Welcome

[Matthew Williams]

Waking up late in the morning with a smile on his face, that's what was happening to Matthew lately. And yes it meant something, seeing as he didn't do that in ages. Four years he had been miserable around camp, always moping, sighing and thinking about things that couldn't be undone: the past. And right now, right now he felt like he was finally done with all that. He was done with being sad.

The only thing he needed to get used to was this new habit of him, smiling was unusual to him, as was showing every emotion he had. It came unnatural to him, and yet he wasn't afraid to take the challenge. That was what life was about, wasn't it? Taking chances, an adventure. Especially doing something that he hadn't experienced before. Yeah, this year at camp was going better. He felt it getting better as he was feeling better himself. It was a discovery, a big discovery.

Only a next discovery was that he didn't really have any friends. Sure, he was one of the oldest in camp and leader of the Zeus cabin. Zeus, the boss of all the Gods. Yeah he could imagine it was all a little intimidating, but that didn't mean that he didn't deserve friends like anybody else. He just had to do a little more effort for it, which was again a challenge to him.

Matthew had been anti-social quite a bit, it had been this year only that he had started to talk to more various people in camp. And actually he didn't have a choice then to do just that, Sophie and Marina were both gone. So he just had to look up at the sky and smile. And that's exactly what he did when he sat down against the pile of rocks people call Zeus's fist. He wondered who else would join him here.

[Caroline Sturm]

Caroline walked around camp half-blood all the time. Most of the time she walked toward the borders to see if there were any cool monsters out, though she knew it was dangerous. It was a nice day as it always was and Caroline decided that today she wasn't going to get herself into any trouble. Which was hard for her, because when didn't she get in trouble?

At first she thought about going to the lake for a nice swim but then she changed her mind as she left her cabin. No way. After that attack from that Poseidon girl, Caroline never wanted to go back to the lake. In fact, sometimes Caroline was hesitant for leaving her cabin. As much as she liked this place, she knew that most people were starting to think she was annoying.

So for one reason or another Caroline found herself at Zeus's fist. In all honesty she never knew why it was called Zeus's fist since it just looked like a pile of rocks. For a while Caroline stood around, trying to figure out how this even looked like a fist at all, but then she finally gave up and began skipping her way out of there. She stopped though, when she saw someone.

“Ooh hi there!” she exclaimed as she jumped up and down when she saw her older half-brother up against one of the rocks. “Matty!” she grinned. Even though she didn’t talk to her brother much, she enjoyed the sight of him. He was an accepting person, right? He wasn’t going to think she was annoying… or maybe he was. Either way, they were roommates so they might as well get along.

Caroline skipped her way toward her brother and sat next to him. “How are you?” she asked, taking no note of his emotions. She figured her brother was always happy since she was.

[Matthew Williams]

Matthew knew what to expect of camp. Being there for four years did something with you. He knew exactly where he had to be if he wanted to meet people and he also knew where to go if he wanted to be left alone. But he hadn't been there in quite a while. He wasn't really a person to be all alone anymore. Sure, sometimes it was fun to be alone, easy to revise your thoughts and stuff like that.

And yet Matthew was a new person than he was four years ago when he entered camp for the first time. He wasn't shy, and he had learned some social skills here. He knew now that he didn't have to hide from the rest of the world. He was who he was and others had to accept that fact. So there he was, sitting here, staring out in front of him. Basically he was waiting for someone to come, but he didn't want to admit that to himself.

It probably was a little stereotype of him, but he as a Zeus kid sat pretty calm at Zeus's fist. He wasn't sure if he agreed with the name though. To him this was just one big pile of rocks. Maybe he just wasn't open minded enough. But that didn't matter either. He could force himself to like it, couldn't he? He pulled his knees up a bit and stared out around him. He did spot a girl there, who seemed somewhat familiar to him.

