers down," she offered her a devilish smirk.

tags: axel, jesper, lyra, malcom, ashton, deserae location: the grounds

word count: 2,359

Fifteen days. Fifteen days Coraline had been back at the Institute, and her heart still ached just as bad as it had the day she had left home. This was nothing new to her, she’d been visiting the Institute a couple of times a year since she was a teenager and had always looked forward to her time training amongst the other demi-gods, where she would be surrounded by people who were like her, where she could be herself to the fullest extent and didn’t have to hide who she was or what she could do. But something about this visit felt different, and had left a sinking feeling in her gut from the moment she’d arrived.

The moon had been her solace for as long as Coraline could remember, and in times of distress she could feel herself gravitating to places where she could see it, feel it’s energy the best. So when the homesickness and the ache in her chest became too much, she would slip away from the lights of the Institute, find a quiet place in the dark, and just be alone with her thoughts. It brought her comfort to know that the moon she sat under was the same moon above her mom and dad, and all of her friends and loved ones back home.

She loved the academy, there was no question about that, but no matter how many months she spent here or the number of friends she made, it would never quite feel like home.

Coraline had been tossing and turning for hours when she finally gave up on sleep, her mind restless and refusing to slow down despite the early hours of the morning and her lack of sleep. With a disgruntled sigh the brunette tugged on a thin sweatshirt over the tanktop she’d slept in as she prepared to face the chill she knew would be coming off of the water during the night. This had been her routine for nearly the entirety of her stay, despite her efforts to settle in with her roommates and get a good night’s rest. To her advantage she never had to worry about waking her half siblings due to their small numbers, one son and one other daughter sharing small suite, and each had their own tiny room connected to the shared living area. Silently, Cora slipped from the pod that housed all of Poseidon’s children, her feet quietly padding against the marbled floor as she slipped through the abandoned halls of the academy. A part of the girl felt a little silly as she slipped through the shadows, feeling very much like a high schooler trying to skip class and avoid the hall monitors.

Just like every night before this one, Coraline found her way out of the sleeping Institute and to the edge of the small lake across the grounds. The moon was her only companion, it’s reflection in the murky water of the lake staring right back at her as she settled on the dock. Knees pulled to her chest, head resting between them, and the water gently lapping against the shore - Cora finally began to relax.

It was like she had been tense, so wound up since she’d left it home that it had almost become a physical ache, a dull pain that she could feel all the way to her bones. She craved the feeling of community, the sense of being that this place had used to bring her, but apparently that was no longer a possibility.

But what she craved more than anything else in this very moment was some god damned sleep.

The moon had slipped away, replaced by the soft glow of the early morning sun and the heat it brought with it. Almost like a kitten’s purr, Coraline let out a small hum of contentment as the morning enveloped her in warmth, her blue eyes finally fluttering shut as the slow pull of sleep began to grip her.

That was until it sounded like something was ripping the woods down around her, at least.

Whipping around to her feet in the blink of an eye, Coraline scanned the normally placid tree line for whatever was causing the ruckus. She had recognized the clank of Axel’s leg first, followed by the sight of him ripping towards the institute with a sword in hand. Taking a moment to rub her sleep deprived eyes just to be sure that what she was seeing was in fact real, Coraline took off after him. Cora wasn’t sure what he was running from, but if Axel - the most level headed of them all - was in that big of a hurry, then she figured she had probably better be too. The brunette had just barely begun to catch up to her hulk sized friend when she finally laid eyes on their assailants, manticores springing from the tree line and quickly flooding the grounds. She paused for the briefest moment, again questioning if what she were seeing was actually there before releasing a hushed “oh shit,” and kicking it into high gear.

By no means was Coraline very athletic, but she was exceptionally fast. Her lungs burned and legs ached as her muscles screamed awake at the sudden exertion, adrenaline pumping through her as she pushed forward with a newfound purpose. The screams of battle were just beginning as she followed the son of Hephaestus into the Institute, sharing a panicked look for a brief moment as they both recognized the sound of a massacre on their front lawn. Coraline flew across the stretch holding the different cabins of students, pounding on doors and shouting for help, that they were under attack.

A small feeling of relief washed over her as other demi-god’s began pouring out of their rooms, some running to hide and others charging into the heat of battle. Coraline so, so wished that she could hide at that moment, but the sight of a few familiar faces joining her and Axel convinced her otherwise. There was Lyra, joining them in the race to alert their peers with that fox like smirk she always wore, almost as if she were looking forward to the fight that was to come. And even Jesper, dark and brooding as always had took a reprieve from the underworld to join them.

Coraline followed Axel’s lead as he busted down the Dionysus’ door, demanding that Malcom wake up and help them, only for him to quickly refuse if it didn’t include more booze. “We don’t have time for this, Malcom.” Cora hissed, emptying a glass of water from across the room and sending it directly into the boy’s face with a flick of her wrist. But even the rude awakening she had delivered had barely phased the boy as he nonchalantly licked it off his lips. Coraline’s eyes flamed with frustration, her mouth set in a hard line as she flexed her hand, preparing to empty every bottle of wine in that damned cabin into Malcom’s bed when Jesper’s hand reached out instead, his fingers clenching in as she relaxed her own.

A devilish smirk slid onto her lips as she cast the dark haired boy an amused look, watching Malcom crumble in pain at Jesper’s hands. He deserved it. “Maybe we should wait to scramble his brain until after the fight, hm?” She teased, taking a few steps back before turning to jog back into the fray. She hadn’t made it more than a few steps away when a wall came crashing down, causing her to spin back around. A scorpion tailed monster let out a snarl, blood dripping from its jowls while its victim laid dying behind it. “Fuck.” The brunette breathed, stumbling backwards as the beast charged towards them.

Coraline had never wished that she had spent more time training and honing her abilities than she did in this very moment. Other children of Poseidon could call water from anywhere, could pull it out of the air at a snap of their fingers, but that was a skill Cora hadn’t learned quite yet. She felt so useless, so powerless being so far from a source of water. She could feel the lake calling to her even from here, offering her a safe haven and the strength she would need to fight - but there was no way she would make it there before being mauled.

