Forgetting is hard. (Accalia)

Geoffrey had been pretty excited to learn about the climbing wall.  Camp Jupiter had never had anything like that before, and it was simply the ideal obstacle he could use to put his agility and stealth into use.  If he didn't need to use it for training, but he could use it to release his pent up energy and excitement.  He was a son of Mercury and a thief; he was both athletic and nimble as a result, so he liked to challenge what he could do with his physical abilities and push the limits, and he liked to be physically active as well. 

Once the young man had learned that the construction of the climbing wall was complete, he had wasted no time in heading over there in the morning to get a good look at it.  He most likely would start putting it to use the moment he got a glimpse of it, but for now his only ambition was seeing what it looked like with the utmost curiosity.  And, standing in front of it, he was indeed in awe of what he saw.  It looked like a regular wall right now, but he heard that it could be activated to spin around, have spikes protrude from it, and have handles that shot out lava.  Awesome, just what he needed.  Everything he needed.  Stepping closer to it, he placed his palm against the wall.  Well, it felt like a regular stone wall.  There was nothing to his touching it, really, but Geoff was just a person who liked to poke and prod stuff that he was interested in.  Sometimes that was too his consequence.

Unfortunately, the flat surface of the wall that he was touching automatically brought him to mind of a collapsing wall that he had seen fall on his ex-girlfriend.  Geez, that had been a horrible time and he had dreaded that she was gone for good.  It had been a huge blow to him, even more so when she came back and he realized that he hadn't done enough to try to save her.  Poor Geoff had been weak-willed, confused, and indecisive, and thus left her for dead, but he did blame himself for not being determined enough.  He didn't deserve Accalia.  He had failed her.  She needed a boyfriend who was competent and iron-willed inside.

With all of those feelings and memories hitting him like lightning, Geoff gasped and immediately removed his hand from the wall and took a step backward as if he had just touched the surface of a hot stove.  He blinked, looking puzzled, and mainly at himself.  Woah.  What on earth was wrong with him? That was...was just weird... 

@accalia

Accalia had just finished climbing the wall and was trying to decide if she would have another go at it. She had repelled down the opposite side that she had gone up, and was making her way around the wall to where Geoff was standing. Granted, she didn't know that-not until she saw him standing there. She stopped in her tracks and jumped back behind the wall, leaning out a little bit to see him.

They hadn't seen each other since the move to Concordia and she was hoping it would stay that way. At least, they hadn't seen each other one on one. She raised an eyebrow at him, a little irritated a her luck. She then stood ups straight and marched right over to him. She stood beside him and looked up the wall, "You know, you're supposed to climb it," she said in a flat voice.

@geoffrey

Geoffrey was a little convinced that his ex-girlfriend, Accalia, was a better ninja than he was.  He honestly hadn't sensed her presence until it was "too" late; meaning, only when she decided to make herself shown did he alertly turn toward her direction and see her.

And then it seemed that the time stopped completely.  He stared at the lovely young lady in front of him, not really knowing if this was part of reality.  His heart skipped a beat and his eyes widened slightly.  Where had Accalia come from? It was almost as if she came straight out of his memories.  Ironically, he had just been thinking about her...and, as if by magic, she was there.  Was Hecate playing tricks on him? Or maybe this was the work of Morpheus, turning a figure in his distant dream into reality...

Accalia.  His ex-girlfriend, the beautiful and loving daughter of Ceres.  Well, at least that's what he remembered her as before the tragedy.  Ever since that happened and she came back alive, it was pretty evident that their relationship was over.  He had stammered out an apology, but otherwise he was too ashamed and filled with guilt to approach her, and he was sure that she hated him for all eternity.  Therefore, he had generally avoided her.  There was a part of him that wanted to reconcile with her, but he was too afraid to. 

