Love

When they arrived, Christopher immediately left the two, and they went up to the cabin. There sat Chiron, playing cards with a fat, red-faced, loud shirted Dionysus. “Ah, the sex gods spawn returns.” Chiron coughed loudly, blocking what Dionysus was saying.
Syd grabbed Janie, and put her hands over her ears. “Not in front of the young.” Dionysus chuckled. “You are the young.” Chiron tutted, “Old soul…” he muttered. “Anyway, who might this be?” Chiron motioned to Janie.
Janie wriggled away from Syd, who was still covering her ears, and raised four fingers. “I’m Janie and I’m four-years-old. I’m also adopted now.” Syd smiled down at her and nodded to Chiron. Syd pursed her lips. “Hey, Janie, why don’t you show Chiron and Dionysus your pretty rainbow gift?”
The little girl giggled delightedly. Usually, people were afraid of it. The horse-man and red face guy wanted to see it. Janie held her hands out again, and Syd noticed how graceful the little bundle of energy was.
Out of her fingers sprung rainbows, the colors bright and more drawn out than usual. Chiron smiled. “An Iris daughter! And you are the youngest child in camp in around…” Chiron looked at Dionysus, then looked away, realizing what a waste it was to ask him. “Why, it must be over a decade… Anyway, let’s get you set up. Syd will see you later, right Syd?” Syd nodded.
Chiron always helped more in taking care of younger kids. Syd walked away from the cabin, and made her way to the training area. Crap, she thought, she lost her hammer. She loved her hammer. Blunt. To the point. She laughed aloud at her own puns. Everyone looked at her like she was crazy.
They did that anyway, though. She was the daughter of Eros (or Cupid, depending on who you ask,) but not only that, she was the only demigod child of Eros alive in that time. Maybe hundreds of years before there had been one, but Syd was the only one alive today.
So, naturally, everyone treated her like her whole life was some gross sexual innuendo. But, it wasn’t. Her dad wasn’t just sexual passion, he was desire. Ever wanted something so bad, you would do anything? That was technically Eros.
And Syd never quite got what was so terrible. She wasn’t always terribly sexual or anything. But, no, she was an outsider in a group of outsiders. Syd went to the training arena and picked up a practice sword.
She put all her anger in one swing and ripped a dummy clean in half. Whoops. Too much, Syd, people will think you're showing off. Reel it in. Calm it down. Move on. Again. Syd lifted her sword and steadied her feet. Swing, swing, parry, repeat.
Beside her, a girl her age jabbed at a dummy. The girl paused and watched Syd. “Um, sorry to bother you,” she said it like a question, and moved on, “but I was wondering if you could help me. Like, tell me some tips? How should I hold my sword?” Syd turned and looked at the girl.
She was tall, much taller than Syd. Her blonde hair was almost golden in the sunlight. She had icy blue eyes. Syd was glad to help. “Uh, let’s see. How do you think you should hold the sword?” The girl frowned. She raised the sword with her right hand, moved her left foot back, and raised her left arm up high.
“This is how I read to do it, but I-” Syd shook her head. “No, no. How do you hold a sword. Like, I throw you a sword and you don’t have time to think. How do you hold your sword?” The girl frowned deeper and stood straight again.
Then, she moved her left foot a few inches back, bent her knees, and raised her sword arm very little. Her left arm was tense, but barely raised at all. She smiled, and Syd did the same. “That’s it, see? It’s reflexes, not always intelligence. Balance.”
The girl nodded. “Thanks! Hey, what’s your name?” Syd felt her smile disappear. “I’m, uh, Syd Macemrie.” The girl raised her eyebrows slightly, recognizing the name. The surprise left her face, though. “Nice, to meet you, Syd. I’m Cassidy Smith.”
Syd smiled at Cassidy. She didn’t make an excuse to leave, like most others. Maybe Cassidy would be a friend? “I heard that you helped a girl into camp today. Some Iris kid, right?” Syd nodded. “Her name is Janie. She’s only four. It’s crazy how fast she was found out, though.”
Cassidy turned back to the dummy, but continued talking. “Only four? If she was found out, doesn’t that mean that she’s pretty strong?” Syd turned back as well. “Oh, I suppose so. Yeah, she was strong. She got right up after she was attacked…”
Cassidy grunted, jabbing at the dummy (much better this time.) “So, who are your parents?” Cassidy smiled, still hitting string everywhere. “Uh, my mom is named Marianne. My dad is Ares.” Syd took in a deep breath. “Holy crap, your dad is my Grandpa. That is so weird!”
Cassidy shuddered. “That is weird… So, your dad really is Eros?” Syd nodded. “Yeah. But, I’m not like him at all.” Cassidy sighed. “Yeah, I know. Uh, I was wondering, have you ever been on a quest?”
Syd put down her sword and wiped her hands on her pants. “No, I haven’t. But, lots of others have.” Cassidy put her sword in front of her and stuck into the ground. It must have been hers, not a training sword.
Cassidy sighed. “Yeah, but I don’t know anyone else…” Syd frowned a bit. “Why do you ask?” “Oh, um… I’ve been having weird dreams lately. Er, weirder than usual.” Syd raised her eyebrows and nodded. “So, you think that you’ll be in a quest soon?”
Cassidy replied nervously, “Yeah, but I don’t know exactly what it’ll be about. I mean, in my dream, I saw-” The lunch horn sounded, and so Cassidy and Syd walked to the dining pavilion together.

Notes

It's been so long since the first chapter. My apologies! Posting more later on... thanks for reading!