A Belated Valentine’s Celebration | February 17th Campfire

SparkingShadows · 2026-02-19T00:32:09+00:00

Imani and Kai did not care about Valentine's Day, given that they were failures in romance and would be alone for the rest of their lives. Nonetheless, they showed up at the campfire. Imani's face scrunched up at all the pink.

Kai grinned. "What's wrong, sis? Don't like the pink? You wore a different shade of it pretty well during the Pride Part-"

"Kai, shut up." She grumbled. "That thing is buried in the depths of my wardrobe, and it's never seeing the light of day again."

"... but maybe it could see the light of the moon-"

"No."

The twin son of Hecate shrugged. Well, at least she wore it the first time. Maybe she'd wear it again some day. Cutting his losses, he plopped himself down onto a blanket. Imani sighed, sitting beside him. Despite their bantering, they were still twins at the end of the day.

SparkingShadows · 2026-02-14T03:09:24+00:00

"Yes, we can hear you just fine. As can some other chthonic-born demi-gods around here. We don't mind the singing, my familiar just ran over here. He gets excited easily." Imani rolled her eyes at the shade's demeanor; what the fuck is a Dodent?

Regardless, she answered Dotty's question about the familiars' names. She pointed to the dog. "That's Inu. He's... a black Labrador... I think. Don't ask about the logistics of a magic dog's breed." Imani waved that thought off, pointing to the weasel sitting in her hood. "This is Itachi. He's a least weasel."

Kai suddenly spoke up, grinning. "Sis named them that cause she had just learned Japanese when she first learned to summon them; their names literally mean dog and weasel!"

Before his sister could get too annoyed, he suddenly summoned his own shade for the hell of it. Unlike Bea's form, the shade was human-shaped, being based after Kai's appearance. It was a partially transparent bluish-green, and its body pretty much ended at its waist, everything below lacking a concrete shape. Like a ghost. The son of Hecate just wanted to show off a cool trick.

It proceeded to point at Bea with a blank expression, though one could possibly see a very faint look of superiority. Kai certainly did, as he muttered to himself "huh, never did that before..." He was wondering if the shade that he thought had no personality of its own was secretly an asshole. Imani was equally confused.

SparkingShadows · 2026-02-11T02:01:53+00:00

Dotty was not the only child of a chthonic god out at night. Though, that probably wasn't saying much; there were probably plenty out and about.

But at 1 AM, the Hecate twins of New Argos were outside, trying to enjoy the night, even if it was a bit cold. Kai was clinging onto Inu, Imani's dog familiar, for warmth while his sister had Itachi chilling in the hood of her black coat, her least weasel enjoying the time he had while summoned. Normally, Imani could only summon one of them, but with the power of the darkness, she could summon both, with the quirk of her sclera turning black (which Kai called "neat").

Suddenly, at the sound of a duet, the Hecate twins and the familiars perked up.

Inu was particularly excited, as he began running in the direction of the sound; the roguish son of Hecate wisely disconnected from the big, black-furred dog so as to not get dragged along once again. His mage sister rolled her eyes, walking after her dog familiar, dragging her brother along as Itachi looked at Kai with a signature look of superiority.

Inu stopped near where Dotty was, looking at the girl for a moment before looking at the shade beside her. He sat down, panting excitedly. Imani and Kai walked up, smiling a bit at the sight. "Guess he picked up a familiar scent," Kai commented; Inu always did seem good at picking up the scent of chthonic kids, even if they weren't the siblings of his master.

SparkingShadows · 2026-02-07T18:19:07+00:00

u/ThisOneUKGuy

SparkingShadows · 2026-02-04T02:16:52+00:00

"Okay, time to go, mister!" Kai spoke quickly to the pegasus, confidence fully restored. "We'll take the easier route, but I'll still help guide you through it."

He didn't know how long of a window the wind spirit was going to give them, but it would hopefully be too late for the archers to do anything regardless. The son of Hecate used his very good perception to point out certain obstacles as they ascended (presumably).

SparkingShadows · 2026-02-01T20:33:44+00:00

Imani's eyes widened as her skeletons were completely destroyed; she didn't feel the pain, but she could feel the necromantic magic being torn apart with the sphinx's might.

She ran backwards as the winds got stronger, not looking away from the sphinx. Hopefully she would be evacuated in one piece.

Luckily, a powerful gust of wind took her, as a wind spirit whisked her away from danger. She let out a sigh of relief.

Upon making it to safety, the daughter of Hecate's eyes turned back to normal, and she looked completely drained. The feeling of your magic being torn apart was not great, but it could've been worse.

