eternal sunshine

𝓣𝓦𝓔𝓛𝓥𝓔: 𝓕𝓘𝓖𝓗𝓣 𝓘𝓝 𝓣𝓗𝓔 𝓛𝓘𝓖𝓗𝓣 𝓓𝓞𝓜𝓔

Odessa was getting the hang of camp. Every day she learned some new battle skill. She was best at archery which she didn't find surprising considering who her father was. It still felt odd to her to refer to Apollo as her father as she had only known that for almost a week. She felt the title of father or dad needed to be earned and Apollo despite being an almighty Greek god hadn't earned that title. And he might never earn it, not truly. She may refer to him as her father around other demigods but not beyond that. Jordan was her dad. Apollo was just the man her mother got pregnant by. In other words, he was just a sperm donor. If that was even how she was conceived, JD told her how some of the gods had children. How Athena's children were born from her thoughts when she met a mortal man, Persephone's children were born from flowers but that one he said was more a rumor because he hadn't met a child of Persephone. Odessa figured some of the unclaimed campers at the Hermes cabin were probably children of Persephone. The gods not claiming their children was at the top of her list to not like the discovery of her identity.

She had gotten to know more of the campers and her siblings. Odessa was an only child for a long time until Nadia was born so siblings weren't new to her but the number of siblings was. She lost count of how many other children of Apollo she had met. The Apollo and Hermes cabins were the largest cabins at camp. Hermes was clearly bigger. She spoke most with JD, Callie, Luke, and two young campers named Silena Beauregard and Annabeth Chase. Callie and Odessa bonded over the little things JD did that got on their nerves, Silena wanted to know how Odessa got her hair so long and shiny and her skin so glowy, as a child of Aphrodite she appreciated one's beauty and the methods taken to enhance it. Annabeth asked Odessa about the outside world. Odessa had learned Annabeth was a year younger than Nadia when she arrived at Camp Half-Blood and that automatically made Odessa protective of her. With Luke Odessa could talk about anything.

JD could feel Odessa's leg bouncing up and down. He knew why. Yesterday, at lunch he and Jaime were discussing possible defense strategies for the weekly capture the flag game. They needed to beat the Ares cabin. Odessa preferred to stay away from sports they weren't her favorite so imagine her disdain when she learned every camper unless injured needed to participate in the game. She was tempted to fake a sprained wrist or ankle but knew one of her siblings would see right through it and while she hated sports she didn't hate them enough to physically hurt herself.

"Odessa, you'll be fine. You probably won't even have to do anything," Jaime told her seeing her pick at her dinner.

"The use of probably isn't settling, J. God, I hate sports."

"You sure you're not a child of Aphrodite? They hate capture the flag." Odessa became more anxious when campers began to head to the armory. She was absolutely not looking forward to the game especially due to the way a caramel-skinned, long curly-haired girl from the Ares cabin was looking at her.

"She's going to kill me, isn't she?" JD and Jaime turned to the brunette Odessa was looking at as they stood up.

"Killing and maiming isn't allowed," Jaime spoke earning a shove from JD.

"That's not helping, dumbass." JD turned to Odessa softening his tone and features. "You'll do fine, Des. Luke says you're quite good with a sword and I've seen you with a bow and arrow. Clarisse and her siblings take capture the flag seriously and they can uh look a little mean but she won't hurt you." Odessa looked at JD's pinkish face.

"Fucking liar. She'll have my head on a pike." Odessa stood and followed Jaime and JD to the armory. She was putting on her armor when Luke came up to them.

"You're on our team, newbie, along with the Dionysus and Demeter cabins," Luke spoke placing a helm on top of Odessa's head with a blue plume as JD handed her a bow and arrow. They made their way to the woods.

"You're on defense," JD told her stopping when they reached the starting point past Zeus's fist (a pile of rocks) where Zephyros Creek split the woods. "Just roam around and if you see a camper from the opposite team Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, and Aphrodite fend them off." Odessa saw him staring at Callie who fixed the helm on her head looking directly at JD. She mouthed "You're going down" and Odessa couldn't help but giggle.

"And you?"

"I'm taking that sucker. Keep an eye out for Ares cabin, yea? They don't always follow the rules which I know doesn't help ease you but I want you to be prepared." JD held up his fist and Odessa brought hers to meet him with a smile. "Bring it down, Reyes," he smiled.

"Bring it down, Bermúdez."

✩₊˚.⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Odessa had done fairly well in avoiding other campers. If she shot any arrows they were aimed at the area and trees around them. Her accuracy seemed to fend them off pretty nicely. JD was right the Ares kids did take capture the flag seriously and didn't follow the rules. She had gotten into a tree to get a better vantage point to know which direction to steer opposing campers from and saw a group of Ares kids nearly cut the arm off a Hermes kid. She wasn't close enough to see who they were but she could make out what cabin they belonged to. 

     When she touched down on the ground two members of the Ares surrounded her. Fuck, she thought. She looked around looking for a way out that didn't involve fighting but they were making it impossible.

     "Too bad your brother isn't here to save you," spoke the blonde. She only knew Clarisse from the Ares cabin so she had no clue the names of the two that looked at her like a deer during hunting season. The blonde aimed her sword at Odessa as the ebony-haired girl held up her shield as they both began to close in on her. Odessa's breathing picked up every method of self-defense both learned in karate and at camp so far left her brain. Odessa had no idea how it was happening but a dome made of what appeared to be yellow light was forming around her making the Ares kids step back. They shielded their eyes from the brightness of the light. The dome began to shrink as she saw Luke and JD appearing holding the flag of the other team and cheering for their victory. A smile formed on her face seeing theirs but they quickly faded dropping the flag and running to her as she collapsed onto the ground.

"Dessa, Odessa," JD picked her up and took her to the infirmary. JD sat with her until she came to. "Here to feel better," JD handed her a small square treat.

"What's that?" Her voice was hoarse and she felt she needed about a gallon of water.

"Ambrosia, it'll help you feel better. You fainted." She closed her eyes letting the flavor of leche flan melt in her mouth. It was her favorite Filipino dessert her mother made. Gods, did she miss her mom.

"I did?" She took the goblet handed to her taking a big sip.

"Yeah, apparently, you made a light dome. Which I couldn't do until well never. I've been learning but I've never been able to nail it," he confessed.

"I did what?" How could she have done something even JD hadn't been able to do despite trying to?

"You took the light particles from around you and molded them into a protective heat dome. The brightness of it can be blinding and if someone steps into it they can get dehydrated and faint due to the heat," he explained. "It's not an easy thing to do, Des."

"So how was I able to do that?"

"My best guess is your body sensed you were in danger and so your battle reflexes kicked in despite not having training to do that. Sometimes that's how a demigod discovers their powers. They're put in a dangerous situation and the body just reacts. How are you feeling?"

     "Tired," Odessa confessed. She was also terrified having done what she'd done. She didn't remember anything past the two Ares kids closing in on her. Her head was pounding and her hands were shaky at the wondering thought that she might have hurt someone while creating a sun dome.