Strawberry Fields Forever. (Magnolia)

[Benjamin Green]

Ben had field duty along with the rest of his cabin mates. Working the fields was just one of the main duties for the children of Demeter. It helped that most if not all of her children typical had some power that involved plants. Ben got to the field early but there was already some of his siblings at work. He wasn’t surprised, there was always some over achiever while Ben was one to take his time unless it was an urgent matter. He gazed upon the fields and just thought about the fruit before him.

Strawberries, it was always strawberries. Ben couldn’t say he was annoyed. A plant or being near nature would never annoy him. He just wished at times while working in the fields they could grow other things out here. He imagined the strawberries sold just too well compared to other fruits or vegetables. It also helped that the seasons in the field didn’t really change, it was always excellent weather to grow strawberries all year round.

As of right now it was harvest time, the typical human strawberry harvest took two months to grow. That wasn’t true for the children of Demeter. It was a matter of weeks if not less given the right demigod and their ability tending to them. Ben could both help the plants grow and they followed his command. It made harvesting easy for him in particular. He just needed to hold the basket close enough to the plant and he had the plant drop the strawberry in for him. It saved so much time than just picking each one individually.

Once his basket was full he proceeded to drop it off, it was really just one big cycle. Grab a basket, fill it, place it back at drop off and repeat. On this return trip he noticed a girl near by, watching on to the fields, maybe even at him but he doubted it. She seemed familiar, like he had seen her before, but he couldn’t exactly place from where. “You want one? You can have a few I promise won’t tell.” Ben asked and joked before laughing a little himself. “I’ve already had a few myself just don’t tell anyone also. Camp prefers to sell as many as they can instead of sharing but that’s no fun.”

MAGNOLIA WITHERS

[MAGNOLIA WITHERS]

Benjamin Green

Magnolia knew she wasn't exactly welcome at the strawberry fields. Being a child of famine, she was the last person anyone would ever want near produce. Despite this, Magnolia often lurked on the outskirts of the field. Never going in, of course. But close. Why? Well... Because he was there. Benjamin Green. In all her time at camp he'd always been nice. You could even say she'd had a major crush on him for a looooong time. But she'd never admit it! Of course not. He probably didn't even know who she was. But.... she couldn't help how she felt. And at least at the strawberry fields if her staring was ever noticed she could easily pass it off as she was simply curious of the work they were doing!

Today though. Today was different. Because while she'd been doing her usual outskirts lurking, he'd started to come in her direction. Immediately she looked at another part of the field, so she couldn't be accused of staring. THough by moving her gaze away, she didn't realize that he was bringing the strawberries to one of the baskets only a few feet away from her. When he spoke, she didn't respond immediately, because it took a moment to realize he'd spoken to her. When she did realize that, she looked at him in surprise. He spoke again. He'd asked if she wanted some of the strawberries, and something about having already had a few himself. She smiled, just a little, though she tried to hide it. "Your friends wouldn't be happy if I touched them." Friends, siblings, whatever. Either way, the others would have a fit if the famine's daughter ruined their harvest. She knew her power wasn't on right now. It was safe to take some. But... Years of experience made her hesitant to touch anything organic. She especially didn't want him to see her destroy something he'd worked hard to create.

[Benjamin Green]

After Ben spoke he had seemed to gain the girls attention. She gave a small smile as she protested his offer of some fruit. Claiming that his friends wouldn’t like it if she touched them. He wasn’t exactly sure what the blonde meant by it but he could make some guesses. They ranged from the few in his cabin obsessed with meeting the harvest quota to her possibly belonging to a cabin of a god that didn’t exactly mesh well with Demeter. Both of which were just silly in his mind. They had plenty of strawberries to go around for one. Second, who cares if their parental gods or goddess didn’t get along. They all weren’t exactly their parents, they just shared traits and abilities. Just like any child of two parents. “Nonsense,” Ben said with a smile as he tossed a strawberry lightly her way. If she caught it, she caught it, if not hopefully the fruit didn’t get hurt by the light fall to the ground. “We have plenty and if they have a problem with it I can always grow more.”

