The walk across the sand was short, but in that time Sonya had a lot to think about. She thought about the aspirants, about how far they’d all e in such a short time. The kind of effect this pce had on people. The hard work they’d put in. She thought about the people she knew, she’d affected, and the people she’d killed. She thought about the past and the future, where she came from and where she was going. She thought about Car who fell into step o her as she walked. She thought about hua who walked over towards the fire pit from the far side, sending her an easy smile.

  I’ve e a long way too, she thought befng at her watch, seeing her refle in the surface. But I still have more to overe. She exhaled and rexed her shoulders as Car hurried to set down a towel for the two of them to sit on. She g the woman and reached out to touch the pink diamond hanging from her choker-colr. She smiled at it and then flicked her eyes up at Car’s face, winking once before sitting down and leaning back a bit on her hands to rex. Car sat o her and leaned in close, her arm pressed against Sonya’s.

  hua sat a respectful distance away, not wanting to interfere in the moment. A few of her students sat down near her and she turo talk with them. Sonya looked past her to the coast where Greg, Alex, Lily, and Snow were running around pig up the st of the trash. Snow snatched up a from the ground and jumped up and down, Alex spun and opened his bag and the girl tossed it in. Lily threw up her arms and all four let out a howl. Sonya giggled, she would have dohe same, holy.

  The quartet of troublemakers walked back over, setting the bag of garbage filled with what they’d found near a small station that had bee out to provide refreshments throughout the day. Sonya watched them talk with Axel who was standing behind the ter before she turned her head the opposite dire. Rows of tents stretched out fag the sea. Some were ing out of their tents, probably having enjoyed a nap in the beautiful weather. She tilted her head and kissed Car’s temple as Lily walked over before sitting forward a little bit, “Lily!” She called.

  The girl turned and Sonya smirked at her befesturing to the fire pit filled with wood. It was dug deep to create a rge fme while still not obsg the eyes of everyone present. A pair of holes were dug on each side to provide the fme oxygen. “ you do the honors?” She asked as more and more aspirants came over and started sitting down in a ring around the pit. The sun was nearly set at this point and several of them were watg the colors on the horizon. Lily poio herself, surprised, and Sonya nodded. Lily brightened and looked at hua excitedly who gave her a thumbs up.

  More aspirants noisily sat down as Lily rubbed her hands together and took in a deep breath. Sonya spotted Greg and Jessica sit down together, Greg looking a little tired. They were talking when both froze and looked at Lily. Everyo silent as darkness washed over the beach. Gold fmes appeared in the air and rushed into Lilys mouth and h each breath as the young hero drew in power for a moment. The glimmering fmes were hypnotic. Lily held her breath and then with a grin she leaned forward and exhaled. Gold fmes billowing from her mouth and onto the pile of wood.

  The wood immediately caught and the moment it did a wash of warmth and fort washed over Sonya and everyone else present. Little aches and pains from throughout the day vanished in moments, tired eyes were invigorated, smiles spread on faces, and eves were eased. Everyone cpped as the young woman who had e in afraid of what others would think of her ability turned in a circle, startled. Sonya and Car cpped as well until Lily mao pull herself together enough to hurry over to where Snow had set down a towel and they sat together. The other instructors arrived before finally anroup showed up from behind Sonya. John and the cooking team walked in and brought with them delights.

  Sweet drinks, arshmallows for those who wahem, ingredients for smores, little sausages, chili, nachos, grilled fruits and baked potatoes, all sorts of things were distributed amongst the campers. People ughed and talked, they ate, some snatched up little poles that had bee aside for roasting the marshmallows. They extended aracted quickly, aoy of Amos’ that he’d made for them as a gift. Laughter rose and fell, and for a little while these young men and women who Sonya knew would endure so mu the future as heroes, had real peace.

  Car rest her head on Sonya’s shoulder, “You should say a few words,” She said.

  Sonya raised an eyebrow, “Me? You’re the Pandora dy.”

  Car snorted, “Pandora dy, e on, you’re the Voice.”

  Sonya huffed and shook her head, smiling, “Alright, alright,” She chuckled and kissed the woman’s head again befetting to her feet. A few looked her way and she raised her soda , the little straw in it shaking a bit. Some whispers followed her gesture and everyone around the fire fell silent, “I want to raise a toast with this soda of all things,” She ughed and was joined by most of those present. She sed the faces of the young men and women, even Marc was there which surprised her a little. “To you,” She said to them, “To all of you.”