Frantic eyes darted around, looking for a reprieve from the onslaught of manticores closing in on them, but there was no where for her to go, nothing to do other than run - and so she did. All around her arrows rained down from an orange haired daughter of Apollo, vines and saplings wrapping around the monsters at the commons of a son of Demeter, Axel wielding a sword from his own forge like a warrior - near everyone was engaged in battle.

She was a fool to be so distracted by the scene but it was just so beautiful to see everyone working together so seamlessly, like a symphony, each person playing their part. Finally, she thought, this was the sense of community she’d been searching for, this was what it must have been like to fit somewhere so cohesively.

Her thoughts were short lived as the tail of a manticore whipped into her, sending her to the ground and knocking the wind out of her chest. Coraline gasped as she tried to suck in air, scrambling to get back to her feet just as the beast left again. This time, she had less luck… where were Nemesis’ children when you needed them?

Pain exploded across her chest as the manticore pinned her small frame against the earth, a patch of blood blooming against the light grey of her sweatshirt where its talons dug into her flesh. A strangled scream escaped her as the manticore swiped at her again, Cora barely dodging it by wrenching against the side it already had its claws in, burying them even deeper into her shoulder. Fingertips digging into the earth as she struggled against the monster, Coraline drew as much water from the soil as she could muster, sending it into the manticore’s chest like a cannonball. The beast toppled off of her, giving her a brief few seconds to get back to her feet and get closer to the water.

She was still too far away from the lake to draw from it without exerting herself, but she was close enough to at least be able to use it. Coraline mustered another wave, using it to trap one of the manticores in a sphere of moving water, the poor thing thrashing about inside as it slowly drowned. She held the sphere with one hand, raising the other despite the stabbing pain from her wound and using it to beat back another of the beasts with small bursts of water from the lake.

Cora could feel her energy draining at an alarming speed, the exhaustion seeping into her quicker than it normally did. The source she was drawing from was too far away, she hadn’t slept, and now she was injured - it was no shock that her abilities were beginning to fail. Panic rose in her chest, clouding her eyes as the sphere of water she’d been holding splashed to the ground, unable to hold it any longer. The manticore that’d been inside shakily stood back to its feet, shaking out its pelt and releasing a growl that shook Coraline to her core. That thing was pissed, and it was after her with a vengeance.

Coraline let out a shaky breath, the fear almost enough to choke her as she dug her heels into the earth, preparing to take on the beast with all of the strength she had left. Cora sent one last blast of water at the manticore, barely knocking it off its path as it charged towards her - and that was it. That was all she had left. Her powers were failing, unable to draw out even a droplet for her to use as the beast took one last leap.

Thankfully, apparently she hadn’t been the only one witnessing her struggle against the creature. A green vine shot from the earth as the creature leapt towards her, circling its torso and yanking it back, crushing its ribs in the process. Across the yard stood Ashton, a soft boy who generally avoided conflicts like this, yet her stood right in the middle of the fray without a worry on his face. Vines and saplings sprung up everywhere, caging the beasts, crushing them, slinging them about. It amazed her how for the most part, he hadn’t even needed to use his hands - all he had to do was look and suddenly life was springing from the ground at his command.

It wan an amazing thing to watch someone be so proficient in their art, and Coraline wondered what she would be like if she had spent as much time practicing her craft, learning to harness the powers given to her at birth. Surely she wouldn’t be in the position she found herself in near, exhausted, hurting, and unable to defend herself, let alone her friends.

Crack.

Almost as if the Gods had heard her thoughts, the sky opened up above them with a crack of thunder, lightning striking all around them. Rain poured from the sky so heavily it was almost blinding, but Coraline had never seen clearer. The girl released a shattered breath as the rain soaked into her skin, all of that pain and exhaustion washing away as the droplets slid down her body, leaving a sense of power and rejuvenation in their wake. It had been a sudden change of pace, but Coraline felt strong - no, she felt lethal.

“Thanks dad.” She thought, a sarcastic smirk taking hold of her lips as she jogged back into the thick of it. But much to her surprise, it hadn't been Poseidon to gift her with the rain - it was just a white haired girl who looked as scared as she had a few moments ago.

tags; axel, juniper, luca, ash, ezara location; institute lawn word count; 1,368

All she wanted was some fresh air.

She didn’t enjoy the facility, not as the others had. She found walls constricting, found too many bodies suffocating, not to mention how useless she found herself when suppressed by ceilings and rooms and everything that should have brought comfort to someone normal. Des had already felt like an outcast, considering her bloodline and how the sky turned angry for her -- but to feel completely alone in a space full of people just like her, a place where she was supposed to belong?

It was a cruel form of mockery, a sadistic punch in the gut after what life had already thrown her.

Deserae had grown used to the feeling of never fully belonging and she had come to terms with that a long time ago, prior to joining the camp. Foster home after foster home, masks in the shape of a mother and a father and molds that she never quite fit into. She never knew her mother. All she knew was that she was some addict that lived on the streets of New York, that Des had been the result of a one night stand and that before she even took her first steps, her life had already been decided for her.

Never having a home, never feeling the meaning of home.

Still, she appreciated the lush forest that surrounded the concrete walls, enjoyed how her room had a door to lead right outside, an addition the founder of the institute -- a man named Slade Baskerfield, another child of Zeus -- had installed for her after her first week. Slade was generous, nice even. He had attempted to take the freshly eighteen-year-old Des under his wing after she had found her way onto the steps of the institute once she was finally out of the tragedy that was the foster care system in New York City. And yet, she only provided gratitude for his generosity and then shielded herself off completely. Barely making training practices, never making friends. She found it hard to embrace what she was, to enjoy the gifts that her father had bestowed upon her.

She had struggled eighteen years out of her life, and not once had she seen her father’s face. Had felt his presence around her, guiding her in the direction of life she needed to take. Zeus, despite his reputation, was no more alive than her mother was -- merely ghosts of her past, demons weighing her down. Embracing the abilities he had given her felt almost like giving in to the abandonment, allowing herself to forgive him for never being there when she needed. Des didn’t want forgiveness, no longer wanted the feeling of family, of love.

All she had was raw, powerful anger, and that was enough for her.

