𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐎
𝒂𝒖𝒓𝒐𝒓𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅
❛ she reminds me of the sunlight,
the way her being brightened every
little bit of my rain-drenched body
was visibly noticed, yet hidden
behind her luminous rays was a
thunderstorm waiting to 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒚 ❜
𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃, Aurora Stark was many things . . . and hot-headed just so happened to be one of them. It was a rather distinguishing trait, common in the Stark legacy. Some, like her father and grandfather, argued it was a characteristic that infused perseverance in someone allowing them to build themselves up into a strong-willed person. Some —specifically pepper and her grandmother— argued the complete opposite. To them, it was a trait seeping through the fog, ready to bite them back in the ass, and it was a trait Pepper wanted to not instill in Aurora.
Unlucky to her, Aurora is, in fact, her father's daughter with too much Stark simmering in her veins. The Stark in her constantly put her in sticky situations, and also, being the daughter of Aphrodite, Aurora, on countless occasions finds herself a way to charm out of it.
Much like this moment, Aurora sat on the medical tent sporting a black eye and busted lip with two outraged-looking girls glaring back at her. The cool ice packet was nothing compared to the icy glares on each of their eyes.
Silena Beauregard was Aurora's breathtaking sister, with vibrant blue eyes that could make anyone fall to their knees. Much like Aurora, she was the kind of girl that attracted plenty of attention from onlookers. It genuinely was hard to keep your eyes off of her. She just so happened to be the Aphrodite Cabin head counselor, with her younger sister —Aurora— being the second in command. Now, as kind and as sweet as Silena was . . . she was also one to have quite the temper, especially when it came to her siblings.
She angrily yanked the ice packet from her sister's hand and gently pressed it to her eye, receiving a hiss, "Aurora, This is what? Your third fight this week?" She purposefully added more pressure-receiving a groan of pain. "Gods," She cursed. "I'm surprised Mr.D hasn't taken away your meal privileges."
Aurora shared a look with Annabeth, who only shook her head. She was all too familiar with how hot-tempered Aurora was, they were best friends after all. Yet, she couldn't help but remember the time Clarisse had made a snarky comment to Annabeth in front of Aurora resulting in the burly girl with a broken jaw.
No one said anything to Annabeth afterward.
Annabeth sat down beside Aurora and intertwined their fingers, "He gave her a warning. The Fifth fight leads to her getting turned into a snake," she gave her hand a squeeze when she felt Aurora tense at the mention of a snake. "He practically encouraged her to fight again, saying it was going to be one less kid he had to deal with"
Silena softened a bit and frowned. She retracted her hand from her sister's hand and placed it on her lap, her eyebrows furrowed, "Rory, You promised you'd stop."
Annabeth ignored the bustle of the infirmary and nodded, "She promised she'd stop five fights ago."
Aurora pulled her hand away from Annabeth and sent her a look, "Since when did you start counting?"
"Seven fights ago"
Aurora shook her head and groaned, "Unbelievable"
Silena suddenly put the ice pack once again on her sister's eye, "I'm serious, Aurora. The tension you have with the Ares kids needs to stop. This isn't going to end well," she gently pressed the ice packet to her eye before briefly glancing into her younger sisters eyes, "Why did you throw the first punch?"
Aurora gently pushed her older sister's hand away and took a sip of her nectar, sometimes she despised drinking it. It reminded her too much of the time her father was taken from her leaving her under Pepper's care. All those tearful nights when she begged the gods to return her father to her, were living vividly in her mind. Upon hearing her soft sobs, Pepper would bake her a small chocolate cupcake, like she did on every birthday, and placed it on her bedside.
The flavor was strikingly similar to the infamous birthday cupcake. It melted on her tongue and she could practically taste how authentic it tasted.
She fiddled with her fingers, a habit she had grown accustomed to when she was either uncomfortable or nervous, "They said something about my dad. About the time he was . . . gone."
