Bump In The Night [Eris, other creepy crawlies]

[Julia Porter]

Julia honestly couldn’t say what drew her out from the camp that day. Something had drawn her out of the barrier that was supposed to protect the Demi-Gods from the outside world, something just called her back to the city she loved so much, the place she’d been forced to flee when one little monster decided to show up and mess up her life. Maybe she just missed things. She missed the hustle and bustle, the fast-paced lifestyle, the sights and smells and sounds that made the place home even though it wasn’t her true home. Just where she spent most of the year when she was at school. Or… Where she used to spend most of the year when she was at school. She’d quickly corrected herself, though the correction only brought a wave of sadness that she had to fight back. It wasn’t a time to be sad. It was a time to be extremely happy, to be free for once from sword fighting and archery and all of the crap she was bad at. It was time to indulge in the time-honored practice that she’d proved quite good at through the years. It was time to shop.

The young demi-god didn’t even know how long she planned on staying out, but if it came down to it then her father did own a townhouse in the Upper East Side… She could crash there if going back to camp didn’t end up on her agenda. She would most likely get in some sort of trouble for it, but Julia needed to blow off steam. To flirt with a stranger, use her charms as a daughter of Aphrodite to do what she did best. She had plenty of clothes in that townhouse if she needed a change… And she planned on acquiring quite a bit more during her time out.

It was strange, then, how Julia found herself standing in Central Park, just watching the people pass by. She held a cup of coffee in one hand, her purse hung off of the other arm as she strolled through the area, smirking a bit as a few of the young men jogging around the park seemed to forget what they were doing for a few moments as she passed them. If she didn’t know better she probably would have been creeped out, but as it was the blonde knew that it was a gift from the immortal side of her that caused the phenomenon. Julia was content to stay in the park for a while, she had called up an old friend to come and meet her. An old fling from her days at school who had been more than willing to spend some more time with her. Someone had told her that it was dangerous for demi-gods to use cell phones, but Julia was comfortable in the idea that a daughter of Aphrodite might not be seen as the biggest threat if there were any monsters or unfriendly Gods or Goddesses around. It wasn’t long until he showed up and the pair shared a quick embrace before heading off to one of the more secluded area of the park to have a more private place to have enough of a make-out session to make Julia happy. Flirting with the other demi-gods at Camp was all fine and dandy sometimes, but she hadn’t quite found a guy to really sink her claws into. Plus, if she just wanted a quick fling then it was probably best to do with someone she knew she could lose quickly.

It began to get dark, the first few street lamps were beginning to come on when Julia’s friend said his goodbyes, albeit reluctantly. The young blonde pulled a compact from her bag and checked her looks, assuring herself of the obvious; she still looked flawless. Maybe it was time to head back to Camp… But she would take her sweet time leaving the city. Pulling herself from the beauty in the park was hard; Julia had come to a new appreciation of the beauty of nature during her time at Camp. But the city held its own kind of beauty. The maze of the streets and alleyways drew her back in. She knew the dangers that lurked in the shadows though, immortal or mortal, and her hand slipped into her purse again to draw out a gift she’d been given before she’d left camp. It seemed like a normal bottle of mace, but she had been told it was laced with celestial bronze and would do a bit of damage if a monster decided to come after her. The streets were fairly clear for New York as Julia headed back into the thick of things, but she still followed shortcuts she knew to avoid congestion. Sure, there were even less people and less light but Julia was fairly sure in herself. She’d taken on a monster… What could lurk in the shadows that was dangerous enough she couldn’t face it, or better yet run away?

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[Alexander Ruckshack]

Something has changed within me
Something is not the same
I'm through with playing by the rules
Of someone else's game

~Defying Gravity, Wicked (Galinda/Glinda, Elphaba)[/right][/size][/font]

Alex was away from Camp Half Blood. Just as he had told Julia, he had left. It wasn't that he had gotten tired of the forest, that was far from it. In all honesty, he missed it. It was just the thought of living of forest foods for a longer amount of time. The only bonus was that it was free in the forest. He had started back up towards his mother; walking and stowing away, when something weird happened. She found him first. He thought tit was the most bizarre thing ever! Her, find him in New York. It was like finding a needle in a hay sack for goodness sakes! She had brought him to her house for a few days and had a few heart to heart talks with him. Alex had slowly began to realize that she wasn't all that bad. At least she wasn't showing her abusive side on him. Finally, they decided that Alex go back out in the world. Alex had started to suspect something going around in Camp, and now his curiosity was overriding his cautiousness. In the dead of night, Kath drove to the city and started to roll the car down a dark and deserted alley way.

They had a last rather long talk (for like the millionth time in a few days) and then she told him to get out. He did so; only then did he realized that they had parked in the deserted alley. He began to feel light headed, and dizzy. After a few minutes, he tried to think of where he was. His thinking, resulted in a headache. Finally, his mother's last words echoed in his ears. You're in Manhattan. Okay, that was one thing taken care of, next? Where was she? He blinked. Okay, there had been a car parked right in front of him with a lady sitting in the driver's seat a few seconds ago! Seconds...? Sure it hadn't been minutes? No, nonsense, he would of heard the car leaving... right? He shook his head, finally understanding what people meant when they said that their brain was fried. That was how he felt right now. His brain fried, it hurt, was muddled, confused, light headed and dizzy. Then all of the sudden, his eyes blurred. For a few minutes, he just stood there, trying the best he could to make sense of things. It didn't work. The only good that came out of it was him getting a migraine.

He began to walk down the alley, stumbling as the head pains continued and the blurriness wouldn't go away. Why was he here in Manhattan? His head started to hurt even more. It felt like this the last time. Last time? He had been here before? Slowly, bits and pieces started to come to him; some reinterpreted, but there. His eyes cleared. Yes. He had been! He had felt this way before, right before meeting Hecate and running in with the Furies! Maybe if he had felt better last time, then him meeting up with the Furies would of turned out better. That was it! He was here to find Hecate! No, that didn't sound right... she was probably long gone now. What about Eris? No, no, she was in Las Vegas. No, he had to find Adonia or Sophie, wait. They didn't live anywhere near here, did they? Alex had to stop, his head was spinning to much, he closed his eyes. What about Nike? No, she'd be long gone too. He opened his eyes again and they blurred as more thoughts came rushing into his head.

