Tristan Viper's Story

Sleeping in was Tristan’s fullest intentions for the morning but his gut told him otherwise and to get up and embrace the day before he missed all the activity that stirred. Where were these other demi-gods teenage hormones that prompted delayed on set of sleep so he didn’t feel like he was missing out? Tristan grumbled a little, newly coming to hate the part in him that urged him to get up and be a part of something when the rest were up and at ‘em.

He threw on a grey shirt for the day and jeans peeking out the window to evaluate the day which looked standard from his perspective. The thought caused a slight purse on his lips, but fun could be conjured around the corner at any point of time. Before throwing on his boots, he paused taking a second look out the window and spotted Mystique by the tree line dawdling and smiled to himself. He continued the motion until both shoes were on and he paced outside to catch her.

“There’s my favourite ginger girl,” he greeted with his arms open and spun on his heel to walk in step with her toward the academy again. “Been yelling at more squirrels lately?” Tristan teased with a grin dominating his features. He could still recall their first encounter where he met her in woodland, scolding herself and burying her hands in the soil.

---

Hayden's response to the day was similar to his roomie, Tristan's. They were similar in a lot of areas which is why he supposed they got along relatively well. Tristan, traditionally was ready for the day because other people were but Hayden and his bed were the best of friends at the moment. "Hey man, where are you going?" he wondered wiping his eyes with the back of his hand and glanced back at Tristan who left the room with a spring in his heel. Hayden waved him away carelessly and lay in bed for a little longer dozing for a few extra minutes before bringing himself to get up.
He went to the dining area, where most his days begun with some food in his stomach to appease his taste buds and general appetite pausing at the bulletin board, tracing a finger beneath the words. He nodded approving of the message.A special guest speaker was something new. He looked on and saw a few others present.
"Nice table manners, Dylan," he told him patting him on the shoulder as he walked on to find his own space where he replicated the act, kicking his legs up on the table as he waited.

Mystique's eyes carried along the floor in dull hopes before she heard a voice that startled her causing her to gasp and freeze like a deer caught in headlights. "Tristan! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed surprised to see him before her.

The things he said caused her to blush slightly, even when they were meant so casually and cheekily. It was even flattering that he sought conversation from her. She cleared her throat, brushing back her hair self consciously. "I mean..."she broke off realizing there was no question she could serve for him so she picked up on the squirrel comment as a recovery. "Only the one's that deserved it," she heard herself reply and giggled to herself quickly covering her mouth. "But truth be told in this instance it was a lizard." Why do I have to be so awkward?

Mystique crossed her arms over her body then fixed her posture, holding her two hands behind her back as she walked with him clearing her throat again. She should have been at ease, more prepared, lighter on her feet as Artemis' offspring. "And I do believe I am the only ginger on campus Tristan, so it's very flattering to be your favourite." She couldn't help but smile bashfully. She quite liked the way his name sounded from her own voice.

"I'm heading to the hall. Are you heading that way also?" She inquired, pointing ahead.

Little did the awkward school girl Mystique know that she was fun for him to be around with the way she acted entirely. Tristan loved exposing these moments where she’d be free to say anything and do silly little things. She had a lot of potential to unlock yet and some of it lay in her restricting personality. She didn’t need to be so proper all the time and they were still young. She had to let go a little, be loose more often like now.

Tristan grinned having a quick response at the ready to all Mystique said but it would probably be best to let her recover herself and wait for her. “First off I do attend this school as well I think you should know. I don’t just stalk people in the woods area,” he said nudging her gently with his arm.
“Only the one’s that deserved it,” he echoed amused. “Yeah, I’m going to the hall. Some might call it the main area where food’s supplied and announcements take place.” He got to grin again. “Race you?” He offered, eyeing his challenger for a moment then he broke into a sprint for the hall.

