[Meanwhile] Leonard Reiss made people go 'what the heck is wrong with him,' everywhere he went. He was charismatic and outspoken, yet downright crazy and fearless to the point of recklessness. Though considerate, Leo was a gruff man who wouldn't hesitate to take charge and solve things 'his way'. It was probably this straightforward manner which caught the attention of the Mistress of the Crossroads.
The first thing Hecate and Leo did upon meeting was get into a fight. It truly was love at first sight. They'd bicker for hours on end, honestly Hecate, or Glynda, as Leo knew her, had never met someone so.. insufferably crazy as Leonard Reiss. Of course, within a week or two their constant spats became less harsh, and melted into light taunting.
Give or take a few months, their relationship gradually became more romantic and sensual. Some things fell into place naturally, and Leo never felt so proud of himself, much to his inner perversion. There were consequences however, Glynda mysteriously left the day after. It was like she ceased to exist, rubbed off the face of the planet, all those sayings. Leo was a tough guy, so of course, hid that ache he felt inside his chest.
About seven months later, a baby in a basket and a stunning looking Glynda appeared by his door. The most obvious thing was the moment he laid eyes on her they were shouting their heads off at each other. When they cooled down, they made up, like all lovers after a spat. But, it wasn't like she could stay. Leo asked her to, many times, but Glynda said she couldn't, sadly. The one thing Leonard Reiss couldn't solve his way, would always be the mysterious Glynda.
Yes he noticed the baby too, how could he not when the infant had the prettiest pair of amber eyes, like glazed honey. His daughter, he had a daughter. That's what Glynda told him. He talked about it with her, and came to the resolution that he will take care of her. Glynda mentioned something about it being seriously not as easy as it sounds for most kids. But he was Leonard Reiss, he was the definition of crazy and he was pretty confident he could take on that challenge.
Glynda left, and while he knew he might never see her again, he had his little girl. He named her Kiara.
Kiara was a wild card. She was that kid who couldn't sit still and could talk for miles without wasting even the slightest of energy. She was reckless and curious, a dangerous combination. But it was expected from Leonard Reiss's daughter. As for Leonard himself, he was proud of who his daughter was and wouldn't want to change anything in the world.
It wasn't surprising when Kiara was diagnosed with ADHD, or dyslexia when was seven, because she was like a very reactive element from the start. There wasn't a day Kiara wouldn't go by without running about, exploring or racing after the boys because she wanted to play the games they were playing.
Her grades in school were one thing, but Kiara didn't care much about those.
She didn't have many friends, Kiara, because of her dad and her own exuberant personality. Kiara didn't mind, the teasing and jeering she could handle well on her own. She was a tough little girl and she was Leonard Reiss's daughter who would take on the world with her tiny hands if she had to.
When she reached ten years old, Kiara swore she saw a chicken lady hanging off a lampost light once, or that pretty green lady who lived in a tree in the forest behind their backyard. She was pretty sure she wasn't dreaming.
Leo guffawed when Kiara told him what she saw. He didn't really believe her, but he remembered Glynda saying something about it not being easy many years ago..
Kiara was the kind of kid who wanted attention, so she pulled all kinds of stunts and tricks. This included pulling pranks on various students and teachers in school. Immature you would think, but to Kiara it was the most fun a nine year old could have. She'd be infamous throughout the school for her constant misfits and misadventures. The amount of detentions she'd received was pretty remarkable but for some reason she wasn't kicked out yet..
When Lyle transferred to Kiara's school, the first thing that greeted him upon entering his first class was a bucket of water dumped over his head. Lyle stood there blinking as a horrified Kiara kept apologizing profusely and the whole class broke into hysterics. This prank wasn't meant for him at all, instead it was for their Math teacher whom Kiara didn't hold many fond feelings for. When the Math teacher did show up, Kiara owned herself up as guilty of the incident. This led to her umpteenth detention in the school.
