On the Boardwalk (open)

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Felicity was the best friend ever! Charlie had managed to talk the daughter of Pluto into helping Charlie escape from camp and just have a hang out day. Charlie requested Santa Monica, California. It was a place that Charlie had always wanted to see. She wanted to see the beauty of the beach, the people, smell the outside food. She was gleeful that she was about to get the chance to see some wonderful things. To be honest, anything outside of a bunch of smelly first cohort romans was more than welcome. Charlie had even decided to stop by the temples and offer up a small offering to Neptune since after all, she was going to the beach. The weather was pretty nice and when she landed, she was at the Santa Monica Boardwalk. It was early in the morning, but the beach and boardwalk was already teeming with people. Charlie could bet that during the summer, this place was filled to the brim. Charlie wasn’t normally one for breaking the rules, but she hadn’t been in the outside world for many years. Not only was she eager to see how things had changed, she wanted to look at a landscape that was different from New Rome.

The sun was warm and Charlie was basking in its glow. She made a mental note to go toss an offering to August’s dad later. Apollo sure knew how to make a good day even better. August had said something about wanting to go to the beach, Charlie had said yes. But this was some exploration she wanted to do on her own. Surfers dotted the water and there were a few people that had lain out on the beach. Even though it was February, the weather was still super nice. California was good like that. You go south and the weather was warm and sunny, the beach was nice. Go north and you were in wine country with a wonderful skiing mountains. Charlie had seen pictures of this place in a book she kept in her trunk. It was a massive picture book, pictures of the best places to go in the states. The pictures she had seen of Santa Monica were amazing and it was one of the places she wanted to go. She had always prayed to her father for just a chance to go outside of camp. She wanted to go, but wasn’t sure how to act or to keep from being eaten alive.

Charlie plopped down in the sand, just under one of the deeper part of the pier. She unpacked her bag and put on some sunscreen. Her towel and bag sat down on the ground. Charlie was feeling a bit free, like a giddy little school girl. It had been a long time since she had been to the beach. Her mother had taken her to the beach just months before she died. Charlie gave a sigh as she pulled her hair back into a pony tail, the long blond curls bouncing on her back. Charlie had gotten a new bathing suit from New Rome, or at least it was mostly new. Charlie had a one piece suit that she wore when she went swimming in the pool. She felt like a total moron trying to find a bathing suit that would look normal. Or at least make her look like a normal mortal. No one had to know that she was really a semi-divine being who had more war experience then some of the troops or was more dangerous then an entire crew of gangbangers.

Speaking of Gangbangers… there were some hanging out at the edge of the pier, most of them looking at her like she was a piece of meat that was hanging up in the New Rome Butcher’s window. Charlie remembered the wolf stare she had learned from Lupa. Her gaze was steely cold and said ‘whatever your thinking is a bad idea, I’ll kill you.’ She probably wasn’t helping the situation by wearing a bright blue bikini. But at least she had a knife and her collapsible hand crossbow stashed in her bag and another small punching dagger hidden in her bikini. (you don’t want to know where she hid it) Charlie laid back and was just having fun for a change.

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Spring was coming closer and the weather in the world was getting better and better each day that passed. winter was an amazing time of the year, the people who loved to prank and have fun were more than blessed in Winter. The snow provided with tons of ways of having fun, without killing anyone, well not always at least. But by the end of the winter, the snow started melting and what could have been an amazing snow balls' war, would become just a muddy assoult. Fun in the moment but Praetors liked it less than a common snow ball fight.

When Spring comes closer, the best anyone who wants some fun could do, is to go to the beach. A lot of campers go to the Lake's beach by New Rome, but for a son of Mercury, going to the beach inside the safety of the boarders was the same as B-O-R-I-N-G!! So Joshua rogers, son of Mercury and a very well know thief and trouble maker, wasn't going to go to the Lake's beach, he was going out, to the mortal world and find a good beach to go and lay down for a while... until the first monster tried to kill him, as always.

He put on his new bathing suit and a hooddie, then he walked out of his cohort and ran to New rome, Terminus checked that he wasn't carrying any kind of weapons, and he told him he was only going to get some good time at the Lake's beach, so the statue let him pass. Josh was sure that the god knew that he wasn't up for good, but unless he had some proof on him, he couldn't stop him. Josh walked into New rome and looked around, he walked down the streets and then into the alley that was always deserted, then he blend in the shadows and thought to go to a cool place outside.

When he got out he noticed he was still in California, but where in California... "ok, now... let's see," He said and then walked down the dark alley that he had blended into. He smelled the air and smiled, you didn't have to be Neptune's son to know what that scent meant, the Ocean was close. He walked down the street and noticed some people in bathing suits and girls in bikinis. He smirked at the girls. "well... hello ladies..." he muttered and kept walking down the street. It led him to a place with a pool, he noticed that there was a beautiful girl in it.

