Three Square Meals // AJ

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Nora's afro was out today. She had just finished training and saw no use in keeping her hair ponytailed when it was obviously meant to be out and bouncing all over the place. Of course, she had gotten used to bounding it when it came to training, but besides that, it liked its freedom. The eleven year old shook her curls from side to side, looking at all the food on the table. What to eat today? She could start with an apple; the adults said they were good for you, right? Apples. Apples were good and yummy. Especially if they were grown off an apple tree that was home grown! She remembered her parents had tried to grow fruit trees. They had almost made it.... but then ultimately died. The flowers around the house and their landscaping did rather well though. Mostly because Nora made a conserted to keep them alive by studying and healing them. Neither she nor her parents really knew where the hyper interest in botany came from, but now it all made sense. Sorta.

Her eleventh birthday had just passed. One year down, nine more to go. She had gotten her first line burn: a symbol of how many years she had spent in service. All around her, older campers sported seven or eight. In a way, she envied them. They'd get to go home sooner. Then again, they'd lived through some horrors that her her grandmother had said she'd missed. So, she supposed she should be grateful for that. No, Nora had entered in a nice, quiet time of peace. Then again, a lot of the campers seemed to think that it wouldn't last. She did. She could be optomistic! She needed to... especially living at the Legion. She still missed her parents: she wrote them every week. Although it had gotten easier, she still couldn't exactly say she was at ease. The training was still hard, the people were still intimidating. Hopefully that would change as the years went on. Hopefully the Legion could give her some of a backbone. Not all the older people were grouchy. Some of them were really nice! But still, she coudln't help but feel like an inexperienced dwarf next to them.

It had been getting hot out. Were apples in season during summer? She forgot... she had to look that back up when she had the chance. Perhaps she could go to the library later! With that in mind (and some more myths too!) the eleven year old gently swung her legs on the bench and started munching on her apple.

OOC: Hope this is okay ^-^
IC: 434

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Training, that's how Adam Jackson spent most of his day with his cohort. During training he would be forced to wear the legionair armor instead of his favorite jacket and sunglasses that he often wore. During the training instead of using his reflective sunglasses to hide his scarred up eye he had to wear an eye patch. Now that training was over, Adam was back in his purple camp t-shirt,cargo shorts, light blue hooded cloth trench coat and reflective aviators.

Once he got changed he grabbed his staff and then headed down to the mess hall. Once he arrived he looked around the room at all of the campers who were busy eating. It seemed that most of the comfy seats were taken already. As Adam thought he would have to eat standing up he noticed a small African american girl with huge hair sitting by an open seat. The young Legacy slowly walked over with a small smile and knelt down in front of the small girl who couldn't have been older then 10 or 11.

"Hey, Is it okay if I sit here? All of the other places are full up already and I really don't want to have to eat sitting up."

As Adam waited for an answer one of the many wind spirits floated up to him looking rather bashful and nervous about speaking with him. It took her a moment but she finally stuttered out her question of what would the young Legacy like to eat. Adam just smiled at her softly.

"I would like a pepper jack grilled cheese,some french fries and a coke please and thank you very much."

The young wind spirit then floated away quickly leaving Adam and the young girl alone. Adam then just smiled at the young girl and sat his staff up against the wall next to the empty seat next to her before kneeling down to eye level once more out of respect.

"Hi there. My name's Adam but people call me A.J. I don't think i've seen you around before. Are you new to the legion? Are you a full demi-god or a Legacy? I'm a grandson of Jupiter myself."

Adam then smiled and held out his left palm. He then had the air around him form into a mini palm sized tornado as a small trick. He then had the tornado gently spin around the girls large hair before having it vanish.


@norareyes

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Nora hadn't gotten many close friends during her time at the Legion. She could consider Remus a sort of friend, but he was still leader of camp. She knew of her relatives: Kit, Tessa, Jack, and Amelia. But in the actual friend department, she had surprisingly few. Probably because she was overly shy. Over the past year, the Legion had taught her how to buck up a bit, especially during fighting and training, but beyond that, she was still more on the timid side when it came to actual people. She wanted them to like her... perhaps she was trying too hard. Perhaps she hadn't found the right people yet. Maybe she was just too scared and ended up keeping everyone in the acquaintance zone or something like that. Besides, she'd be leaving in nine years. But still, that was a long time to swear off friends. If she made good friends, they could still keep in contact even if she (or they) left the Legion, right? That was still allowed. Could she come back to visit if she wanted? She was still a legacy, so she had a place here... sorta. Even if she didn't grow up here like a lot of the legacies did.

