Books, nice views and zero spiders (open)

[Deleted]

 Tanya often went near the lake for she found the picturesque scenery to be quite relaxing. She never entered the water however, even the thought of it brought home images of herself drowning, unable to reach the surface to bring in the wonderful life fulfilling oxygen. The sun rose high in the sky on a charming cloudless day as the small red head seated herself down on the cool grass. 
For the moment, she was alone, though in the distance she spied other demigods moving about. Tanya did not allow herself to fall prey to the illusion that she might be the only demigod to come to the lake. What with the weather being the way it was, she happened to be surprised the lake had so few people as it did. 

Such idle thoughts Tanya attempted to drive from her mind as she opened her leather messenger bag, pulling out a rather heavy tome. There just was something about a large book she found so appealing. She flicked through the pages till the daughter of Athena reached the page she stopped on the previous night. So far the book had been utterly fascinating, the rise and fall of the Soviet Union proving to be a most interesting topic. She suspect that her interest in it came from her father, who he himself possessed a vast collection of literature on it and even wrote several papers on the subject. Though perhaps in all honesty the interest came about from a mixture of both of her parents, the mortal and the divine.

She enjoyed reading, loved it, if she could manage to read all day Tanya quite possibly might do such a thing and no doubt be immensely pleased by it. Unfortunately, usually something served to interrupt her. Be in a fellow camper, one of her half brothers or sisters or far worse the sight of a spider. For those souls not in the know, if Tanya spotted a spider, it may be wise to get out of the way as fast as possible, because if she saw one, the red head bolted. She barely suppress a shudder at the thought of encountering a spider. 

[Ashley Bates]

There was no rest for the weary or at least or at least there wasn't any for the very suspicious which turned out to be Ash's case. To say he had been busy was an understatement. The Usurpers were at work in the camp, of that Ash had no doubt, and he thought that he had enough proof to make even the most discerning demigod sit up and take notice. The problem was that he couldn't be sure who all was involved in the conspiracy or, and here was the real troubling matter, how deep the conspiracy ran.

Oh sure he could have turned his findings over to Chiron and the centaur would probably take steps to prevent anything bad from happening but how could they be sure that they got everyone? How could they be sure that they didn’t just scatter the Usurpers and lull themselves into another false sense of security? The answer was simple. They couldn't and there in was the problem.

If Ash really wanted to help, and that's what he was trying to do, he had to insure that he had a plan to catch all of the traitors and deal with them in one decisive blow. That was the only way to insure that the problem was dealt with in full. Tear up the weed by the stem and it would grow back. Remove the weed root and all and the plant would be destroyed. As with gardening, so with life and this was his chance, likely the best one he would get, to do just that and destroy the Usurpers for good. Unfortunately that wasn't an easy thing to do with the players were all hidden like they were now and for the most part Ash didn't know all of what he was dealing with until they revealed themselves but that was okay. Ash was patient and he would root out the traitors by himself if he had to.

All of those were concerns for another time however. He needed a break from his efforts. He would not become some back glancing ninny always afraid that a conspirator was lurking behind him in the shadows. Giving in to fear and paranoia at this late stage in the game would be a mistake that Ash couldn't afford and to say that his only concern was finding out who might be plotting against the camp would be vastly over simplifying things. What about Dakota? What about his siblings? What about his life? He had to take a break and that's precisely what he intended to do now as he made his way to the shore of the lake to take his lunch.

He was wearing his old cowboy hat this afternoon and his bow and quiver were hung over his back as he approached the waters. Having spent most of the morning circling trails and marking suspicious activity he looked every bit like he had walked right out of one of Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns. The jerky he had brought with him for his outing today was already making his mouth water and he was ready to eat. He hadn't expected to have company but as he approached he noticed that he wasn't the only one who had decided to stop at the lake today. A red haired girl was sitting by the water and reading. That was fine. Ash didn't particularly mind sharing his lunch spot. Instead, he inclined his head to the girl enough let her know that he wasn't here to invade her privacy and then picked a good spot, hunkered by the shore and began unpacking his things.

[Deleted]

 The Usurpers troubled Tanya greatly, the very idea that her fellow campers might secretly harbour dark thoughts as they moved slowly against their fellows. It tormented her. She struggled with trusting others anyway, but this proved to be the final nail in the trust coffin. At least in her books she managed to find some small manner of peace. Tanya turned the page, distracted for a brief moment from her reading by a sudden movement caught in the corner of her eyes. She looked up from her book, seeing a rather handsome young male who could of been taken from a spaghetti western. Except for the bow, trade it for a Winchester rifle or a six shooter.  

