kittyluna45

🌳 Hotel Valhalla: & the Gods of Asgard 🌳

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Location: Niflheim
Skills: N/A

Location: Niflheim
Skills: N/A

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Lara let out a little cry as the tiny boat was sent flying, so she curled up by some instinct, and that seemed to save her thankfully. She landed hard against the hard ice, and she let out another cry as she felt her skin being gashed open, and she knew she would have bruises where she landed. However, she was alive as opposed to... "Elizabeth... No... I'm sorry..." She could tell the other girl was long gone by the time she had propped herself up a bit. The big piece of wood sticking out of her chest made sure of that for sure. They had now lost another companion it seemed, and this time for good.

Astrid hauled herself out of the water and started shaking immediately. Her blessings from Odin and Freya did offer her some comfort, she wouldn't die so easily, but the cold seeping into her clothing, into her bones would send her into some state of shock. She forced herself to shake for a moment before collecting herself and then stood up and looked at the scene before her. She frowned when she saw Elizabeth there, the wood jutting out of her chest. "I am sorry... we will make sure that your loss is not in vain." She looked over at Arnora, whom was helping Lara.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, sore, but fine. We need to get out of here... Thanks for the help." Lara took Arnora's hand and stood at that point, wincing as she put some pressure on her ankle. She could tell it was bruised, but thankfully that seemed to be the extent of it, just bruising. "Where are we going to go?" She focused, and when she did, the pendent was back around her neck, and she had her spear again. She was thankful for that little enchantment on it.

"Anywhere warm. We need to warm up, and you need some medical aid. We all do." Astrid looked around with her one good eye and sighed. "We need to get going now, before those giants decide to come after us." She wrapped her arm around Lara, from the other side Arnora was on and then helped her up and went to take off towards somewhere warm.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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Location: The Dining Hall
Skills: N/A

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Stella smiled up at the three slightly older teens and then looked at the plate before her before her attention was drawn elsewhere by someone yelling that she was a commie. She looked up and saw the wheat stalk and sickle. "That's not the Communist symbol, that's wheat and a sickle... wait..." She smiled when Kristin told her that meant her mother was Demeter, and her smile grew just even wider when she told her that Mary was her half sister!

"That's awesome! I've always wanted siblings! And Demeter is my mother? That explains the plants... I've always connected with them better than people sometimes." The young redhead looked nothing but ecstatic about being a child of the goddess of the harvest. "Oh, Mary was part of the group that helped me when I arrived. There was a manticore and Mary was so cool and killed it! I mean there as this other girl there, some Roman girl I was told. But that's awesome! We're sisters!" Her bubbly enthusiasm was just beaming from every little bit of her at that moment.

"Oh yeah, I should eat." She chuckled at that and then looked at the plate. "I would like... sourdough toast, buttered please, with a fried egg and bacon please? And to drink... hot cocoa... with cinnamon." Her favorite treat, which her Otou-san usually made for her on those foggy and cold mornings in San Francisco.

🌳 Hotel Valhalla: & the Gods of Asgard 🌳

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Location: Niflheim
Skills: Spear Attack, swimming, helping Arnora

Location: Niflheim
Skills: Spear Attack

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Lara saw the ice thickening around the boat more and she grinned as it did seem that Arnora was doing it. They continued to row to the shore, when disaster struck. A giant got too close and caused water to wash over them, and the cloak was pulled off of them. She gasped at that as the cloak floated to the bottom of the boat, exposing the three of them to the giant. She could tell that the giant was happy to see them, but seeing that giant lick her lips worried her. She tugged her pendent off and her spear extended in her hands as she got ready to attack.

Astrid had felt the cloak fall off of them and she went to gather it up when she realized that the giant had caught wind of them at that point. She pulled out her own spear and tried to size up the giant and aim before she tossed it. The spear landed firmly into his shoulder, causing the giant to let out a cry of pain. "No sense in hiding now... they will soon all be upon us, so we need to get back to shore and then run!"

"Agreed but we need to get Arnora!" Lara lobbied her own spear and thankfully she had some good aim, as it lodged itself into one the giant's eyes, and it let out a roar of rage. Lara grinned at that as the giant was now at least half blind until she got her spear back, or even longer at that point. She wasn't sure if she had permanently blinded the giant, but at that moment they did have more pressing issues. The giant was still coming towards them, and the cries of rage were soon to call other to stop them.