He was going to whistle, when he noticed that a group of gangbangers were just looking at her. Josh may be a flirter, a womanizer. But he would never force a girl to do anything she didn't want to do. The eyes of those guys told him they were the other kind of guys, the ones who didn't care what they needed to do to get what they wanted of a girl. He walked closer and glared at them with a twisted smirk on his lips. "I don't think you'll find much fun here, guys... just turn on your heels and go away"

josh could be a jerk most of the time, but deep inside he was a gentleman and he would never let those guys hurt that angel. He looked back and smiled at the angel, trying to impress her, but he gor surprised when he saw who she was. "Charlie?!" he smirked looking how beautiful she looked.

OUTFIT: HERE (just imagine it in daylight.)
NOTES: I hope it's ok

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The weather was warming up, and Rhiannon's mood was taking a dangerous dive. Warm weather was not her friend, she didn't care how long she had lived in camp and how many people said she should be used to the hot summers, she still hated them. Hoping to stay her mind from anything Rhiannon began to study her latin, attempting to pronounce things correctly as much as possible before practicing her spells on a person. While she had been able to use her buffing spells more regularly now, anything that required more than a few syllables was still far from her grasp. She was currently working on a teleportation spell, something to get her from one place to another quickly and hopefully with accuracy. She figured teleporting to the arena would be something easy enough. She knew where she was inside New Rome, and would know even if she ended up somewhere slightly different. Rhiannon made sure to leave her weapons and anything else she shouldn't have in the city with Inek in the barracks.

With a deep breath and a quick look around to make sure she was in an open enough area to not hit anything should she be sent flying, Rhiannon closed her eyes to concentrate and spoke as clear and calm as she could. Focusing on a dark area away from people she felt her body shift and a similar feeling to when she was forced on a roller coaster came to her. She doubled over and coughed willing something to come up and out so she could feel better. Instead she was left with a nauseous feeling and sore throat from coughing. The first thing that struck her as wrong was the smell, warm salt air filled her nose and her eyes shot open to take in her surroundings. Curse words filled the air as she noticed the decor around her was nothing like what was in New Rome.

“Awesome, out in the middle of gods know where without weapons. This is so sweet, great idea Rhiannon. I wonder if I still have that account open from my parents. I'm going to stick out like a sore thumb in this armor. Gods this has got to be the worst joke...ugh” Rhiannon muttered to herself as she walked out of the dark alley she appeared in. Though it seemed to be less like an alley and more like a shady changing area. The bright sun caught her in the eyes and her already sour mood seemed to get worse, the sun was bright and shining, salty air filled her nose and mouth, not to mention she could feel the sand building up between her toes already.

The sand lay out before her, and a pier could be seen to her left, but Rhiannon was far more interested in the clothing shops to her right. She couldn't walk around in her leather armor, it would draw too much attention. Pulling out her wallet Rhiannon made sure her small purse of coins didn't come out with it, she pulled out a card she had not used in a long time glancing over it. “Huh, I must have gotten a replacement recently. Good.” Putting everything back in her pockets Rhiannon made her way around the stores, becoming horribly annoyed with the clothing selection or lack there of. She did not own a two piece swim suit, but now she had to buy one. She hated them, but got it along with a large shirt and bag for her normal clothes.

Rhiannon began walking along the sidewalk that cut through the sand, a familiar voice caught her ears forcing her head to swivel around. There was no way, it would be too large a coincidence, Josh could not be here. Despite her mental protests there he was, and, Rhiannon's jaw dropped, Charlie was here also? “This has got to be a joke.” Rhiannon turned on her newly bough sandals and walked over to the two campers. “Is this some nighmare-ish dream or have we some how all ended up on the same beach?”

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The gangbangers were harassing her…..still. Charlie gave a sigh and rolled her eyes at them. Just let them lay a finger on her and she would separate said finger from the hand in a matter of mere seconds. For once Charlie was trying to behave herself, not wanting to start any trouble or fighting. Odd for a daughter of the god of war. If only these insignificant little pests knew who they were dealing with, they would think twice about talking to her. “Come on girl!” One of them shouted as she stood up. Charlie rolled her eyes at him and stood up, walking away. A hand reached out and grabbed her by her blond curls. Biggest mistake for this jerk face to make. Charlie’s head snapped back and the feeling of some of her hair separating from her head made her eyes water slightly in pain. Charlie quickly spun on her heel, knocking the guys hand from her hair with ease. She quickly sized them up. Four gangbangers and one of her, the odds weren’t in their favor. She smirked as one of them shouted some obscenities. But suddenly Charlie was joined by Josh. “Oh hey Josh, fancy seeing you here….” She flashed Josh a grin before nudging her head in the direction of the wannabe gangstas that were flirting with death.

One of the guys reached out to grab Charlie, despite that she now had a friend to back her up. Charlie swatted the man’s hand away. “Get off your high horse boy. You don’t want this. Come back with more and the odds will be better for you.” Charlie growled at the gangsta. Suddenly there was another voice. This day just kept getting better and better. Charlie looked over her shoulder to see Rhia. She was a daughter of Trivia….. or at least Charlie thought she was. Charlie wasn’t good with names and demi-god parents. “You are out of your league boys.” Charlie growled at the four so called men that were circling her like vultures. “Rhia, it’s always nice to see you.” Charlie said. She had no real opinion about the girl, but she hoped that Rhia would back her up along with Josh. If there was something going to happen, Charlie could handle herself against four untrained idiots like this, but it was always nice to have some people back you up. Most of those who passed by this little Mexican standoff just looked away, not wanting to get involved. It was a smart move for sure.

