The Hidden Truth: The Rise [NOT EDITED!]

Chapter 9: Bianca

            I watched as my best friend was getting her ass beaten by the toughest girl at camp. All of a sudden I saw something creep into Jo’s eyes. Fury. She turned and screamed at Clarisse, “WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!!”

                Oh crap. Time to empty the arena. All hell is about to break lose.

                Clarisse appeared to cower for a second before she raised her sword and sliced off about three inches of Jo’s brown, wavy hair. Oh this bitch is going to get it now. Clarisse started to laugh at Jo, who looked like she was about to cry, along with all the Ares cabin kids. After a moment of shock, Jo gave a look that made the whole arena go quiet until Clarisse was the only one left laughing. Jo reared back and launched her sword at Clarisse. Clarisse ducked, turned to face where the sword had landed, and resumed laughing. In the process of turning back to face Jo, Clarisse was knocked clean off her feet. Well that’s what you get for cutting Jo’s hair.  

                Clarisse gazed up at Jo in bewilderment. Jo had raised her fist to punch Clarisse in the nose, but before she had the chance, a glowing set of spears appeared above her head. Everybody stayed silent. I bet you Clarisse is regretting her claim about Jo being a daughter of Aphrodite.  

                Clarisse looked up in annoyance. “You have got to be kidding me!” She shouted loud enough that I’m sure the gods heard her up on Olympus. People in the stands watched the two daughters of Ares closely.

                Leo then whispered to me, “That makes so much sense now. You know, why you had me go and get Clarisse in the first place.” He added when he saw the look of confusion written on my face.

                I looked around the arena and saw that all the campers were staring at Jo and Clarisse, unsure of what might happen next. I scanned the crowd for any sign of Chiron or Mr. D, but saw neither of them. In the middle of the search, my eyes landed on a dark figure standing in the shadow of the arena. The figure was a boy about my height with black hair and olive skin. Nico di Angelo. From his posture, I could tell that he was bent over laughing hysterically with a huge smile on his dark face – no doubt it was over the whole irony of this whole situation.

                Clarisse then pushed Jo off of her and stormed off in annoyance. Jo faced the crowd and stated, “I’m counting that as a forfeit. I win. Anyone want to challenge that?”

                After that, the arena became empty faster than a bottle of water on a smoldering hot summer day. I refused to go back to the infirmary, so Leo walked with me back towards the cabins, seeing that Jo had up and disappeared. It was almost time for dinner, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit down.

                Leo finished telling me about the Argo II when he looked and saw how darkened my face was from the shadows. “Hey, you look a little like Nico right now.”

                I looked up, puzzled. “What do you mean?”

                “I don’t know just your face in the darkness. It’s like ooh spooky!” He said as he wiggled his fingers, imitating a ghost.

                I couldn’t help but laugh at the way he said it, and the fact that it reminded me of a scene from Pirates of the Caribbean. Next thing I knew I was at the Hermes cabin.

                “Well, I’ll see you in a bit for dinner.” Leo called making his way to the Hephaestus cabin; leaving me in the Doorway of the Unclaimed. The first people to greet me were the Stoll Brothers. They took me by the arms and guided me to the bed I would use until I was claimed, if I was claimed, as if they were gentlemen. “Here is your temporary bed, malady!” Conner said to me.

                “How do you know this is my temporary bed?” I asked curiously.

                Travis replied, rather quickly, “Because you are way to pretty to be a daughter of Hermes.”

                Right after he said that, pillows were thrown at him from all directions. The force knocked him down and soon he was out of sight beneath the feathered pillows. From the impact, feathers scattered around the room like little fairies flying around. Jo would love that if there really were fairies here.

                With that a small smile spread across my face as I sat down on the bed. I messed around with the bandage on my arm while I waited for the conch shell to sound. I pulled off the cotton bandage as it started to rub my arm the wrong way. As I unraveled it, I noticed about five dissolvable stitches in my arm.

                “You have got to be kidding me.” I sighed.

                I placed the bandage on my bed and sat up. Conner and Travis came over again.

                “That’s a nice cut there,” Travis said. “What happened?”

                “Metallic pigeons shot through the bus window and cut me.” I said studying the slightly raised cut.

                Conner hissed, “Oww, that’s got to hurt.”

                “It did, but now, not so much.”

                “Probably used nectar to heal it a bit.” Conner said.

                Travis smiled. “Good news is that it won’t leave a scar.”

                “That’s a good thing to you? I think scars are cool.” I said in a small voice.

                Conner added. “Plus you could also lie and say you got it in a bar fight. People will than think you’re all badass and dangerous.”

                I gave them another small smile to the two of them just as the conch shell sounded. I walked up to the dining pavilion with them. I didn’t see Jo anywhere, so I ate with my head down.

                That’s weird, I thought she would have been here boasting about her fight with Clarisse before.

                I only looked up when I felt someone looking at me. Nico di Angelo was staring at me. I gave him a confused look, but he went back to eating as though he didn’t just stare at me.

                After dinner, I decided to skip the sing-along at the amphitheater. I had told Chiron my arm was sore and that I was a bit tired. He gave me permission to leave early before heading down with the campers.

                As I entered the cabin, I headed straight for my bunk. I pulled the blanket up before laying down on the pillow. Once my head made contact with the cool fabric, I was out like a light.