❛ Fireworks Beach

@[G] Bijou Roux [uwah sorry for the late reply!]

Midnight let out a small purr(or hum?) before the wolf begin to walk towards his master's direction , swaying his fluffy tail from side to side. 'Its really been a while since we last talk, hmm?' Midnight looked at the female as he tilted his head a little to the side, welcoming the gentle and cold sea breeze caress his thick black fur.

"Ah~ there you guys are!" Rivaille chirped happily as he turned around to look up at them, since he is practically sitting on the wet sand and let him get wet with the water, "Is Nami around us?" He asked curiously, his ocean blue eyes stare into Bijou's. "I wanna see her baby~~" he cooed happily and giggled, splashing water around him before beckoning his pet wolf to come near him.

@[G] Bijou Roux Midnight barked and nuzzled against the other's palm, wagging his fluffy tail side to side, 'It's one of the ability i learn while i was away from master and you,' Midnight said, his dark eyes eyeing his master's action, making sure the male is not exposed to danger. Then again, they are at the beach, Midnight is pretty sure his master is protected by the water surround him.

'Shall we go to master right now? i doubt if he is aware with his surrounding,' Midnight looked at Bijou and tilted his head to the side a little, before another bark came from the wolf, 'now that we are reunited once more, we will protect each other from danger,' the wolf back and nuzzled

@[G] Bijou Roux He smiled as he finally reach the ocean and sigh in content as he felt the water caress his leg. Later he let himself sit in the water and hugged his knees, watching and letting the water surround his body. His ocean blue eyes looked at the sea, so beautiful. So cold. But peaceful. Later he blink as a fish swim towards him and he squealed happily. "Hello mr fish!!!!!" He squealed and play around with the fish.

Midnight is startled at the sudden squeal of his master before he regain his composure and purred at the others petting. 'I would want to see hiler baby though,' he purred and wag his tail. 'Actually i arrive here a few weeks before. I was searching for master and you, but i cant seem to find you both,' a small whine escape the wolf. 'But i could feel master and bijou aura from time to time. So im comforted by those aura and waited for the day to meet with you both one day.'

@[G] Bijou Roux Midnight nodded silently as he listened to the females words and bark softly at Rivaille as the male kept on petting his ears, which in turn twitches everytime his master pet him. 'Didnt master wanted to play with the water earlier? Go on. I will follow you later,' Midnight purred and Rivailles cheek. The younger male grinned and nodded. "Alright! See ya in the water sis!!" He chirped happily and ru off towards the water before he tripped, get up and resume running

Midnight sighed as be looked at his master clumsy attitude before he looked at Bijou. 'Really? A baby? Thats cute,' he barked a little, wagging his tail. 'Will she come over at the ocean later?'

@[G] Bijou Roux Midnight for now, lets out a sigh as his master is currently hugging him and he had to his master's cheek to warn Rivaille not to cry. He is considered a grown up for his age so why did he need to cry? Midnight sigh and nuzzled its head under Rivaille's neck, making the younger patting the others body.

'Its already considered strong enough. But i guess master has been playing around as usual,' the wolf said as he looked at Bijou, blinking and wagging his tail. "Hey! I did train too!" Rivaille whine and tugged onto his pet's ears.

'And yes im back for good. I wont be leaving you guys anymore. Dont worry about that,' the wolf said, his ears twitches as his master tugged on it. Rivaille smilled as he listened to the others conversation and let it go fora while. 'How is Nami doing anyway?' The wolf ask as he nuzzled its nose onto Bijou's skin

@[G] Bijou Roux All this while Midnight spent most of his time searching his master,eversincr he is released by his pack. They want to.meet Rivaille too.ne day, if that's possible. He remembered the sad face Rivaille make when they release him into the forest,he will never forget.

But now they met again, everything will be okay. Now he can protect his master. Unlike his small little self in the last few years. A small purr of content can be heard from Midnight as the female petted his head. 'Hpw have you been all is while? Getting stronger?' Midnight asked, with a small hint of smiling.