She looked up at the sound of another person's voice. Her mind gave a slight jump, but she forced her body to remain still. At least she had taught herself how to not physically flinch at anything that frightened her. That didn't go well for soldiers who had to be brave and seemingly not fazed by anything. She still had to get used to it: shouting, explosions, the clash of swords... She had been here a little over a year, but she wasn't quite adjusted yet. It was just so radically different than anything she was used to. And change took time, right? She was trying to be open minded with it. She was trying to go with it. If she was here for ten years, she wanted to at least enjoy some of it. Get a sense of adventure and accomplishment. "Oh, sure..." Nora said with a nod. Older male with aviation glasses... at least he wasn't towering over her like everyone else did. Well, he was crouched down, but still. She looked over curiously at his staff. "Hi AJ," Nora said, her mouth twitching into a nervous smile. "I'm Nora. I've only been here for a year," she said quietly. She looked at him, her eyes widening slightly. A grandson of Jupiter! One of the big three! "Legacy." She had given this spiel a few dozen times. It had been odd at first, but she had gotten used to it. "Of Venus and Ceres. Ceres claimed."

IC: 452
Tag: @adamjackson

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Adam gently sat down as the young girl said he could and named herself as Nora the Legacy of both the love goddess and the nature goddess. That wasn't a combination that a person found very often but it did make for interesting powers and quite a few interesting stories. The young little big three decided to slump down in the rather comfy chair as Nora explained that she had only been there a year thus far. This made Adam chuckle a bit.

"I remember being that new to all this. I remember this one time during my second week here. I was taking a tour of the place just so I knew where everything was and i decided to go check out the forge. I went in while a bunch of the Vulcan kids were working and the smoke made me sneeze so hard and create such a big air wave that I almost burned the place down. The place also fogs up the glasses so I decided from that day to stay out of there."

Adam then held out his arm to the young girl to show her his seven marks that meant that he had been there for seven out of the ten required years. Before he could say anymore however the wind spirit floated back up to the two of them holding Adam's super cheesy grilled cheese, french fries and soda on a plate. Adam took the plate and then waved at the young spirit.

"Thank you very much miss."

Instead of saying you're welcome the spirit just quickly floated away in a tizzy. The aurae always treated Adam rather oddly ever since he arrived at camp. He didn't know if it was because of who his grand father was or if it was because his right eye freaked them out. The young Legacy just shrugged it off and broke his sandwich in half. He then turned to Nora with a smile and offered half of the rather spicy sandwich to her.

"If you want you can have half but be careful though because Pepper jack cheese is spicy."

Adam then bit into his other half of sandwich and visably smiled in pleasure at the flavor of the spicy cheese filled his pallet. Once he took a few bites he looked at Nora who he had noticed had looked at his cane.

"You can touch the staff ya know. Just be careful because it's kinda heavy and the metal hook part is kinda sharp."

Adam then took a sip of his soda which made him so happy that he accidentally started a light breeze to begin flowing around them. Once he realized what he was doing he made the breeze stop as he blushed.

"So Nora, what are your favorite things to do here at Camp? What do you do for fun?"


@norareyes

staff

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Nora enjoyed her few powers that she inherited by both sides of her godly grandparents. Although much weaker than a demigod, she thought she had a pretty cool combination. She enjoyed her manipulation of plants immensely. It felt good to help things grow. Hopefully, as she got older, her powers would grow with her and she could take on bigger plants. Either that or she could help it along now. She wasn't exactly sure how it worked. Maybe if she fought through the tiredness she could slowly build herself up to larger plants, even at a young age. Personality wise... she wasn't sure if the being a granddaughter of both Venus and Ceres had much of an effect on her beyond being constantly indecisive between "I want to look nice!" and "I want to get dirty!". She wasn't sure if it was Venus or just her over caution at times, but she actually didn't look too horrible, even when dirty.

The eleven-year-old gave a slight smile. A sneeze almost burning down the forge? How ironic. "I went into the armory and forge when I came here too. All their swords seem so heavy... And it was really hot in there. How do they stay there?" She sighed, titling her head. "Does being a grandson of Jupiter give you a lot of wind power?" she asked, curiously. Ashby and Seneca seemed to have a lot, but they were full demigods. Sometimes she still wasn't quite sure on how legacies worked. Their powers weren't nearly as strong, but she noticed it seemed to go by a case to case basis. Some legacies were stronger than others. Either through practice or genetics, she couldn't be quite sure.

