A Sisterly Reunion | Hailey

[Hailey Nichols]

Hailey nodded her head in agreement to the many alligators statement. She couldn't help but think how Artemis could possibly put up with a moat full of gators in the Hephaestus cabin if she wanted revenge. She honestly should have known that Hailey managed to reverse her punishment, so Hailey couldn't help but wonder if the goddess thought that being a jackalope for a year along with getting herself embarrassed multiple times was enough punishment. However, Hailey didn't know where they would put this said alligator moat in their cabin.

Everything seemed to look the same as Genie walked her to her old room. But she had to pause the outside of the room. It was untouched after all those years. Hailey's eyes glanced over to the room beside hers where Hannah used to stay, but Hannah was long dead. She tore her eyes off of the other room as she turned back to her sister. "You're making a chariot?" she asked as she reached up to comb her hair back. "That's... that's really cool. I might have to stop by and see it sometime. I haven't been in the forges since forever."

[Virginia Grace]

It seemed to take Hailey a moment to really get situated in her surroundings when they finally made it back to her bedroom. That wasn’t too surprising. Genie knew change was hard and couldn’t imagine coming back to a place you had lived in after being gone for so long. That being the case she let her sister have all the time she needed and when she finally spoke up again Genie thought that she sounded better, like she was starting to get used to the idea of being back.

“Oh you totally should. The chariot I’ve been working on is way cool. It’s got retractable spikes and an oil slick dispenser and even a self-propulsion unit and gyrobalanacer that can keep it going even if the horses get away from us.” Genie grinned broadly. She always got excited when she got to talk about her projects but she didn’t want to overload Hailey with too much information when she had just shown back up. “Let’s just say it’s only the most awesome chariot ever so you should come by and we can test it out sometime.” Genie chuckled and draped an arm over Hailey’s shoulders. “You’ll probably want to just get back into the swing of things too. If you need some tools are something you could borrow mine. They’re the only set in the forge that are pink.”

[Hailey Nichols]

Hailey was back and things were going to be alright. Her room in the cabin wasn't going to look the same, since she was pretty sure she would be smited if she stepped foot back in the Artemis cabin to retrieve her stuff. And the fact that Teddy was brutally mutilated in order for her to return to her human form. But things were different now. Hailey was different so it only made sense that her room would be different the second time around.

She looked over at Genie and smiled as she rambled off the specs of the chariot. Hailey wasn't much of a smith herself, but somehow, she knew exactly what Genie was talking about. Maybe it was because of her Hephaestus genes, but it was good to keep her mind distracted with the chariot. Hailey nodded her head as she smiled at her sister. "I will be your test driver if you need one," she said with a slight laugh as she shrugged her shoulders. "You still have that pink set? I don't know if they kept my tools after I joined... but your tools are always the prettiest down there."

[Virginia Grace]

"That would be great." Genie said with one of her big grins. "I was hoping I could get someone to try it out with me. An awesome chariot isn't much good if no one ever rides in it and if everything goes well we can use it the next time we go up against the rest of the cabins in the races." She paused long enough to chuckle and then continued. "See? This is why is good to have you around again Hailey. You really have been missed."

But then talk turned back to her tools and that was all it took to set Genie off again. At the mention of her tools being the prettiest the girl blushed a little getting somewhat embarrassed. "Oh now I don't know if I would go so far as to say something like that. I mean you can't hardly beat anything in chrome. They are mine though and they're pretty special to me." Genie paused for a moment to think wondering if anything had been done with Hailey's tools. She supposed the boys could have split them up but she couldn't remember. In any case she was sure they could get her some more if they needed them. "Well I don't rightly know if anything has been done with them or not but if they aren't there I could always take you shipping for some new ones if you want. That way we could set you up real nice."

[Hailey Nichols]

Hailey couldn't help but smile and chuckle at Genie's enthusiasm. Least to say that it was very contagious. "Let me know when you want to test drive it and I'll be there," she said with a grin. "Together, we'll make sure that it's the best chariot when the next races come about." At least this talk about chariots and racing was keeping her mind off of other things that were bugging her slightly, but not that much. At least when she got back into the forges, she could keep both her mind and hands busy.

"I just remember mine being boring old black when I first got here." She chuckled a bit as she shook her head. "But chrome would be nice... or maybe something as colorful as yours. I need something to distinguish mine from the boys'." But she nodded her head at the mention of shipping and her smile grew a little bit wider. "Shopping would be nice. I doubt they kept my tools at all... so this can be a brand new, fresh start for me."

