“Is there a reason the camp director looked like… that? Yena said confusedly after Mr. D disappeared.

“Gods can choose whatever form they like,” Chaeyeon replied, going back to her meal like nothing happened. “That’s just the persona he chooses here at camp. I wouldn’t advise talking about him behind his back by name though. Gods can sense that kind of stuff.”

“I feel really bad for Chaewon though. It’s like Mr. D just dropped in, called her out, then left,” Chaeryeong said glumly.

“Because that’s exactly what happened,” Yujin muttered. She’d noticed the atmosphere drop as Mr. D spoke, everyone beginning to look at Chaewon cautiously, as if she was a ticking time bomb.

“They’ll come around, Yujin. You girls actually have a chance to show what you got in the upcoming capture-the-flag. Since Chaewon’s the only one from her cabin, she gets to be on our team,” Chaeyeon replied.

The topic of the upcoming event seemed to send a buzz throughout the whole Hermes table as everyone began discussing strategy and their alliances with other cabins.

“Speaking of which, do you mind running us up to speed on what that is?” Yena asked curiously.

“Capture-the-flag is a bi-monthly event where the campers fight for glory and bragging rights. It is quite literally capturing a flag on the opponent’s side except we have swords and armor. Not only is it fun, but it helps Seunggi see the progress everyone is making,” Chaeryeong said excitedly. She was practically jumping in her seat.

“Like… real swords? Is that safe?” Yujin said a bit nervously.

Chaeyeon scoffed. “There are still rules! The most important one is that killing and maiming is not allowed.”

“Yes, anything like that gets your dessert privileges taken for a week!” Chaeryeong added.

“I feel safer already…” Yujin replied a bit sarcastically.

“You can’t possibly expect us to join that when we just got here, right? Is there no ‘new camper’ protection?” Yena asked.

“Well, another rule is that any camper who is not injured must participate, and by Thursday, you two will officially not be new campers. We’ll have training tomorrow!.” Chaeyeon said as if that should be something reassuring. “Besides, I heard you have a magic weapon already. Not everyone has something like that.”

Yujin looked at Yena confusedly until a memory dawned on her. “That pen-sword? So it’s real?”

Yena nodded and was about to take it out until Chaeyeon stopped her. “No weapons allowed at the dining pavilion.”

“That’s where we draw the line?” Yena said with a chuckle, opting to just show the pen.

Chaeyeon’s eyes narrowed, noticing some lettering on it. “Diakoptis Fotos… Light Breaker.”

“Is that Greek?” Yujin asked.

“Yeah, part of being a demigod means being hard-wired to read and understand Greek. You two can as well, try it!” Chaeryeong replied.

Yujin and Yena stare at the pen closely as well, and visually, it was as if the letters were moving around until they were in an order they could read.

“Huh, you’re right…” Yujin said. She wondered now what other abilities demigods had, and if they’d be related to whoever her godly parent would end up being.

These thoughts were interrupted, though, when a commotion was heard away from their table. It was Chaewon, still eating her food while a couple campers walked up to her.

“So, I heard you killed the minotaur, huh?” the boy said. “Think that makes you a big shot here?”

Chaeyeon sighed. “There goes Wooseok starting trouble again…”

Chaewon continued to ignore him which only seemed to rile him up more.

“Yah, newbie. I’m talking to you!” he yelled before slamming one of his hands on the table. This action prompted both Yujin and Yena to stand up, ready to jump in at any moment.

“Wait, don’t do anything rash. You don’t want to get on an Ares kid’s bad side,” Chaeryeong warned.

“As if we’re going to let our friend get messed with. That’s our job,” Yujin replied before stomping her way over, Yena not too far behind.

“I get that Hades kids are supposed to be dark and brooding, but you’re taking that a bit too seriously. Hellhound got your tongue or something?” Wooseok taunted.

“Yah, watch your mouth!” Yujin said before shoving Wooseok aside.

“And who in gods’ name are you?” he growled.

“Someone you don’t want to mess with!” Yujin replied with as much bravado as she could. On the inside though, she was yelling at herself at what she was doing. This guy was taller and likely way more experienced than her. It was like something inside her was urging her to stand her ground. In the corner of her eye, Yujin could see Yena taking Chaewon’s hand and pulling her away.

“You don’t tell a child of Ares who he can or can’t mess with…” Wooseok said, scanning around before his eyes landed on a goblet with water in it. He then proceeded to pick it up and toss its contents towards her.

Much to the campers’ shock though, Yujin didn’t get wet at all. The liquid just bounced off her as if there was a barrier.

Wooseok was stunned. “What in the world?”

Yujin was equally confused and did the most logical thing- pick up a piece of roast beef from Chaewon’s abandoned plate and throw it at Wooseok’s face.

It was a direct hit, and Wooseok was now fuming. He picked up a plate of his own and tossed it, but Yujin was expecting this and dodged. Unfortunately, this meant the plate flew past and hit someone else. The crowd silenced at this as the girl who was caught in the crossfire wiped her face. When Yujin turned, she realized it was the girl she met earlier from the Aphrodite cabin- Wonyoung.

“YAH!!!” she screamed angrily before throwing her plate back in Yujin’s direction. Yujin already knew where this was going the second she saw Nako stand up on the Ares table to get everyone’s attention.

“FOOD FIGHT!” the short girl yelled, and with that, the entire pavilion devolved into chaos. Every table was now getting in on the fun and started throwing their dinners around. Yujin tried to use the distraction to make her getaway, but Wooseok managed to catch her hand.

