Children of the Lost Ruler- Ghost Goddesses Book One

I Fight The Urge To Murder The Sons Of The Big Three

    I was fucked.  Completely and utterly fucked.  I stood in shock for a second before sitting down in a nearby chair.  I covered my face in my hands, not believing what just happened.  Salem.  My Salem just disappeared.  “They aren’t on the die, what the fuck?”
    Percy strolled over to me.  “What did you say?”
    “That Salem, Melaena, and I aren’t on the die.  You should know that by now.”
    He glared at me.  “Why didn’t you tell us?”
    “I would’ve, Protista, but you didn’t trust me enough to listen.”  I got up, covering myself in shadows so that they couldn’t see my crying.  Hazel came over, wrapping me in a hug.  “It’s okay, Lara.  Mel’s gonna be fine.”
    I laughed.  “I know that.  It’s Salem I’m worried about.”
    “I thought you didn’t care about us.”
    “I care about him, Hazel.”
    “Oh?”
    “I- I think I like him.”
    She smiled.  “Have you told him yet?”
    “No.  But I’ve kissed him a couple of times.”
       She just smiled wider.  "Lara, I'm sure he knows.  It'll be okay."
        I smiled in return, wiping the tears out of my eyes.  "Thanks Hazel.  How're you holding up?"
       "Not horribly.  I mean, I'm worried, but I know that they're going to be okay."
       "Not raining on your parade here, Haze, but how are you so sure?"
       "Jason's fine, isn't he?'
       I shrugged.  "He's still a presumptuous asshole, if that's what you mean."
       She giggled.  "He's not that bad when you get to know him."
      "That's a funny joke."

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      It didn't take long for me to feel the urge to commit a murder.  Percy wouldn't stop nagging me about the die, and Jason and Piper wouldn't stop the PDA.  I wanted to kill them all.  I went to Salem's room, which he would share with Nico and Will on a normal day.
    I flopped down onto his bed, the same place where I’d woken up mere minutes ago, and pulled out my music.  Deciding that I wanted something different, I hit shuffle on my New Politics playlist.  Even though I wasn’t very tired, I somehow managed to fall asleep.  I wish I hadn’t.

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My sister shook me awake.  “Lara.  Lara!”
    I groaned, turning over.  “What do you want?”
    “Mom says that you have to leave.  I don’t want you to!”
    I smiled sympathetically.  “I know.  I really don’t want to.  It’s not my choice, though.  My powers are too strong.”
    She frowned.  I knew that she wouldn’t understand, but I also knew that it’d be two years until I saw her again.  I hugged her, shouldering my bag.  “Cause mom a lot of trouble for me, okay, Rissa?”
    “You got it!”

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About two years later, I was training with Anna and Percy.  “That’s really good, Lara!” He praised.  “You’re doing great with that.”
    I laughed.  “If you say so.  I still prefer my whips.”
    “We know,” Anna responded, touching her arm that I’d nicked during training the week before.
    Percy indicated for us to go again, but as soon as I’d raised my arm, the horn blew.  I dropped it, immediately grabbing my cat o’ nine tails.  The three of us ran to the entrance of Camp, joining the fight without hesitation.  I’d managed to kill three monsters by myself before noticing Will Solace carrying a little girl on a stretcher.  I sprinted after him, sitting right outside the infirmary.  He came back out, and I stopped him.  “Do you know who it is?”
    He frowned.  “No.  Do you think you might?”
    “Can I check?”
He looked skeptical.  "Why don't I go with you?"
I nodded.  "That's fine."
He took my hand, leading me back to where he'd set her down. I gasped, running to her.  Larissa, covered from head to toe in cuts and bruises, was motionless next to me.
Her eyes were barely open as she met mine.  "Lara," she whispered.
I nodded, wiping my tears away.  "Hi, Rissa."  I couldn't comprehend what I was seeing.  Though my little sister was only a demigod, she still meant everything to me.  "What happened, Ris?"
She tried to smile.  "Big monster.  Not nice."
"Oh.  It's gonna be okay, you know that, right?"
"I know."
"Good."
Rissa recovered fairly quickly, and within a month, she was training with me.  After a particularly intense session, I decided to take a break and visit Malik in Cabin Thirteen.  I told Rissa to go take a nap in our cabin, since she hadn't slept well the night before.
Knocking on the door, I was greeted by a grumpy Nico Di Angelo.  "What?"
I smiled at him.  "Is Mal in here?"
He nodded, moving out of my way.  He and I talked about the Hades part of my abilities that I didn't get to use much, and he told me that he'd work on setting up a training schedule for me to develop them better.  "I can talk to Annabeth about adju--"
He was cut off by a piercing shriek.  We ran outside to see one of the Apollo kids carrying a limp girl in her arms.  I screamed, sprinting after her.  Right before I walked into the infirmary, though, someone grabbed me around the waist.  "Lara.  You don’t wanna go in there."  It was Percy.
"Who is it? Are they okay?" I sobbed.
He sighed.  "It's Rissa."
I let out another scream, twisting in his grip and pounding on his chest.  "Let! Me! GO!"
He shook his head, tightening his grip as he pulled me into his lap like a baby.  I clung to him, sobbing.  After about twenty minutes, Malik took over while he talked to the doctors.
"Lara."  Percy's voice was hushed and somber.  "I'm so sorry.  They didn't get to her in time."
I screamed for the third time, breaking into a ball of tears and anger.  Percy took me from Malik, rocking me back and forth until I fell asleep.

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I woke up drenched in sweat.  Getting up from the bed, tears streaming down my face, I walked to Percy's room and knocked on the door.  He opened it, his face contorting in shock when he saw me.  "Still?"
I nodded, letting out a sob.  He pulled me into a hug.  "That's what it was, Perce.  At the House of Night.  That's what it was."
"I know." He guided me over to his bed, sitting down on the edge of it next to me.  "Do you want to talk about it?"
I nodded again, sniffling.  He squeezed my shoulder in reassurance, and I told him exactly how I was feeling.