Ben stole another strawberry for himself while deciding to take a break. This was his fourth of fifth strawberry so far and It would be rude to just leave the girl standing there and not talk to her. That and he also could use the break. He was far more laid back than some of the members of his cabin and wasn’t in too much of a rush to get back to harvesting. He took a seat in the grass near the drop off spot and the fields. “So what brings you out here? Do you just like watching us work?" Ben laughed as he made a joke for a moment before speaking again. "You can be honest if you were just trying to sneak some strawberries too, I’ve already offered you some anyway.” He asked smiling while looking over toward the girl from his comfy grassy spot. He never had a problem just sitting in the ground. It was always soft enough for him, if that was because he wasn’t too picky or because of his connection to Demeter he wasn’t exactly sure.

MAGNOLIA WITHERS

[MAGNOLIA WITHERS]

Benjamin Green

Benjamin was just so.... optimistic. At least by Magnolia's definition. The fact that he didn't seem to agree with her statement, that it was nonsense. Followed by him plucking up one of the strawberries and tossing it to her. Startled, she caught it as a reflex. Demi gods were hard wired to be active, so she couldn't really NOT catch it. Though both eyebrows were high with surprise. She gaped, to say something, but quickly closed her mouth again. She glanced down at the strawberry in her hands. It was a beautiful red, the perfect ripeness to be picked. She loved strawberries. Always had. But the chance she ever got to enjoy them... Well, that was the problem. She loved lots of foods. She was just the offspring of someone that destroyed it. For the moment though... The strawberry in her hands stayed that beautiful red, her power remaining dormant. She glanced up, eyeing the other plant kids in the field, though all of them seemed to be ignoring her, maybe because Ben was right there.

She jumped when he spoke, now seated on the grass and asking what brought her out there. She pursed her lips tightly, before sitting down on the grass herself. She wanted to be snarky and rude, but it was sort of hard when faced with someone you'd had a crush on for years. "I like watching things grow," was her answer, though she stared down at the grass as she spoke. It was sort of the truth. Specifically she liked watching HIM make things grow but.. eh, details weren't important. "I can't do anything like that. So it's nice... seeing it grow instead of die."

[Benjamin Green]

Thankfully she caught the strawberry so Ben didn’t have to feel bad about if the poor fruit had gotten bruised if it hit the ground. It was rare to see a clumsy demigod so the chances that the girl caught it was high anyway. Still she seemed a little surprised he had given her one to begin with. Benjamin wasn’t exactly worried about what any of his cabin mates would think even if they had a problem with sharing or the girl in general. The beauty and bounty of nature was to not only be nurtured but shared. At least that was what Ben thought though not everyone else felt the same as him.

He seemed to startle the girl once more as he spoke and he felt mildly bad for it. He didn’t mean to surprise her. She explained that she enjoyed watching things grow. “Yeah it can be a pretty amazing sight. Seeing something go from nothing to a large plant or tree. To think when I was younger how much slower everything grew compared to how fast it can grow today.” Benjamin agreed the girl and added a little more about himself. He was an open person so telling anyone what he was thinking was pretty easy.

The girl then explained that she couldn’t make anything grow or at least like they could. Adding it was nice to see things grow instead of die. He wasn’t exactly sure if she was talking about in general or talking about whatever cabin she belonged too. “Yeah, but that’s what’s so great about this place in a way. We can all do something different. I can make plants grow and move while the next person could be able to fly, shoot lightening or ... I don’t know make it rain bugs or something. And then there’s whatever you can do. We all have a thing.” Benjamin was beginning to feel like he was rambling. Anytime he had been talking for awhile it felt like he might just have been going on for too long once he stopped. “I just realized I never introduced myself. Sorry, I’m Benjamin. My friends call me Ben though so feel free to use that too.”

