Crossroads of Two Worlds

29- Adventures From Home Base

8:00 AM

I had gotten up pretty early this morning.

I never minded mornings, but what was so wonderful about this morning was that I could get up, get dressed, and then just fly around for a while. I circled camp for about an hour, swooping in between each cabin and even set off one of Ares's landmines just for fun. Don't worry, I shielded the cabins, it just blew up a tacky looking flower garden that, let's be honest, I did a favor to whoever thought that mess was pleasing to look at.

I threw a rock at Adrian's window and watched him from a distance as he confusedly got up and looked for the culprit. I had to leave because he wasn't wearing a shirt and he'd put on some muscle!

I also put a grand total of fifty-seven zip-ties around the Apollo cabin's doorknob, a harmless prank really.

I was just causing general chaos this morning, letting the entire camp know that I was back. And the best part was that they might not even pin the pranks on me, as the Hermes cabin had upped their pranking game while I was at Hogwarts and especially in the last few weeks. Poor Chiron had his hands... or rather, hooves, full even when I was away at school now. I had started a revolution! Against what, who knew?

I had been sitting in my little cozy reading nook when the breakfast bell rang, and who was I to ignore a summons, so I promptly left my book open on the chair and flew over to breakfast, landing in line right in front of Adrian, who I hadn't actually gotten to see yesterday.

Before I could even say anything to him he hugged me from behind but I managed to turn around in his arms.

He spoke into my hair, "I missed you, Speedy. Was that you throwing things at my window this morning?"

I laughed as he ruffled my hair and even kissed me on the cheek firmly, making me blush, "Yes, you weirdo! What's gotten into you? You're so touchy!"

He chuckled, "Well my favorite student came back from the dead and is now back where she belongs, I think I'm allowed to be happy. And you, Alana Faye, have developed a British Accent."

I stepped backwards and looked at him in shock and disgust, "I have not! You're crazy!"

He turned away with crossed arms and a smug expression on his angular face, "Whatever you think dear. But did you really think that you would be able to go seven years at a school in England-"

"Wales."

"-without getting the accent everyone else has?"

I rolled my eyes, "Actually, Mr. Know It All, students at Hogwarts are from all over the world. It used to be more exclusive but ever since the war they've been letting in many more people from other countries. We've even got a boy from Italy who doesn't speak a word of English, but-"

"Alana! I was just kidding! Besides, even if you have gained a bit of an accent, you've got three months with us here to get American back."

I laughed and shoved him playfully, stepping into the dining hall as the line filtered through. We went to sit at the Poseidon table, almost as if it was expected of me now. It was where I tended to eat my meals, as I hated to eat alone. I was definitely an extrovert. Maya came and sat down beside us after about ten minutes, and I got the feeling that I waited for so long to get before I came here last year... love.

I loved these two as well. The way I saw it, they had saved me from certain desolation and despair by adopting me into their lives. I'd just have to use the rest of my life to repay them.

July 4th

I loved fireworks. The only thing I didn't like was the bit of smoky smell it left in the air, air that I flew through quite often. I had spent the last weeks retraining my body to fight and survive like I needed to. My leg no longer hurt at all, but we couldn't make the scar go away. Some of the best healers at camp tried, but in all honesty, I'd become accustomed to the scar and wasn't uncomfortable with it. It definitely got some stares when I was training because I wore a tank top and shorts that clearly showed my thighs, but eventually, those too had ceased.

I'd spent a lot of time working on fighting in the air and becoming silent as an owl at midnight.

Maya bust into my cabin right as I was finishing a book she'd loaned me. I found that, if I could actually decipher the letters and the words weren't swimming around on the page, I actually enjoyed reading. Maya had practically crashed into my cabin, and was probably getting ready to pull me outside towards the festivities.

There were to be fireworks at the lake tonight when dark came and Old Man Sunshine was out for the night. I wondered if Chiron would let me set any of them off. Probably not, with my history of general disaster-causing behavior.

10:00 PM

I sat with Maya and Adrian on my left side down by the lake, waiting for the show to begin. I hadn't bothered to ask if I'd be allowed to set off any of the fireworks, and just decided to enjoy what I could see.

My other suggestion for trouble was that I try and fly in the air while the fireworks were going on. Maya had shut down that plan before the full sentence was even out of my mouth. So here I was, sitting on the bank of the lake like a loser. Even though it got fairly chilly at night, inside the Camp borders, it was warm enough that I was wearing my normal camp t-shirt and jeans that were a bit too tight, as they were from last year. Noah was reclining in a beach chair to my right, looking ridiculous with the sunglasses on that I'd tricked him into thinking were color-enhancing. I knew he'd want to wear them for the fireworks, but I also knew he'd figure it out and I'd get yelled at. Still worth it though.

I leaned backwards onto my elbows and stared up at the sky where the first firework was set off, brilliant red and orange sparks flashing through the pitch black night. I was in for a show.