{1} Princess - P. Jackson 🔱

"'Backbiter,' more like Backstabber."

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I never hated boys. My list of hate was pretty small since it was only Percy in it. But it was for a short period of time.

Then Luke had the privilege to get in and stand as number one, taking Percy's place.

Have I ever explained why I hated Luke?

Well, we all know that I got at camp when I was seven years old. When I got there I was claimed on the first night, which made me be received pretty well by my siblings. People were nice to me but they never expected much because of who I was the daughter of.

There was this girl who I thought was amazing. I admired the way she was smart and good at fighting, always walking around with her siblings but being protected by this one boy. I was the one who approached Annabeth, asking her how she learned her techniques of fighting.

"Luke taught me, you know, the guy from the Hermes cabin?" She said analyzing me.

"Taught?" I frowned. When you are younger you learn languages fast but not get fluent from one month to another. I still had my difficulties in communicating with others who weren't my siblings. When you are an Aphrodite child, you are born with the gift of knowing French as you start to develop, same thing with Greek, so I had no problem speaking to my siblings. Now with everyone else, they had to be patient with me.

"Yeah, he taught me." The girl also frowned. I itched my arm, trying to process what that word would be. "Uh... he teached me?"

"Like, like trained?" I asked and she nodded. "Yes, Luke trained me."

"Would you, hm, train me then?" I asked hesitantly. "I know how to fight a little, but I'm not that good."

I remember eight years old Annabeth smiling at me. Our friendship grew out of that, she teached me how to fight and as a plus helped me with everything else. Another plus out of that was Luke.

He would often participate in our training sessions, sometimes even helping on new things for both of us. I found him pretty cool, he was smart, patient and knew things that would catch any kid's attention. The way Annabeth would talk about the boy made me also trust him even more.

Even though we were friends, it wasn't like the three of us would always be together. Well, Annabeth and I turned inseparable, sometimes Luke would stick together but he was more on Annabeth's side. I didn't mind, as we grew up I knew their reasons.

I had nothing against him. Why would I ever have?

When people were given quests, I would always urge to go along Annabeth, but Chiron always said it wasn't the time.

For me it would never be the time. As I started to grow up, I noticed how people would underestimate Cabin ten. We were always the ones put to the end of the list. What would a child of Aphrodite be useful for? To help you find a cloth while fighting for your life in the middle of a quest? To stand on the side afraid to break their nails? I even heard once that we would for sure stop a monster while fighting just to retouch our makeup.

That wasn't true. I wanted to prove to others that we were useful. That I was useful for something. Those things made me insecure, made me start to want to learn how to do anything just so I could be chosen by them. And Luke saw everything. He knew about it. Luke and Annabeth were always there giving me support, even though they didn't agree with it.

"You gotta let it go, Maria." I looked up at him. It was hard to look at his eyes and see the new scar he had on his face. We were by the beach the camp had, another quest was given and of course I was still here. "It's not worth it. Risking yourself for the gods?" He scoffed. "Trust me, you are better here. There's no point in trying to prove yourself."

"It's not just the gods... I know I can go out there not just by living among the mortals, I want to help." I looked back at the water.

"You want to show them the worthiness of your cabin, I know that. It's just... what would you get back from it? They don't care, Maria. If your mother didn't like the way her kids were seen, then she would stand up for that. But have her?"

Luke came back from his quest so differently. I had never seen him speak of the gods the way he did that day. I didn't know why, what would be the reason for that. I didn't know what had happened when he was gone.

Then Percy came. With that scowl on his face like he was angry at everyone and judging their souls. You guys already know about our first encounter. He was an annoying little brat.

But that annoying little brat had chosen me.

"You got what you wanted, right?" Luke had asked me. "I guess your prayers were so strong that they sent a boy to take you out."

"The boy is a pain in the ass but at least he saw that I'm capable of going." I turned to face him.

"Did he tell you that was his reason?" Luke sat in my bed as I finished putting my things in a bag.

I stayed quiet, not meeting his eyes. He sighed, "I'm telling you this because I think you deserve to know. I'm your friend, Maria. I treat you like you are one of my siblings. I know the things you can do." He emphasized his last phrase. "The prophecy says that he will be betrayed by a friend. You two can't even say a good morning to each other without starting an argument. He chose you because he knows that there would be no way you would be the one betraying him."

"I... I would never betray anyone." My nails went digging into my palm and he nodded his head, his blond hair glowing even more yellow with the sun.

"Annabeth is more friendly to him than you are, but she was chosen for the same reason. What she did during capture the flag? He also isn't that fond of her. I don't think Grover would do something like that, since they are best friends, but keep an eye for whatever happens." He stood up. "Since you want to go so much I have only one advice; Don't think that the gods will help. They don't care about their kids, it's easier for them to just make another. My cabin doesn't have space for that anymore."

"What if you're wrong?" I asked in a whisper.

"Everyone has their own experiences, Maria. I'm just giving you some advice, accept it if you want. Just do me a favor? As your friend, please leave this conversation between us? There's no point in sharing it with anyone, especially Annabeth. I'll talk to her myself." And with a last look, he went out.

It only made sense to me why he was so angry with the gods when we came back from the quest. Luke was the one betraying the camp. He tried to get Percy to his side and almost killed him.

Betrayal. Something I would never forgive Luke for. While Annabeth felt sadness and didn't believe that, I felt angry. I felt hatred towards Luke, especially when he made my best friend so sad. Whenever Annabeth tries to defend him, it increases my irritation.

And he had the nerve to appear in my dream asking me to join him?

At least Percy was there. Of course that bitch was there.

He was always so awkward but at the same time so determined. He was a kelp head but he was smart. Percy was smarter than people realized. He always knew what he was doing, he had the stupidest ideas that always worked in the end.

But he gets on my nerves like no one else. The way he pulled me that day in his living room? Guys, I got butterflies in my stomach. That had never happened before. I told myself I wouldn't let him do that again. We are going to keep going like always, bickering around.