gilded lily, p.jackson

006, a dagger to the face

CHAPTER SIX.
a dagger to the face

——After telling Chiron about their trip to Maine, he turned to Mr. D. "We should launch a search party for Annabeth."

"I'll go." The three best friend all said at once.

Mr. D sniffed. "Certainly not!"

Both Thalia and Percy began to talk over one another as they complained. Danica leaned against the door, glaring daggers at Mr. D while a silent rage bubbled inside of her. Mr. D lifted his hand up. He had a purplish anger in his eyes that usually happened when something bad and Godlike was coming, usually when they didn't shut up.

Chiron took note of the girls sudden quietness, he watched as her gray eyes dimmed to a dark colour, the stars in her eyes brightening. "Danica, why don't you go see your friends?"

Danica nodded as she left the Big House. Anger flooded through her blood, everyone watched as she slammed the door shut with such forced that it rattled the walls.

Danica didn't go to her friends, she didn't think she could deal with the company, or that she'd even be any good company. So she found herself in the arena, where she had set up dummies for her to the knifes at.

Annabeth had always said 'Violence is never the answer' but it was the only way the teenage girl could express how she was feeling.

Percy and Thalia had walked around the camp, looking for their friend. They searched everywhere. She wasn't stealing camp merchandise with the Stoll brothers or Bambi, she wasn't fighting with the Nike twins, nor was she and Lacy Colton making bracelets together outside the Aphrodite cabin. She wasn't at the Archery arena with Lee fletcher, or in the Infirmary with Will Solace.

"Hey..." Thalia muttered. She and Percy had watched from afar as Danica continually stabbed the dummy in the heart, her aim perfect when it came to knife throwing.

Danica sent them a nod of acknowledgment, before throwing another dagger at the dummy, this time between the eyes. "I saw him."

Percy's eye brows frowned. "Who, Dani?" he asked, but the sad and betrayal look on her face, he knew who. There was only two people at camp that Danica had ever shown emotion when mentioned. Annabeth and Luke.

"Him." she muttered, the word bitter on her touch, the wound of his betrayal still fresh on her skin. "He was right there, Lia. Right fucking there. I did nothing!" Danica's voice cracked.

During the two and a half years of Percy knowing Danica, the son of Poseidon had never witnessed her cry. Not when she broke her arm after falling from a tree because one of the Apollo kids shoved her, not when she earned the scar across her nose, not ever.

There were no tears spilling from her gray eyes, but she could feel it.

"At Westover, he was there. Asking me to join him...He...he asked me to join him."

Danica paused, think over her next words carefully. "I...I didn't mention it, we were busy with the di Angelos, and Annabeth, and the hunters."

Thalia sighed, wrapping her muscular arms around her slightly toned frame, tightly hugging her incase she slipped away.

Percy stood awkwardly to their side, not wanting to join the hug. Once they broke up, he looked at her with sympathy and Danica rolled her eyes. "Don't you look at me like that, Percy."

"I'm sorry, Dani." he muttered.

Danica shrugged her shoulders, still attached to Thalia's side. Her mind calmed, drowning away the negative thoughts as she looked at him. Percy was always the calm to her chaos.

A fight between a Hunter and an Ares kid broke out at the basketball court, destroying the energy around them. "I'll go sort that out." said Thalia.

As Thalia disappeared, Percy and Danica stood in silence for a while, watching the silhouette of Thalia Grace and the two others as they tried to sort out whatever was going on. "There's a capture the flag game tomorrow. Hunters v campers. Pretty intense." Percy finally spoke up.

"Yeah, the Hunters won't hold back. That's for sure." she let a small smile grace her lips. "Who's captain?"

Percy scratched the back of his head. "Uh, me and Thalia."

Danica's eyebrows raised in surprise. "That's a risky move. I'm sure you'll be fine, just do as she says."

"Yeah, she's, uh, pretty scary. Just like you." he looked over at her. "You think you can put all that anger into the game tomorrow?" he joked, but stopped once she sent a glare his way.

"Too soon?" Danica nodded, letting out a small laugh.

"If you continue, maybe I'll join the Hunters and take it out on you." she smiled, she drew the dagger and thew it towards the heart of the dummy.

"Okay, see this right here." he pointed to the dagger stuck in the dummies heart. "Is why people are scared of you."

Danica shook her head, "no, i think they just know i'm better."

Percy looked at her with frowned brows, smirking ever so slightly. "Better than who? Me?" Percy made a few steps towards her. "Do you think you're better than me, stargirl?"

Danica walked closer to him, her body just past him but her mouth was near his ear. "Oh, but sweetheart, I know I'm better than you."

Danica walked away from him, leaving him standing in the arena. Percy chuckled to himself, "just you wait, star."

Danica missed dinner that night, she wasn't hungry. Actually, she couldn't eat while knowing Annabeth was still out there, the guilt of not being there filling her insides. It wasn't everyday that Danica Cassidy slept early, being a daughter of Nyx, she was cursed with not being able to sleep, more specifically at night. But after the events of the day, she was worn out.

She felt her droop and the soft chatter from dinner lulled her into a sleep.

Her eyes rapidly looked from left to right under her eyelids, she sat up with heavy breathing hours later. Everyone was asleep in the Hermes cabin, snoring, muttering and drooling away.

"What in Hades is going on?" she muttered to herself. The nightmare or whatever it was, she couldn't tell what, but it was haunting her.

"Are you all right?" A small voice asked her, Danica nodded. "Yeah, Nico, I'm all right."

Even if Danica had told the boy the truth, there wasn't much he could do. Nico positioned himself in a semi confident position against the wall, he was sleeping on the floor, like most new campers did. Danica had instructed the Stoll brothers to make his bed somewhere near her, and they didn't question her.

"I can't sleep." he muttered after a few beats of silence, his voice was a mere whisper. "Bianca choose to become a Hunter and it's...weird not having her here."

Danica sighed, she wasn't sure what to do. "Everyone's first night at camp is different, most of us can't sleep because we're still thinking about our families. I can't say i understand, but i do to some level."

Nico nodded his head, before laying back down and slowly letting sleep take over him. While Danica stared at the wall in front of her, non blinking as she brought back the memories of her first night at camp.