“Hey!” he said, even a bit more cheerful than usual. So far so good, right? He smiled at his younger sister. He had always hated the idea of having someone else in the cabin. But now he seemed okay with the idea. It was good to have someone to care about, someone to care for. Zeus was the leaders of the leaders and maybe he should act like one. He was a cabin leader after all, and one of the older campers. Only if she didn't mind that he was calmer and more silent than the fellow campers.

He smiled up at her. “I'm doing quite dandy today, how about you?” he said and looked up. It was a better idea to look up, not to look down. That's what he was going to do now, looking up.

[Caroline Sturm]

Caroline sure did hope that she wasn't annoying her brother. Over the past few weeks she had realized that her brother wasn't always the happiest, though he was alright. Maybe he just needed some cheering up or something like that. He almost always was seen alone in the camp, and Caroline felt really bad for him. Hadn’t he been here for a really long time? Where were his friends? Most importantly, why wasn’t anyone here with him?

Well, Caroline was here, but she was his sister, which probably meant that he didn’t want to hang out with her anyway. She was just an annoyance that would have to go away sooner or later. She wanted to ask where his friends were, but it didn’t seem right. So she just sat there for a while. During the silence, she started tapping her foot as she couldn’t sit still. Carey thought about climbing the rock she was leaning on, but that was right when Matty had replied to her.

“Dandy? That’s awesome!” she exclaimed, clapping. She hoped that her happiness would make her brother happier. “I’m excellent as always!” she grinned. No really, she was excellent. She was usually never upset, and even if she was, she was great at pretending she was happy. She noticed that her brother was looking up. “Ooh, what’s up there?” she asked as she tilted her head up at the sky.

Well there were pretty clouds. “That cloud looks like… a whale!” she smiled. With Caroline, there were no silences whatsoever. It was always talk talk talk or laugh laugh laugh. Carey giggled and then stood up. “So then what have you been up to?” she asked as she walked over to the back of the rock. She was just going to try to climb it again. Hopefully this time she wouldn’t fall.

She started climbing, sliding off once in a while. But in the end she had made it. The rock wasn’t too tall, so Caroline could easily see and hear her brother while on top of the rock. She smiled down at him as she got comfortable and grinned. “Come up here!” she invited, waving a hand toward herself. “It’s got a nice view?” she added as an attempt to convince him.

[Matthew Williams]

Matthew wasn't annoyed easily. It was a good thing that he tolerated so much, it's what made him strong, wasn't it? He looked sad indeed, but he wasn't really sad, nor did he feel alone. Well, the latter was a lie. He did feel alone, a lot of times. But to him, there wasn't really something he could change about that. He had tried though, but he just failed at making friends. That's why he had none, apart from maybe Caitlynn. But she was his girlfriend so she didn't really have a choice than to like him.

He couldn't ever be annoyed by his sister, not even when she wasn't quiet and he preferred silence in their cabin. It was alright, he just let it happen because she was his sister. He never had any siblings and he didn't have family members either. Really, the Zeus siblings were the only relatives he had. It may be a bit sad and everything, but he had learned to live with it. It was not special to him anymore, what was special however was the fact that he got new siblings all the time.

A smile appeared on his face when he saw her all happy an jumpy. It was good to see others happy, it meant that camp was a good place for everyone. Even though Matthew didn't have any friends, it didn't mean that camp was just some place for him. Camp was his new and only home. “It's just... the clouds,” he said and looke at her. “No matter what happens, clouds remain in the sky and shapeshift to something else. They're constant, it relaxes me to look at them,”

“A whale?” he asked and looked up at the sky. He was trying to see the whale and then found it on the left end. “That does look walish,” he admitted. Without Caroline, he wouldn't have seen it even. She had a great imagination that's for sure. He looked at her as she stood up. “Oh, the usual. I've been training a lot,” he said softly and looked at her as she climbed the rock.

He watched her carefully, ready to catch her if she would fall. Not that he was thinking she was going to fall, he was just precautious. But when she made it to the top he sighed relieved. “Are you sure you want me up there? “ he asked. He was a little self conscious at times. When people were nice he sometimes had the idea that something was behind it, He decided to forget about that for a bit and stood up. Tall as he was, he had no troubles at all with climbing up and sat down next to her. “Great view indeed,” he said.

