Born to Burn

001 Youre On Your Own Kid

IMAGINE BEING the daughter of the god of the Underworld. Well, welcome to cabin 13.

Penelope Griffen huddled by the blazing fire. Not because she was cold, because she was trying to toast a marshmallow. It was the first week of summer at camp half blood and it was they first official bonfire of the summer session. She brushed her hair back off her face with her fingers as she began listening to the campers around her, singing, chatting, laughing. The young girl longed to be involved in the summer festivities but things were different for her.

Yes, she was a demi god like all the other campers but she was a forbidden child, daughter of Hades. Penelope stared at her toasting marshmallow as she began to zone out when it suddenly burnt to smithereens in her hand. She huffed and pushed herself to her feet excusing herself from the bonfire without a word.

The walk through camp at night was rather peaceful and Penelope enjoyed the stroll home. She'd been here about 6 years, which is longer than the majority of the campers. It still didn't help her make friends. Penelope looked just like a normal girl. Dirty blonde hair that reached far past her shoulders which she usually kept in braids while training, sparkling blue eyes and freckles splattered across her face which you could easily connect to make the constellations in the sky. She was tall enough for her age and honestly quite cute. She didn't resemble her father in anyway physically but campers still cowered at the sight of her. And if they weren't afraid of her they wanted to challenge her, especially Ares kids.

In fairness although she may look like her mother she did carry some of her fathers traits. She was an excellent fighter but had a short fuse which usually ended with something bursting into flames. But over the years Penelope gained more control over her powers making fire drills happen way less often. What she shared the most with her father was her isolation. Although she was surrounded by campers she always felt alone, just like he did but neither would ever admit that to each other.

And of course there were the prophecies. These kept Penelope up each night. She didn't know the entire prophecies as the gods refused to tell her. But she knew once a child of the big three reaches the age of 16 they will either save or destroy Olympus. She was the only child of the three eldest gods. Poseidon, Zeus and Hades took an oath to not bear any more children with mortals due to great potential for power their children may process. But of course Hades broke the promise. The only reason Penelope is still alive is because Zeus broke it first. Penelope prayed to the gods each night that the prophecy wasn't about her. She knew she couldn't bare the weight of the world on her shoulders. But the other prophecy, deep down she knew there was so escaping it.

Penelope trudged through the doors of her cabin. "Home sweet home" she muttered as she through herself across her bed. The cabin was always eerily quiet, it was the furthest away from all other cabins and she lived by herself. At this stage she talks to herself to keep herself company since barely anyone else would talk to her.

She quickly slipped off her camp gear and put on her short linen pjs. That girl was always overheating. Makes sense because she could literally erupt into flames at any second. It didn't take her long to pass out on her bed either.

Penelope looked around the landscape when she appeared on top of a hill. She recognised it immediately, half blood hill, right at the boarder of camp. The rain was pouring down and the wind nearly swept her off her feet. She stared down the hill noticing two figures hurrying their way up hill. The furious wind and rattling rain made of difficult for the figures to move very far.

"Grover?" Penelope furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at the satyr. He was easily recognisable with his tall stature and curly brown hair that almost hid his horns but not quite. What made him stand out however was the brown goat legs. Grover face was laced in fear as he encouraged the other figure to follow him. Penelope's eyes took in the other figure, a boy around her age, he had dark messy hair, olive skin and bright sea green eyes that shone through the storm. Is that him? Penelope thought to herself.

Was is the boy she keeps dreaming about? What is he doing with Grover? On half blood hill? Penelope took a step forward to get a better view when lightning stuck the ground, lighting up the landscape to reveal what the boys were running from, the Minotaur.

Penelope's eyes flashed open as she sat up rigid in her bed. Her head was a mess. Raindrops hammered against her windowpane. That alone caused her to move at lightning speed. She slipped her ring onto her finger and chucked on her converse as she made a dash out the door. She zipped through the camp as fast as her legs would carry her while the rain drenched her to the bone making her shiver.

Thalias tree swayed above her in the distance guiding her to the edge of camp. Reaching the top of the hill she stood in the same position she was minutes prior in her dream. The sky flashed as Penelope unleashed her sword pygolampída from her ring. Only she was too late for the fight. Looking at the bottoms of the hill she saw the young boy, horn in hand, stabbing the monster.

What in the hades? Penelope's jaw dropped in shock as the beast evaporated into thin air. The storm cleared as the dark haired boy fell to the ground. The daughter of Hades sprinted down the hill towards the unconscious body not even bothering to check her surroundings. Kneeling next to the boy she swept his wet hair out of his face. "It is you." She said mostly to herself as she took in his features. It's the boy that keeps appearing in her dreams. She gently placed her hand on his forehead but retracted it quickly after the weird sensation she felt through her body from the touch of his skin.

"Are you who I think you are?"