true courage

          ‘  ah —– hm. one sec !  ‘  clearly they hadn’t thought this through as much as they should have. aang easily bounced off the ground and leaned his weight into his glider , soaring up and grabbing toph before she can start to fall too fast.  ‘  alright , failed mission. the moon’s just too far , toph.  ‘

        what was worse ? admitting defeat to an established warrior under her threat , or being tickled by said established warrior ? the answer came a half second later when he stood up abruptly , grinning down at her.  ‘  fine. but i want you to know i don’t approve of your threats.  ‘  his arms slipped gingerly around her waist , blue gaze falling onto hers.  ‘  you have the unfair advantage of knowing all my weaknesses.  ‘

“Oh yeah, they needed it. They get too cocky otherwise.” Nico smiles reluctantly. It’s nice, really, to feel normal. To celebrate a victory with a friend. He’d been anxious about befriending Piper at first, nervous she wouldn’t like him, but he’d been pleasantly surprised that they actually get along just fine. He snorts with laughter and nods. “Hell yeah, I could use a good meal. I’m craving fries. Ah.” He wiggles his fingers. “I have mind control powers. Nah, just kidding. I can project an intense feeling of fear. One of my many charms. Makes people uncomfortable day to day, but if I focus it can scare the shit out of people.” 

   once they were settled, with food mere seconds away from appearing on their plates, piper was able to give nico her full attention.   she would not have been surprised in the slightest if mind control truly was a power for a child of hades, but was pleased to know that her cabin alone held that particular gift.   she laughed, and clapped her hands together excitedly.     ❛     that’s super creepy, but also very useful.  nyssa is one tough lady, it would take a lot to make her crack.   remind me not to get on your bad side.     ❜

        it was worse than ikki anticipated. bolin couldn’t name to save his life , which only seemed right — after all , his fire ferret had the name pabu.  ‘  no no , that’s horrible. he deserves better.  ‘  ikki insisted , still staring at the creature with a mixture of adoration and pity. she vaguely wondered what her dad might think when they let it loose on the island.  ‘  what if we named it bolin jr ?  ‘

     ❛     dakota’s confirmed there’s a hydra growing closer to the perimeter of camp.  it shouldn’t be able to get in, but i don’t think leaving it is a good idea.    ❜    though monster attacks had certainly posed less of a threat since the doors of death had been closed, it didn’t mean they weren’t still dangerous, and frank had nearly landed himself in the infirmary on multiple occasions to prove it.    ❛     i trust your judgement on this, reyna.  i’m willing to join the attackers if necessary.     ❜

     ❛     stop.     ❜    toph commanded, and for once, there was not a hint of sarcasm in her tone.  in fact, the girl sounded concerned, holding her arm out to halt her companion in her tracks.  several long seconds passed in silence, before toph spoke again in a whisper.     ❛     we’re being followed...  i can’t tell by what, its too far.  but i can feel it.   do we stop and fight?     ❜

     ❛     hazel... do we have to take arion?  i could fly us there!     ❜    frank knew it was a lost cause.  after all, nothing he could transform into could ever be faster than hazel’s magical horse, but it was worth an effort.  he hadn’t forgotten what arion had said about him, but with a stern glare, mouthing this isn’t over to the horse, he deflated and gave in to hazel’s request.  he’d never been able to deny her anything.     ❛     okay, let’s go.  those legionnaires aren’t back yet, and i...  don’t like it one bit.     ❜

     ❛     agh!  nico!     ❜    frank’s surprise came not from nico’s appearance, but from his own disappointment at his mess.   a roman praetor should never have let his office grow into such disarray, but with the amount of work he and reyna had taken up since returning to camp jupiter, he’d hardly had time to breathe, let alone tidy up.   frank gave a sheepish grin, hurrying to the door to usher nico out, before slamming it behind him.     ❛     wow, that’s embarrassing.  sorry you had to see that...   you’re here for the festival, right?   pluto is honoured among the gods today after some changes, so i thought you might like to participate!     ❜

   hermione had not seen viktor since the wedding -- and even then, she had to admit that her attention had been minimal, distracted and anxious despite herself.  her thoughts had been far away from the burrow, from the joy of the newlyweds, and from old friends.   seeing him now brought about a whirlwind of emotions that hermione was unprepared for: happiness, at seeing someone who had once meant so much to her, but confusion and sadness too.  he was, after all, from a world before the war, and hermione was not sure how much of that girl now remained.

   steeling herself against her own dizzying thoughts, hermione flashed viktor a gentle smile, pulling him into a hug that perhaps was a bit too tight -- before she pulled away with eyes downcast.     ❛     its good to see you again, viktor.  i’m sorry i stopped writing, i didn’t know if... you wanted to hear from me.     ❜

        ‘  surviving worse things doesn’t mean you can’t get hurt. oh ! i’ll just fly after you in case you fall or can’t breathe.  ‘  and without another warning , aang took toph’s advice and punted her directly at the moon — airbending her even higher.  he waits a moment before jumping after her.  ‘  did you reach the stratosphere ??  ‘