The school day carried on like usual, only Kiara trudged into the detention room instead of running to the front entrance like the other students did after school. Lyle, who was actually on his way home, noticed the sullen looking brunette as he passed by the open door of the detention room. He stopped walking, a strange feeling resonating within him. He felt bad, but didn't know why. It wasn't a guilty conscience; after all, he was the victim. Yet, when he saw how dejected his accidental pranker was, he sighed and, for reasons unbeknownst to him, and walked into the room. The teacher inside and Kiara gave him odd looks as he took a seat opposite Kiara, knowing full well that the young boy didn't have detention.
"I was told to wait here rather than outside," Lyle explained upon noticing the inquiring looks. "It's about to rain." Sure enough, a mild downpour erupted minutes after he explained, so the teacher let him be. Kiara still eyed him curiously. She unusually kept quiet throughout detention, taking turns from staring out the window, her desk, then at Lyle again. Two boring hours later, Kiara was released with heavy reprimands from the teacher. The skies had cleared, after the rain, Kiara noticed. It was so bright and she wondered why. Lyle however, just walked out without a word.
The next day Kiara noticed him down the school hallway, she called out to him. "Aren't you that guy who went for detention even if you didn't need to?" she asked in her oblivious tone. Lyle, who was more awkward, answered, "Yeah, what about it?"
"Oh, I'm not sure," Kiara shrugged. "See ya!" she waved at him with a cheerful smile before bounding down the hallway. She was probably going to pull another prank or two or something, who knew. Kiara Reiss never did learn from her mistakes. Lyle stood there dumbfounded as he stared at her. "Whatever," he mumbled, and turned the opposite direction for his next class. Fate worked in mysterious ways, because those two encounters were far from his lasts with the strange girl.
Unfortunately for Lyle, it seems the strange girl he met had quite a vicious fan-base. On his way to the cafeteria, his path was blocked by three boys the same age as him, all of whom had a sneer on their faces. Lyle rolled his eyes, immediately knowing that the three before him were bullies, even before they spoke a single word.
"Alright newbie. You obviously don't know how things work around here, but rule numero uno would be to stay away from Kiara Reiss... or else," the tallest of the three said. His obvious threat was met with a blank look. Not having any idea who Kiara Reiss is, all Lyle could answer was: "Who?". Unfortunately, what he said seemed to be the wrong answer, because the next thing he knew, Lyle was backed against the wall, with the leader's hand fisting his shirt and a scowl on his face. "Kiara Reiss, you numbskull! The brunette who talked to you in the hallway earlier." Lyle, quite used to the situation, merely stared blankly at the leader before sighing. Just as he was about to retort, a loud voice cut through the hallway.
"Hey, you three idiots! What the hell do you think you're doing?" The four males turned to the source of the voice, only find the subject of their conversation mere meters away; the distance growing smaller as she marched her way to them.
"Bullying an innocent kid for no reason," she snorted, "How low can you low-lives get?" she asked them, crossing her arms over her chest and staring them down with a glare. "Idiot 1, hands off the guy," she ordered, and said idiot immediately released Lyle immediately, taking a step back. "Other two idiots!" she called sharply, and they both turned to her with hearts in their eyes, metaphorically. "Back off this guy, you hear me?" she threatened sharply, "But- Kiara-"
"Good, now shove it assholes," she said, not waiting for an answer as she pulled Lyle by the arm and stalked off. Said boy could only stare at the brunette before sighing and shaking his head. "Totally unlady-like," he muttered under his breath. Unfortunately for him, his savior heard it and shot him a look over her shoulder. "Gee, you're welcome," she uttered sarcastically. Lyle, not really intending his words to have been heard, awkwardly cleared his throat and just let himself be dragged.
