Umbra

Chapter 2

A/N: As promised, I've attached pictures of what I want my OC to look like. I used Daniela Nieves as a rough face claim then generated an AI image because it just made more sense when making a demigod of this particular nature. However, I also really like Eden Masliah's intense look so you can use both of them as a reference. Also, the song 'The Canon' by ruinedbymateo has this vibe that reminds me of Emilia, it's hard to explain but to me it makes sense, probably because of the cover art. Also, as a visual reference to her powers (since we don't yet have any demigod darkness manipulation visuals from the show), I guess the closest thing I would say are the powers that General Kirigan has in Shadow and Bone. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

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Camp Half-Blood, Winter 2009

Everything was already ruined.

How long had she thought it could possibly last? How long could anyone be kind to her? The one person who truly believed she could be good was gone. Where did it leave her?

For four months, she'd done her best to assimilate despite feeling severely out of place. Many new cabins had been built, a huge influx of campers had been sorted around and given a place to call home. Training schedules had to be modified to place those in their own cabins together to take up a slot, which meant she was often made to train with other demigods against her will. Few were at the same level as her. No, most of them were children and she was...

She'd never really gotten to be a child and yet now was marching directly into adulthood. There was no turning back.

The other half-bloods were trying to be kind to her, though she knew that a lot of them didn't trust her and they sure as hell didn't truly want her there (who would?) especially because they were well-aware she'd been on the other side of the war they barely survived. She appreciated it, really, but she still had a hard time showing it. Getting used to expressing emotions the way other people did seemed impossible for her.

She couldn't just pretend to be ecstatic about everything; her enthusiasm was below average and it was hard to tell when something excited her. She laughed, but it remained hollow despite her trying to mimic different laughs she heard around her. Crying when she wanted to was simply never happening, but somehow she managed to cry each time she was frustrated, which happened often because her temper still flared and she grew angry easily. It was hard to talk herself out of negative spirals where she convinced herself everything was horrible and also her fault.

She'd always struggled with social situations because nothing made sense when people approached her. She couldn't sit still during conversations even when they were important because she hardly knew how to tell if they were important. It had been harder to try and learn how to sense what others were feeling even if it wasn't a negative emotion, and exponentially harder to not release bursts of magic that made everyone avoid her like the plague. She was getting better at it (or so she told herself. So she hoped). A few campers talked to her for longer periods of time during activities and some of the younger children didn't necessarily seem frightened of her, just wary.

Some of them even did her great favors. Drew Tanaka from Aphrodite used charmspeak at the DMV to get her a driver's license (though this was mostly at Chiron, Annabeth, and Percy's insistence). Katie Gardner from Demeter taught her to cook. Malcolm Pace from Athena helped her get her high school diploma. Will Solace from Apollo was conducting her therapy sessions to keep the shadows from overtaking her each time she got upset.

Still, it seemed as though all these demigods were meeting a requirement. The only person who behaved like somewhat of a friend without hovering over her protectively was Pollux, son of Dionysus. It had come unexpectedly, given Emilia was partially responsible for the death of his twin brother, Castor. She'd found the doors to the Labyrinth, she'd given Kronos enough of an army to get into Camp Half-Blood.