A nightmare

[Octavia Davis Rare]

~She was running. Running around the camp, away from the monsters that were after her. She wouldn't get away from them. The only thing that she had was a sword in her hand and it was to big for her to even lift up. She screamed a little as she watched the monster get closer to her. "Oh you unlucky child." it said to her with a hissing noise and went to grab at her, which cause her to duck from the claws of its hands. She turned to run again but this time it grabbed her and brought her up to its face. "A very unlucky child indeed." He hissed just as it opened its mouth and went to eat her. ~

Octavia woke up with a scream. She jumped out of bed and ran out of the cabin to find James but he wasn't anywhere near her. "James!" she called out with tears falling down her face. "JAMES!" she cried more. She didn't care whose attention she got she just needed an older camper to help her out. She needed them to tell her that she was going to be fine and that she was okay that no monsters were going to get her. "anybody." She cried more as she sunk to the ground and brought her knees to her chest. Hiding her face in her knees. 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael had been taking a walk in the night, deliberating on his place in the camp. He had just passed the Tyche cabin when he heard the door slam behind him. He turned quickly, worried for some kind of troubles had invaded the camp. When he saw the young figure shouting though his heart went out to her, his feet soon followed.

Seeing her eyes open, looking around panicking he bent down on a knee in front of her, getting to her level, placing hands open in front of her "It's okay" He didn't want to startle her but seeing her head down he moved a hand up to her shoulder to give her some comfort and see if she could respond.. "What happened and we can fix it"

He ran through the options in his head, Apollo if it was an affliction, Hypnos if it was dreams.. but for now none of that was Nemesis so he just tried to be there for her.

[Octavia Davis Rare]

Her breathing was uneven and she could hardly catch it at the moment. It wasn't until she felt someone touch her shoulder that she looked up from her knees and looked into the man's eyes. It was the older camper Azrael. He was Derrick's older brother. She began to cry a little more. Just wanting to be hugged from her father. But he wasn't here. He wasn't even alive anymore. "Mr...Mr. Azrael..." She said sniffing a little as she whipped the wetness from her eyes. "I.." She started but hickuped. "I had a dream... a monster was going to eat me." She told him truthfully she was scared to death. He was James but he would do. She glanced around the camp and noticed that others had come out and were looking at them. "I'm.. I'm sorry.." She told him. "I.. I didn't.." she sniffed once again tears finally falling again. "I didn't want to wake people up." She sobbed quietly as she moved closer to him to hide herself from all the others at the moment. 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

As she looked up Azrael let out a quiet sigh of relief, she was awake, could recognize him and was responding.. sometimes strange things happen, even within the protection of the camp. "A monster you say.. " he nodded importantly "That's serious stuff." He remembered nightmares before he made it to camp, how best to keep them at bay was not so easy. He never could get back to sleep in his own bed after those, he thought of the cot that the cabin leaders used at the big house hen they needed to keep an eye out or were late on arrivals duty.  "Well, if you are up to it we should let the big house know. They are super good at keeping at eye out that nothing gets near the camp or any of the campers." 

As she moved closer, Azrael pulled Octavia close into a hug and lifted her up so he could carry her. He was surprised at how light she felt as he lifted her up and held her safe against him. He knew he couldn't stop the tears but he could see if he could find some way to get her a little comfort.  "..plus I think we need to get somewhere bright and where I can make us some hot chocolate." he kept talking, as much to give her something to listen to as he started to head for the big house.
"So I hear from another little legend that you are headed for stone skipping champion of the camp, I remember when the big important camp directing cabin leader Rayne was learning to skip stones.." he as ready to keep talking, a way to fill the void a nightmare always left behind.

He thought ahead as he talked into the darkness, thinking to make sure he sent a runner with a note to James to make sure he knew everything as okay and thinking through a plan involving a brightly lit kitchen, a search to find whipping cream, plus marshmallows and hopefully a chance for a young lady to recover.

 

[Octavia Davis Rare]

She couldn't help but nod her head when he commented about monsters. She watched through teary eyes as he also nodded his head. Telling her that it was some serious stuff. She didn't want to go back to the cabin and with Azrael here, she didn't think that he would bring her back to the cabin even though her siblings could more than likely make things better for her. She didn't want to go back. She was up now, and she knew that if she got to bed again the dream would end up coming back and she didn't want that either. She glanced up at him as he began talking once again. He said something about going to the big house and letting them know what was going on. She nodded her head. "Okay." She told him with a small smile. Trying to make herself feel a little better but she was still pretty scared about the dream. 

