eachdraidh | video ][ unlocked

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Guys, guys. So I thought maybe I got jipped with the whole feather thing, because seriously who wants to turn into a hedgehog all the time? But then the fairies were all "hey, great job, what do you want?" and look at what I got.

[ Rachel's outside, looking way, way too bright and shiny and happy. practically giddy. she's got her locket set on --something about shoulder height, just so she can hold up her finger and hop a few paces back before holding up THIS. it's obvious she's pretty in love with it, because her smile hasn't faded in the least bit, and she's not exactly bouncing with energy, but she's close. there's definitely a little bit of excited bopping going ]

Isn't it beautiful? This gorgeous, shiny, sexy, powerful weapon is all mine now. Which is so great because I've been wanting to learn how to shoot better and now I actually can without going into the armory all the time, and look. This isn't even the best part.

[ she turns her back to the camera as she reaches behind her to grab her ( also gold! ) arrow from the thin quiver at her back, quickly turning and loading up so she can shoot at a target that's off screen. no, she's not a pro. her form is amateurish at best ( thanks, fancy finishing school ) and she takes a good thirty seconds to really line up her shot and go for it. but when she does, there's a tell-tale thunk of the arrow hitting her target. and no, for anyone keeping score, it's not in the center, but that's okay. that's not the important part. the important part happens a few seconds later when she turns her back to the camera again, and the arrow is right back where she pulled it from. ]

How awesome is this? Gods! I'm going to practice all the time. And then I'll actually be able to help more here, and- [ yep, that's an excited not-squeal. it's a cheer. a little "yeehee!" for herself and her excitement and her perfect boon. ]

So, who wants to give me lessons? Preferably someone on the Seelie side, yeah.

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I'd give you lessons, but I was always really, really bad at it at camp.

[ despite that- ]

That's pretty cool, though.

-- Pretty cool? Pretty cool?

[ she steps back and holds her arms out, still holding the bow in one hand, but her fingers are splayed wide on the other, talking and gesturing to no one ]

Ladies and gentleman! I present to you the King of Understatements - Percy Jackson!!

Alright, alright, sorry!

It's super, ultra awesome-cool, like if I was an archer, I'd have total bow-and-arrow envy right now.

[ grins! ]

Better?

[ she's crowding the camera again with a nodnodnod ]

Much better. And now we can practice the age-old "oh no, I'm out of ammo slash my sword is gone!" act together. Psych out our enemies, make them think we're totally hopeless, and then- bam!

[ ... slow... bam... as she reaches behind her and loads up her weapon. it's not really a BAM! so much as "hup.. hang on.. justasec.... TADA! ]

Eat gold, --enemy!

[ thwip! thunk. ]

[ Percy can't help but laugh, his smile widening impossibly. ]

Yeah, that's right. Dream team duo, Jackson & Dare. A force to be reckoned with.

Jackson & Dare sounds like a really bad-ass dream team duo, I'm just saying. You might be onto something here.

[ super bad-ass team with big dopey smiles yes that is them ]

To be totally honest though, I'm pretty excited to, um. Practice, and get better. I want to be able to go out on quests and help you guys. I always have, but here it's- actually possible. And that's kinda great. For me, at least.

Saving the world, one monster at a time? Never fear, Drabwurld, your dream team duo is here?

[ yeah, he's definitely grinning like an idiot. what a pair of dweebs. ]

Hey, it's great for us, too. I don't like leaving you behind anymore than you like watching us go. It'd be nice to get to take you along for once.

Exactly!

Hey, so, you know what I was thinking? We should all move into the same hallway. [ she's fussing with her bow again, and it's not in a nervous way or anything, but maybe she's been thinking about this for a little while now, and she's excited to finally bring it up with someone ] I know you guys have special demigod rooms, but, maybe since the monarchs already think you're basically royalty anyways, they'd accommodate you in whichever room you ended up moving to. Maybe?

Plus, you know, then we'd all be close by.

I think that we should just petition the rulers to give you a nice room like what we have. [ says it so flippantly, like hey, no big deal asking the monarchs to upgrade someone to a princess suite, whatever. ] I think that's a good idea, though. Having everyone close by just in case.

[ even though Percy is about 90% sure Luke wouldn't go for it. or Clarisse. ]

Oh, heh, I don't care much about that. [ no really, she pretty had a princess suite in her apartment in Manhattan and she still wanted to spend all her time in her oracave, so. ] My room's pretty cool. I mean, I think I've got the same room that a court jester would get, but you know? I'm actually fine with that.

Alright, alright, no princess suite for the oracle. [ he can't help but grin. ] But I think you're on to something, if we can convince everyone else that it's a good idea.

Leave that to me. I'll just spin some mumbo-jumbo about fate, and I'm sure everyone will comply after that. I know how much you kids love my prophecies.

[ said with a silly voice and a wave of her hand. yes, let ol' Auntie Rachel convince the demigod squad to hang out in the same hallway using a joke about fate. sure. that'll work. ]

Yeah, can't get enough of 'em, that's us.

[ really, though- ]

You haven't actually... you know, had anything about this place yet, have you? No grand prophecy for us to worry about fulfilling?