The mortal wasn't entirely sure why he was here, but he would make what he could of it. His eyes cleared and he continued walking down the alley way. Dang, it went on forever! He gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes in frustration. All of the sudden, he stopped walking. He wasn't sure why at first. Then he heard it. Foot steps; then with another head pain, he remembered, Kath had taught him Dark Fighting. Alex receded into a shadow and with out thinking, pulled out the switch blade that was still in his pocket. He stared at it blankly for half a second before realizing what it was. Hecate had given this to him. He smirked. A very nice gift. The foot steps drew nearer, they sounded like they were coming down his way. He tapped the knife and it elongated into a sword. Since he couldn't see the ground, the blade dragged and made a noticeable scrapping sound. Alex hissed, wondering if the person he heard had heard the blade as well.[/size]

OOC: -_- My computer deleted my original response. It was much better than this one, I liked it better, and it was longer. After it deleted it, I got angry at my computer and put it a bit shorter and changed it up since I couldn't remember what I had exactly the first time. Sry! ... btw, somethings in my next post may be slightly contradictory to the this one, maybe. Idk
Character Name: Alexander Ruckshack
Mood: Confused, Irritable
To: Julia Porter, Eris, Open
IC Word Count: 795
Made by: Ellie Brigid at Olympian Prophecy

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[eris]

Eris had left Vegas. It was easy for her to move around, all she had to do was pretty much evaporate into a great wisp of auburn anger Now she was in New York. Manhattan to be exact, and though the chaos wasn’t as filling as it was in Vegas, Eris liked to keep on the move. The more she moved around, the more she could flip things upside-down and topple into a big heap and one unclean-able mess. Manhatten worked well enough; a few steps down from Vegas but she would deal. And well, so it would seem. Eris’s senses tingled as she felt the presence of a Demi-God. She disappeared and reappeared in the shadows of an alley as she watched the Demi-God pass, staying unnoticed. She smirked to herself. Daughter of Aphrodite; she hated those. She could easily tell by the girl’s obvious beauty, and it was annoying how they knew it. What Eris wouldn’t do to scratch up one of their pretty faces and see how they survived after that.

That was when someone else came into play—a mortal, and one she had seen before. So Alex had somehow made his way back from Vegas, and rather quickly for Mortal standards now that the Labyrinth was collapsed. Her lips twitched as she watched him follow her through the shadows. Now this she was disappointed with. Little mortal had many things to learn. Mr. ‘I-wanna-be-Hecate’s-little-puppy’ had much to learn. And as Eris really didn’t care who one, as she got the best deal out of all sides by staying neutral, could probably teach him a thing or two about being creepy. What he was doing was over dramatic, almost like little miss perfect he was stalking, and very cliché considering how many movies and books had had some creepy stalker person following their victim like this.

Eris rolled her eyes, determined to do something about the situation, and more than anything make this situation more than fun for her, and not so much for either of the Demi-Gods. She disappeared from the shadows and appeared in more auburn smoke right in front of Alex. She gave him a small smirk, her eyes dancing in what little light the stars and moon shown in the alley. She outstretched her arm aimed to give him a whack across the head and after the arm came around, use the same elbow to hit his chest. Her blows weren’t meant to break his bones or knock him out, but to push him off his balance and gain his mortal mind’s attention. “Fie for shame. Only those without class imitate villains of movies," she growled at Alex, loud enough for Julia to hear and gain her attention from down the alley. Eris’s eyes flashed gold for a second though quickly turned back to their normal shade. This effect did nothing, but was more of an intimidation effect. “Did Hecate not tutor you in this?” Her eyes glanced down at his weapon, really seeing it for the first time. She raised her eyebrows slightly in approval before they lowered and looked back at Alex

The Goddess cocked her head slightly watching him for a minute and waiting for his answer. Then she turned around to face the Daughter of Aphrodite and let her lips curl into a smile. “Did Mother never hail you not to walk by yourself in the dark?” she asked, her voice loud and mocking the girl, in a somewhat playful tone. “Someone’s going to loose their pretty face forever if they mistake bad judgment for pride.” Eris sighed, “I suppose this will have to be a lesson for both of you.” She then let out a soft laugh and took a few steps toward Julia, though she didn’t really know the girl’s name. “What is your name, Daughter of Aphrodite?” she demanded to the girl, her heels clicking against the hard ground as she made her way through the dark alley. The moonlight made her red leather seem awkwardly out of place. She kept her eyes on the Demi-Goddess before she stopped halfway between Alex and Julia.

Word Count: 689

[Julia Porter]

Something wasn’t right. Julia couldn’t quite place a manicured finger on it, but something about this certain alleyway just didn’t feel right. It was like right before she’d gotten attacked at school… Her heart rate was speeding up, her breathing becoming just a bit more rapid and shallow. She couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching her, someone who was something more than any mortal who would be lurking around in the shadows. This wasn’t good. She needed to get out, to get back to camp fast before something went horribly wrong. She could call a car and get picked up then hightail it back to the one place monsters wouldn’t be able to get at her. Even as she increased the rate at which her heels clicked against the pavement Julia could feel someone, or something, coming down the alley towards her. She looked back, but the little light that shone into the space didn’t offer much in terms of visibility.

Something told her to run, to get out of there before whatever was lurking could show its face. And then she heard a sound that sent chills down her spine. She’d come to know the sound of a sword scraping against something fairly well by this point, and there was no mistaking the sound of the metal of a weapon scraping against the concrete of the pavement. So whatever was following her definitely wasn’t a normal human. Most of those didn’t just carry around swords these days. So what was it? A monster? Another demi-god? She’d heard about the ones who had decided that it was their mission in life to take down Olympus and anyone who supported the Gods. And then there were those Gods and Goddesses who liked to mess around with the children of other Gods and Goddesses. Clutching her can of mace, which seemed like such a pathetic gift now, Julia started walking even faster. She broke into a slight jog, which was surprisingly smooth given the fact she was wearing heels and a rather short dress.

A voice broke through her thoughts, it’s words unlike any you’d think about hearing in modern times. It made her stop dead in her tracks and turn around just in time to see someone attacking that young man she’d met at the property line of camp. What was his name again? Alex, right? He was the one holding a sword… Had he been stalking her? Her mind was racing, far too many thoughts swimming through her head for her to do much more than stand there with her mouth open. Who was the woman and why was she attacking Alex? And where had she even come from? Where had she learned to fight?

As the other woman turned towards her Julia was overcome by another chill. There was something… ancient about her. It sounded like she was being mocked, and Julia certainly didn’t like that. But she smirked her own little smirk and offered a retort. ”You know, my mother never really taught me anything.”

[/color] It was true. She’d never even met Aphrodite. And sure, her step-mother had told her many times to make sure she never walked around New York alone at night. They’d even offered to hire security for her just in case something happened. But Julia doubted having a friend or even an entire security team would do much in a situation like this one. She didn’t miss the threat about losing her pretty face, which quickly shut her up from making any more snide comments.