Charlie’s reflexes were quick. The guy went to strike her, to slap her in the face. Charlie caught the guys hand and bent it backwards, watching the pain well up in the man’s face. Charlie didn’t master the five tiers of kung fu in such a short time for nothing. The guy screamed in pain as she pushed the bones a bit past the breaking point. Beneath her hand, Charlie could feel the bones straining, being pushed past their usual route. These gangsters had a pack mentality, but it was a weak one. Charlie trained with the legion, she knew the tactics that both Josh and Rhia knew. Charlie knew that without the shadow of the doubt that the three of them could easily dispatch these morons without a second thought. Charlie swiped away another attacker while still hanging on to the other guy’s hand. She pushed the hand back, bringing the man to his knees. “Guys, I think it’s time we let these idiots know who we are.” Charlie spun on her heel, kicking the guy who was on his knees clear across the bottom jaw. His head spun and he flew off about three feet before the other three gangsters decided to jump in the brawl.

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Josh looked at the guy who walked closer to Charlie and held her shinny blond curls. But when he was about to act was when the girl moved, that was the second he noticed it was Charlie. He looked at the guy with some kind of pity, not even compasion because that kind of guys didn't deserve it. And his pity wasn't because he felt empathy for them, no... it was because he knew they were low level beings compared to Charlie and himself, he knew they didn't have a chance, even if he wasn't there.

When Charlie looked at him he nodded at her. "Well it is my pleasure to find you in this amazing place, but I must tell you that I don't really like the kind of guys that are following you... they seem more like... parasites than a real pack" He smirked at the men in front of him, he knew those words wouldn't be the more pleasent to them to hear and that they would for sure react to them, and he really was expecting that to happen. Deep inside he had Mars blood in his veins, he also felt excited with a battle.

By the time that Charlie told another guy to back off, he heard the voice of another female, he smirked and then looked back at Rhia. She was dressed up with some of the clothes that he had seen hanging in some of the stores that he had seen while he walked from the alley where he landed in to that spot where he found Charlie. "Hi Rhia! I see you also found the way to this paradise" he smiled at his friend and then looked at Charlie and the men.

When the other man tried to get to Charlie, Josh wasn't worried about her, he knew she was perfectly trained and that she could deal with them all without a drop of sweat. Then Charlie told them that it would be good to show those jerks who they were. He knew then they would leave those men unconcious on the ground in a few seconds. He walked closer to Rhia and said in a very low voice. "No magic tricks, remember where we are, but besides that, have fun!" then he winked at her and walked to where Charlie were... he couldn't say she was fighting, she was barely warming up with those flesh dummies.

Josh tried to move in normal mortal speed, he didn't want to use the leverage of his high speed, gift of his father, to defeat those worms. He picked the bigger guy, he should have been Josh's higth or an inch taller which was already too much considering Josh was 6'3" tall. "Steroids aren't good for your health, you know?" he asked the huge guy who seemed to be a lost twin of the Minotaurus. The guy growled at Josh and swang one of his huge fists against Josh's face, but he saw the man moving in slow motion. Thank the gods for his ADHD and his training back in the Camp!

He bent his torso backwards and saw the man's fist passed in front of his face. He smirked and grabbed the guy's wrist with his right hand and used the guy's impulse to turn on his own heels. Half second later he was with his back at the man's arm, he moved his left arm and hit the guy with his elbow, right on the back of his neck. The man rolled his eyes and lost strength in his body, then fell on his knees. Then Josh let his wrist go and the guy's face hit the ground, but he for sure didn't fell that, he was already drooling unconcious when that happened. "ok... one down..." He smiled and looked at Charlie and Rhia to see how they finished with the other ones, or should he go and get his second one, so Charlie and Rhia fought only one each?

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The situation escalated quickly and Rhiannon let out a long sigh when the mongrels began to act on their aggression. They had no idea who they were, and with the tiny brains they had to have to start a fight, they had no right to know. Rhiannon hoped Charlie's little show of dominance would scare them off but she knew better. How often had she seen this type of thing before, and more than likely someone had a weapon. There was no sense of pity or compassion from Rhiannon, only minor annoyance. Rhiannon wondered how her hand to hand combat skills where, it shouldn't be too hard and she wasn't as physically gifted in a fight as a Mars child, or Mercury child so she wouldn't have to hold back as much. Still being a demi-god meant she had greater strength.

As she was thinking Josh walked to her side and whispered in her ear. “Of course, not like they deserve to see it anyway.” she said with a small amount of shock and disgust at the though of using magic when it wasn't needed. “Come on, you know me better than anyone.” Still she gave him a nod and something akin to a smile when he winked. She preferred not to get involved, it would have just been over kill, but then someone taunted her. Rhiannon was already in a bad mood, she was lost, and here these worms where picking a fight with a group that was their superior in every way. She slowly walked up to the man and caught sight of what leg he was balanced on, not hard given his poor stance, and knocked it out from under him with a sharp kick. Her hand on his shoulder shoved him to his knees before he could react. “That is where you belong you low life. If you value your health I recommend you and your friends leave.”

