Cursed By The Divine

Chapter Three: Elena

I looked around and it was dark, not regular dark like nighttime. It was soulless darkness, like I was in a bottomless pit. 

Did you really think you could escape me? 

The chilling voice said, it came from all around me. I tried to run but my body wouldn't move, I tried to scream but no sound came out.

I should've killed you when I had a better shot. Now you’ll die a slow and painful death, before you have time to bond.  

I tried and tried to move, scream something. I needed help, I felt like my body was shutting down, my throat was on fire, it felt like I had been coughing for twenty minutes straight again. The sides of my head started pounding, it was getting louder and louder until my frozen body collapsed to the ground.

Such a weak mind. Fantastic.

I shot up in a cold sweat breathing heavily. Light leaked in through the curtained windows. Percy appeared in the doorway, his black hair ruffled and wet from a shower. His CHB t-shirt wrinkled yet clung to his muscles underneath. My face turned a bright shade of pink.

“Breakfast in ten, you alright?” 

I nodded hastily and he walked away. I gripped the sheets in my hands trying to calm down my body heat and my fast heart rate. I’d realized that I was still at camp but strangely I didn’t want to leave as much as I figured I would. I felt welcomed, especially by Percy. He had his moments of being an ass but we all did. I got changed and headed out to breakfast running to catch up with Percy who was talking with Grover.

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“You have to focus Elena. Imagine the wind taking the arrow to the target.” Chiron said to me softly as he tried to teach me archery. 

As you could probably tell it wasn’t going all too well. I took a deep breath and before I let the arrow go I heard a few snickers from the surrounding campers. My focus slipped as I let go, the arrow hit on the outside of the target nowhere near where I was aiming. I sighed in defeat and reached for another arrow. I looked across the field and saw Percy and Annabeth sparring on the pier laughing and joking like the friends they were. I felt a pang of jealousy but I shook it off immediately. 

I have no right to be jealous, I told myself, I’m not his girlfriend and besides we’d just met he probably thinks I’m annoying. It doesn’t matter how cute he is, or how his shirt clings to his- No! Bad Elena! Snap out of it and focus on the bow and arrow in your hands.

Since I was the newbie I had to clean the rage after everyone. Meaning get splinters from the arrows and get myself all nastly looking with oil and dirt clinging to my legs from cleaning the targets. I picked up the arrows and bows and walked over to the weapons shed. I put everything back and the moment I turned around after shutting the shed door I was greeted by a big bulky girl that I would later learn was Clarisse; daughter of Ares the god of war.  

“Fresh meat.” she sneered at me. 

Her big hand gripped the front of my shirt and slammed me against the shed; hard. Now me being weak already due to my illness. The wind got knocked out of me a little and I was paralysed by fear on top of that. 

“Why don’t we give our friend here a taste of the camp's initiation?” she asked her friends. 

They chuckled and nodded, they all looked like tweedle dee and tweedle dumb. With their big bulky heads and large fists. She lowered me to the ground low enough to drag my ankles across the ground, I tried fighting back but my weak noodle arms weren’t a match to her giant gorilla ones. They brought me to the bathroom building thing. You’d think if this place was made by gods they could afford a nicer bathroom but nope. This place made porta potties seem elegant. The bathroom ceiling, walls, and floor were sickly green and slimy.