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I walk into the Hera cabin and carefully shrug off my backpack, given to me with a bunch of other stuff from the Aphrodite cabin. I gently place it on the bed, reaching in for Liam the sapling. I place him in the east window, the one next to my bed. "I know you've always liked mornings," I talk to him. "It's been awhile since I got you water. Here," I unscrew the lid of my water bottle, cautiously pouring a little bit out to him. "I gotta go now. I'm going to try and improve my staff. I wish you could see it. It's amazing. I'll be back." I let a small smile on my lips show as I grab my staff and head back towards the Hephaestus cabin.

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"Wassup guys? For you new people I'm Leo. And today you're- AHHHHH!!!!" Suddenly he's flaming. Like literally. Flaming. "Help me! I'm on fire!" He starts patting at the fire and running around screaming. A lot of the new campers start screaming too, and everyone else is laughing. There's a water bucket on the table, so I simply pick it up and toss it on him as he runs by, screaming his head off. "Hey! Wha-? Oh! Haley! Glad you're here," Leo laughs and sticks his hand in his toolbelt. "Here." He tosses me a small box of mints. "For your quick thinking." He gets back on the other side of the forge table, instructing us on how to make different weapons. "So some of my brothers and sisters here are specialists in certain weapons, so if you need help just ask 'em. Got it?" I nod my head in affirmation, along with everybody else. "Okay, then! Let's build some stuff!"

The first thing I try to make are a few more throwing knives. The ones I got from the weapons shack were old and chipped. The first one was a complete failure. The second kinda looked like a knife, but on my third attempt it turned out almost perfect. Nyssa takes a peek at it over my shoulder. "Hey, not bad Kingsley. But if you just hammer it out it'll be perfect." She grabs it and hammers it for me, then cooling it in water. "There. Your own knife, made all by yourself. Congrats!" "Ha ha, thanks. but know that I know how to do that, could you help me with something a little more special?" "Uh, like what?" Her face puzzled. "A design for my staff." "Ah, sure. Have you sketched it out yet?" I should of thought of that... "Um, no." "Well just sketch it on your staff and we'll inlay it once you've done that, 'kay?" "'Kay." She hands me a piece of charcoal, and I go outside into the shade, slowly spiraling my design down the staff.

About 20 minutes later, I reenter the forge with my staff, looking for Nyssa. I tap Leo on the shoulder, and ask him where she went. "Oh, she went downstairs for a minute to fix the oxygen regulator on the kilns. She should be up soon." I grab a chair by the wall and wait for her to emerge. After 5 minutes, I decide to go down there and see what's up. The farther down I go, the hotter it gets. I turn a corner and see large flames flickering out of their kilns. "Nyssa!" I shout, "Nyssa! Where are you?" I hear a cough ahead of me, through the smoke. "Here!" She breaks into another coughing fit. I carefully pick my way down the narrow corridor, conscious that the walls would be burning hot. "Where are you?" I call again, waiting for an answer. "Right here." She sounds bad. Like really bad. I stumble the last few feet, and brush into her shoulder. "Hey! C'mon! We gotta get outta here!" I throw her arm over my shoulders, getter a better grip to help support her. We make some progress, right when I see some cans in a corner marked "Kerosene." "Run!" I shout, pushing her ahead of me, flames flickering at my heels. The flames calm for a moment, then I feel the shockwave; and everything goes black.

Notes