Emmett Francis Meade's Story

Sybil Nolan

Emmett Meade

Sybil Nolan yawned, stretching out like a cat in her bed. She had, once again, stayed up much too late the previous night, but she didn't feel like sleeping in. She could hear the first sounds of students outside and was eager to join them in the wonderful day. Pushing her blankets off with her feet she gave another yawn before finally standing. She threw open her wardrobe, eyeing potential outfits. In the end she went with jeans, a black shirt and jacket.

Sybil opened her door, stepping out into the corridor. It was with some surprise that she saw a male figure slipping out of a room just down from hers at the same time. The female and male students had different dormitories, which meant that whoever this guy was... well, Sybil could guess fairly well what they had been up to. He turned around and Sybil felt a smirk appear on her face as she recognised Emmett Meade.

His eyes widened slightly as he took Sybil in. Emmett wasn't a morning person and no doubt if he had been in his own bed he would have slept in until the last minute. But he had woken up in the girls' dormitory next to a sleeping girl whose name he couldn't quite remember. Sneaking out early had seemed like a good idea. Who would be up this early?
Still, Emmett couldn't help but grin as he saw that it was Sybil who had discovered him. She wasn't likely to gossip.

"Miss Nolan." He walked up to Hades' daughter, offering her his best smile. "How are you this morning?"
Sybil gave a quiet laugh. "Not as good as you." She replied, raising an eyebrow.
The two fell in step as they continued out of the female dorms, Emmett whistling softly under his breath. Once they had made it out of the building Emmett rolled his shoulders before placing a friendly arm over Sybil's shoulders.
"So dearest Sybil, about up there...?" Emmett nodded his head back to the dorms, "If... uh..." He paused, searching his mind for the girl's name.
"Anna." Sybil offered.
"That's the one. If Anna asks say I looked like I had some deathly disease."
"That can actually be arranged if you want a more realistic excuse." Sybil teased. Emmett pulled a face, but before he could reply a figure caught his attention.

Leonard Moreland shuffled into view, a pile of books obscuring his line of sight. He had been at the library early this morning, the better to avoid people. But as the sun rose he knew that more students would wake. So, wanting to avoid any awkward conversations he had collected up his books and set off for his room. He had been at the Academy for a month and had yet to make many friends, Nolan being the exception.

Emmett eyed up Leonard, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
"Emmett, leave him alone." Sybil muttered. She had seen the predatory look in Emmett's gaze before. With anyone capable of defending themselves she would have let Emmett have his fun. Leonard though was another case, Emmett would walk all over him.
Emmett gave Sybil a pout but didn't seem interested enough in teasing Leonard to do much more than make a face.
He detached himself from Sybil and shrugged,
"Catch you 'round" He said, giving her a mock salute. He turned and walked off towards his dorm, changing direction at the last minute to head for the cafeteria. Food would work well to wake him up.

Sybil watched Emmett go, quickly checking her pocket to make sure that her phone was still there. She loved the boy, he was a good friend, but he was a thief and a trickster through and through. Sybil often thought that he could steal the clothes off your back without you noticing and then, no doubt, he'd try and sell them back to you.
Sybil's hand closed around her phone, thankful it was still there. Then her fingers brushed against something she knew she hadn't put in her pocket. She drew it out to find a small, signed photo of Emmett. She laughed and shook her head at his joke.



Leonard, walking with his head down and his view obscured by his books, didn't see the rock that tripped him. All he knew was that one moment he was up and the next he was sprawling on the ground, his books falling from his hands.
"Are you alright?"
Leonard felt his cheeks colour as he realised Sybil Nolan was bending down beside him, offering him her hand. He ducked his head and pushed himself onto his knees. He couldn't form any words so he simply nodded and started to pick up his books. Sybil began to help him.
Leonard's heart was pounding and his mind was racing. Should he thank her? What if she didn't want thanks? Maybe he should smile at her, to let her know he appreciated her help. Or would she think that he was being too friendly? But if he didn't do anything would she find him cold?
"Did you know the name Sybil comes from the Greek sibylla, meaning prophetess?" [/color] The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them and he felt his cheeks redden more. Sybil smiled and shook her head, she hadn't known.
"What does Leonard mean?" She asked. It was one of the first times Leonard had actually talked to her, she didn't want to ruin it. Apparently though she had asked the wrong question because Lenny shook his head, grabbed the books Sibyl has holding and made a quick get away leaving Sybil staring after him confused.

Leonard bit his lip, "What does Leonard mean?" she had asked. Leonard meant 'lion-hearted' or 'lion-strength'. Lenny hated the meaning since he was so far from being 'strong'. Shaking his head he pushed the thought from his mind and continued heading towards the dorm. The safety of his room beckoned.

His stomach rumbling, Emmett headed towards the cafeteria for a well-deserved breakfast. He was awake, he was happy and he was looking forward to what the day would bring. As he entered the cafe, his arms crossed over his head as he stretched, Emmett scanned the tables for someone to sit with. His eyes lit upon Arielle and Santiago. Arielle was one of his favourite people at the school. She was pretty, assertive and not scared to let people know when they bothered her.

Emmett took a quick detour before making his way towards Arielle and Santiago's table. First he stopped to pile a plate with food. Ahead of him was Abby, doing likewise. Abby and him got alone reasonably well. He wouldn't call them great friends but he said hello to her whenever he her.
"Morning Abs." He called, shortening her name. He gave her a friendly nod before picking up his plate. It was a balancing act to make sure that everything stayed on it. He had piled it up as much as possible and was determined not to let any piece of food fall. Emmett glided towards Arielle's table and, without waiting for an invitation, pulled out a chair. He plopped down, letting his food hit the table with a light smack.

"Good morning fellow students." He greeted the two, "I hope you're both feeling well on this fine day." His voice hinted at sarcasm but his greeting of the two was real. While he didn't know Santiago as well as Arielle he had nothing against the boy. The fact that he was friends with Arielle meant that he must be alright.
"You're looking as radiant as ever Ari, made anyone cry yet?" There was a playfulness in Emmett's words. A grin spread across his face as he began to devour his breakfast.



As if the embarrassment of dropping his books in front of Sybil wasn't enough, no sooner had Leonard left Hades' daughter behind than he walked straight into another demi-god. This one was Paige, a girl who Leonard had never worked up the courage to talk to... then again he hadn't really talked to many people at this school so there wasn't anything special about him not talking to Paige. Except that his mind, usually analysing everything anyway, went into hyper-drive when she was around.

"Excuse me," Her voice was calm and her eyes held his for a moment before she moved around him. Leonard scrambled to find something, anything to say, or even to show some form of acknowledgment. Instead his cheeks turned red, again. He found himself turning to watch her leave. Then he realised that he was staring. What if she turned around and saw him watching her? Would she think he was angry? Or Creepy? Or that he liked her? Leonard shook his head and turned on his heel, pushing himself through the dormitories doors. Paige was pretty, and she seemed nice. But maybe he should have talked to her just now. He hoped he hadn't made any bad impression on her by not speaking... then again what if he hadn't made an impression at all? Maybe she didn't even know his name. Which might not be a bad thing if she thought ill of him because he hadn't spoken back there...

Leonard sometimes wished that his brain would just turn off. It was hard to decide on any one action when he was constantly thinking up pros and cons for everything, analysing each path chosen and coming up with alternatives. With people it was even worse. His normally logical mind seemed to leave and be replaced by one that stammered, stuttered and came to conclusions that generally left Leonard looking like a shy fool.

Attempting to push the run in with Paige to the back of his mind Lenny opened his room and, thankfully, closed the door behind him. At least here, in his personally sanctuary, he was temporarily safe from making a fool of himself.



Sybil watched Leonard go, wondering once again how someone could be so painfully shy. Sybil wasn't an overly loud girl but she never had problems speaking her mind when asked. She accepted that everyone was different and yet Leonard's shyness was almost painful to watch. Still, he was new to the school. Hopefully as he became comfortable here he would come out of his shell a bit.

Sybil ran a hand through her hair, glancing around the courtyard she was in and trying to decide where she wanted to go and what she wanted to do. She wasn't hungry yet, breakfast could wait, but she didn't feel particularly like doing any kind of exercise or study.
In the end she decided to head towards the sea. Sybil could make out a floating figure in the choppy waters, no doubt one of Poseidon's children and possibly her friend Saoirse, if Sybil's eyes were correct. Rather than disturb anyone Sybil chose to take a seat in the shade of a large tree, finding a reasonably comfortable position amongst the roots. She didn't have a book to read and she didn't feel like playing a game on her phone so instead Sybil looked up between the tree branches and contented herself with watching the shadows play amongst the leaves.

To her eyes she could almost see shapes as the breeze blew between the leaves. Perhaps it was due to her powers, darkness manipulation in particular. Shadows were part of her and they seemed to react slightly whenever she was around, no doubt as they did for her half-siblings. If she wanted to she could call on her powers and actually make the shadows into a solid form, but right then she was happy to let them change with the wind.

