Daughter of Demeter

2

Hi. I'm Anathea Argoson. That last name isn't my real last name, I adopted it in honor of my friend group and because my real one reminds me too much of my past. The chapter you just read was about me getting to camp with Ichneutae, a satyr. The three people who just fought the Cyclops were three campers named Grace, Sara, and Tuck. Tuck was the one I saw getting injured before being dragged off by Ichneutae.

I was 7 years old when that moment happened. As of today, that was 10 ish years ago.

I woke up in an unknown room, in an unknown bed, and surrounded by unknown people. Around me, kids were being treated by other kids. Their injuries varied from broken bones to scratches, to whole limbs being cut off. I turned away, feeling slightly disgusted by the horrible injuries. "She's awake!" I heard someone say. Daphne approached me.

"Hey, sweetie," She said. "You mind telling me your name?" I stayed silent. I saw a flicker of annoyance before it disappeared and she changed her demeanor. "Alright, introductions from your side can be done later," She said. "I'm Daphne, head counselor of the Apollo cabin. Ichneutae has already told you all the stuff about the gods being real, right?"

I nodded.

"Good. I'm supposing you also know this is a camp for demigods?" I nodded again.

"Ichneutae told me everything," I said. Daphne smiled at my first words so far.

'Great," she says. "How about I check your body and wounds to see if you can leave the infirmary?" I froze at her words. Check my body? I don't want her to see it!

Daphne noticed me freezing. "Are you alright, sweetie?" she asks. "You don't like showing your body?" Instead of waiting for my answer, she closed the curtains around the bed, so that we were in a makeshift separate room. "Is this better?" I didn't answer. I still didn't like it, but it was a tiny bit better.

Daphne then took off my hoodie and held in a gasp. "You'll never have to go back to your mortal parents again, do you hear me? Never. This kind of behavior will never happen at camp. I promise you, no one will ever harm you here anymore, you hear me?" I nodded again.

"I'm Anathea," I said.

Daphne looked at me in surprise, probably because of my timing. She then smiled again. "Nice to meet you, Anathea," she said.

Daphne then took some time to take care of my wounds, and with some weird gold glow, she almost fully healed most of them. Only scars were left. I made a mental note to always wear long sleeves, whatever it took.

She then took care of my limp and told me to give it a rest. She'd keep me in the infirmary for at least another day, to make sure I was completely fine. There was 0 resistance on my behalf.

"Is there anything you still need?" Daphne asked me as the evening fell and she brought me my food. "Rihanne and Lyre will take over my shift, so I won't be there. If there's anything, just say their name, alright?" I nodded.

"Okay," I said.

"Good," Daphne said. "I'll see you tomorrow, ok?" With that Daphne walked away, bringing with her my empty plate and leaving me alone again. I looked around, taking in the sight of the infirmary. 2 other beds were occupied, but I couldn't see who was in them because they were talking to each other with their backs towards me.

Then two people walked in. I assumed they were Rihanne and Lyre, two other Apollo kids to take over Daphne's and a fourth Apollo kid's shift.

The girl had waist-long, wavy blonde hair and quite a resting bitch face. The boy had dirty blonde, short hair with a fade on the sides. The boy's face looked a lot nicer than the girl's. They both had blue eyes.

"Alright, guys, off to sleep!" The girl immediately says, resulting in a gentle but firm nudge from the boy. The girl sighed. "If you all would be so nice to go to sleep," She said, this time a lot nicer, but also a lot more forced.

The two kids laid down, but I didn't. I just continued to observe. The girl's eyes met mine, and I quickly looked away.

"Go to sleep, kid," The girl said. She already was on my not-nice list. That list was awfully long, let me tell you that. The boy and girl whispered to each other something like: "I haven't seen her before. Maybe she's new?"

In the end, the boy approached me. "Hey there. Ya new?" He asked me as he gave me a flashing smile. Everything in him seemed to glow as he did so. His eyes, his hair, his skin.. But it was in a nice way.

"Yes," I said.

"I'm Lyre, son of Apollo," Lyre said as he held out his hand. I didn't shake it. As Lyre noticed that he lowered his arm again. "That's alright." He said. "You're going to sleep? If you need anything just say my name, you got that?" I nodded. "Good."

I laid down in bed, and went to sleep. I had a nightmare about dad.