Oh Shoot! (Archery Practice - Come join at your own risk)

I'm going to suck at this.

Selene's first day back at camp couldn't have been any worse. She had ripped her favorite shirt while climbing into her bunk, spilled water on one her cabin mate's sheets and made a fool of herself the moment she stepped into the cabin. Why, oh why in the name of the gods did she agree to try staying in camp for a year? She could remember Sofia's innocent look and sweet voice as though she was right there with her: "Come on Selene, baby, give it a try. You'll make a lot of friends there, just be yourself. Camp will be perfect for you."

Yeah mom, everything's perfect right now, Selene thought grumpily, kicking the gravel beneath her feet as she made her way to the arena, Just peachy.

But she had a reason to be here, one that she was clutching tightly in her hands: a long slender, silver bow. Slung across her shoulder were a bunch of silver arrows. A gift from Artemis herself. The goddess' suggestion that she join her hunters still rang clearly in her ears, and Selene's step became livelier as she made her way to the archery range, where arrows were flying in all directions. Selene watched a bunch of Apollo kids for a moment, mesmerized at the sureness of their hands as they loaded their bows, the steadiness of the arrows they sent flying into the bulls-eye.Yes, this was her purpose, her destiny! She was a daughter of Apollo and a niece of Artemis. Archery was in her blood, it coursed through her veins! She was going to be a natural ----

Her first arrow lodged itself three feet away from the bull's eye.
The second arrow didn't even touch her target.
The third arrow pierced the bull's eye! And Selene would have peed with happiness...if she hadn't been aiming for the target next to it.

This is useless! She thought unhappily. She needed a teacher.

“

Raziel slipped the arrows back in her quiver, having just finished a round full of perfect bull's eyes. She could feel the Apollo kids' stares burning her back and she smiled, albeit a little smugly, pretending not to notice. The snatches of conversation she caught made her grin even wider.

"Damn, she's good."

"Are you sure she's not our sister?"

"Hope so. I'd ask her out if I could."

"Bad idea, man. You don't wanna mess with her - she's a Titan kid."

"Holy smokes! Are you for real?"

At this point, Raziel couldn't help but snort, and she swore that the boy who had declared his interest in her turned crimson and took a few steps back. She threw him a wink, holding back a laugh at his fear-stricken face, before turning her attention back to the targets to resume her training. Silly boys. Flipping her dark dip-dyed locks back, Raz notched an arrow and took aim... when a silver arrow whizzed past, hitting her target. A bull's eye too!

"Wow," Raziel said, tracing the arrow's path to a girl clutching a matching silver bow, "showing off, are we?"

Oh Shoot! (Archery Practice - Come join at your own risk) Olivia-Culpo-11-463x300

Selene trudged grumpily to the wrong target she had hit to retrieve the arrow that was lodged in the bull's eye mark. She had spied a couple of her siblings admiring another girl earlier and had to admit she felt a twinge of jealousy. They didn't even notice me.

And why should they? The girl next to her had been shooting one bull's eye after another. And she wasn't even an Apollo kid! Maybe I'm adopted. Maybe my real parent is some minor god who decided to play a trick on me. Maybe the girl with the dark hair is the real daughter of Apollo and we got switched at birth. "Or maybe I'm going crazy." Selene muttered hopelessly, shoulders slumped in defeat. What kind of an Apollo kid can't shoot? She must be the only one in history.

Focus Selene! Enough sulking and more practicing!

It happened when Selene reached the target: you know that feeling when the skin on the back of your neck tingles whenever someone's looking at you? That's what she felt as she pulled the arrow out and she quickly turned to see who was staring. It was the girl with the dark hair, an arrow notched into her bow and a curiously smug grin on her face.

