the moments leading up to the quest party's camp send off 

/ 

The next day came quicker than Momo anticipated. She wanted to spend a little more time holding Sana’s hand but she knew this quest wouldn’t finish itself. 

In between preparing her supplies and re-checking them, Nayeon approached her. She suggested a little spar to refresh Momo’s skill with her spear—now silver trident. Really, it was just an excuse for her to talk privately. Nothing like sharp and pointy weapons to keep away prying ears. 

Clang!  

Their spearheads crossed with each other, the power behind the strikes sent vibrations down their shafts, all the way to their hands. Despite Momo’s three spear-points—the advantage of wielding a trident—Nayeon’s pure power evenly matched her strength. 

Momo quickly backed away, holding her trident up in a defensive position. Nayeon, on the other hand, spun her spear casually with expert hands as she started circling Momo. 

“I want to thank you actually.” 

“Huh?” 

Momo couldn’t say anything in the moment, the comment took her by surprise and Nayeon used that opportunity to swing her spear in a backhanded fashion. 

Momo’s reflex took hold and she was fast enough to draw her spear in an upwards and diagonal direction. Sparks flew as the two weapons met again and again in mid-air, sliding against one another and creating friction. 

“For what?” Momo was only able to grunt that out as she held her own against Nayeon’s looming spear. It was a constant back-and-forth whenever they crossed spearheads. This time, Nayeon’s was above her as she struggled under the pressure. 

Nayeon quickly pulled back and launched herself at Momo with a series of fast-paced strikes. Momo gritted her teeth and parried each blow, effectively staying on the defensive. 

“For… talking... with Chaeng.” Nayeon grunted, sweeping her spear in an outwards arc. “Whatever you guys talked about, she seems better now.” 

Momo ducked and rolled away. She replied while taking in a breath. “Not… a problem.” 

“I’d appreciate it if you would look out for Chaeyoung.” Nayeon maneuvered herself in a feint attack. It was unsuccessful seeing as Momo dodged and countered it. 

“Not that you wouldn’t look out for your friends. Just… Chaeng’s younger than most of us. But we don’t baby her. She has a tendency to doubt herself too.” 

Momo nodded. She could hear what Nayeon really meant behind her words: I’d just feel better if you were looking out for her, since I can’t be there myself. 

The little tinkerer had so much energy for someone her size. Not that she’s short… ok, she’s short, but you get the idea! 

Sometimes, Momo could see Chaeyoung physically holding back her potential. It probably had something to do with her trauma but she didn’t want to assume. Like she said, one step at a time. 

“Anyways.” Nayeon grinned, twirling the spear in her hand like child’s play. “Chae’s more confident now. I can see it in the way she walks and talks. So... thanks.” 

Momo circled her, mimicking Nayeon’s spear twirling. “Well, you have a strange way of showing it.” 

Nayeon laughed vibrantly—sweat dripped down her neck, her spear was in her hand and an exhilarated grin was plastered on her face, reminding Momo of a true Spartan warrior. 

“I’m a Daughter of War, what’d you expect? Now c’mon, lemme teach you a few moves even the instructors don’t know about!” 

And with that, she propelled herself with a fierce ferocity, all with a hungry and striking grin on her face. Witnessing the sight firsthand, Momo wholeheartedly agreed that the mantle of Daughter of War was very fitting for Nayeon. 

/ 

After the sparring session, Nayeon and Momo rested by the water cooler. The ice water felt great after their long spar. It felt even better after Momo dumped some on her head, she felt refreshed and energized alone by the action. Probably the water…or my parentage...no wonder I like baths so much.   

Nayeon nudged her after a while. “Since you don’t have any cabin siblings, I’ll take care of your burial shroud for you.” 

If she were drinking any more water at the moment, she sure would have done a spit take. Instead, Momo exclaimed, “My what ?!” 

Nayeon laughed at her outburst before proceeding to explain. 

So it was basically like this: campers who leave Camp for a quest get burial shrouds made for them, usually by their cabins. And if a camper didn’t have any cabin mates, then their close friends would take over the duty. 

The purpose of the burial shroud depended on the quest outcome. If the camper succeeded, then they would get to burn the shroud themselves to represent their safe return. And if a camper didn’t successfully complete their quest and safely return to Camp, then… well, that was the other purpose of the shroud. 