[Virginia Grace]

Genie chuckled at the thought of the two of them racing around the tracks tossing oil slicks and road spikes behind them as they raced towards the finish line like a demi god version of Mario Kart. It would be perfect and more than worth it if they could bring home the trophy for their cabin. "We'll be the unstoppable Hephaestus sisters." She said cheerfully and then added. "This is going to be so much fun! The next time I head out to do some work you are definitely coming along."

They would need to get some tools for Hailey though. She was a daughter of Hephaestus and it would be a down right disgrace to old pops if she let her sister go without tools. They had to fix this and that meant a shopping trip was in order. "Maybe we could get permission from Chrion to head to the hardware store. That's about the closest thing I get to going on a great and epic quest so it seems like a pretty good reason to me. What do you say Hailey?"

[Hailey Nichols]

Hailey laughed as she shook her head. Genie was truly her only sister inside the Hephaestus cabin besides Hannah. But now that Hannah was gone, Genie was the only one she could turn to. Hailey really did love her brothers, but at the same time, they were just not the same like a sister. And it was a very good thing that she liked Genie a lot. "Unstoppable," she repeated as she nodded her head. "Maybe we need a name for us. Like the Dynamic Duo or something cool along those lines." She couldn't wait to see this chariot in person and put it to action. Genie always seemed to have amazing creations.

But the mention of shopping made Hailey's smile grow a little wider. "I don't think he'll mind a couple of sisters heading to the hardware store. At least we'll be safer there than somewhere else on a quest, so I don't see why he wouldn't let us."

[Virginia Grace]

"The Dynamic Duo huh. You really think we can live up to that one?" In Genie's mind they would make a pretty good team but it was good to hear those thoughts echoed in her sister's words. Could they beat out all the other cabins? Sure they could. In fact, between the two of them they could probably come up with some even crazier additions to the chariot so they really would be unstoppable. Right now though she was just happy to have someone around who seemed to be excited about the same projects she had been working on.

Turning her attention back to the thought of getting out of camp for a while Genie nodded her head in agreement with Hailey's conclusion. "That's what I'm thinking. How much trouble could two Hephaestus girls really get into just going shopping for some tools? I mean it's not like we are running off to slay monsters or anything. That would be a whole other matter entirely. Surely we won't run into any trouble if we're just careful."

[Hailey Nichols]

"I think we could," Hailey said as she nodded her head. "I mean... Hephaestus kids already have some affinity towards fire and you need fire to make dynamite work." She shrugged her shoulders. "As long as someone else hasn't taken that name, I think we can easily fill the title of the Dynamic Duo." She would rather be part of a duo with Genie than one of their other siblings. She just seemed to click with her sister, even if it was over different projects. It kept Hailey's mind occupied instead of worrying over other things.

"Plus," Hailey quickly added. "If we do get into trouble, like monsters finding us, we're completely safe, because a hardware store is full of different things we can use as weapons." She chuckled to herself as a slight smirk crept onto her lips. "I've kinda always wanted to see how a monster would react to a chainsaw... but we're covered either way so Chiron shouldn't say no to us."

[Virginia Grace]

“Oh fire.” Genie said excitedly. “That does make sense. It also gives me an idea for another improvement. What do you think about having fireworks that shoot off the side or some exhaust pipes that shoot flames? Something pretty and distracting for everyone around us.” Genie wasn’t sure but she didn’t think those ideas had ever been tried on a chariot before. In any case it seemed like the perfect addition to the initial design. The best part was that she had someone who could help her with the work now.

Hailey’s comment about fighting monsters made Genie chuckle nervously. She had never really been one for fighting even with some pretty awesome tools at her disposal. Still, she wouldn’t mind watching Hailey go to work with a chainsaw and she was sure she could be an awesome cheerleader if needed. “Maybe we should just avoid mentioning the possibility of monsters to Chiron. Don’t want to hurt our chances after all, right? Besides, we probably won’t run into any so long as we’re careful.”

[Hailey Nichols]

"Oooh..." Hailey said as she thought about it. "Maybe the exhaust pipe idea... especially if you want to keep those people who ride on your tail away. I think that would be a major good thing to have since some people just play dirty when they race." She laughed as she shook her head. "And sometimes we have to play as dirty as them if we want a chance to win." She shrugged her shoulders as she finally decided to take a step into her old room instead of lingering by the doorway. Nothing had changed really, but at the same time it was different. Very different.

