Calm. Like a statue, Hyejeong stood still next to Jiho with her bow raised highly, the string firmly drawn back. One would think encountering a monster, such as the vicious Minotaur, would leave one shaking and trembling out of fear and cowering in the farthest corner, begging for one's life. Any other ordinary human world have done so, however the two were different; fearless. They were born to protect the world from ancient monsters and beasts, those who ordinary humans cannot defeat, and now it was their duty to do so. Confidence radiated veritably from Hyejeong as waited for the half bull, half human to arrive at the ideal distance for her to shoot its head. Her breath was steady, eyes focused on her target. No movements were visible, only her fingers that slightly trembled because of the tension between her index and middle finger.

In the meantime Seungcheol had channeled his powers and charged his sword with pure energy. The air around him crackled because of the electrical charge, tiny sparks dancing in the air. Blue lightning strikes graced the blade as the heir of Zeus held it in both hands in front of his chest. Hyejeong felt the literal tension in the air pressuring all of them in a way, waiting to be released. Seungcheol gave Jiho a swift nod, the latter threw her shield like a flying disc and it in fact stuck in a crack of the brick wall next to the Minotaur. He then ran towards it, using the shield to take leap at the monster. Accompanied by thunder and strong wind, Seungcheol pierced its heart with his lightning sword. For a second the Minotaur stood there paralyzed, eyes widened in shock and arms raised as if it was ready to push away its executioner with blue lightning strikes wandering through his whole body and releasing its painful death cry.  

In the next moment Seungcheol was kneeling with one leg on the ground and catching Hyejeong's dagger in the left hand before it could clank against the ground. The Minotaur was no longer there; it had turned into a pile of pitch black ash and had been carried away into darkness by the wind. Seungcheol got on his feet again and walked up to Hyejeong. "Here," he held the dagger out for her. However as she was about to take it, the both noticed the rather deep scratch - the Minotaur managed to wound her during their play of bullfight - on her lower arm. Now that she looked at the wound, her body seemed to remember the feeling of pain; the adrenaline being long forgotten. A hiss escaped her lips at the slightly burning sensation and especially when Seungcheol took a hold of her wrist and pulled her closer. "Sorry." He continued to examine the open sore under the dim light. The other two joined them, Jihoon illuminating the passage by letting small flames hover above them and Jiho rummaging through her backpack. After having found whatever she was looking for, Jiho drew out a cylindrical-bodied vial containing a golden, glowing liquid. She mixed a few drops of the mysterious liquid with the water in her bottle and told the girl to drink it. "What is this?" Hyejeong then questioned, holding the bottle in her free hand. "It is an elixir made of ambrosia," Jiho explained to her, "Ambrosia is usually consumed by deities only but since we are their heirs, they made an exception for us hence only the weak concentrate. Now drink." Hyejeong did as she was told and let the elixir slide down her dry throat smoothly, noticing how thirsty she was. 

She was overwhelmed by a sudden rush of pure energy surging through her system. It was like a more intense version of caffeine, making her feel wide awake and alive. Her heart was now thumping at a dangerously fast pace. Hyejeong gulped down more and more, unable to stop and savoring the ecstasy. Becoming aware of it, Seungcheol took a hold of the bottle and pulled it away from her lips, giving it back to Jiho. "Alright, that's enough," he said sternly, yet with worry. Hyejeong felt lightheaded and dizzy, letting out a soft moan when the bottle was taken away. "Sorry," she mumbled under breath still in a haze, blinking and brushing the hair out of her face. She was sure she looked like she had been on drugs. Maybe that's what ambrosia was; Hyejeong basically had a taste of life and could not stop to crave for more. Her fingers absentmindedly ghosted over her lower arm, tracing the smooth skin. The wound was fully healed without leaving a scar behind as if it never happened. Jiho offered her a small smile, "Don't worry, it's always like this when you try ambrosia for the first time. However you need to be careful and control yourself while consuming it, otherwise it will destroy you. We are still humans after all."

When they had left dark sewerage behind, the blue sky was already fading into a melange of lightsalmon and mistyrose pink with an orange hue hidden underneath. The four of them hurried to their car, cautious to not to be seen by anyone since the shabby diner had opened by now. Hyejeong watched as the sun was slowly running away from the moon, finding shelter behind high skyscrapers. She was so focused on the blurry city moving past them, she did not even notice the occasional glances that the boy next to her shot. The rest of the evening passed like a daze to her. The small group decided to go to bed early after washing up so they could leave Cheonan early in the morning. However Hyejeong could not fall asleep, no matter what. It felt like eternity when she tossed and turned in her bed, shutting her eyes tight. Guess ambrosia really was like caffeine, keeping her wide awake; although she would prefer falling into an abyss of deep slumber in that moment. When she could not endure the torture anymore, Hyejeong quietly crawled out of the damned bed and tiptoed to the armchair in front of the large window. Hyejeong pulled her knees against her chest, letting her left cheek rest on top. Houses, cars, streets. Countless lights of the city illuminated the dark nightsky, trying to put them on an equal footing with the stars. The motel stood high on a hill, still close enough to the city to offer a beautiful view of the skyline from above. Maybe if I counted the stars, she thought to herself, it would help me fall asleep. So she started counting the tiny sparkling dots on the night-blue sky.