Des had made her way back to the front lawn of the institute after spending most of her morning under the protection of the trees. If she were able to, she would have spent the rest of the day surrounded by the thrum of the forest or letting the crisp water of the stream in the back kiss her toes. She felt at peace out there, the only place where she truly felt that she belonged. It was outside where she took to her training, finally growing competent in her aeriokinesis ability, but still only a novice in her others. She had only conjured electricity a handful of times, and entirely by accident, and manipulating the weather and storms were something that she feared she would never grow and learn how to control. The air shifted with her mood -- harsh thunderstorms when she had a fit of anger or a terrifying nightmare, unrelenting rain when sorrow was too powerful to ward away. Even snow had fallen once or twice, when she had felt nothing at all. Frozen. And cold. She should be able to wield the storms like a weapon and, yet, they were her greatest weakness. A telltale sign of how she was truly feeling, when she wanted nothing but a suit of armor to protect her, instead.

“Come on,” she whispered to herself, standing on the lawn with her feet firmly planted in the grass. Her hands were balled into fists at her sides, her nearly white hair blowing in the light breeze, away from her face. One tiny spark, that’s all she wanted until she would finally call it a morning and turn inside to rest. She could feel her body buzzing, but whether that was out of anticipation and desire or the actual effect of lightning searing through her skin, she did not know. Still, it was a sign. And it was all she had.

She gritted her teeth and quickly raised her hand, palm out and fingers spread towards the grass at her feet.

And waited.

And waited.

Until a deep, chilling yell sounded from the forest to her right, causing Des to snap her head towards the sound and lower her arm. A large, burly figure escaped from the trees as another scream left his throat. She took a step forward, brows furrowing and trying to decipher who the figure might be…

When a chilling growl hissed from behind her.

Her head whipped towards the sound as she came face to face with large, yellow fangs dripping with saliva. Her grey eyes widened with fear as she stumbled back, giving her a larger view of the monster that prowled before her. The face looked almost human-like with protruding horns, but its large and muscled body belonged to a lion, with a scorpion’s tail ready to strike at the end. Her mouth parted in fear and the air stilled around her. The creature growled and took a step towards her, claws sinking into the dirt. How did it get here? Had the wards surrounding the facility been shattered?

She didn’t have too much time to think, for the monster had raised a clawed paw and snarled as it prepared to strike. Des couldn’t move -- didn’t dare to move as fear rooted her in place. All she could do was close her eyes, accepting her death standing and exactly where she belonged.

Until an arrow, shot from the rooftop of the building, landed square in the beast’s heart.

The manticore flopped to the ground with a snarl as thick ichor seeped from the wound. It attempted to stand, but the arrow must have struck it right in the heart, for it moved once more, and then never again.

Des glanced towards the rooftop, where the arrow had come from. Only a slash of red hair could be seen before the figure readied another arrow.

It only took moments for the once serene lawn to be filled with scrambling demigods attempting to escape the monsters. The manticores were everywhere as teachers and students dodged attacks left and right, a wave of powers and the smell of smoke filling the property. Out of the corner of her eye, more movement struck and she quickly turned towards it, right as one of the creatures had lunged right towards her. Without any hesitation Des shot out her arms, a swift a powerful wind slamming the manticore against one of the large trees of the forest. Bones snapping cut through the air and she released her wave of wind, allowing the crumpled form to flop against the grass. Dead.

At her other side, among the throng of scrambling students, she heard a chuckle. She cut her eyes to the sound, only coming face to face with a blonde head and angular features turned into a mischievous smile. Ah, a son of Hermes, then. Due to her exclusivity, she hadn’t gotten too familiar with the names of the others, and likewise them with her. She preferred it that way.

A swift brush of vines snagging another one of the manticores appeared behind the golden boy as a son of Demeter held his own gracefully, whereas a slender figure of a woman cloaked in shadow fought next to him bravely. Confidence and determination were everywhere across the property of the institute…

And yet Deserae had never felt so, so weak.

tags; mal, lyra, cora, axel location; underworld/malcom's room word count; 1,440

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The sound of flowing water echoed through the interior of an isolated, dank, and gloomy cave that seemed to be endless. Footfalls scraped against the moisture-coated rocks that made up the area, and a heavy earthy-humidity scent filled Jesper’s lungs. He had been at the river of pain all night, avoiding the outside world and all of the emotions that came with it. It proved to be difficult to be around anyone when he had to spend a majority of his time with damned souls. No one wanted to befriend the grim reaper, and he didn’t blame them, but most of all, he just didn’t care.

Shutting off feelings had been difficult at first. When he was a child he could remember being overwhelmed by his need to be there for others, to always be the hero, to always be reliable. As he grew older, he had been introduced to his ability to visit the underworld whenever he saw it fit. It wasn’t long after that he was told that one of his duties as the son of Acheron was that he was responsible for the souls that needed to be cleansed and purged of their sins. He could feel them sometimes. The agony of their entities being punished for the things they’d done while alive. Some of them could never shake their sins and they were banished to an eternity of damnation. If Jesper had let himself feel like he used to, he wasn’t sure if he’d have anything left of his sanity for it to even matter.

He knew it had to of been early morning by now. His skin glistened due to the humidity and his stormy eyes followed the flowage of the river as he walked alongside it. Deep inside of the green water, a subtle glow streamed through. One after another, long glowing shapes passed by and a faint hum could be heard in the air. Jesper came to a stop and stared down through the water at a shape that began to glow brighter and brighter as it grew in size. A soul coming towards the surface.

The humming grew louder and louder as it approached and Jesper lowered himself into a crouch, getting a better look when suddenly he could make out a sunken face and brittle hands. A woman who looked to be hundreds of years old. It was a shame because he knew that probably wasn’t the case. She could have been a child for all he knew. This was what the river did to souls. It made them weak and withered and eventually, would tear them to pieces.

To Jesper’s surprise, she had picked up speed near the surface and her hand shot out of the water, grabbing a hold of his ankle, and digging her nails into his skin. He couldn’t feel any pain from it, just water running down his leg. He furrowed his brows down at her. She was smiling. A wicked smile.

“They’re coming,” she hissed out, her voice scratchy and weak.