---

Hayden looked around the hall area after glancing to his phone for the time and blew out his lips returning the phone to his pocket. Waiting or testing his patience was not one of his talents and time was ticking more slowly than ever and the morning for him was as uneventful as ever. He could understand why Ares was more practical now. There was no sitting around and waiting or relying on others. It was a matter of taking actions into your own hands.

He watched Dylan get up and approach a girl that he never quite got acquainted with, much alike Dylan himself. Hayden had seen her around, heard her name called before. Juliette? Juliette like Romeo and Apollo. That’s how he made the connection sometimes anyway. He smiled and shook his head to himself averting his gaze to a wall. Even such a distance away things looked awkward which was what happened with awkward people and crushes mostly.

Hayden clamped his hands together on top of the table focusing ahead as he daydreamed to a bloody paradise. A bunch of figures, six to be precise all replicates of each other, the same in black uniforms pointing their swords forth and surrounding Hayden. They were light on their feet, subtly perhaps even credited: elegantly, closing in for the attack. Or maybe they wished for him to surrender but that would never happen. Hayden conjured a sword of his own feeling it more of a fair, justice filled battle and he began slashing, deflecting, parrying as metal clashed on metal and his footwork became flawless.
When two swords came at him the same time from opposite angles, one approaching his chest and one his back, he swooped down rolling out of the way and kicked out at the calf of a single attacker causing him to stumble forward and stab his ally. That was his favourite part that resulted in a smirk to form upon his lips.

Lurking in her talents wasn’t humour-never humour but it was good to laugh at herself and succeed in making Tristan amused too and she could simply not stop smiling. Up until he proposed to race. “What?” She questioned, her brows pulling together as she slowed her pace more looking to him.
His burst of sprint had answered itself. He really had proposed a race and meant it. She had only been equipped with chucks as shoes and they were nowhere near reliable to close the distance and manage the different textures of the grounds even as a demi-god blessed with enhanced speed. But Eris’ children were somewhere on the list as fast gods too and it was evident in Tristan’s running.

Without much thought she took on the form of a cheetah and broke into her own sprint after him. Mystique was ecstatic with herself as she was able to shapeshift with ease and take on the body of a cheetah but she was racing for the moment and happier to see herself gaining on his two legs that weren’t posing much of a match after all. The wild cat had to drop back in speed however as she approached the building where sharp turns and smooth floors lay but she had exceptional acceleration and speed on her which was used effectively as she gained the lead. Luckily, Tristan wasn’t the kind to sulk about cheating or so she presumed but she was happy in herself either way as she reached the dining hall first and took on the successful properties of a cheetah. The downside of the transformation quickly struck her though as she skidded down an aisle between tables and chairs, naturally trying to claw at the floor to reach a halt.

"Easy, darling. I'm aware we have a special guest speaker but it's not that much to be excited about." Came the English voice of an older man that bought Mystique to a stop by standing in her wild drift course. She slid into his legs before noting it was a teacher. A teacher, she gulped, allowing herself to transform back and reveal her identity.
“I'm so sorry, sir,” she said meekly unable to meet his eyes remaining on the floor. If she weren't doing bad enough in power control she certainly demonstrated it now.
The response that she did not get to see was nothing more than a small smile and Mr. Alcaeus wandering back off to his own spot in the dining hall.

Hayden came out of his day dreaming far away land when a wild cat had burst through the dining hall at high speeds then when wishing to stop, skidding along the floor instead unable to quite master the brakes and hit a teacher. He couldn’t help but chuckle lightly and look away, running his fingers through his hair. Ah. Sometimes it was good to be at this school. Hayden glanced over once more and saw the teacher had returned to his post, then chose to approach Mystique and offer her a hand up. Being near the end of the table, she wasn’t that far from him anyway and he didn’t want to look like a complete dick. “Nice entrance,” he commented heaving her to her feet then eyeing her up and down. “Mystique, right?” he checked pursing his lips. He was confident in his guess but there were a lot of faces to keep track of and it got confusing. Especially when you weren’t particularly the social butterfly.

