The thinker and his books...(open)

Sometimes, when Athena Cabin finishes it's daily activities, Odysseus spends his time at Euros Creek. He enjoys drawing his own battle strategies using the Camp as a battle ground. Seeing hundreds of possibilities in battle kind of gives him a thrill. He could spend hours on different battle strategies, alone, and it is one of the things he absolutely loves to do, besides reading.

The day was calm, and Odysseus was doing exactly that, creating another battle strategy of a battle in the American Civil War. The battle he had chosen to re-strategize was the Battle of Antietam. It was supposedly one of the bloodiest battles in that war, and Odie decided he would see how things would turn out if he made some small changes.

"Even the smallest change can bring about victory in battle, my son," his mother, Athena, had once told him in a dream. He dreamed about her often, usually she would tell him something important. It was usually something relative to the task he'd have the most trouble with that day. He'd only actually met the goddess once, shortly after his arrival at Camp Half-Blood over a year ago. Since then, he'd been having dreams whenever he'd get stuck on a certain activity.

As Odysseus had nearly completed his battle map of Antietam, he decided that now was the time consult his favorite book. It was called American Military Strategy of the 1800's. It had actually been a gift from his father who was a Ancient Greek and Roman Cultural professor at the University of California Los Angeles. An odd gift, to be sure, from a man who spent most of his life studying Ancient Greece and Rome; but the book was one of Odysseus' favorites, so he had no questions. The book itself was copyrighted in the year 1830, so it was quite old.

Odysseus carefully took out the book and, as he did, he managed to knock his pen into the creek bed. It rolled, until it fell into the water, and got washed downstream. Odysseus sighed,"That was the only pen I brought with me. I guess I'll just have to put everything back in the bag, and finish the battle map later."

Being a son of Athena, had very good eye sight and hearing. Both were necessities in battle, something most of Athena's children were very adept at. He saw some movement to his right, and he turned quickly. He quickly grabbed his spear, Silencer, and turned toward the sound. It was a matter of habit. Being so quick to act worked perfectly in capture the flag which was why the team that had the children of Athena, usually won at that game.

Finally, he set his spear down. He knew that there wouldn't be any danger, at least not at this point and time. He saw his pen setting on the ground near the tree. Someone must have set it there, and either hidden, or ran off. He grinned as if he'd heard a joke. He realized that whoever it was probably shy.

He decided to try a certain strategy. He hadn't heard the newcomer leave, so he bet he, or she, was hiding. He decided he'd pretend to leave, and circle back around to head off the person. How were they ever going to meet anyone new?

He walked up, and took his pen. Wiping it down, Odysseus placed it in his left pocket. He walked back to his bag, and picked it up as he left.

Taking one look back, Odysseus started toward the cabins; and as soon as he was certain he was out of eye sight, based upon simple math, he quickly turned to his right about 15 feet, and headed back the way he came.

Odysseus sneaked around, and watched what he saw now was a girl, and a quite attractive one at that. She was totally oblivious to Odysseus following her. He had loved playing hide and seek as a little kid, so he was quite good at being silent. He followed her quietly to some camp that he assumed was probably a make shift camp of hers. He wasn't sure if she stayed here often, but he was about to find out.

As soon as she had gotten to hear camp, Odysseus stepped out and said,"Nice place you have here. Thank you for returning my pen."

As the girl fell, Odysseus dropped his backpack and quickly rushed to the water's edge. Being a son of Athena, he was a little worried at first about going into the water. Though Odysseus could swim very well, his Mother and Poseidon were rivals. He only hoped that he would survive to save the girl.

He quickly dove in as he had only moments before she would drown. Not to mention, that she had hit her head, so her chances of survival had greatly decreased. He swam down praying Please allow me to save this girl, Poseidon, god of the sea. That is all that I ask. Have mercy on me.

He kicked with as much force as he could muster slowly descending towards the bottom. Shortly before he got there, he started to run out of breath. He was just about to give up, when the image of his mother appeared before him. She said,"With your final breath comes great strength."