  She let out a breath and looked down at herself, “You know, doing a speech like this doesn’t have the same impact when I’m in a bikini,” She said sarcastically, getting some mhter. She shrugged, “Free eye dy I guess,” She said and smiled at them all, her eyes going soft as she dimmed the lights on them a little, the ughter subsided as her jovial expression eased a little more to something close to motherly warmth, “All of you, in a time like this, whehing seems so scary and uain. When taking a job as a soldier would frankly be safer,” She looked at the for a moment and then at the fire.

  “You chose to do the hard thing. You chose to take the tough path. You chose to be the people standiween the weak and the monsters of the world,” She said looking at everyohere, “You decided to bee heroes,” She said, “Sure, the money’s pretty good,” She chuckled softly, “A little bit of fame might be nice,” She added, “But… It is not an easy job. You are putting your lives on the line for others every day when you’re out there. It be thankless, hard, scary. You’ll face dangers no one could even imagine,” She looked at the again, “And you chose that, to do that, for other people. So that they don’t have to,” She smiled at them all, “That is incredible,” She said breathlessly.

  “Firestorm oold me that a hero is the one who moves first, no matter the danger,” She said with a bit of a tremble, “He was a knucklehead you know, goofed off all the time in the office. I had to yell at him a couple times,” She said sadly, “I know what he would say about you all,” She looked them all over as their eyes were fixed on her, “You moved first.”

  She held the up, “To all of you! And to yends!”

  A cheer rose up, a few wiped their eyes, everyone raised their cups and s and even a few just lifted their snacks. Sonya watched them all for a moment befoing back to sit down with Car. “How was that?” She asked and got a hug around her ne return. She ughed and patted Car’s back, the woman trembling a little, “Oh don’t cry, you silly thing.”

  One of the boys stood up and raised his cup, “To Miss ovna, I heard she threw one hell of a fit to make the camps happen!”

  Sonya looked up, “Hey now! It wasn’t a fit!” A round of ughter followed the guy’s toast and there was another round of raised food items. Sonya shook her head, “Idiots.”

  A little time of pleasant merriment followed that before things wound down to a more rexed level. Everyoayed, talking, until one of the girls leaned forward and spoke up, “Miss ovna! I have a question.”

  Sonya, who was in the middle of flirting, turned and g the girl. “What’s your question?”

  “What are the mythic heroes like?” The girl asked, “Are their powers really based on legends?”

  Several people fell silent as they all looked at Sonya. Sonya blinked and sat up a bit more, tilting her head, “Well, you have a couple mythics sitting here, you know,” She asked with a smirk, “Why not ask them? Though I think you’re pretty well aware that it’s impolite to ask the name of someone’s ability.”

  The girls eyes widened and she looked around, Sonya gnced over to hua but it was Otis of all people who spoke up first, “Some,” He said frankly, “Are based on legends. Mine is an example,” He added with a wide smile, reing where he sat and popping a grape into his mouth, Sonya raised an eyebrow, where had he gotten it? She didn’t remember bringing grapes. “ of Gilgamesh. I have no reason to hide it.”

  “Who’s that?” Alex called getting an elbow from Val who was chillio him with John.

  Sonya exged a look with hua whed as Otis began speaking again, “King Gilgamesh was one of the first recorded mythological heroes, some say the first,” He said proudly, “His story is the Epic of Gilgamesh and it tells his tale and that of his friend Enkidu who the gods of his time sent to kill him before they became rades,” Otis expined aured, “He defies the gods, especially Ishtar,” He added with a grin, “And when she sends the Bull of Heaven after him, he and Enkidu sy it.”

  Sonya g Cass who kept a straight face throughout the ehing before looking back at the hateful young man. “There’s a lot more to the story, that’s just the beginning isn’t it?” She asked.

  Otis frowned, “Well, yes, but I think that’s relevant enough,” He grinned, “The a heroes are amazing.”

  “What ends do you know?” A guy sittio Otis asked, Sonya watched his body nguage. He was definitely friendly with the disgusting person. Otis gnced her way and she kept her expression trolled. Showing off your friends, I see. She thought.