“Oh, I’m not letting you go that easily. You’re going to pay for humiliating-” Before he could finish his sentence, a plate of kimchi smacked him in the face.

Ahn Yujin, what did you just do? Yujin asked herself as she ran off.

~~~~

“Quite the introduction to the camp, don’t you think?” Chaeyeon said once Yujin arrived at the base of the hill. She could still hear the sounds of yelling and plates breaking from the pavilion.

“He started it though!” Yujin complained.

Chaeyeon chuckled. “Oh, I’m not saying you were in the wrong. I found it hilarious actually.”

“Capture-the-flag just got a lot more interesting,” Chaeryeong mused. “Are you sure we can’t go back up there and join the fun though, unnie?”

“Yes, we have more important things to talk about like what happened with Yujin when Wooseok threw the goblet at her.”

“Oh… I’m not quite sure myself,” Yujin lied. She had a hunch for a while but didn’t want to mention anything until she was absolutely sure.

“Demeter’s kids are pretty water resistant, right?” Chaeryeong said.

“Maybe, but I don’t recall Hitomi being completely waterproof,” Chaeyeon replied before looking directly at Yujin. “I have a hunch, but I hope I’m wrong.”

“On that happy note, where’d Chaewon and Yena-unnie go?” Yujin asked, not wanting to think much of Chaeyeon’s ominous statement.

“Minju and Yuri guided them back to camp central,” Chaeyeon replied. “We usually sit around the hearth and tell stories, but I don’t think that’s happening tonight.”

Yujin nodded. “Alright, I can make my way back on my own. Sorry for the mess, girls.”

“It’s nothing. You should’ve seen the great s’more wars. Stuff like this is normal at camp,” Chaeyeon said with a laugh.

“But… when word gets to Mr. D, he might not be happy,” Chaeryeong butted in which made Chaeyeon grimace.

“Ah, yes. Not to mention gaining an enemy in Wooseok. You and your friends might be something special.”

The way Chaeyeon said it didn’t sound like a compliment, but when has anything ever been easy in Yujin’s life? Even in a world of supernatural beings, Yujin didn’t expect things to go smoothly.

~~~~

As Yujin walked back to the cabins alone, it finally began to sink in that she was now in a different world. Every couple of steps, she’d see elf-like green figures walking in and out of the trees. Dryads, Chaeyeon had called them earlier. The thought that every tree had a spirit living in it both scared and fascinated Yujin. In general, the idea of monsters just living amongst them in the normal world was something that was difficult to wrap her head around. Odd things that happened in her childhood suddenly made more sense with that view in mind.

Eventually, Yujin arrived at the central hearth and saw her friends accompanied by Minju and Yuri just like Chaeyeon had said. Before she could call out to them though, a high-pitched voice shrieked at her.

“YOU!” When Yujin turned, she sighed. It was Wonyoung again, and she did not look happy.

“Not only did you injure me earlier. Now you got my makeup all messed up! Do you know how long it’ll take to get the stench and gunk out of my hair?” She said angrily, the vague smell of barbeque sauce wafting through the air.

“Hey, listen. I’m sorry that happened, but it was the other guy who threw the plate, not me,” Yujin replied exasperatedly.

“A plate that was aimed at you! If you’d taken that like you should’ve, it wouldn’t have flown towards me!”

“Excuse me? Sorry that I have good reaction time unlike you apparently,” Yujin barked back, now starting to become a bit irritated.

“Ugh, you’re good at being annoying, that’s for sure! Listen, I’ll be willing to forgive you if you can get some water from the geysers. That’s the only water pure enough to fix my hair quickly,”

“And why would I do a thing like that for you?” Yujin asked.

Wonyoung then looked Yujin in the eye and spoke again. “Because I said so. You will go to the geysers and get me a bottle of their water. I also need you to swear on the River Styx that you will.”

A sudden feeling of fatigue washed over Yujin at those words.

“S-sure… I’ll get it as soon as I can. I swear on the River Styx.” she found herself saying absentmindedly.

“Good. Thank you so much!” Wonyoung cheered, her whole mood flipping 180 degrees before walking away while giggling to herself.

“Uh… what just happened?” Yujin asked confusedly.

“That would be charm speak, Wonyoung’s special ability,” a new voice answered. It was Yuri who was trying to hold in a laugh. Behind her, Minju was explaining the same thing to Yena and Chaewon.

“Most children of Aphrodite have that power, but Wonyoung’s voice is stronger than most. Be lucky that she didn’t make you run over there immediately.”

“But I feel fine now. I may have agreed to get that water, but that doesn’t mean I have to, right?” At this Yuri’s smile fades a little.

“You see, she made you swear on the River Styx, and doing that means you have to go through with it. Otherwise… you don’t want to know,”

“You gotta be kidding me. Well, at least it’s just getting a bottle of water. How hard can that be?”

Again, Yuri grimaced, sharing a look with Minju. “Yeah, about that…”

 

A/N: Hi everyone and welcome back to another chapter! It seems like these three girls just can't stay out of trouble. It's now the second meal they've messed up for a group of people, and it probably won't be the last lol. We also got a glimpse of what appeared to be Yujin's parentage, stay tuned for that!

Thanks again for all the support! It's all very much appreciated.

Have a nice day, and I'll see y'all in the next one!