A lesson for both of them? What did she mean by that? Julia took a few steps back from the other woman as she was approached, but forced herself to plant her feet after she realized how weak she must have looked. To both of them. Julia hadn’t forgotten about Alex; she looked past the other woman for a moment to glance at him. What was that saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend? If the woman had attacked Alex and was planning on attacking Julia then the two youths could have that in common… But then again if Alex had been stalking her with a sword… Then both Alex and the creep approaching her had a common dislike of Julia.

Alright. The woman definitely wasn’t a mortal. She knew that Julia was a daughter of Aphrodite, which meant two things. Monster or Goddess. If she was a monster then she probably would have attacked Julia already and just gotten it over with. So that left a Goddess. Julia looked down at the ground for a moment in respect before remembering that the woman had said something about a lesson and could be planning to attack at any moment. Julia looked past her again, looking at Alex before answering. If Julia didn’t answer then Alex could just offer up her name. That, and Julia was fairly sure that withholding information from a Goddess could have some pretty bad consequences.”Julia Porter.”[/color] She managed to keep her voice calm as she extended a hand to the Goddess, trying to gather exactly who she was.[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size]

[Alexander Ruckshack]

Halfway down the alley way, Alex had to stop and shut his eyes again. His head was just hurting to much... The sun was shinning and he was walking, the bushes and rocks looked so much bigger than him. Something hard poked him from behind; Alex yelped in surprise, whipped around and then saw a long stick coming towards him, a shriller voice screamed. It shifted: Alex knocked on a wooden door softly and it open at his touch, he entered and then the door closed, almost silently. The mortal turned around to see who had closed it, then there was a sound of something being unsheathed and then he felt a blade point at his back. That blurred: he was in the alley way with Hecate and the Furies lunged. "Alex just don't let them touch your skin!" And again: he was walking up the steps and pushed open a door, Hecate was there along with two other immortals he didn't know. One of the goddesses that wasn't Hecate eyed him. All of the sudden, with another pain, he remembered her name was Eris: "Behold, what do we have here? What fools these mortals be." It switched: he was sitting and talking to Nike. "There was this Titan, and blah, blah, blah." And again, this time it was Julia: "If you didn’t guess, Aphrodite. Love and beauty all around.” Then it was over and he was looking at the empty alley way. Good thing too, he felt his head would explode.

Then, quite suddenly, his mind filled in all of the blanks of the very gapping story. He had met two of his best friends in a forest, had visited there again, then went to New York. He had met Hecate in an alley way and she had given him a weapon, then he had met Sophie and Nike while trying to get around to Las Vegas. Then he had gone to some Hotel and met the three immortals, he had gone to Camp Half Blood and met Adonia, Addison, Anya and Julia. He had also seen Sophie again. Finally, the last piece clicked. He had left Camp Half Blood and had seen his mother again, she had cared for him for a few days then she had brought him back here, to Manhattan. The pains in his head subsided. He still felt sort of groggy and fried, but at least no more shooting pains. On the outside, his eyes got a slightly glazed look. Not so much that he'd draw attention, but enough, making his eyes look not his, they were to light of a brown. Finally, he was able to put his back against the wall and listen to the foot steps.

There was some smoke, Alex wasn't sure what color it was since it was dark though. With a slight twinge he recognized Eris again. She had been in Vegas last time he had seen her, then again, she was a goddess, she could move around fast whenever she wanted to. He didn't expect her to try and hit him around the head though. His mind went slightly blank, freeing him of any pains or from thinking unclearly and almost on a sixth sense (although it was a bit harder with the sword in his hand) he swept his free arm up to block the swipe to his head then when her arm had passed used the same arm to make a tiger fist and slam down on her arm that was going to whack his chest. His head cleared up again and he was in a kung fu class. Oh yeah, I learned kung fu for seven years, he remembered. "I mean this with no disrespect, but I sort of count you doing this as no class, Lady Eris," the mortal said evenly. Julia surely could of heard Eris; not more than a few seconds later, did she come into view. He gave her a glance then looked back to Eris and shrugged. "Didn't have time to learn much," he growled. "But I was under the impression that the previous meeting was a learning session," he growled, referring to the meeting in Vegas.

He watched at the goddess started to address the daughter of Aphrodite. The mortal internally rolled his eyes and waited, mouth shut. Since when did the gods teach their kids anything? His dark brown eyes narrowed at Eris. Lesson...? He tensed and the immortal placed herself in between him and the demigod. For a moment, he saw Julia looking at him, his eyes met hers for a second before looking at Eris again. The girl wasn't responding to her name for a few seconds and Alex was beginning to think that he'd just talk and tell Eris before Julia, herself did. Still with the words of Eris teaching them both a lesson in mind, Alex tensed and was ready to fight. What other lesson could the goddess of Chaos be referring to? If only his head would clear up maybe he would be able to fight better, If his head didn't get back to normal soon, it could just turn out to be another Hecate, Fury episode. Alex did not want that to happen. If Eris did attack, it would give Alex an excuse to unite with Julia; something he really didn't want. He hadn't forgotten about her at the border line. She had been the only person to be wary of him.

OOC: Sry if this is sorta contradictory and repeating from the first post... I'm still ticked off at my comp -_-
Character Name: Alexander Ruckshack
Mood: Head Hurting, Angry
To: Julia Porter, Eris
IC Word Count: 924
Made by: Ellie Brigid at Olympian Prophecy

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[eris]

Eris’s eyes flashed at Alex and her lips twitched upward into a cocky smile. A mortal who was actually good at fighting. This would make things much more interesting, and fun. “At least I fight to face than to one’s unknowing back.” Her smirk flickered upward a bit more. “Then when thou know’st of the battle fully, I pull my own trickery.” She kept her arms still as he held his block, eyes locked on his. There was something cruel and impish dwelling behind her malice sparkled eyes. They flashed gold for a moment. There was a small scraping sound and one of the bricks from the side alley building hurled itself at Alex’s side. Eris didn’t bother attacking at Alex while she let the brick flail itself at him, with a little help from her own immortal powers. She wasn’t one of those proud Gods who attempted to take over or show their being superior to Demi-Gods through disadvantage. No, she gave them a tiny warning, then put them in their place. And Alex was one mortal who was going to have to be put in their place. He was in no way having any connection to the Greek bloodline, save for having some knowledge of it, and him thinking he was superior to others just wasn’t going to do.