MAGNOLIA WITHERS

[MAGNOLIA WITHERS]

MAGNOLIA WITHERS

Magnolia almost frowned as he spoke, explaining how amazing it was to watch things grow from nothing to a huge tree or plant. See, that was what set her apart from these plant kids. Their mom made plants go from nothing to huge trees. Her mom made them go from huge trees to nothing. Polar opposites. But that's what attracted her so much. He was someone that create what she destroyed. She didn't respond though. Not yet at least.

It wasn't until he pointed out that everyone could do something different. She stared down at the ground, glaring at teh green grass. Setting the strawberry down on the grass (so she didn't ruin it), she picked at a few blades. She created a nice little pile, scooping it up in her hands and focusing her glare on the grass pile. "I kill things," she answered. Though... it was a little vague. She didn't kill people, just... organic products. Stuff he created. She narrowed her eyes, focusing on the grass pile in her hands, and it started to change. the color dulling.. dulling.. then turning brown, then black. She wiped the now very much dead and rotten grass out of her hands. She didn't dare touch the strawberry yet. "Hence why your siblings don't like me much."

Then.. he introduced himself. Of course she knew who he was already. Why wouldn't she?! She'd only been obsessed with him the past few years. But t he friend part almost made her blush. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop it. "I'm Magnolia."

[Benjamin Green]

Ben watched as the girl gathered some grass while he spoke about what people at the camp could do. He was expecting she was going to show him. That or she was just randomly picking at the grass. Finally she spoke and said she killed things. Which didn’t exactly narrow down what the girl could do. The camp was full of powers that could cause harm or kill. Even his powers if used the right way could harm someone. He hadn’t every dreamed of doing it unless it was to defend himself or others from a monster. The girl seemed to focus for a moment and he watched on curiously. It wasn’t long till the grass started to discolor and turn brown then black and dead. It definitely wasn’t what he was expecting and he hadn’t really seen something like it before. He felt awkward for a moment watching as he spent much of his life growing plants and here she could kill them.

The girl explained that this was the reason his siblings didn’t like her much. It took him a second to reply. “Yeah, I can see that, I guess, but that’s too simple minded.” Ben explained as he could see why now but that didn’t concern him too much. “They are very protect of nature, me too. we all are. Maybe because of our upbringing or our connection to Demeter.” Ben looked on to the field of strawberries now, many of his brothers and sisters still at work. “But you can’t have life without death and death without life. All these plants will eventually die, decompose and feed the new ones to come.” Ben hoped he was making at least some sense. “So don’t take they’re dislike of you too hard, they just need to take a step back from plants and see the whole world.” Ben grew up around plants all his life, he knew the life cycle of it very well before coming to camp. Some of his siblings just knew that their duty and parentage was to the earth only after making it to camp.

The girl offered her name, Magnolia. “Magnolia, huh?” The irony of having a flower for a name and the ability that can cause death to plants wasn’t lost on him. “Lovely name. It’s nice to meet you,” Ben offered his hand in greeting, confident that if her powers worked on people or she was going to use it on him it would have happened already.

MAGNOLIA WITHERS

[MAGNOLIA WITHERS]

Benjamin Green

Magnolia didn't actually hate her power, or her mother. Though she didn't like rotting food when she was trying to eat either... It was a very complicated relationship. Her mother was a goddess of bad things. You couldn't really turn it around to be positive, though Ben seemed to try. Bringing in the whole "circle of life". She laughed, a rare occasion for her. But really, she was obsessed with this guy, so if anyone could make her laugh it was him. Because hey, her crush was talking to her! "Most cases, I guess. Not really with my mom. She's pretty obscure, so I won't blame you if you don't know her. It's Limos. She's the goddess of famine and starvation. It's more like a kill and keep it dead situation for her. I don't think it'd make good fertilizer." who know though. She'd never tried... Things just rotted in her hands. She was sure her power was off by this point, but she still didn't dare touch the strawberry yet, juuuuuust in case. She wasn't going to ruin something Ben gave her! "I don't give a crap if they like me or not. Like... We're not our parents." Though... With the way Magnolia acted you'd think they were. Dangit, why was Ben making her feel nice-ish? She wasn't this nice all the time!