[Caroline Sturm]

Caroline was always happy and jumpy, so she hated it when other people were sad or even looked sad. She just didn’t like that kinda stuff. Even if she was sad, Caroline was the type of person who probably wouldn’t tell anyone nor show it. Maybe she would talk to her mom about it, but that was all. Ever since coming to camp, though, she didn’t have much of a reason to be sad. Well, there was Rue, but this girl did her best not to think about her too much. In fact, when Caroline acted happy, she became happy - being with her brother automatically made her happy.

She didn’t know much about Matty, except that his name was actually Matthew and he was much much older than her. Caroline was never used to having siblings, nor was she now. Having a brother amazed her, and she automatically loved him even if she didn’t know him that well. Now that she was on the rocks, she had a better view of the clouds. “Walish?” she giggled. She knew what he meant, but the word was just plain silly. She liked it though. Maybe she would use it. “Oh and that cloud over there!” She pointed over to the left side. “It looks like a… a cloud?” she grinned. “No I think it’s looks like a bunny.”

Her joke wasn’t funny, but Caroline found it funny anyway. She found herself smiling non-stop even when the joke had faded away. Finally Matty had decided to join her and the girl clapped her hands. “Yay!” she exclaimed as she looked up at him. She had noticed that he was super-duper tall, but she had never figured out how tall he was. She was only 5’3” which lead her looking straight up at him. “How tall are you again, Matty?” she asked. It was lucky in a way. It made him stronger and faster.

The birds were chirping away, the sun was shining brightly and Caroline could even smell strawberries from the far distance. It was a perfect day as always. She enjoyed being here, even though it was a little strange talking to her brother. Don’t get her wrong, she loved talking to him; it’s just that they usually didn’t speak to each other much. She found it a bit difficult to come up with another subject, but with Caroline there was never an awkward silence. She talked about the first thing that came to her mind.

“So this other day there was this giant bug in our cabin, right? And no one else was in there. I couldn’t go ask someone to get it because by then who knows where it could’ve gone! So I grabbed my suitcase, emptied it, and the bug crawled right into it!” She honestly didn’t know what the point of the story was. “Anyway, did you see the mess in our room?” she giggled. “Yeah, that was me... Sorry about that! You don’t mind messiness do you?” she asked. Now she was rambling, so she looked up at the clouds instead.

[Matthew Williams]

Matthew was happy, now he was. Mostly he wasn't but that was okay. And even if he was, it didn't really show now did it? His expressions didn't show much. He was working on that, slowly. He'll get there, some day. He had faith in that.

Having a small sister was like getting a little bit of responsibility back. He loved the responsibility. He wanted to take care of someone. Maybe because he never had cared of because never really cared about him. It was good to know that he had someone now. It felt good. He looked over at the cloud she was pointing at. “A bunny huh? Nah, I think it looks like some kind of squirrel,” he said, teasing her a little. He wasn't going to take away her little fantasy, that would be mean. He laughed at the sight of her, so happy with just some clouds. The lucky thing was that they were the children of the God of the sky. He could help that cloud a little, to look more like a bunny.

He raised his hand up to the sky and fiddled a bit with his fingers, making the cloud into a cute bunny. “It just takes a lot of energy, and practice,” he said softly to her. “In case you're wondering,” he smiled at her. He barely ever used his powers. Except for when he was training. Lightning through his sword was amazing to work with. It took a lot of discipline and control, that's why it took him a few years to master it. When he was in his first year of camp, he had made it thunder in camp because he was in a bad mood. People left him alone after that and he had learned how to control it. Matthew smiled. “6'3,” he said.

Matthew agreed with the fact that they had to talk more. He needed to talk more in general to not lose his voice. Sometimes days passed by without him even saying a word. It was amazing because no one else seemed to be capable to do so. Was it really that odd that people didn't speak for a few days? It was just the way he did things. Matthew was really good in awkward silences. He didn't like them, but he had them a lot and that was just because he didn't really know how to keep a conversation up. He should try and change that.