Rivaille blinked as he heard his name is being called and be turned around to meet with his sisters happy face from far. Ocean blue eyes blinked in confusion before he padded o er towards where Bijou is right now.

"Midnight..?" The younger said out cluelessly. Upon reaching, he looked at a grown up werewolf and a smile plastered onto his face before he run and l literally glomped onto the werewolf. "Midnight!!!!!!!!!!!! I missed you!!!!!" The younger said out happily and nuzzled into the wolfs fluffy fur, "you have gotten bigger midnight! And strong too!" He chirped out happily and ruffled the others fur. "I miss you so much.." he whimper

@[G] Bijou Roux Midnight sighed and shook its head as his master tripped and fell right into the water. "Wah!" Rivaille coughed out water as soon as he managed to stand up and huff softly. "Uhm...how can i call the fishes to come over.. i wanna meet with dolphin.." he heard his master say. If Midnight were to be born with an ability to become a human, he would have just dumped Rivaille deeper into the sea, and he wants his master to pay more attentiom to class.

"Sis? Where are you?" Rivaille ask as he looked around, and now noticing his sister walked towards a certain familiar black werewolf. "Sis..?" He called out to her.

Midnight now sat on this hind legs, looking up at Rivaille's sister. His black fluffy long tail wave from side to side, as if greeting her. 'Its been a while, Miss Bijou.' Midnight greeted her through telepathy. His dark eyes, in contrast to Rivailles light one , looked at her. The wolf tilted his head to theside.

'Remember me?'

@[G] Bijou Roux Rivaille had never been to the beach for quite a long time already, and he misses it. Upon reaching, he grinned childishly at the bright blue ocean that lay ahead of him and took his sneakers out before throwing them under a palm tree and Rivaille begin to run towards the sea, bare foot, screaming something like " Oceannnnnnn!!!!!!!!" ... something along that line.

Unknown to him, a grown up dark fur, as dark as the night werewolf appeared from behind one of the trees that formed a forest, looked at Rivaille silently, observing his master's attitude and let out a small 'sigh' as Midnight still find the childish attitude in his master.

"Sis! The water looked so clear today! Dad must have been in a good mood!!" He squealed happily and splash the water around him.

@[G] Bijou Roux "We'll see about that," was Stephen's answer, along with a small, wry smile. Remember. Remember, when two of the people there had already claimed they /knew/ him when he certainly did not. And if he could doubt a child of Pluto, he could not doubt Minerva's. He was almost sure they have no grudges against him, but...

"Thank you for the well wishing, Roux. I'll get going."

The water was beginning to feel more threatening than not.

And with that, he nodded a polite goodbye to his rival... or maybe less of a rival now.

Maybe.

[ I guess this closed it? Idk where this is going tbh. ]

@[G] Bijou Roux "Help? You have no connections whatsoever with Camp Jupiter." Stephen looked at her, not warily, but more of with a strong determination coming from inside. Camp Jupiter was his place - he's going to sort it out, with or without help. And even if she's capable, he'd prefer taking some of the Romans; she's fine, but no - it just felt wrong if he were to bring her along.

"As much as I shall thank you for this, don't meddle with my affairs, Roux."

They are, after all, still rivals.

@[G] Bijou Roux "Why would you want to go back to that time as well?" Stephen asked, feeling slightly odd. Repeating the past is like condemning your own choices and take on a completely new future... and even he would have to think twice when he finally have to make that choice.

"It's not without consequences, you know..." he said. "You may lose everything. Cronus is no playground for demigods."

@[G] Bijou Roux "I can." Stephen repeated, almost with a confident smirk. It was totally insane, but the idea was not impossible at all. Time machines does exist in the modern world, not as machines, but as one of the most ancient beings. If Greek gods does exist, then a time machine surely does, too...

