Cassandra's Curse

{12} I would benefit from some anger management classes.

Hello my fellow Percy Jackson Fans! Here is another chapter of cassandra's curse. Have fun.

READ ON!!!

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Chapter 12: I would benefit from some anger management classes.

As soon as I reached the entrance to the arena I stopped and scowled at the straw dummies I saw three twelve year old girls trying to hack to death with swords. I recalled seeing one of them at the Aphrodite table last night.

So I turned and headed for the forest again.

As I took a step through the first of the under-brush I felt a hand encircle my wrist.

I was so sick and tired of this happening that I wrapped my hand around the person’s wrist and dropped to my knees. The momentum of my drop lifted the hand-grabber off the ground and onto their back in front of me.

I studied the Hand-Grabber's face.

He had cleaned up from when I last saw him, which was this morning outside of the campfire, but he was still the Leo I met yesterday.

I stepped back, grudgingly letting him stand.

“What do you want?” I said, putting my hands on my hips.

He got up and dusted himself off. “Honestly Cassie, I didn’t think you’d go all ninja on me. I just wanted to know if you were okay. You seemed really out of it.” He shrugged.

A little me proceeded to beat the guilty feeling swelling up.

I grumbled wordless sentences at him. “I don’t need you to check up on me.” I snapped.

I didn’t know why I was so angry. I just kept going around in circles; my head spinning out of control. I was getting angsty just thinking about looking at a sympathetic face. If my emotions turned the camp-fire that weird maroon colour yesterday, I wonder what colour it’d turn if it was in front of me now?

Leo looked hurt. “I wanted to.”

The guilty feeling lied whimpering in the back of my head.

I felt my jaw clench. I never did need anyone before. I guess I was just reluctant to let anyone else in.

I began to walk away. I was seeking a giant monster to beat the shit out of, or maybe some double-shot coffee with four sugars. It would probably make me more ADHD to everyone but it sharpened my senses and would make me feel much better.

Again, Hand-Grabber-Leo grabbed my wrist.

I resisted the urge to judo-flip him again.

Then I felt my frustration surge through the floodgate.

There was nothing I could do to stop the words coming out of my mouth.  “Why? Leo, I’m not a nice person. It might sound weird to you but I just want to be left alone! I don’t want to be here at all! Don’t you get that? I can’t concentrate; my head is just a time bomb, waiting to explode! The questions whizz around my head, what did I do to deserve Hephaestus’ wrath? Why couldn’t they defend me from him? What is my father’s name?”

I felt his hand jerk off my wrist, I couldn’t face his expression.

“So just go away.” I whispered.

I ran.

*******

I had no idea how I ended up with my feet in Zianna’s river again.

But I was curled up with my feet in the water, and my head on my knees. My normally dry eyes insisted on getting all watery. My mouth insisted on making these blubbering noises; I sounded like a . . . well, a dumpy walrus.

The reminder of Leo made the noises louder.

“Watcha doin’? I heard Zianna say from the water.

I glimpsed her with her legs crossed sitting in the water again. She was wearing black skinny jeans and a blue singlet. Her pixie-like features were mixed together into a confused expression.

I didn’t want to argue with her, so I just shrugged and wiped my nose.

She nodded, “yeah, that totally explains it.” She rolled her eyes.

I didn’t want to talk about my problems, so I asked her about her appearance (the fail-safe for any Aphrodite kid, even one like me). “Why do you appear to me like a human? The naiads in the canoe lake speak in bubble language- uh, no offence.”

Zianna laughed, “I like to be normal, but I can speak bubble if you want me to.”

I shook my head and gave her a reluctant smile, “nah, s’alright. You don’t have to speak bubble . . .” I placed my chin on the palm of my hand.

“Are we gonna talk about the tears or do you wanna talk about something else?” She asked, handing me a handkerchief she supplied from nowhere.

I blew my nose and wiped my eyes. “I just have so many questions. I wouldn’t be surprised if I looked in the mirror and my eyes were shaped like question marks. I need answers. I need them before my brain explodes. Can you fix that?”

She tickled a small fish in the water. “Well, I dunno about fixing so much as supplying advice . . . I assume Chiron told you about Emmanuel?”

I looked at her with a ‘mind blown’ expression. “How did you?-”

She tapped her fist on her chest, “Me; Awesome Naiad,” then gestured to me, “You/Emmanuel; confused demigod. Confused demigod goes to awesome naiad and tells her all about his/her troubles. Awesome naiad tries to help best she can. Got it?” she laughed and then sighed, “I used to know him, he was nice to me, just like you, we talked, I helped him I think. I was considered therapeutic. Like a shrink. Haha.” The small goldfish she tickled seemed to have called its friends, as there was a whole school of them waiting in line.

She tickled them all.

I was shocked. “Wow, you’re really just full of surprises. But I’m not really ready for an awesome therapeutic naiad to be my shrink. But I’ll let you know.”

But somehow she already had made me feel better.

The little Cassie that bashed up my guilty conscience disappeared with a huff.