Magic Mishap (Carter)

[ZELENA LOPEZ]

Zelena had taken on a leadership role in her cabin, which was a good and bad thing. The days it was a bad thing usually involved a younger, newer, inexperienced half-sibling trying to impress their godly mother Hecate with a far too advanced spell. In this case, it was her younger half-brother, Mortimer and a poor Hermes kid named Pip. It was Zelena's job to march Mortimer to the Big House for an awkward chat with Chiron, and then Pip to Apollo's Cabin for healing.

Zelena walked in behind Pip, whose skin was a royal blue color with red polka dots. Oh, and he was coughing up bumblebees too. Zelena helped him into a chair and then spoke to a couple of the healers, telling them the tale. The two nodded and promised to be right with him as soon as possible as it was a busy day. Zelena nodded and looked over some healing potions on display as she waited.

"Made that, made that, almost made that... don't even know what that is..." She was talking to herself out of boredom. She had far better things to do at the time, but seniority duty called.

Carter Petal Duncan

[Carter Petal Duncan]

Carter had days where it was better to just stay inside the cabin. There were so many things to do around camp, and so many people to talk to, that sometimes the idea of having to pick seemed more overwhelming than just not leaving and instead, spending the day engrossed in a book or her journal or any form of her writing. But the Apollo cabin, full of artists and other sensitive souls, was never a very quiet place. There was a lot of hustle and bustle and people coming in and out, and Carter, being a counselor in the cabin, had a bed nearer to the door, so she could keep an eye on people coming and going in the night.

She was midway through a paragraph when a girl about her age walked in with a younger camper who was obviously in a bind. He was all sorts of colors and seemed to be coughing up bumblebees. Carter rose to her feet as the boy coughed up another bee. Poor thing. But she knew someone with a more helpful ability would help him soon. She walked over to the girl who brought him in. She was admiring the potion collection on the opposite wall. “That’s for joint pain.” she said with a shrug. It was a less common potion because campers here usually had a lot more to deal with than joint pain. “What happened to him?” she asked, almost impressed that somehow he was an entirely different color.

ZELENA LOPEZ

[ZELENA LOPEZ]

Zelena turned when she heard the other girl speak. Joint pain... well that made sense. Who in their teens has that and why would anyone in Hecate's Cabin think to make it? Then again, this was a camp full of Demi-Gods. Stranger things had happened.

"Can't say I envy the campers who will need that." Zelena delivered this in her usual deadpan tone before looking over at Pip, who had just coughed up another round of bees, which flew to a nearby set of flower pots. "Mortimer, my far less mature half-brother, got mad at him and some of the other Hermes kids over an exploding whoopie cushion prank. He tried to perform an advanced spell to cover them in honey so they couldn't move, but... Mortimer mispronounced a few words in the incantation and... well you can see the results. I told the others to keep the advanced spell scrolls away from the thirteen year olds, but... well they don't listen."

Zelena then looked about the cabin idly before looking back at the girl who was nice enough to talk to her. A lot of the kids just stared at her before backing away out of fear of being cursed.

"I'm Zelena. Hi...."

Carter Petal Duncan

[Carter Petal Duncan]

“I’ve never actually seen anyone use it the whole time I’ve been here. It’s probably well out of date.” she admitted, with another shrug as she plucked the bottle from the shelf and inspected it. As she expected: no expiration date. It was homemade afterall. She set it back in its place, the dust settling on the shelf once again. She turned her head and looked at the younger kid again when she was told the story. It seemed like an entirely different world to Carter. She was a Demi-God, yes, but magic and spells were still entirely foreign to her. So she got a stomach ache if someone lied, big deal, it wasn’t like she had cool abilities like some of the healers, or the spellcasters. “It sucks for him, but it’s kind of impressive. she admitted. “I’ve been here for 6 years and it still impresses me what some people are capable of.” she nodded slightly to herself. She wasn’t gawking, but she might have been wondering what it would be like to have a cooler power.

“Carter.” she said, introducing herself and smiled at Zelena, “Hi.” in truth, Carter kind of knew who she was. At least she had seen her face before around camp. There were only so many people around, especially the older campers.

ZELENA LOPEZ

[ZELENA LOPEZ]

Zelena looked over the potion a moment after the other girl made her assumption. She then gave a nod before looking at her.

"You are correct. The color and transparency here indicates expiration. One of the first things we of my Cabin are taught, though it doesn't apply to all potions of course. I doubt this particular one is an exception to the rule." Zelena then picked up another vial. "You probably want to toss this one too. Might make the patient even sicker, but don't quote me on that." Zelena wanted to boast on being an expert on all things magic, but she was only sixteen after all.

The Apollo daughter spoke of being surprised after all this time. Zelena had to agree. The camp had a habit of surprise and shock... attacks by monsters, Titans, even older entities. Then there was the day to day shockers of course.

"I guess that's why we're all here being trained... because out of nowhere and at any time, something is going to show up and try to kill us. I'm looking at Erebos and My next... probably a few of their kids like Eris too."
Carter introduced herself and Zelena almost offered her hand when she remembered she hated being touched.