"As for how, that's for me to find out." He replied. "I'll be needing Chiron, though..."

@[G] Kim Hyorin The sea waves crashed gently nearby their feet, as if wanting to caress the daughter of their ruler. Stephen’s bare foot could almost feel the cool wetness of the sands—he had put his sandals off at a safe distance from the shores. Ironically, the beach had become a place for him to think, both because it was his weakness and because the waves sounds like music sometimes to his ears. But somehow, Roux’s words only confused him more.

Carry the burden with you forever…

True, Stephen realized that he’d have to let go somehow. But how was he even to try? It was only a battle between him and himself, and there’s no win or lose in it. The male sighed, looking down at the water.

“Find a time machine, huh…”

Time machine. The thought had gotten into him so fast that he could only look back at Bijou’s eyes with a dawning revelation.

“...I /can/ find a time machine.”

@[G] Kim Hyorin "I only knew my father from thunderbolts, rainstorms, and the sort," Stephen gave a chuckle. "Joking. His statue was our camp's most prominent feature. From all the descriptions I've read or hear about Jupiter, none of them said he was hot-tempered, though. I'd rather think not."

Jupiter Optimus Maximus. The best and the greatest. Stephen realized that the blood of the most prominent god flows in his veins, and that was the sole reason why he'd almost always take responsibility - his camp, of course, was included.

"The giants destroyed it," he said. "I was out of camp when the war happened. Octavian actually took most of the Roman demigods here while leaving the camp unguarded-- and everyone else went back there only to find ruins. Everything's destroyed. Some died. Plus the losses we face from the war, too. I'm just... argh." The demigod huffed angrily. "If only I didn't leave the camp..."

@[G] Kim Hyorin Quickly wiping the tears away, Stephen chuckled faintly. "Hot-tempered, huh. I've heard that of Zeus." He said. "Dad - Jupiter - isn't so hot-tempered, but..." He shook his head. "I don't know. I've never met the... other version of my dad, see."

Silently, he reduced the bolt into sparks by closing his palm upon it, seemingly deep in thought again. But he just didn't know what to think about what just occurred. Letting the silence settle by them, he absorbed the electricity, but made no other moves, until it was reduced to nothingness.

"You knew what happened to my camp, right?"

@[G] Kim Hyorin If the gods are capable of doing them... yes, Stephen realized it too, but then again most of them would've taken their mistakes as fate, as something that's bound to happen. But why couldn't he?

Was it because of the many lives he lost, or because he simply just felt responsible for them even if he wasn't the one who led them to death, or because right then he just felt that he failed something where he should've succeeded?

It's unfair. This whole affair is unfair, he thought - Camp Jupiter shouldn't have had to suffer the losses. If only he was there when Octavian decided to go... honestly, he was more angry to himself than anyone else.

Bijou's shout made him turn to her in surprise; he didn't thought she'd be /that/ daring to address the god himself. Was it that easy? Back in Camp Jupiter, none of them in the legions would've dared to throw such a trivial question at the gods - and for a moment, he thought the answer wouldn't come, but then it was proven otherwise.

The male could only stare at the bolt, momentarily frozen in his shock due to how easy the answer came - but then he rose to his feet, tiny sparks of electricity surrounding his hands.

If there's a way he could check-

The lightning bolt seemed to pulse by the demigoddess' side, and as he raised his hand, it began to float. Up, slowly, and up... until he could touch it with his bare hand and merge the electric currents with his own- and the moment he did, a familiar warmth seeped through the tip of his fingers.

It /really/ was him...

And Stephen turned his head down as a lone drop of tear fell onto the sands.

"I'm sorry..."

@[G] Kim Hyorin "Perhaps," Stephen answered. The wind had caressed his hair, but the boy made no attempt to brush the stray strands off his face. Crackles of electricity formed between his fingers as he took a deep breath, thinking about his own standings. He let a few moments of silence passed by before he settled with, "I didn't kill by my own hands."