She offered him a shy smile muttering a quiet. "Hello." Could he be a potential Usurper? Maybe he was one and he happened to be trying to lull her into a false sense of security whilst insidious comrades crept silently towards her? She shivered involuntarily, casting a swift nervous glance over her shoulder. The daughter of Athena tried to push such dark thoughts from her mind. Thinking in such a manner would serve only to aid the Usurpers. 
Tanya turned her attention back to her book, but something soon distracted her from reading. A movement in the grass, ant maybe? Nay for the creature which now lurked slowly towards her was in fact a tiny spider. She slammed her book shut, rapidly rushing to her feet. Tanya sprinted away, pushing her book into her bag as she did so. 

The short red head only stopped running when she reached a spot near the shore. After a few moments, she managed to calm herself. It was then she noticed she had run over to where the boy attempted to set up shop to eat his lunch. Her cheeks reddened from embarrassment, Tanya's flight must of been something worth seeing. She only moved at such speed either when Tanya spotted a spider, heard rumour of a spider or the dinner horn sounded. "Spider." She explained in a quiet embarrassed voice. She shuddered, as she looked over the grass expecting the spider to still be following her, slowly scuttling towards her on those eight freakish legs, the many eyes glittering with uncontrolled malice.   
She remained watching in the direction she came from, unable to escape the thought of the spider sneaking slowly towards her, advancing remorselessly towards her. All thoughts of the potential insidious threat of the Usurpers had been banished from her mind, replaced with the relentless terror which now pulsed within Tanya. She shivered, imagining spiders crawling on her black legging, across her blacl demin shorts and over her orange Camp Half-blood t-shirt. Spiders... No, just no spiders. 

[Ashley Bates]

The girl responded to his nod of greeting but she quickly passed from his mind. Ash was not the most social individual under the best of circumstances but when it came to lunch time this was even more the case. When food was on the table your mouth was best used for eating. Barring the occasional need to speak up to inquire about the passing of condiments there were simply more important things to be attending to at the time. It was a habit that he had picked up riding along with the ranchers he had worked with in Texas and it had stuck with him until today.

Such as it was Ash had already gotten comfortable in his spot and was getting ready to enjoy his simple meal when he heard the girl’s book slam and the scrambling of feet. Ash glanced up to see the girl running full speed away from the place she had been sitting annnnnnnnnnnnd that was it? Try as he might he could see nothing that could have caused such a commotion or that would warrant the horror and panic he could see plainly in the girl’s eyes. He watched unblinking, mouth half full of the bite of jerky he had just taken, as the girl came to rest close to his spot and began trying to calm herself as if there was some reason that she should be so afraid.

As he waited for some new development in this situation Ash went back to chewing his food, albeit slowly, and watching the girl as her panic left her. He continued watching her until she gave the reason for her sudden outburst. Spider? All this fuss over a spider? Ash blinked and swallowed his bite of jerky. Could that really be all that it was? There was only one way to find out. "You probably scared it more than it scared you I’d bet." He said in simple sincerity without a hint of sarcasm. “In any case I wouldn’t worry about it. Surely such a small thing would be no match for that book you were reading from.”

Ash wasn't completely convinced that the girl was through panicking. The way that she stared back in the direction she had come told him that she expected to be pursued by the insect and it was possible that she might run off again. “Be easy.” He added wondering how the girl would ever be able to fight against monsters if she was this scared of a spider. “It’s gone now and if you see it again you are more than capable of dealing with it if you don’t lose your head." He motioned for her to take a seat. "Just don’t think about it for now.”

[Deleted]

Tanya shook her head slowly. There was no way a spider might be more afraid of her than she happened to be of them. She disagreed with such an idea completely. The idea of her hitting a spider with the book would have created a new problem, removing the remains of a dead spider from her book. Spiders were disgusting. "I don't know about that." She said in a quiet uncertain voice. Tanya seated herself down next to him, casting one more glance in the direction she had came from. 
"Sorry they are a phobia of mine." The red head explained to him, trying her best to stop thinking about spiders. She wanted to push them out of her mind. She shuddered. "Ugh spiders I cannot stand them." She quietly took out her book, returning to find the page she was last on before the sudden unwelcome interruption. The daughter of Athena wished she could simply stand her ground at in the face of a spider. Yet currently such a thing appeared to be an impossibility, mostly because the moment she saw one, she ran. Much to the continued consternation of her friends. 