She tilted her head curiously, quickly counting seven out of ten bars. So that would make him seventeen, right? Maybe... some people came into the Legion early. Three more years for him. She wondered what he'd do after this was over. Did he want to stay or go back home? Did he have a home outside? She wasn't sure if she was supposed to ask since a lot of people seemed to not have happy mortal lives. They also weren't the "sit down and lemme tell you the story of my life" types. She supposed she could understand. "No, it's okay. Thanks, but you need to eat!" she said, echoing the words her mother would tell her. At his permission, she looked over at the staff again, swung off her chair and squinted a little to try to analyze the craftsmanship like she had seen the people in the forge do. Nothing. It was a nice staff. That was all she could come up with. The forgers would probably have a more in-depth analysis. She didn't want to touch it. Less it fall and she couldn't pick it up. Which could happen. "Where'd you get it?" she asked curiously. "Did a forger make it for you?"

A breeze passed through the Mess Hall and Nora looked up just in time to see color rising in Adam's cheeks. Right Jupiter. Wind. If his sneeze could do something, she was pretty sure he could just control other wind at conscious will. At his question, she brightened a little. "I like exploring New Rome and seeing all the shops! I look after some of the flowers on the road. Maybe there's a flower shop I could help at one day. Or a makeup shop. I like doing makeup, even though my mom says I shouldn't be doing it until I'm thirteen." She promptly shut her mouth. Was she talking too much? Was she being too happy for this place? Be polite. Ask questions back! her mother's voice echoed in her head. Oh, right. "What do you like to do?"

TAG: @adamjackson
IC: 629

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Adam couldn't help but smile as Nora said that he should eat all of his own food. As the young Legacy listened to the girl speak out about things she enjoyed doing. It must have been difficult being related to two goddesses who were so drastically different. One was all about remaining beautiful and clean while the other was all about being in the dirt. Adam had to admit that the young girl balanced them rather well.

"If I may say so, you do both of them proud even at such a young age."

When the young girl asked about his staff, Adam sat his food aside and quickly reached next to him and grabbed said staff and held it out in a vertical fashion so that Nora could inspect it closer if she wanted. He then sat it back against the wall with a small smile and shook his head when she asked if the forge had made it for him.

"No the forge didn't make it. My demi-god father had it made for me to celebrate my 10th birthday and the fact that I was about to join the legion. My father thought that as a Legacy of Jupiter that I should have something that looked like royalty would use it. He is..was a firm believer in the ideal that all demi-gods should a unique weapon specific to them. My father's main power was control over lightning so he used two twin imperial gold swords. He would have lightning strike them so his foes would be electrified and stunned with each slash.

I use my staff as a mid range weapon, using the metal hook to not only slash at my foes but also trip them up. I also use it as a long range weapon by using it to send blades of air at my foes or by spinning it to create mini tornadoes. I can also make it levitate like a hover board which I stand on to surf through the air. I don't have as much power as a full half blood but since I am one of the big three's grandchildren I am still pretty powerful. I can create a full on tornado if I try hard enough but it makes me tired."

Adam felt a little bad that he wasn't telling Nora the whole truth about his father and what really happened during his 10th birthday but Nora was still so young and rather innocent. He didn't wanna take that from her. As she told him about what she liked to do in New Rome and what she wanted to do with her life he couldn't help but smile as she asked him what he liked.

"I'm an artist by trade like my mother. In our home in Florida our attic and top floor are an art studio. I was thinking that when I leave the Legion I will start my very own art shop in New Rome."

@norareyes 

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Nora's extracurriculars seemed to line up just fine at the Legion. When not geared up in armor and fighting, most of the people here seemed to enjoy a bit of leisure. Perhaps she could also take up some explicitly Legion past times too. The forge always seemed kinda cool. She liked making things; it almost seemed as if it was an extreme form of arts and crafts. One that could potentially get you very burned or very cut. But she was careful! They all had to be since they were all training. But the heat... how did the forgers not over heat in there? Maybe they just drank a lot of water. Her mother had always said that hydrating was key. Maybe she could help cook. She liked cooking. Her mom and dad would have her help all the time. Nora couldn't help but smile shyly as Adam complimented her. "Thanks." Ever since her talk with Remus, she had decided to stop giving herself unrealistic expectations on what she could and could not do. Strength and technique would come with time. She was only here a year. She could improve a lot by the time she finished.

