Reaching New Heights - OPEN

[Deleted]

Sitting on the steps outside of the barracks, Isla was bored out of her mind. She had long ago completed her list of daily duties and she wouldn’t be needed again until dinner, but that was still several hours away. It also didn’t help that she didn’t know where her friends were, otherwise she would go pester them instead of sitting dejectedly by herself. Besides she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to go visit them anyway as Isla’s boredom often led to restlessness and a strange desire to do anything new just for the hell of it. The latter was not a good thing to bombard them with, especially if they were working. Not everyone felt as okay with delaying tasks like Isla was, especially the centurions.

So, she tried to ignore her racing mind and incessantly tapping fingers by looking around for something, anything, for her mind to focus on. Almost instinctively, her eyes were drawn to the aqueducts in the not-so-far-off distance. Even though she had lived at Camp Jupiter long enough to be accustomed to seeing them constantly, they still marveled her. The Aqueducts were undoubtedly Rome’s greatest achievement as not only did they defy gravity long before it was mathematically understood, but they brought water to places where it was worth more than ambrosia. They were what sustained the empire and defined her heritage. Too bad they were undervalued in comparison to the Colosseum and the Circus Maximus.

Even though their value to the original Romans were unquestionable, that didn’t stop Isla from occasionally wondering what their value was in New Rome. Surely, the newest generation of Romans did not solely rely on them. After all, they had modern plumbing and a city to sustain, there was no way these aqueducts could bring enough water for that! In fact, Isla truly wouldn’t be all that surprised to learn if they were bone dry after all these years and the Senate just wanted them to think it still carried water. With that thought, her mind began to race in a whole different direction than it was a second ago. Was there really still water in those aqueducts? Instantly, she knew that this question would be bugging her forever unless she saw what is in those channels for herself and there was only one way she was going to do that… she was going to climb the aqueduct.

So, quickly as to avoid anyone distracting her from her goal, she grabbed a bottle of water and headed off towards her new climbing towers. It didn’t her that long to arrive to a pretty secluded spot where she hoped no one would see her doing the dumbest thing on the face of the earth. However, she was worried about the fact that they could be seen from pretty much any spot in the Camp. There was no such thing as seclusion when it came to this kind of thing, but that was just a risk she would have to take. Her mind was set and nothing would stop her from reaching the top of the monumental structure. Besides she was an Invidia kid, her inner balance made her good at this thing, so surely, by the time anyone saw her, she would be too far out of reach for anyone to catch her.

With this in mind, Isla grasped the first set of gaps in the stone that would be her hand and foot holds on this journey. Then, with a sharp inhale and a boost, she placed her feet on the stone wall and reached up for the next place to go.

There was no turning back now.

[Astrid Hawke]

Astrid had finished all of her tasks for the day and was incredibly bored. Axel was busy with Centurion stuff, which meant she couldn't bother him, though that didn't mean she wouldn't find him at dinner later. She hadn't really made any friends, or whatever you could call the relationship she had with the other demigod, at camp yet. The blonde hadn't really put any effort into socializing yet, which she should probably do at some point. Her current situation, however, left her with nothing to do, so she decided to explore. Axel had already given her a thorough tour of Camp Jupiter, so the only place left to explore was New Rome.

Hawke didn't know much about New Rome other than that it was where a lot of older demigods lived after they were done at camp, so self guided exploration seemed like a good idea. It wasn't as though the girl was particularly good at having a sense of direction, or finding her way through new areas, but she had enough time before dinner to where she could afford to get lost, or at least she hoped she did. Pulling her hair into a high ponytail, the teen started on the long road Axel had described as the 'Via Praetoria'. She wished part of the new camper kit would come with a map of the premises to avoid those who were poor at navigation constantly getting lost, namely her. When she was still in the mortal world she had used GPS to get everywhere, but Camp Jupiter didn't show up on any Global Positioning Systems that she knew of, though she did make a mental note to suggest the idea to one of the more tech savvy demigods hanging around. There had to be at least one of them that could rig something up, right?

In no time, the blonde had found her way to the border with an interrogation from a talking bust that had called himself Terminus. She then decided that her new home would never cease to surprise her. Pleased that she hadn't been carrying weapons, the deity of borders allowed her to cross what he had described as the Pomeranian line (which got her thinking about the small dogs a lot of her dad's teammate's wives had), and with that she was inside New Rome, and feeling entirely overwhelmed.

There was much more to the community than she had expected, older demigods milling about (some mortals as well she supposed judging by what Axel had mentioned about his sister). It was an entire ecosystem thriving alongside Camp Jupiter just a few miles or so (she supposed) down the Via Praetoria. Looking around she could see herself living here after her ten years in the Legion were finished, though she didn't want to give up on her dream of being a professional hockey player like her dad. There was no way she could allow herself to let go of something like that, even if she was a demigod.

Soon Astrid decided that she'd head back to camp to find Axel before dinner, seeing as she was getting bored of New Rome already. She'd seen everything there was to see from what she could tell, which meant she had stayed long enough. The teen soon realized, however, that she didn't actually know which way she needed to go to get back to camp. There didn't seem to be any signs saying 'Camp Jupiter This Way!' so instead she decided to wander until she eventually found her way back...she hoped. Although she hadn't found her way to camp, she did seem to find her way over to a structure that she recognized from her history books back in school, an Aqueduct? The structure itself isn't what interested her, but rather the girl climbing it piqued the daughter of Victoria's interest. "Hey!" she called, cupping her hands so she'd be heard, "What are you doing?" she inquired, a bit quieter seeing as she most likely had gotten the other girl's attention.

@islacarmody