Jesper stared down into her sinister gaze. This wasn’t his first encounter with one of the souls. They were always trying to escape, but it wasn’t possible. If a soul tried to leave the river, they wouldn’t get far without their body, they would turn to dust, or they would be a quick meal for the hounds. Regardless, even though he had the experience, he couldn’t say he’d ever heard one say something like this. Souls from the river weren’t to be trusted with any information, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that settled in his gut. Clenching his jaw, he stood back up and shoved her off of his leg and back into the river, she settled down into it, laughing as she did and her eerie glow faded with her. Jesper stared after her for a moment before he walked towards a cave wall, it opened up into a dark abyss made up of shadows and smoke. He stepped into the darkness, letting it close up behind him as he did.

Another hole opened up in the wall of his bedroom and he stepped out into the light, his eyes squinting irritably at the sudden exposure and dark circles sat beneath his eyes. His black boots left wet prints behind him as he began walking across the wood floor and for the door. He could still hear the soul’s words echo in the back of his mind and he had just about reached the front door when it came wailing open and a massive man who went by the name of Axel stood larger than the door, wide-eyed and yelling far too loud. Jesper crinkled his forehead and glanced around once Axel ran off to yell into more houses, he was taken so off guard that he had yet to register literally anything that he had said. Instead, his attention fell to the two girls, Cora and Lyra who seemed to be following after him, doing the same thing. Slowly, Axel’s words seeped into his mind and he tensed.

They were under attack? The coincidence of the words he had heard earlier and now was far too grand. Not only that but how could they have been attacked? There was no way anything could get through the barriers. Shaking off the shock, he stepped out of the door and the sound of screams echoed into the air. Jesper turned and noticed a shadow fly across one of the walls, a large shadow. It looked as though whatever was attacking them was stalking them like mice. He slowly followed after the girls and Axel, watching over his shoulder as he did. He wasn’t familiar with many people here, in fact, he only knew names because of training. He observed everything, it was something he couldn’t help after running the river. He couldn’t get himself to understand how the things people did in their lives could send them to a place like that.

After warning a couple more people, the four of them had made it over to a cabin that belonged to a son of Dionysus. The room had the stale scent of wine hanging in the air from the night and the room was trashed with glasses, spilled wine, clothes, and a concerning amount of glitter. They were notorious partiers and this wasn’t even close to the worst of the things they did. Looking over, they all stared at the laying body of the party host, snoozing through the terrors going on outside. Jesper crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow as Cora used her abilities to splash water onto his face, getting him to stir awake.

It was when he refused everyone’s attempts that Jesper's patience fell short. Leaning against the door frame, Jesper reached out his hand, palm facing up, and slowly closed his fingers as he concentrated on Malcom’s head.

“If you want to spend all night drinking, it’s only right that you experience the consequences that come with it too, or else, did you really even drink enough?” Jesper’s voice dripped with sarcasm as he sent a sharp piercing pain into his head long enough to get him roaring out of bed before he dropped his hand and turned around towards the door. “Get some clothes on before you try to seduce our attackers and we end up with real monsters.” He called back as he left and headed to warn another cabin.

Outside people were running frantically, warning each other and it looked like some of them were even headed for the borders. The camp was in total chaos. “Shit,” he muttered to himself, and then a loud crash erupted beside him. A cabin’s wall came crashing down as a large creature busted through, a loud roar ripping through its chest as its tail whipped back and forth aggravatedly. A Manticore.

“Everyone, get out of there, now!” Jesper called to the others and the Manticore snarled, blood covering its jaws. On the floor behind it laid a mangled body. Jesper could suddenly feel pain seep into his bones as he looked at the body. It was their pain. Everything they felt before dying. He cringed slightly and then it was gone and he was being charged by the beast. Jesper backed up and put his hand out, trying to send pain towards the cat-like creature. Unfortunately, it wasn’t one of his strongest abilities at the moment, only having it work on occasion, like when he had used it on Malcom.

“I could really use a laser right about now.” He groaned and broke into a run.

The lamenting morning had greeted Axel Eriksen as it's first companion a few hours previously. Nothing had felt out of the ordinary then. As his eyes peeled open, he'd clambered out of the soft embrace of sleep and instead pursued his usual pleasure of isolation and vigilance. Down the halls, a rising sun chased shadows up gleaming white pillars. The sound of his uneven gait seemed all the more louder on the polished marble floors.Clank! Step. Clank! Step. Axel hated the noise, a permanent reminder of his weakness, his greatest mistake.

A few years ago, Axel had often pictured as himself as a modern day Achilles (only minus the whole chiselled-perfect-appearance part). He trained without pause to eradicate any weakness often missing out on the recreational luxuries his companions enjoyed to achieve this goal. Perhaps it was ironic that his "Heel" was easily identifiable, displayed to everyone like a modern day art exhibit. It was also ironic that he shared his weakness with his father Hephaestus, the crippled blacksmith of Olympus. In place of a left leg stood a cast bronze prosthetic whirling with gears and cogs. The exposure of it's internal workings was strangely intimate. Axel preferred it this way. At least he could take pride in his craft and enginuity.

He'd been on his way to the forge, a small area of the grounds that was usually uninhabited. It felt like his small corner of the world. Although he adored the rest of the demigods, Axel craved the small amount of peace that his forge could provide. There was nothing quite like the sound of steel clashing against steel. Other demigods could barely stand three minutes in the forge without becoming drenched with sweat and overwhelmed with dehydration. Until his skin gleamed black with oil, grime and ash, Axel rarely noticed how much time had passed. Days could so easily transform into nights and he would gladly still spend the darkening hours with his giant form hunched over an anvil until someone came to prise the tools from his fingers.

Of course most of the time, the other inhabitants of the camp, or as the elders liked to call it: (The Demigod institute) didn't seem to care for the creation of their deadly weapons. But Axel made sure to put every fibre of his being into all of his creations, checking time and time again for faults or issues, testing the weapons to their very limits. If one of his weapons ever failed, he'd be responsible for a death and even his bulging shoulders would not be able to take the strain.

That day, the woodlands had not felt still as he stepped into them. Something swished in the green bushes to his right, and then again to his left. His eyes had barely registered the great beasts, with saliva drawling down their giant mouths and pink scars along their flanks before something shot out at him. A scorpion tail. Raising his sword, Axel was able to block the blow above his head and shove the creature backwards.