Already her attention was on Julia again, halfway between the two. “Sin one:” she said to Julia, disappearing in a cloud of amber smoke and reappearing right behind her. “Leave not the confines of the Holy Shrine that is Camp Half-Blood.” Her lips were pulled into a relaxed line, no longer smiling, and more serious, but her eyes danced with amusement. Her goal, to make sure that Julia learned her lesson. But that was not the only reason for her actions. Eris wanted to see how far she could push Julia. Would she, like her former dead half-sister whom she had probably never met, put aside her sick beauteous pride and get into the fight. Would she risk scarring her pretty face, whether it be permanently or for a few days, to save herself or another in need? Or would she be the damsel in distress, only worrying about her face and letting her life seem meaningless if she no longer had her beautiful perfection? Would two opposing forces unite, or would they quarrel when there was a similar threat. Either way it was going to be one glorious bout of strife and chaos for both of them.

“Daughter of Aphrodite,” she whispered sadistically to the Demi-God now known as Julia, her eyes never leaving the girl, “soul protected because you unfairly have a flawless face, why haven’t you heeded the warnings so many have obviously presented to you?” She shook her head her leather-covered hand reaching out as if to touch her hair, though never actually coming in contact with the girl. “You know of your own beauty,” she mused, “you know you are desired with both good and… strife-driven intentions. And you parade in the moonlight, an angel among demons, in this stone labyrinth of a city, ignorant and possibly too proud to admit how there’s a big red target sign eternally inscribed on your forehead, the brightest star shining through a cloud covered night.” She let out a small laugh. “You’re not really that mindless, Daughter of Aphrodite, just a bit too proud.” Her eyes flitted back over to Alex. “Perhaps just he could have taught you that, but that would have been just the same sad story you read in your horror novels.” She let out a small chuckle her eyes moving back to Julia, “It’s not real until the situation is larger than life.”

Her eyes moved back to Alex, though she stayed in position where she was in the Alley. “And you, Son of Mortals,” she hissed as though he were some sort of unwanted animal. “Know there is always one watching your evil deeds. Though they may not be seen, always there is someone watching. Consequences follow, either right away or following in the future.” Amber smoke filled her hand and elongated forming into a sword. It looked different from a normal weapon, because the blade was clear. However that was just the way the sword looked; it had no magical qualities, was not more powerful than a regular sword, and had the same strength, endurance, and power as a regular folded steel blade. “And tonight, your fate be with me.” Her lips curled upward slightly as she gripped her weapon tighter. Now she would see how the two would react. Would Julia prove to be a true daughter of Aphrodite and run, only saving her pride and complexion to be labeled as a coward? Would Alex attempt to hurt Julia and Eris in attempt to seem more than a mere mortal as he was? Or would they combine and fight her as a team? If that were the case, when Eris finally left what would the two of them do? That was another reason for Eris’s actions: the outcome of this strange scenario. No matter what happened, it would help one party, hurt another, and drive the big situation crazy.

Word Count: 869

[Julia Porter]

Julia watched Alex, who seemed like there was something wrong, like he was going to just faint in front of them. He seemed to know the immortal in front of them, identifying the Goddess as Eris. Julia let her thoughts drift to what she knew about the Greek Myths and cursed silently as she remembered who Eris was. Well, this wouldn’t turn out well for her. Eris and Aphrodite hadn’t exactly been the best of friends in ancient times and Julia doubted that things had changed. And since the Gods couldn’t do things directly to one another it meant that their children were the middleground, the ones who could be messed with and tormented. Just wonderful.

Trickery? Trickery from a Goddess couldn’t be a good thing, especially from the Goddess of Strife. Julia heard the scraping and readied herself to dodge some sort of attack, but it seemed that the immortal was attacking Alex. She took a few steps towards Alex, trying to figure out a way to help him. She couldn’t just let Eris hurt a mortal, even if that mortal wasn’t exactly the best person in the world. Before she got too far, however, the Goddess had disappeared and reappeared just as quickly behind Julia. She jumped slightly before spinning around to look at the immortal. There was something about the Goddess’ voice that sent a chill down her spine, like Eris couldn’t wait to rip Julia apart.

Mustering up as much courage as she could, Julia forced herself to stare straight back into the Goddess’ eyes. She pulled away slightly as Eris reached out a hand, but the Goddess never came in contact with her skin. ”Strife-driven intentions? Wouldn’t those be caused by you?” She asked, raising an eyebrow at the Goddess. ”Am I really that much of a target? Surely there are Demi-Gods out and about who are much more of a target than I am. After all, aren’t all of the children of Aphrodite self-centered and just concerned with our beauty? How much of a threat could we pose to the Gods?” She didn’t believe that, of course. A child of Aphrodite could do just as much as a child of any other God or Goddess. But out of all of the children of Gods it seemed that monsters didn’t usually target a child of the Love Goddess if there was someone else out there to go after. She smirked as Eris said she wasn’t mindless; one of the few to say that from the get-go. Julia wasn’t just another dumb blonde, she had a few tricks up her sleeve. ”Can’t really say I read horror novels. I’m much more of a romance novel person.” She smirked again, glaring at the Goddess of Strife.

Smoke began to fill the Goddess’ hand, eventually forming a weapon. Julia cursed herself for not bringing anything but that stupid can of mace with her… There wasn’t much of that and she wasn’t even sure what it would do against a Goddess. It would have to be a last resort. Her eyes darted around the alleyway, searching for something she could fight with or use to defend herself. Metal trash can lids could serve as shields if it was absolutely necessary, she supposed. The blonde knew one thing; she wasn’t going to run. Running from a monster or a mortal mugger was one thing. Running from a Goddess would be something she would never live down. She just had to survive this fight if it came to that. ”Now… What is with the swords? I don’t really think we have anything to fight about.” She was doubtful that she would be able to talk down the Goddess. Alex, maybe. He was a mortal man after all, and Daughters of Aphrodite tended to have some sway with men. But why was one of the immortals attacking a child of another God? Julia had heard that some of the minor Gods were not entirely content with their place in the whole scheme of things, maybe they were trying to get back at the other Gods by attacking the Demi-Gods… Julia certainly hoped this wasn’t the case, but she couldn’t figure out another reason.

[Alexander Ruckshack]

As Alex's head continued to clear up, he saw the goddess's lips twitch into a smile. The mortal's eyes narrowed slightly, wondering what she was thinking. Eris was the goddess of Strife. Goddess of Strife smiling? That couldn't be good either way it was looked at. Either she was fantasizing about who her next victim was going to be or something else horrendous. He kept his gaze evenly. His brown eyes were slightly glazed, but not enough to attract attention from those who didn't know him. "I was coming down this alley here, and she came through on the opposite end," he shrugged, keeping his ground. "I haven't attacked her or anything," he snarled, rolling his eyes slightly. He kept his stance. "Nice to know," he snarled sarcastically. Great, have him accept the whole plan then turn the tables. Loving it. He stared at her; seriously, this woman spoke like something from the eighteenth century! Who the heck used thou know'st anymore? The mortal bit his tongue and just glared at her, this was going no where but a glare contest. Great, first his mom, now a goddess; the goddess's eyes had the same look, evil, twisted, and full of malice.

