Dave Jones. Above average height and musculature, and like me, he's obviously going to be leading the way when it comes to knocking the heads of Titans and their spawn. I also had some first hand experience that he has some skills in increasing the overall combat effectiveness of our Band. I've got a feeling Dave and I are going to be good friends. Outside of fighting, Dave seems to have one other love - alcohol, especially beer. He's planning on setting up his own microbrewery in our dorm too. This definitely has some possibilities. I'm not one to go get drunk for no reason, but my stepdad normally let me have a beer when he had one at home, and the family often allowed all of us to have some wine at dinner, so I think it will be very convenient to have a ready supply of beer. It's a pity Dave thinks wine is a girly drink. Actually, one of the strangest things was when I was talking with him and coming up with an idea that was meant as an alcoholic drink for the big kitty cats in our group. I suggested Kumis, it's an alcoholic drink made from fermented mare's milk, sometimes mixed with blood, and was the drink of choice of Attila the Huns' mongol hordes. Despite that, the fact it is low in alcohol content made Dave say it was a girly drink. I like Dave, but I am sure I'll never understand him. I'm also not sure if I'd want him as a roommate. Though that really depends on if he can get his microbrewery set up in his room or if it takes up too much space and needs to go somewhere else on our floor. I plan on studying and sleeping, even if I may not need a lot of both, and I don't want to be in a room that's a 24 hour bar. One of the other interesting things about Dave is that he's a biker, which is cool, I'd love to have a motorcycle too. Dave's also got something like a gang of biker friends of his that are attending college with us (though they aren't on our special dorm floor). Hopefully Dave and his gang will let me hang out with them and work on their bikes. I've worked on cars and all kinds of miscellaneous mechanical devices, but bikes are new to me. Still, I have skills, and maybe I could teach them a trick or two just as they can hopefully teach me a trick or two. This would be a lot of fun! But maybe even more fun, since mortals seem to be a lot less able in combat that Scions, I am thinking I could do some modifications to their bikes. Just imagine, rocket launchers, machine guns, and lasers! Or maybe cool tricks like Q always has for vehicles that James Bond used. This would be just awesome. I sure hope Dave and his friends are interested as this would be a ton of fun!
Again Fate seemed to be driving things, as when we went to go see what clubs and stuff were here at Harmon, the five of us that I think all feel some sort of connection went out together. We drifted apart as we went along, but got back together too. And I don't ever remember seeing any of the other six Scions at any of the same places we were.
One of the first things I noticed was Gabriella running away from us, back towards our dorm. This had me worried for at first, but it turns out she had rushed off to get some of her writing samples she needed to get on the school newspaper.
Most of us drifted over towards a place where there were a bunch of mats set up for a variety of sports that use them. Wrestling was center stage at the time and Dave and I both indicated we were interested. Gabriella started having some sort of vision or something while we were there. Like last time, she looks like she got a little sick, but then recovered. She warned us about not fighting some short guy. I was definitely planning on heeding that advice, unless I thought doing so might put someone's life at risk. But at this time, the guy running the wrestling demo asked me to wrestle their star wrestler. Since this guy was tall, I had no objections. He was a pretty good wrestler, but I still managed to win.
While a couple of the group wandered off to the archery group during my match, I was quite pleased to find Gabriella and Dave still around. It makes me feel like I have friends who will watch my back, and my impression of both of them went up a notch.
While wrestling, I missed what went on with Jahiera and Ren at the archery club, but I heard about it later. Part of it puzzles me and I am not sure if I should be annoyed or not. Apparently one of the better archers here is a pretty-boy that looks something like that movie star Orlando Bloom, and he apparently has a a bunch of female fans. The thing that puzzles/bothers me though is that when Jahiera and Ren walked up to this dude, he calls out a greeting to the "ladies." Now almost all the people gathered around there were women, and I know I think Ren looks a bit on the effeminate side. Side thought, maybe I should talk to Gabriella about Ren, Gabriella seems to have a great sense of style and maybe could help Ren to find a style that's less unisex but still him. Back on track, anyway it could have been an accident or a simple oversight. On the other hand, maybe this Bloom look alike was deliberately trying to put down Ren. If that's the case, maybe I will have to have a talk with our comedian Cory. I am sure Cory could come up with something suitable to cut down this guy a little. But of course I still have to figure out if it was an honest mistake or if the dude is a jerk that needs a lesson. I'll keep an eye on him, but with my poor people skills, maybe I better ask Gabriella if she can help on this. I really don't like the idea of some snob picking on Ren. I'll hope it's just an accident though.
Oh, and Jahiera apparently is very impressive with the bow as she thunked several arrows into the center of the target in rapid succession.