“A bug?” he asked. He didn't really need an answer. He nodded and listened to her. “And... how did you get it out of the suitcase then? Is it still in there?” he wondered what she would do if it was. He didn't mind throwing it out for her. To be honest he did like a clean cabin. Order in a room meant order in your head, peaceful an calmth was important to Matthew. There was nothing wrong with adjusting though, but the place around his bunk was never messy, ever. “Oh no it's fine. Your cabin is my cabin, right?” he said, giving her another one of his smiles.

[Jonas Miller]

Ignore this post. I was never here.

This post has been edited by Jonas Miller on Apr 4 2012, 05:24 AM

[Caroline Sturm]

“Nooo! Not a squirrel!” she exclaimed. She was just fooling around though. She liked arguing with her siblings even if it was a fake argument. It was fun and silly and Caroline got to feel a little normal for once. “Wait, wait! If I tilt my head it might look like a squirrel!” she grinned. Caroline proceeded to tilt her head and looked up at the cloud. For a moment it actually looked like a squirrel, but then it quickly started changing form. Caroline had no idea that Matty had done that, so she had been completely surprised. Her eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head. “WHOA!” she screamed a bit loudly.

When she turned over to look at her brother, she realized that it was him who was doing this. “Oooh!” she giggled. “Now that makes sense. I thought I was going cray cray… Or maybe I already am,” she quickly added with a sheepish smile. But then she became a little bit more serious as she looked up at the cloud. “That’s really cool,” she smiled. This was probably the only time she would ever be so calm around her brother. “How much practice?” she asked curiously, still staring up at the cloud. She crossed her legs and leaned back, her arms propping her up.

“Six foot three?!” she asked, surprised. That was a whole foot taller than her! How on earth could he be her brother? That was not humanly possible! Or wait, maybe it was. Caroline still stared at her brother, amazed that someone could be that tall. Once she got eye contact, she began giggling like crazy, her face no longer serious. But then suddenly Matty had reminded her of something. THE BUG. Where on earth was the bug now?

Her face showed total shock. Caroline loved bugs and all, but she didn’t want to find one in her suitcase before going home to visit her mom, if that could ever happen. For a moment she thought about it, but then she sat upright and then grinned at her brother. “Oh my gods!” she exclaimed, unsure how to respond. “I totally left Mr. Buggy in there!” What if it had laid eggs during that time? That would be gross but cool at the same time! Matty was the type of person who liked to keep things clean, so how would he respond to this? He didn’t seem too bothered by the bug, but what about a billion bugs crawling around? Could that even happen in such a short time?

The situation was just weird, and it made Caroline a little bit nervous. She rarely showed this emotion but today was different. Besides, she was with her brother. “Oh gosh! What if it’s dead? Do you think it’s okay?” she asked, looking up at him with her wide brown eyes. Her mouth was slightly open and all she could do was gape.

[Matthew Williams]

Matthew laughed. “Everything looks like a squirrel eventually, you just have to give in to that,” he joked. He smiled at her. He definitely felt better around her. He could be himself around her, more open and less into the shell he was normally in. If it was still there, maybe it had gone away. The wall he had build around himself was gone, mostly. It was a good feeling, like a burden had left his shoulder and that he was almost done with processing things in his life. Caroline had no idea what her effect on people could be. He chuckled at her surprised look and looked up at the bunny in the sky. “Now that's not something you see every day.”

“Well you're the daughter of the king of Gods, if there's someone crazy around here, it must be you.” And himself and the other cabin siblings, but he wasn't telling her that of course. He liked the idea of her thinking she was the only one. For years he had thought he was going crazy too actually. Son of a god, yes he was exactly that. Any normal person would have looked at him with raised eyebrows. No one except for the people in this camp would actually believe him. And that's how he knew that camp was actually one big family. They could only trust each other and no one else. It's just something he had to live with, and everyone else.