I kill by ignorance.

"Now I keep wondering if Dad's somehow angry with me," he sighed, glancing at the girl by his side carefully. "Has your dad... ever been angry with you?"

@[G] Kim Hyorin Her movement caught his eyes, and Stephen only watched as the strings of water began to entangle themselves onto the demigoddess' hands. He took it as a visualization of the other's word - messy. Messier than ever. True enough, if his thoughts could be mapped, perhaps it would look even more like a tangled mess than the web she made. The thought made him smile wryly.

"Not that I'm not ready." He said, entangling his own fingers in front of his folded legs. "It's no one's burden to bear but mine."

And perhaps the other campers from Camp Jupiter, but he could never say for the others. His conscience was his, and his alone.

@[G] Kim Hyorin "I'm just... thinking," Stephen murmured, not letting his gaze meet the other's on purpose - it was half a lie, of course. He was thinking, but at the same time, he wanted to know if this 'rival' of his could actually justify what he did. Roux struck him as more of a fighter, and he'd begun to see her as more or less an equal in terms of ability, which means her answer should be able to apply to him.

Theoretically speaking.

"Case one, when one has a reason to kill, one has a reason not to care about the person they kill." He stated. "In a case of self defense, it'd be your life or theirs. But what if..."

Agitation made itself clear in the tone which the demigod spoke; he was clearly disturbed. But even then, he suddenly realized that he /shouldn't/ actually say anything more. Camp Half-Blood was fine. His camp's losses was his own to bear... or at least, he thought so at that moment.

"...never mind."

What if it's neither?

@[G] Kim Hyorin Stephen nodded silently in response, a soft "I see" came out as a murmured answer from the demigod. In truth, he should be aware of the sea, but perhaps it was more like he half wanted something to come out of the sea so he can rip it apart... or so it can rip him apart, he didn't care either. It was just one of those times when he felt as if he had lost too much and nothing was left. Oh, how easy would it be to just jump into the sea and let it swallow him whole... and yet, he knew he couldn't.

Heaving a deep breath, he shook his head. "Didn't feel like it," he said. "Besides, someone might get injured seriously..."

Generally, he was old enough - and trained enough - to control his own powers.But at that time, Stephen didn't trust himself enough; to injure someone from Camp Half-Blood would just cause a dispute between the two sides of the campers, and he didn't want his emotions to get the best of him. It was always better to be careful.

Shaking his head slightly again, he hugged his knees and stared at the glittering surface of the sea.

"Hey, Roux... what will you do if you killed someone?"

@[G] Kim Hyorin Lost in the maze of his own thoughts, Stephen had only realize the presence of the demigoddess by his side the moment she settled down on the sands. To be honest, he'd chosen the place because it was quiet, and he wanted to be a recluse just for the day - just for the day, because even he himself knew he couldn't waste more than that. But circumstances had went against his will again.

Looking at Bijou's smiling face, he smiled back guiltily, unable to hide his sadness in time. She was right, though. Setting every inner turmoil of his aside, the scenery was beautiful.

"Lovely, indeed..."

The daughter of Poseidon had been no more than a sparring mate to him; it came as a surprise that she talked to him that way all of a sudden. Rivalries are often found in camp, and even if this was only his first month in, he'd already have some whom he could call a rival... including the tan girl by his side. She didn't annoy him by the brave move, but it just irked him how someone managed to find him at the very time when he could've been alone.

"Never thought you'd be here now of all times, Roux. Anyone beat you out of the field?"

@[G] Kim Hyorin Yeah, call him insane, alright.

Stephen stared at the vast body of water, at the sparkles of light reflected by the somewhat calm surface. He'd sat there and watch the sun from the moment it rose from the horizon - how many hours had it been? Tiredly, he let out a sigh; this was no way to face what came his way, but then again, he'd thought he was over it.

Turned out he simply wasn't.