It didn't take long for Selene to put two and two together. "Oh, I'm sorry." she said, hastily jamming the retrieved arrow into her quiver. "Sorry, I missed my target. Carry on." With that she shuffled back to her place, careful not to look in the girl's direction. She notched an arrow and took a deep breath - Relax, the girl is not looking at you, nobody's looking at you, mind your own business - pulled the string back smoothly, willing her hand to stay steady even though the string was too taut, too tense - Don't be bothered, bowstrings are meant to be tense. Deep Breaths, deep breaths - leveled her aim - Please! - and shot!

It missed.

“

Despite the girl's request to carry on, Raziel's eyes lingered on her for a few moments, at least until she missed her target entirely. That was when Raziel lowered her bow and brought a hand to her lips. She shouldn't be laughing, she knew, but who could help it? May the gods have mercy on her. And those who just happen to walk by while she's practicing. Huh, maybe it'd be safer for everyone if she were aiming at them. And at that, she mashed her lips into a thin line. Bursting out into hysterical fits of laughter would be rude.

Letting her own arrow fly, she only felt a tad bit disappointed when she missed the bull's eye by an inch. At least she hadn't totally missed her target... "So," she began in a carefully controlled voice, loading another arrow into place, "what's your name?"

Selene watched as the girl's arrow hit her target an inch off the bull's eye. Damn, she's good. Probably would have aced that hit if she hadn't been laughing at Selene's miss. Oh yeah, no loud laughter was needed, the girl's body language was clear: she had been watching Selene. How embarrassing.

When the girl asked about her name, Selene didn't answer right away. She didn't want anyone to think she was paying the other girl too much attention. But in reality, every nerve in her body seemed to be responding to her presence. Was it because of some kind of powerful magic radiating from the girl? Selene's brother did mention she was a titan kid. The hair on her arms tingled as she processed that. A titan kid? Children of titans were mostly gods, weren't they? Suddenly Selene felt the urge to run as fast as she could away. Was she standing next to someone dangerous? Calm down, don't jump to conclusions just yet. Try to look cool. She swiftly loaded her bow and shot another arrow. It missed again.

That's it, I've had it!

Nearly throwing her bow to the ground, Selene turned to the girl sharply. "Can you please teach me how to shoot?" she blurted out, despair cracking her voice. Blood came rushing to her cheeks when she realized how rude she sounded. "Oops, sorry. My name's Selene Cruz by the way, daughter of Apollo. Nice to meet you. What's yours? I mean, what's your name? Mine's Selene. Er, but I already said that, didn't I?"

“

Raziel's eyebrows shot up as the girl progressed from an uncontrolled outburst to a string of sentences that oozed less confidence the more she went on. "Yes, you did," she said, not even bothering to keep he amusement out of her voice. She had seen a few insecure girls around and even talked to some, but she was usually met with only a handful of words if not silence. And they usually scurried away before the conversation could progress further than small talk. The titan thing must have scared them away, she supposed. Quite sad actually, but Raz had gotten used to it over time.

The daughter of Hyperion considered Selene for a few moments. Would she turn out to be like the rest? From the look of her face, Raziel assumed that the girl was trying hard not to run in the opposite direction. She must really want to learn how to shoot.

She turned back to her target and shot - the arrow barely lodging in the center of the bull's eye. "The name's Raziel," she said, not even sparing Selene a glance as she loaded another arrow. Keep your eyes on the target in all stages of shooting. That was one of the most important things she learned from her years as an archer. "Daughter of Hyperion." She shot once more - another bull's eye. Assuming a nonchalant front, she loaded her last arrow. "You don't want the string that's too tight. Or else..." The arrow flew across the air, towards a camper's head a few yards away when the boy's sleeve suddenly caught fire. He jumped to the side, barely avoiding the wayward arrow that could've been lethal.

Raziel appeared unfazed as the archer put the fire out. She watched him confusingly look around for the source, because fire can't just simply appear out of nowhere. At least, unless Raziel wasn't around. "That can also happen if you shoot with a bent arm," she continued as if nothing happened. In reality though, she was more than relieved that she had quick instincts. She definitely didn't need another injured camper under her belt.