He grinned. “That's definitely something I've heard before.” He looked up at the sky. Yeah the Gods up there were definittely mocking with the heights of their demigods. Matthew was really tall and then there was Caětlynn who was very short. It was funny how people were so diverse and yet alike. He couldn't be the only one thinking that's funny now could he? Not in a camp filled with demigods.

“I knew you would forget about it,” he said. “But that's okay, we'll get rid of it when we get back to the cabin. And if it doesn't leave voluntarily, we'll have to blast it out with lightning. Don't you agree?” he wouldn't actually use his powers for that, but it was just fun enough to mention it. “Was Mr. Buggy a Mrs. Buggy then?” he asked. It could be possible it had laid eggs. This was a warm climate they were in after all. He knew that most bugs would love the warm weather that ruled over camp half blood.

He looked at her, did she feel sorry for the bug now? But she was the one that had locked him up there in the first place, hadn't she? “Well did you leave airholes for it? And leaves? If not.. then he probable is dead...” he said softly. It was not a good way to bring it to her, but how else was he supposed to say it?

[Caroline Sturm]

“Teach me someday,” she said as she stared up at the cloud. She wanted to try it too, but she was afraid that she would make a storm or something, so she decided against it. Who else would be able to teach Caroline this anyway? Was there actually someone who could help her? She wondered who had taught him. After a while of staring at the sky, she turned to Matty and grinned. “Psh… You’re right. You look like a squirrel,” she teased as she grinned. Following that was a snort and then some more laughter. Caroline really didn’t know what she would do without the ability to laugh. It was like breathing for her.

It was nice to finally be able to talk to her brother. For a while, Caroline had felt really awkward near her siblings since she didn’t really know them. But now she was starting to feel a little more comfortable. Maybe next time there was a bug in the cabin she would be able to get her brother to help her get it out. “I’m not the crazy one!” she giggled, reaching out to poke her brother’s side. Ooh, maybe he was ticklish. How funny would that be? “You’re the one who can make clouds into different shapes! All I can do it… shock people,” she grinned. But of course, Caroline kinda was crazy. Her ADHD was strong which meant that she was always jumping up and down and giggling. She liked it like that though.

Caroline really couldn’t understand how she could have forgotten the bug in her case. Well, actually she did, but she wasn’t going to mention that. She was just really clumsy and forgetful. It had to have been her ADHD. She was starting to freak out a little bit, jumping up and down out of nervousness. But when Matty mentioned lightning, she couldn’t help but to laugh again, forgetting how worried she was. “I dunno!” she exclaimed, shrugging like a toddler with raised eyebrows. “I think it’s dead…”

Yeah, the bug was definitely dead. Poor little thing. Once she saved it, she would bury it a grave and give it flowers. The thought made her smile. “Why would I put holes and leaves into my suitcase?” she giggled. “Oh well,” she sighed as she leaned back, shrugging once again. “I guess that’s just a bug’s life.” Ooh! A Bug’s Life! She loved that movie.

“Matty!” she exclaimed, turning to him, excited. “What are your favorite movies?” she asked, suddenly dropping the subject about the bug. Now she wanted to know more about him. She didn’t need to learn about bugs. They were cute and all, but they didn’t really matter. Or maybe they did. “Do you like cartoons? Actions?” There were so many choices! “Ooh sometime we should watch a movie together! That would be awesome!” Of course Caroline would probably fall asleep during the middle of it, but that was besides the point.

[Matthew Williams]

“I will, you can count on that,” he said, He wouldn't let his sister down, that would be mean, wouldn't it? And besides, it was not like he had a sea of friends. He needed to work on things to make them better. Letting her down was not going to help him with that. He wasn't taught how to use his abilities. He had learned it himself, because there was no one around to do so. It hadn't mattered, he was always the solidair one. But every day was a new day, and time for change was there to, now. “Oh yeah, I definitely am one. I'm just in my human form right now,” he said and laughed. This was funny, being with his sister was funny and he loved it, a lot.