Oh, Magnolia was well aware of the irony of her name. Both first and last. That's why she never said her full name. Magnolia, a flower. Withers... The name was a contradiction in itself. She really hated her dad for that one. And her mom for choosing a guy with the last name "Withers". She blinked a few times as he responded, actually saying it was nice to meet her. Wait, it was? A whole lot of butterflies set loose in her stomach. Ben Green actually thought it was nice to meet her. She could die happy now. Then, she realized his hand was extended. She instinctively reached out herself and gave him a firm handshake. NOW she could die happy. Or you, know, never wash her hand. "Yeah, nice to meet you. I've seen you around before, but guess we never had a chance to officially meet." That didn't sound creepy right? I mean, not really. They went to Camp Half Blood together. So it was true. He just didn't need to know the part that she watched him obsessively from time to time...

[Benjamin Green]

Limos sounded familiar but he couldn’t place it till after the girl explained who they were the goddess of. That would explain why many of his fellow cabin mates might have disliked the girl for even more than just the power she had. It didn’t give them an excuse and Ben certainly wasn’t giving them a pass for that kind of attitude toward a seemingly nice girl. It was just a reason that anyone with some rational could have looked past. “Possibly but we’d never know till we try. Almost anything that can still decompose makes decent fertilizer.“ Ben explained, knowing all about plants and how to grow them even before coming to camp. His father loved nature and plants which is what attracted his goddess mother. Something his father shared with him while growing up.

“She doesn’t have a cabin does she? So you’re in... the minor gods one?” Ben asked curiously as he just assumed since he never heard of a Limos cabin. He also hadn’t been in many other cabins so couldn’t help but wonder what it looked like. She explained that she didn’t care if his siblings liked her or not, explaining that they weren’t their parents. “Exactly, so many people just come here, get claimed not knowing who their parent was before and suddenly start acting like it changes each person.” Ben agreed fully, too many people took up the same grudges their godly parents had for no reason other than they were claimed. “We’re still the people we were before we got to camp. We just know who our mom or dad was finally.”

Magnolia shook his hand firmly and said it was nice to meet him, that she had also seen him around but they never official met. “Same, you seemed familiar enough when I first saw you so we’ve probably past each other a number of times and just never talked.” Which would always be the case. It’s hard to greet and meet everyone else at camp at all times. Between the people coming and going and the new arrivals. You can't just meet them all even if Ben was fine with attempting it. “Well we’ve finally gotten the introductions out of the way. Off to being friends.” Ben said with a cheerful smile. He was always happy to have more friends. No grudge or cabin issues was going to stop him from making new friends. It was his siblings lose if they wanted to close themselves off.

MAGNOLIA WITHERS

[MAGNOLIA WITHERS]

Benjamin Green

Magnolia picked at a few blades of grass. She didn't pull them out, just twirled them around her finger, then slipped her finger out. They stayed a normal shade of green. Good, no decay setting in. Still wasn't safe to touch the strawberry though. Oh no, because that strawberry was special. Ben had given it to her. "You're welcome to try, if you're ever curious," she offered, though she doubted he'd take her up on it. Why would she? She was offering him a potential fertilizer. Who got excited about experimenting with fertilizer? Though... She should be a little more open to the idea since he was a child of Demeter. They liked plants so maybe they would be the sort to get excited about it...