She felt a tiny bit better with company. If for some weird reason a spider came over here, she thought that her present company might take care of it, unless he too possessed a phobia of them. Which if it was in fact the case, he kept his fear hidden. Unlike Tanya, who's fear could easily be seen. She gradually calmed down, however the unwelcome presence of a spider still left her feeling slightly unsettled. 
"I am Tanya by the way." She spoke, as she turned a page in her book. "If I am going to be sitting with you I might as well introduce myself." Tanya succeeded in drawing her attention away from the fascinating book so she was looking him  in the eyes during their conversation. Unfortunately, she knew it would come across as rude if she remained reading whilst they talked. 
As well as this the probability that she had interrupted his quiet lunch served as motivation to talk to him. Tanya silently wondered if he held any loyalty to the Usurpers. After a few moments of consideration of this idea, she pushed it from her mind. It served no purpose to drive rampant paranoia, she held no proof to support such a theory. Besides after seeing her flee in wild terror from a tiny spider, he came across as nothing but friendly and supportive. 
Such behaviours were not always the case when it came to phobias. 

Unfortunately her response to spiders seemed similar to her response to virtually everything else that frightened her. Run away being top of her strategy to success. Tanya long ago reluctantly accepted the grim truth of her being a coward, something she readily admitted to. Though some might have dared to say it took a brave demigod to admit when they were scared. Well if that happened to be the case then perhaps the small daughter of Athena was the bravest of them all. 
Personally she doubted it. Tanya despised running away, particularly in battle when her friends needed her, when other heroes needed her. But... Sometimes it took all that she could merely do to stand her ground as she tried to resist the urge to bolt and thus get herself out of such an unfortunate environment containing whatever infected her with the desire to head for the hill.s

[Ashley Bates]

Ash’s words seemed to have the desired effect as the girl seemed to relax a little more after he had spoken to her. She came and sat down by him and began reading again and that told him that she at least wouldn’t bolt if he said ‘boo’…or maybe she would. Whoever she was she did not seem to possess the particular hardness of character that he usually valued in others. A friend had once taught him that while it was okay to feel fear and it was even somewhat healthy to feel it generally it was a bad idea to show it.

This being the case and due to a few other factors in his life Ash wasn’t really known around camp for being very patient with those who couldn’t stand for themselves. Keeping yourself alive was one thing but letting fear control you was no way to live. Not only that but the girl's uncertain tone of voice when she spoke up again told him all he needed to know however. Of course she would always flee at the sight of spiders, she doubted her own capability to handle her fear. Not a very healthy outlook on life in Ash's opinion.

He remained silent on the issue though, at least for now. Instead he went right back to eating his jerky as the girl continued on with her conversation. That she had a phobia of spiders wasn't particularly earth shattering news, he had already seen a pretty good display of that, but her name was one that he hadn't heard before. He added it to a mental list and decided it was safe enough to talk to this one. "The name's Ash." He said simply enough. "It's nice to meet you." His voice betrayed little emotion either positive or negative but he was polite enough when the situation called for it and the girl was right about one thing, there really was no reason they shouldn't at least meet each other.

He wondered for an instant which cabin the girl was in. The Athena kids didn't like spiders but the girl's phobia didn't necessarily mean she was one. Certainly other kids around camp could have the same fear. Still, there was the book the girl was trying to read too and that might say more than anything else about her divine heritage. “What are you reading?” He asked giving the book in her hands a nod. Ash wasn’t really a book kind of guy preferring much more practical pursuits like riding his Pegasus and hunting but he could understand that some found it appealing. If the girl really was one of the Athena kids then a love for books was certainly understandable. Might as well see if it gave him any clues.

He took another look at the girl wondering if she really was as skittish as she seemed. He supposed it was possible but it seemed a little out of place at camp. Oh sure they all had their flaws, Ash set his mind on one thing and rarely saw the bigger picture, but they were demigods. Fear was supposed to be second nature to them. How would she be able to fight or even defend herself against the many monsters and mythological creatures that threatened them if fear had such a hold on her?

[Deleted]

He seemed uncertain as to what to make of her, or at the very least lost in his own private thoughts. Tanya knew many campers disliked her because of her response to frightening stimuli. To her it made perfect sense, in the event of something scary, getting away from it was beyond vitally important. At least that was her opinion on the matter. 
The other demigod happened to be known as Ash, a nice name. "Pleasure to sit with you then Ash." Tanya commented as she quietly turned the page, her eyes eagerly scanning the text, absorbing the valuable information. He came across as neutral around her, probably a wise choice considering the potential dangers lurking within the camp at the present. She tried to focus her mind back on the book, last thing she desired was an encounter with the hidden Usurpers, wondering about when or where they might strike could bring about precious little good. 

