where's waldo? (open)

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Okay she needed some place nice and shady to sit, to rest. Her arms ached and she had never trained this hard before in her life. Soleil had been working to learn how to use a rapier, but her favorite weapon was still the bow. To be honest, she sucked, but it was much easier to do than running around dressed in armor, swinging swords and shields around like she was some kind of uncultured barbarian. She didn't like sweating and the inside of her arm was red and welted up from where the bow string slapped against the inside before she found a proper arm guard. She was still wearing the leather arm guard as she hopped around, skipping even, trying to find a nice and quiet place to sit and read her book. Well maybe reading was a strange way to put it. She had a “Where's Waldo? Halloween Edition” book under her arm. She liked looking at the pictures and loved trying to find as many things as she could. Her books were her prized possession. She never had them much when she was bouncing around from foster home to foster home, but now she had possessions and she took care of them rather meticulously. Let her find out that someone laid a finger on her books and she's do her damndest to take it off with extreme prejudice.

So she sat by the lake, watching people do things. It was under the shade of a large tree with broad leaves. She was by herself, but it was odd to watch the other people that were around. Soleil knew that she was different. She was unwanted and disregarded like a piece of trash that wasn't worthy of her godly parent's time of day. She didn't even know if it was her father that was a divine. She didn't know either parent, but she had a feeling it was her father. A gut instinct or whatever you wanted to call it, she knew that's what the feeling was. She had been in the legion over a year now, not a single sign of being claimed. Part of her wanted to know who was causing her such pain, the other part didn't want to know or ever find out. She made a face as she pulled her book from under her arm and stared at the busy looking picture on the pages. She had a hard time concentrating, looking at the pictures just made her head swim. She wanted so much to be around people, but now that she was here, she detested some of them and wished they could meet the demons that had terrorized her for so long. They though she was a liar, that she made up stories just so she could get attention. It wasn't true. She just couldn't make them believe it, no matter how hard she tried.

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Family was not just something you were born into, though it was often a very important part of it, there were other types of families. Blood was always thicker than water, at least that was something Trivia has always lived by, and something she though others should live by. Many times before she had come across other children who's parents left them unclaimed, and feeling unwanted, she never wanted that for her own children. She could be a flighty goddess at times, and she knew that, however she would never leave her children thinking they weren't wanted. That was what she had believed anyway. She had claimed them in front of the entire camp the moment they got into the legion, making sure it was something somewhat grand. Trivia never did anything on the low. Except perhaps certain experiments here and there, perhaps the occasional human who's energy was needed and turned into a nymph. Nothing that important. Nothing like your prized possession, your children, getting through that hellish training at Lupa's. That certainly deserved celebration, and she certainly did such. Perhaps that kind of logic that caused her such grief in the last war. Only two years ago she had lost so many children. That and the fact most of her children were not the war types, the in your face kind of warfare. With a few exceptions, the most notable was Rhiannon. A little trouble maker that had been giving her a good amount of grief lately.

That little sprite had the nerve to call her Trivia instead of mother, or mom, or anything endearing, yet the human woman whom she only knew a few years she called fondly. It was enough to make Trivia wish to find the woman in the underworld and tear her apart, if she had anyway to call upon her spirit. There was also the fact her strange little girl, and the man whom was her father, loved the woman. Not that she was completely against spilling souls over her slight family obsession, but she'd rather not get on Rhiannon's bad side when she was only just starting to get on her good side. She would prove to her that she was the only mother, the best mother, and if she were so inclined to see, Trivia was in fact the best goddess. Then her sweet strange little girl would give her adorable little presents all the time. She loved presents. Mortals, and demigods gave her strange things sometimes, but it was the thought that counted.

For that same little girl, who for some strange reason liked Mercury more than her, she began to stay around Camp Jupiter a little more often. She tended to avoid that brute Mars, at least while she was plotting with her dear friend Saturn, but the rest of Camp was fairly boring. How few people actually opened a book to read, and expand their tiny little worlds. They knew of this camp and perhaps of the gods, but nothing else. They had such freedom with that blow hard Jupiter in control, yet did nothing with it. There were like sheep, and it made her sad. Then she saw the pitiable little thing that sat away from everyone else. Soliel Duvin, how could she forget a girl like that? Someone who's foster parents never bothered to teach her how to read. She'd not kill them, though she was the Queen of Ghosts she'd not have them enter her realm just yet. An example had to be made after all. To anyone and everyone who dare take a child into their family for selfish reasons.

“Mon petit soleil, how are you dear?” she asked in a kind voice, kneeling down by the girl. She hovered so very slightly off the ground so as to not get dirt or other things on her dress. It was not that she minded it terribly, but if one could use magic to avoid it then why not? That was something else Trivia could not understand about Rhiannon, how many spells could she have come up with to do things like sharpen and polish that sword, or shield, and did not? She could conjure a sword made of pure energy if she wished, yet she did not. Such a strange child.