Magnolia shrugged at his question. "Nah. Stuck with other minor gods. If they made a cabin for every god we'd have to tear down the forest just to make room. But hey, at least we have our own space now and we're not stuck with the Hermes kids." In times of old (before the Gods promised to claim their kids by 13) the cabin for Hermes had housed all the minor god kids, and the unclaimed kids. Basically anyone that didn't fit anywhere else cause no one cared about their parent or because their parent didn't feel like claiming them. It had been a very, VERY crowded space and Magnolia shuddered at the memory. "Glad those days are over." at least now she had a bed and wasn't in a sleeping bag on the floor. Though, at the comment of being the same people as they were before camp.... "Well. Aside from the sword fighting and stuff. Pretty sure that was a new development for most of us."

Magnolia nodded as he answered about her looking familiar. "Bet your siblings were trying to keep you safe from the big, bad, plant killer." She flashed a grin. At least he didn't think it was an issue knowing someone like her. Though... as he elaborated, her eyebrows raised eye and she gawked. Friends? FRIENDS?! Her heart nearly stopped. Okay, no, NOW she needed to die. Hades, take her now! "Yeah. That'd be nice." Her voice almost cracked as she spoke. She tried, desperately to keep her cool, to sound as nonchalant as before. But it was so, sooooo hard to hide the emotion. Ben Green wanted to be friends with her, Magnolia Withers.

[Benjamin Green]

Ben smiles as the blonde claimed he was was welcome to try using the things she killed with her powers as fertilizer. “I’m always curious, you’ll learn that about me. I get it from my father, he’s a scientist who mainly works with plants.” Ben explained for a moment thinking about his father and what he had been up too in the years he had been gone. They could write but it just wasn’t the same. Still, till he was safe from monsters it wasn’t like he could go home. “I might have the ability to make things grow.” He stretched out a hand over the grass and focused, the grass started to grow taller and taller till it was twice what it was before. “Yet the normal human ways of growing plants is still interesting to me albeit so much slower now.”

“Well that’s good, can’t imagine how so many people could being stuck in one cabin. A nightmare for personal space.” Ben replied with a few laughs, just thinking about the situation. He wouldn’t have laughed if it was the case she was still in Hermes' cabin but she was free from that now. “So what’s the minor god cabin like on the inside? We just live in what feels like a greenhouse part of the time.” There was his curiosity again, places he hadn’t seen yet or weren’t allowed to go were always a temptation to Ben. He wouldn't go breaking any rules or go somewhere that was strictly forbidden but it never the less didn’t stop him from being curious. Magnolia made the point that they did change though at least with the point of handling weapons and fighting. Ben just laughed for a bit before he could speak again. “You have a point but give me a sword, scythe or sickle and I’m still me. Just with a weapon.”

Magnolia grinned after explaining why they didn’t meet sooner and Ben just laughed some more. “Sorry to break it to you but I think you’re only one of those things. You don’t seem so bad and I’m certain I’m taller than you so there goes big.” He said in almost a teasing manner, Ben got friendly with people rather quickly and that had backfired on him a few times in the past but he never bothered to change that about himself. He wanted to be friends with just about everyone. “Sounds like a done deal, as my new friend you are entitled to a couple more strawberries if you like. I don’t have much else to offer right now.” Ben joked a little bit, happy to have another friend and glad they could finally actually meet each other instead of being strangers.

MAGNOLIA WITHERS

[MAGNOLIA WITHERS]

Benjamin Green

Magnolia blinked, surprised that he actually seemed... Somewhat interested in the offer. Like, he didn't say he would, but wasn't saying no. Instead, explaining that he was curious. The explanation of his father working with plants made sense though. "The gods seem to like finding like-minded mortals." Now that she thought about it... Her mom had come to dad when he was stranded in a desert, hungry and thirsty. And here she always thought it was just the name that had interested Limos. Because why not have kids with the surname "Withers"? "So you probably adjusted to camp pretty easily. If you were already sort of familiar with your mom's domain."