As she moved closer to him, he pulled her into a hug and picked her up, which she was thankful for. She didn't want to be on the ground anymore. She just wanted to be held. She was a tiny little girl. The youngest in the camp at the moment. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in his neck. She didn't want to look at the others that were out at the moment. His talking was something keeping her calm and she liked his voice. She wasn't sure if it reminded her of her father or what but it was nice and she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Something that her father had told her to do if she ever was crying and couldn't stop. "Okay." she said again, though she was still a little happy that they were heading to the big house at the moment. Meant that she was going to be awake for a little longer now. She needed to clam down a little before she got herself all wound up again. She pulled away from him a little when he brought up her stone skipping. The other little legend was Derrick and she couldn't help but smile more. 

"Well," She started with a small voice. "Someone needed to take over.." She ended it with a little giggle but sniffle as she breathed in more. She watched the scene change a little as she watched the big house come into view. "How is Derrick?" she questioned him a little as she was curious about her friend. He was the first person other than James that she allowed herself to get close to. She didn't want him to have nightmares either. They weren't fun at all and she was now a little worried about him. 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

The big house was in sight but he was still keeping the monologue up when Octavia started to pipe up.. Derrick and her "He is still finding his voice. But he is getting there. Plus I heard he has found a true friend at camp, its a good start."

The main door of the big house came into sight, the warm glow from the windows were reassuring as he carried Octavia into the main lobby. It was quiet but he held the little one in one arm and quickly jotted a note down with the other. He turned to one of the straggling follower campers, the note out stretched "To Cabin 19." with a serious look that expected it to be carried out.

As she spoke up he heard her speak about his little brother, maybe he could distract her with a chat about him. He'd worried about him as the youngest of all of the Nemesis cabin and mother gave them a lot of raw emotions to deal with.  

He moved through to the kitchen and found one of the big stools around the counter island and pulled it out a little. "He is still trying to find out how he fits.." he carefully placed Octavia down. "..in with cabin Nemesis" he kept talking as he pulled the basics from the cupboards, a pot landed on the stove "but I am still trying to find out" He started to glug the milk out with one hand "what he is interested in" with the other he started to pull bits out of the cupboards. The cocoa powder, a selection of spices and some cinnamon sticks landed next to the cooker. 

[Octavia Davis Rare]

There were still tears in her eyes but they were soon coming to an end as they started talking about Derrick. The boy was her best friend even if he didn't know that at the moment. "He's scared isn't he.." she questioned the man curiously. She always thought that Derrick was a pretty tough person. They both had been through some crazy scary things and of course she knew that he could be scared about whatever around her and she wouldn't tease him about it. A small smile came to her face as he talked about him having a true friend here. Well of course she thought that was her. 

Soon the big house was right in front of her and she blinked. She didn't remember the walk at all. Maybe because Mr. Azrael had helped her out and made her focus on him. Something that she was really thankful for at the moment because that dream that she had, had scared her to death. She didn't want monsters to come get her. 

They moved through the kitchen of the big house and she was sat down on the seat that he pulled out. He began talking to her about Derrick once again and she smiled wiping her face of all the tears that she had shed. "I'm sure he will find himself soon." She told him with a proud tone in her voice. She cared very deeply for the boy. He was her first friend in the camp and for that she would always have a special bond with him. She blind up from her hands and watched the man fiddle around in the cabinets for a moment. She watched curious as he pulled a pot out, with milk and other things and sat them near each other. "I think he would be interesting in fighting." she told the older man with a small smile as she tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "He might need to take his anger out." She blinked and she swung her feet a little giving him an innocent look.

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael had been trying to keep the youngsters attention away from scares and fears in his talking but as she mentioned Derrek being scared he responded "You know we all get a bit scared - just how you deal with it at the time." he said as he carried her into the big house.