A lot of time had passed and it seemed like he was able to get over her.  Or, at least, he was able to carry on with his life and not think about the drama that had happened.  He'd become a Magistrate in Concordia, and that was definitely something, no? But there would always be this strain upon him that would make him go back to not knowing how to enjoy the company of other females fully.  That was how it had been before he even joined the legion--he had been a person wracked with insecurity and shyness because of the rather demeaning way his mother and stepfather brought him up, but once he joined the legion, he had gained confidence, enough for him to woo that beautiful girl he fancied.  Of course, he had carried on with that confidence until now, but it wasn't as bright as it had been before.

So...Accalia was finally in front of him, on her own, after all those years of avoiding her.  What was he going to say? He hesitated for a moment but he was about to greet her before, fortunately or unfortunately, she spoke first. That relieved him somewhat, because it gave him something to respond to.  He didn't need to be tongue-tied trying to talk properly with her.  "Uh...yeah, yeah, you're right.  That's what I'm supposed to do," he said in agreement with her, nodding slightly.  Okay, that came out slightly more stupid than he wanted.  Come on, Geoff, just talk normally with her! "I...I will soon, just getting a good look at it first.  I've never done anything like this before, so..." He glanced at the wall as he spoke about it before looking at her again.  "So, um...you've climbed it already? How's it like? I heard that it spins around, and there are spikes and lava-spitting handles."  He was actually curious as to how the climb went for her, because if she was a daughter of Ceres and could overcome the obstacles well, then there was no reason why he couldn't as well.  Also, he was finding some things to say to her that made sense and prevented an awkward silence from falling upon them, he hoped. 

@accalia

The way that Geoff stared at her made Accalias heart ache. A great part of her wanted to reach out and touch him, assure him that everything would be okay one day... But it wouldn't and she couldn't. The relationship' had clearly ended when he had left her for dead. How was she ever supposed to forgive him for that? Granted, she wanted to forgive him... She really did. But every time she saw him she felt all the anger and hurt come rushing back to her. There was no way that she could trust him again... Was there? No. No of course not.

A dark part of her couldn't help but be glad that he was stumbling over his words and looked apprehensive about climbing the wall at all. Another part of her thought that his shy nature was incredibly adorable. She scoffed a little as he said he'd never done anything like this before, pretending to think that was a pathetic excuse for taking so long-or something dumb like that. She hadn't looked at him yet, but she could see the look on his face with her eyes closed. She often saw his face when he eyes were closed...

"Yeah, I have. Though I didn't need to in order to know what to do," she answered when he asked if she had climbed it. "it is called a 'climbing wall' so I just figured it made sense to climb," she rolled her eyes and finally turned to make eye contact with him.

After getting past the urges to kiss, punch, scream at and console him- she was finally able to maintain a look of contempt and disinterest. "There is lava. Very dangerous. So, are you going to do it or not, Geoff?" At saying his name she felt a familiar tug on her stomach. But the anger got worse, she was clenching her fists and didn't even notice.

@geoffrey

He realized that he had forgotten to ask how she was doing and exchange courteous pleasantries.  Oh, Mercury, no.  That was the basic thing that one did when bumping into someone, especially an old acquaintance of which one hadn't come across in a long period of time.  As part of the authority, he very well knew that.  Agh, whatever, Accalia was anything but stupid.  She would be able to tell that his strained courtesy wouldn't be natural.  It didn't make any difference whether he spoke as suavely as the charming sons of Apollo or stuttered like a complete idiot.

Her gaze was averted from his face, and he was looking at her cheek instead.  He had half a mind to reach out with his hand and touch that soft skin, but for obvious reasons restrained himself.  When she looked at him again, he found himself staring into those dark, intense eyes of hers, eyes that he swore could see into the depths of his soul.  They were full of what he interpreted to be ridicule aimed at him, which was no surprise.  He just wistfully thought of a time when those eyes gazed at him with adoration, or when they were full of light and laughter when she was in a bright mood. 

Geoff sighed.  She was right.  His "lack of comprehension" of what to do on the climbing wall was a pretense.  He for one was very agile and obstacles that could come with climbing the wall was easy to him, being a son of Mercury.  "Uh...yeah.  Of course.  My bad."  He scratched the back of his head, not really knowing what else to say to express that he knew he had been illogical, but then decided to just drop it because there was no point in rambling over that.