[ weirdly enough, hearing a question like that even over the lockets makes her feel this little tug in the back of her mind, like her abilities are trying to respond to the question at hand. when a demigod asks you something, you tell them. but the truth is- ]

No. Not even a little nightmare. [ something she should probably sound excited about, but. well. no. ] I was actually thinking about asking the king or queen about it. Nico suggested the Black Shuck, since he's tied to the fate of this place in the whole ..death way, but I don't know who would know better, honestly. There's no Apollo-ish person here to report to about my powers being useless. [ kINDA SUCKS?? ]

-- Which is good, I know it's good, since usually prophecies are just a pain for everybody, but. Yeah, I dunno.

[ makes her feel like she has no reason to be around, in a weird way she doesn't like thinking about ]

I get it. Prophecies normally mean big trouble, but it was how you were able to help everyone before, and now you can't?

[ yeah. yeah, he gets that. definitely. feeling powerless is something he became all too familiar with down in the pit. ]

I dunno about the Black Shuck, but I've heard the rulers are pretty nice? Maybe you could start with them and then see if they can... point you in the right direction or something.

Think so? The idea of talking to one of them makes me think of like- Trying to get an appointment with Zeus, you know? You don't bother the big man unless you've got something really important and impressive to say. Or ask.

[ it's weird for Rachel to feel unconfident in ..anything, really, but right now it's kind of there, the way her face pinches a bit. not quite a wince, but almost ]

Maybe they just didn't need somebody with my, ah, skillset helping their cause. It happens.

Hmph. Hardly a powerful weapon, especially if the projectile doesn't stay embedded in your foe.

[LOOK AT HER, NOT CARING. Actually if anything she's just a little bit jealous that her own weapon isn't working the way it's supposed to, shooting out a giant death beam and all. But whatever.

Wait, did she say the fairies gave that thing to her?!]

...am I to understand that our captors actually reward our efforts with such weaponry?

[She could certainly ask for something far more dangerous than a bow and arrow, but heck, if they were in the business of handing out weapons for helping them, she just might pay more attention to the requests for assistance that don't involve glorious combat...]

It could, it's just the arrow that came with it that comes back after I shoot it.

[ negative nancy! she sounds a tiiiiiny bit defensive, but her mood is too up, up. up to really be brought down much. ]

Yes, they do. The fairies sometimes wander around asking if you want something, and you tell them yes, and you, generally, get it.

That's the point! Unless of course it forcibly removes itself, then the trauma of the injury could prove useful. Is that what it does? Or does it simply appear in your hand again?

[Yep, arguably the only princess here who takes an active interest in how horribly something gets wounded or killed.]

That is interesting...perhaps I will not be so quick to dismiss their ridiculous 'quests' in the future if I stand to gain something in return!

Though it does make sense. I mean, really, tracking feathers? Hardly the sort of thing anyone would jump at without the promise of a reward.

[Yeap, still a little bitter that she'd been expected to actually do that.]

Um. [ wow this is scary ] I don't think it- no. It just appears back in my quiver.

The feathers were pretty cool though, if you don't usually have superpowers. A little unpredictable, but it wasn't that bad of a quest, all things considered.

Leave it to our benefactors to design a weapon that could prove useful, then manage to screw it up anyway.

[She was beginning to dislike this arrangement more and more. If they shied away from making a weapon as deadly as possible, was she really expected to fight for them? And what would they do to ruin any weapon she might request?]

Perhaps that is why they wanted the bird found. If a simple feather grants one powers, the entire set must be a valuable asset indeed.

[Not that she was considering trying to track it down. If it was still alive, that is. Truthfully, she neither knew nor cared about the stupid bird's fate. She considered her's more important to worry about.]

Well, I think it's great. I don't think they messed up at all.

[ hrmp! ]

And yeah, I would guess so. I wonder if anybody's found it.

You may think what you want, human. Just as I may think otherwise. It has been my experience that if one is to design a weapon, they should make it as devastating as possible.

[She'll get a four-armed shrug at the musing on the lost bird, though.]

I have no idea, and it does not concern me. I don't care if someone's eaten it. If it becomes a problem, I will worry over it then, and no sooner.

[ clarisse lets out a whistle. it is a really nice weapon, but, you know, she's still much more partial to her spear, so she isn't really all that impressed. regardless, she can appreciate a good weapon when she sees one. ]

You get a new weapon and your first thought isn't to hit up the daughter of Ares for lessons? [ she's not really offended, but come on, rachel. who else is going to give you lessons. clarisse may not be a daughter of apollo, but weaponry is her specialty. ]

It wasn't my first thought, but it was a thought, sure. I feel like I'm not ready for lessons with you, though. Not to say I'm not up for a challenge! But that would kind of be like- A professional coaching a pee-wee player, you know?

You're sure you wouldn't mind dealing with a mere mortal?