When Halley saw Arielle she slowed down her pace to walking. The Asia girl was bound to be meeting friends in the cafe, as she was the social, popular girl type. Halley examined Arielle from a distance, her hair was perfectly straight containing no fly always. There was a chance it was dyed, maybe highlighted. Hmm. Her makeup was done with perfect precision and most likely took up the majority of her morning. Why would Arielle even bother with those heels, this wasn't exactly a fashion show...
She watched Arielle make her way over to Santiago, the dreadlocks and Hades son guy who was already seated.


As she turned away from Arielle, Halley made but the slightest mocking look on her face barely sticking her tongue out, scrunching her eyebrows and tilting her head slightly. This face only lasted a second or two though. To hopefully not be seen by anyone.


The small roman girl made her way to the breakfast food. Fruits, cereal, dairy and wheat products were spread across a long narrow table. Twinkling her fingers over the food she was unsure which to choose, everything looked so fresh and delectable. She settled on an orange, blue berry muffin and chocolate milk. Which would fill her small stomach until lunch.It was completely natural for Halley to not care what she ate. She was born with high metabolism keeping her tiny no matter what she consumed.


So she took her food to an nearby empty table and plopping into the seat she pick at the muffin pulling the blueberries out and eating them individually while she occupying herself with her OmniSerm.


After she'd fiddled around a while on her phone she glanced up to find the cafe's population growing in number. Not only had Emmett Meade sat down with Arielle and Santiago but, her older brother Thayer and his friend Nolan, whom Halley knew little of, had entered the cafe. Lastly she noticed Abby Jarvis at the buffet choosing out her breakfast. Halley actually liked Abby, mostly because she liked karate too. But also because she seemed like a nice person to be around. After Halley finished her examination of the cafe she went back to her phone.

Halley pulled out a white and shiny blue tooth from her navy blue, fine cloth back pack. She inserted it into her ear. Not only could in receive calls, which Halley never got anyways, but it also was able to pick up any nearby conversations (With tweaking for the tech girl herself). You see, if a person had a phone around Halley could use that phones speakers, transmit it to her earpiece and well, thats spytech for you. To be honest Halley didn't own much of this equipment but it certainly could be good in eavesdropping times like these.

As per usual, Xavier had gotten up early. It wasn't because he couldn't sleep that he always did but rather that he liked to walk around the Academy, taking in his school.
On this particular morning, while walking past the river, Xavier spotted Sybil - Perfect.

Gliding over to, he placed a brilliant smile on his face and greeted her, "good morning Sybil, you're looking exceptionally hideous this fine morning - Have you been using a new shampoo or something?"
Xavier lets a small smirk replace the fake smile as she scanned the area around them.

He almost overlooked what could potentially be a great prank, almost, but luckily his eyes landed on the small bundle of clothing that lay on the shore and the small figure way out in the sea.
"Ah, Saoirse right?" He whispered to himself and gave Sybil a bow before she could respond.
"Alas, m'lady," Xavier teases in a slightly western accent, "duty calls."
He mock tilts his imaginary cowboy hat before waltzing over to the little pile of clothing and picking them up, swiftly walking off with them.

Glancing over his shoulder, Xavier winks at Sybil and makes his way to the food-hall, dumping the clothes in a small dustbin.
Granted the girl was wearing a swimsuit but she would also have to walk a long way to the girl's dorm and hopefully, there would be many people outside by then - Which could prove funny and anyway, even if it didn't work out, what did he care?

Entering the hall, Xavier almost immediately spots Emmett and makes his way over, grabbing a small blueberry muffin along the way, he sits down and smiles, "morning."

---

---

As Rose pulled out her notebook and returned back to the drawing, shading the face of who she believed was her father. Again, she had to remind herself that the blurry man in the picture was her father, not her dad. There is a difference to the Romanian. She froze for a minute hearing someone speaking to her. "Very nice drawing," She looked to her side to see Sage. They weren't good friends, but they had no problem with each other. So, whenever they saw one another they were friendly. She looked back down at the pencil drawing with a small smile of accomplishment on her pale face. "The shading is stupendous. It must have taken you a while to draw that." She gave the girl a nod before letting out a small thank you. She watched as the girl walked away and breathed in deeply before going back to the drawing. And before she knew it, she could hear someone else coming up behind her and begin talking to her. And when the person began to speak, she knew exactly who it was. "Woahhh," She turned to look up at her friend, Rowan. When she saw the look in his brown eyes filled with wonder which made her smile towards him. "That IS a nice drawing." She nodded before speaking towards the younger boy.

"Thanks Rowan. I've been working on it forever." She said as she looked back at the photograph before the boy asked her a question. "Rosalie, is that your family?" She looked down at the grass before shrugging. "More or less of a 'family'. I think of them only as the ones that brought me into the world. Nothing more really." She told him before closing the notebook and putting it back in her bad before looking back up at Rowan. She looked at him and only seeing one arm, she raised an eyebrow before standing up and looking in the distance to see Brandon coming towards them. She gave a smirk as he tripped over a root from the tree the girls were under, knowing he was nervous around Selyse. "Hello Brandon." She said giving him a small wave. "What's everyone up to today? Mind if I join you?" "And by join us, you mean join Selyse." She said in her head with sarcasm. Not that she would say it out loud. She didn't want to embarrass her friend, especially someone who couldn't go a day without tripping or stuttering around people. Even Rose herself had better social skills... And she rarely talked to people unless she knew them closely. Which weren't many people. When he knelt down to Selyse, Rose picked up her bag and put it on her shoulder. "Or would you prefer I left you guys alone with your books and your private conversation."

"Actually, I was just about to go to the cafeteria to get some breakfast before class starts." She looked at Rowan before speaking again. "Rowan, do you want to come with me just in case Arielle and her followers are there." She asked darting her eyes in the way towards the cafeteria telling him to go with her or go somewhere that wasn't there.

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As Santiago and Arielle talked about their plans for the weekend, probably including their other best friend, Vanity in their plans. They planned on going into town with a group of friends, hoping to pick up guys for the night. But, the whole time they were talking with each other, Arielle could tell that Santiago was looking for someone. And she knew exactly who that 'someone' was; Nolan Yarley. Someone the Asian girl didn't know a lot about except that he was a Zeus kid and that Santi had eyes for him. Which made her be nice to the baby doll faced boy and for that reason only. She whistled towards the Hawaiian, getting her attention before pointing to a table not too far from the two. "Earth to Santiago. Why do you like him so much, I mean he's... the complete opposite of you and it weird to think of you two together. I mean, it was weird enough knowing you slept with Reuben." She said to him as he rolled his eyes. "Look, I don't need to explain my reasons to anyone but myself. Thank you very much and besides you said you would never bring that up again. I have my reasons for everything I do." He replied before smirking and taking a sip of his black coffee before finally looking in the direction that Arielle had pointed. Showing him where Nolan was sitting. He gave a small smile to the table before returning his stare back to his friend who had a smug look on her face. "Oh what?! What's with the face, Elle?" He asked as the girl simply shook her head before fixing a piece of hair behind her right ear.

"Oh, who are you to talk about romance? You don't like chicks and you make most guys cry themselves to sleep every night. The only guy that might be able to handle you is--" Was all he said before Emmett sat down next to Arielle and spoke. "Good morning fellow students. I hope you're both feeling well on this fine day." With that said, Santiago looked back Arielle who now had a smirk on her face as she looked at the man had just joined them. "Emmett." Ari looked at her best friend before speaking to him, "Shut up, Santiago." She looked back at the man next to her and gave him a charming but sarcastic smile. "Hello Emmett. I don't remember inviting you to sit at our table. But, since you're already here." She said in sarcasm, doing her best to hide her accent, knowing it wasn't most... popular thing to have when you already stick in school like a sore thumb. "You're looking as radiant as ever Ari, made anyone cry yet?" She gave him a smile before flipping her black hair over her shoulder and answering him. "Why thank you very much, It's take effort to be this gorgeous. And sadly, no. Not yet, knowing me it should be anytime now." She told the two males at the table before see Halley, who seemed to have slowed down her pace once seeing Arielle when they were walking in. When she saw the girl looking. Arielle gave the gave a sarcastic wave and smile to match before giving her an eye roll. She watched the girl turn away and go to a table on her own.

Arielle grabbed a small piece of toast off of Emmett tray before nibbling on it and seeing Xavier sit down and speak to Emmett. "Morning." She gave a small smile toward her half brother before speaking to her best friend who had been trying to learn Chinese so they could say things about anything without people knowing exactly what they were saying. "Yánzhòng de shì, zài zhèlǐ wǒmen shuō duìfāng de liǎng gè jiāhuo zhǐshì huá'ěrzī yǐwéi tāmen yǒngyǒu cǐ biǎo." (Seriously, here we are speaking to each other and two guys just waltz up thinking they own this table.) Looking back up from his breakfast, he looked at Xavier before looking to Ari. "Hēi, wǒ bù bàoyuàn de kànfǎ. Érqiě, bù cǎiqǔ xíngdòng, rúguǒ nǐ hèn tāmen ó zhème duō." (Hey, I'm not complaining of the view. And, don't act as if you hate them oh so much.) She scoffed before looking at the two boys at her side. God, Santiago was smart sometimes. Shockingly, but she did enjoy having both Emmett and Xavier around. Xavier was her half brother for gods sakes and Emmett was... Emmett. She always enjoyed having his company. "I guess you're right, but seriously never say that first part again. Do you hear me, Williams? I will end up making you less popular then Rosalie and her little friends." She threatened with her head tilted and a fake sweet smile on her face.