 

Once all the ingredients were out on the counter and the milk was heating he started to whisk in some cocoa powder "Camp is a place for everyone to learn the skills they need to deal with the world - not just the ones for fighting." He looked over at Octavia "I think there should be some tiny marshmallows over in the cupboard just down to your left"

He began to place a little of the spices and a couple of sticks of cinnamon while it heated to add some flavours and listened to Octavia's suggestion of fighting training "I had thought about some axe throwing - a bit practical with less people to vent that anger on. At least to get started with it." he said with a smile.

As the hot milk came up to a bubble he took the time to fish out the sticks and poured it into a couple of big cups, then added a bit of cold milk to make sure Octavia didn't scald herself, he then brought the mugs over. 

"Last ingredient head chef" he said leaving the two mugs on the counter in front of her. 

He knew well enough that nightmares were not an easy thing to open up about, doubly so at night time - if she didn't feel like braving that one it was okay with him... he could stay up until she started to get sleepy and there was cot behind the main desk. He could work with James to help her talk it out in the morning if she was up to it. Its possible it was prophetic but he wouldn't wish those kind of dreams on anyone, let alone someone that young, but that question could wait until daylight at least - for now it was hot chocolate time in a well lit big house...

[Octavia Davis Rare]

She didn't know if she wanted to talk about the monster at the moment, but she knew what Mr. Azrael had said was true. She would have to learn how to deal with it when the time came. Though she still couldn't help but want to go home and be in her own room. If that was still there. She frowned for a moment before she turned to look at Azrael once again. 

He had everything out of the counter and to say that Octavia was a little curious was an understatement. She wanted to know what he was doing. She nodded her head understanding a little bit of what he was saying, it still wasn't making that much sense to her but she was getting there right. Little at a time. He looked over to her and she sat a little straighter. She didn't know why but she liked the man. She glanced to her left and opened the cupboard and pulled out some mini marshmallows. "Found them." She smiled happily. She was always happy to help where she needed to. She would make a great mini cabin leader. If James allowed her to do that. 

She watched curious as he made the drinks and and smiled when he called her head chef. "Right." she said opening up the bag, only making a couple of marshmallows fall onto the counter. She glanced over to the man and gave him a cheeky smile. "Sorry." She turned the bag on it's side for a moment in each cup adding a couple of marshmallows to each cup. "Do you need more?" She questioned as she glanced up at the man. 

She glanced down at her own cup and hummed a little. It smelled really good. She placed her face over the cup and inhaled some more. "It smells yummy." She told him happily before she picked up the cup and took a drink. She placed the cup back down and hummed even more happily. "So good." She grinned and giggled a little. But she knew that they were going to want to know what happened in her dream. "Mrs. Azrael.. do dreams come true?" she asked curious as she stared at cup a little longer before turning to him once again. 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael smiled as she put out the little marshmallows into the mugs and was glad to see the gloom in her eyes seemed to have abated a bit. As she asked about more of them he shook his head and then scooped up the couple off the counter and dropped them into his.. "See, both tidying up and getting extras" he smiled.

He was glad to see she was enjoying the warm mug, it had always been a big thing with his Dad in the past when it was cold or late in the night, you could forget the ton you were in or the troubles you had run into with a simple distraction. He had always loved spending time with his father in the evenings after work when he could. But he realized how much of a hardship that separation, or worse situations, from her family would take on Octavia and the other really young campers.

As she seemed to get a little more serious the topic of dreams coming true came up and he guessed the nightmare she had earlier was in the back of her mind. He tried to think of a light enough way to tell her the truth "You know, there are some people who dream truths, the oracle in her cave is known for it. Plus a few demigods over the years have had that power. But mostly Dreams are ways for our brains to deal with things... maybe things you don't really want to while you are awake." He said taking another sip of the hot chocolate, taking the moment to try to catch one of the marshmallows from the mug. "Then some of the times its just your mind making up some stories when they get bored.." he smiled.

He thought about his own nightmare over the years, the true friends he had lost over the years and the wars and worse the chance of losing one of his current ones. He was fortunate that most of those hadn't come true over the years. "And if you want to talk about your dreams, its best done in a big kitchen, with a big cup of hot chocolate and know that it tends to feel a lot less of a weight on you once you have spoken about it." he took another long inhale of the hot cocoa smells, mixed with the cinnamon. "But you don't need to talk it through, only if you feel up to it."