Kiara, not really into awkward silences, strung up a conversation. "So, new kid who shows up to detention for no reason, whats your name?" she asked. Before Lyle could answer though, she cuts him off again. "We're going to the rooftop, by the way. Didn't really want to deal with other people's stupidity and the noise in the cafeteria just plain sucks. You can share some of my food. I have loads of snacks anyway." Lyle nodded slowly, staring at the ground as the spunky girl pulled him to the roof. "Okay," he said quietly, looking up to the back of her head. Lyle wondered if his life would be like this from now on.
That was a very fateful day, to say. They became closer than expected for two polar opposites.
When the two were ten, Velvet, Lyle's dyslexia teacher, began teaching them taekwondo, as for self-defense. It was mainly for Lyle, but at that point wherever Lyle was, Kiara was too. It helped with the fact Kiara was a demigod too, but Velvet didn't quite notice, as the signs were much more obvious in Lyle.
Lyle began taking up fencing when he turned eleven, having been influenced by a show he stumbled upon one summer day. Kiara, on the other hand, was actually pretty good at fist fighting so she held her own pretty well. They both still practiced taekwondo but only Kiara really pursued it, easily going through the ranks.
Life wasn't all smiles for the two though. On one particular session of taekwondo at the park with Velvet, the trio were approached by two women, both of whom appeared to be walking weirdly. Kiara, being who she is, bluntly told them that "cement isn't the best place to practice your skating. Why don't you go to the mall instead?", earning herself an amused glance from Velvet and a sigh from Lyle. The two women though were unfazed. "Very funny little missssy," one of them said. At that, Velvet stiffened, eyeing the two women before ushering Lyle and Kiara away, despite their protests. The two friends returned to Lyle's house, where they were joined by Velvet ten minutes later. The two eleven-year old kids noticed Velvet was bleeding but their questions were skillfully evaded.
They weren't as lucky the next couple of times. Six months after, Lyle encountered a harpy on his way home from fencing classes. At first, he could only stare in confusion, but when the harpy dived at him, his fencing training kicked in. In twenty minutes, Lyle was completely exhausted and surrounded by feathers and golden dust. He told Kiara of his encounter the following day at school, to which she responded with "How could you go on a crazy bird lady hunt without me?".
A week after Kiara turned twelve, she faced a hellhound which easily towered over her when it stood on its hind legs. Kiara, who then thought she was hallucinating, knew this was one fight she couldn't win alone. Outrunning the beast proved futile as it easily caught up with her. Desperate for a miracle, Kiara thrust her hand out in an attempt at defense. To her utter surprise, a beam of energy shot from her hand and hit the hellhound, turning it into dust. She stared transfixed at her hand, before running off to tell Lyle about how she became superwoman overnight. Of course, Lyle just stared blankly at her before nodding.
Over the next few years, similar encounters grew frequent. When the two were thirteen, Lyle managed to escape from a fire-breathing horse when he stepped on a shadow while desperately thinking of being somewhere safe. This led to his first shadow travel. Kiara, on the other hand learned she could heal at an unnatural rate after getting a slight burn from when Lyle tried to teach her how to cook. It was also in this time when a somewhat holographic torch appeared above Kiara's head. Neither Kiara nor Lyle could understand what it was though and just owed it to the weird things happening to the both of them. The night after Lyle's birthday, a holographic helm appeared above his head, similar to Kiara's experience.
At fourteen, Kiara managed to transport both herself and Lyle to their school when a flock of Stymphalian birds attacked them. In that same year, Lyle learned he could command the ghosts he see; to which Kiara excitedly pointed out as being "Awesome!!!". Fifteen year old Kiara and Lyle were cornered by Laistrygonian giants. Fortunately Velvet was there to save the day and you know, it is sometimes a good thing Laistrygonians are really dumb. They were easily defeated. In the haze of the aftermath, Velvet briefed them on what they really were: demigods. "We're half gods?!" Kiara exclaimed loudly with wide eyes, and Lyle had to clamp a hand over her mouth to keep anyone nearby from overhearing, although that wasn't really necessary.