Sage Fitzgerald

Sage checked the watch on her left wrist. There was still plenty of time before classes started. She could never understand people who chose to wake up later. Days felt so much fuller when they were longer. Time was a precious thing. She could never comprehend why so many people wanted to idly waste it with dreaming and sleep. Of course, you needed sleep to function, but too much of it was just ridiculous. Maybe that was the reason she could never understand the children of Hypnos....

Sage had left the lake not only due to the fact that the place was becoming awfully crowded, but also because she had finished her four-hundred page book about the famous Battle of Thermopylae. The library was her next destination. While she still had time, she would return the book, pick out some new ones, and help the librarians in any way she could. Sometimes, she walked into the library to find that the shelves of books were in the incorrect order, or that books were missing from their spots and were scattered across the tables instead.

However, her plans promptly changed when she found Xavier Richards, a mischievous and arrogant child of Khione, gliding past her as he walked swiftly towards the school building. She completely disregarded his presence, until she saw what he had in his hands; a tee-shirt, jeans, and a vivid-colored cardigan. Judging by the way they were styled, Sage could tell they weren't his. They were way too small to fit him. It could only mean that they were women's clothing. There was something remotely fishy about his pacing, so the child of Athena decided to follow him. She walked slow enough so that her whereabouts weren't suspicious, but fast enough that she could catch up with him.

As she was on his tail, she understood that he was heading the same way that she had originally planned to go. However, it wasn't until he made a sudden turn that she realized he was approaching the dining hall. She stopped in her tracks for a while, letting him enter the dining hall before she made her way inside. That way, it would seem less likely that Sage had been following him for yards. Releasing a heavy breath of air, she entered the cafe, tightening the ponytail on the top of her head as she walked in with wide strides.

Her eyes locked onto Xavier's black hair. She watched him as he approached Arielle Liu, Santiago Williams, Emmett Meade, and other kids Sage wasn't particularly fond of. Realizing the clothing wasn't in his hands anymore, Sage checked all around her, hoping she would find them. Sure enough, as she expected, the clothing had been dumped into a small dustbin that was near her. She looked down at the articles of women's clothing, particularly the red and white cardigan. Little specks of light colored dirt or sand could be seen all across the clothing. Whomever had worn them or had owned them before Xavier had been outside somewhere. Her mind deep in thought, Sage kept inspecting the clothing. The clothes weren't really soiled, so what was the purpose of throwing them out? Knowing Xavier Richards, he had most likely pulled a prank on an innocent girl. Then again, there could have been other reasons, but all of them seemed unlikely. With a resentful sigh, Sage slowly approached the table where Xavier was sitting.

Despite there being a multitude of people Sage disliked, such as Arielle, she had never really feared them, as other kids did. She had heard stories of demigods who were frightened by the daughter of Khione. It was obscene to Sage, as she had never seen her as a major threat, but she took people's opinions of the girl into account. As she neared the cafeteria table, she could hear Arielle say,
"I guess you're right, but seriously never say that first part again. Do you hear me, Williams? I will end up making you less popular then Rosalie and her little friends." Of course. Gossip and threats. What else did these kids have better to do?

"Excuse me," Sage spoke sternly yet politely, "Sorry to infringe your conversation, but I have to ask Xander a question."
Xander. Sage was always getting his name wrong. It just seemed to be his name in particular that she could never remember.
She glanced at everyone sitting at the table with her chilling gray eyes. She kept her focus on Emmett for a while. Much to her discontent, the two were acquaintances. However, Sage never bothered with Emmett outside of the classroom or library. He was much too shady for her to consider him a true friend.

"Just out of curiosity," she started, "why did you throw those clothes in the garbage? I walked in, and I saw you dumping them in the dustbin over there. I'm just asking because they looked like girl's clothing, and i was intrigued."

---

"Thanks Rowan. I've been working on it forever." Rosalie said in response to his compliment. The brunette looked down at the grass and shrugged in response to his question about the people in the drawing. "More or less of a 'family'. I think of them only as the ones that brought me into the world. Nothing more really." He saw that the picturesque smile on her face had been replaced with a deep and sullen expression. "Oh..." he replied, his face matching Rosalie's. Once again, he had made the situation dreadfully awkward. He stared off into space, until the sound of a familiar voice brought him back to earth. "H-hey! What's everyone up to today?"

It was Brandon Faust, a child of Ares, and in Rowan's opinion, one of the coolest guys in the academy. Brandon was so big, strong, and laid-back, that Rowan couldn't help but look up to him as a sort of role model. For a child of the god of war, he never had a ferocious temper. "Sup, Brandon!" he greeted him with a hearty grin.

Rosalie greeted him as well. "What's everyone up to today? Mind if I join you?" he said through a slight stutter. Some people talked about how Brandon was awkward with girls, but Rowan didn't see it. If anything, HE was ten times more awkward with girls than Brandon was. "Or would you prefer I left you guys alone with your books and your private conversation?" he added. "Actually, I was just about to go to the cafeteria to get some breakfast before class starts." Rosalie replied. She then glanced up at Rowan, who was surprised to see that she remembered he was still there. "Rowan, do you want to come with me just in case Arielle and her followers are there?"

The name Arielle threw him off guard, and his cheeks started to uncontrollably grow a bright pink for the second time that day. "Uhhhhh....." he said, his left hand scratching the back of his head. He knew it was ridiculous, but Rowan was somewhat scared of Arielle Liu and her followers. He'd heard stories about her and Vanity Blond, and he knew that those two were bad news. Then again, he had never associated with them, so they probably didn't care about him anyway. He let out a half-smile, and swung his drawstring bag back unto his back.
"Ah, what the heck? I've already eaten breakfast today, but I can go for round two." He chuckled under his breath, and then lifted his right arm towards the girls and Brandon.

"If we're going. I might as well show you this," his eyelids lowered as he spoke in a lower tone of voice, "this is what I managed to do to myself today."
His lime-green arm shined brightly in the sun. "I bump into a girl on my way here, and then as soon as I get up, I find that my damn arm is lime-green!"

Sybil Nolan

Sybil had been enjoying herself as she relaxed under the large tree. That is until a voice jarred her thoughts.
"Good morning Sybil, you're looking exceptionally hideous this fine morning - Have you been using a new shampoo or something?" A scowl was forming on her face as Sybil glanced up to see the source of the words.
Xavier Richards, the son of Khione and quite possibly one of Sybil's least favourite students. He always seemed to make a habit of irritating her, now being a prime example. His face was plastered with a large smile that would have melted the heart of any girl, provided she didn't know his personality.
"Witty as ever Xavier." Sybil muttered, although it appeared that he didn't hear her words as his attention was drawn elsewhere.

He whispered something that Sybil couldn't quite catch before giving Sybil a bow,
"Alas, m'lady... duty calls." His accented words were followed by a tip of an imaginary hat before Xavier wondered off. Sybil watched him go, pleased to see the back of him. He only looked back once at her, winking as he left. Sybil pulled a face before getting to her feet. His appearance had completely ruined her morning, but at least something else had drawn his attention away from her.
Sybil glanced back to the spot where he had disappeared. She hadn't seen what he had picked up but no doubt it meant that someone would soon be upset.

She wondered over to the spot and realised that what Xavier had taken were Saoirse's clothes. Sybil silently cursed the boy before stepping to the edge of the water and cupping her hands around her mouth, the better to get her voice across to Saoirse.
"Hey! Marisa!" Sybil called, using Saoirse's nickname, "You might want to come in."
Sybil didn't really want to yell out that Saoirse's clothes had been stolen. She would wait at the water's edge for her friend. The only piece of clothing she could offer Saoirse was her black jacket but Sybil could easily manipulate shadows to cover Saoirse if she wanted, or even shadow travel to her room to grab some clothes. Admittedly the shadow traveling would be a last resort considering the amount of energy it cost Sybil, but it wasn't against the school rules since she wasn't using her powers on another person.

---

Emmett Meade

Emmett happily dug into his breakfast as he sat with Arielle and Santiago.

"Emmett" Arielle greeted him, flashing a charming smile his way. There was, as expected, a hint of sarcasm on her lips, "I don't remember inviting you to sit at our table. But, since you're already here."
Emmett grinned, hearing the sarcasm in her voice. Even without sarcasm he wouldn't have been phased. Emmett was rarely insulted and besides he got on very well with Arielle. He knew that she didn't really mind his presence.
"Why thank you very much, It's take effort to be this gorgeous. And sadly, no. Not yet, knowing me it should be anytime now." Arielle replied to Emmett's compliment, flicking her hair behind her shoulder. Emmett bit into his remaining piece of toast as Arielle took the other.