She watched Selene closely. "Got it?"

Selene was aware her mouth was hanging open but she didn't care.

The girl - Raziel - had shot consecutive bull's eyes, almost killed somebody and almost burned somebody's shirt...and she acted like it was nothing! Like it some part of her daily schedule or something! 11:30 - shoot some bull's eyes. 11:35 - shoot some random head off. 11:40 - barbecue somebody's shirt off. Darn show off.

Selene didn't know where all the anger was coming from but this Raziel girl was definitely rubbing off on her the wrong way. But she knew she had to be careful - she needed friends, not enemies. And especially not a kid of Hyperion. So she bit back her scowl and loaded her bow. "A kid of Hyperion, huh? That's pretty cool." Keep your arm straight and don't let the string get too tight. "So, technically, you're not a demigod. You're like, uh, a demi-titan." Selene shot the arrow and to her delight. it hit the target. Not a bull's eye, but still. She thought, grinning widely. She hurriedly pulled another arrow from her quiver and loaded another shot. In her haste and excitement, the string was still too loose when she let the arrow fly. This time it missed spectacularly.

Embarrassment flooded her every being as the grin quickly faded. She could just imagine how much Raziel (and anyone else who was watching) was struggling not to burst into laughter. Selene felt her face heat up as she remembered how lazily Raziel sent her arrows flying. And so it was with unnecessary harshness when she demanded: "So what the heck are you doing in camp if you're not a demigod anyway?"

“

The smug smirk melted off Raziel's face. "Excuse me?"

Raziel didn't know how to comprehend this girl. One moment she looked like a kid on Christmas day then in the next, well, she was acting as if Raziel had committed murder. She almost had, but that didn't count. Bristling, she reached for the quiver on her back only to grope the empty air. Damn, she had used her last arrow on that near-fatal shot. Luckily for Selene, too.

Still, her lack of weapons didn't stop her from advancing towards the daughter of Apollo with an aura of calmness and... heat? Was that perhaps the reason why the nearest campers had started to back away? Or was it the dangerous glint in the girl's eye that spelled disaster?

"So is this how you treat people who try to help you improve your lousy aim?" Stopping directly in front of her, she met her eyes with a piercing glare. "And would you rather that I join my uncle and watch this place burn?"

Oh Shoot! (Archery Practice - Come join at your own risk) Tumblr14

The other kids were slowly inching away as the daughter of Hyperion stormed her way close, and Selene would have done the same...if she wasn't Raziel's target.

Ordinarily Selene would have meekly apologized. Heck, if someone as scary as Raziel had glared at her and commanded her to lick their shoes, Selene would have done so. But there was a chance that the gods were watching. And for some reason, she felt that to back down was to disappoint both her father and Artemis. Wasn't this the reason why she was enduring camp? To learn how to be tough and stand on her own feet? And so, she forced herself to look up into Raziel's green eyes.

If looks could kill...

"I never asked you to teach me how to improve my lousy aim."she retorted hotly, crossing her arms across her chest to hide the fact that they were shaking. "Okay... so maybe I did. But I didn't tell you to show off." Her voice grew smaller, the fear of retribution overpowering her momentary courage (or stupidity, depending on the perspective). The other campers had stopped whatever they were doing and was watching the scene with a mixture of terror and incredulity. She spied some fleeing the arena quietly, most probably afraid of being burned to a crisp, as Raziel looked mad enough to set the whole place on fire. But among the spectators was the boy who Raziel almost shot, and the sight of his scared face brought new strength into her voice. "And you didn't have to shoot anyone either. Or set that boy's sleeve ablaze. I asked you teach me how to shoot, not to hurt some unsuspecting kid!"

The last sentence ended in a shout that brought about gasps from the audience. On the bright side, some of day were looking at her in admiration.

The bad news? Most of them were staring at her with sad, sorry eyes, as if to say, "Farewell, nameless demigod, farewell."