"Pleased to meet you, Carter. Will you be on the recovery team for young master Pip here?"

Carter Petal Duncan

[Carter Petal Duncan]

The girl agreed with her theory that it would be out of date, and then mentioned that another might want to be tossed out as well. Carter nodded, she did have her father's inherent knowledge of medicine, but that didn’t mean she had any knowledge of potions. If she did need to help with healing, which she didn’t usually do, so would just do what she was told and use what she knew would work. She had a few tried and true potions that she’d used a lot, but she wasn’t really familiar with them all. “Maybe I can get the other counselors to help me with a clear out and to take inventory.” at least then they could tell the Hecate cabin what they actually needed restock of. “I’m assuming you’re a child of Hecate?” she questioned. There were other cabins that could be similarly talented, but the majority of them came from Hecate, she had learned.

Carter gave a little laugh and a nod in reply to Zelena’s comment about how something was going to show up and try to kill them at any time. That was the whole cycle of life for demi-gods wasn’t it? While Carter couldn’t say she had been chased by monsters much before she came to Camp-Halfblood, she had her fair share of battles while she had been here. She knew the drill. Zelena said that it was nice to meet her and then asked if she would be on the recovery team for Pip, the boy on the chair. Carter shook her head. “No, I don’t usually get to help much. Some Apollo kids are more talented than others.” she shrugged. The healing abilities were common in her cabin, but she wouldn’t say they were the majority. There were just as many artsy, musicians strumming instruments outside as there were medics in the cabin.

ZELENA LOPEZ

[ZELENA LOPEZ]

Zelena gave a slow nod when Carter assumed she was a Daughter of Hecate. She could see how the girl could have easily guessed that. Magic and Medicine had a strong historical connection after all. In some cultures one who was believed to perform Magic was called a Medicine Man. Zelena had to admit that she appreciated the connection whenever she went to the Apollo Cabin... which was a lot because she had some really foolish half-siblings.

"That I am," she said. "Father was a good magician who became a charlatan magician, but I guess my mother met him when he was a decent man with potential... but that's just a guess. Dad never talked about her before he went to prison." Zelena told this story with the same lack of emotion that she said everything else.

Carter revealed she wasn't on the healing team. Hecate got that. Apollo kids had a lot of talents- healing, music, archery, light.... making... she guessed. She was sure Carter was good at something.

"Well, guess you could hang out with me while the others work on Pip... I mean if you want to. I mean... some people tend to not be able to handle the sheer excitement that is me." Again... deadpan.

Carter Petal Duncan

[Carter Petal Duncan]

Zelena went into explaining her parentage into more detail, which Carter knew was a normal thing for kids at camp half-blood to do. Everyone was messed up in their own ways and had unique stories about how their mortal parents met their godly parents and how the situations of their birth went down. It was interesting to hear about, but Carter rarely partook. She didn’t want to talk about her mom, the hippie who never wanted a family or kids until she met her step father and decided she wanted a whole litter and wanted to move to Canada with him, making Carter choose her own fate. However the fact that her father was in prison reinstated her a little. Not that her mother was a criminal, but as far as Carter was concerned, she might as well be. It wasn’t like they had contact either way. “Can you do any magic then?” she asked vaguely, of course the definition of magic was extremely diverse. Even her own power to detect lies when they were being told could be considered magic. But she had a feeling Zelena knew what she meant.

Carter shrugged when Zelena said she could hang out with her while the medic team worked on Pip, the boy. She had nothing else to do and it kind of seemed like Zelena might want someone to be with so she wasn’t just standing there alone. Carter could be wrong, but she just got that feeling from their conversation. “Sure. Do you wannah sit and wait?” she offered, nodding back over to her bunk where her notebook was sitting with the pages open but turned upside down on the bed so the spine was up. “I don’t think anyone at Camp-Halfblood really has a right to judge anyone, we’re all a lot to handle.” he added, Carter had a habit of being very self aware. Probably as a coping mechanism.

ZELENA LOPEZ

[ZELENA LOPEZ]

Zelena didn't feel she had reached her full potential yet as a magic-maker. She was only sixteen after all. and she guessed some children of Hecate learned to mold their in-born abilities well into adulthood. That being said, she knew a few things and was pretty proud of that. If only some of the other campers who jested with her knew what she could do to them. They were fortunate she was a counselor and tried to abide by the rules.

"I know a few things here and there, mastered a few spells," she said. "I'm no Merlin, but I've picked up on a few things. I consider myself a strong study though. I figure if I really go all out, one day I might actually meet my mom, though I doubt Hecate will show up unless I have some great destiny or choice ahead. She is the Goddess of Crossroads as well after all."

Zelena thought about sitting and waiting, but since Carter did ask about her magic, she had another idea, something to keep the two from being insanely bored.

"We could, but if you want to step outside, I'll show up something I do know. Nothing crazy, but I'm pretty proud of it." She then nodded about the whole judging thing. "I think the whole judging thing comes from all of us being the offspring of gods. They judge everyone all the time."

Carter Petal Duncan