Another point of interest is that Ren met a girl who is also a computer geek while watching the archery. My hunch is this is Fate at work again, but Ren seems so shy I don't know if he'll follow up with her about her informal computer club. Maybe I can prod him some way. Too bad I have all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop. Looks like Gabriella might be able to help out here, but I don't want to bother her all the time. She's really cool and I don't want her to think of me as a pest. Maybe Dr. Lord can help me out on this one. Life is complicated sometimes.
But over at the mats, things rapidly went strange. A short guy - really, really short guy - came up to us. He wasn't just short though, he was a dwarf, like in mythology or fantasy novels. Apparently this was Coach Angus MacLaggin and he seemed to want to wrestle Dave and/or me. After what Gabriella had said, I had no interest in such a contest. But Dave seemed to want to mix it up. Dave didn't know about Gabriella's oracular powers, and I didn't think it was a good time to explain (though I did explain once we were back in our dorm and others couldn't overhear). Gabriella kept trying to tell him not to, and I told Dave to listen to Gabriella. I guess that sunk in a bit, and with some effort, Dave refused the challenge. I was glad as apparently it wasn't going to be a fair fight on the part of the dwarf (based on what Gabriella somehow just "knew"). Still, if Dave had accepted and looked like he was getting seriously hurt, I was quite prepared to jump in and see if two to one odds might even out with whatever magic the dwarf had on his side.
Apparently the MacLaggin was just testing us, he wanted our help and he needed to make sure of us first. But at that moment, everone's least favorite Scion, Barry, stumbled onto the scene. He looked pretty badly hurt, and mentioned something about bears before collapsing into unconsciousness. MacLaggin then said the short version of the help he wanted was that Nemean bears were attacking his colony of dwarfs. Then he suggested we go handle whatever was chasing Barry while he took care of Barry.
All of us were together at that point, and we were all ready to rumble. I did a quick transformation to have my Relic Cestus take on its form for lethal damage. I hoped mortals wouldn't notice as it wouldn't be a big, obvious thing. But then Dave magically summoned his motorcycle. A cool trick, but it shocked me a lot as I didn't think we were supposed to show off like that in front of mortals that didn't know about us. The next part is a bit blurry in my memory. We went off in the direction that Barry came from, the jaguar Tepini appeared, the cat Miyet changed into the lioness Miyet, Ren's bird appeared (well, that one wouldn't shock anyone), I had my armor form around me, Dave's biker gang showed up all of a sudden, and my Bandmates seemed to have various weapons appearing out of nowhere. Hopefully this stuff took place far enough away from the school that mortals didn't notice, but I am just not sure.
Dave offered a ride to anyone, and I accepted. Normally I would have insisted one of our ladies be allowed the convenience, but in this case I thought it best that Dave and I met the danger first as I think we were the best prepared for physical violence. But the forest wasn't really the best place to get speed out of a motorcycle and all of the Band ended up reaching the Nemean bear at roughly the same time.
I made an extra effort and used one of my knacks to make sure I went first in the combat. I figured the best thing to do would be to hit it hard and see if just pounding away would work or not. I delivered a wicked blow, it probably would have knocked out a horse. Unfortunately it only seemed to surprise the beastie for a moment, and I knew this was not going to be an easy battle. I figured my next move would be to immobilize it, but while debating which way I should do that, Dave jumped in and grappled the monster. Meanwhile, Gabriella had maneuvered herself into a nearby tree and planned to shoot from there, though since bears climb pretty well, I am not sure how much good that would have done her if the bear had gone after her. At the same time, Jahiera had darted behind a nearby bush to keep out of the bear's sight.
Dave's clinching of the bear did some damage, but the big cats were having no luck - about the same as me. I did so poorly that I fear any of my martial arts instructors would have hung their head in shame if they had seen me. The rest of our Band was taking their time attacking, waiting for the perfect moment to hit a weak spot on the bear. The only weakness I recalled was the Nemean's skin was susceptible to its claws/fangs - and I was too busy fighting to see how I could use that to my advantage.
Feisty little Ren aimed a blow at an eye, that while not causing major trauma, seemed to blind the beast in that eye. That seemed like it should make battling the beastie easier. The bear writhed in pain at this and tried to escape from Dave's clinch, but somehow Dave kept control over the monster. Then Jahiera showed off her archery skill and nailed the critter in its open mouth, wounding it severely. Next Gabriella followed Ren's example and shot out the bear's other eye. I didn't think it was going to last much longer with the awesome teamwork the Band was displaying.
I was next to attack, and finally I dealt a blow worthy of my teachers. I pounded the bear's skull so hard I swear I heard it's skull crack. It was the last straw for the beast, and it collapsed at our feet. It was a tough battle, but I have to say I was really proud of the Band, everyone pulled together and helped to take it down. As my stepdad might say, my Bandmates are outstanding!