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There was a lot of things that Soleil would never know. She would never know what it felt like to be loved and cared for, nor what it was like to have a mother's touch. She wouldn't know what it felt like to be picked up and dusted off by a father. She never would know family, she would never know love. Eventually she might know the joys of reading and learning, but no one had taken the time to teach her much of anything in her year of being in the legion. She had been here in New Rome, making offerings to the gods in hopes that one of them would claim her, would prove that they wanted her. But since there was nothing, absolutely nothing, Soleil was starting to get discouraged. She was jealous of all of the legionnaires and centurions that had problems with their parents. Like that curly blond headed girl who was in charge of first cohort, she was lucky that her father cared about her enough to make her life a nightmare when she did something to displease the god of war. While Soleil wanted to know who her divine parent was, she secretly wished that it wasn't Mars. She couldn't handle any more humiliation. Between her illiteracy and her lack of physical skills, Mars would have been too embarrassed to claim her, or at least Soleil hoped.

But as she wishfully watched the other families playing and having a good time, she jumped, taken aback by a voice that startled her. The voice was familiar, kind and comforting. It wasn't at all like the chastising voices that she had come to expect from the legion and those that commanded it. But even the warm and comforting voices were something to be feared. She had learned that in a few of the homes that she had been in, comfort could be coupled with pain. So at the sound of the voice, Soleil shied away from the speaker, drawing her legs up close and tried to bury herself into the depths of the bark of the tree trunk under which she sat. “I-I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean for eet to 'appen....” Her heart started to pound as she waited for some sort of punishment to befall upon the girl. It was a strange reflex to have, but it was one that kept her from bodily harm most of the time. She shivered, again awaiting for some sort of pain to be inflicted upon her.

Once Soleil dared to look up, she was looking into the face of Madame Trivia. The woman had never given her any reason to hesitate or feel as if she was in some sort of harm, but a kind face once told her that she would never have to worry before. That ended up horribly with painful burns and scars along her side that she still kept to this day. “Madame Trivia?” Soleil asked in a tentative voice. She was looking at her, Soleil felt her guard relax but her heart was still pounding as she tried to calm it down. “I apologize, I... I still am not used to people 'ere.” She said in the throaty french accent. Soleil had heard what people said about the gods. The last thing she wanted to do was make more enemies of people here. The gods could be vindictive, or at least the stories of them told to her, well not to her per say, more like when she was lurking around the classes or listening in on the stories that the older soldiers told the smaller ones to keep them in line, she didn't want to make an enemy of a goddess. More in particular, she didnt want to make an enemy of such a powerful one like Madame Trivia.

“Sorry, but I am trying to read, but my book don't 'ave many words. Only pictures.” Soleil said, attempting to explain what she was doing off on her own, or at least she hoped that she was doing better at explaining this than it sounded like she was. “I don't get much time to read. I seem to stay een trouble from not being a good soldier.” Soleil closed her book as she looked up at the goddess of magic. There were thousands of questions that she wanted to ask. Most people told her to go away and not to bother people with her stupid questions that were apparent common knowledge. Soleil didn't think she would actually learn anything she wanted to, no one would help her. But she would do everything she could to try to learn basic things.

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She was being kind, and gentle as she normally was. However this girl recoiled from her voice choosing to ingrain herself into the tree instead. That was a bit troublesome. Perhaps a bit insultive, but she would let it pass for this little one. Soleil was a sweet adorable little child, with a rather difficult upbringing. Many of the demigods here had a terrible mishap occur in their little lives at some point or other, almost as if you weren't to enter this little band of misfits unless you had suffered some sort of tragedy. That was the life of a demigod after all, tasty little treats for the wandering monster. She had a few children herself that many considered 'monsters', but they were her beautiful little daughters no matter what people said of them. They had sparked a few different stories here and there with their little fingers in a few other mythical creatures, so there was little fear of them disappearing as some others had. To fade out of existence. It was a sad thing, to become so unknown you loose the will to live anymore. Terrible tragedy it was, especially when it left family members alone.

Looking softly upon the child, her hand reached out to brush against her hair. A light touch she hoped would not cause the girl to flinch, though she did expect it from how she was being treated currently. ”You've done nothing wrong Soleil.” she spoke quietly, letting the care she had for this little creation flow into her words. Words were magical, everything you put into them, how you said things, all of it caused things to happen. Trivia could simply use it in a way that even Apollo and Mercury could not. The round little face turned up towards her, the eyes full of fear and expectation. The terrible expectation of punishment, physical as most people think that is the best kind. Trivia much preferred the harsh words, and isolation as punishment. No doubt this child had been subjected to those as well, not learning to read. It was obvious she was punished for living. ”Yes sweetness, it's me. I trust one day you'll not shy away from a person's voice so quickly.” With a calm smile she patted her lap ”Come, sit with me and tell me about your book”

Looking the book over, it was one of those strange books where you were to find that striped shirt fellow. Waldo. She supposed that could be interesting, searching in such a large picture for small specific things. She was always more of a big picture type of person, but details were important also. Not always important to her spells, so not entirely important to her, but someone less magical perhaps. ”That's no good, have you tried talking to your centurion? Perhaps he or she can aid you in learning how to read instead of inhibiting. If not I am sure a word from me...oh bullocks I'm not supposed to interfere... sorry, talking to myself a moment. Surely they have understanding individuals in command here?” She tried to hold out hope for the camp, even if it seemed to ooze the same sent as that big headed epiphany of masculinity gone haywire that was Mars.