GODLY AUDIENCES - ZOE MURPHY

[divus]

Comments

[divus]

You took the risk, you get the reward.

[requiemed]

Fair enough, I guess.

[But, hm.]

What about the scarf?

[divus]

Aphrodite's. Thing's drenched in love magic so be careful with that, too. It should be fine to handle, but I wouldn't advise wearing it unless you want to fall in love with the first person you see.

[requiemed]

Oh. So... It's just like the Cupid's Arrows power?

[divus]

Yup. Pretty sure the scarf came first though, that thing's been up in the attic for years.

[requiemed]

How did you even get a scarf from Aphrodite?

[divus]

I didn't. Someone else did and brought it back to camp. That whole attic's filled with spoils of war and stuff brought back from quests, I just removed the name tags.

[requiemed]

Right... You mentioned that you've led armies before.

[divus]

Yup. This place is a training camp. Just in case you didn't figure that out yet.

[He doesn't even sound insulting he just sounds tired.]

[requiemed]

I think I figured that out based on like, literally everything, but I especially would have figured it out when we had to fight a minotaur.

[divus]

Could've been way worse, Zoe. You guys worked pretty well together. That's a valuable skill.

[requiemed]

Yeah, six near death experiences, I remember. But... Thanks, I think?

[divus]

...let me ask you something. Why do you think I let you into that house?

[requiemed]

...It's like you said. It's a training exercise.

[divus]

Right. Does that mean anything to you? [Or does he have to spell it out...]

[requiemed]

It means we passed and we get to keep all the shit we stole?

[divus]

[Well.] ...yeah, sure, that's what it means.

[He sits up finally, rolling his shoulders to stretch. When he speaks, there's a slight shift in his mannerisms, a little more blase than before.] You're here to ask more questions, right? What else do you have for me?

[requiemed]

[A beat, and then:]

Okay, sorry, I'll stop being a jerk. What does it mean?

[divus]

[He kind of wants to just blow over it because the method was, maybe, stupid.] It just means that you need to take all the time you can to prepare yourself. You guys keep messing up in trials and getting lost on stuff. You're doing better, but you're still all over the place.

It's about learning to apply the critical thinking you take from training to not only defend yourself from a physical attack but during trials, too.

[requiemed]

[True to her word, she seems to be taking that seriously. In fact, after she gives him a nod...]

That's... really good advice, actually. I mean, I don't really have the whole training expertise thing nailed down, but - you know.

[divus]

[A soft snort.] Most people don't. We don't exactly get a choice either way, so consider it a kindness that you do.

[...but he continues.] For what it's worth, most of us started really young and still had a lot to learn. It's why Camp existed.

[requiemed]

Why did you start that young? Or... I guess the better question is, why did you have to do it at all?

[divus]

Oh, you know...being born? [A dry, annoyed tone.] It was either be chased by things that wanted to kill me my whole life, or learn to fight back.

[requiemed]

[It feels like ‘I’m sorry’ isn’t quite the right thing to say here. Instead...]

It sounds like it was hard.

[divus]

[...there's a long, low sigh after a brief moment.]

Doesn't matter anymore, I ascended and I'm going to be better than they ever were.