Both Silena and Annabeth knew exactly what Aurora meant when she uttered the word 'gone'
"They said he finally got what was coming to him," they both failed to noticed the small quiver of her chin. "That I did too," she washed the frown away with a smile. "So, I beat the shit out of her."
Silena facepalmed, "Aurora, you can't just go around fighting everyone who disagrees with your father's actions. That's their opinion, it shouldn't matter to you."
"How badly were the injuries?"
Annabeth sighed and nodded her head to the corner of the infirmary. Aurora followed her gaze which landed on a Son of Apollo, Will Solace gingerly tending the red-headed girl she had tussled with. Oh, how that tables have turned, "She had a sprained ankle, broken nose, and a fractured wrist. According to Will, if she received more of your attacks . . . it would've been worse. Fortunately, Charlie got there in time. Gods, know what would've happened if he didn't."
Aurora winced when Annabeth explained the injuries, yet rolled her eyes when Charlie's intrusion was referenced, "Oh come on, it was just a couple of bruises. No stab wounds, no blood . . . just bruises," she stated.
Annabeth shared a look with Silena who muttered something under her breath and scoffed. She wasn't buying the no bloodshed. When the children of Ares were involved everything was bloody. Including hand-to-hand combat.
The sudden sound of footsteps thundered through the infirmary drew everyone's attention, the sound of the person panting growing closer.
"How is she?" a soothing voice rushed out. "Is she alright?"
Now, Aurora was surrounded by a beautiful family . . . it was a given as a child of Aphrodite, yet the girl in front of her was beautiful than most. Silky auburn hair falling towards the ends of her back, not a single strand misplaced. Her hazel green eyes were doll-like, always so wide and so full of emotion like this very instance.
Silena briefly glanced at her younger sister and turned her attention back to the other, "She's fine, Natalie," her blue eyes looked up at Aurora's releasing a scoff. "Just a couple of bruises."
Natalie sighed and sidled up next to her sister, "You know, it's getting boring taking care of you like this."
Aurora rolled her eyes a fond smile toying on her lips, "No one asked you to, Nat. Even when I tell you three not to, none of you listen."
Natalie smirked, "Well maybe we learned how to be as thick headed as you. Seriously though, was it about your dad again?"
Silena abruptly retracted her hand and shot a pointed look towards her sister, "You knew about this?"
Natalie sent Aurora a scared look while the latter face palmed, "I thought you told her about all the other times?!"
"Well, as you can clearly notice I haven't got the chance to"
Silena's face grew hotter, "So they said those horrible things before to you?"
Aurora glanced at Natalie before looking back down at her lap. The sole reason Silena never knew about the atrocious words sent in Aurora's direction was because the younger girl didn't want her to know. It was no secret Silena protected Aurora more than most, their bond was cork screwed tight, the countless of times when Aurora was younger suffering with nightmares that tended to always torment a demi-god, always ended with Silena cuddling her back to sleep.
Aurora sent Silena an assuring smile, "I'm fine, Sil, really," she comforted. "They learned their lesson."
Silena hesitated before nodding and turning to Natalie who rose an eyebrow. Silena said nothing but extended her hand out to her, the same hand that gripped the ice packet.
Natalie groaned but complied and took Silena's position next to Aurora who tried to squirm away from her sister only to have Annabeth place her hands on her shoulders to keep her still.
The three girls missed the amused smiled on her lips as she looked at the scene before her, yet she couldn't help but let it fall into a frown.
As Aurora continued to squirm away from Natalie she noticed Silena stood in the doorway, merely looking at the sight and the smile she gave her older sister was one Silena would always carry,
For it was a smile only Aurora Stark held, even through the darkest of times.
❛ allure me. ❜ ༢ ͎۪۫ ༊*·˚ ╱
❪ the prodigy, 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒅 book. ❫
༢ ͎۪۫ ༊ ❛ ©CELESTIALAPHRODITE 2023. ❜ ¨. ༢ ͎۪۫ ｡𖤐
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