As he retrieved his staff, Nora scooted closer to it. Her eyes wandered up and down the long, imperial gold body of it. It looked so cool... Maybe one day she could have a weapon that helped her channel her own powers! She nodded and then grinned as he recounted the tale of how he got the staff and then the perks of being a legacy of Jupiter. Maybe, like her, his powers were weaker, but still... he could fly! Just like Peter Pan! Wow, his father was a child of Jupiter. So much power. She wondered if the children of the Big Three felt much more pressure than the rest of them. She knew she sometimes felt inadequate because of parentage. She had heard the stereotypical comments of "Venus is only good for make-up and superficiality" and "Ceres is a homebody tree hugger". But she could still do useful things! So could all the kids of the minor gods. The range of their powers was so cool! Like living in a TV show! "Does everyone eventually get a special weapon to help their powers or do you have to ask?"

She smiled as he told her of his mother. "My mom would draw and paint in a studio too!" she said, grinning. Nora enjoyed it, but she didn't exactly have her mother's talent. "What does she do? Portraits or objects or landscape?" She nodded with a small tilt of the head. "But you'll go visit your mom, right?" Yet another person who was going to settle in New Rome... she wondered if she'd find anyone her age that would go back to the mortal life. Maybe this place just grew on people as the time passed. That still had to happen for her... maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't.

TAG: @adamjackson
IC: 477

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Adam had to admit that he found the fact that the first year had for him quite adorable. Adam decided to take on each question as they arose. As she asked about how the campers got weapons unique to them, Adam just squeezed the center of his staff as if it was one of his most prized possessions which it was considering how he had gotten it. He then scratched his chin as he thought about it. Every camper was different and so were their powers so it was a bit of a mixed bag.

"Everyone here is different from their personalities,powers and even their fighting styles. Take my dad and I for example. My dad is a son of Jupiter who had control over lightning where I his son have control of the air around me. Just because we are related doesn't mean our powers are gonna be the same. To compliment my dads powers he used a two handed sword which he would electrify to not only slash at his foes but also stun them. He fought close range in order to pressure his opponents."

Adam then sighed and then took a deep breath removing his reflective aviators to show his badly scarred and completely blind right eye which had claw marks going from under his eyebrow, down the eyelid,through the eye and to the top of his right cheek.

"I have to fight different then he did. On my 10th birthday right after I was given my staff, harpies broke in through my moms art room sun roof and attacked us. We managed to defeat them but my father lost his life and I lost my right eye. You see it's dangerous for demi-gods to stay in one place for to long because monsters can sniff us out. It's even more dangerous for children and grand children of the big three and with my father and I there were two in the same place. 

Once I lost my eye, I decided that fighting up close wasn't a good idea for me since I can't see on my right. To counter act this handicap I use the length of my staff to fight at a medium ranger and then combine it with my powers to fight at a long range."

Adam then put his glasses back on so that the young girl wouldn't have to see the horror show that was his face. As he did he thought about the question about his mothers art and if he would go visit her once he lived in new Rome.

"My mom does all kinds of art ranging from paintings to abstract craft art but her bread and butter is sculpting. As for if I will visit her, of course I will! The only reason I'm moving to New Rome is to keep her safe. I don't want what happened to my dad and I to happen to her just because I'm around. Before I settle down however, I plan on traveling the world to study all the different cultures and the art or literature they hold. Once I've had my feel of globe trotting, I'll come back and settle down and maybe start a family of my own."

Adam smiled a soft smile that silently said that despite his lingering heartache, he was at peace. The young artist had a kind of leader quality to him that said that if he had been born in another time, he could or most likely would have been a king like his grandfather Jupiter.

@norareyes

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One day, Nora hoped to make her god ancestors of her proud enough of her so they could give her a gift. Either that or she hoped she could save enough money and then beg the forgers to make something for her. Most of them seemed nice and willing to make things for either a trade of money or other goods. Maybe she could cook for them. She didn't think flowers would go well in the forge. Sure, they'd look pretty, but they'd burn up, wither, and die. They could also be set on fire, depending on how careless someone was. Not that she expected someone to be careless, per say. Out of everyone, she was probably a bit of a klutz. At least the training had helped her some here. It had taught her more balance and had taught her how to be more graceful with landings. Make it theatrical! You meant to do that. Almost like stage fighting or dancing. She wondered if Camp ever did dance parties like the one she attended for her classmates.... She nodded at Adam's explanation. It certainly made sense: get a weapon that you could use to your full advantage. One that worked with your powers. Maybe hers could be... a staff? She had to keep working on her growing powers. She knew a few demigods of Demeter could use plants as weapons. If not... she could always just try to get better and better at swords.