A moment later Xavier sat down at their table, a simple "Morning" and a smile his only greeting. Emmett grinned at Xavier, he was undoubtedly Emmett's closest male friend at Mount Olympus. Emmett always enjoyed having Xavier around. As Arielle and Santiago burst into a string of Chinese that Emmett had no way of understanding he turned to Xavier and nodded back towards the rubbish bin,
"What's that all about?" He asked. Emmett was intrigued to find out what Xavier had been up to, no doubt whatever it was would be worth a good laugh.

A figure slid into a seat around their table and Emmett glanced over to find Paige was now seated with them. He nodded her a greeting and called quickly across the table, "I'm surprised to see you up." . He smiled, letting her know that he was teasing before turning his attention back to Xavier.

Apparently he wasn't the only one curious about Xavier's activities because a figure suddenly loomed over the table.
"Excuse me... Sorry to infringe your conversation, but I have to ask Xander a question."
Sage's eyes cast around the table, her grey eyes glancing from person to person before resting on Emmett for a moment. He gave her a wink, purposefully ignoring the serious tone to her voice. He liked Sage, for all that she appeared to be constantly serious she was always able to help Emmett with school work when he asked. But this was neither a social call or a visit to discuss classwork. Instead Sage seemed to be questioning Xavier on his most recent prank. As Emmett was also curious to hear Xavier's answer he remained quiet and waited.

"What's that all about?" Emmett asked.

Xavier barely had time to shoot his a small "You'll see," with a smirk before Sage came over.
Turning to face her, Xavier smiled broadly, entwining his fingers and placing them behind his head, waiting for her to speak.
"Just out of curiosity," Sage began, "why did you throw those clothes in the garbage? I walked in, and I saw you dumping them in the dustbin over there. I'm just asking because they looked like girl's clothing, and i was intrigued."

Deciding to ignore the fact that she had the cheek to call him Xander, Xavier studied the girl for a minuet, taking a bite from his muffin and leisurely taking his time to reply.
"Lovely to see you too, Sage," He beamed, pushing aside her question for now - Why on earth should he tell her?
Instead, Xavier continued, "how are you this fine morning?"

Another bite of his muffin and he could tell Sage was agrivated, Xavier loved to wind people up, and seeing as it was so easy for him to do, why shouldn't he?

While waiting for her response Xavier barely heard Halley's greeting to Sage.
"Halley!" He exclaimed, as if they were long-time friends,"How are you? Do join our delightful conversation - I was just saying how much of a fine morning it was, don't you agree?"
The sarcasm dripped from his words as Xavier fixed his favourite fake smile onto his face, oh how he loved this.

Eyeing Halley, Xavier could tell the girl was intimidated even before she had reached the table, and so she should be, anyone of the people on this table could burst her pretty little bubble in a second - Damn, Xavier loved reminding himself that he could do that.

---

---

Saiorse Zuri Marisabel Smyth

"Marisa"
Was that Sybil? Saoirse turned her head to see a small figure calling for her - Had she drifted that far out in the water?
Diving under the water to maximize her speed as she swam through the sea.
Re-surfacing, Saoirse turned to Sybil and smiled, greeting he friend she asks,"What's up, you sounded urgent?"

While saying this, she looked around for her clothes, frowning when she realised they had gone, how could they have just 'disappeared'.
Someone must have taken them, but who would be so mean and petty? Saoirse thought, knowing the answer immediately.
"Xavier," She hisses softly, looking at Sybil, "it was him wasn't it?"

Without waiting for a response Saoirse scrunched up her fists; beginning to marching toward the library, water dripping off her skin as she went - Would he be in here?

On the way, she noticed Leo and smiled at him, a small greeting before she ran past and into the building, her hands still tightly balled, she would not hesitating in punching that, that, that ass!
As she stormed into the Library, she suddenly became aware of her predicament - She was standing in the library soaked and everyone staring at her, brilliant.

Shaking it off, Saiorse looked around a little before deciding that he wasn't there, leaving, she made a bee-line for the food-hall, she wouldn't change, no, this way she'd show Xavier that she honestly didn't care (even though she most obviously did).

Before entering the hall, Saoirse hesitated a little, thinking about how humiliated she'd be, but soon Saoirse's fury enveloped her again and she walked calmly but determinedly through the doors, spotting Xavier and walking over to him.
Taking a deep breath, she looked him straight in the eyes, ignoring everyone around her, and asked him simply, "where did you put them?" Never once taking her eyes from the boy.

Maddie had been up long before the sun with her feather duvet curled around her slender frame. The young daughter of Hecate suspected there might be a pop quiz in Mr. Guess's history class this morning and refused to fail. Of course, it was only a rumor that a test would actually be handed out. In any case, Maddie didn't want to take the chance. She would know all the material he'd assigned front to back before stepping foot into that classroom. Occasionally she would curse herself for how irrational she was being when it came to schooling, but Maddie feared falling behind and had vowed to never let it happen. Sure, that meant more study hours and less time with friends, but school came first.

Suddenly, the Tinkerbell alarm clock stationed on Maddie's desk sounded, breaking her trance with the textbook. If she didn't get a move on, she'd be late and then, it wouldn't matter if she was prepared for the possible quiz or not. The vintage-patterned, black and white duvet fell to the floor as Maddie scrambled from bed. She, being anything save for routine, had no idea which outfit she'd be wearing or how her hair would fall, but she knew she better pick up the pace and decide soon. Her closet held an array of colors and fashions. Maddie, though she'd hate to admit it, took pride in her closet and enjoyed mixing and matching different styles. She wasn't one of those girls who took the easy, comfortable route. No. Instead, Maddie always dressed to the nines.

With the realization that she was wasting even more time by just standing there staring, the brunette took off in a flurry, piecing together different articles until she finally stumbled upon an outfit she liked. The aqua colored pants would make her eyes pop and the black overtones would mesh quite well with her hair. Maddie was satisfied with her choice and worked overtime to pull her hair into a low side ponytail. Within moments, she was checking herself over in the mirror ultimately content with her reflection.

A grumble of her stomach reminded Maddie that she hadn't yet been to get breakfast. Inwardly, she cursed herself. She knew she should start managing her time better, but she lacked the discipline to do so. Life wasn't supposed to be planned out down to the last second. After all, time was merely an abstract invention created by man. In a true sense, there was no such a thing as time. Maddie wished more people had the same outlook as she, but didn't dwell on the fact too much as she set out for the cafeteria.

As luck would have it, as soon as she stepped outside the dorms, Maddie spotted her good friend, Austin. Austin took Maddie for who she was, never tried to change her, and always lent an ear should she need one. In the true nature of friendship, Maddie did the same for him, though Austin didn't need her as much as she tended to need him. It was a friendship, nonetheless and she was very proud to have someone as gentle and caring as Austin in her life.

"Austin!" Maddie called from across the way. "Austin, over here!" she yelled out a second time.

Finally, the son of Hypnos spotted her and started towards her. "Good morning, Maddie." Austin told her quietly. His nature was to say only as many words as were necessary to convey his point. Maddie was actually surprised that Austin had ever opened up to her, but now their friendship seemed so natural.

"And to you too." she returned. "I'm headed off to the cafeteria to get something to eat before class. Want to join me?" she questioned. A simple nod of the head was all Austin offered up in return. Maddie took that as a sign that he didn't really want to talk this morning, and so the two walked in silence in the direction of the cafeteria. What Maddie hadn't expected was the scene before them when they arrived. A dripping wet Saoirse stood in front of a crowd, clearly angry. Scanning the group of people, Maddie put together the fact that Xavier had no doubt pulled another prank. While she liked Xavier and thought he was a pretty alright guy, she didn't find this amusing in the slightest.

"Will you go grab me a banana and blueberry muffin, Austin? I'm going to try to help Saoirse." she told her best friend, but carefully left out exactly how she planned to help. Another nod of the head, and Austin was gone. Maddie really did appreciate the fact that he never butted his way into places he didn't belong. If she didn't want to offer up details, he wasn't going to ask for any. She liked it that way.

A table sat empty a row or two down from where the group had gathered. Arielle, Santi, Emmett and a few others were gathered at their regular table and Sage, Halley, and Saoirse all stood in front. Maddie chose the empty table giving her a direct line of sight to Saoirse. With a quick, almost inaudible incantation, the water that dripped from Saoirse dried up. Her swimsuit and hair began to dry as well. In a matter of seconds, there was no more water left on the girl. Maddie knew she was breaking the rules, but she was also helping. Besides, it wasn't like anyone could pinpoint the mystery drying to her. A child of Poseidon could do the same exact thing.

After catching Emmett giving her a vivacious wink as she had predicted, Sage was surprised to find that he looked as curious as she had been when she had questioned Xavier about his actions. With a playful and deceitful look on his face, the child of Khione took a bite out of his blueberry muffin, and took his time to respond, as though the question meant no significance. To say the least, Sage was disgusted by his attitude.

"Lovely to see you too, Sage," he said, a wildly insolent grin on his face, "how are you this fine morning?"
He took another bite of his muffin. Clearly he wasn't in the mood to give her a direct answer.
"Dandy." she replied, a dark smirk on her face, "Although, I've been better."