 

 

 

[Octavia Davis Rare]

The mess she had made was soon cleaned up by Azrael. He scooped up the mellows from the counter and dropped them into his and his comment made her giggle a little. "You can have them." She smiled at the older man and wiggled in her chair a little. She stopped her wiggling for a moment and took her cup in her hand and took a sip of it and hummed happily at the taste. It was nice to have some something warm in her belly. She glanced back up to Azrael and gave him a slightly sleepy smile. Though she wasn't wanting to go to sleep at the moment. The memory of the nightmare still fresh in her mind. 

When he started answering her question she looked at him intently waiting for the answers she was wanting to hear. She honestly wanted him to say that her dreams weren't going to not come true however, it wasn't what he said. He told her that there were some people who dreamed come true and she couldn't help but pout a little at the thought. However, he made the comment about dreams being a way to deal with things and she blinked. "Like what happened to my daddy?" She questioned curious. " With the monster?" She blinked back at the man that was now taken a sip of his own drink. She pulled her drink up to her lips and as she took a gulp she grabbed some mellows with it. Though his next comment about her mind making up stories when she was bored made sense to her as well. 

She grinned and nodded her head a little when he told her that it was a great idea to talk about her dreams in a big kitchen, she happened to look around and grinned. "I think I want to." She told him with a small frown. It hard to relive the dream but she was a tough cookie and she had remembered what her father said to her once that it was okay to talk about dreams it made them go away afterwards when she was ready to go to bed. "It was like... the monster.. it was.. well it had so many heads." Her eyes widened for a moment before she glanced down at the cup of hot chocolate. "I had a sword but it was to big for me." she glanced back up at him and puffed out her cheeks. "Finally it grabbed me and I couldn't get away from him then.. then.. it ate me..." there were tears starting to well-up in her eyes.

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael took the time to thank Octavia for the extra marshmallows "Normally I wouldn't but since they needed clearing up anyway" he smiled as enjoyed the warmth of the mug in his hands.

As she started to mention her father and a potential monster attack it seemed more likely that if she had seen something like that at her age it was going to leave some scars. "I don't know what happened to your daddy, if you like I can talk to James and see what we can find out. But for now I think we should stick with one hugely brave step at a time" he didn't want to make her associate these two things together, especially if they were from any other source, he know that James had been giving some excellent classes on Mythical Creature Lore but he had never really considered it from such a young child's perspective, especially when all the ages in a cabin were taught at once, maybe James was a little bit too good a storyteller.

"You know we are all working to make sure You and the other campers are ready for the dangers out there in the big world. Working together and having one another's backs means you can fight the monsters that come at you" he said moving to a very serious but gentle voice to explain as much but with as little frightening as he could "You know Lilythe must have been even younger than you when she made it to the camp and it was her and I just like you and Derrick that kept one another safe, first here at camp and then out there is all the big battles."

It was the description of the hydra like monster that really caught him up though, it was one of those beasts that really did need a pile of people to try to take down, he still had scars and aches from a mighty row of teeth marks from a hydra biting down on him back at Camp Jupiter. He really didn't think this was the time to let her know quite how nasty those were, along with another note to check how James was handling those kind of beast in the tales. "Not going to lie, a beast like the one you are speaking about sounds scary, but we are protected in here behind the strength of the gods and the power of the fleece. Monsters can't sneak in here and we make sure we get people together to face bad things as a big team so we can stop them..." he decided not to elaborate too much on how that would work, those were logistics for an older and less frightened camper than the one in front of him "and until you are at least a bit bigger, that job is for people like me and your brother James and Camp Leader Lilythe to deal with."

He realized he had one more trick he could pull, it was a little cheap but it just might work. The big house had a good size recreational room, filled will all sorts from ping pong tables to board games but the bit that he thought might come in handy was the comfy sofa with an old television opposite it. He stood up, picking up his mug of hot chocolate and made a suggestion "I think we have gotten enough use out of the kitchen for one night. But if the Hephaestus kids have managed to keep it going I think we should be able to find a channel with cartoons on it in the Rec room" He moved to pick up her mug to take through and lead them through to the sofa. He knew that she wouldn't want to go through the steps of preparing to sleep, those always let in the scary thoughts but maybe falling over to cartoons might just do the trick.