She blinked slightly as he removed his aviation goggles, and then frowned slightly as she saw the damage to his eye. Nora had come into Camp at a time after a lot of horrors had happened. So many of the campers had scars, burns, and wheelchairs. Over time, she had learned that having them was nothing to be ashamed of. They were their battle scars. They were alive and there was no reason to shy away from them. Getting seriously hurt wasn't their fault, just part of having a hazardous occupation that wasn't their fault. Who knew? Maybe one day she'd have them, and she wouldn't want other people just staring at her in terror. "Oh..." she said softly. "That must've been really scary." Two Jupiters in one place... From what she had been learning, that was definitely a way to attract monsters. Nora had been lucky. As only a legacy, she could stay where she lived her whole life and she didn't really remember any attacks. She could only remember one in her life. Being a big three kid must have been hard. She couldn't imagine always leaving her friends and starting over again!

Nora tilted her head. "Wow! Like the sculptures that people've made all around New Rome? They're so pretty!" She gave a nod. That made sense. Her mom always said people were smart if they didn't make the same mistake twice. "Traveling sounds like fun! My dad would travel for business meetings. He would bring me back little bracelets from them!" She smiled, remembering her mom and dad and their little celebrations whenever her dad would come home. They'd make dinner and finish with his favorite dessert. And then he'd give her a little bracelet and a small statue. They were still all lined up perfectly in rows of five in her room. She hadn't taken them with her to camp. Now that she was in the barracks, she wouldn't think she'd have much room for it. Either that or the Mercury kids would steal it. "Where would you want to go? Everywhere?"

TAG: @adamjackson
IC: 590

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When Adam saw Nora's facial expression when she saw his eye Adam couldn't stop himself from putting his glasses back on due to feeling a bit self conscious. When Nora said that it must have been scary in such a battle he just shook his head. When in the midst of such intense combat one could not afford to be afraid because to much fear lead to mistakes and mistakes lead to death. Adam just looked at the young girl with a solom expression.

"It was scary yes but in a situation like that where you're life isn't the only one on the line you can't afford to give in to such fear."

Adam didn't want to scare the young girl but that was the world they found themselves in now. They lived in a world of gods and monsters where a single mistake in combat could lead to your death no matter how powerful you were. He hated the fact that the young Demi-gods and Legacies had to join at such a young age to be molded into child soldiers to fight in war after war. Adam knew that it was the Roman way but that didn't mean he didn't think it was fair.

As Nora got all excited about his mothers art Adam couldn't help but smile. It was always nice to find someone so young with such an appreciation for arts and crafts. It was nice that such things had yet to die in the harsh world of combat and bloodshed. Adam felt his heart grow warm with pride as he listened to Nora speak of the different sculptures of New Rome.

"I prefer to paint and draw rather then sculpt. I can paint you something to hang in your barracks if you would like. I just need to know what you would like."

When Nora asked where he would like to travel, Adam just smiled and chuckled. He didn't even have to think about his answer to this question. He had thought about this ever since he joined the Legion.

"I want to travel the world to places that have large cultures and alternatives to ours and study that culture and it's art. For example, it's common knowledge that our Roman gods have Greek counter parts, I want to travel to Greece and learn about them. I also want to go to Egypt and learn all I can about their gods and their art. That's just an example of the places out there with different gods and artistic cultures. I was thinking once I was done traveling..I would settle down and have a family in New Rome."


@norareyes

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Nora bit her lip slightly and nodded. Adam was much older than her and could probably give her years worth of wisdom from experience. A lot of the soldiers here who had seen battle probably could. And yet here she was, privileged enough to miss all of that. Not that she wanted any more conflict, but how could she prove herself? How could she show grandmas Demeter and Venus and prove Lupa right that she belonged here? She would have to train extra hard! That way, she could prove herself in training, even if she didn't have a war or anything else to prove herself in. It was a goal both for herself and to make her parents proud. She was going to be here for nine more years, like it or not; she might as well go pell-mell and learn all she could. The Roman way was rough. They were teaching kids like her how to fight. Sure, she knew kids her age took karate and stuff sometimes, but this was with pointy and dangerous weapons! What if a lot of children got hurt? What if they died? Wouldn't their parents in the mortal world be sad? Could the Legion even get into trouble if something like that happened? 