"Hi Sage..." said a soft, monotonous voice behind her. The voice had belonged to a girl's, and it was awfully quiet, as though a mouse had just learned how to speak. Slightly turning her head and casting her eyes as far to the right as they could go, Sage glanced at none other than Halley McClain, a daughter of Hephaestus.

"Hello, Halley." she greeted, matching Halley's sweet-sounding tone. Although Sage respected Halley and had absolutely nothing against her, she couldn't help but wonder why the girl had even bothered to approach her. Just from the way her voice slightly trembled, it was evident that Halley had been reluctant to approach the table. So why did she? In the midst of a battle of sarcastic remarks, it was almost a foolish decision to approach her at that moment....

Of course, it wasn't long until the hawk started to claim its prey. "Halley!" Xavier sarcastically greeted the girl,
"How are you? Do join our delightful conversation - I was just saying how much of a fine morning it was, don't you agree?"
A simple polite question was now turning into something else. Sage was never one to have a short-fuse, but it was the mocking of the weak that she couldn't stand, even if the victim was being taunted in a subtle manner. As she stared at the arrogant boy with intimidating and chilling eyes, the feather attached to the chain around her neck started to glow, as if supernaturally. The expression on her face became intense with anger.
"She wasn't ta-..."

Sage had lost her focus when out of the corner of her eye, she saw a girl furiously sauntering into the food hall, her wet bathing suit dripping water onto the floor. At first, Sage was confused by Saoirse's entrance, but after recalling that the girl was a child of Poseidon, everything instantly clicked in her head. Xavier had stolen the clothes from Saoirse while she was swimming. It only made sense.

"Where did you put them?" she said simply. With the enraged glimmer in her eyes, the plain words came out ferociously. Sage watched as Saoirse stared at Xavier. The two seemed to shoot daggers at each either as their gazes interlocked.
"Saoirse, are you talking about jeans, a tee-shirt, and a red and white cardigan?" she said calmly to the infuriated girl. It was that moment that Sage noticed Madison Bridle, a daughter of Hecate, standing next to Saoirse, using mystokinesis to dry the soaked girl. Madison was someone who Sage had always consistently shown recognition to. She always seemed to have her head on straight.

The child of Athena briskly walked over to the garbage can, pulled the clothing out, and gently handed it to Saoirse.
"I'm assuming these are yours? I discovered them while I was entering into the cafeteria. Someone was propelling them into the trash when I arrived."
She didn't mention Xavier's name. She was well aware that Saoirse already knew who had committed the devious crime.

Looking at the table in front of her as well as the three girls standing behind her, Sage crossed her arms and let out a half-smile. She didn't want to wage a war, nor did she want to attract anyone else to the table, so she decided it was best to leave.
"Right, well, I best be off to my first period class. Don't want to be late for the bell. Antío."
As she ended her sentence in a heavy Greek accent, the blonde gave a small wave, and disappeared into the hallway.

"Ti éna MALAKA." she cursed Xavier under her breath.


(ooc: @PatchworkHeart AAAACK!! Sorry about Xavier's name!!! :( Looking back, I realize that I had confused his name with a character named Xander from a different roleplay. I would tell you to change the post, but I think i'm going to keep it. It'd be kind of funny for Sage to know everyone else's name at the academy except for Xavier's, and have her mess up his name throughout the roleplay. :D)

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As soon as he showed his arm to the group of three, Rowan noticed that Selyse was the first one to react. Then again, she would be the first one to react. She was a daughter of Tyche, the goddess of luck. Crazy things NEVER happened to her. Embarassment did not exist. By the way Selyse Hendrickson dressed and acted, she knew she didn't have to worry about getting bad grades, losing games, or being harassed. With luck, the world could be handed to you on a silver platter. Rowan wondered what his life would have been like if his father would have met Tyche instead of Hecate...

"It will fade, though, won't it?" she said with concern. This threw him off guard, as he was expecting all three of them to laugh at him. "Yeah, I should be fine." he said, "The girl I bumped into was one of Iris's daughters, so I don't think it should last long..." He then twisted and turned his arm in the sunlight, and a smile crept onto his face, "In fact, I think it's starting to grow on me. I might use it to scare people or something..."

Selyse then turned to Brandon, who was still sitting, and asked if he wanted to come to breakfast as well. Rowan looked out across the lake, watching people as they wandered and socialized. Having the guts to approach Rosalie and Selyse, Rowan realized that he wasn't as small as he thought he was. Everyone on the campus was different and made their own pathways in life. He looked down at his blue opal bracelet. Maybe he would find courage after years of waiting. Coming back down to earth, Rowan waited for Brandon's response, and then decided he would follow the group. He wouldn't have much to talk about, but at least he wouldn't be getting breakfast alone.

Sybil Nolan

Saoirse emerged from the water, her eyes already casting around for her clothes. When she saw that they had gone Saoirse took little time to realise who had done it.
"Xavier... it was him wasn't it?" Her words came out as a hiss, her growing anger was evident.
Sybil nodded and Saoirse marched off before she could reply. Sybil didn't know that Saoirse could move so fast, she was quickly gone from sight disappearing around a bend. Sybil followed at a slower pace, unsure whether she wanted to watch the confrontation with Xavier.
In the end she decided to follow Saoirse, Sybil would enjoy seeing Xavier face an angry Saoirse.

Although she quickly lost Saoirse it wasn't hard to follow her, there was a trail of water from where she had dripped onto the ground. The trail led into the library and Sybil had just reached the door when Saoirse stormed out. Apparently Xavier hadn't been in there. This time Sybil managed to keep closer to Saoirse and followed her into the cafeteria.

It was crowded, a multitude of students were gathered at tables eating their breakfast and chatting. But it was towards one table that Sybil's attention was drawn. It was the table that Saoirse headed towards, stopping beside Sage and Halley. Saoirse didn't even seem to realise that she was still dripping wet as she stared down Xavier. Beside Xavier sat Emmett, a grin on his face as he watched the drama. Sybil had never understood how he could be friends with Xavier, or even Arielle. She knew that Emmett's personality appealed to a lot of different people, but he didn't go in for the same mean pranks as Xavier and he was never as bitchy as Arielle... or at least he wasn't towards and around Sybil.

Sybil stopped just short of joining Saoirse at the table, given that Sage and Halley were already there and she didn't want to overcrowd the area. She could hear and see everything fine but Sybil prefered to avoid Xavier's attention, which was much better achieved by staying a safe distance away.
Sybil tuned in to what was happening. Sage appeared to be questioning Xavier on what he had done. When Saoirse arrived Athena's daughter seemed to quickly connect the dots. She walked over to a rubbish bin and pulled out the discarded clothing.

The clothes were handed over, a relief to Sybil, and Sage said her farewells to the table, Halley following quickly after her. Crisis averted. Sybil decided that, given the number of people in the cafeteria, her presence was hardly needed and she slowly made her way over to the spread of breakfast food where she grabbed an apple for her breakfast.

Emmett Meade

Emmett watched the drama unfold, a grin spread across his face. Honestly, he couldn't have thought of a better way to start his day. As Saoirse appeared, dripping wet and wearing nothing but her swimming suit, Emmett clapped Xavier on the back. The man was a genius and this was a masterpiece. Emmett sat back in his chair, arms over his head and gazed appreciatively at Saoirse.

It had become apparent, at the girl's arrival, what Xavier had done. That was why he considered Xavier one of his good friends, he had a way of making entertainment such as this happen.
Sage returned Saoirse's clothing, much to Emmett's disappointment and then left with the final parting words:
"Right, well, I best be off to my first period class. Don't want to be late for the bell. Antío."
At the reminder of class Emmett felt his enjoyment of a moment ago sink. Class, what a bore.
Well, first he would have to finish his food.

Emmett dug into his food, scraping the last few items of his plate. As he ate he kept an eye on those gathered around the table. He hadn't failed to notice Sybil, standing back a bit from their table. The quiet Hephaestus girl had come and gone too, bringing out a sweet looking phone as she left. Emmett's eyes had immediately latched onto the item. His fingers itched. He stood up abruptly, gave a nod of farewell to those around the table and then ran to catch up with Halley.

A friendly smile spread across his face as he fell into step with the girl. He had never had much to do with Halley. The girl was quiet and he had rarely had reason to talk with her. He most likely would have ignored her completely if not for the treasure trove of technology that she possessed.
"Halley, how are you?" His tone was friendly, casual as if he were catching up with an old friend. His eyes darted from her face to the phone in her hand and then back. Of course he wouldn't steal it right out of her hand, there was no skill in that, only brute force. No, he wanted to see exactly what the phone could do before he tried to nick it.