It was a weird position when he really thought about it. Them, both glaring at eachother and both still in the position in which Alex had blocked. Alex still was still immobile, frozen in position; he wasn't going to give first unless she tried something on him again. He didn't start this; at least he didn't think so. Alex still wasn't sure why he still felt a little white faced and spacey; other than that, he began to feel completely fine. Then her eyes did something whacky, they glowed. Next second he heard something sliding out of place. He looked down for a nanosecond, expecting the ground to be turning into a chasm or something, but then something clicked in his head and Dark Fighting came back to him. Alex let his block down, scrambled backwards, and went to duck. Out of this corner of his eye, he saw Julia moving. His looking down and looking at her had cost him though, before he was out of shot something really hard and heavy hit him in the arm.

Next thought? Ow, ow, ow, ow. It felt like a really hard punch. One that was intended to break the bone. Alex grimaced, gritted his teeth, and did the normal thing, he went to hold his arm. Then he heard something clatter to the ground, through stinging eyes, he looked down. It was a brick. He looked up, a brick was missing from the wall of the building in the alley way. For so small a space, it had gotten a lot of momentum. The mortal's once kind brown eyes fired up. That goddess was so dead; wait, he couldn't kill her. Dang it. She must of been pretty ticked at him. Yes, he knew he was a mortal and wasn't supposed to know about this stuff. It wasn't his fault he could see through the stupid Mist! He went to look at her again; a feeling of stubbornness and aggression came over him. Some small part of him vaguely wondered if this was how sons of Ares felt like. She was gone and near Julia. Alex waited, he'd have his chance again.

His eyes narrowed, watching the conversation between Eris and Julia. Julia was a daughter of Aphrodite, that Alex remembered. Why the heck would Eris be on her case? Something that went down between Aphrodite and Eris or was the goddess of Strife just creepy and blunt like this? He hoped Julia would get it. Alex let out a slight wince and rubbed his arm as a slight pain shot down it. This was going to give him a black and blue. He hadn't even checked if it had scratched his skin or anything. It probably had, oh well, whatever. Him tending to his arm wasn't important right now. He needed to stay focused on the matter at hand. As Eris' eyes flitted over to him, he glared at her. Then the eyes returned to the daughter of Aphrodite, but Alex still glared. He wasn't exactly sure what she had meant by that. Sure, he had picked up that Aphrodite kids were proud by listening to Julia talk back to Eris, but he was slightly confused on the goddess' last comment.

Alex's glare continued as Eris' eyes found him again. Yes, Alex was the son of two mortals. One a complete loony, the other, not far off. Hey, at least he wasn't a kid of a loony and a god of violence. "Great to know," he growled sarcastically. "I'll take that into consideration," he snapped, glaring at Eris. Awesome. That probably meant that she'd attack him now like she did with his arm. He took out his pocket knife, tapped it and it turned into a sword again. Alex bit his lip, fighting the pain that continued in his arm. Smoke started to rise and a sword formed in Eris' hand. The only odd thing was that it was clear. Interesting. One thing he knew: he wasn't running or backing down first. His gaze snapped towards Julia as she opened her mouth. "Oh, I think there really is," he growled. "Typical, just as I would expect from a daughter of the love goddess," he snarled. Alex glared at her and wondered if she'd run or try to talk them out of this fully. Alex wasn't going to get talked out of this and he doubted that Eris would either.

OOC: Lol, its fine Sam ^^ Awesome post. Gah! Sry for the wait from me! *face palms* Sry if this is bad, still trying to get used to him like this... it WILL get better.
Character Name: Alexander Ruckshack
Mood: Angry, Stubborn, Wanting to Fight (o.O Sounds like Ryan now XD)
To: Eris, Julia Porter
IC Word Count: 967
Made by: Ellie Brigid at Olympian Prophecy

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[Apate]

Apate loved her job. Sure, the pithos thing had, well, sucked. But the fooling people and making them believe whatever you wanted was pretty awesome. It made spying fun and easy too! Take now for instance. The only one here she was worried about finding her was Eris, and that was only because she was the only one who had the ability to sense her presence. She Apate was keeping an iron grip on her conscious, or at least enough so that she would think she sensed nothing at all. From her perch in a window above (she’d convinced the inhabitants it was time for a nice evening job around Central Park so she had plenty of time), her eyes glittered as dark as a black hole as she kept her powers on Eris and watched the goings-on. A child of Aphrodite? Big deal. Those were a dime a dozen, and usually useless. Easy to manipulate though, so that was something. And a mortal with a magic sword that, according to Eris’ words, apparent he got from dealings with Hecate. Well, well. This promised to be interesting.

Stars, Eris was playing this up, wasn’t she? It was cheap entertainment though. Okay, so there was a chicken daughter of Aphrodite, Julia Porter by name, with a can of mace for a weapon. And she didn’t miss the fact that the little runway model wanna-be seemed slightly taken off-guard by the mortal. Coincidence? Nothing happened by coincidence. Then there was the still-unnamed mortal boy who seemed to have mental battles all his own. That was always fun. Now if she could figure out what said battles were raging over, she could really seed some havoc here. The boy, at least, could fight. And not with a can of mace or a stick of mascara or whatever Aphrodite’s infernal kids used.

This previous meeting, though, she was curious about. Obviously, airhead demidork hadn’t been in on it, but the mortal boy had met Eris and Hecate and that was something of interest. Anyway, they were still talking, so Apate pulled her attention back. Eris was stringing some lie about fighting to people’s faces before causing her usual chaos. Yeah right. Because that was definitely what got her landed in customer service on Olympus all those years. Apate held back a laugh at the very idea of Eris taking phone calls in that horrid place. Back to the conversation, which wasn’t that enthralling anymore. Though it was interesting to note that Eris could out-monologue Phobos. Apate hadn’t thought that one possible. She was tempted to give up on the show. As much fun as watching Eris strut about was, it really wasn’t. She ran her finger along the open window ledge and didn’t even bother to watch anymore. She could hear Miss Prissy using the expected hippie comeback. Stupid love-goddess hippies. She had to agree with the unnamed boy on his assessment.

She was growing rather interested in this scenario. Especially in a mortal who knew Hecate and Eris. The demidork hippie, not so much. But you win some, you lose some. And she intended to win. Eris, however, had to go first. Apate didn’t really feel like dealing with her right now. Stupid spotlight pig. She fixed her coal-black eyes on the goddess and ‘reminded’ - that is to say, forced her to believe - her that she had other very important business that had to be taken care of immediately. A smirk came to her face when the other goddess vanished in a hurry. Yep, she’d be in so much trouble if Eris found out that had been her. But thing was, hardly anyone ever found out she was behind stuff. Ah, such fun. Now, to attend to the newly-abandoned little children.

