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Alfred Jones met Nemesis on his way to work one morning, in Paris, France. He was in his normal work attire- a tacky military uniform, when he saw the most beautiful woman his eyes had ever seen. He suddenly looked guiltily down at his clothes as he shuffled nervously towards her.
"Hello..." she said, averting her eyes from him as if something was more interesting- namely a bird stealing someone's sandwich. She let out a soft chuckle. "Seagulls. Sometimes I wonder why somebody created them." Nemesis tried to blend in with the atmosphere.
Alfred was not too bright, so the trick worked very well, and he too chuckled. "Infernal birds." he snorted. "You're right of course." He seemed to put a little bit of emphasis on the last few words.
Nemesis liked this, so she smiled very, very faintly; so faintly that it was barely a smile... but Alfred noticed it. They sat down on a bench by the Eiffel Tower, his mind so busy with thoughts about the pretty woman that work was shoved all the way to the back of his mind.
It was her that broke this fragile silence, quickly weaving a web of lies to tell the man in her thoughts.
"I'm Evelynn... I'm on holiday from America. As you could probably tell by the accent." She laughed.
"Actually, you sounded more Grecian, but hey, probably just me." He said heartily, slapping his knee.
"Yes,it's just you." She agreed quickly. "So, what's your name?" she asked, interested in this mortal.
"Alfred, Alfred Jones. I'm American by birth, so..." He trailed off uneasily.
"Your Washington accent told me that."
Later that night, the two went for a lovely candlelit dinner at a restaurant. It was very romantic. A fire crackled merrily in the grate, and the chairs were cozy chintz armchairs seated opposite one another on spotless rosewood tables. A golden plate sat before them with golden cutlery to accompany it.
"So, Evelynn..." he said, gingerly clinking his glass of red wine with hers, "what do you like to do for fun?"
"I like to make sure things are fair." she said automatically.
Alfred found this statement a little weird, but out of politeness he did not speak his mind this time. He smiled as he drained his glass.
They went home, barely sober.
The next morning 'Evelynn' disappeared into thin air after 'going to get groceries' Alfred of course thought something terrible had happened to her, so he put out pleas for his lady love to let him know she was safe, and a massive reward for her return.
But for the next nine months there was no news and Alfred slowly sunk into a state of dark depression.
One Friday in the year 1997, there was a sharp knock at the door to Alfred's house. At first he ignored his mysterious visitor- but then, looking at the door, he caught a glance of one single glittering green eye. He instantly leapt to his feet, looking like a younger man.
He flung the door wide open... and there, sure enough was Evelynn, a sad smile on her face, and a bundle of blankies clasped tightly between her arms. Alfred blinked in disbelief.
"Evelynn, why are you so sad? We are reunited now..." Alfred asked, and then Evelynn began to speak.
"I lied to you, Alfred. My name's not Evelynn..." She said as Alfred sat her down on the sofa with a cup of tea. "It's Nemesis."
"Not the Roman..."
"Yes. We had this baby- take care of her. Name her Kayla- my final bequests of you." And on this they exchanged one final kiss... and then Nemesis left Alfred forever.
Kayla was named this, and seemed to have an affinity for kindness and fairness, although she was always a quiet child and rather preferred books than adventures and friends. She spent a lot of time in her room on her bedroom writing and reading, and it was often the case that she taught herself in the study and putting her study books in the library.
She drew up a study timetable which illustrated what subjects she would study and when. Her father bought her a iPod for her hard work, which she has brought to camp, along with some of her books, her father's daggers and spear, her iPad and phone, and her precious pet dog.
She grew up reasonably happy with her father, watching television and other things, although she never joined her father in sport. It turned out when she was six that her father was a child of Neptune and he had attended the camp in the First Cohort, becoming its centurion.
Of what he told her of the camp, she was really excited to go. He told her to be very, very careful when she went out on her night time wanderings, because the monsters would be active.
If only Kayla had heeded this when she was eight, she would not have come from a fight with a monster with almost fatal wounds, and would certainly have been dead had her father not swooped in and saved her.
When she had healed, Alfred banned Kayla from night time walks, worried for his child's safety. But Kayla liked her quiet walks too much for her to obey- for a couple of years she did, but one night at twelve years old, she snuck out once more.
Then she was attacked, though not as seriously as before- but once again her father saved her. Then, when they were halfway home, he collapsed.
"Father!" She screamed desperately. "Someone help him! Father!"
His breathing was shallow, and he lightly lifted his head, his life bleeding away before him.
"Kayla..." he whispered. "I don't blame you for this..."
"Yes, but I blame myself..." she whispered back, tears raining on Alfred. He smiled lightly, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"You would,wouldn't you?" He smiled, taking one last shuddering breath, and breathing it out. He fell still.
And so Kayla lay there, sobbing over the body of her father, for many hours, until at around midnight, a person came around the bend.
"I'm Zane. Third Cohort." He was on vacation. "Go grab your stuff... and then we leave." He told her, almost telling her not to argue. She put her dog on its lead, and packed her stuff, and taking every picture of her father she had.
So, they went on a private jet to America. Then, when they had landed, a monster attacked. Luckily this time someone saved her yet again; Zane,not her father.
So, they walked the short way, discussing things, until they reached the camp. He looked at her.
"Not Alfred Jones." he asked.
"Him." She replied.
"Lupa will be sad to hear it." Zane bowed his head. He was at camp in my father's time here... but you'll probably get put in a different cohort now." He said regretfully.
"It's fate, Zane." She said. "It's fate." So,they walked through the gates with identical smiles.
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