Obviously Rhiannon's kind words fell on deaf ears, because she was unable to finish them before another man came to try and help his friend. He threw a right jab, or at least what Rhiannon could only think was such, and his poor posture and over use of energy to throw such a ridiculous hit made her laugh. “You can't be serious? I mean that wasn't meant to be a punch right? Is it even possible for people to be this bad? It makes my already low faith in humanity sink lower.” The man on his knee's grabbed her wrist and attempted to drag Rhiannon down to the ground, Rhiannon instead used his motion along with her to deliver a strong right hook to his jaw knocking him out cold. “One punch? Someone has a glass jaw.” The other man took the opportunity to swing something cold and metallic around Rhiannon's throat, and Rhiannon was angry. She didn't mind knives, daggers, brass knuckles or anything of the like, but she hated being choked out.

Rhiannon stood up with the force of the other man without struggling, and it looked as if there was nothing wrong. She reached behind her head and grabbed a couple of his fat little fingers and pulled them until the rest of his hand gave way, then continued until the satisfying crack could be heard and he let out a sweet cry of pain. Rhiannon let go and without delay or warning she elbowed the man in the face, making sure to put all her momentum and all her strength into the hit. He lay unconscious, and his face seemed abnormally shaped. A pleasant smile lay on Rhiannon's lips as she turned to look at what was left of the gang.

It was all an act, and she was in a decent amount of pain. Her breath was forcibly slowed to allow her to look normal instead of gasping for air like she wanted, and her throat throbbed painfully. A red line marked her neck just under the chin, a pinch here and there from the metal pinching together. It was not a pleasant experience, but she would be fine and she knew it.

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Charlie wasn’t too happy. But in retrospect, she figured something like this was going to happen. She knew that deep down in her bones something like this was gonna happen. The first time or three she decided to set food outside of camp, she knew that this was going to be a problem. Charlie shook her head as the guy she had kicked across the jaw groaned from being face down in the sand. She looked from side to side to see that Rhia and Josh both had quickly dispatched their opponents. “No contest.” Charlie remarked with a shake of her head. There was one last guy and Charlie, being the child of Mars, wanted him for herself. But much to her dismay, the guy at least had some brains in him enough to turn tail and run. The fast flying of the guy’s feet would have made Mercury proud for being a mortal. Charlie held her hand out to keep her two companions from outright killing the poor sot. “Rhia, I’m impressed with your fighting skill.” Charlie said with a grin. She gathered up her beach things and shook out her towel downwind from her friends. She didn’t want them to get sand in their eyes. “We should move on, find another spot to hang out. I see another pier down a bit of way.” Charlie commented as she placed her hand over her eyes and squinted in the morning sun. “Well that’s where I’m going; yall can hang out if you want. It would be nice to have some company though.” Charlie flashed both Josh and Rhia a grin.

Charlie turned on her heel and slowly trudged through the sand, strafing her way closer to the surf breaking on the beach. The water was really cold. Charlie wasn’t quite ready for the frigid waters. The smell of the salt air and the spray of the water on her face made her grin. It had been such a long time since she had been to the beach. Charlie had heard that the Pacific Ocean had always been much colder than the Atlantic Ocean. Charlie thought about the times that she and her mom and her grandparents spent in the warm waters in Wilmington. She loved spending the summer time there. But the times were very short lives. After her mom and her grandfather passed, she was immediately taken to Lupa at the wolfhouse and after that, well it was history. It had been since she joined the Legion at the age of eleven, which was one of the last times she had seen the outside world. Charlie would never voice it, but she was amazed at how things had changed in people in general in the past few years. Honestly she had never seen a toddler running around in a two piece bathing suit! It had always been a rite of passage for a girl to go pick out her first bikini, or at least that was what her mother always told her.

Charlie spread out her Iron Man beach towel before plopping her purple Camp Jupiter duffel bag on it. She let out a sigh of relief as she surveyed the beach area around her. The Pier she had settled with was massive, there was an amusement park atop it, and the roller coaster was still as well as the speakers she bet would be blaring loud music by the end of the little trip she was on. Charlie was ready to see this place in full blow motion. She wanted to see all of the people. It scared her and she was glad to have a little bit of backup. Albeit they weren’t exactly the backup she would have had as her first choice, well Josh maybe, but Rhia? Charlie would rather have been spending the time with August. But he had been busy the past few days. She grinned as she laid out on the blanket, soaking up the rays of the sun before making a small offering of thanks to Apollo and then another to Neptune for making the beach a most wonderful place. She thought about the Neptune boy that she had been in love with, it seemed like that was many years ago. Charlie knew that he would have loved this place. “This place is nice, morons nonwithstanding.” Charlie said simply.

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The guy who Josh had just knocked out was falling to the sand when Rhia was leaving of of action to the guy who had chosen to attack the short slim girl with dark curly hair. The guy should have thought that Rhia was an easy target, but there is where you can apply the say 'there is no small opponent', He looked at Rhia and smiled at her, he was in a way proud to be his friend, not just because she was ana amazing fighter, but because she was a girl who would never let others walk all over her, she would always keep her chin up and give her best fight at any kind of situation.

