5 Months after Zeus's bolt was returned
"Stella? You in there?" Asks Percy as he knocks on her cabin door. "You said we could train this morning."
She doesn't answer.
"Come on. You can't stay in your cabin all day." He complains.
"Leave, Percy." She opens the door.
She has dark circles under her eyes and a look of emptiness on her face.
"Stel, you...you don't look so good. Whens the last time you slept?" He asks concerned.
Stella looks at the ground, refusing to make eye contact with him.
"We can train tomorrow. I'm busy." She says as she shuts the door.
"But, you said that yesterd-." Percy says in annoyance and confusion.
"Any luck?" Asks Annabeth approaching Percy.
"Nope." He sighs.
For the past 5 months, Stella has been searching for any evidence that Luke could possibly be out there, alive. Eventually, she started to isolate herself in her cabin, barely leaving, only to train and get food. At night, she sneaks out to the rock by the lake. She sits there talking to Luke, like he was listening. She was the closest to him and his betrayal hit her harder than anyone else. It has driven her restless trying to understand why he did what he did. Everyone in camp keeps telling her to drop it and move on. But, she can't, not until she can understand.
Stella's POV
I feel horrible not talking to my friends, especially Percy, but they aren't any help when it comes to trying to find Luke. I know he is out there, somewhere.
I keep promising myself that if this lead doesn't check out, I will stop looking. But, I just can't bring myself to.
Another knock at the door.
"Just give me a sec!" I call out.
"May I come in?" Asks Chiron.
Shit.
"Umm... Yeah! Just..uhh..one sec!" I say as I put all the papers into my desk.
He opens the door.
"Hello, Stella." He says in a calming voice.
"Good morning." I say.
"Morning? Its 1 in the afternoon."
"Already? Wow, times flies." I say as I rub my eyes.
"How are you doing?" He asks.
"Did Percy send you? Look I'm fine, I just haven't been feeling too good, maybe its a stomach bug." I say, completely lying.
"Stella, I know you and Luke were close, but what he did-."
"That wasn't Luke!" I interrupt him, sounding like a crazy person. "I'm sorry for yelling. I haven't been sleeping much." I admit.
"I've noticed. Stella, I know this must be hard for you, but it has been months since Luke left. We don't know for certain if he is alive or not." He says with sensitivity.
I look at anything but him. I can't cry in front of him. He'll think I'm weak. Which, I am. Spending months looking for a guy who betrayed me. Who, for some reason, I still love. But, I can't look weak, I can't keep on being the weak little girl who gets abandoned.
"What if he is?" I ask. "If he was still alive, would you let him come back to camp?"
"I don't know." He says. "All I know is that you are here, at camp. You are here to train yourself and to learn, not to sit around in your cabin all day. Your friends are worried and they miss you."
"I know. They just don't understand."
"Stella, you have been abandoned your whole life. Its sad, but its the truth. Your mother, your father, foster parents, and now Luke. But, the most important thing is that you don't abandon yourself, especially not over some boy." He jokes trying to lighten the mood.
"I know, its just..." I wipe away the tears streaming down my face.
"Just what?"
"I need to understand why. Why am I always the one getting abandoned?"
"I don't know. But, don't blame yourself for any of it. Its their fault that they don't see how incredibly special you are." He assures me.
I nod and look at him with tears in my eyes.
"Okay. I'll stop with the self pity and isolation." I let out a slight chuckle, he does the same.
"Good. Now, get to training! Percy is waiting for you." He says as he pats my shoulder.
"Thanks, Chiron." I smile at him and leave my cabin.
Its been a while since I left and, honestly, it feels good.
Narrator's POV
Stella makes her way to the training grounds to catch up to Percy. She waves at him as she grabs her sword. Percy smiles at her. He has missed her and it has been way too long since they fought. As Stella grabs her sword, she overhears some girls from Aphrodites' cabin.
"Its so sad. Pining over a guy who left her." Says one of them.
"Right! Like, this is probably the first time she left her cabin in months."
I hate the daughter's of Aphrodite. She thinks to herself.
Stella begins to approach them, but Percy grabs her arm.
"Hey, its alright. They are just jealous that you saved Olympus and they didn't." He assures her.
"Right." She looks at him and smiles.
"I've missed my training partner. Between you and me, Annabeth takes this way too seriously."
"Rightly so." She says as she strikes her sword at him, but he blocks it.
"So, we are starting then?" He asks as he kicks her in the stomach and strikes his sword at her foot, causing her to fall.
"Not fair! I haven't trained in months." She complains as she jumps back up on her feet.
"Not my fault." He says as he tries to elbow her shoulder, but she blocks him.
Stella takes his arm and swings him onto the ground.
"Hmm. Can still kick your ass after a couple months off." She says with a smirk.
"Alright, session over. I'm hungry." He says.
"Already?" She complains.
"Yup. Its lunch time." He says as he runs towards the dining hall.
Stella doesn't follow him seeing as she is not at all hungry. Months ago, when she was learning to control her powers, Chiron taught her that she feels anger much more heavily than any other demi-god. Because of this, it is harder to control. She fights and trains to take the anger out of her system. They also discovered that she has some unique abilities. She can shadow travel, control something called dark-energy, and can raise the dead.
"Hey, wanna train with me?" Asks some random guy from Hermes' cabin.
"Sure." Stella answers. "Hermes' guys usually are the best swordsman, hopefully you live up to the expectation."
"Where'd you hear that from?" He asks.
"I knew one." She says as she remembers Luke.
"Names' Ethan."
"Stella."
"I know." He says with a smirk.
He strikes his sword at her, but she dodges it and they engage in battle. It consists of back and forth sword striking, until Stella gets the upper hand and kicks the back of his knee, causing him to fall to the ground. She points the sword at his throat.
"Giving up so easily?" She teases.
"Did Luke teach you that?" He asks, mad he lost to a girl.
"What?" She says, trying to control her anger.
"You heard me. Your the daughter of Hades, so I'm guessing you guys are like the evil duo. You would probably still be with him if he wasn't, you know, dead." He says with a smile.
Stella feels anger well up inside of her, along with pain she has been trying to bury.
"Shut up!" She snaps.
"You gonna make me?" He says as he pushes her.
Stella can't control it. She can feel anger taking control of her. It all feels dark, very dark. She feels a ball of dark energy inside of her begging to escape. It becomes impossible to control.
"Your as weak as he was. Your dead boyfriend is probably laughing at you." As he says this, it sends her over the edge.
She can't control that ball of dark energy anymore and decides to let go. She lets it escape. A burst of black-purple-colored energy escapes her body and sends the Hermes' boy flying at a tree.
The whole camp is looking at her. She can't move. Its like she is paralyzed. All she can hear is the gasps and screams of other campers.
"He's not breathing!" Screams a camper.