[ it's not really self deprecating or a jab at Clarisse, she just didn't want to get her hopes up, or bug Clarisse when she's still so not great at this ]

[ she snorts, shaking her head slightly. ]

Look, I'll go easy on you. [ though clarisse's definition of easy and rachel's definition of easy are probably vastly different. she won't call her maggot, at least. she could go full drill sergeant, but she's not sure if rachel could handle the intensity of full blown ares bootcamp. ] You won't even have to worry about avoiding any mines.

[ Rachel would cry. well. no, not cry, but that tactic wouldn't work well with her. she'd just clam up. which is why- ]

Going easy on me sounds promising. --I was going to say "I like easy", but easy's what I had at school. And I don't like easy. You'd know how to make me better than school level, so. Yeah. [ nod! ] When can we get started?

[ yeah, clarisse's definition of "easy" and rachel's are probably vastly different, so, you know. it's a good thing for clarisse to go easy on her. ]

Believe me, you'll want easy with me. [ easy might as well be hard mode. rachel really wouldn't want to know what hard mode means in ares. ] As soon as we all get back to the castle, we can start your training regimen. [ yes, it's a regimen. better get used to it, miss dare. hope you like early mornings. ]

Regimen. Sounds so official. [ nod! ] But you've got it. Thanks!

And I'll practice on my own in the meantime.

[ so she doesn't completely suck once they start training sob ]

Dude, that's awesome! It almost looks like it's straight from Apollo!

Right? I might have told the fairy who took my request that I really like gold stuff, and about the whole Apollo thing, so that was kind of intentional. I'm just surprised they actually gave it to me! This thing is strong.

[ said the girl that's used to the archery equipment at her old school, not- actual battle-ready gear ]

Figured it had to be. It's perfect for the Oracle.

[ And Leo is more than a little curious himself, so... ] Would you mind if I took a look at it?

Oh! No, not at all. I'm at the back of the castle, there's targets lined up and weapon racks over there- Can't miss it! Or I could bring it inside? But I'm guessing you want to see it in action. [ grin! ]

I totally want to see it in action. [ There’s that infamous manic grin of his, excited to see how a new weapon works. Even if it’s magic, he might be able to figure it out in this context. ] I’ll be out in a bit!

[ And sure enough, there he is, looking as hyperactive and eager as ever. ] So have you actually used a bow before? Is that, like, a divine gift Apollo gives you as his Oracle, or what?

[ Rachel's not fussing so much as she's just practicing lining up her shot, without acting taking any. it's hard loading up a bow fast! it takes a little more coordination than she actually has. so when she hears Leo approaching, she lowers her arrow, bow still loaded, but. yeah. not gonna shoot it! ]

I wish. I learned at my old school, actually. Clarion Ladies Academy offered archery and golf and something else, I forget. It was kind of a no-brainer which one I'd pick up.

Guess it comes with being Apollo’s chosen one, huh?

[ He doesn’t even bother to hide his interest in the bow she’s holding, admiring the way it shines in the sun. ] It looks even more awesome in person. It’s not Imperial gold, is it?

Oh, shucks. You make that sound like some kind of honor or something. [ she grins, then looks back down at the bow ]

I don't think so? Maybe. I'm not sure how to test that, though. [ she holds it out for him, and maybe she's purposely holding it out on two fingers, just to show off the perfect balance it has at the center ] Here, take a look.

I mean, the Oracle’s kind of a big deal, right?

[ Leo hadn’t expected her to actually hand it over, but he’s stupidly excited to get a closer look. His first look is nothing short of admiring, appreciative of the metalwork and the perfect balance Rachel shows off. It’s perfectly crafted, down to the last detail. ]

It’s not Imperial gold, [ he says thoughtfully, running his fingers over the metal. He’s gotten a close enough look at Jason’s sword to know that much. The bow has a certain glow to it, but it’s not the same. ] It looks like regular old gold, like the stuff they use in the castle.

[ Looking up again, he offers it back to her. ] And it returns the arrow?

I'm so okay with it being regular old gold.

[ she takes it back and holds it tight in her hand, still getting used to the grip on it, but- it feels right. like it should be hers, that she's not holding some hero's weapon and playing pretend. it's pretty great. ]

Oh, yeah. Let me show you.

[ she takes a few steps away from him as she reaches back to her quiver again, pulling out that gold arrow and drawing it back in the bow. it takes her a little while to align her shot, same as before, but the arrow flies and hits the target again, low, but still! she hit the thing. she's proud. ] It takes a little while to do it, but just give it a little time. [ sure enough, about thirty seconds after the arrow landed in the target, it fades out of sight, and reappears back in her quiver ] Tada! I think it varies, how long it takes to reappear, but. Maybe it knows I don't need it back right away, or something. I'll have to test it out more.

That’d be something you want to test before taking it into a fight, [ Leo notes, trying to think of a good way they could simulate danger without the actual danger. He’ll have to think on that. Surprise attacks, maybe? But Rachel probably doesn’t have the reflexes he and the others do; she may be the Oracle, but she’s still a mortal. ]

That’s awesome, though! And your aim’s not bad, either. I was always better with a ballista or some grenades, [ he says with a laugh. ] Maybe we can get you some backup arrows, for while you’re waiting for the other one to come back. Just in case.

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