"The rise and fall of the Soviet Union." Tanya answered, her gaze focused on the page. "My father is a Military History Professor." She explained, just in case he wondered where she received her interest in reading from. The red head liked to think that her desire to read came from both of her parents.Her father always gently encouraged his only child to learn about the history of her homeland of Russia. Tanya, despite the efforts of her father did not see herself as Russian as she grew up in the United States of America. 
"Do you know much on the subject?" She quietly inquired, wondering if he either held an interest in the Soviet Union or perhaps like her ancestry could be traced back to Russia or one of its member states. Maybe she should encourage her friends to place blockers to prevent her from retreating from something frightening, in a similar manner to the Red Army using blocking detachments. Tanya wanted to be bravery, but where as it came naturally to many demigods, it appeared to have missed her out entirely. No one particularly enjoyed being labelled a coward, even less when the boot feet perfectly. She simply could not be relied upon to stand her ground against whatever horrors that might find her during her lifetime. 
Sometimes she did stand and fight, but usually only when running or surrendering was not an option. She who fights and runs away lives to fight another day, or alternative to make a sentence about it whilst those who fought silently condemn you for your actions. 

She found her current conversational partner to be quite interesting. Tanya managed to tear herself away from the book briefly, she wondered how he might of dealt with a spider. Yet she decided against asking, in case it was something silly like face her fears, stand up to them or that the spiders might queerly be more afraid of her, than she happened to be of them. 
Her dislike of them went far beyond the usual norm for a child of Athena. 

[Ashley Bates]

The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Union. That definitely sounded like a subject that he would have avoided in school. Math, science, history, heck, really any of the primary subjects were not very interesting too him. He liked physical activities and being outside. He was rancher and a hunter and books held little interest to him. This book though sounded like pretty dry reading even as far as books went and he was fairly certain that he wouldn't be able to add much to her study even if he had known a lot about it.

"Unfortunately I'm not much on history or philosophy." He said after with a shrug of his shoulders. "All I know is what's past is past and what's ahead is ahead. The second is fate and for the most part it takes care of itself." Ash's views on life were fairly straightforward. Perhaps it was just that his father was Apollo and he knew a thing or two about actions being written in the stars but whatever the case fate had always played at least some part in his decision making process, not so much that he leaned on it as a crutch as some did but enough to know it was there. Another common saying from his friend Alton Jackson ‘Pray for rain all you want but best dig a well while you do it.’ or to put it another way control the things you can control and let the larger matters of life work themselves out. Practical advice that Ash lived his life by and that had served him well so far.

That being said he could certainly understand where the girl got her interest in history from if it was a major part of her father's life. That and the fact that it was looking more and more like Tanya was a daughter of Athena. Either one would have explained her interest in things somewhat more academic in nature though he wondered if there was something peculiar about the Soviet Union that might speak to her. "Tanya, that's a Russian name isn't it? Are you trying to learn about your heritage or something? If so I don’t notice much of an accent."

Ash was not a Russian expert by any means but he could put two and two together and come to the most likely conclusion. Personally that had always been a much more valuable skill in his mind. Books were all fine and grand even though he preferred a good story to a historical commentary any day of the week but when the arrows were flying and monsters were dying book smarts didn't count for much. In times like that it was up to your skill and your ability to think on your feet to make it through. Still, knowledge could be useful and perhaps that was where Tanya's strength lied. There were certainly worse things to be good at than reading and learning after all.

[Deleted]

His response was not an overly unusual one. Tanya encountered very few campers who cared for that particular field of history. She disagreed with his personal philosophy, but lacked the courage to voice her opinion. Those who did not know their history, were doomed to repeat it, perhaps in a manner similar to fate. Ash seemed to have some distinctly straight forward views, in a way she envied him though that may of been just because of his ability to cope with the presence of spiders without needing to run away in terror. 
She nodded in agreement. "Yes it is." Tanya smiled at him, her Russian heritage was one of the few things Tanya declared proudly, though she viewed herself as an American rather than a Russian. "Yes it is the land of my birth but I grew up in the United States so I see myself as an American but going onto the accent." She paused for a moment to mark her page. "I do not remember much of Russia as I came to live in the US of A whilst I was very young." Her father surprisingly, managed to keep a decent Russian accent. 