How had they broken the boundary? He didn't have time to think about this and turned to sprint back towards camp, shouting and yelling to raise the alarm. The motor in his knee seemed to buzz with the speed and his other leg ached as he sprinted to dodge the pursuing Manticores. A series of arrows that shot out from atop the walls and into the paws of the creatures, slowing them down to give Axel an advantageous few seconds. Moments later, the serene stillness of the camp had been transformed into a battleground. In ten years, Axel had never seen anything like it. There had been monster outbreaks sure but this...this was a massacre.

Wildly, the son of Hephaestus had sprinted back to the halls, banging on every door he passed and shouting. He rarely stopped to explain, merely barking orders to protect the camp and each other. People seemed to follow his command without question. Whether this was a display of leadership qualities or how frightening he was remained to be examined. Soon, he became aware of people flocking after him, assisting with the task of getting everyone up. Cora, Lyra, Jesper. Several of the demigods did not answer their doors. Anger and worry had burned inside him like a fire till at last they reached Malcolm's room. Axel didn't even have to bother knocking as a loud rumble caused the occupants inside to stir and vacate. Well most of the occupants. One still laid sprawled out carelessly upon the sheets.

Before he could even speak, Cora had doused the son of Dionysus in water. "Nice Shot," He murmured quietly to her. Axel had always appreciated Cora's head on approach to things. Already Malcolm stirred with his usual charismatic drawl complaining about wine or wanting to sleep or something of the sort-Axel barely listened these days. "Get up." He ordered clearly not in the mood for practising patience even if it was the young man's birth day (he wasn't entirely sure of the precise date because Mal seemed to have been partying the whole week. "For Gods' Sake Mal get up! We're being attacked!"

tags; cora, lyra, axel, jesper location; malcom's bedroom word count; 1,396

Streams of golden light peeked through the warm, velvet curtains -- dousing the bedroom with the promise of a new day and surely one Malcom would, once again, spend exactly where he needed to be. Strewn about his burgundy bed, adorned with silken sheets and vines swimming up the columns of the bed frame -- reaching the wall and blooming into luscious, purple berries. The sweet smell of wine hung in the air, along with the kiss of sweat and foliage, for every structure inside of the bedroom was wrapped in greenery. Once you stepped a foot through the door, it was nearly impossible to leave. Due to the vines wrapping around your ankles, the subtle beckoning of spirits, or the rich promise of unleashing every inhibition one may own, well, one may never know until they try.

That was exactly what happened to a flock of demigods last night. Two children of Aphrodite, both of which Mal hadn’t bothered with their names for other qualities of them were far more interesting. A son of Hades, whose shadows played a part in hiding the oncoming morning -- up until now, at least. That trio was sprawled across the massive four-poster bed in the middle of the room, lying naked and tangled in the sheets, empty glasses of wine lying unscathed around them.

On the floor, curled in the corner, snoozed another child of Dionysus. A boy named Felix who was just as fox-like as his name. Malcolm never dabbled in wooing other children from his own cabin for obvious reasons, but they were definitely the most fun to entertain. Whereas the other demigods tended to have reservations and wouldn’t unleash themselves fully until two or three glasses in, his siblings were another story. Felix was exactly the reason why Malcom was still sleeping at nearly ten in the morning, and not training with the others. After staying awake until 4am and using his abilities to constantly fill and fill glasses… It was safe to say that Malcom West was satisfied and exhausted.

It was also the reason why he had slept through an attack on the facility, the chaos and thrum of shattering columns and cracked concrete was nothing more than a slight rumble inside of his bedroom. The facility had taken the opportunity to soundproof most of the children of Dionysus’ bedrooms, allowing them to party and revel in their powers without disturbing the others. Malcom found the soundproofing helpful for more than just parties, though. Sometimes other events were just as… entertaining.

Another rumble sounded from the facility, shaking the bed and causing the others to rise, blinking away their hangover and rubbing away the sleep from their eyes. Still, Mal did no such thing. In fact, he merely groaned and rolled onto his stomach, wrapping his arms around a dark purple pillow, and continued to sleep. The hushed whispers and frantic movements of the others collided with the chaos sounding outside of the door and within seconds, the other demigods had gathered their belongings and rushed out the door.

Malcom snored a goodbye.

Visions of last night swam through his mind as he continued to sink into a deep abyss of sleep, unbothered by the events outside. Glitter on sticky skin, tongues running across wine-dusted lips, music and bass felt throughout his entire body -- allowing him to leave the boy behind and embrace the God he was. Parties were no stranger to him. Before he had ended up at the facility, his parents were lawyers and his home was just as extravagant as the parties they threw. But, they were more concerned with looks and their reputation than raising a child, especially one born from his mother’s affair. She had always been a flighty woman, a lot like Mal. Never wanting to be restrained, only wanting the absolute best of what life offered. She never apologized for it and he would have been a liar if he didn’t blame his mother for not wanting to.

However, once his father found out about the affair, when Malcom was only eleven and was able to change his apple juice into Merlot, they had sent him off without any remorse. ‘Unnatural’ he was called, until the mist took over and wiped his father’s memories, making him forget that he had even had a child at all. Mal remembered climbing up the large, concrete steps of the facility, one suitcase in hand and a hungry look in his eye, and feeling more at home than ever.

While every night was a reason to party in Malcom’s book, his birthday was at the end of the week. Which, obviously, called for a celebration for all six days until then, allowing them to end their thrill on a large, turbulent note. He had been looking forward to it all year, for Mal liked to make sure that he wasn’t the only one celebrating and losing himself to the night.

His body sank deeper into the extensive mattress, the silk sheets draping across his hips, revealing a tanned, toned back with flecks of glitter sticking to his skin. His brown locks were in a disarray across the pillow as he floated deeper and deeper into sleep…

Until a cold burst of water doused his face, causing the boy to jolt awake.

Malcolm’s eyes peeled open and he uttered a grumble of colorful expletives as the cool droplets ran down his face. He rolled over, throwing an arm over his eyes as the harsh light from the hallway streamed right into his direction -- nearly blinding him. “Whoever is waking me at this ungodly hour, it had better be for cabernet.” Remaining in his sprawled position, he licked the water off of his lips and then sighed in disappointment.

“That is not cabernet.”