Magnolia smirked. Yeah, Hermes' cabin had been a crowded mess. Poor Hermes kids, they had been stuck with a lot of traffic. "Lets just say you didn't get much of it. And there was one kid that snored so loud he kept half the cabin up." Most likely one of Hynpos' kids. Those kids could sleep through a freaking hurricane and nothing bothered them. At the question of what the Minor cabins were like Magnolia had to think. She pursed her lips, tapping her chin. "Like... a rainbow and garage sale had a party," she answered. Everyone, of course, had their own section fo their parent. But some gods only had one or two kids. So there were some spaces where it changed constantly. "It'd probably give a normal person a seizure."

She nodded as he agreed. "Plus the whole Demi god thing her general. You know, at least some of our craziness makes sense." Demi gods were wired differently than mortals. Mortals liked to diagnose them with ADHD, but it was their godly blood. They also all had "dyslexia", also a godly trait though, their brains were wired read Ancient Greek. Among other things. Overall, Demi gods were just... different. While coming to camp hadn't "changed" them, it had made them understand who they were. Sort of.

Magnolia almost blushed when he said she was only one of those things, rolling out big and bad. It was... well, hearing your crush tell you that you weren't bad was a big deal. Somehow she managed to keep her cheeks from rosing though. "Yeah yeah, still a pretty big deal for plant growers. I'm like your weed killer. Only you can't spray it near anything but weeds cause it'll kill everything. I think a few of them think I'll try killing off the fields one of these days." Friends was such a weird concept, especially considering Ben Green! But she'd play it cool, she could do that. "Yeeaaah. Maybe later. Sometimes it doesn't like to turn off super easily. So I don't wan't to accidentally ruin any of them." Plus, she didn't want to ruin anything Ben gave her!

[Benjamin Green]

Ben smiled for a moment thinking about his father as the blonde explained that their godly parents did tend to look for like minded humans. “You do have a point but from the stories my dad told me, he actually met her during one of the environmental rallies he was leading. So I don’t think it was the science that caught her eye. Still being crazy about plants just runs in my blood.” Ben shrugged as he probably would have been obsessed with plants even without finding out he was a demigod, just from being around his father and learning so much about nature. “In a way.” He paused with a laugh as she talked about how he was able to adjust well to camp life. “I mean nothing can prepare you for finding out you’re a demigod and now you have to train in all manners of things. Let alone trying to climb a death wall from time to time.”

“Well I’m glad to hear you for a little privacy now, I can feel you on the snoring though.” Which was very true there. He would never know if the people who snored in his cabin were better, the same or worse than the camper Magnolia was talking about. Still, he knew the feeling. “Pretty hard to get any rest with someone who sounds a sleeping bear around.” Magnolia took a moment to think before attempting to explain what her cabin looked like and all Ben could do was laugh as she finally did. He tried to stop himself thinking only after he started laughing it might have been rude but couldn’t. “Sorry if that was mean, it just sounds rather funny. I can’t imagine a rainbow garage sale compared to my cabin when it feels like I need to prune and trim my way to my bed.” Ben explained hoping he didn’t annoy the girl by laughing at her cabin for a moment.

Ben nodded as she explained how finding out they were Demi-gods did help in some of the stuff they were dealing with before coming to camp. “True, true. Both of those being related to being a Demigod and not just a medical condition was a pleasant surprise.” He didn’t even think that could be something related to being a Demigod till after someone told him at camp. He just assumed it was a condition he was going to have to live with. “I didn’t really have much of problem fitting in with people like some did. I did prefer plants more than people but I could I have gotten that from either parent.”

Magnolia explained how being a plant killer was still a big deal and it partly made sense til she got to what the others might have thought. “Yeah we can be an over protective bunch when it comes to plants but that’s just silly. I mean I don’t know too much about you yet but I don’t get the vibe you plan to turn into some plant assassin.” Ben joked for a moment as he didn’t know anything big about magnolia but it seemed clear she didn’t want to hurt any of the plants they had out here. Magnolia explained how it was sometimes hard to turn off her powers which he could relate too in his own way. “Yeah, before I started training and even coming to camp I couldn’t control how fast plants grew around me. So we’d trim the grass and it’s be a foot tall in the morning. Now though yard work would be so easy.”

