Tony stood in front of an enormous cabin made of bricks, with a smokestack coming out of it, giving the impression of a factory, or an oversized motor-home. The entrance was like a vault door, circular and composed of a thick metal. The sound of smoke hissing made Tony jump and he watched as the gears covering the door started turning.
The room had shiny metal walls and slatted walls, with workbenches and steel bunks pressed up against the wall. There were oil stains and various screws and fasteners littering the floor. About a dozen boys and girls bustling around and hammering away on weaponry and small masses of wires being fidgeted with. A familiar mop of black hair stood in the doorway. "You're here!" Harley exclaimed, "Come on, come on! We've got to finish the weapons!" He grabbed Tony's arm and pulled him into the room. He was so started that he almost ran into an older girl wearing a tank top.
She had cocoa brown skin and a red bandana to tie back her dark brown hair. The thing that really stood out about her appearance however, was the pink smiley face band-aid on her chin. "So," she raised an eyebrow and looked him up an down, "you're the one we got stuck with, huh? Tony Stark, right? Well, I hope you're decent with a hammer, 'cause you're making your own weapon," she told him. "I'm Nyssa by the way. And you've clearly already met Harley." The brown eyed eight year old grabbed some scrap metal from his pocket and started talking to Nyssa about it. Tony took the opportunity to gawk at the cabin. Percy mentioned some sort of tunnel beneath the structure when he'd dropped Tony off, called 'Bunker 9' or something, for the cabin number.
There were digital control panels, blinking LED lights, glowing gems and interlocking gears. A fire pole came down from the ceiling even though there didn't appear to be a second floor from the outside. The beginnings of a circular staircase led to the basement, where even more sounds of whirling power tools could be heard. Many of the bunks were folded up, and surrounded by curtains, but one of the ones that was down had a built in game station at the footboard, a stereo system at the head, a glass doored refrigerator at the base and a whole bunch of control panels running along the sides. A torn-up tool belt with many pockets sat on top of the sheets, along with a sphere compiled of many golden rings with symbols on them.
"You don't want that bunk." Tony spun around in alarm to be faced with a boy on crutches. "I'm Jake Mason; head counselor. Before me there was Charles Beckendorf. He died on a mission during the Second Titan War. Everyone loved him. I was counselor until Leonidas "Leo" Valdez came several months back to take the title, but then he died and it came back to me. They both slept there," the boy, now known as Jake said.
"Leo...Is that the guy who Percy keeps mentioning? And what did you say about a war?" Tony was confused. He wanted answers to the millions of questions swirling around his head, but one stood out above the rest. What happened? Jake frowned and his nose scrunched up. "You mean Percy didn't tell you?" he questioned, "I mean, I guess I get it after everything that's happened, and then there's his flaw, but I kinda figured you'd know something. He doesn't want to bring you into this, which means he cares about you guys, but...Anyways, yeah, there was a war a while back- we were just in one city, but our parents were fighting Typhon, who was released after Percy...ah, actually that's a story for another time. Make yourself at home. Remember the beds retract to a private room in the basement, and help yourself to the forges," he grinned at Tony as the billionaire's eyes lit up at the thought of using the forges.
The information from earlier was pushed into the back of his mind as he zipped off to claim a bunk and a handful of junk to start working on. Tony had a feeling he was going to like it here.
~Bruce Banner~
A boy with deep mocha skin and a honey toned girl were standing at Bruce's sides. The boy had introduced himself as Austin Lake, and the girl as Kayla Knowles. Austin had dark brown eyes and hair arranged in cornrows to form a double helix and wore a black wool pea coat and jeans overtop his orange camp shirt. In contrast, Kayla had bluebell eyes and ginger hair, complete with tips dyed a shocking green, and a smatter of freckles across her face. Both resided in Cabin 7, for Apollo, and volunteered to show him the ropes.
Even if, as Kayla put it, they 'liked bows and brass over bandages and gauze'. At first glance the cabin looked normal, with a simple sun symbol above the door. But when the sunlight hit it just right, it appeared to be made of a blinding gold, and the plain white plaster walls inside were a relief to Bruce's eyes in comparison to the gleaming screen of gold outside. There were lines of bunk beds against the walls, and cots for the injured in the middle of the room. Rough cedar beams rib the ceiling and hooks for coats and weapons adorn the walls.