---

When Tristan entered in a half-hearted jog puffing, he paused midway in the dining hall watching Mystique skid along into a teacher’s legs making him cringe a little. That one was probably his fault and he had almost braced himself to take the blame if things hadn’t gone so smoothly with Terry. He scanned the room for a moment, browsing who had caught sight of the scene.

He walked up to Mystique and Hayden once there was confirmed teacher clearance. “Hey! I think you won,” he directed at Mystique with a grin. Then smirked a little at gentleman Hayden but he didn’t want to bring it up just yet. It'd be like jinxing his caring side and it was often unwise to bring it to the forefront of Hayden's mind. Maybe some other time when his manners were on show. “You grabbed some food yet?” he asked instead.

The first sign that something was off--and that should have set off the alarm bells in his head-- was the fact that well…there were no discernible physical reaction from his target. He brushed it off as excellent poker faces. The second would be the wide berth he was suddenly given and odd glances being shot his way. The third came in the form of numerous students scrunching their noses as soon as they set foot into the dining hall through the door within close proximity of where Aiden stood. And then his eyes landed on a certain son of Apollo. Well. Crap.

Something was surely up. If looks could kill-- looks that didn't belong to gorgon--, Daniel would have died a couple of times already. The people around Aiden were acting in a way that he had predicted those around the older Apollo girl would. Somehow, the effects he had expected from his spell had latched onto him instead of the intended target. How that had happened, he wasn't too sure. He just knew who had made it happen even if he had no proof.

Hecate's spawn had his attention was momentarily removed from Dylan in favor of glaring figurative daggers at the smirking meddler and identifying the problem at hand so much that he completely missed Amanda and her beau's arrival. It was unfortunate because her presence may have tempted him to step down, at least for now.

Good thing he had made sure it was just as easy to break the spell as it was to cast. A glance towards the large windows of the dining hall confirmed the gloomy presence of rain cloud. It looked as though the morning drizzle had merely been an aperitif for a storm to come.

A light nudge with his mind sent a glass pitcher crashing onto the hard floor. It broke upon impact, the crash echoing throughout the hall before subsiding until it was muffled by the sound of students chatting excitedly among one another. It didn't last long, but it was a good enough distraction for Aiden to point his wand at the cloudy sky through one of the large windows.

"Accio Nimbus," he said, smiling to himself when it dawned to him what he had just said. There was power in words and it was sometimes fortunate that not all had the power to make them reality. Some languages were more compatible with specific rituals or tools and Aiden needed all the power he had for this so he had switched to Latin. His knowledge of is was still limited compared to a lot of his half-siblings, but it was enough for what he needed.

A gust of wind brushed past the dining students, window panes and utensils clattered as a humid air front seeped into the room and ascended, invisible to the naked eye, towards the high ceiling. Just then, a cheetah came skidding into the dining hall, eliciting yelps of surprise from the new students, but Aiden ignored it and cast the next spell, "Veteresco." A dirty white puff of cloud would form. It floated harmlessly at first, but would soon gain in size until a drop of rain, then another and another descended upon the attendees. While it was no storm, it was a perplexing enough drizzle that fit the description of "rainfall," which promptly broke Aiden's first spell.

Just then, as he lowered his wand, it caught onto a nearby cup of juice that someone had carelessly left at his table, spilling its content all over the table and himself. "Aw, shit," he swore before massaging his temple when he felt the beginning of a migraine creep up on him. He let out a loud sneeze, feeling the cold settle in all of the sudden. Well, he was bound to get wet anyway sooner or later anyway.

That wasn't his most subtle display of power, but hopefully the staff had been too busy dealing with Cheetah-girl to see him wave his wand around. Just to be safe, Aiden discreetly rubbed his prints off the piece of wood with the hem of his coat and dropped the piece of wood. Then, he proceeded to give it a push with his telekinetic powers to roll it under an inconspicuous cabinet.