"I'll help Arnora!" Astrid saw Arnora on a sheet of ice, looking a bit worn out, and she shed her bag and then dove into the water and went to swim to Arnora's aid, and to help her out from the cold water. She gently looped her arm around Arnora and went to help her swim to the shore. She could feel the cold penetrating her clothing, the cold permeating her skin and freezing her a bit. However she wouldn't focus on that, as the goal was to get their companion back to the shore with them.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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Location: Camp Half-Blood - The Big House
Skills: N/A

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Stella looked at Jason and Janelle and blinked a bit as they spoke. Growing up in San Francisco she had heard a lot of different accents but theirs was unique and sometimes a little hard to decipher in her mind. She got that they were siblings, same mom, different god dads. She was wondering how often that happened and was about to ask that before her stomach gave a loud growl once again reminding her that she had skipped breakfast to run away from the manticore. "I figured ask just in case. I dunno if the food is available all the time. Better to ask than get there and find that I missed breakfast."

Stella took Kristin's hand and smiled up at the taller teenager as they walked together in that little group. She did notice two strange things as they walked. One, it was warmer than when she had arrived, and she didn't think she would feel like that going outside from a warm building. The second thing was a car, in the middle of the camp, far away from anywhere any normal person would park a car, and it was a convertible with the roof down to boot. So, that was strange, and she wanted to ask about it.

However the questions were answered when Kristin told her that the tall blond that seemed to radiate warmth was Apollo. "Wait? The Apollo? The sun god? He's here? Why is he here? What is he doing in the dining hall? Is that common? Do gods come down a lot to visit us? Is that his car? Is that is why it got so much hotter? I mean that doesn't make sense since the sun is up there, and he's also here? How does that even work?"

🌳 Hotel Valhalla: & the Gods of Asgard 🌳

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Location: Niflheim
Skills: Using Swan Cloak

Location: Niflheim
Skills: N/A

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Astrid watched as Arnora slipped under the water and then sighed as she nibbled on her snack at that point. She saw the giant as well and paused as she saw them sniffing around. The cloak would keep them safe as long as they were under it, but it was worrisome that they were getting close, so she put her food down and away, as that did seem to be the safe course of action at that point. They didn't want to be caught, and they didn't want the giants to wreak their little boat as they were a ways from shore, and the water was freezing. The only person that could survive it was already under the water.

Lara kept herself from letting out a cry as she saw the giants in the water, seeing them sink into the deep dark liquid and nearly vanish themselves into it. She turned to see the ice creeping over the boat and that got the attention of the giants for sure, which did calm her down a bit. However as they got closer to the ship she realized they would probably find Arnora. She needed to calculate the risk at that point, whether capturing the attention of the giants was a good idea as there was only three of them now.

Astrid noticed the ship icing up as well and she gently maneuvered the boat they were in away from where the giants were attacking the ice. She hoped it was thick enough that the giants would have a hard time with it, but she knew it was a matter of time before more of them joined the two in the ice. She pulled out her spear, and then gestured towards the shore. The least they could do was buy Arnora more time.

Lara silently nodded and went to help steer the boat back towards the shore, getting the idea of what they were going to do. They would be the bait for the giants, while Arnora continued to ice over the boat, and they be stuck. The main goal was keeping that boat from going anywhere, and that what was mattered to them for the moment.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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Location: Camp Half-Blood - The Big House
Skills: N/A

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Stella looked at Kristin and then to Jason and Janelle, then back to Kristin. "Your mom is Athena? That's pretty cool. She's like wise right? Does that mean you're wise? What does it mean to be wise? Like, I keep being told that you get wiser as you get older but is that true? Also who's their parent then? Are they twins or siblings? They look similar. Does that mean they have the same godly parent? I mean that's pretty cool if so. Does that mean that I might have siblings too? I've always been an only child so I don't know what having siblings is like. Also food would be nice, as I have been running for a while."

As usual, Stella's curiosity made another stream of questions roll out of her mouth before she truly knew what she was saying and she could tell that everyone was looking at her again. "Sorry. I'm always asking a ton of questions and I can't help it." She sighed a bit at that as she looked at the three of them and then to Chiron again. "Is it okay for me to go with them to get food? I really am hungry and I don't think I had breakfast? Did I have breakfast... no I didn't. We started running the moment the satry with me woke me up. He was nice. Is he going to be okay?"

🌳 Hotel Valhalla: & the Gods of Asgard 🌳

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Location: Niflheim
Skills: Using Swan Cloak

Location: Niflheim
Skills: N/A

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Astrid took a hold of the paddle and started to gentle paddle the boat a bit. She went slow, as Arnora had suggested, to make it look like it was drifting from shore. Thankfully her cloak was still wrapped around the four of them, as they were huddled together in the boat. She quietly paddled at that point as she looked at Arnora and then simply nodded at what she said. She knew that if Arnora didn't come back they needed to get going, and complete the quest, and save the world.