Last edited by Summer~ on Fri Dec 28, 2012 1:32 pm; edited 1 time in total

“

The girl must be either incredibly brave or downright stupid. Maybe both. Hadn't she just seen Raziel set the kid's shirt on fire? Oh wait, she did. But had she realized that the daughter of Hyperion could easily pull the same stunt on her? Apparently not.

"Showing off? I call that practicing, which is the sole reason why I'm here. Honey, if you're jealous, try not to take it out on the rest of us, hm?" Raziel countered, crossing her arms. If she had noticed how one could easily hear a pin drop from the total silence that consumed the place, she didn't let on. Instead, she held the girl's gaze with narrowed eyes. A small part of her wondered how long it would take for the kid to pee herself.

"And please, if I hadn't set the guy's sleeve on fire, his head would've been skewered." Raziel shook her head, wondering if the Selene had taken that into account before she shouted her accusations. "Also, for your information, it was not in my intention to shoot him. Didn't I just make it clear that shooting with a very tight bowstring could lead to an arrow flying to a random direction? Had I known beforehand that it would be heading for the kid? No. I'm a daughter of Hyperion, not a damn oracle."

Leaning closer, she shot a hand out and gripped Selene's shoulder. If the daughter of Apollo had shown any reaction to being touched by something that had the temperature of a boiling kettle, Raziel didn't appear to notice. "I'm pretty sure that the feeling's mutual but I just want to make it clear," she hissed in her ear. "I. Don't. Like. You."

And that was when her hand literally flared up.

Selene was strong enough not to make a sound when Raziel brought her scorching hand down on her shoulder, but when it burst into flames? Well, that called for some seriously terrified yowling.

Though, come to think of it, it wasn't that bad. After all, everyone else but Raziel was screaming along with her.

She shrugged off Raziel's grip and backed away with frenzied movements, jumping up and down and yelping, looking exactly like those cartoon characters catching fire on TV. As a child, how many times did she laugh when Jerry caught fire while chasing Tom? Cartoons made it look so comedic, which was completely the opposite of what she was feeling now.

She frantically tried to put the fire out with her hands but the little air she was able to produce seemed to only fuel the flames even more. In her terror, she seemed to imagine the blaze growing stronger and spreading way too fast. Either that or the fire Raziel made was magical. Selene's flimsy shirt burned easily and in no time at all, she felt the tongues of the fire licking her skin, setting every pore screaming in pain. She had never been burned in her life, never even experienced getting scorched by a mishap with the kettle. The closest thing she experienced was drinking coffee that was much too hot. And that was nothing to the pain she was in now.

She dropped to her knees and, without thought, started to roll across the floor. It took a while but the fire finally died and she sat up immediately, clutching her shoulder. No one had taught her that survival trick but instincts must have kicked in. In time too, because a second longer and the side of her shirt would have burned right through - and she didn't really fancy the thought of her reputation plummeting from "unknown" to "the-girl-who-got-baked-and-naked".

More than anything Selene had wanted to fire a series of retorts at Raziel, to make a speech that will leave the daughter of Hyperion speechless. But her shoulder demanded her attention more. She teared up at the sight of her burned flesh, black and raw red, blistering right before her very eyes. Before anyone could make a move however, her skin started to change. The blistering stopped and the redness slowly faded, the scarred flesh returning to their original smoothness. Dead skin flaked off and new skin grew in its place and Selene felt like she was watching a wound's recovery in fast forward. It creeped her out more than when she was burning and she started to scream again: "WHAT'S HAPPENING?"

“

Ah, the screaming. How fun it was to be the only one who wasn't losing her head when it was all that the world seemed to do! A grin fought its way to Raziel's lips and she watched the scene unfold right before her eyes. It wasn't in her plans to kill the daughter of Apollo, actually. Just hurt her a lot. But before Raziel could call it quits and will the fire away, Selene had taken care of it herself. One less job for me, I suppose, Raziel thought, only to catch sight of the angry-looking burn on the girl's shoulder. Her face softened for a split-second - an emotion people could've missed if they weren't looking close enough - but the demititan already turned away.