Then he looked at Charlie by the time she said it wasn't a competition. He smirked and then shrugged at her. "It's not my fault that these guys are as slow as a snail!" He pointed at the guy on the sand, the one that he had just knocked out. Then he looked at the guy again and he would get chocked with Sand, she he pushed slowly the body of the guy to his back, so his facegot free from sand. The sun would burn his face, but well... he couldn't do everything for that piece of insignificance. He shrugged and then looked back at Rhia and Charlie.

There was another guy there, but he wasn't going to attack him, he knew Charlie would love to do that. Although as expected, the guy was a coward and ran away. "Good speed for... well for someone like him" he wasn't going to pronounce the word mortal when he knew that they could be overheard. He looked back at Rhia, when Charlie complimented her fighting style. "you did great movements, I'm glad you've been practicing more than your tricks" he winked, also not wanting to say the word magic. Usually he didn't care being heard, but not with them there, he wouldn't put their lives in danger.

Then he looked at Charlie and smiled at her. "you also moved great! pity the other one ran away..." he said then his smile got a bit tight. "you know he's coming back, right? people like him are cowards, they always come back with a sum in numbers." he said not really worried about their fighting skills, but he wouldn't like to throw much attention over them. Then he looked at the point charlie aimed and then smiled again in his natural way. "sure, I'd love to spend some time with my auntie and my friend... if not who would protect you girls?" he winked at both of them, he was only joking, then he started walking.

When they got to the spot Charlie had wanted to be, Josh took his sunglasses from his hoodie's pocket and then took it off placing it on the sand, then looked at Rhia, who you could see wasn't prepared for an afternoon at the beach. "use it as towell if you want." he smiled at her in his innocent friendly way, nothing flirtuous in it. Then he simply sat on the sand and closed his eyes. He nodded at Charlie's statement. "I love to come to the beach... away from... well you know... home" then put his sunglasses on and opened his eyes to admire the view.

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Rhiannon laid eyes on a sole male left alone by his now unconscious friends, and luckily for him he suddenly grew a brain. Rhiannon sighed and shook her head, it could have all been avoided so easily. They simply had to not start anything, but here they were passed out on the beach. Rhiannon had nothing good at all to say about the weak stupid things that lay scattered at her comrades feet."I can't imagine how slow they seemed to you when even I could take a nap while they moved." she remarked to Josh, looking at him with the trace of a smirk across her delicate face."Thank you Charlie, coming from someone so skilled in hand-to-hand it means a lot. Josh, I'll send a flaming 'trick' down your throat if you keep making fun of me." she replied jokingly as she moved around and over the now annoying bumps on the ground to get to the rest of her group. If they had used a group tactic they may have been able to take down one person, but alas the subtle strategy of fighting eluded them.

Rhiannon had little choice in the matter of following Charlie, since she had little to know idea of where she was and how to get home. It was not too bad to be away from camp once in a while and she was already breaking rules, might as well wait until Josh and Charlie were done with their fun before going back to camp."I'll be tagging along if you don't mind, also if someone would tell me where we are that would be great. I know you want to know why and how Josh, I'll tell you later so you can 'rofl' as much as you want about it." she said wanting to laugh at her own mistake, thinking about the pronunciation and words she should have used she easily saw her error. Fixing it was still going to be a problem, and that nausea after the transportation was a problem. Another sigh escaped her, along with a shake of the head as she thought about what she could do to not mispronounce words all the time. She would love to be able to not have to speak for her spells, but she has had no luck in that matter either. It often lead to more sword practice to get frustration out.

Walking down the beach as Josh chattered on left Rhiannon with the forced attempt to enjoy the day. She had to accept the sand, and the salt, and eventually tuned out the prattling of mortals around them. Rhiannon slipped of the sandals she had bought and shoved them in her bag, they were doing little good anyway. Soft sand stretched the center of her foot as her heal dug into it before rolling over the pile to dig her toes in. The feeling was something she had not felt in a long time, and her foot popped in select places leaving her with a pleasant feeling."Perhaps this was not such a terrible mistake after all. I can't remember the last time I had a day that wasn't planned out, and here one is forced into my agenda." she replied as Charlie spoke about the area and it's citizens. She had to nod in agreement with the daughter of Mars.

Rhiannon watched Josh curiously as he lay his jacket on the ground, it surprised her a bit with his kindness, though she shouldn't have been. Rhiannon knew he was kind, and knew he picked on her and teased her, but she was never able to figure out which he was going to do."Thanks, I suppose I should have purchased a towel from the store also. Goes to show how often I come to the beach." the answer was never, Rhiannon did not do beaches. Most of the time."Yes, it is nice to get away once in a while, but Josh you have little field trips out of camp whenever you get board, or hungry." she said poking fun at her friend.