"It is... Very interesting but also deeply complex." Tanya added, going back to the rise and fall of the Soviet Union. She wondered how her life might of been different if she remained in Russia instead of moving to the United States. The red head doubted too much would of been different, except for her accent and her remarkably few mortal friends. 
Her father loved Russia, but moved to the United States only for the job which paid considerably well. Sometimes to Tanya it seemed like he would head back home any day, leaving America never to return. The idea of her father heading back to Russia troubled her far more than she happened to be willing to admit, even too her closest friends. Yet, she knew if he decided to go back she could not stop him. Tanya ran a hand through her hair nervously. "I'm guessing you are not from Russia? I do not think Ash is a very Russian sounding name." She chuckled quietly, her eyes glimmering with soft amusement. 

[Ashley Bates]

He nodded at her explanation. He had heard that accents were more of a product of culture and you picked them up depending on the type of people that you were around all the time. He guessed if she really had come over to America early enough that she might have missed out on picking up the Russian dialect but that didn't really change who she was. That being the case her ties to her homeland were strong despite leaving there at a young age.

And she was interested in her homeland, that was for certain. As soon as he touched on the subject she seemed to light up with excitement and proceeded to explain everything about her family's circumstances from the reasons her father left to come to America to just how complex the history of Russia really was. Ash had no doubt about the complex part, that was one of the reasons he avoid those subjects when he could, but it was very interesting. At least her part of it was anyways. History was one thing but he did like stories and everyone had one. Tanya's was fairly interesting in its own right as he had never met a demigod of Russian decent until now.

Ash nodded as he listened to Tanya gush about things she was interested in. Ash, who rarely gushed about anything, continued to eat waiting until his input was needed. When it was it came in the form of the girl asking about his background. "Not Russia, no." He said seriously as he swallowed another bite of food. "I'm about as American as they come aside from the Greek blood of course. I'm from Texas." Unlike Tanya, Ash's accent was true American southern through and through. Texans were a fiercely proud people and the Apollo boy was no different. Such as it was he carried the same spirit as his rugged frontiers men ancestors and it was probably pretty easy for others to tell.

"Probably not as fancy as your Russian history but we do have stories of our own. Stories of wars and battles, victories and defeats." He paused for a minute thinking. He had grown up on many of those stories and while he may not have had every fact exactly right those stories were certainly interesting. "I guess that's the same everywhere though. All places have their stories to tell."

[Deleted]

"The lone star state, yes?" She queried after he provided her with information on his background. The child of Athena found herself feeling the familiar pang of envy. Most of the campers here were lucky to of been born into the country which they lived and happened to be a part of. It may of merely been an illusion of Tanya's own creation, but sometimes she felt like she missed out on something, as if no matter how much she tried... She would never be truly an American, only a Russian American.
"That is personal opinion." Tanya could not resist pointing out when he mentioned the Texan stories. "The Alamo, the Battle of Refugio, the Battle of Coleto and the Battle of San Jacinto." The red head winced when she realised that she had just listed out a few of the battles during the Texas war for Independence. Somehow, she expected that he already knew of those battles, being born of Texas.

"Yeah my father made sure I read up on the history of the Great Patriotic War." Tahlia then went on to explain about it being the Russian name for World War Two. She eventually stopped herself, knowing he might not appreciate the history lesson. It felt good to talk, as soon as she became relaxed enough to actually do so.
"Sorry." She said in a quiet voice, hoping he did not mind narrowly avoiding a history lecture from her.

[Ashley Bates]

Tanya apparently knew a little about Texas history as well. Ash supposed he shouldn't be surprised by that, she was obviously a fairly smart girl after all. Her father also taught military history and considering how many wars and battles and expansions as Texas had seen surely he would have known a thing or two about the state. Still, he wondered just how much the girl really knew and that was answered in short order as Tanya began listing off a few of Texas' most common conflicts showing Ash that she did appear to know her stuff.

The Apollo boy nodded. "You have apparently been studying your American history as well." He commented making note of her knowledge on the subject. "Perhaps you're hoping to follow in your father's footsteps?" With her father being a professor of history it certainly wouldn't be too far of a stretch to think she might want to take up a career in education. In any case it would be a shame to not put that thirst for knowledge to good use.