In a small puff, she vanished from her post and onto a dumpster just out of sight of the two, laying casually on her stomach, head propped up on her hands and feet up in the air like a typical teen. That is, a typical gothic goddess who actually predated all the Olympians sort of teen. Her outfit was almost entirely black, from the dark jeans and boots to the leather jacket and the thick eyeliner. All save for her bright aqua tank top. “Ugh, I thought she’d never leave. Your fate is with me!” she said, mocking Eris’ words. Her tone was as though the three of them had been having a perfectly normal conversation already and she had not just burst in out of nowhere, quite literally. “Puh-lease. She is such a talker sometimes. I’m thinking she needs duct tape, huh? That would be amusing. Anyway. Name’s Apate. And you,” she pointed at Julia, “are Julia Porter. And you,” she pointed now to Alex, “I don’t know, sorry. Eavesdropping only works if stuff if said, you know. So what brings you two to this lovely little alley? I have a feeling it wasn’t to visit that old witch.”

Word Count: 830
Note: Thanks for inviting me to join! This shall be quite fun! *rubs hands and grins*

[Julia Porter]

Julia took her eyes off of Eris to focus on Alex again, rolling her eyes. ”Yeah, you haven’t attacked me.” She said, her eyes drifting to the weapon he carried. ”Yet.” Call her crazy, but the demi-god didn’t really trust the mortal. Their first encounter hadn’t been anything bad, but he just kind of gave her the creeps. That, and the fact that he was stalking around some random alleyway in New York City, carrying a sword, well it just made him a bit less than ideal to be around.

But she did feel bad when the bricks attacked him. He was a mortal after all, and she didn’t really expect him to be very efficient against the powers of a goddess. If it came down to it she would find a way to help him, at least get him to a hospital or something to get his arm checked out and fixed if need be. But she had her own problems to deal with at the time being, namely a psychotic goddess who was looking at her like she was some sort of amusing toy. Things continued on, and it seemed as if there was not going to be a way to avoid a fight. Well… Great. A can of mace, and possibly the lid of a garbage can as a shield, against their two swords? She didn’t really like those odds.

”Do you really think it’s a good idea to try and fight a goddess, Alex?” She asked, a bit surprised by the amount of emotion in her voice. She knew that some children of Aphrodite were able to influence other people with emotion in their voice, Charmspeaking she’d heard it called, and she’d noticed some things like that in her life… But she never really thought of it as a way to get out of a fight; it had always been more of a way of just getting what she wanted. Though what she wanted at the moment was just to get out of the fight, so it made a bit of sense. But it seemed that she wouldn’t even have to worry about trying to talk the goddess down if she was able to calm down the mortal as Eris suddenly remembered that she had better places to be and disappeared. Julia looked around the alleyway just to make sure that the goddess hadn’t been playing some sort of trick on them, but she was gone. That was nice… but it meant she still had to deal with Alex. Julia spun on heel to face him, looking down at his sword. She spoke again, her voice still heavy with persuasive emotion. ”Come on, Alex. Put the sword away. You have nothing to fight with me about.”

No sooner had she said that than another voice joined them. Great. Just great. She turned towards the source of the voice, jumping ever so slightly when she saw a newcomer perched on a dumpster. Alright, that woman definitely hadn’t been there before. ”Where did you…” She stopped herself before she could finish the question. Obviously the woman was either a goddess or a monster… Probably a goddess. So she could just pop up anywhere she wanted. ”Um… I think that Eris with duct tape is about as far from a good idea as you could get.” She said, rolling her eyes. It would be anything but amusing to any sane person, so Julia was led to believe that the young woman on top of the dumpster was in fact insane. Just what she needed, another insane goddess. She watched as the goddess pointed to the two of them in turn, deciding that Alex could just introduce himself when he felt like it. ”It’s an honor to meet you, Apate.” She said, giving a slight bow of her head to the goddess.

”I was just looking for a shortcut. Well, not actually looking for a shortcut. Taking one. I’m on my way back to Camp Half Blood. And yourself? I’m sure you didn’t come down here to just talk to a mortal and a demi-god.”

[Alexander Ruckshack]

Alex's life had been great before he had started seeing things. Sure, maybe he had to much of a vivid imagination as a kid, but he didn't want any of them to become reality. To bad they were. His life had been fine. Then his dad had to go crazy on him. Alex doubted if his father had even reported Alex missing. Their house was totally isolated like Kath's, so there could of been a chance of getting a report or whatever out. Still, Alex didn't really care if his father was looking for him or not; he could be dead and Alex really wouldn't of cared. Ow, he grimaced slightly. Stupid head!

His slightly glazed eyes looked at Julia his eyes narrowing. No one would of been able to tell that his eyes were different unless they had known him, this difference was ever so slight. "Yet," he growled almost at the exact same time. He saw her eyes go down to the sword that he now had in his hands. Well, yeah, the sword had given a bad impression, but whatever, he didn't care. Technically him taking his weapon out was defense. He hadn't asked the demifreak and goddess of Strife to come along this alley way. Alex had been dumped here first, on the streets of Manhattan, New York; the last place he wanted to be right now. For one, it'd take forever to get to Half Blood, and two, he'd have to go back to living on the streets and all. In all truth, it wasn't horrible for him, he had actually had a friend who had taught him.

Brick and migraines together? Not the best thing ever. He half felt like he wanted to vomit and half felt like he wanted to throw the brick right into the goddess' skull. That wouldn't of been a good idea though, and Alex knew it. He was half going to start something with her already, with his sword. Alex glared at Julia as she started to talk with him. The way she said it almost made sense... why fight? He almost lowered his sword. Almost. Kath would kill him if he lowered his defenses, wouldn't she? Why fight, its sort of pointless, it'd be you against a goddess and a demigod and your a mortal, his mind told him. Great. Two mental wars, just what he needed along with his headache. Just put it down and walk away, one side reasoned. You don't need it... Kath would kill you and your work would be lost. SHUT UP! Alex snapped at his mind.

Ow... fine, if it was going to hurt his head this much, he'd just- wait. WHAT?! Before he was about to tap his weapon shut, his mind got preoccupied with something else. It broke his thought line of a closed or open weapon. Eris had just disappeared into thin air. Well, duh, all immortals can do that smart, he reminded himself angrily. If they could disappear, they could reappear just as easily. Goddess of Strife just simply disappearing like that? Come on, it had to be a joke, Alex tensed and looked around, wondering where she went; she'd pop up somewhere random and just attack them. Just what they needed.

