January 14, 2015

Today Nico and I tried to kill each other. It didn't work out so well. I've been so irritable the past few days. I know I have. If I just got more sleep maybe I wouldn't want to strangle everyone I meet.

Anyway, today in archery I was shooting next to Evelyn, the huntress, and we had an informal competition. She won of course, but I put up a good fight. She's giving me tips and I'm quickly getting better. We were walking back to the mess hall for lunch and talking.

I was so fed up with boys, really everyone, but especially boys. They seem to be dumber than usual this week. I figured if anyone understood it would be Evelyn. There's Nico, who is a jerk, Frank, who hates me, and that Hephaestus kid, Ryan Holt, that keeps trying to sit by me at lunch and be my "friend." I know he's only trying because he thinks that if he can get me to like him he'll have bragging rights amongst the other campers.

So I was telling Evelyn about all this stuff, and she listened very patiently, occasionally rolling her eyes and scoffing. Suddenly Evelyn decided that the solution to all my problems was becoming a huntress.

Of course, with my luck, Nico happened to be walking by at that point. I ignored him and continued my conversation with Evelyn. "Maybe," I mused. "Would Artemis be open to new huntresses? Right now I just feel like giving up on all this stuff."

"No!" Nico practically screamed.

"Woah. What's the big deal?" I asked.

"You can't become a huntress!"

"You're my half-brother, not my Mom. I can do whatever I want," I snapped. I was so fed up with Nico's attitude of mixed hatred and over-protective control. Make up your mind dude!

Nico blanched. I stomped off up the hill. "Wait!" Nico called after me. "Where are you going?"

"Back to my cabin," I replied shortly.

"You can't just walk away when I'm talking to you. You have to listen to me!" He screamed, grabbing my arm. "You can't become a huntress!" His eyes were open wide in panic.

Dark shadows formed and swirled around me, pushing Evelyn away. Nico's grip lessened, but he stood his ground. I pushed harder with my shadows, forcing Nico to let go and back off. He seethed, causing the ground to crack. A few confused ghosts tried to crawl out. I sent my shadows to push them back down. Nico glared at me and widened the crevice. It continued slowly stretching toward my feet. I growled back at him, wishing I could control the earth too and stop the fissure from widening.

I let a couple of the ghostly warriors out and fought for control over them. Nico fought back. They didn't do much but wander between the two of us, uncertain who to side with. I felt a bead of sweat grow on my brow. I released control over the spirits, which Nico would have conquered anyway, and increased my shadow efforts. My best chance would be to contain the warriors rather than control them.

Suddenly, I lost my balance. I stumbled to the side as the rift crumbled the ground underneath me. I caught myself at the last moment, but I lost my concentration and let down my shadows. The ghosts charged at me and I only barely managed to throw off their aim with a few wisps of darkness. I began pushing them back toward the chasm when an arrow whizzed past my head and through one of the ghosts. I turned to see Evelyn standing in a threatening stance with an arrow notched in her bow, ready to fire.

Because things weren't complicated enough, the Hephaestus kid… Ryan came bounding up the hill toward us with a random, spring-filled box in hand. "Hey guys! Look what I…." He took stock of what was going on and quickly sprinted back the way he'd come. "Percy!" he called. I sent a shadow to trip him. I did not need Percy's interference in this. Ryan turned to look at me and I gave him my nastiest glare. He gulped and ran off again, silent this time.

I turned my glare on Evelyn next. I didn't need her help. It's not like Nico and I were actually going to kill each other. We were just settling our argument the old fashioned way, by beating the ichor out of each other. She didn't budge, glaring back.

Several demigods were beginning to gather to watch the fight. They whispered anxiously, some terrified and others excited.

I surrounded Nico and myself in a dome of blackness. "This is between us!" I shouted. "Everyone else can just stay out of it."

"What is your problem?" I hissed at Nico. "One minute you don't seem to care that I exist, the next you want to keep me from making my own choices."

"I could care less what you do with your life, but I care that you have one."

"That doesn't make any sense." The grass around us was withering and growing a layer of frost. I started to turn my anger into fear and send it toward Nico. His eyes narrowed.

A new wave of fear crashed over me, stronger than what I had sent at Nico. I gasped and redirected the fear away from myself. I heard several demigods scream. I looked at Nico's wide eyes. He was adding his own fear to the tension. "What are you so afraid of?!" I screamed, pulling out my sword.

I charged toward Nico, and he met my sword with his own. The two reverberated off each other with a bone-chilling clang. The shadows thickened around us, writhing and taking on a life of their own. I threw a fake punch at Nico's jaw and he caught my fist. My knee swung up into his gut, causing him to bend over. He shot back up quickly, butting his head into my stomach and knocking us both over. I kicked his shoulder as I stood up and grabbed my sword that had flew a few feet away. I turned to face Nico again. I jabbed at his side, but he blocked me. Dark purple smoke rose from the impact, thickening the shadow dome again. He slashed at my cheek, but I twisted and met his sword, with only a small cut. More smoke.

Suddenly a bright light pierced the darkness. Percy's bronze sword sliced into the shadows, allowing him to step between Nico and I. Frank ran in after Percy, joining him with an arrow notched in his bow.

"Stop!" Percy shouted. The shadow dome dissipated, revealing a large, very shocked crowd. Nico and I reluctantly lowered our swords, but we kept glaring at each other.

"What got into you two? You could have destroyed the whole camp!" I looked around. The grass was completely blackened and several trees had begun to wither. Nico's chasm was large enough to fit a hellhound inside comfortably, but I guess a demigod who stumbled into the pit wouldn't be comfortable.

Percy and Frank took us to the head cabin so Annabeth could decide what to do with us. Frank kept an eye on me while we waited in tense silence for whatever miserable punishment would be inflicted on me.

Annabeth finally appeared in the doorway and waved me inside. "You can go teach your class," she told Frank. "I'll be fine." Frank nodded and left. I actually really like Annabeth. She's one of the only people who doesn't seem to care that my father is the lord of death and my brother is the psycho with skeleton armies at his command.

"Claire, please tell me everything."

I told Annabeth about Nico's tantrum because of my conversation with Evelyn, and our subsequent fight.

Annabeth sighed, looking very tired. I suddenly felt guilty for putting all this stress on her. Who else could run a demigod camp and finish a college degree in architecture online, all while being pregnant.

"I'm afraid you'll have to leave Camp Parthenon. We want greeks and romans to learn to live together in peace. I'm sorry, Claire."

I gaped at her for a second.

"You can leave tomorrow morning. Take the rest of today to pack your things and notify your aunt."

"Yeah… okay." I left in a daze. On the way I passed the recreation room. I heard Nico and Percy talking. I stopped next to the door to listen.

"A huntress. She wanted to become a huntress," Nico's breathing sounded hoarse.

"Oh," Percy said. "So, that's what started the fight?"

"... yeah."

"I get it."

"You know, Hades told me to take care of her. The first day we met… Hades asked me to take some hellhounds back to the underworld. He told me that my sister would join me for the quest. 'Do a better job of keeping this one alive,' he said. I thought he was talking about Hazel. I was so stupid."

"But he meant Claire…" Percy realized.

"I think so. If Bianca… if Bianca were still alive…"

I slid backward along the wall to the empty room next door. It was dark. I slipped into the shadows and back to my cabin. I threw my clothes in an old black duffel bag and collapsed on my bed to write this all down.

Bianca. I never knew how she died, only that she had. Did it have something to do with being a huntress? I guess at least I know why Nico was so worried about me all the time. Great. Now I'm starting to cry. It's just… I'm not Bianca. I don't need Nico's protection, I need a brother. But how do I tell him that?