Raziel didn't need words to tell how everyone's glares burned her back as she went to retrieve her arrows. It didn't matter. She was used to animosity even before she had been declared a daughter of a Titan. Besides, it amused her how hushed whispers flew around her back when no one would even dare to meet her eyes. They were angry, yes, but at the same time, they were scared. Sometimes, fear kept people from doing the possible, kept them from calling her out like what Selene had done. And a little part of Raziel couldn't help but admire the girl for that.

Slipping her last arrow back in the quiver, Raziel threw a glance over her shoulder. Had someone in the crowd realized that it was more productive to help the girl in need rather than glare at the trouble-maker? Apparently not, considering how none of the spectators had moved since the start of the incident. But then, Selene didn't seem to need their help anyway. Not when her skin looked like it was good as new. A look of confusion flitted across Raziel's face before fading into one of understanding. The kid was a daughter of Apollo. One who obviously wasn't familiar with one of the fields that Apollo kids excelled in. Instead of voicing her thoughts, Raziel decided to let Selene find that out for herself.

Satisfied with the way things looked, Raziel resumed her walk out of the arena. Campers scurried out of her way, and as she turned their back on them, she could still feel their sharp eyes condemning her like all the others had done. Her grip on her bow tightened and she quickened her pace.

Sure, Raziel was used to resentment, but that didn't make it any easier.

Selene watched with utter amazement as her skin healed and rejuvenated back to normal. The other demigods who crowding around her were pointing and whispering excitedly among themselves. Damn it, a little help? She had to admit she felt a spark of annoyance when no one had even bothered to help her. Even her siblings from the Apollo cabin simply stood there, watching her while muttering in hushed voices among themselves. She stood up shakily, swiping off the blackened shreds of her shirt to get a better view of her burnt shoulder. Yep, smooth and good as new.

The momentary confusion dissipated as quickly as it came: Apollo, god of healing (among other things)...of course. It didn't take a genius to understand. Selene had never known she had this kind of power. Never. And why would she? She's never been under attack before. She was a healer - or rather, she could heal herself! That. Was. Awesome.

Or maybe, it was just this one time? Maybe Apollo was was watching and took pity? Maybe it was Artemis? "Ugh," Selene groaned, rubbing her head. Forget the shoulder, her head was throbbing like crazy from all the emotions mixing inside of her right now. The turn of events was just too overwhelming to process at the moment. She'll deal with everything later.

Everything but her.

Selene turned to look at the daughter of Hyperion but too late, she was already walking away. The crowd was staring daggers at Raziel as she stormed out the arena, bow tightly clutched in her hand. But no matter how sharp their glares were, they all frantically parted as she got close. The moment the demititan was out of sight, everyone in the arena started rushing towards Selene.

"Oh my gods, are you okay?" cried a daughter of Aphrodite that she had never met. "That was so scary! Here, take a bite, go on." She prodded, handing Selene a small cube of ambrosia.

"No, no, I'm fi-"

"You got burned pretty good, I mean, pretty bad! Why didn't you tell us you were a healer?" demanded an Apollo kid, sounding half-resentful and half-impressed.

"I didn - "

"That Raziel kid, she's too dangerous to be here with the rest of us!" declared a son of Athena viciously, while the other kids nodded in agreement. "This isn't the first time she's lost control, is it?"

"It isn't!"

"We should report this to Chiron!"