It didn't come naturally for Matthew to talk to others, which was sometimes clear in the way how he spoke to others. It also wasn't common that his cabin actually had other people, apart from him. So it took indeed some adjustment to cope with this all, but he did. He had peace with it and in fact, having siblings was amazing. Caroline was amazing. “Haha I guess you're right, lock me up before I get out of control!” he joked more. He looked at her. “Shocking people can be dangerous Caroline,” he warned her. “It drains your energy, you can collapse if you do it too much,” he said. Yes, he was worried about his sister. It's because it had happened to him in the past. He had used so much electricity that he collapsed right there in the arena. It took some time to control it.

Sometimes, being reckless was handy. Especially because nothing was certain from the start, the reaction ability was strong and he could pay attention at all times. Yet, Matthew didn't like that. He couldn't stand change. It was something that made him uncomfortable. But there was nothing he could do, apart from changing and working on himself. “Ah that's okay, I bet there's no army of bugs that will follow you in your sleep or anything, that only happens in books,” he said. She wouldn't actually be afraid of that, right?

“You wouldn't,” he said. Of course she wouldn't, her suitcase was a suitcase, not some kind of bug paradise. And with that, camp itself was great enough for bugs. Especially when looked at all the plants and water, the ground. Yeah, this camp was good for bugs. And not just bugs, he loved the nature around here. Which is why he was barely in the cabin, only when he needed rest.

“My favourite movie?” he asked. He had to think about this. He wouldn't want to say that he didn't like any movies, he just couldn't remember any. It had been a long time since he had last seen a movie, he wouldn't even know which ones are actual and which aren't. “I.....” he started. He frowned and looked down at his feet. It sounded silly if he said that he couldn't remember any. “Action I think, yep, action movies seem good.” He smiled at her and nodded. “Yes we should! And you can pick the movie, if you want.”

[Caroline Sturm]

“Oooh, awesome!” the brunette exclaimed as she started clapping in excitement once again. That was really starting to become a habit, wasn’t it? Well it wasn’t like she really thought about it, but hopefully it wasn’t annoying. “When you were new to camp, what was one of the first things you learned? Zeus-wise of course,” she added. This time she was a bit serious, curious to know what kind of things she was going to learn soon. She let out a chuckle as he admitted he was a squirrel. “I KNEW IT!” she exclaimed, pointing to him.

Caroline couldn’t tell that her brother was sometimes an odd person. She thought he was just as outgoing as she was; it seemed like it. He was a great brother. If anything, she was proud to have him as a brother even if he was the older one. Sure he was quiet once in a while in the cabin, but she was sure he had friends… somewhere. He seemed to get a little more serious when she had brought up the shocking. “Oh…” she said with a frown. “I never knew that. But something small won’t hurt once in a while,” she grinned as she reached out to poke him with a small shock.

It was amusing to her, okay? She thought it was funny. When she had been a kid, she had always walked out of the car to close the door, only to get shocked by the stupid thing. Now she realized that it hadn’t been her getting shocked, the car got shocked but the energy went back to her. “Yeah I know,” she suddenly said as they got onto the topic of bugs. She wasn’t afraid of that.

Movies! Caroline loved all types of movies… Except maybe horror. Horror really seemed to scare her a lot. She remembered how she had once gone to a horror movie with her best friend and ended up clinging to a stranger. “Action movies! Awesome!” she exclaimed with excitement. “I like all of them. We should chose an awesome animated movie to watch together!”

She leaned back, dangerously close to the ground. Her body was now sprawled across the side of the rock, though her legs helped keep her up. “Matty~” she sang out as she looked up and giggled. She couldn’t stop laughing now that she was falling. “Save me!” she called, though she wasn’t really falling. Well, if her foot slipped she would fall. She wiggled her feet which were probably by her brother’s lap. “Anyway,” she said. “How long have you been here at camp? Tell me some awesome stories!”