Lara looked at Arnora and sighed a bit at her words. "I do understand... but can I at least wish you the best of luck before you go?" She smiled and then before Arnora slipped into the water, she wished her luck and then watched as the other woman slipped under the surface of the dark cold water. She sighed at that and took over the paddle Arnora had been holding as they were trying to keep from drifting too far away from where Arnora had gone under the water.

Astrid sighed a bit and as they waited, she pulled out some snacks from her bag and offered them around before she nibbled on one. She needed the energy at that point, and also she needed a small distracting from the fact that she was in Niflheim still, and the group that she had arrived with was also gone. She wasn't sure if Odin would be happy to hear that when she returned by that was the risk they always took when they left the Hotel.

Lara took a small snack and nibbled on it as she needed the distraction as well. She was worried about Arnora, and she also was still trying to keep herself from freaking out too badly that they were on deep water. She had made sure to not look over and into the dark water that surrounded the boat, threatening to swallow them whole. She was counting herself lucky that Arnora had volunteered to go in it, as Astrid wasn't sure she could have done it herself.

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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Location: Camp Half-Blood - The Big House
Skills: N/A

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Stella had more questions when he said Roman and Greek versions, but she was too caught up in her sadness and sniffling. Her fathers had bid her off with hugs and kisses, and loving goodbyes, and now she wasn't sure that she would see them again for a while However, she did perk up a bit when he said that that she could go home eventually, but maybe after learning how to defend herself. That did make sense, that manticore from earlier was pretty determined to kill her and the other girls. She hiccuped for a moment and then took another sip of her cocoa when a small group of people arrived.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Stella Herbalem... and uh... is it okay if I don't know whom my mom is yet? Chiron said she'll probably claim me later or something?" She gently reached out and shook Kristin's hand and looked at the trio again. She lifted her hand to her mouth and started to chew as if guided by some bad instinct. Her old bad habit was kicking in because of her nerves. What if her mother never claimed her? What if her dad's hated her because it turned out her mom was a goddess? It didn't even occur to her that they might already know that.

🌳 Hotel Valhalla: & the Gods of Asgard 🌳

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Location: Niflheim
Skills: Using Swan Cloak

Location: Niflheim
Skills: N/A

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"I'll be more than happy to bake some goods for you then, when we get back, Arnora." Lara blushed a bit at that, as she was excited to be able to cook for someone again. She had done it before, and it always made her so happy. Of course those thoughts reminded her of her beloved... and she still prayed that she wouldn't see him if they entered Helheim. She... she had fought so hard and if she saw that he died young it would break her all over again. She sighed at that and then shook those thoughts out of her mind. That was another lifetime ago. Here she was now, sneaking around Niflheim, and watching as they snuck past the jotunn and dragur.

"Awesome, a boat." Astrid smiled at that as they got into the boat, and she tried to keep the cloak around them, but it would be hard to cloak the boat, so hopefully the creatures there wouldn't notice the little boat drifting off into the sea. The cloak could only do so much and she hoped that they wouldn't have to paddle the little boat, or that would blow their cover for sure.

Lara paused when she realized that Arnora wanted them to get into the boat. After her last experience with being on a boat, she was terrified to get in another one, especially one that looked smaller and less reliable than the last one. However, they did need to get Arnora into the water, so she could go freeze the boat. So after a moment of trying to convince herself she stepped into the boat with the others and then went still as she moved towards the middle, and kept herself there.

Astrid did notice Lara pause a bit as they went to get into the boat, but she didn't have time to worry about something like that. So, once everyone was in the boat she made sure that they were firmly wrapped up in the cloak and then she nodded to Arnora. "Alright then, when you're ready you can set us off into the water, right? Or are we gonna have to paddle?" She looked at the oars and then at the group. "We can probably try to row under the cloak, but it will be risky."

Ω Heroes of Olympus: The Next Age of Heroes Ω

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Location: Camp Half-Blood - The Big House
Skills: N/A

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Stella gently held the warm mug of the hot chocolate in her hands and listened as Chiron explained what the camp was and why being what she was was dangerous. She sipped the cocoa and then looked up at him and took another deep breath before speaking. "What I meant about the girls was that they seemed to be fighting with one another rather than just the monster. Marygold seemed nice, Leandra seemed... I dunno what to say... it just... it seemed they didn't like one another even while they were both helping me. I mean I get that people are like that but I was wondering if it might be more than just that."

She took another sip before she spoke again. "So... I'll get to know who my mother is then? Why I can do the things I do with plants? When ever I asked my dads they just said I was blessed... or... a gift. Their gift. I mean I love my dads and I do want to go home to see them, but... will monsters hurt them too?" She looked worried at that as she set the mug down. "Do... does that mean that I can never see them again?" She teared up at that as she sniffled again. The thought of never being able to see her dads again hurt more than any part of her body. She had been running at the insistence of that satyr and now she was being told she might never go home? It was too much for her.