"My mom liked doing those too. Ooh, I like flowers," she said, grinning. Of course she did... typical child of Demeter. "Or abstract shapes, because then I like to make up what they are in my head!" She remembered her mother drawing and painting different designs, and then Nora would just sit there and makeup stories of what they were in her head. She could do it for hours. It was rather entertaining. "Different cultures are really cool! I remember in school, we had a culture day in the gym and everyone had different tables with flags, food, and clothes. Some people even danced! My teacher gave us passports and then we walked around to all the different tables to have our passport stamped. But one day, I actually want to go there! I don't know where, though... There are so many places!" Starting a family... she was a bit young for that. All she thought of for family right now was getting back to her parents. But she'd be twenty when that happened. She hoped they didn't move or anything and that they kept sending each other letters... How sad, they'd miss her birthdays here. They missed her eleventh birthday. Of course, she got a card. But still, it was sad for her. She liked celebrating with them...

TAG: @adamjackson
IC: 430

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Adam listened intently as Nora told him all about her mothers interests and then about her schools culture thing. Adam had to admit that he was a bit jealous of the young girl because she had gotten to go to a regular school and he didn't. Due to him being a grandchild of one of the big three it would have been super unsafe for him to attend a regular school with normal mortal kids and so his parents home schooled him. It was super cool at the time to be schooled by your parents but Adam had to admit he kinda wished he had gotten to hang out with regular kids. When Nora finished speaking, Adam used his powers to make the air lift him up so it looked like he was floating. He then began to sit cross legged.

"I gotta Admit I'm a bit jealous Nora. I had to be home schooled because I'm the grandson of a big three. It's super dangerous for big three kids or Legacies to be around mortals for long periods of time. I always wanted to try to go to normal school though at least for a week. What was it like? I was home schooled by my mom and dad. My dad taught me the boring stuff like history,math and geography while my mom taught me stuff like Literature and Art. Is it true that school lunches are like super gross?"

As he spoke, Adam began to wave his right hand in a circle by rotating his wrist and focused on a plate filled with green apples that were clear across the room. It wasn't long until a wind current began to slowly levitate three large green apples over to him. Once they reached him Adam began to flick his index and middle finger back and forth which caused the apples to begin to juggle in the air. When the Legacy got bored of this trick he just flicked his left index finger making the wind rotate the apples at a high speed, peeling them. Once they were all peeled Adam held out his plate and had the air slice the apples into slices which fell on the plate. Adam then finished off his fancy show by having the plate be held up between himself and Nora so that they could share the apples. Once he was done Adam just sighed.

"I'm also jealous of you because you have tons of demi-god relatives here that share your powers or interests from both sides of your family tree. I'm the grandson of Zeus with only one demi-god parent because my mom is a mortal. The only Relative I have here is named Chris Ashby. He's the camps big shot because he was the hero of the last war. He and I don't really talk. We don't even have the same powers. He's in the first cohort, the big shots of camp while I'm in the second cohorts, the runner ups."

Adam sighed and hung his head for a moment as he floated in front of the young girl. It was clear that Adam was a bit jealous of his Relative but he also didn't wanna be in the guys shoes. As the young legacy plucked an apple slice off the plate he remembered what Nora had said about wanting to travel.

"You know Nora, you can put in for a leave of absence. It's gotta be for a special occasion though. I do it every year for my moms birthday since I'm all she's got left. You just have to talk to the praetors or the Augur. I would go for that last one. Don't expect like a lot of time off though. The most time I've ever been given is a weekend since my mom lives all the way in Florida. I'm sure if you asked nicely,made sure all your chores were done and filled out all the papers you could totally go visit your mortal family if you are lonely."

Adam smiled at the young girl gently and decided that he would try and make her smile. To accomplish this he used the air to make a few of the apple slices begin to float. He then had them form into a large hippy looking smiley face.

"I'm sure you will get a hang of your powers eventually. Unlike me you have tons of relatives to teach you after all. I had to figure out on my own since my dad had different powers then I do. The trick is to not think of your powers as a separate thing but as an extension of yourself. It's how I'm able to float here without even thinking about it. You think me making fruit float is something, if I really focus hard enough I can create large tornadoes or fly at like 100 miles per hour. I bet when you get older you will be able to make entire gardens grow with just a flick of the wrist."