[Matthew Williams]

“I think it was the controlling storm thing,” he said, looking up at the sky to think about it. “Yeah it must have been that.” he thought about it. He had been angry that day. It was when he was about two weeks in camp. The emotions had gotten the best of him and he wasn't claimed yet. He remembered him walking to the lake, screaming his lungs out in disbelieve, anger. He remembered clenching his fists together, punching the air and throwing stones in the water in his rage. He remembered how the clouds turned darker and how lighting bolts started to form in the air. That's when he was claimed as a son of Zeus. Chiron had looked up, astonished as he had made his way to cabin 1.

Matthew was pushing himself to change, change to get more friends. He didn't have any, anymore that was. Sophie had been his friend before she was his girlfriend, and before she left camp and was probably dead now. Then there was Lacii, who had been his friend for three years in a row. But due to a sudden personality change, she apparently wasn't his friend either anymore. Breaking his face was enough for him to give up trying. He normally wouldn't have stopped trying, especially not since he's pretty afraid to end up alone. He didn't want to be alone and yet he didn't have another choice sometimes. And that's exactly why he thought of Caroline as a blessing.

He couldn't remember if he ever had had more signs of him being a demigod. For all he remembered he had always been the loner that everyone always tried to avoid. He was unpredictable, like a storm. That was true. Mostly he was calm and silent, but if he had the right (or actually wrong) trigger, he could fall into the blind rage he has had only once or twice in his life. It was bad because he actually couldn't remember what had happened when he was done.

Another smile appeared on his face when the always cheerful Caroline talked to him. She always seemed to put her heart into everything she was getting herself into, which was a great quality ifyou asked him. He always wondered how people did that. But then he realised that he did the same with his sword fighting. There was a reason that Zeus had given him a sword, wasn't there? “That sound terrific,” he said to her, meaning every word.

Matthew's eyes widened when he saw her hanging like that, she wasn't going to fall right?! His heart pounded in his throat as fear appeared in his face. He didn't want to lose another person, four people was enough. He reached out to pull her up and close to him as she called out. It may be nothing but a joke to her, but things like that really made him panic. Big time. “Don't do that again,” he said, forcing himself to calm down again. He wouldn't shout at her, but she had to stop being reckless on Zeus's fist. “Almost five years,” he said. “Some stories huh, what do you want to know?”

[Caroline Sturm]

See, Caroline was the total opposite from her brother. She had been popular at her old school; she rarely had trouble talking to anyone. Matty here, however, was quite awkward and shy… or something similar. She couldn’t tell what exactly it was, but decided it was because of something from the past. Whatever it was, she was going to do her best to make Matty forget it. If he was going to teach her how to use her powers, she would teach him how to become social again.

Still hanging off of the rock, she let out another giggle. But then when she realized how scared Matty was, her smile quickly faded away. Caroline had fallen off this thing a billion times. She was a klutz and she was used to it. So when she knew that she could’ve possibly fallen off, she hadn’t been worried. But her brother was starting to worry her. She could tell that he was worried. When his hands reached down to her, she quickly grabbed them and let him pull her back up. The look on his face made her scared even more.

“I- I won’t,” she nodded with wide, worried eyes. That was probably the first time she had stuttered in months, if not years. It was that she had never seen him this worried before. If he cried, she would cry. So when he was scared, she would be too. She leaned her head onto his arms (since she was too short to reach his shoulder) and smiled slightly as she reached out to grab his hand to squeeze it. For a moment she had been quiet, sinking in what had just happened. It was silent for a while until they changed the subject, which Caroline was really grateful for.

“Tell me about…” Caroline thought for a moment. She looked at her brother and grinned sheepishly. “Tell me how you lost your first tooth!” she grinned as she looked off into the distance. She had said the first thing that had come to her mind. For a moment she paused, but then she got a better story to talk about. “Nonono wait! Wait!” she exclaimed, making a scene. She waved her hands in his face to get his attention, though she knew she already had it. “Can you drive?” she asked curiously. Although she was 15 and was old enough to start learning, she was stuck at camp so she figured she’d never be able to drive. Children of Zeus were almost always in danger which meant that they had to be careful.