The only decorations were flowerpots on the windowsill, filled with cheerful yellow blooms from 'Delos, which only grow on the island itself, or the land around the cabin'(according to Kayla), and purple and red hyacinths. Kayla told him that the bookshelf with reference material about their father was from Will, the head counselor. It smelled of clean linen and sage.
A thump was heard from outside. Austin rolled his eyes. "That's probably Cabin 9. I should go grab Will; he took the rest of the cabin to the archery ranges so that we could show you around and you wouldn't be overwhelmed by us lot." He ran away, supposedly to get Will, and Kayla dragged Bruce back out the door to see what the Hephaestus kids made. "Tony?" Bruce asked, surprised to see his egotistical friend pushing a golden cart to the front of Cabin 7. Before Tony could respond, Kayla shoved him out of the way. Ignoring his cursing, she knelt down beside a young girl who had a gash on her leg. Harley was supporting her as she sniffled. Kayla sighed and picked her up, carrying her to one of the cots. "Calm down, Alicia, I'm just going to disinfect and wrap the wound, then give you some nectar, alright? Just a little bit though, this doesn't look too bad," Kayla soothed the girl. Within five minutes, the girl was all but completely healed and was resting on the cot.
"Kayla!" Austin called out, "I found him! But what happened here?" Kayla stood up and followed her half-brother out. "Accident- she was helping pull his flying chariot here. At least they finally finished the repairs."
An athletic boy about 15 years old came to a stop in front of the doorway. He had shaggy blond hair and bright blue eyes, along with a golden tan. He had on an unbuttoned green plaid shirt on top of an orange t-shirt. Two satchels overflowing with herbs were throw over his shoulder. "She's okay then? Good. I'm glad they fixed my chariot, too," the boy said, before noticing Tony and Bruce.
"Hi, I'm Will Solace, nice to meet you- Austin, you can practice your saxophone later!" he began scolding the younger boy. "Chill out, Will," came a voice from the shadows. A shadow condensed a bit more before fading away to reveal that a ebony haired, onyx eyed teenager was the commenter. He had what may have once been an olive skin tone, but was now a stark white, along with Italian features. He wore all black and had a dark brown aviator's jacket on. A white skull was just barely showing on his shirt, and a silver skull ring with ruby eyes glinted on his finger when he extended a hand towards Bruce.
"Nico Di Angelo. You and all your friends have slight clouds of death and madness above your heads," he stated by way of introduction. Bruce shivered when he shook the boy's frozen hand, and watched as he sent and amused look at Will. "Nico! That's rude!" he admonished, "I apologize for my boyfriend," he told the men. Tony choked a bit, and Bruce's eyes widened a fraction before he relaxed again.
"Could you not-" Nico started. "Would you prefer special guy? Or significant other?" Nico snorted. "Significant annoyance in your case." Will pouted, then immediately brightened again. "I haven't seen you for a while. Did you miss me, Sunshine?" he teased. Nico laughed. "You wish tesoro." Will huffed. "But Neeeeeks!" he whined, drawing out the obvious nickname.
Kayla cut in. "Get a room, you two!" she laughed. The couple both turned slightly red and Nico grabbed onto Will's arm, pulling him into the shadows and vanishing. "Wha-"
"Where'd they go?" Bruce asked, cutting Tony off. "Probably Nico's cabin. He lives alone, since his father, Hades, wasn't allowed to have children for- how many years was it?" She turned to Austin, who didn't even look up from polishing his saxophone before responding. "About 73 years ago."(A/N: This is being written in 2019- World War II ended on September 2nd, 1945) "So, yeah, about 73 years ago. It's a long story." Kayla waved off their concerns on why Nico was there, when he was clearly no older than 15. "I'll help you carry Alicia back to Cabin 9, since you obviously can't handle watching over a 7 year old." She looked directly at Tony and Bruce had to hold in a laugh at Tony's insulted sound.
YOU ARE READING
Beating Hearts
ActionPerseus Jackson. The name that sent chills down monsters spines, and that sparked hope in demigods everywhere. But beyond that, this name belongs to a boy. A man. A man who has seen so much, too much. Who has watched as his friends were killed, murd...
