The Forgotten Daughter

Newbie

Aliana watched her opponents close in, circling around her like a pack of wolves. She gripped the hilts of her swords tightly in each hand. Any moment now, one of them would pounce.

A boy lunged forward.

She ducked his blade and kicked his legs out from under him.

Another teenager charged.

Aliana sidestepped the attack, batted the weapon from his hands, and pushed him harshly between the shoulder blades, forcing them to the ground.

The next few moments passed in a blur. Her opponents all charged at once, hoping to overwhelm her with numbers.

She bobbed between the deadly blades, dealing some blows of her own. She elbowed a girl in the face as she blocked an oncoming attack. She blocked a down-swipe from two swords on either side. Examining each teen, she twirled into a crouch, slicing both attackers across the stomach.

Three more teens came at her, swords raised.

She blocked the front runner and kicked him hard in the stomach. Meanwhile, she parried another swing.

The third opponent, a heavyset boy with a broad sword, tackled her from the side.

They rolled across the ground, both losing their weapons, although Aliana managed to keep hold of one of her swords. The pair scuffled on the loose dirt.

The others backed away, thinking they had her beat.

With a swift motion, she kneed the thick boy between the legs and rolled on top of him. A solid punch to the face, knocked him unconscious.

The others stood in shock until she leapt up and sliced the nearest person across the shoulder. They sprang into action, but she had gained the upper hand.

Soon, almost two dozen teenagers lay unconscious or injured on the arena floor.

Aliana looked herself over, but, besides a paper cut of a scratch on her cheek, she was uninjured. She turned, picking up her stray sword, and noticed a kid she'd never seen before walking passed with a saytr named Grover.

"Hey, newbie!" She shouted after them.

He paused and followed the sound of her voice, his gaze finally settling on her.

"Yeah you." She confirmed. "Care to test your metal?"

The new kid, a boy with thick black hair and green eyes, chuckled nervously. "I wouldn't be much of a challenge."

Aliana raised an eyebrow. "I know. The challenge would be giving you a chance."

He glared at her and moved as if to accept her challenge.

Grover grabbed his arm. "Percy, don't." He said under his breath, his eyes glued to the ground.

The boy, Percy, looked from Aliana to Grover before relaxing and backing away. "I'd rather not be a punching bag today."

She smirked as they walked away. "Fine. We've got time. I'll get you in this ring one of these days."

"Don't count on it." Percy shouted over his shoulder.

Aliana chuckled. Finally, somebody with some bravado. She turned back towards the arena and walked through the groaning teenagers to the opposite door.
                                 *   *   *
Aliana was the first person to breakfast. She sat at an unmarked picnic table. Her table. The Hephaestus kids had made it just for her. The Hermes kids had complained about having to sit next to her, especially after she had left the cabin.

As the other kids filed in, she caught a glimpse of the new kid, Percy, walking in with Luke Castellan, the Councilor for Cabin 11.

Luke met her gaze for a split second before looking away.

Typical. Not even he wanted to be associated with her.

Breakfast was served and Aliana took only a small portion. She prodded her food half-heartedly as she waited for everyone to be served. She got in the back of the line as the campers made their way to the fire in the center of the tent-like room.

When she finally reached the sweet-smelling flames, she stared intently into the orange glow. Why did she keep doing this? The gods didn't seem to care about her. Not even her mother.

The flames seemed to surge brighter and hotter for a moment. Or was that just her imagination?

Not wanting to find out, she dumped her whole plate into the fire and walked back to her seat with the empty dish. She sat down and noticed people staring at her. Perfect. She thought. Let them stare.

She was the first to leave without waiting for Chiron to announce the schedule for the day. She never participated anyway. She made her way directly to the arena.
                                  *   *   *
Aliana slammed her sword into the fragile training dummy and it sank deep into the wood, sending a loud crack through the arena.

The Cabin 11 kids, who were sword fighting on the other side of the field, paused and looked at her.

She noticed Percy's curious green eyes among them.

He almost looked like he wanted to approach her. Almost.

Luke called his name and the pair returned to their sparring drills.

Aliana watched for a minute before wrenching her blade free and turning back to her inanimate opponent.
                                *   *   *
She slid her sword back into its sheath.

The sun was quickly sinking towards the horizon. It had been a long day.

The Ares cabin had spent their time in the arena chasing her around the field. She would've fought back, but Chiron had given her an infirmary limit. She could only send so many wounded campers to the Big House in a week, and she was saving as many as she could for capture the flag.

Aliana rubbed her shoulder where Clarisse had whacked her hard with a wooden practice sword. She was sure that she would have a bruise there for weeks after. She cringed. She would definitely be getting the daughter of Ares back for that. Maybe she could set Percy on her.

Apparently, the new kid had put the arrogant girl in her place by dousing her with toilet water.

Aliana snickered at the thought.

As if he knew she was thinking about him, Percy walked over nervously. It looked like he was talking to himself, as if rehearsing what he would say.

Aliana moved to meet him.

He was looking at the ground and almost ran into her. He jumped when he realized that he had reached her. "Uh..."

"What do you want?" She asked frankly.

"I uh..." he cleared his throat. "I wanted to introduce myself."

"I know who you are, Percy Jackson." She replied.

"Oh..." he looked around the arena awkwardly.

"Is that it?" She hefted three quivers of arrows onto her shoulder and walked towards the armory.

He hesitated before jumping into action and walking along beside her. "Actually, I was wondering..."

She paused and met his gaze annoyedly. "Wondering what?"

He took a deep breath as if to gather his courage. "What's your name?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Don't act like you care. No one does." She turned and left him standing in the middle of the arena, confused.