As the crowd cheered their approval, Selene felt her heart sank. How was it that she was surrounded by a crowd - finally the center of attention - and still she felt utterly alone? No one was listening to her insisting she was okay, or to her refusal to go to the infirmary. Everyone was tripping over one another to make sure she was fine but she felt untouched by their concern. "I need some air." She finally choked out, shoving people away as she squeezed her way out of the circle the crowd had formed around her. "I NEED SOME AIR!" She shouted in frustration when they wouldn't give her space to pass through. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

Once outside the arena, she had to clutch a nearby post to keep her knees from buckling over. Her heart was still thumping like a little drum and the fast rush of blood and emotions made her feel dizzy. She kept replaying Raziel's exit in her head: The fear in the arena had been almost tangible. And clearly, everyone watching had been outraged but was also too frightened to do anything. Hadn't they all started to move only when Raziel was out of the picture? Cowards. It made Selene feel like the bravest person in the world.

But that wasn't what bothered her when she saw Raziel walk away. It was the way Raziel held her shoulders: firm, resolute, without a trace of regret. Other people may view this as arrogance. Selene, however, knew better. It was the stance of a person who was stubbornly showing the whole world that she didn't give a care whether they liked her or not, the stance of someone desperately trying to pull it together. Selene knew that stance better than anyone else - she had been perfecting it for the last ten years.

She suddenly realized how alone any child of a titan would feel in camp. Especially now, when the titans were waging war against them all. Selene had always felt left out because she was weak, perhaps Raziel felt the same but for the opposite reasons?

I can't believe I'm actually going to do this.

Raziel couldn't have gotten that far away unless she was running. And Selene had a feeling Raziel wasn't the type to run fleeing from a scene like earlier. She was most probably walking away with her head held high, looking every person she meets right in the eye. Still, she's had a good head start and if Selene wanted to catch up with the daughter of Hyperion, then she'd better move fast.

"Raziel!"

kim raziel swift daughter of hyperion

“

The sound of her name made Raziel's head snap up and she turned to see who was thick enough to follow her out. Her bow and arrows were gone and at a closer look, she now wore two accessories that hadn't been there before -a black bracelet and necklace bearing gold marks that resembled those of her weapons. The absence of bow and arrows did nothing to make her appearance less intimidating though. She still held her stance, shoulders squared and head held high. Almost as if she was ready for round two.

Selene was still quite a distance away when Raz stopped to consider her. "When I set people on fire, they usually run away," she remarked, cocking an eyebrow. The girl had guts (or a huge dose of stupidity, perhaps?), she had to admit. Especially when she realized that none of the other people in the arena had dared to follow her.

"What do you want?" she demanded, folding her arms across her chest. "Do you want to test how far you can heal?"

Selene had no idea why she was trying to make peace with such a hostile person. But then again, the greatest memories are made from the craziest ideas, right? And this definitely ranked high on her list of crazy.

"Err, no," She replied hastily, skidding to a stop about a hundred yards from Raziel. The demititan still looked furious so she decided it would be best to stay out of grabbing range. Because no, she did not want Raziel to test how far she can heal herself. But now that she was here, she realized she had no idea what to say to Raziel. "I-I guess I came to apologize." She mumbled awkwardly, eyes dropping to her feet.

OOC: sorry for the really short post, I'm off to read about Jin Yu cheers

kim raziel swift daughter of hyperion

“

"You came to apologize," Raziel repeated, drawing the words out with her tongue to make sure she heard right. Huh. Selene wanted to apologize. The fire must have knocked some sense into her in some way. After all, the girl did provoke her, didn't she?

Still, that didn't stop Raziel from gaping at the daughter of Apollo almost like a fish out of water. Usually, when she set people on fire, they expected her to apologize and not the other way around. It happened so much that Raz simply stopped hoping for them to realize that most of the time, they had started the fight, that she was only trying to get even. Keyword being most of the time.

Taken by surprise by the sudden turn of events, Raziel just... laughed. She didn't know why but Selene amused her to no end. "Fine," she said, smirking. A short pause. It was her turn to say sorry, right?

Yeeaaaaaa - no.

"See you around, daughter of Apollo," Raziel said, still snickering as she turned to leave.

