[fieldbox="GM POST Ft. Hercules, green, solid"]
The afternoon passed tensely, the goddess' had put their foot well and truly in it and the 'recruits' were, well most of them, rather intimidated. Eventually Athena led Artemis away seeing that no more progress would be made with the way things currently were. They were told to make themselves comfortable, have something to eat and find a buddy and a room to go rest up in. The two could be heard talking in muttered tones as they left but then the children were more or less alone.
The rest of the night passed quietly, without incident, the door remained locked as did certain rooms of the house but the way to the rooms and the bathrooms was left open and the kitchen, pool and living area were also accessible at all times.
Around 0500 while the world was still slumbering and quiet and the first pale blue rays were filtering into the night sky as Nix slipped ever onwards through the sky there came a terrible noise. It sounded like a cockerel if the cockerel were a bear and made out of metal and stone. Doors to the dorm rooms were flung open and a loud baritone filtered through with a rumbling crescendo that ripped through sleep and ignorance like water through a paper bag. "Up you get you lazy bunch!" He shouted, banging on the door with his fist until he saw the first signs of wakefulness from the occupants. "If you're not up in five I'm coming in!" The voice, despite it's seniority and dominance was still somehow, light, it wasn't arrogance but enthusiasm in his tone.
Hercules was a large man, about six foot three in height, built wide and strong as one might expect, his muscles rippled with strength, as if his skin fought to contain the power that lay underneath. His hair was shaggy, unkempt and he had a dark beard that sprouted from his chin. He had quick, cunning eyes and a powerfully stern look that was ruined by the inkling of a grin. It wasn't just his physical size that made him seem so big, his shadow seemed to reach the furthest corners of every room, his mere presence, or aura if you prefer, was large, many times larger than his body was. It could be intimidating in a way, though just by looking it would be hard to tell why. He moved like a cat, agile and sleek, as if he planned every movement before he did it and executed it with complete perfection. Further, just like a cat this large, imposing man made no sound as he moved, the only noise he made was the noise he purposely made in efforts to rouse his 'students'.
Perhaps he shouldn't enjoy this as much as he was but a chance to be out and in the human world again, even in this limited capacity, was pretty cool. Once he had roused the students he waited in the hallway, leaning against one of the walls to wait and see who got up and who needed a further rousing. After five minutes if they still weren't up Hercules did as he promised, he walked into the rooms and threw the students over his shoulders, heading down the hallway and out towards the yard.
The training grounds were huge, at least an acre, but of course nothing less would suit for training a whole new bunch of demi-gods. Olympic sized with short slipped green grass and stone pillars twenty feet high that may well have been around since the time of the ancient greeks. Five feet from the door a red track had been laid, sand and chalk marked out a four laned running track. It spanned almost the entire perimeter of the grounds, pulled in twenty feet from each edge to make way for the other training facilities. At the back line up against the wall were archery targets, five abreast and an assortment of bows, arrows, javelins and spears were lined up in a wooden weapons rack which rested between two of the pillars. To the left side was a range of obstacles. Clambour nets, balance beams, monkey bars, rope climbs, scramble posts, 'stepping stone' poles and assortment of other equipment aimed at improving their bodily strength, agility and stamina. To the right were training dummies of various sizes and shapes, some of them weighted so that if you hit them they would hit back, several wooden mu ren zhuang waited either side for the students strength and wits in battle. Finally in the large centre part of the grounds where the grass was permitted to grow there was a large circle chalked into the ground. An empty weapons rack was anchored down near the outer edge, though there was no mistaking it was a brawling pit.
He felt bad for the kids, he remembered being in their shoes, at their age, it wasn't easy. Hell they'd been pretty lucky up to now in some ways, technology was much more advance than it had been in his day and they hadn't had a jealous uncle hell bent on trying to kill them either. Still, it wasn't easy and it was easy to tell from the ones who were up and groggily trying to force themselves awake that they had no clue, they were scared and they really didn't want to be here. Part of Herc wanted to cancel this whole thing and just send them back to bed but he'd had orders, Athena and Artemis would give him beyond a hard time if he messed up their meticulous planning.
They were just kids, now. It was his job to start molding them into soldiers, training them, getting them stronger mentally and physically for what they were going to have to do. Everyone was counting on him, his father, the gods, heck even these kids in some ways, though he doubted any of them would realise that themselves. So taking a deep but subtle breath he steeled his gaze and clapped his strong hands together, it echoed down the length of the training grounds.
"This is your first day of training ladies and gentlemen. Every morning will start like this and you will not get breakfast until I am satisfied you've worked up a good enough sweat!" He paused only a moment to make sure they were all paying attention, dumping anyone he'd had to carry from their beds, carefully, onto the floor. This included Nic who looked up at him with almost golden eyes, foggy and confused and rubbing his cheeks in a seemingly futile effort to rouse himself. "Now, everyone give me a lap of the field. No powers and no cheating. If I spot anyone using their parents powers or slacking off I will personally make you all run the lap from the beginning, again and again until you've done it right. Let's go!"
@ Everyone
[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Nic, gold, solid"]
Nic had finished his tea and remained in the kitchen until the goddess' had slinked away. He tried making conversation with the kitten on top of the fridge a little while longer and then excused himself. Curious he roamed the house trying all the doors and seeing where they lead, if they lead anywhere. He briefly said hello to the other prisoners here and tried to remember as many names as he could. Finally he found the bedrooms and while the sun set he kicked off his shoes, removed his tie, belt and socks and fell into the sheets. He'd have to get his 'dad' to pick some stuff up for him if they planned to stay here long.