/ 

Momo met up with Chaeyoung and Jihyo outside of the Forge. For once, Chaeyoung didn’t have a speck of grease or oil on her! 

They were taking catalogue of their weapons and gear, wondering if they packed enough ambrosia and water. Chaeyoung hauled out three plain backpacks from the Forge. 

“What’s that?” Momo curiously eyed the bags. They looked like normal backpacks to her. 

“ These ,” Chaeyoung cheekily grinned at them, “are enchanted bags I’ve been working on. It has almost unlimited space inside. Think of it like those spacious inventories in those video games.” 

“ Sweet! Man, I wish I had one of these when I moved into my dorm.” Momo curiously picked a bag up. She started loading their food and water rations in a fascinated trance. 

Jihyo giggled before loading her own bag with their portion of medical supplies. As a Daughter of the God of Medicine, it was natural for her to hold onto them. 

Chaeyoung took whatever remained of their supplies, but she mostly had spare weapons and crafting materials in her pack. 

Just as they were done stuffing their bags, a pair of footsteps bounded towards them. 

“Heeeeeey!” 

The three turned, spotting Dahyun coming at them like a hellhound was at her heels. She bent over when she reached them, hands on her knees as she caught her breath. 

Momo playfully patted her back in amusement. “There, there, little tofu. What’s got you in a rush?” 

Dahyun laughed at the nickname, playfully swatting aside her hand. “Just wanted to catch you guys before you left.” 

She pulled a quiver of arrows hanging off her back, passing it to Jihyo. 

Jihyo curiously took out an arrow and held it up against the light. The shaft of the arrow itself was pure celestial bronze, the fletching had two simple hawk feathers tied to it, and the arrowhead itself was carved into a metallic eagle head, with the beak acting as the tip. 

Momo felt a sense of deja-vu, the arrows resembled the ones she saw in her dreams. But more badass and dangerous looking—like an upgraded version. 

“It’s beautiful.” Jihyo softly breathed out as she delicately traced the intricate carvings from the arrowhead to the shaft of the arrow. 

“Thanks! And wait till you hear this—it’s enchanted!” Dahyun was preening at her girlfriend’s compliment. “The arrows are imbued with an electrical blast.” She chuckled at the three pairs of wide eyes. 

“Mina wanted to come with me to hand it to you but she’s knocked out sleeping haha!” Dahyun laughed, remembering how cute and rumpled a sleepy Mina had looked when she ran out of the Athena cabin. “We spent all night enchanting each arrow.” 

“Thanks Hyun!” Jihyo strapped the quiver of arrows to her waist before scooping Dahyun in her arms. She gave the little tofu countless pecks all over her face, making the two of them giggle. 

(Chaeyoung jokingly made a puking gesture but Momo shoved her and the two of them erupted into stifled giggles.) 

“Make sure to thank Mina for me too. Now go get some rest!” 

Dahyun playfully saluted at her girlfriend’s words and marched back to where her other girlfriend was sleeping, but not before saying goodbye to Momo and Chaeyoung with a hug and wishing them good luck. 

/ 

“Come back safe, ok?” Sana hugged her even tighter. And Momo contemplated abandoning the whole quest just to stay in her arms, even for just a little while longer. 

The Daughter of the Sea internally sighed. Nothing but an ancient quest standing between me and the girl of my dreams… can’t the gays get a win for once.  

Sana’s next words snapped her out of her thoughts. 

“We still have to go on our first date.” 

Momo hummed in acknowledgement and saved this moment in the vault of her mind. It was a sweet, tender moment that would have made her swoon, if she was one of the main characters in those rom-coms she liked to watch. 

The moment was ruined by loud fake crying from Nayeon and camera shutters from Jeongyeon. 

“MY BABY!” Nayeon faked weeped again. “ALREADY GROWING UP SO FAST AND GETTIN’ SOME!” 

“W-wha— NAYEON!” Momo and Sana spluttered as they both blushed at her words. 

“Oooh, this is a nice shot.” Jeongyeon’s camera shutter clicked some more. 

Tzuyu stood next to them, shaking her head. “I can’t believe you guys are older than me.”