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Charlie started to dig through her bag as Rhiannon and Josh had followed her to the point where Charlie had made a second scope. This wasn't as nice as the other place, but considering those idiots probably would come back to that spot. They obviously didn't know what it was like to work together as a pack, 'not like we know how', Charlie thought with conviction. Charlie laughed at the thought of Josh being the protector. "I don't know how we ever were able to get along without a strong man like you around." Charlie said with a laugh and a roll of her eyes. This kid was really something else. Charlie returned her attention to her bag. "I brought a few extra towels, I just remember the last few times I went to the Lake in New Rome, my towels always were soaked by those stupid Naiads. I always bring extras." Charlie pulled out four towels from her bag, each of them displaying a character from the Avengers. Charlie settled down on her Iron Man towel. "Those idiots can come back in pack if they want, we can handle it." Charlie patted her bag tenderly. She flashed both Rhia and Josh a smile. "Don't let me keep you guys here if you already have plans. This was just my plan for a get a way for the day."


Charlie stretched out before spraying on some of her Apollo tanning and sunscreen lotion. It was made by the Apollo kids to have spf 1000 and still let you get such a great tan. "Actually I've been planning on coming here for a while. I've always wanted to come here, Santa Monica California. The birthplace of Skateboarding and the X-games." Charlie replied with a smile as she rubbed more stuff on her shoulders. "Josh can you get my back? Charlie asked as she waved the sunscreen at the son of Hermes. All that was needed right now was some god to come along to harass them and the day would be complete. Though Charlie didn't think that having either Apollo or Neptune around at this particular moment would be too bad. "We're still in California. But a bit closer to Los Angeles." At least Charlie thought so. But you couldn't put too much stock in her sense of direction unless it was on the battlefield. "Not too bad of a place first thing in the morning, that's for sure." Charlie commented as she looked around at the people that had started to fill the beach up.


"There's some snacks and drinks in my bag, but I've got a little bit of mortal money on me if we really get hungry." Charlie said, trying to make sure that she accommodated for the unexpected company that was now here with her. Not that Charlie minded, it was good to have company. Especially other Romans like herself to have her back in case things decided to get a bit rough once more. "It must be nice to get out regularly. I can't have my Cohort thinking that I've gone soft by giving them too many days off if you get my drift. First Cohort is supposed to be the hardasses." Charlie said with a laugh.

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Josh rolled his eyes when Rhia asked how slow those men were for him when she had found them really slow. After rolling his eyes he crossed his neck with a finger and then lifted his hand as if he was lifting an imaginary rope to hang up himself. Those men had been really slow for him, reason why he had knocked that mad so fast and easily. He wasn’t really trying to impress the girls or to show that he was the best in combat hand to hand or anything like that, he only acted in his normal speed and found those men slow as snails. He kept walking and laughed at Rhia’s comment about her tricking his throat down. Since he met Rhia 8 years ago, he had always teased her about her powers and how she fought, but only as if she was his sister. “okay, Oh mighty sorceress, I stop teasing you… at least for the day” he winked at her.

He looked at Charlie and smiled nodding at Rhia’s comment, she was right, Charlie was amazing fighting hand to hand, she wouldn’t have needed any kind of help to knock out the 4 men, still he was glad he had been there to help her. then half bowed at her when she made that sarcastic comment about how she wondered how they got along without having him around. “well you know it is the job of a gentleman…” then he smiled a bit more. He knew roman women didn’t need a shinning armored knight in their lives to be safe and keep themselves alive, still he considered men should be the ones beaten up, not the women. “I know we can handle a joke-pack like that, but we don’t need to drag that kind of attention on ourselves…” he said and then shrugged.

Josh looked at Rhia and nodded at her, if she was so embarrassed about the reason why she ended up popping up in that place. He knew that maybe she had been experimenting with her magic powers and maybe it ended up being an accident. He sighed and then smiled when Rhia thanked him for his hoodie on the sand. Charlie got some spare towels from her bag and gave them to them. “hey! Thank you!” he smiled and grabbed the Capitan America’s one. It had been his favorite character from that story. When he was a kid, he found a lot of similarities, he had also been beaten up while a kid and then for some miracle he got stronger to keep safe to the ones he loved. He put the towel on the sand and then before he sat on it, Charlie asked to him if he could put some suntan lotion on her back.

“Sure…” he said in a normal way, almost the same way he talked to Rhia. When josh found out that Charlie was Mars’ daughter he found it kind of weird to flirt to her. She was after all kind of his aunt. He walked to where she was and knelt by her side. He poured some lotion on his hand and then left the bottle on the towel then he rubbed his hand and then put them on Charlie’s back. He looked up at Rhia and smiled. “I always come to the beach, I find kind of boring to go to the one by the lake…” he continued putting the lotion on charlie’s back. “and Charlie is right, we are up north Los Angeles, but we would be there in an hour at a normal pace, or in like seconds if I blend all of us into there.” Being son of Mercury, he knew exactly where he was on Earth. If Mercury didn’t know that he couldn’t blend in and out so easily to get all the messages to his clients in the exact time and moment.

When Charlie told them about the snacks he nodded and smiled. “I also got some money, so don’t worry about it.” If they didn’t have enough money, then he would steal the meals, but he wouldn’t let his friends to be hungry! He finished with the coat of lotion on Charlie's back. "here... you're served Lady." he winked at her and got up.