Adam then had the apple face playfully wink at Nora before returning the slices to the tray. Adam enjoyed being able to show this little girl the ropes and how to have fun with her gifts.


@norareyes

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Nora's gaze followed Adam's height as he began to hover off the ground. How cool, that he could just do that whenever he wanted... She tilted her head. Home schooled? She supposed that's just what it sounded like. But how boring! She loved her parents and loved spending time with them, but being in school was just so much fun! They got to play together and she got to make friends. Perhaps her situation wasn't as bad though since she wasn't a full demigod and she also wasn't a big three grandchild. She nodded as he confirmed some of the things she had been learning about. The more direct and the more powerful you were as a demigod, the more of a chance you had of monsters out to get you and the more dangerous it was. First-hand experience from almost every demigod she talked to. Nora's family had been lucky. She didn't have to move. She only switched schools once because of that one monster attack. But other than that, her life had been good. She had made friends, she did well in school, even her ADHD and dyslexia weren't horrible.

"It was fun! The teacher had us draw things to put in the hallway. I would learn things with my friends and always had people to help me if I needed help. We got to play on the playground and got to go to a pumpkin farm for Halloween! And then we would have a costume parade and knock on the teachers' doors to get candy and they'd be all dressed up too!" ...talking about it made her miss home. She had liked it so much. "It wasn't all yucky, but I liked my dad's cooking better." Her gaze was then redirected to Adam's apple show. She grinned slightly as she watched them get juggled around and then peeled right in front of her. "Wow!" she breathed in awe, reaching out to take one of the slices. "That was so cool!"

She tilted her head slightly. There seemed to be so much comparison to other campers around here... she, herself was guilty of it. "Oh..." she said, frowning slightly. "Well... maybe you can talk to him then! I was scared to talk to all of my family, but they were all super nice. He'll probably like you. Second cohort isn't far away from first. It's still really respectable, right?" As a matter of fact, it was... well, right behind it. Captian Obvious, she was. She gave a nod. "Maybe... although, I have found a lot of nice people here and I write to my parents... I don't think Sir Remus would be happy with me leaving." She tilted her head curiously as the apples started to float again, but then grinned as she saw their formation.

The young girl nodded to Adam's explanation. Yes, just as Remus had told her. She was young. She'd improve yet. "I still need to meet a few of my relatives. I think there are a lot!" she said with a laugh. Even more than usual because she had two demigods as parents. So that meant she got both Ceres and Venus! "I wonder why we get different things," she said, tilting her head and trying to come up with a plausible explanation. Then again, this was Camp Jupiter and gods were real. What was a plausible explanation to anything anymore? Her eyes widened. "Wow! That must be so cool!" she said, with a grin as she looked down to see the apple face winking at her. "I really would want to learn how to do that!" she nodded enthusiastically.

Tag: @adamjackson
IC: 608

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Adam couldn't help but lean in excitedly as Nora talked about her adventures at her school. He had begun to get so into it that if he hadn't been floating he would have fallen on his face. He wanted to hear more about her normal mortal filled life. Adam was a friendly guy but he had never had any mortal friends so it was super interesting to hear about a normal mortals life.

"Please tell me more! What kind of games do mortal school kids play? What kind of foods did the school serve? Did you get to go on any of those field trip things?"

Adam's smile faded as Nora said that he should try and talk to Chris because they would probably get along. She then said that she probably had a lot of siblings or Relatives. This made Adam lower his head for a moment and let out a sad sigh. He was happy that she not only had her mortal family but also a rather large demi-god family as well. He was indeed happy for the young girl but it also made him feel a bit lonely. Adam took a deep breath and lifted his head again.

"My uncle and I are vastly different. It's the big reason that he is in the first cohort and I'm not. The first cohort is the camps best soldiers. They are the ones that think of nothing but preserving our kind and our culture. To put it another way consider it like this. Chris is the kind of person who only paints inside the frame that he is given while I am the kind of person who will paint in the frame, all over it and then all over the wall."

Adam then inhaled through his nose and then rest his chin in his right hand as he continued his explanation.

"You're new to this world and so you probably didn't know about the vow that the big three gods made after world war 2. Before the war children and grand children of the big three were everywhere. That was until the rise of Hitler who was rumored to be a son of Hades or of Pluto I forget which. In order to stop the evil demi-god, the children of Neptune and Jupiter got together for a large battle. The chaos almost blew our secret.