He opened an eye, tossing his arm to the side of the bed -- a small cloud of glitter and flower petals rose at the contact before floating back down to the silk sheets. From his blurred vision, he saw a plethora of bodies, but the light from the hall had shielded most of their features. Mal rose, pushing himself into a sitting position. The sheets fell away at the movement and pooled across his lap. He had never been one to be embarrassed or modest, this was his room, after all. From the corner, Felix groaned and rolled away from the light before falling back to sleep. Malcom wrinkled his nose in jealously.

Shifting his attention back to the invaders inside of his room, his eyes scanned the small group. Some he was familiar with and some he hadn’t bothered to get to know quite yet. There was Cora, whom he knew fairly well due to her attitude within itself. Axel, or as Mal liked to call him “tree”, due to his height and the fact that his bicep was the size of Malcom’s neck. He then saw a tuft of dark hair and a gloomy disposition -- most likely a son of Acheron, then. From behind him, a sinister smirk appeared across full lips and a freckled face, belonging to Lyra.

Why he had an entourage of flustered, angry demigods at his door -- Malcom had no idea.

He yawned, running a tired hand down his face as his hair stuck up in every which way. They were staring at him as if he had all of the answers they sought, which was more rare of an occurrence than him waking up before noon. He furrowed his brows and waited for one of them to speak and, yet, none of them did.

“Are you here to wish me a happy birthday?” he asked with a playful lilt and a smirk spreading across his face. Thankfully, being a child of Dionysus, no hangover graced him this morning due to his extremely high tolerance. However, the day after his actual birthday party might be a different story. He was perfectly fine with maintaining the stereotype that surrounded the children of Dionysus: wild, aloof, careless, and overindulgence. People usually came to him looking for a way to escape their world, but these ones looked as if they were trying to drag Mal into theirs. And he wanted no part of it.

“Look, if you’re not here for alcohol, sex, or ‘party favors’, then I suggest you shut the door.”

- Son of Demeter -

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male ❃ pansexual ❃ twenty one ❃ libra

appearance: Ashton is tall with a slender build. By no means is he abundantly muscular, but his lanky limbs have a small layer of toned muscle after years of training. His ashy brown hair is often unkempt and will flop across his face if he's gone without a trim for more than a few weeks. His mossy green eyes are an attribute from his mother, and compliment his warm skin tone that gives the appearance of a light tan year round. His cheeks and the tips of his nose and ears will flush a deep red when exerted, giving the appearance of blush brushed across his cheeks. He has a rather squared face and hard facial features, which he believes helps to make him look more masculine. Ashton's hands and forearms are the most defined part of his entire body since he uses them so much for his craft, toned muscles and large veins almost always standing at attention across his skin.

abilities:

❃ chlorokinesis ; the ability to manipulate and grow any plant life at great speed

❃ immune to poisons derived from plants or wildlife

❃ innate knowledge of cures/remedies to ailments derived from plants or wildlife

❃ geokinesis ; ability to control the earth on a large scale (earthquakes, rifts, etc)

❃ innate knowledge of cooking and gardening

❃ can communicate with animals (limited)

fatal flaw: yielding ; Ashton will attempt to avoid conflict at all cost, so he often finds himself submitting to others/situations even though he doesn't necessarily believe it is right.

personality / history: Demeter claimed Ashton as her son as a very small child, and he was raised by a single father who was somewhat of a fanatic of Demeter's. He worshipped the goddess for as long as Ashton could remember, meaning he'd grown up learning about his abilities and strengthening his gifts from a very early age. Though he seems frail by appearance and his soft-natured demeanor, Ashton is actually an incredibly powerful demigod since his mother is one of the "big three" and he'd been raised practicing his abilities longer than most of his gifted companions. Ash prefers to be a quiet kind of powerful, and tries his best to avoid any sort of conflict or violence. He doesn't like to use his gifts in any sort of negative fashion that could result in the harm of any other being, instead preferring to simply nourish his gardens and practice salves to store away incase someone were to stumble home with some poison ivy or a snake bite. Ashton gets along with most everyone and is kind by nature. He is content to spend his free time laying in the grass, hugging trees, and cheering on his friends from the sidelines. Ashton moved to live at the institute when he was just barely a child, and stays there permanently where he can practice his craft without the threat of harming anyone. His father lives nearby, and likes to visit and bring baked goods pretty often.

- Daughter of Poseidon -

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female ♆ heterosexual ♆ twenty ♆ scorpio

appearance: Coraline is rather dainty, falling in around 5'2" with a slim frame that leaves her very light on her feet. While not quite as toned as her fellow trainees, her body is covered in a thin layer of muscle thanks to her recent training. By no means is Cora strong, but what she lacks in brute strength she makes up for in speed and agility. Growing accustomed to being one of the weakest physical links, Coraline honed in on her few talents and thanks to her lithe frame, has become as quick as lightning and as nimble as a cat. The girl has dark brown hair that naturally falls in a few loose waves just past her shoulders, but you will often find it braided or pulled back out of her face. Her facial features are sharp and almost feline, with blue eyes that match the color of her father's ocean. A light spattering of freckles covers every inch of her body, but are especially concentrated across the bridge of her nose. Her skin is uncharacteristically light considering the amount of time she spends in the sun, but will adopt a light honey tone during the height of summer. Coraline primarily dresses for comfort, and will often pair a tiny shirt and shorts combo with an oversized jacket or flannel. Her style accentuates what she see's as the best parts of her physique, her legs and her waist.

abilities:

♆ hydrokinesis ; the ability to manipulate water in any form

♆ weather manipulation ; storms with water, fog/mist/steam, etc. (limited)

♆ breathe under water for a limited time

♆ a higher resistence to burning/heat/fire

♆ siren speak ; the ability to manipulate the actions of another when using a specific tone

♆ strengths increase when near or in a body of water

♆ the ability to heal herself when in water (limited) ; has not mastered healing others

fatal flaw: heightened emotions ; Coraline tends to act rashly and without careful thought when her emotions are running high, which has proven to be detrimental to both her self and her friends.