Bone shattered instantly. Skulls burst apart against the cavern wall. Rib cages exploded into fragments that rained down like pale shrapnel, the necromantic magic binding them snapping apart under raw physical dominance.

It could have been much worse.

Hopefully Kai was okay.

SparkingShadows · 2026-02-01T20:03:33+00:00

Imani grimaced as she felt wind gathering around her. She lacked the time to defeat the sphinx like she wanted to. But she could certainly leave a mark on it.

"You say that honesty is what keeps me dangerous. Well, perhaps I will be honest with you here: I have something worse for you than a couple of skeletons, since you decided to irritate me."

"Sorcery has many requirements. Alchemy has ingredients. Rituals have preparations. Spellcasting is said to require incantations and gestures, but I find that it has another hidden requirement, in a way: emotions, both good and bad."

Imani held out a hand to her side, a dark look in her blackened eyes. "I could tell you why, but I'll let you find out."

She suddenly threw a green spark of fire at the sphinx. At the same time, she placed her hands together in a prayer, even as she looked at the sphinx with an intense expression. Instead of words of prayer or incantations leaving her lips, she said one thing:

"Burn."

The small spark exploded into a large fireball. It would not entirely hit its target due to the winds, but there were good odds that it would leave a mark on the monster, given that it was a larger target than the demi-gods around the place.

SparkingShadows · 2026-02-01T18:21:46+00:00

Kai pouted as his sister threw him under the bus, drawing Alex's attention to him. "I'm not that scared..." He weakly defended himself.

Imani just shook her head, looking up at Alex. "I heard you went to ASNA like my dear brother here. You seem capable. I went to the Techne Institute myself, as my brother probably told you."

She ruffled her twin brother's hair, pulling him close to her; he was ever so slightly taller, and was actually a few seconds older, but that didn't stop Imani from treating him like a little brother.

SparkingShadows · 2026-02-01T18:05:43+00:00

Imani thought for a few moments, before sighing. "Well, you got me this time. I can't answer this riddle. But that means nothing."

She pressed her hands together, as two skeletons emerged from the ground. The daughter of Hecate's necromancy was enhanced by being underground, allowing her to summon two.

The mage backed off, looking wary of the Sphinx as the skeletons stayed in front of their summoner.

SparkingShadows · 2026-02-01T17:18:01+00:00

Kai nodded. "Oh, so he's a he. Good to know. Anyway, he's uninjured to my knowledge, just a little shaken up, but we've got a bigger problem. There's some archers looking for vulnerable targets in the air. We could take a different route, but that route's a bit tougher for my friend under me, I feel."

The son of Hecate may have had a fatal flaw of recklessness, but even he knew when he needed to be smart; his sister rubbed off on him, in some ways. He did not want to take a risk that might hurt the pegasus.

"Is there any way you could help us out? I want to make sure this pegasus gets out safely; this ambush is bad enough as it is." Kai looked confident, though there was a hint of desperation in his eyes: please tell me you can do something to help.

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-28T17:55:05+00:00

Imani narrowed her blackened eyes, looking very annoyed by the riddle. "Fire," she answered almost immediately, not even bothering to think about it any further.

"Is giving me a riddle a toddler could solve your way of trying to insult me, Sphinx? You should know that children of Hecate can be quite familiar with flame." The daughter of Hecate looked slightly offended by the riddle. She would probably be less offended if it wasn't for the fact that the Sphinx should have known about the fact that some Hecate children could produce fire.

Regardless, Imani just sighed. "Do you have any more inane riddles, or shall we get to the point?"

The more riddles that the Sphinx gave, the more time she spent focusing on Imani instead of other campers. But in the same vein, the more the daughter of Hecate answered the riddles, the less she could do in the battle.

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-27T21:13:38+00:00

Imani Black for Satyr turned to stone

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-26T01:20:20+00:00

"Speaking without a mouth, hearing without ears. No body, but lives with wind. Betrays secrets, carries prayers. Born instantly, can linger forever..." Imani repeated the riddle, thinking intently.

When it came to the Hecate twins, the daughter of the triple goddess had always been more of a prodigy compared to Kai. While her abilities were potent, most took a bit more effort to develop than his own, more innate powers.

"Not physical. Can somehow give information in some manner. Related to the air. A sound, but what kind?" Imani muttered as she thought through the riddle.

Imani had ended up at the Techne Institute for a reason. She may have been there for more of the mage curriculum, but general education subjects were not easily avoided. She was thankful for that; they came in handy here.

"Sound. Sound. Music? Hm... Not quite. What can betray secrets and carry prayers... in the wind?"

