Misted Eyes

Shrubbery, Blowtorches, Flying Horses, oh my!

"Ahh, hell no!" I complained. Lee jogged ahead, her jeans and parka not seeming to affect her running.
I dragged my feet, huffing. It was four laps in of an 800metre course. Two more to go.
"Come on, you can do it!" Called a kind nymph, with reddish-brown hair and oak coloured skin. Her large, amber-coloured eyes tracked my exhausted loping with forced enthusiasm.
"Ya-a-y!" She cheered as I practically tipped over the line.
"OK. Take a break, Ryan." Called Lemmy the Lemon tree nymph. She had said she was rare around here, and seemed very proud.
She had bright yellow hair and pale, greyish skin.
"I already was," I called, voice muffled from the dirt my face was against smashed against. Lemmy patted my back.
"Are you sure you didn't do any sport?" She asked kindly.
"Does gaming count?" I reply, spitting out dust. She sighed.
"OK, let's go. Two more laps, Ry-Ry." Oak said from above me. I groaned and got up, legs screaming. I swallowed and pushed on, focusing on the steady rhythm of Lemmy's footfalls. Occasionally, she would turn into a tree and throw lemons at my back to hurry me along.

Finally, finally, I stumbled into the second shower of the day and sighed.
"Nope! Stop relaxing! Out you get!" Lee's voice yelled from just outside the stalls.
"Are you even allowed in here, you ... You.. Girl!" I yelled, my voice hitching up an octave. She laughed.
"No,"
"Brilliant." I grumbled under my breath.

We made our way to the archery course. Chiron was not there, but a tall boy with blonde hair and tanned skin was helping a small girl with dark hair hold a short bow.
Lee faded behind me, and just as I turned, the blonde boy looked up.
"Hi," I say, running my gaze across the archers and targets.
"C'mon. Are you..." He looked at his roster, "Ryan?"
"As far as I know." I tell him cheerfully.
"OK. Beginners over here." He gestured to a row of targets that were dark blue.
I walk to a row of huge bows and walk straight away again.
"Haha, try this." The boy said, offering a bow.
"I'm Quinn, by the way." Quinn said.
"Cool. So, do I throw this at the target, or..?" I joke, grabbing a quiver at Quinns command. He cracked a smile.
"Ok, line up, side-on from the target. Elbow up.. Down... Up... Up a bit... No, down. Ok good. Draw string back, back to your lips. Line it up. See how the arrow will fly? Ok and let go." He stepped back just as I let the arrow fly.
It soared past the target and got lost in a bush.
"Good start. Good strong soar, but work on your aim." He told me.
Quinn walked off to help the ten-year-old who had snapped the string and had a harsh red line over her forhead.
Lee walked to my side.
"Straighten up." She told me. I did, and squinted one eye.
"Katnisssss Everdeeeen!" I murmur, letting in the arrow go. It hit the outer rim of the target. She made an approving grunt.
"With every hit, shift your feet until your in the correct stance." She told me.
It went this way for an hour and three- quarters, until I was sweating and my arms were jelly.
"OK. I'm not allowing you a third shower. We're going to Arts 'n' Crafts."
"Yay," I huffed, "glue sticks."

It turned out glue sticks melt when you turn a blowtorch on them.
By the end of the session, I had made a ball of glue, melded into an almost-pefect sphere.
"What the Hades are you going to do to that?" Lee guffawed. I pouted slightly, defensive.
"Stick it to my wall?" I suggested. She rolled her eyes.
"Wash your hands and come on." She sighed.

Pegasus riding seems fun, unless your scared of horses and heights.
And possibly birds.
I sucked my bottom lip anxiously as I sat on the sturdy horse, with its strong, chestnut wings stretching to either side.
"Her name's Jarod." The Aphrodite girl told me.
"Her?"
"Her."
"My name's Tiffany." I told her, earning a glare.
"Okay, okay. Jarod it is." I say hastily.
"She can understand us, but it doesn't go both ways."
"What a shame. So many things I want to ask - HOLY JAROD!" I screamed as Jarod took off, beating her wings. I clung onto her neck, clamping my legs around her trunk and prayed.
The Aphrodite girl, Colleen, swiftly boarded Ber own pegasus and soared upwards.
"You're three feet off the ground!" She yelled.
"Aaaaaaaaaah!" I screamed back. She snapped fingers and Jarod flew to her. The ground soared away and wind whipped at my clothes.
"Don't fall off!" Colleen yelled.
"Then what's the point of this?" I roared back.
Lee appeared, on her own pegasus. Colleen looked at the pegasus and not Lee.
She clicked twice and whistled sharply, pointing downwards. The pegasus banked, and Lee jumped off.
"Why'd you do that?" I asked.
"Stray pegasus. Shoulda been in the stables. No rider." She called back.
"What do you mean no rider? Lee was on there!" I barked. Colleen looked at me like I was nuts.
The girl on the pegasus looked at the boy on the pegasus as if the boy was insane.
What a world.
Eventually I learned to control Jarod's basic movements, and even got off without dying. Lee was waiting at the bottom, looking grim.
"How come she didn't see you?" I ask her as we left the stables. She became very interested in the ground.
"Lee." I urged. She squirmed but answered:
"Only some people can see me." She said quietly.
"Who? Why?"
"You, Chiron, the gods, other ghosts."
"Rezzy?"
Her cheeks darkened.
"Yeah.."
"So, can people hear you? Why can I see you?" I asked.
"I don't know. Chiron is, I don't know, special." She laughed at that.
"Apart from the horse bit. Such a unique fellow." I agree. She grinned.
"Anyway, Chiron doesn't know why you can see me. It might be because of the Prophecy, or-"
"Prophecy?" I ask, just as we neared the campfire. We sat and I listened as she recited a rhyme:

"Magic will trick the eyes of beasts
Twelve days before the winter feast
A weaver of fog in a cage of ink
A doorway to freedom will break Death's links
Heroes new will travel far across the plain
But will return a pair
From a struggle in vain"

I stared at her.
"The first three lines? About the corrupt Fog or whatever?"
"Mist," she corrected, "but yeah, we think so. And the fourth line... Chiron reckons 'Deaths links' means chains, but Thanatos isn't even in chains anymore. Long story." She added at my look.
"So, you think the fourth line's about you?" I ask. Her cheeks darken.
"No, no, I reckon it sounds legit, I was just wondering." I quickly say.
"Yeah. I do. I'm the only known-" she looked slightly embarrassed "- child of Thanatos that died and became, well, this."
On a weird impulse, I reached across and caught her hand. She didn't pull away.
I knew I wasn't attracted to Lee in that way - after all, I had a suspicion she was dating Rezzy, but I still felt a strong line of attatchment to this bad-ass ghost. She was like a sister I had never had.
"Its almost dinner." She said, just as a conch horn blew.
"You'd better go to the Hermes cabin - they're meant to escort you." She told me.
"Where are you going?" I ask, but I get to my feet.
Her cheeks darkened again.
"Rezzy?" I asked slyly, bumping her on the shoulder with a fist. She grinned, rolled her eyes, and walked off.