While his mind wasn't trying to go on overload, the voice of Julia resurfaced and he turned to look at her again. Again, her argument seemed so logical... Eris was gone, so why not? He lowered his sword then went to tap it and- another voice came in. His thought streak broke once again and his eyes fired up as he raised his weapon again. Shoot! Why did new people or weird events just prevent him from doing this stuff?! He took a sweep around and then did a double take when he saw a woman, all in black, laying casually on a dumpster. If he didn't look ridiculous already, he would of pinched himself. Okay, that lady had not been there three seconds ago! "Who are you?" he growled, narrowing his eyes at the new comer. His headache didn't thank him. Although her new presence wasn't exactly welcomed in his book, the new girl did bring a valid point. Maybe he should start carry duct tape to just shut people up, a smirk spread across his face. The Aphrodite child seemed to agree with this new comer as well. That was one thing they had managed to agree on, Alex just had never voiced it.

Apate, huh? Ow! He bit his tongue, stupid migraine. That name seemed sort of familiar. He alley way melted from his view and he saw a book, its pages started flipping, faster and faster and then it shut. Alex had to blink a few times to get his focus back. Right, that greek book he had been reading for school. They had had to get familiar with some of the immortals. Apate was one of them... but he couldn't remember what she was. He eyed Julia, she seemed honored. He wasn't. Strange thing was, that Julia's name was known, but not his. Eavesdropping, huh? That could explain it. Depending on how much she heard, then, well, he wasn't sure how well this was going to go. "Alex," he snarled shortly. Then his mind went into turbo and so did his headache. He finally remembered what she was the goddess of. Deceit. Great, just what they both needed. He gave an indifferent shrug. He wouldn't tell her any more than she needed to know. "I was just walking," he said flatly. Hey, it was the truth. He had been dumped here and had decided to try and walk off his headache.

OOC: Hope that's okay, tell me if you want me to change anything! YAY! Its awesome you joined AB! *hugs!* This should be fun XD
Character Name: Alexander "Alex" Ruckshack
Mood: Angry, Thoughtful, Angry... (shoot, he's turning into Ryan -_-)
To: Julia Porter-Daughter of Aphrodite
Apate-Goddess of Deceit
IC Word Count: 975
Made by: Ellie Brigid at Olympian Prophecy

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[Apate]

Apate watched the goings-on with some amount of interest. Sure, it could have been a lot more fun here, but she would let it go as it was for now. The night was young and she was just warming up. Their reactions were cute though, in an ignorant little mortal and demidork kind of way. The whole ‘oh my goodness someone appeared out of thin air’ panic was always worth a laugh. Though, this time around, she only really gave it a smirk. May as well not patronize them too much. Why this particular instance, she wasn’t fully sure. She just didn’t really feel like it. She’d save the making them extremely uncomfortable and maybe a little angry with her for a more worthy topic than their inability to cope with immortal entrances and exits. Ah, sometimes she was impressed at how generous she could be!

The little daughter of Aphrodite seemed much more open, understandably, with chatting up a goddess. Good for her. It would get her killed sooner if she wasn’t careful, but at least it would make things interesting in the process. “Oh, no, no, no. I think it’s rather a brilliant one. I’m thinking a whole cocoon of the stuff so she’s be like a giant silver bomb.” It seemed a fitting description for Eris. “I can even get my brother, Momos, to do it! He’s gullible as anything, and he’d blame me for sure, but he’s always blaming people, so like anyone would believe him! It’s a fantastic idea!” Still laughing to herself, she sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the dumpster so she could sit facing them. “Just a little innocent sibling rivalry, you understand. Happens all the time.” In fact, in her family, that was a very mild prank.

She smiled brightly, almost too much so, at Julia. “Absolute pleasure, Julia. Your dear old mum must be proud of you, taking after her so much. The sneaking around alone at night, not so sure about though, but hey, to each their own. What’s life without a little rebelliousness, I say. Hmm, awfully far from your Camp, aren’t you? Especially walking in those shoes. Can’t imagine trying that.” She made a face like that was a horrible, torturous idea. She turned her attention to Alex at his short introduction. Something was up with this kid. And she was all for the idea of hiding stuff; she did it all the time, practically made a profession out of it. This was a mortal after her liking so far. “Well, Alex, good to meet you. Interesting to see anyone outside that demigod camp or Olympus itself carrying such an antique weapon, I must say. Good for you. And out getting a good evening walk. Good habit, I suppose. Never was one for walking myself, but if that’s what takes your fancy.” She smiled between them both.

“As for me, I actually did come here to talk to the two of you. Holding company with my sister, I don’t recommend. You should be more careful. Allow me to help.” At her last words, her eyes burned black as she wove her magic into each syllable. Time to see just how easily deceived these two were.

Word Count: 542
Note: Momos, as mentioned in the post, is the god of blame and criticism.

[Julia Porter]

Julia could tell she was having an effect on Alex, that he was starting to change his mind about fighting with her. Good because, honestly, she wasn’t sure that she would be able to stop him if he decided to come at her with that sword. The mace would probably incapacitate him, but there was a good chance he would get a swing or two in with the sword before she was able to do anything about it. Good thing she had the little advantage of being a Charmspeaker. Thanks, mom. She thought, looking up to the sky slightly and smirking. She felt pretty good about things, confident that she would be able to talk him down and find a peaceful end to what had started. And then she would be able to go back to camp like she’d planned. No harm, no foul.

He looked like he was about to put his weapon away, like she’d won, but then Apate’s voice had jumped into the situation and he was back to his defensive mode. It was still better than him attacking, but Julia still wasn’t comfortable with the weapon being out. Though his reaction to her appearance was pretty amusing. If she hadn’t already been on edge then Julia wouldn’t have jumped one bit. She’d gotten used to the idea that gods and goddesses could pop up at any second and she had started to worry less about them showing up. ”Oh yeah, just one big bomb of chaos waiting to go off. Seems like a great idea to me.” She rolled her eyes, though a bit of nervousness passed through her; even if it hadn’t been intentional she had still mocked a goddess. And after Eris’ reactions to Julia’s sarcasm she wasn’t really looking forward to what Apate would feel like doing. ”Oh yeah, sibling rivalry.” She laughed, masking the nervousness with cheer, as if she and her siblings did the same thing. The worse any of them ever did was threaten to destroy each others’ designer clothes.

