Until fourteen years old, Cecelia Marquise was a very trusting girl. Sure, she could tell when her friends were bluffing, little things like that- but for the most part, if people said something with conviction, she would believe it. This was an important quality to make her who she is today.
Cecelia came to Camp Half-Blood at the age of ten years old, dropped off by a father she never saw again. She would later find out that he had been taken by the Furies for murdering his older brother- her uncle- in cold blood.
From the moment she arrived, Cecelia was greeted kindly, except for one girl: a daughter of Apollo known by the name of Data Panos. No one knew her real name, or if that actually was her name; but they all agreed, better not to ask, with the way she could and would split an arrow mid-air without hesitation.
Data, since the moment she saw Cecelia, had hated the girl. No one could understand why, not even Data. All she knew was that it was, and it wasn't something that she held back, either. Even in the arena, with her not-so-good skills at swordplay, Data would laugh as Cecelia struggled to fight. She couldn't keep an eye on everything, would either forget to watch her opponent, or to keep her stance correct, or even to keep the sword point from dipping downward. Every time they were put against each other (which wasn't that often, Cecelia was grateful to Percy for), Data would disarm Cecelia in a matter of seconds.
There was one point when she had thrown down her sword at the end of class and simply gone to Percy for help. "I want to know how to fight," the now-eleven-year-old said, eyes filling with tears as she recalled all her failures. "Help me."
"Hey now, don't cry," Percy smiled, looking down at her affectionately. "You'll get the hang of it soon enough. Maybe next time, instead of using a sword, try a dagger?" The son of Poseidon suggested, knowing how much trouble keeping the blade up had given her. That was the main problem; the only thing was, that was the lightest sword they had for the size she needed, and to her, it still felt like lead.
Cecelia considered this, looking from Percy to the sword in her hand, back up to Percy. "I feel like that might work," her face broke out into a grin. "Thank you, Percy!" She threw her arms around him in a little hug, then blushed and darted away to put her borrowed sword back into the weapons shed.
Three years later, her bladework had improved, but not as much as she would have hoped. Cecelia was mediocre at best, easy to disarm on her worst days. By then, she had about given up hope that she would ever be a decent fighter, but at least she had been claimed the year before... it explained her affinity towards the night, certainly, having Nyx as her mother.
It was about three months before her fifteenth birthday when Data said she wanted to be friends. Cecelia was a bit suspicious; she had gotten nothing but scorn for the last four years, and she had tried to talk to Data, but it had never worked before. What was with the sudden change in heart?
"I realized you were right, we might have stuff in common," she shrugged. "What's the harm in at least trying? I know you might not believe me," she added hastily, "but I've got something in the forest for you- a gift to show good faith, if you'll humor me for a bit."
Sighing, Cecelia followed, not very cautiously; the words sounded sincere enough, and what would Data achieve by tricking her this way? It would be a long, long time before she spilled any secrets, making sure that she couldn't be blackmailed or anything. "How long will it take to get there?"
Data thought for a moment as they walked. "Ten minutes? Don't worry, I'll let you know when we're there." She was quiet after that, as was Cecelia, neither really finding any reason to continue the conversation.
Unfortunately, Cecelia was about half a foot shorter than Data, who never seemed to look back; the daughter of Apollo got ahead after a bit, eventually disappearing completely from Cecelia's sight. She followed what she assumed was the right way, until she came to a small clearing, stopping nervously. "Data?" The mousy-brown-haired girl called out quietly, instinct telling her not to be too loud.
There was no response, just a little rustling. Cecelia shifted in anticipation, calling out a bit louder this time, "Data, seriously, where'd you go?"
A huge black mass burst out of the shadows, and Cecelia's mind shut off. Paralyzed, she stared up at the hellhound that towered above her, not a weapon in her hand or a thought in her head; not taking her eyes off the thing, she began to fumble for her dagger, muttering multiple curses. Cecelia finally had to look down as she backed away, pulling out her only weapon, tiny compared to what she had to kill.
When she looked back up, two paws were descending towards her face. Cecelia screamed at the impact and it knocked her to the ground, a sweeping blow that made her sure she was going to end up dead in a couple of seconds.
What happened instead was the sound of arrows whistling through the air, and a howl of pain from the hellhound as it disintegrated. Data, leaping down from her hiding spot in a tree, rushed over to Cecelia's side. "Oh gods, Cecelia, are you alright?"
"Get the hell away from me, you bitch," the daughter of Nyx hissed, having figured out what had happened. Her free hand was clutched to her eyes, the other still holding her dagger. "A gift of good faith? Is that what you call trying to murder someone?"
Data looked horrified, not that Cecelia could see it. "I-I didn't mean for you to get hurt... I just wanted to scare you a bit..."
Cecelia took her hand away slowly, revealing the damage that had been done; three bloody claw marks on both sides of her face were scored down her eyes. "Thanks, Data. I really appreciate your 'gift'." She began to stumble away, unable to see anything; the sun wasn't even fully set yet, but there was nothing. Everything was black, and she had her hands out in front of her so that she didn't walk headfirst into a tree. A couple of times, she tripped over a root, and her already-bloody hands just got even more scratched up when she caught herself in the fall. The pain in her eyes was matched almost equally by the splitting headache, and Cecelia somehow made it to the edge of the forest, not knowing or caring where Data was. Time to go find Chiron.