He put down the two mugs on a nearby table and pulled over one of the fleeces from around the room and pulled a remote. he threw the fleece over Octavia's head as he took a seat himself and started to flick through the kids tv channels, they seem to blare through the night but now he was slowly beginning to realize exactly why that was "Tell me when to stop".

[Octavia Davis Rare]

She couldn't help but giggled a little at the man that was helping her. She shook her head and just smiled. Adults were funny sometimes. If he didn't want it, then why didn't he just throw it away? She would never understand that. But she wasn't going to sit here and tell him any different. He began telling her that he would talk to James about her father and go from there. This made her perk up a little bit more. Having the older adults help her out and finding her daddy. But he was right. She needed to take one step at a time. She nodded her head and agreed with him. "Okay." She said as she let it sink in a little more. What if her daddy couldn't be found. What would she do? Where would she go? Could she survive this place alone?

Azrael was soon talking once again, and she listened greatly. "Will you help me train?" she questioned him curiously. She knew that James could do it, but she wanted all the help that she could get. And he was Derrick's older brother so there was that. Her eyes widened when he told her that Lilythe had been younger than she was when she made it to the camp. "Really?" She blinked at him. It was hard to picture him and Lilythe so little like she was, but she did try. "Do you think Derrick and I will be close like you and Lilythe?" she questioned him not really knowing how close the two really were. 

She had gone on and told him about the dream that she had, and she watched him curiously to see if he gave anything away about knowing what she was talking about. But he gave nothing away. Even when he spoke back to her. She nodded her head as he spoke to her. The monster was pretty scary, and she didn't want to have the dream ever again. It was just too much for her little mind to think about. He went on to tell her that the place was protected by the gods and a fleece. Whatever that was. He even went to tell her that they would all get together and face the bad things together if it were to happen. She nodded and put up her tiny arms. "I can try and fight." She told him with a wide smile. She was just as tiny as she was when she got here. So, when he told her that it was for big people to keep her safe. She hummed a little and nodded her head. She would be bigger sooner or later and she would be able to help out. 

Her mind was still reeling after what they were talking about and of course the monster that she had dreamed about, but her eyes soon locked back on his form moving to stand up. He grabbed his cup and she listened to him talk about going to the rec room. She thought for a moment but nodded her head. She jumped from the seat and followed him to the room he was talking about. She was about to say something when a blanket was over her head. She giggled a little as she removed it and smiled at him. She was in a better mood now. She moved herself to the couch and covered herself with the blanket and glanced up at Azrael once again before glancing down at the tv. He told her to tell him when to stop and she watched for a moment before a show popped on that she liked. "Right here." she said bouncing on the seat a little. She smiled more as she snuggled into the blanket and into the couch a little more. A yawn came to her lips as she started to get a little warmer. And before long she was trying to fight herself with keeping her eyes open. 

[Azrael Blackburn Rare Rare]

Azrael was touched to hear Octavia asking for combat training, "Sure I can help you train. I am sure we can find the right blade for you."

He would have to avoid the close combat so as to not take away from Dustin and he knew his bowmanship was nothing to write home to camp about but he would be able to teach blade work easily enough, plus if the axe throwing lane that he was working with Derrick to build worked it would be something the two of them could do together, with some supervision at least.

"I think you two are as close as we were growing up, he cares for you a lot." he thought back to the times he had seen the two of them playing about in camp and it really did remind him of the times Lilythe had lead the band of kids around when he had first arrived. Back then he had been one of the unclaimed kids, the least popular of all the camp groups, never really knowing who your siblings were..  He remembered Lilythe standing up to a bunch of the Apollo campers that had been picking on him even though she had been years younger than him. Truly he could see the same glint in this young lady that Lilythe had had even back then.

As she said that she could fight and pulled up her fists Azrael have a friendly chuckle and a smile "You already have the bravery of a mighty lion, all the rest can be learned."

After he had stopped on the channel Azrael stayed close to the little one on the couch, the bright and flash cartoon images of rescue dogs on the screen started to work their magics on him as well. He had sent the message over to James who would be able to help carry Octavia back to her own bunk once she was properly awake.. he could probably keep his eyes open until he got there.. he would need to remember... something about hydras and monster reports..  he let out his own yawn... look out for the kids.. zzzzzz