With renewed vigor, Odysseus kicked the last few feet and reached the girl on the bottom. He grabbed her quickly, pushed his feet against the bottom and rose to the surface. As he got to the surface, he took a deep breath, and got her to the creek bed as quickly as he could. He set her on the top, and climbed up. He rushed over to her, and made sure she was sprawled out, so her lungs would be opened up for breathing.

He checked to see if she was breathing.

Odysseus quickly noticed that the girl wasn't breathing. Having had CPR training, he quickly opened her mouth, closed her nose, leaned her head back, and began mouth to mouth resuscitation. "Please don't die. Please don't die," he kept repeating as he continued checking her breathing after every breath he blew into her mouth. Luckily her hear was still beating, but the pulse was slow. He kept monitoring her breathing and her hear rate. If her heart were to stop beating, he would have to result in CPR. So far, his luck was holding and she wasn't dying on him.

He kept praying to the gods that she survived. He wouldn't forgive himself if she died. He'd already had one person die on him in his entire fifteen years. He wouldn't lose another person, not if he could help it.

"Oh, thank the gods," Odysseus exclaimed. He had really risked himself in the water, since his mother and Lord Poseidon never really got along. He was surprised that he had seen his mother's image, but then again, she had probably spoken to him in his mind. Thank you, Mom, he said in a silent prayer. He would make sure to pour extra offerings for Lord Poseidon and his mom over the next meal.

"You were minutes away from death. If I hadn't restored your breathing, you would most likely have died. It was dangerous enough for me to be in the water, anyway. Here," he leaned her against a tree as he spoke.

He continued,"You are welcome. What are you doing here, anyway. Don't you know it's dangerous to stay here? Why aren't you in your cabin?"

Odysseus grinned, and replied,"I am spending my time here, because I sometimes need to have quiet to work on my battle strategies. I use many of them in capture the flag. Most are adaptions from this book."

He pulled out a book with a very worn cover. The title was barely visible, but it read American Military Strategy. He looked at it, before putting it back. Odysseus smiled, and pulled out his latest piece of work, recreation of the Battle of Antietam from the American Civil War.

"This," he added,"is one of my most recent accomplishments. It is a recreation of the Battle of Antietam in the American Civil War. It was said to be one of the bloodiest in that war. I have been seeing how even the smallest changes might have changed the course of that battle."

He took a couple of rags, and began to wipe the blood from her face. "You should be more careful about how close you are to the creek. Next time, you might not be so blessed. I think you're father, whoever he is, is watching over you. Just give it some time, I am sure you will be claimed soon enough. Just have faith."

He then realized something, he didn't even know here name, nor she his. He extended his hand. "I'm Odysseus, by the way. Odysseus Carlson, son of Athena, and you are?"

Odysseus chuckled when she mentioned "Daughter of What's-his-name." He noticed as she shook his hand how soft it was. He took a better look at her, and realized that if she was a bit more cleaned up, (curteousy of the fall in the creek) she'd be a total knockout.

Going back to his bag, Odysseus reached down into his bag, and pulled out a thermal blanket. Made of reflective material, a thermal blanket warms the user up with his, or her, own body heat. He went over and wrapped it around her. "Here, he said in a nervous voice (he hadn't been around many girls besides his half-sisters in Athena Cabin),"take this. You'll catch hypothermia if you don't get warmed up fast. Summer, or not, you can still freeze."

He took a small energy bar anda small square of Ambrosia out of his bag, as well. Being a child of Athena, one was always taught to be prepared. Emergencies did happen. He handed both to her, and said,"Eat these. One will get your metabolism going, which will warm you up faster, and the other will heal your wounds. It might take a while, though."
Taking a seat beside her, Odysseus looked up at the stars and added,"Beautiful night, isn't it? Thalia is a pretty name, by the way. Very unique."

"It is unique, Thalia. I don't know anyone else in the world named Thalia besides, of course, your namesake. So, it is one of a kind."

He paused when she said she wasn't beautiful. Interesting, he thought to himself, she seems to have a low self-esteem. She obviously doesn't see herself the way I see her. He wasn't use to this situation, so he was quiet for a second. He'd had only had one girlfriend in his life, so it was difficult for him to say.