She looked so aloof and cold that he was convinced she was perpetually annoyed at him.  She wasn't revealing any inner emotions, and he envied her composure.  He didn't want to be as icy as she was, but at least he wanted to be able to keep his thoughts straight and remain calm under an awkward situation.  She was asking him whether or not he was going to climb, and despite the fact that he was not really interested in the wall anymore, he felt obligated to.  He'd feel bad just wandering off and leaving her there, even if she was not in need of his company.  He nodded quickly.  "Yes.  Yes, I will.  Do you want to climb with me?" he asked before he could think better of it, but it seemed like the right thing to offer since she was right in front of him and urging him to climb.  Perhaps she wanted to compete against him? If that was the case then he was driven out of courtesy to accept her challenge.  He was not sure if that was her intent, but he was not going to risk making assumptions about what he wasn't clear about.  If she wanted to do that, then he would set the data in the screen (he was told that there was a large screen that would be used to decide the number of climbers and the level of the wall) accordingly.         

@accalia

Great, he was acting confused and innocent, almost sweet as she tried to stay upset with him. She unclenched her hands as he asked if she wanted to climb with him. She hesitated, but nodded. "Sure, level five?" she said, her tone almost businesslike. They hadn't really seen each other since arriving in Concordia, at least not one on one. It made her heart hurt and her head pound. She could do this though. She could do a little training with him and be... friends... sort of. Be civil, at least.

"Ready?" she said as she pressed the correct buttons for the levels, heading toward the wall and not bothering to turn back and see if he was following behind her. She could feel his eyes on her, almost read his thoughts. He wanted to reach out to her as much as she did to him. But no. She didn't want to. She wanted to punch him in the face. But she'd never do that.

Was this real? Was he dreaming? After five whole years of avoiding her and not seeing her altogether (well, at least alone)...how could she be right in front of him? Granted, she was realistically still unkind toward him, but, still...some mechanism in him was able to make him walk over to that screen and comprehend what he was doing and saying, but what he really needed was to knock his head against the wall a hundred times to get over this shock.

The way she said those simple words, "level five".  It was so devoid of emotion that it chilled him to the bone.  He should be appreciating that she was not causing drama, but now he wondered if he wanted her to suppress herself.  Did she not feel anything for him anymore? Not even...anger? That anger must have congealed into ice, and that only made it worse for him.  If she had been angry, that meant she had been hurt, and in turn, that hurt meant that she had loved him.  But now she was dispassionate, and that must mean that he was merely an annoyance to her, but nothing else.  Even if he knew that he should be anticipating this, it still hurt, for some reason.

Sighing, he shook those thoughts of as best as he could.  Now was not the time to be thinking them if he wanted too act normally in front of her.  He was not a teenager anymore.  He was an adult and a magister, and he needed to act like one.  She seemed to be handling this in a mature manner, too.  That was his only defense from his emotions, to try to act his age and like someone of his profession.  Although, it did surprise him to hear her sounding like this.  She used to sound so carefree, but now she sounded so careful.  But what did he expect? If he had grown, she had, too.

So he set up the stuff on the screen and walked back to where he had been standing beside her.  He made sure that he didn't stand too close, though.  However, he gave her a concerned look--he had read the features of level 5 on this wall, and although he knew that his Mercurian agility would get him by, he wasn't so sure about her.  He doubted that she would appreciate his concern, though.  Not to mention, she had been climbing this first, and so maybe she was better than he thought.

Nonetheless, he forced himself to look at the wall again.  The wall.  All he had to do was focus on climbing.  For a merciful moment he wouldn't need to think about this awkwardness.  Geoff tried not to think that he might be even more concerned for her and unable to take his eyes off of her when they progressed up the wall.  He reached out with his hand and touched the wall, waiting for her to do the same so that it would activate.  However, he couldn't stop himself looking at her from over his shoulder and asking, "Are you ready?" She was clearly ready, but the concern for her after reading those crazy features nagged at his mind.