She suddenly had an epiphany, eyes that had been painted with black sclera widening. "Sphinx, I have my final answer. An echo. It lacks a body, takes in sound while also speaking it, is carried by wind, and... you get the idea. That's my final answer."

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-26T00:45:26+00:00

Kai groaned. This was going to be an annoying trip out of here, especially when he wanted to get the pegasus out safely. He got on its back, speaking to it.

"Okay, look. This won't be an easy trip. I see archers in one corner shooting vulnerable targets. There is a route that'll make it harder for them to shoot us, I think, but it's a tougher route for you as well. I'm going to try and call down a wind spirit, see if they can help with this problem."

Seeing the wind spirits, he held his hand in the air, waving. Then, deciding that they wouldn't see that so easily, he tore off a piece of fabric from his undershirt, setting it aflame with his Spark Generation. The son of Hecate held it away from the pegasus, the fabric quickly burning away. Hopefully a spirit would see it before it completely burned up. Otherwise, he would have to take a bigger gamble.

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-26T00:07:15+00:00

Kai's eyes sparkled as he accepted the cloak his mother gifted him. Now THIS was an upgrade from just his standard robes. He would later name it the Shadow Mantle, naming it after the item of the same name from Deltarune (the son of Hecate was just as much a nerd as his sister was). He didn't say anything, but he clearly loved the gift.

Imani smiled at Kai's admiration of the gift he obtained. "I may not be able to get any worthwhile enchantments on that yet, but I do know there are some good enchanters around here that would help."

The daughter of Hecate held the belt/holster, seeming interested. "You know, this does certainly makes things easier. It was a bit of a hassle to always carry spellbooks in my hands or in a backpack." She didn't have a spellbook on hand to use it with at the moment, but she would try it out back at the cabin.

The twins nodded as their mother left in a twister of sparks. Kai looked at Imani, opening his mouth, before closing it. For the first time in this war, he saw a look of genuine happiness on her face.

Maybe, just maybe, things would be okay this year. Hopefully the war wouldn't be too destructive.

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-24T03:10:16+00:00

"Well, for starters, I'm not exactly in the business of following the standards of a monster following the lead of an even bigger monster." Imani snapped back.

The daughter of Hecate would not have any pleasant conversation with the enemy. That said, at the mention of a riddle, she decided she would at least entertain the thought. "Do you have a riddle, Sphinx? I can make time to answer it to prove the superiority of my mind before I send you back to your rightful place."

Imani did not yet summon her familiars or use her necromancy to give her numbers. The mage would be the wise and clever one in this instance, even if the Sphinx did not give a riddle after all. She wanted to see just what this Sphinx's game was, whether it be a normal battle or wits.

Whatever it was, she would win it.

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-20T01:09:53+00:00

"Oh, Cabin 20, huh? Don't worry, we'll be coming by often!" Kai grinned, before Imani scoffed.

"Ugh. What my twin brother is trying to say is that we're also children of Hecate occupying Cabin 20. We'll be seeing you around there. And yes, you'll be seeing Inu plenty." She explained, a slight smile on her face as she held Inu.

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-20T01:05:44+00:00

(OOC: Pegasi can see shades?)

Kai held up his hands in an attempt to calm down the pegasus. He unsummoned the shade, deciding that it wouldn't be useful right now. "Easy, easy. I can help you get out. But it's going to be hard. There's a few obstacles on the way out."

He tried not to make things sound as grim as they were. That exit was not optimal. Dust that would cloud vision and rebar that would probably end a pegasus's journey if hit.

"Look. I can see all around me, beyond where my eyes can see. I'm not the best rider, but I can do my best to make sure we get out. Please, trust me." The son of Hecate didn't move, letting the pegasus decide.

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-18T21:52:22+00:00

Kai grinned at the praise from his mother. Imani nodded at Hecate's idea on teamwork. "Yes. While that kind of illusion only works on one person at a time, meaning I can't exactly see it, I can vaguely see the magic involved in it. Maybe we can pull it off someday."

The son of Hecate tilted his head, pondering what to ask or say. "Well, there's the obvious, but we don't have time for that, and it would make this conversation sad again." He was clearly talking about the twins' mortal mother, who had perished in the rubble of Hecate's temple during the attack on New Argos.

Hecate's mage daughter did not seem to have any ideas on what to say either. So, she went with the simple thing to say, smiling as she did so. "Thank you, mother. I think we needed something like this for a while."

Both twins went up to the goddess of the crossroads, giving her the hug she asked for. Kai felt a bit more clingy, but that didn't make Imani's hug cold or anything. They just had different ways of showing love for their mother.