Soon Nic was asleep, there was little on this god's green earth that would wake him. He didn't even stir when his roomie came in. Luckily for whoever that was, he wasn't a snorer, he slept silently and barely moved, his mind too busy processing things he couldn't comprehend. That said if one watched closely for long enough they could see flecks of glimmering dust dancing around him as if drawn or perhaps created by him in some way.
Even as Hercules banged through the door of the room and screamed his good morning to the occupants he didn't stir, he barely stirred as the broad man returned and lifted him up onto his shoulder. It was only when his face bounced off something warm but hard that he began to stir and nothing really registered until he was dumped on the chilly ground.
Blinking in the half light his eyes were almost golden in colour, dancing with the residue of the 'magic' that his father had passed onto him. He tilted his head almost cat like as he desperately tried to focus on the words the bulky man was saying. He was guessing he was someone important, Aries maybe? Though no matter how hard he blinked there was little that was making sense to him.
He got the vague feeling he was supposed to get up and while his body protested to the idea he did manage to push himself up and onto his feet. Blinking with that same lost, confused expression and a head full of bed hair he tried to spot someone who had a vague clue what they were doing.
@broken_serenity
[/fieldbox]
[fieldbox="Elin, Blue, solid"]
After the boy had been seen too by two other girls Elin just shrunk back and out of the way allowing them to get on with it. She waited for something else to happen but nothing did and she was quite relieved by that. When the goddesses left she went back out by the pool, removing her shoes, socks and rolling up her trousers she dipped her feet in the water and lazily swayed them back and forth, watching the bubbles they made with an easy expression.
There was so much to take in and she had no clue where she was supposed to begin with absorbing the new information. It seemed almost too much for her to really begin to comprehend. Like someone was trying to explain the theory of spacetime to her in dutch. She spent a good hour there, looking at her reflection, the bubbles and trying to process her thoughts before she had remembered she hadn't eaten. leaving her shoes and socks where they were she pulled her feet from the water and shook them off best she could before heading back inside. Her mind still reeling with a million questions and a thousand possibilities.
She offered everyone she could a little smile and a wave before she reached the kitchen and started pulling things out of the cupboards. She wasn't much of a cook if she was honest but she did know how to make hearty meals that were at least edible. So grabbing some noodles, chicken, vegetables and a couple of pans she made a simple but edible chow mein. There was too much for just her; her real problem with cooking was portion control, so after bowling up all she wanted and turning the heat off the stove she announced to the rest of the house.
"There's some chicken and noodles in the kitchen if anyone wants some." Finding a space on one of the sofas and pulling up her legs she would eat quietly, conversing if and when she was spoken to but otherwise happy to listen.
Once she was done she washed up, checked her phone again and then went upstairs. Luckily she knew her credit card details so with a bit of fiddling she was able to get international calling credit and call her boss. She wasn't sure what to say at first but she explained her situation the best she could without giving him the full story. A family member had needed her help quite urgently and she'd had to fly out that day to England. She'd be gone for at least a week but she'd try and get back to do the show if she could. As always he was so understanding and compassionate that it made her feel bad that she'd 'lied', in a way, to him. She then called home and spoke to her step parents, giving them much the same story but changing family for good friend from college and that she'd be in touch as often as she could. Finally calling her birth mother and saying the same thing.
When she was satisfied that everyone was happy and dealt with so no one would go calling the cops on a missing person's case she stuck her phone back in her pocket and made her way to a bathroom. Taking a long hot shower she washed the salt from her hair and combed it through with her fingers, she'd really need some of her stuff here if she was going to stay, only one set of clothes, no towel, no hairbrush, no phone charger. It was no way to start saving the world. She still couldn't believe that was happening. Once she was done with the shower she let herself drip dry as much as possible but was surprised to find a towel hanging on the edge of the sink, along with toiletry bag she'd never seen before.
Confused she checked the bathroom but she was the only one there and opening the bag it was clear the contents was hers too. Getting presentable she then took her little bundle of stuff and nearly tripped over her weekend bag. Blinking slowly she saw a small trail of bubbles on the handle and had to guess it was either her 'grandmother' or 'father' that had bought her things. She uttered a quiet thank you to both under her breath and with her things she head down the hallway to find a room that hadn't been claimed.
She slept pretty soundly that night, though it wasn't a surprise that her dreams were filled with strange and scary sights and sounds. So when a large voice boomed and the door flew open she gasped and woke up instantly. The fog was quick to clear and his request was obvious. Having made a poor show of things the night before she had no intentions of disappointing another god, so she got up, changing from her nightie into jogging bottoms, sports bra and a loose tee shirt and slipping on her trainers she was hot on the gods heels to the training area.
It was so large it took her breath away and she struggled to take everything in. The large man spoke about their training and she dreaded it, she was good at swimming but everything else wasn't really her style. Still it was impossible to say no to him, as soft as he was in comparison to the other two he was more intimidating somehow. Gulping she willed herself to jog on the spot a little before setting off on the track. The quicker she got this done the quicker she could have breakfast and maybe go for a swim.
[/fieldbox]