---

---

As she finished talking to Santiago, she looked to the side to see someone else join the table. Paige Harrison, a girl who was somewhat of one of Arielle's friends, she could roll with the punches. Which was a giant plus for most of Arielle, that means she wouldn't cry and boo hoo about the comments that came out of her mouth. She looked to the side to at least acknowledge the girl who had just sat down. "Hey Paige." which was followed with a small wave. All the while, Santiago was throwing away his tray before sitting back down at the table across from his friend. She was about to say something before closing her mouth and turning her attention to Sage. She quickly lose her joy and the cold look that was always in her eyes, came back. And, earlier than usual.It at least returned right before going to class. She wasn't complaining through. Santiago looked to his side and looked her up and down as Sage began to speak to group. "Excuse me," She tilted her head to the side in sarcastic politeness, waiting to hear what was oh so important that she had to come up to them now. "Sorry to infringe your conversation, but I have to ask Xander a question." She watched as the girl's eyes go on to Emmett for a while which infuriated her even more and Arielle couldn't even explain why. But, whatever the reason, just Sage's presence truly annoyed Ari. She looked at her half brother with a raised eyebrow, wondering just what the hell he did now. "Just out of curiosity, why did you throw those clothes in the garbage? I walked in, and I saw you dumping them in the dustbin over there. I'm just asking because they looked like girl's clothing, and i was intrigued." She looked toward the dustbin and looked back at Sage. Right when she was about to say something, Santiago said the same thing on her mind. "Oh c'mon. From the looks of the clothes. They needed to be in there any way." He told the girl with a serious face and a shrug of his shoulders. Arielle turned towards Xavier as he started his sarcastic act.


"Lovely to see you too, Sage, how are you this fine morning?" Before anyone knew it, Halley had walked up behind Sage, again infuriating the small girl. "Hi Sage..." Arielle let a small scoff out before rolling her eyes. Halley, at least to Arielle was just one of the pesky bugs that wouldn't go away. She always felt the need to be around people mostly when people came up to either talk to or confront Arielle herself or one of her friends. "Halley! How are you? Do join our delightful conversation - I was just saying how much of a fine morning it was, don't you agree?" She let out a small smile before speaking. "It was anyways before you two came over here." She told them as she turned back to the two girls standing up on the other side of the table near Santiago. And before anyone knew it all the eyes were on the front door as Saiorse walked in and stormed to the table to Xavier. "where did you put them?" Oh, so they were the mermaid's clothes. "Huh? I could see that now." Then again Xavier would pull a prank on anyone or anything... other then Arielle herself. She didn't want to do something drastic to her half-brother because of an idiotic prank. After a moment, Saoirse somehow got dyed out of no where. And, Maddie walked next to the daughter of Posiden. "Saoirse, are you talking about jeans, a tee-shirt, and a red and white cardigan?" Now, Santiago and Arielle were just watching the now boring conversation. When Sage walked to the bin and back, showing the other girl the clothes. "I'm assuming these are yours? I discovered them while I was entering into the cafeteria. Someone was propelling them into the trash when I arrived." Arielle just rolled her eyes once again with the fire in her eyes now dulled down in boredom. "Right, well, I best be off to my first period class. Don't want to be late for the bell. Antío." She watched Sage exit, leaving Saoirse and two overly nice and nervous girls at the table.

"Great now that you have your rags back, you can leave now. Seeing that your guys' little leader has left. And Halley, what was the purpose of coming up here if you were only to give off this nervous vibe to us?It's pathetic." She told them with a fake smile on her face before watching Halley walk off without another word. She waved the girl off before looking back to Emmett who was surprisingly quiet. When he got up and gave them a nod for goodbye. Arielle just gave him a scoff that ended with a small laugh. "Go get your girl, Emmett." She told him in sarcasm as walked out of the cafe and to Halley. Arielle looked at Santiago who was just rubbing his temples from being so irritated. Something he did everyday. "I need another coffee, want one Elle?" She nodded, knowing he already knew how she liked it. She playfully pushed him as he watched past her. She felt someone kick her seat, knowing it was he best friend who had a smirk on his tan face without saying another word. So, with no one left other than Paige and Xavier. She turned her attention to the two. "So, Santi and I are thinking of going out to two after the classes let out. Wanna go with my new big brother and new friend? She asked, knowing it wasn't really an option.

---

---

OOC:I will do Rose later today, I'm in a hurry.

Halley was determined to catch up to the bookworm and she had almost reached a fast walking speed. But Emmett Meade had other plans. He was suddenly walking in step with her and eyeing her phone. He began by asked "Halley, how are you?" in a quite similar tone Xavier had asked how her morning was. She couldn't quite recall what God Emmett's father was but to be sure she pulled her phone closer to her chest casually just incase he went for it. Her OmniSerm Phone was her life. It would never leave her site, ever. As she pulled it to her chest she quickly tapped the bottom corner on the back of it which caused it to completely shut down, left looking like any other iphone size sheet of glass.

"uhh fine..." Halley mumbled in her small voice, she was nervous around Emmett, always. He was smiling at her, But not in the warm friendly way she would have liked. It was in a way of slyness, it even made her palms slightly sweaty. 'Why can't people just leave me alone, this is why I don't talk to people. It attracted other people, whom I wasn't intending to talk to.' The child of Hephaestus thought to herself shaking her head just slightly.

"I'm just trying to catch up to Sage." She spoke a little louder this time but kept her eyes to the ground. There was no use looking at him, that would make things worse. As she stared at the ground she only thought 'If I don't look at him he'll go away...' surely this would be a solution as she had no other strategies. Halley waited for whatever obnoxious thing Emmett might say next which anything he said at all would be classified into the obnoxious category.

Leonard's room was his haven. The small room was where the boy spent most of his time; reading, studying and hiding from the other students. Lenny was shy and he knew it. It didn't help that he was reasonably new to Mount Olympus either. The odd few who he had managed to talk to were still more acquaintances than anything. Of course there were one or two that he would consider a friend, but unless he was alone with them he rarely spoke.

Lenny thrust thoughts of friends out of his mind as he gently placed his pile of books on his desk. The desk was already strewn with books; novels, textbooks, biographies and even the odd magazine. Thick notebooks stood pressed against the wall, the book ends at either side of the collection barely keeping them standing. Carefully Lenny selected one of the notebooks, the most recent, and flicked it open to a bare page.


The neatly formed words introduced Lenny's most recent topic of interest. Pulling out his desk chair Lenny sat down. He grabbed one of the books he had brought with him and opened it to the desired page. While his eyes scanned the text his hand reached for a pen, finding it in the usual place. He uncapped it with his teeth before setting it down on his notebook page. Flicking his eyes between the book and his blank page Leonard began to make notes, adding to the information the book provided when needed:


It wasn't until Lenny's stomach gave a weak growl that he put the pen down, shaking his hand out softly. He took a moment to reread over his work before, satisfied, he placed the notebook back in its designated place. He stood and stretched before glancing at the time. Lenny gave a sigh, almost time for class. The boy loved learning and so would usually have been excited for the beginning of the school day, only it also meant interaction with people.
"Another day of stuttering and awkward silences.' He said quietly to himself. His stomach gave another growl, as if trying to remind Lenny of the real issue: food. Lenny knelt down beside his bed and pulled out the box of snacks that he kept under it. He usually did eat in the cafeteria but since he often studied late into the night he had thought it a good idea to keep a personal supply of food.

He selected a muesli bar and began to nibble on it as he opened his wardrobe. He hadn't actually changed out of his clothes from the previous day since he had fallen asleep late last night at his desk and then raced to the library when he woke in the early morning. Lenny stared at his clothes and pulled out one of his usual outfits. Simple, plain and not likely to draw much attention. Once changed Leonard collected his bag and slung it across his back. It was heavier than it looked, containing a plethora of books, pens and whatever else Lenny thought he might need for his day.

Once outside his room Lenny made his way quickly towards his first class. The bell hadn't actually rang yet and he would most likely be the first student to arrive, but that was the way he preferred it. Arriving early would mean that he could pick his seat and avoid any awkward late entrances. He hated the thought of walking late into a full classroom and have everyone stare at him as he tried to find a seat.

As he had hoped the classroom was empty and Lenny quickly made a beeline for the back window seat. He placed his bag on the desk, pulled out a book and began to read.



Despite the fact that Emmett had greeted her with his friendliest smile - or perhaps because of it - Halley clutched her gadget a little closer, tapping the corner quickly to turn the screen off. Emmett hid a smirk, she might have thought that that was enough to hide the phone from Emmett but Emmett's eyes were sharp and he had easily seen all he needed to catch his interest before she hid it.

Emmett most likely would have left her then had not her nerves at his presence made him hesitate. She was obviously anxious having him around, her mousy voice barely managed to get out the words, "uhh fine..." .
Emmett often walked a fine line between teasing and bullying. Most people that he playfully insulted could either throw one right back at him or brush his off without much effort. The meek, quiet types like Halley would be more inclined to find that his sarcastic comments fell into the bullying category.

"I'm just trying to catch up to Sage." Halley's words came out stronger this time, much to Emmett's surprise. However her eyes were still staring resolutely at the ground, as if by not looking at Emmett he might disappear. Emmett was reminded of the 'Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal', a monster from the book 'The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'. Emmett had never finished reading the book but he had read enough to find out about this fictional monster. The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast assumed that if you couldn't see it, than it couldn't see you.