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"Oh a whole day! I'm not sure you can make it. Rhiannon said rolling her eyes, she wondered if he had ever gone more than a few hours without picking on her. She couldn't think of a time. Charlie replied to the faux chivalry from Josh, and Rhiannon just shook her head. They all knew one of them alone could take out any band of thugs around here, but he was still a guy and would probably do his best to protect them whether it was necessary or not. It was not a trait of all guys, but Josh did try to protect people a bit too much.

"Don't worry, this is far from anything I had planned, Josh on the other hand probably has no plan other than playing hooky at the beach. Rhiannon said with a smirk, which soon faded into a rather normal looking smile. Something Rhiannon didn't do very often was smile normally. There were a few people who have probably seen it but normally only around friends like Josh. She was having fun despite herself.

Rhiannon was about to thank Charlie and take the towel of her second favorite avenger, Captain America, but Josh was faster. She sighed and went with the female, Black Widow. Ironman was her favorite, despite his playboy air he was nice. Chaotic good was probably the best way to put it, while Captain America was strong and didn't let protecting people get himself hurt. It was a trait of more of the Avengers, or super hero's in general. A nice though, but not how things really worked. The people who were strong and kind that protected people often got hurt, and sometimes died. That's why everyone on her side needed to be strong, so no one would need protecting and no one would be hurt from anothers folly. "Thank you, too bad you didn't have two Ironmen. she said with a smile laying it on the ground.

Rhiannon picked up the jacket and shook the sand out, so that it wouldn't get all over her comrades or their things. At least until the wind blew it into her face. Rhiannon shook her head and rubbed her eyes, then slowly blinked away the sand while listening to Charlie. "Oh the X-games? I didn't know thew started here, though it should have been obvious. That's an interesting bit of information. Rhiannon rummaged around in her bag, she had not planned to stay in the sun all day. Even while she was buying things she had only expected to be in it temporally. "Is that stuff from camp? Could I get some? I've got this crappy spf....30? Really? Tch, mortals. No wonder they get skin cancer so easily. Rhiannon took took off the large baggy shirt to reveal her two piece swimsuit. It was a blue, green, and pink striped swimsuit tied off around her neck along with the part that wrapped around her back and with fake ties at her hips of the second piece. It covered the most of her skin out of all the suits at the store. It was easy to see the white of her skin that almost never saw day light. She sat on her blanket and put on sun screen, concentrating hard so that the fact her stomach and weak spot of her spine was showing didn't make her freak out.

"Oh don't worry about that, I still have a good amount of money in my checking account. It's just been gaining interest for 8 years. Then I still have more in my savings, so really if you guys need anything let me know. I'm the one intruding anyway. Rhiannon said drawing in the sand, she was doing math about how much money she should have in each of her accounts by now. She might have to move money to another bank account depending on how accurate her numbers where. She wasn't too big into money, but in case of the banks fall she didn't want there to be money over the guarantied safety net banks set. Of course giving money to someone would settle her problems pretty quickly too.

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Charlie grinned as she felt the slippery sun screen on her back. "Thanks Josh, it's hard to reach the middle of your back sometimes." Charlie thanked Josh. He was her nephew? maybe. Charlie easily forgot all of the stuff that, but she considered Josh a good friend regardless of his family status. Everyone in New Rome and Camp Jupiter were family anyways. "Thanks for your compliment Rhia. I try hard to practice so I can take care of everyone and myself." Charlie said with a nod of her head. She tried her best to keep things in perspective. She was here to hang out and have some fun. She let out a sigh of relief as she laid back on the sand, passing the bottle of Apollo brand sunscreen to Rhia. "Yeah. I sent my grandmother a bottle of this stuff last year. She said it was one of the best presents she ever got." The SPF 100 Apollo sunscreen was one of the better things the Apollo kids had come up with. One of the best things about it, no expiration date. Charlie watched a blond headed boy and a black haired girl walk by holding hands. Charlie had a passing thought and blinked. She shook her head and cleared her mind and concentrated on the blue green water in front of her, the waves lapping up at this particular part of the beach.


Lucky for them, this particular part of the beach seemed to be a bit deserted. There were a few families here with some small children, they were playing in the tidal pools, but other then that, it was nice and peaceful. Charlie watched a couple with a small little boy building a sand castle. "Rhia, you look good. You should get out more often, It might be better for the two of us. This is the first time I've been out in a good long time." Charlie nodded as she stretched out, her bones popping and creaking. That reminded her that it was nearly time for her yearly physical. Not something she looked forward to, but she would go without a complaint. She didn't particularly care for being poked and prodded by some flirty Apollo idiot, but it could be worse, she could be Edmund with that phobia of the Infirmary. Charlie smiled to herself as she watched a little girl run up to the edge of the water and jump and splash, screeching at how cold the water was to her mommy. Charlie felt a tear in her eyes, she quickly wiped it away. She remembered doing stuff like this with her mom. She never shared her memories with anyone and she didn't plan on starting now. Well she probably talked to Remus about it once or twice, but she kept most of her feelings to herself.