He slowly looked at her with his blue-gray eyes, and said,"What do you mean that you're not beautiful? You are very beautiful, some guy would be very lucky to have you as a girlfriend."

His face felt hot, probably from blushing as he said it. He looked away, quickly. He was never one for sharing his feelings. He was great at school work, battle, sports, and a few other things, but not any level of love (whether it was liking someone, having a crush, or being in love).

He looked back up at her, and smiled a heartwarming smile, hoping that it would relieve some to the tension around them.

Odysseus blushed again when she said he was handsome. This wasn't something he was planning on. He had merely meant to thank the person who'd returned his pen, and now, he actually liked this girl. She wasn't like any girl he'd ever met, but he hadn't met very many girls in his life.

She ran behind a tree, and he chuckled. "Oh, come on, now, where are you going. So, you think I'm handsome. That shouldn't make you run away. I told you that I thought you were beautiful, but you don't see me running away. If it makes you feel any better, I," he paused for a moment, blushing again,"I like you."

He looked down and waited.

Odysseus looked up, then he reached up and lightly lifted her head up so that he was looking in her eyes. They were closed, but that made what he was about to say a little easier.

"If you must know I almost always fall for the girls that I save. My dad jokingly refers to it as the Knight in shining armor syndrom. that is one reason why I try to avoid places where a girl's life is at stake because I almost always fall for them. Second you are so beautiful. You should probably take a good look at yourself once in a while. I don't know why it would surprise you that a guy like me would want to be with you."

He sighed, she probably wasn't that into braniacs like him. Sure he was great at sports and other physical fitness type stuff, but that wasn't what children of Athens were known for. They were known for being smart.

He looked down, and waited. Should he kiss her, or not? He wasn't sure what she thought about him, but a million possibilities raced through his head. He was face was very red, now, which was quite embarrassing.

Odysseus scooted forward, as she scooted away. He wasn't about to lose her. He'd have to explain himself better, if he was to keep from losing her.

"Please, Thalia, don't cry. Look that's the reason I said almost always. Of course I like you for you. It's just that besides my half-sisters, I really don't talk to any other girls unless I'm rescuing them. Out of the five girls I've ever saved, I have fallen for two. You are one, and my ex-girlfriend was the other."

He paused when he saw her eyes, they were amazing. They were a very bright gold. It was intriguing, and made him stare at them even more.

"Look," he replied after a minute,"you missed one important word in my whole reason for why I like you. I said, almost, because when it comes down to it, I like a girl for who she is. Saving her I guess is just my way of getting to know girls. I'm a son of Athena, I'm not good at the whole feelings thing. I deal in knowledge, not love, so, you see, this is all new to me; but I promise you that I am willing to try to get better at it."

He started putting some of his stuff back in his bag. "Look, Thalia, you are beautiful, funny, and just plain wonderful. I want you to understand that what I said was merely a misunderstanding, because I could never like someone just because I saved them. Sure, I get feelings, but I don't actually like someone until I've talked with them. I know beyond the shadow of doubt that I like you, really like you. Please, give me a chance."

He meant every word he'd said. He wasn't very good at explaining what he was feeling because he was terrible at the whole love thing. To tell you the truth, no child of Athena was ever really good at it. Sure, they could still fall in love, but feelings did not just come naturally to a child of Athena.

He sighed, and got up. Maybe, it just wasn't meant to be, he thought to himself. He stood silently for a moment.

Thalia kissed him on a cheek, and he turned to look at her. He grinned sheepishly, and then he took her face in his hands, leaned in, and kissed her. Suddenly, everything felt brighter. This was probably the most wonderful night he'd had in a long time.

He looked at her, with an awkward smile. He wasn't sure what to say next, but he was able to get a hold of himself. He winked as he spoke with a mischievous smile,"So, what does this make us?"

The night had indeed been beautiful, but it was even more so with Thalia here, now. He'd never learned to enjoy the outside as he was now.