personality / history: Coraline was conceived through deception, her father glamouring himself to seem mortal when he slept with her married mother and disappearing shortly after, leaving the woman and her naive husband to raise a child that they wholeheartedly believed was their own. Cora was contacted by an elder from the institute at the age of sixteen after it became apparent that she was gifted - a temper tantrum would cause a flood, pipes would burst when she was overjoyed, and her swim coach was becoming suspicious when she could stay under water for minutes at a time and swim laps without ever tiring. Understandably, this caused a bit of an identity crisis for the young girl, realizing her entire life and parentage was all a lie, and she's been working through that damage ever since. Really, that was when most of her problems began. Unlike most demi-god's, Coraline decided to keep this part of her life a secret from her family, not wanting to ruin her parent's happy marriage with the knowledge of her mother's infidelity and the dangers that would come with this side of her. Since she found out about her true nature, Coraline would spend a few months out of the year at the facility, training and honing her skills before returning home instead of staying year-round like her peers. That is, until she'd been called back to the institute a week ago and informed that this would need to be a longer stay. As far as her family knows, Cora is backpacking across Europe with some friends, not fighting monsters. Coraline is overall a very laid back and easy going girl who would be happy to lay around with a book or bullshitting with her friends for most of her days. Though chill by nature, Cora does have a bit of a temper that can get away from her at times. She has a big heart and feels every emotion very deeply, good or bad, which often leaves her making impulsive decision that she grows to regret. She enjoys being around people and tries to avoid drama, although she won't stand down from a fight if it's brought to her. While relatively straight-laced, it definitely wouldn't take too much convincing for Cora to make some questionable decisions if it meant having fun with her friends. Lately Coraline has been working on what she calls 'defining herself' which includes slowing down and being more conscious of her actions and their consequences in order to present the best version of herself.

__________Axel Eriksen__________

Son of Hephaestus

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gender; cismale 💨 sexuality; heterosexual 💨 age; twenty two 💨 sign; Virgo

appearance; Tall at "6'3' Axel Eriksen towers like a giant over his comrades. When he was growing up, Axel looked out of place with his classmates, always the bulkiest and the tallest. After he lost his leg, Axel began to exercise with frequent vigour and at a high intensity. At first, it was just to improve his strength enough to have a prosthetic fitted but he soon became addicted to the exercise endorphins. Due to the years of working out, Axel has a mesomophic form, similar to that of a bodybuilder. His prosthetic leg is made from pure bronze. He is frequently seen making adaptations to it, adding motors and cogs to try to perfectly mimic a real leg. On the rare occasions that people see his face (when he sits down to be eye-level) they would see green eyes, a hard face with a seemingly always furrowed brow and the start of an impressive beard curving at his chin.

abilities; 💨 Can manipulate fire for a period of time (it will eventually either exhaust him or start to burn

💨 Has near immunity to fire. Can withstand almost double the temperature for twice the time a human can.

💨 Skilled mechanic, blacksmith and engineer.

💨 Skilled in both hand to hand combat and sword combat due to his brute strength.

💨 Can identify machinery type and use by touch.

fatal flaw; Impulsiveness- Particularly when people he loves are at risk of being hurt.

personality; Although on the outside, a rugged terrifying looking tower, Axel is secretly a family man with a hardened but big heart. He is mature and confident in himself, comfortable with sharing his opinions to the group if he feels necessary. As one of the older members of the group, he often fills in a caregiver role similar to that of a father or an older brother. Occasionally he can be highly impatient to the childish anger and futile arguments of his cohort especially when he knows they are all capable and choose to make things difficult. On a more softer note, Axel is a massive foodie and cook. He loves to eat, in fact he lives to eat. At times, he can succumb to hangriness being unapproachable for long periods of time until he eats. Since Hephaestus was crippled from being thrown off Mount Olympus, Axel has an inbuilt fear of heights, more specifically falling. He is passionate, particularly about the people around him. This passion burns like the fire he kindles and can lead him to succumb to impulsive and potentially vengeful behaviour.

__________JUNIPER JONES__________

Daughter of Apollo

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gender; cisfemale 💨 sexuality; heterosexual 💨 age; nineteen 💨 sign; pisces

appearance; Juniper stands at just five feet tall with small hands and matching feet. Her eyes are brown and exceptionally doe-like gleaming with emotion and fragility alongside compassion and care. She is known for her auburn red hair. It gleams with the same brightness as the Sun her father resides over. Unfortunately, this makes her easy to pick out in a crowd which is the opposite of her heart's greatest desire. In terms of fashion sense, Juniper opts towards a more artsy style of embroidered mom jeans, loose fitting trousers, sleeveless crop tops and large tees with classical art prints on the front. She is never seen without her bow and quiver across her back and carries the weapon with unusual pride.

abilities; 💨 Magical Healing- Can diagnose those around her with a single touch. Is good at knowing physical areas of weakness. Also can preform Vitakinesis, hymns, to absorb pain and take it on herself

💨 Limited/Semi Precognition to future events. Likely to develop if she could just build more trust in herself.

💨 Ability to see perfectly well in areas of highly concentrated light. No problem looking at the sun directly

💨 Inherited her father's skill with a bow. Can occasionally harness arrows with diseases to weaken her opponent.

💨 Potential ability to cast spells with her singing voice and light travel though she cannot yet do this both due to being shy and inexperience.

fatal flaw; “The fixer Mentality." She wants to heal everyone. Naively she believes all people are deserving of love and healing. She burns herself out both physically and mentally doing this and often forgets to take care of herself and sleep or eat.

personality; Perhaps the polar opposite of her attention adorning father, Juniper is possibly the quietest of the group.She prefers to listen than to speak and to support rather than lead. Her insightful nature means that despite her shyness, Juniper is extremely conscientious of the people around her. She takes time getting to know others and always tries to see the good in people. Since it is in her nature to heal, Juniper is drawn towards people who need help, physically and mentally. Unfortunately, she struggles to realise that she cannot help everyone and not everyone wants her help. As an extreme empath, Juniper takes things people say to heart quite easily, even if they don’t mean it. She does not like to lead and relies on the people around her for guidance most of the time. Although usually, she gives off the impression of being a patient caregiver, during times of severe stress or upset when emotions have bottled up inside her for too long, Juniper will revert back to needing affirmation and physical reassurance to calm her down.