The pendant hanging on his neck felt doubly heavy then, more of a burden he'd been unable to let go of.

/I wasn't there. They'd need me and I wasn't there/... and look at the price Camp Jupiter paid.

I should've been dead, the voice in his mind continued, I could've been...

And as he stared at the ever changing patterns of waves silently, Stephen mourned once more - for the future that could have been.

@[G] Amber Josephine Liu The silence that followed right after she spoke gave Krystal the impression that perhaps she wasn’t going to get a reply, and so gave the other female a few seconds or so before Krystal could just awkwardly slip away like she didn’t even bother to approach the other camper. To be very honest, she was actually trying to lessen the fact that she looked pretty much indifferent among the crowd of other half-bloods who enjoyed the event, and she was also avoiding her sibling’s possible judgement of why she had not a male with her (annoying, really).

One, two, three—she counted mentally. Much to her surprise, the offspring of the god of the underworld actually gave her a response. Masking her surprise, she tried not to look nor sound too perplexed—it might come off as offending. The least thing she wanted to happen was to offend the other.

“… come again?” she mustered a smile as she spoke her inquiry. The other camper spoke, but barely even audible to be heard. But at least she tried, right? For all Krystal knew it could be all that she could give as a response.

… Then again, she could have at least maximized the volume of her voice.

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you,” she added sheepishly.

@[G] Krystal Jung Silence enveloped her whole existence. She just sat there, not paying attention to anyone. Just listening to the waves and playing with the sand.

The atmosphere wasn’t that peaceful, really, but paying attention to all the hustling and bustling wasn’t her style so she continued playing with the sand and all, while waiting for the show to start.

‘How boring…’ she thought and looked up. It’s starting to get dark. She felt a bit comfortable for she knew that she’d be getting away unnoticed.

Wrong.

“Hey,” Amber looked up, a bit puzzled when she heard the voice. It was from an Aphro kid.

Oh gods, what is she going to do. She’s no social butterfly –She was never a sociable person. She had been locked up for years and she only has quite a few friends around her and by ‘a few’, they can only be counted by the fingers. Her heart was thumping, she starting to feel a bit hysterical now. If only she can do what the Aphro kids can do.

“Where’s your date?” She was panicking in deep inside. She opened , only to close it again. ‘Wait!’ she mentally stopped herself from saying anything because, she wasn’t notified about her name and her whole being.

‘What was it? Krissy, Kristel… Kris? No, just no.’ and then it hit her, Krystal! Yes! Like a crystal from Pan’s sanctuary, plus she’s the current cabin counselor of the Aphrodite cabin.

She opened once again ad spoke, “Hey, I don’t have any date,” but it was barely audible for the other camper to hear it.

Amber mentally cussed and face-palmed.

[post deleted by owner]

@[G] Amber Josephine Liu And as Krystal took her time taking a lonesome stroll, keeping away from the other campers who were situated on a distance, she caught a glimpse of a familiar short cropped hair from a distance. Oh, she could remember who that female was—Amber, wasn’t it? Amber Liu from the Hades cabin.

She wasn’t one Krystal intentionally remembered—she was just the brooding type you couldn’t help but simply remember. Having been the leader of her own cabin, she had her own share of socializing with the other campers. An introvert for a leader wasn’t one that was seen and deemed worthy of the post in this camp, after all.

What could be so bad with approaching her, a daughter of Hades? It wasn’t like approaching the other camper would have her all cursed to death. Surely Amber wasn’t the type who pushes people away? Pushing people away was so last season. Teen agers these days are so desperate for attention, she had long before figured.

Then again, Krystal remembered children of Hades had never been the approachable type in the first place.

Taking a deep breath, she braced herself for the worst and walked towards the other half-blood.

“Hey,” she greeted, trying to keep a casual tone despite her sudden feeling of wavering. Perhaps it was the effect of the aura she emits. But well, whatever. Krystal wasn’t one to care. “Where’s your date?” she even asked jokingly.