Tanya definitely seemed to be knowledgeable. As she went into a very one sided discussion about World War II she seemed to get lost a little in her own world. That was fine. Ash was still finishing up his meal and he had no place to be at the moment however when she seemed to stop abruptly and become embarrassed about what she had been saying Ash felt like he needed to step in. "Why are you apologizing? If I had not wanted to listen or if I had some place to go I would have stopped you.You have nothing to be embarrassed about." Ash shook his head. He often times reacted this way when he couldn't understand the reactions of others. Unfortunately empathy was not one of his strong qualities either.

[Deleted]

"Well it is very interesting." She said somewhat defensively. Tanya had been in the United States since she was very little, to her this land happened to be her homeland. "Besides it makes me feel closer to here." She voiced the last sentence in a rather quiet voice as if she were embarrassed to admit to such a thing. "I do know about that." The red head stammered, the thought of being the centre of attention with an entire class of students looking at her, waiting for her to speak, her throat tight with tension, the air thick with anticipation. She shook her head, barely suppressing a shudder. 
She felt a little less embarrassed after he spoke. Yet she still struggled with the feeling of being a bit silly. Still, he did not mind her talking to him about history, even history remote to him. She wondered if he truly did not mind or whether he was simply being nice to her. Either one suited her well enough. She was glad that he seemed so easy to talk to, normally it could be difficult to communicate with Tanya. 
Nothing with her was ever simple. 

"If you want I can talk to you about history any time?" She offered, deciding against plunging into another historical topic and dragging Ash in with her. He might not of minded the once, but a second time, he may of not been so welcoming. "The British Empire is a very interesting period as is the history of Sparta or individual battle such as Stalingrad, Berlin..." Unfortunately, history repeated itself with Tanya going on about different battlefields from various different periods of history, from all over the planet. 
Eventually she stopped herself, realising that she should not of dragged him through all of that. Great, she made herself look like a huge fool again. Yet, she remembered what he said about not needing to apologise. Tanya decided against apologising, privately hoping that he would not mind. Gods, this was frustrating, making herself look like a right fool. 
"Moving away from history before I plunge you into a new period." Tanya offered him a nervous smile. 

[Ashley Bates]

Tanya seemed to relax a little after he had spoken to her. Granted she still seemed quite shy around him which was a bit odd. He wasn’t some boogeyman no matter how much his little brother Lucas tried to convince everyone he was. Ash was simply just too pragmatic and serious for his own good. It probably didn’t help that there were things going on around camp to be very serious about or that his relationship with Dakota was still tenuous at best but for the most part this was just who Ash was. Like it or not he would probably always be the no nonsense Texas cowboy that he had always been.

That said he did have a lot going on and he was trying to compartmentalize too much. He wouldn’t have ever admitted to it largely because he didn’t see it as a problem yet but with everything going on his vision had narrowed to mostly focus on the matters before him. His fatal flaw and one that might lead to his death and the death of many others if he wasn’t careful. This was one of the reasons that he was out here now taking a break. If he didn’t then he was either going to run himself down or step right into a trap of his own making.

Fortunately Tanya liked to talk and as odd as it was for him to do so Ash listened. If not because he was interested then because it at least gave his mind something else to focus on. He nodded as she mentioned telling him more about history any time he wanted. It wasn’t really an answer but apparently that didn’t matter as the redhead jumped right into another conversation that ended in the same way as before. At least this time she didn’t apologize however.

“It’s fine. It’s obviously something you are very passionate about.” It wasn’t flattery. For one Ash didn’t believe in flattering anyone and another reason was that he was too straightforward to be given over to much lying even for the sake of others. That’s why when he did have secrets to keep he just kept from saying anything at all most of the time. “Perhaps a safer topic would be to learn a little more about each other. You’re from the Athena cabin yes?”

[Deleted]

Tanya nodded the once. "That is correct, Athena is my mother." Her voice carried a distinct feeling of pride. It helped to explain the powerful phobia of the eight legged horror which gripped her every time she encountered a spider. She agreed with him on the new choice of topic. It prevented her from going off on a random tangent due to some historical event that she happened to know of.
She thought for a long time about what or more accurately who his godly parent was. Tanya did not know for certain just as to who it might be. After a minute of silent thought she reached a decision. "I'm going to take an educated guess and say Ares?" In her defence, he could of passed as an Ares child. The tall muscular frame and not being afraid of spiders made her think he might be a child of the God of War. It was either that or Apollo. Her gut feeling was that he happened to be an Ares. 
She did not know if he was for sure. Tanya smiled at him, hoping that her guess would be correct. Tanya ran her hand through her long ginger hair briefly, wondering is she should ask another question or wait for him to ask her another.