"Hyejeong, wake up." Jiho's stern, and yet soft, voice guided the girl back into the world of reality. Hyejeong's eyes fluttered open and she found herself snuggled up in her bed again. In the first second she was confused; wasn't she sitting on the armchair? Then in the next second she remembered that she had stopped somewhere between 100 and 200 as somnolence had finally taken over and she returned back under her covers. "What time is it?" Hyejeong asked tiredly and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "It's quarter past seven," Jiho replied while making her bed. Letting out a yawn, Hyejeong slowly got up and did the same.

After that they met the two boys at the buffet, already sitting at a table for four and waiting for them. Hyejeong took the seat next to Seungcheol and immediately dug in and did not care how beastly she looked in that moment. An inexplicable hunger controlled her. It was as if she had been starving for the last decades. Was that another side-effect of ambrosia?

The boy next to her struggled to stifle his chuckle, still looking fondly at the girl. Oh, how much he would love to pull her at his side, pinch her cheeks and feed her. However he knew it would be awkward since they have been camp mates, friends, for only two weeks. Realizing his thoughts, Seungcheol quickly cleared his throat and hoped that no one noticed. 

The ride back to the camp seemed shorter and was definitively less nerve-wrecking for Hyejeong. Vanquishing the Minotaur felt like a heavy weight being lifted off her shoulders. Slowly the new reality sunk in - Greek Gods and Goddesses did exist and now she was caught in both worlds, destined to help the deities and protect humanity. Somehow she did not feel pressured at all, moreover excited. It was just like an adventure from the books and movies. And she sure did love adventures. Whether it was secretly sneaking out at night with her friends or going on spontaneous trips, Hyejeong was down for it. Then her parents would scold her when they found out, however they could not be mad and her mother would tell stories about herself when she was her age. A small smile played on her lips.

"Aaand we are back in the camp," Seungcheol exclaimed happily as the car came to a stop just a mere meter next to the camp's sign. When the troop walked past the two marble columns, they immediately were greeted by an overly excited Hoshi. The boy wore a blue graphic tee with "YOU MADE IT" written in bold red on it. He soared through the sky and made a small summersault before he landed not so gracefully in front of the two boys, flinging his arms around their necks to save himself from stumbling. "Welcome back, guys!" Hoshi offered them his signature smile, his eyes imitating 10:10 on the clock. "It's nice to see you in whole pieces," he bubbled and started to float above the ground in excitement again. "It's nice to see, too, Hoshi." Seungcheol clapped heir of Hermes on the shoulder, causing the rather lean (compared to the former) boy to meet the ground again with every clap. Then Hoshi began to ask questions about the Minotaur and to dramatically complain about how boring it was without them - especially Jihoon and his fireballs chasing after another certain camper - and that the only entertaining highlight was Minghao pulling a prank on poor Seokmin. Apparently, the heir of Hecate gave Seokmin a potion that turned his head into a horse's whenever he used his powers. Since he worked together with the nymphs to boost and to look after the fields, his powers were needed quite often. "You should have seen his face, ha ha! It was so hilarious," the platinum blond was laughing so hard to the point that he was clutching his stomach and tears threatened to fall out, "Oh! Speaking of the devil."

Just in that moment a golden brown pegasus descended from the sky with none other than Seokmin sitting on top. His grin was spreading from ear to ear and so bright like he was competing against the sun. "Thank the Gods, you are back, Jihoon and Seungcheol!" Seokmin cried out in happiness and threw his arms up in the air, causing him to almost fall down. "Mingyu has been becoming ruthless, acting as if he was in charge and inciting Minghao to cast spells over me," he whined, while Hoshi threw his head back and laughed gleefully at his misery. The barren ground underneath him and the pegasus turned bright green and all sorts flowers sprang out: aconite, chaste tree and crocus. In just mere seconds a small bed of purple flowers appeared out of the nowhere. And for a split second Hyejeong thought his jaw elongated, similar to a horse's. "You need to show him what respect is!" Seungcheol shook his head, despite the small smile that crept on his face, whereas Jihoon's face stayed completely blank. Only a mischievous glint in his eyes and tiny sparks on his fingertips betrayed him, and his lust to teach the wannabe leader a lesson. In the meantime Jiho, the empathetic girl, casually walked past the male heirs and pulled Hyejeong along, not caring about the poor boy's misery.

As soon as Hyejeong entered her cabin, the scent of pine trees and old wood filled her nose, making her feel at ease instantly. Dropping her backpack to the ground, she dived into her bed and buried her head into the freshly washed sheets. She could have fallen asleep right there with the smell of sweet lavender surrounding her, but Jiho had told her to only freshen up a little bit since there would be celebration in honor of their successful mission. So, she pushed herself up lethargically forced herself to turn her back on the tempting pile of pillows and sheets. Then Hyejeong walked into the small bathroom, splashed cold water on her face and eyed herself in the mirror. The soothing droplets ran down her face, gathering on her chin and dripped down. Her baby hair, which framed her oval shaped face, stuck on her glowing skin from the wetness. Then her two small hands came in contact with her cheeks, slapping them lightly to waken her up entirely. Hyejeong took one last glance at her own reflection before leaving the cabin in a refreshed state to the traditional bonfire.

Ω I feel like this chapter has been a mix of emotions. So who's up for some bonding time and getting to know the other characters better?

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