She turned back around to look at Genie as she raised her eyebrows before shrugging her shoulders. Being a former hunter, Hailey was used to killing all sorts of monsters, but she knew her siblings rarely got the chance to go out on quests. So it wasn't all that surprising to her that Genie seemed a little bit hesitant about the idea of killing monsters. "Well, we have a lower scent than other demigods so it won't be that bad," she said with a reassuring smile. "But I think Chiron will trust us with a quick trip to the hardware store."

[Virginia Grace]

It was perfect how they were already bouncing ideas off each other. It was a good sign for things to come and Genie thought that her and Hailey would be able to come up with some even crazier plans if they put their heads together. What was even better was that she really liked Hailey’s thoughts on playing dirty. Genie definitely wasn’t above bending the rules a little when it came to something she wanted and she was glad that Hailey agreed. “Well you know what they say. All’s fair in love and racing…or something like that I can’t remember how it goes. Besides, it wouldn’t be the awesomest chariot ever if it got beat.”

Following Hailey inside the room Genie took a look around as well. It had been a long time since she had been in here herself, so long in fact that she had forgotten all about Hailey’s twin sister who was definitely not the nicest person she had ever known. Still, it was good to have Hailey back and maybe she would be coming in more often now. “Well I think it’s a great idea and you have to have some tools right? I would say we need to do that before we even get started on anything else.”

[Hailey Nichols]

Hailey shrugged her shoulders as Genie tried to come up with that saying. She didn't completely know it herself, but it didn't matter at the moment. "Well... anything goes with racing. Gods know that he still hasn't come up with stricter rules for chariot racing. I wonder if he sees it like the Hunger Games where he's just hoping there's fewer of us by the end of the day." She chuckled a bit as she shrugged again. "But we need to be prepared for those dirty ones. I have no doubt that the Hermes cabin has something up their sleeves."

But it was weird being back in her old room again, especially since she knew that Hannah wouldn't be next door to her. Little did she know the true fate of her twin sister. She turned back to Genie and smiled as she nodded her head. "Then I think we need to go to Chiron to clear our little shopping trip." A genuine smile crept on her lips. It would be nice to leave camp for the first time in a few years.

[Virginia Grace]

Genie grinned at her sister. She thought this was going to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship as only one forged by Hephaestus kids could be. With their combined ingenuity there was no way they were going to lose the next race. Genie could almost guarantee it. "I agree. The Hermes cabin is always a tricky one. We can definitely expect some sneaky tactics from them but I bet we will be even more prepared between the two of us. We'll have everyone thinking twice about the Hephaestus cabin when we're through."

First things first though. They needed to get some tools for Hailey and Genie had to admit the thought of a shopping trip was pretty exciting. She rarely got away from the protection of camp but she secretly liked shopping even when it was for more than just tools. Hailey might not be in to it but who knew, they might even find some other things while they were out. You had to take advantage of those rare opportunities after all. "Well once you get settled back in and everything we could go over to the Big House. I know it has to be a lot to take in being back after so long so if you want to check your stuff or something I could help you out or just give you some time."

[Hailey Nichols]

“We’ll show those other cabins that the Hephaestus cabin is one they cannot ignore,” Hailey said as she chuckled a bit. Part of her wondered how the Hecate cabin would stand up to their chariot, if they were even in the races. But from what she knew of them, their hypothetical chariot was probably very flashy and had all sorts of enchantments. But she shook her head as she smiled at her sister. “But we’ll have one damn good chariot that will leave the other chariots in the dust.”

But as she looked around the room, Hailey saw that she had the bare essentials for the time being along with a few things that she left behind when she joined the hunters. However, not everything in this room was going to get her through a couple of days until she could go shopping, since she wasn’t risking another trip to the Artemis cabin. Hailey had to go shopping for a lot of things, but how she was going to explain that she was still wearing the clothes that she was borrowing from the Hecate cabin? That would lead to a lot of questions and Hailey wasn’t quite sure if she was ready to answer those questions, especially if Theo happened to come into the conversation. She reached up to push her hair out of her face as she turned to face Genie. “I don’t know if there’s that much for me to check,” she admitted with a slight shrug. “But I do like your company, so you can stay if you want to.”