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Almost forgetting about Rio, he crept up on Royce and nudged her legs. The girl giggled, and sat back down in the sand and ran her fingers through the dog's wet fur. Royce nodded, "Yeah, that's generally what prompts us to go here. I can't think of anyone who voluntarily left their life to come." Royce hadn't caught that Atalanta was a Ares kid before. Idly she thought of how they could possibly spar against each other. Royce assumed the girl must be athletically fit, so maybe the two could workout sometime. Royce was always up for another friend here, and it sounded like Atalanta wouldn't mind one either.

Confused Royce questioned, "How did I know what?" She understood Atalanta's following questions, however. "I guess it feels like any of the rest of the Gods? I'm not sure, but I've heard it's a bit more dangerous for us to live outside of here. The monsters seem to target us more. But other than that, being able to manipulate water to my needs, it's incredible. I just wish I could meet my father someday..." Royce trailed off, trying to absorb everything all over again. It had been a while since she talked to someone about her powers and being a daughter of Poseidon. "If I'm honest, I'd say being a kid of one of the Big Three comes with a lot of pressure. People seem to expect us to be better than everyone else." The girl shrugged, unable to see how her comment might have come off as insensitive. But really, there was no other way to put it.

The demigod nodded, a her smile turning flat. “I got here a couple months ago, I’m still finding my way around here.” Royce was a little embarrassed at this fact. Here she was, 20 years old, surrounded by all these teenagers, and just getting used to their world that most of them had been in since they were very young. Royce listened to Genie explain the function of the forge. Hephaestus, huh… Royce had read the name somewhere. It all made sense now, the forge and all. Ever since arriving at camp, Royce had been busy studying up on the other deities. It gave her peace knowing she could at least have her knowledge. “Well, I hope our fathers don’t have anything against each other, because I need a shield and tools if I’m going to be helping you out.” Royce laughed innocently, she honestly had no idea of any o the relations between the Gods yet.

Royce scrunched her nose, thinking about Genies comment about going home. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to, I’ve read kids of the Big Three are more at risk than most demigods… I’d hope to go back to school at some point.” Sighing, Royce realized she had’t even told the girl about her lineage. “Oh, my father’s Poseidon by the way.” Royce rubbed the back of her neck nervously, waiting for Genie’s reaction. She didn’t exactly know her father’s reputation around here, as she never really met anyone to share the fact with.

Brightening back up at the talk of cars, Royce became excited. “Oh I can’t wait! I’ve always wanted to get my hands on an old Challenger and fully restore her.” Royce became as giddy as Genie with her engine. If one didn’t know who her godly parent was, one could probably mistake her for a Hephaestus kid.

Royce nodded proudly. She was surprised that Genie seemed to be impressed in her saying she had worked on engines before. Idly the daughter of Poseidon wondered if Genie’s godly parent was good with tools and engines of the sort. “I had a boat back at home and I was able to fix it up. I would also take a look at other people’s engines too. I dabbled with cars a bit too.” The girl thought for a moment. “I never got to spend the money I saved up for a nice car though. Guess I’ll use it if I ever get out of here…” The last part Royce said mostly to herself, trailing off in her thoughts.

Royce snapped back into focus when Genie began to tell her how she learned about everything. Smiling, Royce grinned. “My step dad did the same thing, except we just worked in our garage. He would help me with my boat and he’d teach me about his truck’s engine. Same to you, I didn’t think anyone here would be interested in this kind of stuff.” She became excited, knowing she wouldn’t completely lose the knowledge she gained at school. “Yeah I definitely will! Wait, is this place like only for you guys? Like, you all have the same parent?” Royce honestly had no clue how to put it, she was still rusty on her mythology and didn’t know if there was a certain god for this domain. The thought of even getting, never mind making her own tools captured the girl’s interest. “I’d love that, that’d be sick.” Beaming, Royce’s day was made right then and there.

Seeing the dogs happily playing, Royce fixed her attention to Atalanta. "Oh, so you're new here too? I haven't been here long either. It's tough getting here later in life than most of the kids here, ya know." Royce had gotten here when she was 19, a semester in through her first year of college. She had plans for her entire life, but they had all been completely ruined now. The girl would never fulfill her dreams. Out there, she would never be safe from the monsters.

Royce nodded, feeling Atalanta's struggles. "Yeah, I had to leave my life behind me too. But hey, if you ever need tips, I've trained Rio here like a police dog would have been trained while at camp. With weapons instead of guns, of course. He could help me out if I were ever in a tough spot now." She looked back at Rio with pride for her dog. Royce loved him with all her heart, and couldn't imagine how she ever lived without him. "Well I'm glad they each have a playmate now, anyway!" She laughed, watching the energetic black pup bounce around Rio.

Sensing Lycaon wanted to play, Rio quickly shook the water out of his fur and gave in to the puppy. He leaned back on his front legs and stuck his rear in the air, wagging his tail the entire time. Rio may have been big, but he was still very young and playful. Royce nodded to the girl, put her hands on her hips and replied, "Yeah, it's definitely important to train them early on. That's what I did when I got here with Rio. He's only about a year old but he's massive now." Seeing the two getting along, Royce didn't see any reason why they shouldn't just let their dogs play. "A playdate is fine by me! I don't think Rio has a problem either." The larger dog back up into the water and was romping around, splashing water everywhere. It didn't take much for him to act like a puppy again, apparently.

"I'm Royce, and don't worry, this is more fun anyway." Royce was beginning to enjoy meeting new people around camp. If she was going to be here instead of school, she might as well make friends while she was at it.

A warm sensation woke Royce up from her mid-day nap, as well as what felt like the weight of an elephant on her chest. Opening her eyes and giggling, she found a pair of warm chocolate eyes looking back at her, of which belonged to her best bud, Rio. The german shepherd was no longer a puppy, that was for sure. He was wagging his tail so hard at the sight of Royce waking up, he sent fur flying all around the cabin. The girl wrestled him off her bed so she could get up and get dressed. Royce ran out of the cabin with nothing but a bikini on and a tennis ball in hand, with Rio in hot pursuit, and dove into the water of the lake. Having a body of water only a hundred feet from her cabin door only made her slightly enjoy being stuck at Camp Half Blood.

Rio watched the ball in Royce's hand with a ready stance. She flung the tennis ball about 50 feet into the lake, and Rio plunged into the cool blue water. Royce swam ashore, sitting in the sand and watched her dog swim happily after his toy. It definitely took some getting used to to come out of the water completely dry, being a daughter of Poseidon and all. The girl sighed in relief. She could possibly get used to this new life. Relaxing with Rio, battle training, and living detached from the world of technology. Her bad days of sadness grew farther apart, and she was having more days where she didn't question her purpose of being here. Rio was on his way back to shore, snorting the water out of his tennis ball-filled mouth, and Royce immediately beamed. Her father's gift of the pup certainly helped her spirits.