He couldn't help but laugh, the girl was obviously no monster but she also had little idea of how to deal with people like Emmett. However, since there was no chance of him procuring her phone just now, he saw no point in sticking around.
"Well, run along Hal. You don't want to lose her." Emmett remarked, shortening her name. He mimed blowing her a kiss before peeling off and marching towards the dormitories. He thought that he should probably shower before he made his way to class. He didn't know how much time he had before class actually started but he was determined to have a long, luxurious shower. He was sure there was plenty of time anyway and if he was late to class, so be it.

Like many of his peers, Quentin was up well before dawn.

Was he engaging in some sun-dappled cardiovascular torture, perhaps? The child of Hermes was a natural when it came to running, both endurance and sprinting, and had little need to hone what for him was a talent rather than a skill.

Lifting weights, then, or some other anaerobic pursuit, some quest for brawn? No, Quentin has always favored brains, and prefers his physique slim and cut. Working with his own body weight a few times a week and a metabolism that might well be a divine gift in its own right keep him trim and desirable.

It must be homework. Why else rise so early? Some paper that he is furiously typing away on, some assignment that his grades and livelihood depend upon. Perhaps he is on the verge of some break-through, or translating a lost scroll, or solving a formula so complex that he needs every second he can wrangle to find the missing pieces?

It is none of the above. The truth is that Quentin did not go to sleep the night before. What had merely started as him catching up on Game of Thrones had escalated into a fairly typical evening-and-then-early-morning for a teenage male with Internet access. He'd putzed around on Facebook, stumbled over to Tumblr, gotten distracted by porn on Tumblr, gone looking for MORE porn on Tumblr, gone through a fair amount of Kleenex, ended up on Youtube, where he watched movie trailers, cat videos, and Nick Pitera videos for nearly two hours, used some more Kleenex, eaten some Skittles, and then finally realized that the sun was up and the day was beginning.

He blinked slowly and rubbed at his features, squinting at the little time display on the lower-right corner of his laptop screen in confusion. How had he managed to spend eight hours pirating HBO's wildest success ever, jerking off, and trolling the web? He didn't spare much thought on that conundrum, because he realized quickly it was the third time he'd posed one like it to himself in as many weeks.

He stood and stretched, unfurling his arms and letting loose a yawn. Clad only in boxers, he scratched at his stomach and then wrinkled his nose slightly; he definitely needed a shower. Maybe two showers. Maybe a swim in Phlegethon would do the trick. “Groooossss.” He tapped both his hands on his flat tummy as if it were a bongo as he padded his way toward a towel of dubious cleanliness that lay in a heap on the ground, snatched it, and sauntered off to clean up.

He took his time. Classes wouldn't start for a while yet, and he'd probably be late to those anyway. Against his better judgment, he decided to slide his back down the tile wall and sit his ass right down, resting his eyes for a moment- and then forty-seven more moments after that. He only awoke when the water went cold. He let out a comical yelp, leaping to his feet and slapping at the knobs in vain to kill the flow of evil frigidity that was rapidly making Little Q even littler.

He stumbled shivering back into his bedroom proper, his towel mostly preserving his modesty, and then quickly dried off. ”Monkeys!” he shouted when he saw the time. It was a favored expletive-replacement of his. Now he had to hurry.

What followed would more or less resemble a montage from an 80s movie about a teenage boy who was really terrible at getting ready for school. He wheeled about, collecting various garments. Very few of them came from his drawers or closet- some were draped over lamps, others lying on the floor, others still snaked between the sheets and comforters of his unused-yet-still-unmade bed. In his haste, he failed to put on any trunks, but really, Q going without underwear usually happened on purpose.

Emptying the remainder of the bag of Skittles into his mouth, he set to untying his shoes. In order to keep his winged Converse All-Stars from flying off, he usually lashed them via shoelace to the leg of his desk. Grabbing firm hold of the right one, he liberated it and then crammed his foot inside, quickly cinching the laces up tightly. The left was less of a fighter, and resigned itself to its footy fate without much flapping. Quentin sprang up, pausing in front of his mirror to check and approve of his reflection. The jeans he'd selected might as well have been painted on and were powder blue. He'd paired them with a riotous slim-cut short-sleeved cotton plaid made up of violet, pink, yellow, and white. His hair was appropriately mussed up, the remnants of yesterday's styling product still retaining enough hold to produce some lazy lift.

As an afterthought he slung his bookbag off one shoulder and dashed off to confront his day. He had a bit of a march going on- a stride with some purpose, you know, momentum. It nearly carried him headlong into his half-brother Emmett, who for some reason was heading back toward the dorms.

Quentin pulled up short, looking aghast. Words spilled from his mouth at such a speed that anyone other than a child of Hermes probably would have had a hard time sorting them out.”What day is this? Is it Saturday? Does that mean I can go back to sleep?” Before Emmett could even get a word in edgewise, Quentin talked himself through his own problem. It was something he did often. ”It can't be Saturday, because that means yesterday would have been Friday, and I definitely do not recall getting wasted last night.”

Relieved that he hadn't cheated himself of sleep or masturbation time, he lapsed into a Cheshire grin. ”So where are you headed then? Up to no good? Need a wing-man?” His talaria fluttered rapidly on the word “wing”, lifting him a few inches off the ground, where he remained, smirking, daring Emmett not to think that pun was awesome. "Holy fuckballs, I need some coffee."

Miles had never been an early riser.

He had a theory about that. Sleep is the closest that most living come to Death, and Miles, being closer to Death than most, slept deeper. The hypnagogic journey from dream to reality felt almost exactly like stepping out of Erebus and into the living world. It heralded the return of weight, the end of mystery, the crossing of the thin terminator between subconscious and conscious.

It was only a theory. He was not so concerned with the Underworld, its magic, or its inhabitants as some of his siblings. Hades had eventually grown content with his domain and his seasonal bride, but Miles would never allow himself to be sequestered like that. He had plenty of his father's traits, but the ability to be satisfied so easily was not one of them.

Miles slept only in a tangle of thin (though comfortable, and expensive) sheets. Blankets inevitably led to too much warmth, a night of fitful sleep punctuated by suddenly waking up drenched in sweat. He was chilly as he stirred, dragging the black Egyptian cotton around him protectively, a cocoon to ward off the next five minutes of wakefulness before his snooze alarm started to go off.

Go off it did. Miles pawed at the clock on his nightstand and sat up slowly, rubbing crusts of somnolence from his eyes. He couldn't hear any music, which meant that his roommate was already up. He didn't quite understand the logic behind someone so slovenly and sloth-like getting up so very early. It would have been grand, if Adam had used his early start to make a dent in the Sargasso of clothing and debris that had accumulated on his side of the line. Miles had felt ridiculous laying down that tape. It was something out of one of those formulaic television comedies, but what choice had he? No amount of cajoling or threatening could seem to get the lazy son of Apollo serious about neatness, so Miles had to at least take some measures to confine the mess.

Thinking about it drew his gaze to Adam's side of the room, and unconsciously, Miles clenched his jaw, causing tiny muscles behind his cheeks to flare a bit. How hard was it to use a hamper? A garbage can? Miles didn't even want to imagine when the last time was that Adam had laundered his bed clothes. A black light shining near the other boy's bed would likely transform the unmade bed into a Pollack painting in glowing white.

He forced himself to stop thinking about that particular image and rolled out of bed, onto his side of the room. Despite having twice as many personal belongings as Adam (and thrice as many articles of clothing), Miles' portion of their shared domain was immaculate. He'd been forced to sacrifice some floor-space for a modular wardrobe, but it was well worth it. The closet he'd been afforded was more of a cupboard by his estimation, and he needed somewhere to hang his ironed shirts!

He slept in basketball shorts and a tank top, navy and black respectively today. He preferred sleeping in the nude, but that seemed unwise given the fact that he lived with another young gay man. The two were aware of one another's predilections, but in the interest of cohabiting, they'd both exercised some discretion in terms of doing anything that might make things difficult. As much as Adam infuriated him, Miles couldn't deny that he found him attractive. He knew full well what went on in Adam's bed and their shared shower when he wasn't around. It was like some kind of albatross of arousal, constantly winging lazy circles around their dorm.

He trudged with leaden limbs to his desk and flopped down in his rolling chair. Reaching downward, he keyed in the combination to open his mini-fridge. He'd had the normal desk drawers on one side removed to make room for it, and had a lock installed after a certain son of Hermes had made off with two full four-packs of his favorite chocolate stout. He withdrew a bottle of Brooklyn Kombucha (Straight-Up flavored, or rather, unflavored) and twisted the top off to take sip and then a swig, washing his pre-tooth paste mouth with the vinegar-champagne taste of the probiotic tea elixir.

There was a hole in his morning routine. Normally, after his first swig, he used the second to wash down a fistful of pills. Mood stabilizers, anti-depressants, anxiety meds, and occasionally the odd anti-psychotic, depending on how his month was going. It had been nearly two weeks since he'd decided to take control of his mental state and stop taking the meds, but there was still a part of him that wanted the ritual. It was safe. Comfortable. At the expense of concentration, intellect, and feeling, he was virtually guaranteed that he would not break down in tears or start shouting. The ritual component was powerful too. He'd read somewhere that it took... well, a fairly high number of times doing something in order for it to become a habit. How many times not doing something did it take for a habit to go away?