They didn't go to Camp then, instead they trained constantly with Velvet; any sort of means, from sparring to target practice or in Kiara's case, hardcore parkouring that involved running away from lesser monsters until she reached Lyle and they defeated them together. The latter was honestly just for kicks, much to Lyle's mild irritation.
After Velvet taught them all she could involving weapons, Kiara and Lyle moved on to honing their powers. It was no easy feat, especially when it came to powers connected with travelling. Lyle learned he could summon skeletons and weapons made of diamond, but quickly realized the said actions were quite energy draining. Kiara began experimenting with potions and spells, jotting down notes on which ones were effective and which weren't. Under the strict command of Velvet, the two did not attempt any transportation-related actions. Despite having been a working woman, Velvet made sure to have time every day in case either Kiara or Lyle wanted to practice. She introduced the two to ambrosia and nectar, making sure that the two had a vial of nectar each for emergency cases.
Two years passed quickly. Monster attacks were frequent, but thankfully nothing Lyle nor Kiara couldn't handle, sometimes with the help of Velvet. But training with Velvet could only go so far. She advised the two 17-year olds -- who were then quite comfortable with using their powers, as there was a lack of weaponry -- to head off to Camp. That way, they would easily acquire weapons of their own. Convincing their parents, however, was no easy task.
Leonard Reiss, although knew his daughter was special, wasn't too keen on letting his only child attend a Camp for an indefinite period of time. He was even less enthusiastic when he found out that the journey could be dangerous, but after talking with Kiara, he finally agreed. Cassidy and Ren Mouri on the other hand, were not as easy to convince. The two knew nothing about Lyle's true background, and Lyle wanted it to stay that way, not wanting to endanger the only family he knew. So, with the help of Velvet - who managed to control the Mist, Lyle covered Camp up as a college in New York which handpicked students. Cassidy was troubled, having never heard of the said "college" before, but Velvet managed to dissolve her fears. Lyle's Uncle Ren gave the go signal, telling his sister to let her son do as he wishes, considering how Lyle was almost of legal age anyway. With a heavy heart, Cassidy accepted the idea too and helped Lyle pack his belongings.
Two weeks after the end of school, Lyle, Kiara and Velvet were ready to head off to Camp Half-Blood. It wasn't really a long journey, from Michigan to New York. On the way to Camp, the trio encountered a group of empousai, all of which were easily reduced to ashes. Upon reaching Pennsylvania, they were then attacked by two cyclops and three harpies. It wasn't as easy as the empousai but nothing the trio couldn't handle. It wasn't long then until Lyle and Kiara were standing at the foot of half-blood hill, biding goodbye to Velvet.
"Remember, I'm just an Iris message away. If you guys need me, I'll be here in a flash," Velvet reminded them. At the word 'flash' Kiara looked questioningly at Velvet. "You know, in the years I've known you, you never told us who your godparent was, nor what powers you have." With a smile of mischief, Velvet circled the two teenagers once before lifting up two items which seemingly appeared out of nowhere: a charm bracelet and a notebook. Kiara checked her wrist where the bracelet previously sat an amazed look on her face, while Lyle looked increasingly alarmed at the sight of the familiar notebook. Velvet grinned before doing an elaborate bow. "Velvet Conners, child of Hermes, at your service," she said before tossing the bracelet back at Kiara. The notebook, however, she smirked at, immediately flipping through some pages. Lyle lunged for the notebook, face red and eyes portraying panic. Velvet laughed, surrendering the stationery to her proclaimed younger brother, before giving Kiara a pat on the shoulder. "Good luck you two."
Nodding at their mentor and friend, Kiara and Lyle picked up their bags and jogged up the hill, pausing only once they passed the tree with the golden fleece in its branches. Kiara's smile grew every second and soon she had Lyle's arm looped with hers, said boy getting dragged along like the time back when they were 9. Lyle could only smile and roll his eyes at the memory and the similarity. Kiara looked back at her friend, excitement clear as day on her face. "Let's go".
And so begins their adventures at Camp Half-Blood.