  “I know the Odyssey pretty well,” Otis said before quickly adding, “If the rest of you are ied,” The others around the fire g one another and shrugged, some leaning forward. Otis grinned, “Well, I’ll give the summary, si’s a long story.”

  Otis spends the better part of fifteen minutes spinning his tale, glorifying the character and waxing on about his brilliand how smart heroes like Odysseus are the best kind. He does tell the story fairly well, which isn’t surprising given how obsessed he is. He takes extra time to dive into the story of Odysseus and Polyphemus. Sonya’s lip twitches a bit and she exges another look with hua. After his ents the other day she had figured that his name inated from the legend, but that firmed it for her. His ego was incredible but she’d noticed something as he told the tale. He didn’t uand it at all.

  “...and he is finally reunited with Penelope,” Otis finished his rambling, his hand over his heart as he sat back down. There was some scattered g as Sonya shifted in her seat.

  “What does the story mean to you?” She asked.

  “It’s the story about an incredible hero, what more is there to tell?” He responded with his owion.

  She leaned back, “The heroic stories were parables, their purpose was to teaething and expin something through stories,” Sonya said, “Some of them were a bit harder to uand than others. Take Gilgamesh for example, ultimately his story was about the futility of seekiernal life and how one man with too much power bring woe to those around him.”

  Otis frowned and looked distant for a moment befng at her again, “Then what do you think the Odyssey is about?” He asked, crossing his arms.

  “There’s a lot of messages in it,” Sonya said thoughtfully, “First and foremost, it’s about a man struggling to live in a world of gods,” She let out a breath, “The greek gods were always given human-like traits but they always seemed to be the worst of us for some reason. Violent, arbitrary, unfiving,” She said, “Proo disturbing but ofteiishments,” She chuckled, “Poseidoo pletely ck the capacity tive, no matter how much Odysseus suffers throughout the story. No matter how much his men suffer.”

  She g hua and their eyes met, “Humans have the capacity tive, to recile, and to start anew,” She said with a small smile, drawing a bit of a flush from the woman who smiled back. She looked back at Otis, “Humans are capable of incredible good and are wonderfully resilient,” She said, “Sure, we mess up, a lot. Humans be terrible too, but we stick with it don’t we?”

  She exhaled, “Despite Poseidon's cruelty, Odysseus proves that a human with a little help, survive a sea turned against him. It’s about perseverance. I like to think that means that together, humans don’t he gods, that we’re capable of standing on our own,” She looked down at her hands and looked up at him agaiing his eyes, “That humans are amazing.”

  There was more she could have said, about hospitality, about loyalty, about growing as a person and being ged by one’s experiences, but based on his shocked expression, she’d said enough. She wasn’t sure about the effect she’d had but it felt really good to put him in his pbsp;

  Silence fell over the gathered campers for a few moments as everyone reflected. It was finally broken by Lillian who let out a breath, “Wow, I o read that at some point,” She said befrinning, “Anybody else? This is kinda cool. Talking about the old legends in a new age of heroes. Right?”

  Some scattered voices of agreement joined her, “We’re the Odysseuses!” Alex barked out a ugh, “Hot damn, gotta find me a Penelope,” He added, getting a rolling wave of ughter as his reward.

  hua raised her hand, “I have one,” She said, “I heard it retly,” Everyo silent again and Sonya looked at hua with a raised eyebrow. hua swept her gaze over the crowd for a moment. “Now, I’m not very good at telling stories, not like Mister Mallory or Miss ovna,” She said and rubbed her neck grinning a little awkwardly. She let out a breath and squared her shoulders, “I heard it from a friend, I’m a little hazy on all the names so I’ll make them up if you don’t mind,” She scratched her nose and got some chuckles from the crowd.

  Sonya tensed, What are you doing?

  hua let out a breath, “This is a story about a girl who had an amazing teacher,” hua began, and Sonya rexed a little bit. Don’t scare me like that! She gave hua a petunt look. The woman smirked at her, Oh you did that on purpose!

  hua grinned, “Let’s call her Penny,” She said and took another deep breath before fog oory, “Her teacher, Iris, was very special. Powerful. And had many students just like Penny, and those students had a very important job…”