Race Against the Dark Moon [Interlude, Chapter 6]

An Eventful Day In Camp

NOTE: Below is a made-up schedule. It will probably differ for every camper. Also, Faith has to learn both Latin and Ancient Greek for spells, and that every translation comes from Google Translate. So they may be horribly inaccurate.

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I woke up next morning at around 7:30 am with a sheet of paper attached to my face. It was my schedule, along with a few extra handy notes written by Lou in emerald green ink.

8:00-9:00 am: Breakfast and Cabin Inspection (cleanest cabin gets to shower first!)
9:00-10:30 am: Ancient Greek and Latin (with me)
10:30-11 am: strawberry picking, store checks, cleaning stables, lunch preparation, armor polishing (basically, chore time, depends on day of week)
11 am-12 pm: Monster assault techniques, Pegasus riding, hand-to-hand combat
12-12:30 pm: Mythology (with your friend Duking)
12:30-1:30 pm: Lunch
1:30-3:30 pm: Magical spells and combat, Mist manipulation (with me)
3:30-5 pm: wood-chopping, cabin cleaning, firework-making, laundry (more chores)
5-6 pm: Free time
6-7 pm: Dinner
7-9 pm: Archery (your friend Hannah requested this)
9-10 pm: Campfire and Sing-Along

Also, Capture the Flag is on Fridays @ 7-9 pm

I scanned through it several times, trying to memorize it so I wouldn't walk around camp while holding it and checking it a million times like an idiot. However, dyslexia disagreed with me, so the words flew right off the page.

I slipped off my bed and landed lightly on the floor. Lou was already up, looking at an ancient-looking scroll. "Morning, little sis." She said, scanning through the scroll and murmuring incantations in another language. Probably Ancient Greek, maybe Latin?

"Good morning. Um, where's the bathroom?" I asked. She looked up, then pointed towards the left. A door had materialized there, and it hadn't been there before.

"Our cabin has a lot of secrets. You just have to look for them. This door appears when you need something, but you have to be very specific. I've seen that door lead to many places. I like to call it φυγής πόρτα,Vanishing Door." She said, then went back to studying the scroll. I nodded and thanked her, then went inside.

It was a normal bathroom, with green and blue checkered linoleum tiles, a small shower, a sink with a mirror, and a toilet. I found a toothbrush and some toothpaste waiting on the rim of the sink, so I used it. I came out after I got all my business done.

I looked at the large, ornate clock perched above the hearth. 7:47. "Lou, we have thirteen minutes to get to the dining pavilion for breakfast." I said. She stood up, wrapping up the scroll carefully, then set it on the shelf.

"Okay! Let's go then." With that, I pushed open the door to the cabin. And then, a bucket, perched precariously on the doorframe, tumbled down on me. I screamed as it was full of white, bubbly and fluffy foam. And it wasn't whipped cream. Shaving cream. I could hear laughter coming from the distance as I ran back inside.

"Lou!" I cried, unable to open my eyes, since it stung so badly.

"Oh, gods. ξηρό ντους!" She chanted. I somehow understood the spell she casted; dry shower. The cream instantly melted off my body, dissolving into thin air.

"It was probably the Stoll brothers." She said bitterly, as if saying the name made a foul taste in her mouth, "a few months ago, we started a rivalry after I got back at them for replacing all the stars on our roof with sea stars with the help of that stupid son of Poseidon. Took forever to get off. They deserved it." She explained.

Before I could ask who that was or what she did to them, she said, "I'm sorry you had to take it, little sis, since it was most likely meant for me." She apologized. I shrugged. The clock read 7:50 now.

"It's okay. But we better get to the dining pavilion." I said. We jogged over to there, taking about ten or so minutes to get there. When we got there, most cabins were already sitting there and chatting, waiting for breakfast to be served.

I had my goblet filled up with some apple juice while Lou had coffee. Dryads started to serve toast, scrambled eggs, hash browns... Practically every breakfast food you could imagine. I immediately dug in, feeling famish.

"What's cool is that all of our food is completely healthy. Non-fat, organic, you name it." Lou said, cutting up a piece of sausage. I took a sip of my juice.

"Good, because I could eat this all day." I replied, and she laughed. Twenty minutes later, we were both full, so we headed back to our cabin for cabin inspection.

"Don't worry. I can simply clean everything with a spell. Unless you blow this place up, our cabin usually gets top marks for cleanliness. I say usually because, well, magic doesn't always go right and leaves bigger messes than it was trying to clean." She explained. Lou waved her hand, and a few potted plants in the corner fell down, spilling dirt and sap on the shining mahogany floor.

She sighed. "This is one of those times." She did the hand motion again, and this time, the plants righted themselves and the entire room became clean. "That's more like it. I give our cabin perfect marks." I looked at the clock. It read; 8:30.

"Well, since our cabin is already clean, and the camper who does the inspecting for this week isn't here yet, I guess we can get your Ancient Greek lesson started early. Ready for two grueling hours of Ancient Greek?"

I was used to working three times as hard as anyone else. It was hard, but I made it. I was not used to doing anything in another language. Even if my brain was naturally adapted to it, it was still tricky.

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The rest of the day went relatively smoothly, for a Greek-hero-in-training. After a hard lesson of Ancient Greek, I went to pick strawberries in the fields. I found Duking there, playing a melody on his panpipes, making them grow ripe enough for picking.

Unfortunately, the plant grew so much, a vine swung directly at my feet, effectively tripping me and making me fall flat on my butt.

Then, I went to a monster assault technique class, held in the arena. After a quick tutorial for rookies (aka me), we were allowed to test our skills on a dummy. What I didn't know was that the dummy fought back. My face was still sore after I got sucker-punched when I lunged, or tried to, at it with my knife.

Next, I joined Duking in a mythology lesson. It was more interesting than I expected, especially when he mentioned Hecate. At least that went without any bad things happening.

Later, I rejoined Lou for lunch, enjoying a potato salad sandwich. This went by smoothly, save for accidentally spilling my milk. Lou had to cast another dry shower spell.

Then, we headed back to our cabin for some magical combat and Mist manipulation. She opened the Vanishing Door when it appeared, leading into a plain arena. After a one hour lesson, demonstrating different magical spells, we spent the rest of the hour using them. We had to evacuate a fifteen minutes later due to the large amount of smoke.

So Lou spent the remaining forty-five minutes teaching me how to use the Mist. I think I created regular fog instead. "Mist manipulation isn't easy, little sis. It takes a long time to perfect." She told me.

After that, I went to go wood-chopping for my second daily chore. Due to my light build, I couldn't even pick up the heavy axe. So I had to sit out, practicing spells under my breath.

For my free period, I went back to my cabin, again for more spell casting and Mist control. I think it's safe to say I only blew up one armchair. Lou had to come and fix it with another spell.

Then, we went to dinner. More hot chocolate and some tomato soup, after burning a piece of chicken, I made sure not to spill anything. I joined Hannah, the first time I've seen her all day, for some more archery practice.

One time, I actually shot a bullseye. I was so excited and filled with confidence that the next arrow I shot flew way over the board, right into a tree. After apologizing to the infuriated dryad, my confidence went down.

Lastly, the campfire and sing-along. I think this is one of my most favorite things at camp. I sat with Lou and ate more s'mores while the Apollo cabin led with the sing-along. I was amazed that all this happened in my first full day of camp. I could tell I was in for a lot of fun.

The fire roared, gold and yellow flames crackling merrily, warming up the cooler autumn air. I was already loving this life better than back at the boarding school, and for a good reason.