D A U G H T E R O F N E M E S I S

gender; cisfemale ⚖️ sexuality; heterosexual ⚖️ age; twenty-one ⚖️ sign; aries

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appearance; ezara holds her head high, her structure a delicate one. she moves soft and light on her feet, often being referred to as 'mouse'. although her frame is slim, she can pack a punch, often ending up with cuts on her lips and cheeks from getting herself into trouble. a glint of mischief sits in her sea-foam colored gaze and her skin shines like honey, a warm sienna under-toned tan gracing her body.

abilities; ⚖️Can tell if someone is about to cheat or lie.

⚖️Take away a person's luck or fortune, making sure they fail at whatever they do.

⚖️Children of Nemesis can give good luck to those in need.

⚖️When hurt by another demigods power, they have the ability to hit back with the same force.

⚖️Strong Umbrakinesis; allows them to control darkness and shadow.

fatal flaw; righteousness -- she is often fueled by a righteous anger that often consumes her and makes it difficult for her think clearly at times, taken over by the need to keep a balance.

personality; a lot can be said of ezara, but perhaps most important is her loyalty and patience. Of course she's also, innovative and dutiful, but they're far less prominent, especially compared to impulses of being intolerant as well. her faithfulness though, this is what she's often adored for. on many occasions people will count on this and her grace while doing so when they're in need of support. although, nobody's perfect. she has much less pleasant traits to her as well. her slyness and maliciousness are far from ideal even at the best of times. fortunately her patience is usually there to help mends things when needed. nonetheless, there are a lot of layers to ezara, many are buried deep within while others might surprise people.

S O N O F A C H E R O N

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gender; cismale 💨 sexuality; heterosexual 💨 age; twenty-two 💨 sign; gemini

appearance; jesper harnesses a rather average, well-built frame thanks to his fast metabolism and training exercises. his darkly rimmed eyes hold orbs made haunting blue hues which resemble the unforgiving sea against a stormy night. most of his features are dark and brooding, his features almost always tired or irritated while his hair always sat a tousled mess of ebony locks. due to the majority of his time having to be spent with damned souls in the underworld, it is no surprise that his skin is more on the pale side, only kissed by the light olive tone which was granted to him through genetics.

abilities; 💨 The power to summon and control water from the river of pain.

💨 Shadow Travel

💨 High pain tolerance

💨 Pain Manipulation; cause a person to feel pain (no real injuries), temporarily.

💨 Pain Absorption; to temporarily alleviate the pain in someone (not healing)

💨 Minor Hydrokinesis (power to manipulate water); limited to ponds and rivers.

fatal flaw; stubbornness -- due to his familiarities with the river of pain and the underworld, jesper has become rather cold and detached, therefore leaving him with little regard for anyone else or their feelings due to shutting off his own. this has made him stubborn and hardheaded.

personality; he has a very blunt, straight-to-the-point personality. he isn't afraid to hurt feelings, making him a hard person to get to know, he has seen many things and isn't blind to the world and what it truly means after seeing the deaths of many. he is quick-witted as well, his only real form of communication being sarcasm. he likes it this way, it makes it easier to push people away.

*red text means insufficient

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D A U G H T E R O F Z E U S

gender ; cisfemale ☁ sexuality ; heterosexual ☁ age ; twenty ☁ sign ; cancer

appearance ; des has a very lithe and slim build from not attending training, due to being too scared that her powers will go astray. she has light grey eyes with nothing but unbridled rage building behind them. she often looks angry or put-off most of the time, and she doesn't mind the distance she receives from it. you'll often find her alone, considering she hates large crowds. deserae stands at an average height of five feet and four inches and usually dresses herself in all black or navy blue clothing. she goes for practicality and not style, which often leaves her face clear of makeup, as well. her stark white hair usually draws enough attention, anyways.

abilities ; ☁ Atmokinesis (ability to control and manipulate storms) INSUFFICIENT

☁ Electrokinsesis (ability to control and manipulate electricity) INSUFFICIENT

☁ Aeriokinesis (ability to control and manipulate wind)

fatal flaw ; low self esteem -- she feels that her power does more harm than good and she has little to no confidence in her abilities.

personality ; she isn't great in social situations and can come off as harsh and standoffish. she rarely smiles and her eyes are permanently set into an icy glare. she is stubborn to a fault and isn't a fan of change. getting her to talk is a challenge and she is more of an outcast and not the brave leader like her father. des doubts herself a lot, but is very selfless and loyal to the people she cares about. she believes in good and evil -- but just doesn't know where to align herself. in nature and outside is where she truly feels at home and hates small spaces and being indoors for long periods of time, for she feels that she is useless when cooped up behind walls.

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S O N O F D I O N Y S U S

gender ; cismale ❧ sexuality ; pansexual ❧ age ; twenty-one ❧ sign ; sagittarius

appearance ; malcom was born with eyes so gold that they nearly represented the large cats his father was drawn to. not to mention his feline grin and cool, fluid movements that also pay homage to the beasts. he has dark brown hair that often looks unkempt and stands at a height of perfect six feet tall. malcom's build is on the leaner side, due to the fact that the boy doesn't exactly bother himself with training. but, he is still very nimble and athletic (when he wants to be) and can hold his own in a fight with his strategic maneuvers -- to work smarter, not harder. a golden tan usually graces his skin and his style is full of black boots, form fitting pants, half buttoned shirts, and a plethora of rings and raven painted nails.

abilities ; ❧ chlorokinesis (ability to control and manipulate all types of vines)

❧ alcokinesis (ability to control and manipulate alcohol)

❧ pyrokinesis (ability to control and manipulate small, purple flames. very limited.)

❧ cause and cure madness

❧ communicate and manipulate all types of cats

fatal flaw ; carelessness -- he feels like he may never amount to anything important, which often leads him into making rash decisions.

personality ; malcom is confident and sly, but often struggles with his emotions internally. he puts forth a very carefree and vain persona and enjoys playing tricks and being aloof to the entire world besides himself. he is a major flirt and focuses more on who warms his bed rather than his training, but he doesn't give his heart willingly -- it may be the most impenetrable part about him. he will never back down from a challenge, and even if he loses he always somehow twists the situation in his favor. malcom is a charmer and can talk his way into and out of anything and is a true entertainer at heart.