Selene rolled her eyes as Raziel started to walk away haughtily. Geez, honestly, she had no idea why she's trying to befriend this girl. Raziel was probably the most stubborn person she's ever met. She watched her walk away for a moment, unsure of what to do. Part of her wanted to walk away and just forget everything that happened today. After all, she had already apologized, hadn't she? But the other part...

Yaaaah...the other part wanted to follow the first part and walk away too...Selene sighed.

Screw it.

Selene ran up to the daughter of Hyperion and grabbed her shoulder to turn her around "You accepted my apology but you didn't even bothered to ask why I was apologizing. I'm sorry that I said those things back at the arena, they were harsh, yes...but you did almost kill that kid you know. You should have been more careful, that's all I'm saying. But yeah, I'm sorry that I blew a gasket. But you nearly melted my shoulder, so I guess we're even. And I know you're probably think I'm nuts for what I'm going to say, but I'll say it anyway: I want to be your friend."

As the words rushed out of her, Selene held her breath for Raziel's reaction. Every word she said was genuine and she really was hoping that she and Raziel would get along, despite everything. But Raziel was unpredictable - would she say yes? Or decide that Selene was getting too annoying and give her an early cremation?

Just for precaution's sake, she took a big step back.

kim raziel swift daughter of hyperion

“

Raziel watched Selene with a bored look on her face. The girl was amusing, yes, but also annoying. She couldn't decide which of the two traits outweighed the other. "I already knew why you were apologizing. I'm not a goldfish, okay? My memory's still as good as new, so why ask?" she flicked her wrist as if swatting away an imaginary fly. "And true, I admit you have a valid point. But see, even if I almost killed the kid, I also saved his life. It just evens out."

After explaining herself, Raziel crossed her arms and stared at Selene as if trying to make heads or tails of her. She sighed a few moments later. Selene was still confusing as all hell. "Congratulations, you have just won the Raziel award for the weirdest person I've met all week."

She barked a laugh, shaking her head before letting a solemn look cross her face. When she spoke, her voice was no longer tainted with amusement. It was of curiosity and something else - a feeling she couldn't quite place.

"I nearly shot an arrow at some kid's head. I freaking set your shoulder on fire. Everyone in that arena almost peed their pants because of me." She paused, staring the demigod straight in the eye. "Why are you still bothering to try?"

Why was she still bothering to try? "That's a good question." Selene muttered darkly to herself, running a hand through her hair in frustration. Why was she bothering with Raziel? It was clear Raziel wasn't tripping over to be her friend. And Selene wasn't even sure herself why she was working so hard to keep up a conversation with a person who clearly didn't want to talk to her any longer. Sure, she was feeling a little alone in camp. But if friends were what she was looking for, there were plenty of nicer, less lethal demigods in camp.

So why was it so hard for her to turn her back and walk away from the daughter of Hyperion?

"I don't know why I'm trying so hard, okay?" she finally cried, more to answer the voices inside her own head than to Raziel. "I just thought...I just thought, w-when I saw you back in the arena, when everyone avoided you like a plaque - I mean plague - I just thought, maybe you were feeling a little lonely. So I thought you'd like a friend."

Selene gulped as she realized a proud person like Raziel might not appreciate what she just said. After all, when people felt sorry for her, Selene got irritated too."I didn't mean to say you didn't have any friends! I'm sure you do! I-I-"

She sighed, throwing up her arms in exasperation, giving up on trying to sound right.

"I didn't have any real friends in camp 'cause I'm a weakling. It was lonely as hell, but I pretended I didn't care whether I was alone or not. I told myself I didn't give a damn on what other people said about me. When you walked out of the arena, you reminded me of me, when I was trying my best to show the world I didn't need them. I wouldn't have a clue what it felt like to be a daughter of Hyperion but from what I saw, the other kids are afraid of you...so maybe, you were feeling alone too. People gave up on me a long time ago. I don't think I want to do the same to you."

After a heartbeat of awkward silence, Selene forced out a weak chuckle. "I'm getting a little creepy, huh?"

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