The Last Of Persephone

4 | Impertinence, The Greatest Asset For Anti-Bullying

"You trying to insult me? Huh?!" He grabbed her by her hoodie, but she didn't thrash around, knowing that it would only cause bad things.

"Yes," she answered simply. "I am quite impertinent when it comes to bullies. You should be well-aware that I am just as impertinent as you need me to be for you to shut up."

The bullies kicked her as they threw her back onto the ground, and although she knew they would leave bruises, they were nothing some time and patience couldn't fix. But the final blow is what really stung.

"I bet you're just an orphan that doesn't have anyone! That's why you turned to Lacy the Lame for help. You know how pathetic that is?" He sneered, and she snapped.

She clenched her fists to her sides. The ground began to shake, and the boys lost their grip on her as it rose and fell, the same black cracks forming out of the ground where she stood, just like before. They split open, and the same green vines wriggled from out of it, and curled around her, circling her. The spring wind seemed to be picking up, and her hair whipped around wildly as the vines curled around her arms and to her hands. The girl's eyes flashed a poison ivy green, and she thrust her hands in the boys' direction. The vines obeyed her command, curling towards the boys, and tightly wrapping around them.

Natalia didn't take notice of the crowd that was starting to form, all people that Lacy had asked for help as she had run to Chiron to break up the fighting that she knew would ensue.

"I am not a nobody. I am not an orphan. I know real heroes. If you knew anything about heroism, you would know not to judge people based on who they were, what they looked like, or how they grew up. You don't know me at all. If you were anything like those heroes you idolize, you would know that they weren't great until they quit the jerk act and became what they are known as today. Why don't you try?"

She released them from their prisons of greenery, and they ran as fast as they could. Natalia felt dizzy as the vines shrunk back into the ground, and she sank to her knees, feeling horrible at her internal glee that she had finally stood up for herself, but at the cost of hurting others.

How could I do this? She asked herself mentally. This isn't me!

She curled up into a ball in the flower patch, her breathing quickening. Her conscience of the angel and devil argued back and forth over whether it was right or wrong, and she didn't know who to side with. The bare thought of agreeing with the devil was nauseating.

The nausea overwhelmed her, and she fell onto her side, blacked out.

The cold was the first thing that Natalia could sense. It was chilly, and there seemed to be a draft right above her, or at least an air vent. Then came the sound, the scuttling of someone shuffling around. The stale smell of isopropyl alcohol flooded her senses, and she forced herself not to gag, no matter how much she hated the scent. There was nothing to taste, just the lingering bitterness from dried blood.

Must've had a bloody nose, she inferred, her sense of sight now kicking in, but at the wrong second, as she turned her head upwards, to stare directly at the light.

"Ah!" The brunette girl cried out, shielding her eyes from the blinding brightness of the light. She was temporarily blinded, and ended up falling off the cot.

A blond boy ran up to her, gently helping her lay back down onto the cot. "Shhh. Just relax. There are other patients here, too, you know," he said quietly, but loud enough for her to hear.

Natalia turned her head to the side, groaning in pain. "Where am I?"

"The infirmary at Camp Half-Blood. You overexerted your powers, and was brought here after you collapsed of exhaustion." The boy explained, rewrapping the bandages on her arms.