MAGNOLIA WITHERS

[MAGNOLIA WITHERS]

Benjamin Green

"Wait, is your dad a hippie?" The words blurted out before she could stop them. Environmental rally, to her, screamed "Hippie". Like 1970s, tie die, bell bottom pants and rainbows. Though.... He wasn't born in the 70s (as far as she knew!), so.... a more modern hippie?

Though, he was right as he explained nothing could prepare you of the news of being a demigod. It was true. Finding out you're a demigod.... Well, to be honest most of them hadn't really known much about Greek Mythology before the news. They were always found so young... Mangolia had known a bit, with her father's line of work, but she'd never heard of "Limos" before being claimed. "I mean, what could prepare you to hear 'hey, kid your parent is a god'? Then the whole 'monsters are going to try to kill you'."

Magnolia was still struggling with the fact that her long time crush was chilling with her. So the fact that they were talking about the cabins, while unexciting to most, was fantastic. "At least Hypnos has his own cabin now." A few minors gods had their own cabins, but the rest were were sharing. though in a much more humane way. "You never know what you'll wake up to. I've been woken up to it snowing, and the next it's so hot you can't sleep, or the river god kids are flinging water around and fighting over who the best river god is." The way the cabins were set up, Magnolia was with all the "nature kids" So you never knew what might happen.

"At least now we know it's not a medical condition." That had been a nice surprise. To learn you weren't "mentally broken", you were literally not fully human, so they were hardwired differently. Though... demigods still had their outcasts and cliques. So they've all been outcasts in normal society, some of them remained outcasts in demigod society.

Magnolia shrugged as he explained his siblings were over protective of plants. "Don't blame them. It's literally a part of them." I mean, I don't think anyone would be receptive to someone that kills the things you literally create. Though about him not knowing her well.... they'd only been at camp together for a few years together. She'd just been unnoticed. By hum at least. "I could be though. Who knows. I'm still a teenagers, I'm still in puberty. Maybe I haven't hit my plant homicicde days."

[Benjamin Green]

Ben was shocked as Magnolia asked if his father was a hippy. After a few seconds he just started laughing, he had never gotten that reaction then talking about his father to other people. “He just cares a lot about the environment and plant life. I guess he could be considered a hippy by some definitions.” Ben said still laughing a little in the beginning. “That would also be most of my cabin so I guess we’re the hippy cabin now.” Ben joked for a moment, unsure just how his siblings would react to being called hippies.

Magnolia agreed in a way, asking what could possibly prepare someone for finding out their parent was a god or goddess and they themselves were a demigod now. “Not much I suppose. Luckily I got found and sent to camp before any monsters were able to sniff me out.” Ben wasn’t sure what he would be able to do when he was younger if a monster had shown up. He would probably just be food for it in no time. Something he didn’t like thinking about. Not because of what would happen to himself but how many times it might have happened that a monster got to a child before a satyr did.

As she explained a little about what her cabin was like he was already excited hearing her say it could snow. “Really snow? Like a lot or just a little flurry. I love snow, tell me next time there is a snow storm in the cabin.” Ben asked both curious and excited about the idea of snow. If there was any season Ben loved most it was spring but snow always had a special place in his heart. It was fun to play in and when you went inside it just made life so much cozier. “I’m down for a snowball fight anytime if it’s a lot of snow.”

“I can blame them for being rude about it though. No need to be mean just because of a power. Like we had any choice what powers we got.” Ben explained, still not letting his siblings off the hook for being mean to a seemingly nice girl. Magnolia explained she could become a plant murderer one day as she was still growing up. He laughed a little not really seeing it himself. “I guess that just means I’ll have to keep a closer eye on you from here on out.” Ben teased for a second with another quick laugh. Still doubting she would ever become that bad.

MAGNOLIA WITHERS