"This place is great." Charlie said before standing up and heading out into the water. At first the water was pretty cold. The first initial shock of the cold water made Charlie sharply inhale, trying to quell the shakes of chill that she got. But after a moment or so, Charlie waded out waist deep in the water. After the initial shock, the water was actually quite warm for being so early in the year. "Come on in guys! The water is amazing!" Charlie shouted, waving to her friends on the sand. She had an idea, she walked back to her bag and rummaged in it for a moment before producing something and walking out waist deep in the water. She gently set down a little tug boat she had brought for an offering for Lord Neptune. She had something for Lord Apollo, but she wasn't sure how to get it to him for making this day nice. Charlie placed the boat in the water before giving it a small push. "Thank you, Lord Neptune for making this water nice." Charlie's pray was pretty simple. She had never been one for complicating things like prayers. You always should say what you mean, at least that's what her mom taught her.

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Josh laughed at Rhia's comment, she was right, he had never been able to stop bugging her, at least not for a longer period of time than two or three hours. But he was going to make his best effort to not bug her that day, she deserved to have a peaceful and quiet day at least once in a while. He looked at Charlie and then he looked back at the sea. Charlie needed some peaceful time too, she was centurion of the first cohort, and she was an amazing centurion, but that meant she needed to be tough and rigid at some points, that should drain her off energy almost everyday!

Rhia knew him very well, he would go to the beach to flirt, to check what was new in the world and then after a good tan he would go back to the Camp. "My pleasure..." he replied to thanking words from Charlie then he sat on the Capitain America's towel. "I also came for the view and the sun you know?" he said teassing Rhia, then he saw her in that bathingsuit. He tilted his head and smiled then looked back at the sea waves. "nice colors Rhia" he said and without looking at her... "you look beautiful" he didn't want her to think that he was being a flirter jerk to her, he was being honest to her.

He looked down at his arms and legs, he had a fade tan on his skin, maybe from the past times he had gone to other beaches, who knew. He knew he should put on some lotion, but... well he was a thief and people usually considered that he was a leech, using others to get what he needed. and it was right most of the times, but he didn't like to be one with his friends and Charlie and Rhia were his friends, so he was kind of shy of asking for some suntan lotion. "Damn! I forgot the lotion on my bed!" He sighed and looked back at the horizon. He tried not to listen when Rhia said she had more than enough money, he knew she was rich, but he had never asked money to her and even less steal from her. "thanks..." he said in a low voice.

Then charlie got up and walked to the water, he looked at her and frowned, he knew the water would be kind of cold, it was the time of the year, but he didn't say a word, they should get the whole package of experience, even with purple toes. He looked at Rhia and tilted to the water. "come on, I'll go with you" he smiled as an older brother to her and got up from the towell. Then he saw the small offering Charlie did to Apollo and Neptune. Josh walked to the water and took a sand dollar. He had found it in a museum like a year ago, so he just took it, mortals didn't know what was it at all.

"Lord Neptune, accept this offering for allowing us to have such an amazing day in your kingdom." he said and threw the dollar to the water. Then he looked up and smiled. "I'll make my offering to you back at camp... Lord of the Sun" then walked into the water and smiled. "wow... this is... refreshing!"

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After putting on her own lotion Rhiannon reclined on her hands, she looked at the two companions. It might actually be a good day today, she had expected it to be all down hill from her failed teleportation but it seemed to perk right up. After the hooligans anyway. No they were a nice outlet, that was a little needed. As she looked at him Josh said something about her bikini, and her face flushed. She was never very good at taking compliments, but he seemed honest enough, instead of his normal flirty nature he took with other girls. “Thanks...you...you should put on some lotion or something. You didn't forget did you?” With her face still red Rhiannon pulled the mortal spf out of her bag again, handing it to Josh.

Rhiannon looked out over the deep blue ocean to where it met the sky, that magical line called the horizon. Tiny boats skidded across it, while people skied over the waves that rolled all the way to shore. She watched with a rather serious, but lost in thought expression as children played, and people had fun with their families. There were some obvious adopted children in the mix here and there, but they seemed to stand out the most to Rhiannon. She wondered what her life would have been like if not for the legion, and if she would have ever been adopted. A small cynical smirk came across her face, perhaps if she had ever gone back to that orphanage. Though she put more money on death from those people than being any kind of profit, that would have served them right.

Charlies voice broke her thoughts, she had been hearing but not listening but this had to do with something Rhiannon found just a bit crazy. “It's not even spring yet is it? Why are you..., Josh you too?” Rhiannon said with a smile, and a scrunch in her eyebrows. She shook her head as she stood up, shoving the end of her towel into the sand to keep it from flying off. The moment water came to flood itself over her feet Rhiannon jumped backwards a foot or two. “You said the water was great! This is cold!” she exclaimed more high pitched then normal. While clearing her throat she watched as Charlie pulled something from her bag. Rhiannon watched with her feet in the warm sand as the other two did their prayers and said their thanks. Rhiannon smiled, it was nice to be out at the beach, and just thankful it was a nice day. She would have to remember to give her own thanks when they got back to camp, she had nothing on her for offerings.

Crossing her arms across her chest Rhiannon stuck one foot in the cold water, and attempted to get used to it before a wave came to over take both feet up to her ankles again. She had to stifle her voice as a chill went up her spine. She forced herself all the way into the water with everyone else, shivering all the way. “I hate both of you at this moment.” she stated, arms still crossed across her chest.