The smile she received from the goddess sent a slight chill down her spine, though she managed to stop herself from shivering. ”I’m not sneaking around.” She interjected. ”And camp isn’t too far when you’re able to call a taxi.” It would seem odd to the normal person, but Julia knew she would be able to charm the driver into taking her to the area around camp, then he probably wouldn’t even remember picking her up. And she could walk quite far in the shoes she was wearing without being uncomfortable; years of practice had made her quite talented in a pair of heels. But like Apate had said, to each their own. The goddess addressed Alex and Julia shifted her own attention to the young man. He still had that ridiculous weapon out. ”Alex, really… The sword is overkill. No one is going to attack you or anything. Put it away and we can all be a bit more civil.” She said, charm still heavy in her voice as she spoke to the mortal.

Her attention went back to the immortal as she spoke, saying that she wanted to help. Oh, and just what could the goddess do to help them? ”Eris is already gone.” She started, skepticism creeping into her words. The charm was gone for now, Julia felt no reason to try and convince the goddess of anything yet. ”What do we need your help with?”

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[Alexander Ruckshack]

The immoral's act of disappearing and the other one reappearing was a bit nerve wracking for Alex. He was not used to people just popping in and out of existence whenever it so pleased them. No, in that sense, he still had a lot to learn and get used to about Greek Mythology. As he watched Apate, start to talk to Julia her image shimmered, gold flashing in his eyes. At first he was looking at a woman at about twenty and all in black. A second after, it flickered like a bad TV image and he was looking at a teenager with a t-shirt and jeans on, the glow was still there, but much dimmer. "Did you just change or-" Her image shuttered again and she was all in black, glow full on again. Stupid Mist, Alex thought internally, shaking his head. Sure, he could see though, but not 100% of the time. It was more around 97% or something.

He eyed her as the immortal began talking to Julia. That creep seriously agreed with the daughter of Love? Wrapping Eris in a present that looked like a ticking time bomb of chaos sounded intriguing, but not something that he'd want to do any time soon. Momos? He had no idea who that was, but as she continued to talk, it was her brother apparently. Gosh, he still had lots of gods, goddesses and genealogy to memorize. Julia seemed to agree with him from her sarcastic tone. Alex shrugged indifferently and just kept his mouth shut. Last him he spoke up, he got a brick thrown at him, which still hurt. He didn't need one landing him on the head and breaking his skull. The last one had nearly broken his arm.

Alex just watched as Julia and Apate interacted with eachother. It was interesting to say the least. From the sound of it, Apate and Aphrodite had history. Then again, from what he learned, almost all the immortals were related in some way. Julia seemed wary; now that he thought about it. She was rather far away from her supposed safety zone of Camp Half Blood. Then again, from what she had done to him, he thought it'd be easy for her to get a taxi and make the person forget everything. She did have a valid point though. There were a lot of taxis in the city. He turned his head to the image of Apate as she began talking to him. Her image started to shudder and dissolve back into a teenager, but her mouth continued to go and her talk to him went undisturbed. The mortal blinked, trying to get the Mist to stop changing his view. Finally, it settled on the goddess with full glow and all black. He nodded. "Like wise," he said silkily. "Thank you, I suppose," Alex said, looking at the sword in his hand. "Not everyone has to like the same things," he shrugged as she commented on the walking half lie.

Julia's voice came and again, it sounded so logical. He gave a slight shrug. "Fine," he said, he tapped it and it shrank into a celestial bronze switch blade. "Better?" he asked, looking at the girl and pocketing the knife. He winced slightly as the bruise on his arm twinged, but ignored it. Immortals would just come down to help mortals? He eyed her suspiciously. True, Hecate had helped him, but the Furies attack had been a bit scary. Eris and Apate were sisters? Sheesh, he really needed a family tree of this. "How exactly?" he growled through narrow eyes. All of the sudden, he noticed that her eyes had turned pitch black. Okay... that was one of the freakiest things he had ever seen....

OOC: Hope that's okay!
Character Name: Alexander "Alex" Ruckshack
Mood: Angry, Skeptical, Slightly Freaked
To: Julia Porter-Daughter of Aphrodite
Apate-Goddess of Deceit
IC Word Count: 633
Made by: Ellie Brigid at Olympian Prophecy

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[Apate]

Apate sighed like this was just a pleasant vacation. Frankly, to her, it was just a joy trip. Messing with mortals and demigods was great fun. Mostly because they supported Olympus, something she didn’t exactly agree with. Well, most of them. And those who did were so much fun to harass, or bring to her own side, whichever came first. Or second. Or both. She wasn’t partial. And of the demigods, she had to say that Aphrodite’s kids and Ares’ kids were the most fun. Ares’ kids were so temperamental and easy to push over the edge. Sometimes literally; cliffs and sharp precipices made handy solutions for pestilential demigods. Then there were Aphrodite’s kids. With most of them, all you had to do was tell them they had a zit coming in and they’d do the rest of the self-destruction. Of course, over the centuries, she’d learned the weak points of every group. Zeus’ kids were high-strung, Poseidon’s were prone towards flat-out idiocy, Hades’ were emo, Demeter’s were lame and tree-hugging (especially in the 1960s, oh gods), Athena’s freaked out if you insulted their intelligence, the list went on. And mortals! They were a bundle of fun too. Easier to trick than demigods and so much more willing to follow orders.

She dropped her train of thought and looked back to the two in front of her, wonderfully ignorant and foolhardy little children they were. “Yes, well, maybe not what most would consider good, but you have to understand my family is a little… unusual.” She smiled in a way that vaguely resembled the Cheshire Cat. She glanced at the mortal. He was acting funny, blinking a lot like he had something in his eyes. Then she realized it was probably the Mist and she smiled. So he could see through it? Even better. Guess that made sense since he saw Eris fine.

Looking back to Julia, her smile didn’t falter one bit. “Oh yes, siblings are wonderful for that, aren’t they?” She fell silent and listened to Julia’s logic for being out. It wasn’t exactly what Apate would call sound, but hey, she never argued anything that would cause others trouble. “Ah, yes, the taxies. They are fun. I love New York drivers. Sometimes I think Eris taught them how to drive.” She pulled her knees up and folded her hands over then, using it as a rest for her chin and watched with curiosity as Julia started addressing Alex. There was something about her voice. Interesting. She’d keep an eye on this Barbie.

And Alex. The kid had a morphing weapon and wasn’t oblivious to the ‘mythological’ world. As if that wasn’t a point of interest. She sat back and idly watched as he listened to the demidork. Wow, that was a convenient trick. Apparently he was either more easily swayed than he looked, or this Julia girl was good. Apate smirked. Just in time for them both to ask a perfectly rigged question. She lifted her head and let her legs drop back down, leaning forward as if sharing a secret. “Who do you think convinced her she should leave you two alone to start with?” she said a bit mysteriously with a wink.

Word Count: 537