@[G] Krystal Jung Amber continued walking around, thinking about who would've asked her out if she was born on another parentage or whatever could have happened.

'It could have been better...' She thought to herself and kicked the coarse sand in front of her. All she could ever do was, imagine her future, although, she doesn't have the power to change her fate.

But she stopped. It will never happen... well, unless something killed her.

Just by thinking about the idea, she felt stupid. She can't die. She's a daughter of Hades and it would be an irony if she'll die at a very young age... without getting any relationship.

"Tch," She muttered. She can't even stare at the mirror for a minute.

So she looked around and sat down, observing all the other demigods stumbling clumsily. Now she has to wait for the fireworks show to start.

@[G] Amber Josephine Liu On the other hand, Krystal sees the fourth of July as a big deal.

Not because she had no date to spend the night with, see the fireworks prepared by the other inhabitants of their camp—but it was more on because she was caught up in a complicated web she weaved herself. And it just had to happen today, of all the other days. Instead of having to enjoy the night on her own (it would have helped if she was NBSB—No Boyfriend Since Break-up; but because of her own stupidity, here she is, far from being ‘NBSB’), here she was, utterly distressed and disoriented. At this, she hoped her mother’s blessing does not fade away if she’s almost driven to madness.

Running a hand through her pale hair, she let out an inaudible sigh.

Hopefully, though, as she was now walking her way to the beach, her mind would be cleared of her troubles even for just a few seconds—even minutes, she wished. Please, oh please, with her newly styled hair may no one realize that Krystal Jung, a notorious heart breaker from the cabin of love, is now taking a lonesome stroll as she waited for the fireworks to begin adorning the night sky.

She had long bid farewell to the crimson locks that tended to attract attention more than she ever desired for, after all.

“May the gods be with me,” she muttered sardonically to herself, letting out a snort right after. Maybe she is going crazy.

@[G] Krystal Jung Fourth of July.

A day celebrated with a love one or simply a friend, but for Amber... it was just another day.

Hue, a satyr, whom she treated as a brother, was busy rescuing demigods from all around the world. Her friend (her only friend), Chorong, was also busy with some other thing which she describes as an 'Ares kind of thing' and damn, she was left there, alone, albeit there was a number of demigods walking around the shore of the Fireworks beach.

Why is she even here?

Oh, right, harpies eat non-participating demigods and she doesn't want to be dinner for them, no. In addition, she doesn't want to feel lonely. Who would want to be a loner anyway? Gods, she was desperate for company. Seeing the other kids hanging out with their friends, she felt a bit envious.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get people to like her... Well, it was partly her fault because she doesn't talk that much. Making friends is a strenuous task for a Hades child. Thanks to her dark aura. For her it's a bit aggravating.

Not that she doesn't like her parentage or herself.

She just doesn't want to be lonesome.

(I had to... I was so bored.)

@Meng Jia

Again. He did it again.

Sunggyu, sitting on the sea of sands near the body of water, clutched despairingly at the sands—which of course, went out of his grasp once he tightened it. Failures, all these failures that he shouldn't at all allow to happen... he, the son of Jupiter.

After all, pride is his fatal flaw.

The boy released a soft hiss at the small streak of blood coming out from the long scratch at his arm the moment he strained the muscles; courtesy of his sparring opponent. But even that was nothing compared to how he felt because of the loss itself.

Would Jupiter even still call him a son of his, honestly?

It was quiet there, and no matter how weird it was for him to go to the beach instead of seeking the solace of his own cabin or go to the sky, somehow the beach had been his place of impuissance. The sound of running water, high tides, strong waves that could take his life. He knew Neptune did not have anything personal against him, and hopefully not against his godly father either, but water had always been his weakness.

And small electric sparks disappeared futilely against the sands, flowing from his hands.

It was the only way he knew to release all of his frustrations.