Where You Go ― Jason Grace

xxxii. traditions

"THIS IS STUPID," Ophelia declared. 

Travis rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest like a petulant child. "It's tradition. Every child of Hermes has to do it!" 

Ophelia sighed, looking around at the Hermes cabin. They'd only been back at camp for three days and her siblings were already pestering her about completing their cabin's initiation. "Why do we have to pickpocket someone?" she asked. "Can't I just... win a footrace or something? This is illegal." 

"This is illegal," Connor mocked. "C'mon, Phee, Hermes is the god of thieves—it's in our blood! Besides, it's not like you can't just return whatever you steal." 

"Which is dumb, but if you wanna be all moral about it..." Jeremy grumbled. 

"Mercury was worshiped more as a travel and commerce deity than the god of thieves in Ancient Rome," Ophelia pointed out. "And since I'm technically a daughter of Mercury—" 

Sophie shook her head. "Nope, you're not getting out on a technicality," she said. "You're still a child of Hermes, even if it's his Roman aspect. That means you have to be properly initiated. It's not a big deal, Phee, I did it when I was eight."

"Well, no one's going to get mad at an adorable little eight-year-old," Ophelia retorted. "What if whoever I pickpocket punches me in the face?" 

"You punch them back," Connor said with a nonchalant shrug. 

"You have to pick the right target," Travis said, shoving his brother's arm. "Someone who won't suspect you—someone who trusts you." 

Ophelia frowned. "That's messed up." 

Jeremy rolled his eyes. "You can give it back as soon as you show us what you stole," he said. "It doesn't have to be anything big or fancy—though we'll be a lot more impressed the bigger it is." 

"But it has to have some kind of monetary value," Cecil said. "It can't be something like lint or a loose thread." 

"And they can't know you took it, obviously," Sophie added. 

The conch shell blew, signaling the end of breakfast and the beginning of the day's activities.  

"You've got twenty-four hours, Phee," Travis said, shooting her a wink. "Don't disappoint." 

❖

Ophelia swung her body to the side, only using one handhold to stay on the rock wall as lava shot past her, close enough that she could feel the heat of it on her skin. With a grunt, she reached for a higher handhold with her free hand. She found a new foothold and pushed herself up closer to the top. 

She rang the bell as she reached the top, the first of her group. Jeremy was only halfway up the wall; Connor had abandoned actually doing the exercise and had turned his focus toward trying to make his little brother fall down onto the mat below; Mitchell from the Aphrodite cabin was barely a few feet off the ground, and looked like he was already terrified that high up; and Piper still a few feet from the top. 

"Again?" Piper grumbled, squeaking in surprise as a shot of lava just barely missed her elbow. "That's it, I'm done climbing with you. My pride can only take so much losing." 

Ophelia smirked at her. "Don't hate the player, Pepper," she said, starting her quick descent down. "Hate the game!" 

By the time Piper rang the bell and made her way back down, Ophelia was sitting in the grass to the side of the climbing wall, watching her brothers continue to struggle up the wall. The daughter of Aphrodite flopped down next to her, panting from exhaustion.