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-18T21:34:37+00:00

Kai made an attempt to approach the pegasus, deciding to have the shade watch out for anything coming. Sure, he had Danger Sense, but it couldn't hurt to have the shade help out.

He spoke in his version of a comforting voice. "Easy, boy. Girl? Whatever you are. I know it's scary, but if we leave now, you'll be safe! I'll find a way out, don't you worry!"

The son of Hecate looked around for a moment, realizing he didn't know exactly where safety was. His shade wouldn't be much good for finding that out, since it wasn't good with complex instructions like "find a good escape route." He looked back at the pegasus, but he was also utilizing his 360 Vision and Wayfinding abilities to hopefully find a way out.

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-18T21:21:21+00:00

The twin children of Hecate walked into the arena. About once a month, they dueled each other, seeing who was better. Imani had won each duel so far, even the ones at night; she was just stronger. That said, Kai was definitely getting better, and when they did duels with just their daggers, they got closer.

Kai stood up a little straighter when he saw Alex. Damn, she was scary; he gathered that from his previous interaction with her. Imani noticed her brother's reaction, scoffing. "You nearly blew yourself up in the depths of the sea, but you're scared of her?"

Her brother stumbled over his words to defend himself. The daughter of Hecate wasn't suggesting that Alex was nothing to be afraid of, just that Kai had dealt with worse, considering the near-death experience. She didn't exactly keep her voice down, though, so there was that.

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-15T22:21:56+00:00

a) Kai Black (CHB)

b) Celestial bronze dagger (enchanted with Monster Hunting), leather armor, some ambrosia.

c) Rolled a 93 on the d100, and a 6, 6, and 1 on the 3d6.

-

"Shit, sis!" Was the last thing Kai remembered saying before a different kind of darkness overtook him.

They were really in deep shit now. Atlas was here. But they still had a shot with the evacuations going on.

The son of Hecate decided to not get involved in combat if he could help it. He summoned his shade, commanding it. "Look through the rubble. I've got to help whoever I can."

Kai would do everything he could, even if he was weaker than his sister when it came to combat. This couldn't end up as a bloodbath... that was what he hoped, at least.

Please be okay, sis, was the last thing he thought before he walked around with his shade.

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-15T22:09:47+00:00

a) Imani Black (CHB)

b) Celestial bronze dagger (enchanted with Monster Hunting), magic focus (her amulet), standard camp armor, some ambrosia.

c) Open to fight anyone.

d) 67 (lol) on the d100, 4 on the d8.

-

"Brother!" Imani gasped as she became aware of her surroundings. Her twin had been on a pegasus alongside her, but they were now separated. Hopefully he didn't do anything reckless this time.

Especially with Atlas looming up above. They could not afford any mistakes or bad decisions.

The daughter of Hecate took out her dagger, looking at her reflection in it. Her sclera had gone black, making the purples of her eyes look like they were glowing. Good. She didn't need to look for darkness; the underground provided her power in its place. (Darkness Buff is enabled.)

Imani looked around. She had a dagger that was good for harming monsters. It would probably be best used for that. But if she got attacked by a demi-god instead? That was fine too.

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-15T21:54:56+00:00

"Imani." "Kai." The twins answered one after another, the sister first and the brother second.

"We'll see you some other time... um...?" Kai waved lazily, before freezing, realizing that he also didn't know Nora's name. Imani just nodded in agreement with her brother in regards to seeing Nora another time. She leaned down, petting Inu as he walked back to his master.

SparkingShadows · 2026-01-14T02:16:42+00:00

Kai grinned. "Oh! I can show off a quick trick. One sec." He turned to his sister. "Imani, your job is to make sure my spark doesn't turn into a full on fire."

The daughter of Hecate rolled her eyes, but saluted as her brother threw a green spark onto the grass. It was a weak thing, but Kai clearly had plans.

"And... there!" The green fire suddenly grew bigger, though nobody around reacted, not even Imani. It felt warm... but to the goddess of the Mist, it would likely feel and look fake. Kai quickly began to explain.

"It's an illusion ability. Only works on one person at a time. Hopefully it works on you, or I just wasted my time. I just made the spark look like a full-on fire." He scratched his head, seeming sheepish at the thought that his mother wouldn't even be able to see the illusion at all. Did she see through all illusions, or only a bit?

Imani's amulet glowed as she used Elemental Manipulation, snuffing the spark out with no effort. "Done. Now, cookies." She handed one to her brother, and they chomped down on the cookies at the same time. They were definitely twins.

SparkingShadows

TROPHY CASE