How many sunrises and sunsets would have to trudge by before he wouldn't want to dull himself with chemicals in the interest of appearing normal?

He was grimacing as he sipped his kombucha, but not because of the taste. He rather enjoyed the sharp bite of the fermented concoction. His eyes slipped to Adam's side of the room, and he couldn't help but muse that his kombucha wasn't the only thing present with a colony of bacteria and yeast in it. Somewhere just above his gut, a warm spike of anger began to twist. It grew hotter as he trailed his gaze over errant socks and undies, magazines and books, pieces of litter. By the time those burning eyes alit on a candy bar wrapper, no doubt with a bug-attracting film of chocolate clinging to the inside, it had already begun.

Miles' abilities had always been directly tied to his emotions. That was what the teachers liked to tell him, anyway, but he knew better. Emotion played a part in it, but the truth was that darkness had a mind of its own. It was dormant most of the time, yes, but when unleashed...

There was no want for shadow in the room. The closed blinds resulted in a series of segments of light dividing the dark. The dark strips of that chiaroscuro display emblazoned on the floor began to stir, then ripple, then writhe. Miles took a white-knuckled sip of kombucha, and the shadows went to work.

The ten tendrils fed on other bits of darkness, growing larger and stronger as the surged across the line of tape and set to work. The fingers of Miles' free hand began to curl and uncurl slightly. Most would not have noticed the gestures, and they certainly wouldn't have drawn a parallel between his movements and those of the Abyssal arms he had brought into being.

They began picking up everything. The clothes, the trash, the glinting rocks. Everything. Sinuously, they wound around one another, depositing the detritus marking Adam's existence right atop his bed. In a matter of a minute, the floor was spotless save for stains that Miles just had to pretend didn't exist. Every stitch of clothing and pound of garbage and even the boulders were now piled somewhat precariously atop Adam's bed. Miles moved to his feet, taking another sip from his bottle as he padded across the room to get a better look at his handiwork.

Bands of shadow spiraled up his bare legs in a twisted ephemeral caress as a smile slowly formed. As his rage abated, the tendrils- each of them strong enough to rip the tailgate off a pickup truck- began to gradually recede into the natural patterns of light and dark present in the room.

Just as he finished his kombucha, the door partially opened. Adam, whispering about breakfast.

Miles was still smiling- no, in fact, he was smirking now- as he regarded his roommate. ”Breakfast? I'd love some breakfast. Let me just get dressed.”

He selected a Brooks Brother button-down and a pair of gray slacks, along with briefs and gray socks, and headed into the bathroom to change and see to a few ablutions. Face wet, hair combed, and his shirt neatly tucked in, he tucked his hands into his pockets. ”Shall we?”

"Well, run along Hal. You don't want to lose her." Was all Halley heard before Emmett was on his way again. He'd shortened her name too, which she won't have minded except it was Emmette, not one of her good friends. The quiet girl scrunched her nose in distress, hoping that would be the last time he'd come in contact with Emmett though knowing very clearly it would not. Before running to catch up with Sage, Halley turned her phone back on, seeing she had no new messages or updates the girl ran to catch up with Sage. She also decided that this would be the last time she'd try to be social, it was so much harder than she'd expected.

There was only a few reasons Halley would even approach anyone. In this situation she simply felt lonely and homesick. Sage seemed nice and she always used big words, okay maybe they weren't that big but, she always sounded so smart. Obviously the last thing The girl of Hephaestus want was to be a burden to Sage. That was how she felt to mostly everyone. Which made her start to think. Maybe Sage didn't like Halley. Maybe she was running away from her. Why would the bookworm run away though. Did Halley smell? Was she annoying? Did Sage find Halley's naturally quiet voice obnoxious? There was so many thoughts that made the little girl finally slow down her walk. That was enough socializing for today. She was at her classes room anyways. She walked into it, the air smelled like pencils, paper, and desks. That clean class smell, every room started with at the beginning of the year. As Halley came into the room Low and behold, the opposite of that really sitting in the back of the room was Leonard Moreland. He was completely kept to himself though. So Halley pretended not to see him and sat in the middle of all the desks. Her navy blue backpack swung over the shoulder of the chair she quietly tapped away on her phone. Just waiting for the bell to ring, or the teacher to come in...anything.

With his hands in his pockets Emmett lazily made his made towards his dorm. He was whistling a tune to himself, anyone hearing it would not be able to place the song since it seemed to change with Emmett's fancy, altering from that new song he'd heard the other morning to an olden goldie that his grandparents liked.

His whistling quietened as his eyes cast over the face of the dorms, alighting onto the many open curtains and the rooms beyond. Most people were getting breakfast or on their way to class. Most people would have left their rooms blissfully unguarded. Emmett's eyes darted from window to window, the seed of an idea forming. He spotted one window that showed life, he could see curious shadows moving behind the curtains and it took him a moment to realise that the room belonged to Miles and Adam. Emmett's mouth twitched into a smile, no 'borrowing' from that room today. He made a habit of checking Miles' fridge for goodies. Recently the boy had started to lock his fridge, a waste of time given that locks opened for Emmett without the need for keys. Just one of the perks of being Hermes' son.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by the sudden appearance of his half-brother. Quentin looked horrified, not at almost running into Emmett but at the idea of losing a moment of sleep.
”What day is this? Is it Saturday? Does that mean I can go back to sleep?... It can't be Saturday, because that means yesterday would have been Friday, and I definitely do not recall getting wasted last night.” His words tumbled out, not giving Emmett enough time to reply. Emmett waited for Q to finish, a smile on his face as he watched his brother talk. Finally Q stopped talking, his face splitting into a grin.
”So where are you headed then? Up to no good? Need a wing-man? ... Holy fuckballs, I need some coffee."

Emmett pushed a stray curl out of his eyes, letting his own smile grow to mimic Q's grin.
"I was just on my way to have a shower, but I think I'll stop by and... pop into a few rooms. I've gotta check that no one's brought illicit substances into the school." Emmett knew that his brother would understand what he meant, it was obvious that Emmett's interests lay in breaking the school rules, not protecting them. He gave a lazy shrug before continuing, "What can you do when you live with a bunch of deviants? Someone's gotta keep 'em in line. You're welcome to join me."
Emmett liked to work alone, preferring not to be slowed down by the clumsy attempts of others. That is unless it was Quentin. Q was the only person that Emmett would even consider taking with him. But, as Emmett looked at his half-brother, he wondered if he would join him this time. As Q had mentioned, he needed a coffee. Emmett wouldn't hold it against him if he decided to pass on this particular adventure.

---

Head down, nose in his book was how Leonard spent most of his time when he was trying to disappear. Today, sitting alone in the classroom, he found that he was readying himself for the arrival of others. His back was hunched over his desk, the book as close to his face as he could get it without actually hitting him.
The book? A stunning work on the string theory. The physics of the idea was breathtaking and Lenny was completely absorbed in its depths. His brain was absorbing and playing with the ideas as he read, his eyes flying across the words.

It wasn't until footsteps sounded, and close, that Lenny's attention was diverted. His eyes flicked up above the pages of his book to see Mr Guess, son of Poseidon and the History teacher, placing papers on his desk. It took him a moment to spot Leonard, all the way at the back of the room and when he did Lenny quickly ducked his head back behind his book. Then Lenny thought perhaps it was rude to ignore him, Mr Guess was a teacher after all. So, hesitantly, he looked back up.

"What's up, Leonard?... How's it going? I'll be right back after the bell rings. Just going back to the teacher's lounge to get some coffee."

The words sent a wave of relief through the shy boy, he wouldn't have to struggle to think of something to say now. However his relief was short lived because a moment later a girl walked in. Leonard recognised her immediately as Sage Fitzgerald, his half-sister. His eyes widened and he hunched further down in his seat. He was shy around everyone, Sage was no different. Only his shyness stemmed from a fear that, as her half-brother, he would somehow disappoint her. He also spotted the arrival of Halley and was pleased when she sat down in the middle of the room, not attempting to converse with him.

It seemed that Sage had no such problems with approaching him. With a polite smile on her face she thrust out her hand and introduced herself.
"Sorry to interrupt you from your reading... but I feel the need to properly introduce myself to you. My name is Sage Fitzgerald. Like you, I was born to the goddess of wisdom, reason and battle strategy: Athena. Your name... it's Leonard Moreland; correct?"
Lenny took a slow breath, steeling his nerves. Among other things Athena was the goddess of Courage and Lenny, as her son, would have to take a leaf out of his mother's book. Only... only the words stuck in his throat as he tried to answer Sage. His hands fumbled as he marked his page and put the book down. He managed to take Sages hand and give her a quick shake before withdrawing his hand.

He took a gulp, then a deep breath and then another gulp as he calmed his nerves.
"You... you can call me Lenny." His voice came out surprisingly strong, despite the initial stutter. Then his mind started to race. Perhaps he was being to forward? Or not friendly enough? As a fellow child of Athena was Sage also scared of spiders? Was she, unlike him, a warrior? What weapon did she favour? He knew she was smart, perhaps he could ask her to compare notes? Or would that also be too forward. In the end he bit his tongue and waited for Sage to make the next move.