Dave decided he needed a drink and pulled out his magic everfull glass. Which was when we were all surprised by a slow clapping coming out of nowhere. I figured it was MacLaggin checking up on us, but it turned out to be Dr. Lord. How did he know where we were? The clapping implied he was there long enough to see at least part of the fight, how did he know he should be with us then? I know magic can do stuff like that, but I am going to buy a bug detector, or parts to make one, and sweep myself and my fellow Bandmates. I dislike the idea of being spied upon. I know he's supposed to look out for us, but now I wonder exactly how closely he does that.
Since there are supposed to be more bears around, I mentioned to Gabriella about finding out their location and numbers. By that I had meant to ask if she could get anything with her oracular powers, but she talked about sending her kitty cat as a scout. My people skills are rather embarrassing at times, my attempt at subtlety was completely misunderstood by the most people savvy of our Band members. I was a bit too flustered at the moment to explain it to her at that time, so I decided to talk to her about it later.
Meanwhile, Dave did some sort of Norse blessing or something on his glass and passed it around. Fighting works up a sweat, so I quickly knocked back the contents of the glass...which was still full after I thought I should have drained it. Most of the rest of the Band had a drink too, except for Gabriella. Gabriella is a party girl and from things she's said I know she likes to drink, so it was kind of surprising to me that she refused. But then after she refused, Dave tried to push her into at least drinking a little. I didn't like that because the way I was raised, when a girl says no then she means no. This seems to have caused some tension between Gabriella and Dave, I hope it doesn't snowball. It also made me a bit suspicious of the drink I took out of Dave's glass. But as I write this entry it's several hours later and I don't really feel any bad effects from it, so I don't know what to think.
But then I get real confused. Or at least lost. Ren is obviously an animal lover, which I think is a good thing as I like animals too. But Ren starts going on like these Nemean bears might be good guys, and the victims of the dwarfs. I'm afraid I lost it here, I had a quick flashback of Alicia's broken body at the party and started yelling at Ren telling him how I know Titanspawn and that they are all evil, etc. But I guess my naivete of the supernatural had me sticking my foot in my mouth as apparently not all Titanspawn are evil. Coach MacLaggin, who had arrived in the meantime, even said that dwarfs were Titanspawn. I mean I know from the stories that dwarfs tend to be neutral, though some are kind of good while others are more evil. But this was the first I heard that dwarfs were Titanspawn. And Dr. Lord was there when MacLaggin arrived and didn't give any sign that dwarfs were evil. I really don't know what to think about this anymore. My dad only told me a little about the Titans and their spawn, and this was the first time I had ever heard that Titanspawn might not be evil. I guess it makes sense though, as Zeus and others are technically Titanspawn. But now I feel like I need a score card or something to know who's on which side of the war. I'm making it my number one priority tomorrow to talk to Dr. Lord and see if he can give me a list or refer me to a book or something to give me a better idea of what's what in this war.
Getting back to the aftermath of the battle, Gabriella stepped in front of me and calmed me down. I don't think I would have gone berserk on Ren like at that party, but Gabriella's presence certainly helped me calm down fast. They say that "music hath charms to soothe the savage breast," but I say music has nothing on Gabriella. That Gabriella is one special woman. I apologized to Ren, but after I get a better explanation of Titanspawn and the war from Dr. Lord, I think I should make a better apology to Ren. I'm just so confused now.
One more strange thing that happened is Dr. Lord hurried off shortly after MacLaggin arrived. It looks like they don't get along, but I am pretty sure Dr. Lord could have squashed MacLaggin, so I am puzzled why he left so fast.
MacLaggin asked me about my divine parent, and when I told him I was the son of Hephaestus, he said the two of us needed to talk. I don't know if it was because of my ignorance about Titanspawn, if Hephaestus has some special significance to MacLaggin, or maybe he realized that I probably have something in common with dwarfs since we like - and are good at - making things. Or maybe its something else. I have enough on my mind right now that I can't be bothered to worry about this this for the time being.
MacLaggin also offered to make some armor and/or weapons out of the Nemean bear for our band. Considering what I recall about the Nemean lion, this should help out our group. I don't see much that I would benefit from this stuff, but maybe after the others get something, if there is a left over claw or fang big enoough to make into a knife that would be a fine souvenir. I think more important though is making armor for my Bandmates, looks like most of them have no armor at all! If Dave's biker leathers don't have some magic in them, I'll vote he should be the first one equipped with Nemean bear armor as I expect he and I will be in the forefront of most battles. But from what was said, there are other bears, so maybe the rest of the Band might end up with Nemean bear armor too. Though I wonder if Gabriella is too fashion conscious to wear that sort of thing. In the meantime, I'll add talking to my bandmates and seeing about getting them all at least bulletproof vests. Those are light and affordable, and certainly better than the nothing they're running around in. Also, as there is at least one place I know of that does custom work on this, we probably can special order something that Gabriella wouldn't object to - though if she's interested in that, it's a good thing she has a trust fund.
That's all I can think of for now, but I'm so confused I have no idea if I left out anything important. I simply MUST talk to Dr. Lord tomorrow before my head explodes.
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