She could hear the concern on his voice, and for a brief moment it made her smile.

But the smile was quickly wiped away as she placed a hand on the wall, letting it activate without responding to his question. She began to climb, slowly at first, but gathering speed as she went. She wouldn't be near as fast or agile as he was, she knew that, but she was still moving at a decent pace. They were about two thirds of the way up when her hand slipped, causing her to slide into a burst of oncoming lava.

She tried not to scream as she moved to the side, her arm and leg on the left side no doubt burnt badly. She whimpered a little, but kept pushing on the best she could... Though, it was hard with one arm working well and the other hand screaming everytime she touched a rock.


((timeline: This is like a month before she even meets Jason I'd say))

The moment she touched the wall and the pegs protruded out of the wall, Geoff immediately grabbed for the dark-blue ones and began to lift himself off the ground.  He remembered what the directions were level 5 were.  He was only allowed to hold onto a single color, and so he would have to stick to the dark-blue ones, even if they might not be within reach.  That was fine, because his Mercurian agility enabled him to do this. 

He stole a very quick glance underneath him after he had climbed up a bit like a squirrel to see that there was a spiked moat underneath.  He then glanced to his side to see how Accalia was doing.  So far she was doing fine.  He was glad and he quickly navigated his way up again.  When they were almost there, though, he saw that she was burned.  Geoff froze and let out a gasp.  "Oh, gods, Accalia! You're hurt!" He wanted to go help her but they were, like, stuck in the middle of this dangerous climbing wall.  In fact, he had held on one of the pegs for 30 seconds while he was pondering a miraculous way to get her off of the wall asap so he could take her to a healer.  Darn it, he wished he had ambrosia.  He knew she was doing her best to continue climbing, but she was no doubt in pain. 

The peg he had been holding on too long with began to spurt out lava.  Thank god for his very quick reflexes because he let go right away and continued to climb.  He had no choice but to get to the top and wait for her there.  It was one person to himself on this thing, but he was panicked nonetheless.  Finally, he reached the top and hefted himself up to his feet there.  He looked to see if Accalia had made it already

((Yup it's before.))

"Oh, gods, Accalia! You're hurt!"

Accalia growled a little at his words and the concern he showed. This was a dangerous wall, wasn't it? They knew they would get hurt climbing it. Still, it sucked when you did. When she neared the top she reached up to him, for he was already there, and allowed him to help her climb onto the top of the wall. She laid back beside him and groaned a little. "Gods, that hurts. Is it bad?" she asked, clearly not caring who he was right now because of the pain. She held her arm our to him but didn't turn to look at it herself.

Geoff bit his lip when he spotted her beside him, and the expression on his face was evidently one of dismay.  Her arm and leg were burnt; her arm got the most of it, though.  He nodded slowly to her question.  "Yes...yes, it is," he said, trying not to sound weak.  When she held out her arm to him, he was glad that she was allowing him to assist her at the same time he was worried, because this was a sure sign that she was really hurt to even be allowing him to help at all.  He carefully slid her arm around his shoulders and hefted her up in his arms.  He really didn't think she should be walking on her feet.

The harnesses popped out of the side of the wall, which would help them repel downward.  He gently set her back on her feet, but made sure she was leaning against him.  He quickly bent down to grab the harness closest to her and stood straight again.  "Let's get you down first.  Do you need help putting on the harness?" he asked.    

It was bad. Great. And she was stuck up here with Geoff. She gritted her teeth as he moved closer, sliding her arm around his shoulders and lifting her up. She didn't speak as he set her down beside the harnesses. He was being so helpful, so calm, and not at all acting like the coward he had been when he left her for dead. She looked up at him, catching her breath at how close they were.

Suddenly, she pulled away, ignoring the screaming pain and taking the harness from his hands, "no, thank you. I got it," she said firmly as she began putting on the harness and started to repel down.

She went slowly, trying to act like nothing was wrong, not even looking up at him.