Runaway Train| p. jackson

Chapter eight; Sea salt and secrets

Sea salt and secrets

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This couldn't be happening. She stood alone in the boy's bathroom staring at herself. Her stomach turned as she stared at it and bile rose in her throat. Suddenly Olive ran into a stall and wretched into it.

"Oh god." She groaned in disgust sliding onto the cold tiles. Her skin was pale and clammy.

"I hate my life." She grumbled. She was supposed to be in her cabin right now yet she was glaring at herself in the mirror.

"Be normal, be normal." Olive chanted willing it to change but it didn't. It just sat there standing out, screaming 'LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!'

"Why do you hate me? You're supposed to be my mother. Fix it!" Olive scowled at the sky, at Aphrodite. The only answer was the problem getting worse.

She splashed her face with cold water and tied her hair back preparing to face her siblings, to face the rest of the camp.

Maybe it was stress, maybe it was Percy's stupid 'plan'.

"Vamos Olivia Grace, tienes esto." Olive smacked her cheek lightly (Come on Olivia Grace, you got this.) taking a deep breath.

Olive shook out her limbs before speed walking out the door. It was dark and the cool air was soothing for her instead of going back to her cabin Olive walked towards the archery range.

ελευθερία or Freedom was stored neatly in its locker with Honour next to her. Olive stared at the beautiful weapons in awe, she knew why Beckendorf had made it for her. He liked Selina and Selina liked her siblings.

Olive took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders before swinging the sword at the practice dummy and began to hack wildly at it, her eyes glued on the target.

She saw herself with the scar and the problem and the pale clammy skin. She looked gross.

Olive slammed the blade into its throat. She repeated the process over and over until her hands began to bleed and even that didn't stop her.

As her quiver magically refilled itself Olive glared at herself. Her broken, ugly, imperfect self.

"Olivia? Are you okay?" Annabeth's questions fell on deaf ears as Olive continued to swing her sword at the dummy.

She was so entranced that she didn't even realise that she'd turned back to her normal self.

"Olivia?" Annabeth asked a little louder. She'd just checked the Aphrodite cabin but she wasn't there.

"Ollie?" Tyson tried but Olive didn't here them. "Percy is gone."

Olive couldn't hear anything other than the voice in her head. Telling her that they were wrong, that she wasn't a daughter of Aphrodite. Because daughters of Aphrodite were gorgeous and perfect and Olive wasn't, she just wasn't.

Yes, she was pretty but she was broken, scared and ugly. She was jealous, bitter, and controlling.

Annabeth placed a gentle hand on Olive's shoulder and was met with a blade aimed at her neck. Olive didn't even register her as she glared at Annabeth's blurry form.