To make sure it never happened again Jupiter passed a law that decreed that himself and his brothers were no longer allowed to sire demi-god heirs. This law was broken every so often giving the world big three children once more. It wasn't until a few decades ago that the law was gotten rid of. That's why there are very few children and grand children of the big three. I've only met the handful that are here and gods only know if there are any more. I guess you could say we are an endangered species."

Adam then thought about why demi-gods or Legacies could be related and yet end up with different powers all together. This caused him to scratch his chin until he had his thoughts clear. He then began to use his powers to make plates, cups,forks,spoons and knives begin to float across the room and then levitate over next to him. He then split the sets in two and then take the shape of two male looking demi-gods as a visual demonstration.

"I have a theory that may or may not be correct. I kinda see it as our powers are decided by our personalities. We don't usually don't develop our gifts until around age eight or so. For example, imagine Chris who is stern, strong, powerful and unyielding. His main power is that of lightning which is like him."

Adam then used his powers to make one of the kitchenware men take a strong stance. He then turned his attention back to Nora.

"Then let's take me as the other example. I'm laid back, easy going and just go with what comes my way or as another way to put it I go where the wind takes me.

Adam then made the 2nd kitchenware man take a relaxed position. Once his demonstration was over he returned the kitchenware to the tables he had gotten them from and then just shrugged a bit.

"It's a hippie explanation but it's all I've got."


@norareyes

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Nora supposed it was normal to miss what was familiar. Would she feel like she did leaving the mortal world when her service time came up here? Right now, she couldn't really imagine missing this place, but things could change over the next few years. Perhaps she'd more miss the friends she made rather than the structure as whole. Being able to tell someone about her mortal life was nice. For the first few months, she was actually afraid that she'd forget all about it. She started drawing pictures about it, trying to immortalize it so she'd remember. She had been finishing fourth grade when her grandmother came knocking at their door. She'd be on summer vacation now... getting ready to go into sixth grade. She had already missed all of fifth. She had heard nice things about the teacher, but now she'd never be able to meet her.

At Adam's request, Nora beamed. She didn't meet many people who were actually interested in her mortal life before the Legion! Besides, she liked explaining it. It made her remember. It made her happy. It reminded her she could go back, someday. "We would play with building blocks and read books, play hand games and play with dolls if it was indoor recess! But if we got to go outside when it was warm, we would play kickball and tag! I would make little flowers grow and people said they were pretty! They said I could do magic, which they weren't wrong, right? Since the powers we have are kind of like magic, right? I helped a plant get better when it was dying in my teacher's classroom and she liked that. I got a gold star added to my name!" The eleven-year-old happily chatted away, bouncing in excitement. "The food was okay, it wasn't like food at home, though. They'd serve pizza on Fridays, and Chinese food on Thursdays, and chicken fingers on Tuesdays, but we could get salads and hot sandwiches every day if we wanted. Then they had a big tub at the end of the line where you could get ice cream!" She gave an excited nod. "We went on the field trip to the pumpkin farm and then our teacher took us to a science museum where we got to blow bubbles and dig out little bones and make boogers!" she giggled. "They had us put our hands in boxes and made us try to guess what was inside!" She hadn't been brave enough to do it, but a few of her friends did.

She tilted her head a bit at his example. It didn't make much sense to her... Families weren't that complicated, were they? They probably weren't as different as Adam thought. Maybe if he just gave Chris a chance. She thought a lot of her relatives (and most of the Legion) were really scary, but most of them seemed nice. Not many even seemed to care that they were in a different cohort. "But Chris will like that you're almost there, right? You got in a good cohort! You tried your best and he can't be mad at you for that, right? Not all people in the cohort are like that, right? One of my aunts told me about a soldier who got kicked out because he left to join Saturn during a war! Doesn't that make him not a good soldier? He sounds mean."

The small child tilted her head, trying to process the information. She nodded. "I think someone told me about that pact. But then if there are that few of you, you guys should try to get along, right? So you have someone like you that you can talk to! Better to be alone together than alone alone. Having no one like you isn't fun..." she said, her voice trailing off suddenly and a small frown coming across her face. Her mood was picked up quite fast again as Adam started to manipulate the cutlery. She watched them float above the table, following their motions as Adam started to explain powers. She gave a slow nod. "But what if someone's personality changes? Wouldn't their powers change too?" she asked, tilting her head. "Hippie? Don't they usually wear sunglasses, tie die, and a circle necklace?" she asked, an image of a hippie as pointed out in a movie popping into her mind.

Tag: @adamjackson
IC: 724