I'll do the startling thing

I'll have the knife in my teeth

I'll be the star

You can be the horrified one

ALICIA OSTRIKER

       









Cher Delacroix

The name echoed in whispers,

in legends passed around from one demigod to another.

A name that had Chiron shake his head every time he heard it

Poor girl, he'd say

Foolish girl, they'd all say

The word girl had lost its meaning

Was she a girl anymore? Cher didn't think so but then again she didn't know what she was. Her veins flowing with ichor and mortal blood, something else lingered.

It showed in her eyes. Sometimes little children would cry after looking her in the eye like they saw something no one else could see. Something underneath the mortal costume she wore.

Demigod.

Chiron had his doubts, he didn't dare voice them in fear of Aphrodite's wrath who'd made it clear that this particular child of her's was special to her.

She was a child of Aphrodite that much was clear, she'd been claimed and sent on quests.

But mortal?

No. Cher Delacroix was far from mortal.

Percy Jackson sat around the bonfire, Thalia Grace sitting on another log as far away from him as she could, next to her sat Annabeth who'd flashed an apologetic look for leaving Percy alone but he didn't mind. He liked to think he understood what Thalia was going through, somewhat.

Except for the whole 'coming back to life after years' thing. That he couldn't relate to much less comprehend.

The Apollo cabin had stopped singing and instead played soft music as one of them stepped forward.

Storytime.

Today, it was the legend of Cher Delacroix.

The Aphrodite cabin stopped chattering amongst themselves, this was something they wanted to hear. Though they'd practically memorised the legend word for word, they never stopped being in awe of it. In awe of her.

"Legend has it. Cher Delacroix was birthed from a drop of aphrodite's ichor that had fallen on the earth.

Aphrodite being the oldest of the gods!

One drop of her ichor was enough to create her most prized offspring.

Cher was beautiful, with bronze skin, chocolate brown hair that shimmered under the sun, eyes such a dark shade of copper they appeared almost black, a sharp nose and cheekbones. Her beauty knew no bounds.

Her weapon, a double-headed spear forged by Hephaestus himself, was sleek white with golden details. The weapon was as majestic as the one who wielded it.

She brought honour and greatness to cabin ten. It was said Aphrdite had given Cher her very own room in Cabin 10."

He was right, Percy had seen the room that was now used by the Aphrodite cabin for storage. Racks of clothes and multiple vanities had flooded it, some even from the 90s.

The legend itself was pretty cool, if you asked him, but no one knew if it was true. Some scoffed at it, believing Aphrodite's children could do nothing except look pretty.

Percy thought the legend did have some truth in it, he truly believed Cher had once existed, the star part he wasn't quite sure about, it could've happened but he wouldn't know since he wasn't alive fifty years ago.

Annabeth doesn't believe it though.

He glances at his friend, sure enough, Annabeth Chase was rolling her eyes and readying herself for an argument, one she herself would start.

" ╾ She went on thousands of quests and impressed the Gods so much, they made her a giant statue, completely created from real gold, with jewels for eyes! And╾ "

" Oh come on!" Annabeth was standing up now, Percy sighed and rested his weight onto his elbows on the log behind him and stretched his legs in front of him.

This was going to be a long night.

"Nothing about her legend makes sense! What she was turned into a star at fourteen? no demigod could've completed that many quests by that age. These are obviously fabrications to inspire demigods to be strong or something." Annabeth waved her arms about, looking at each camper in the eye, the Athena cabin nodding in agreement behind her.

Thalia looked bored.

The Aphrodite cabin looked like they'd all love to murder Annabeth together, and take their time doing it.

Silena Beauregard stood and rolled the sleeves of her sweater up, "Hey! Cher Delacroix was an amazing demigod. Don't you dare insult her in front of me! You're just mad because she's a daughter of aphrodite! Because we're not good for anything other than looking pretty? Is that it?"

Mutters of agreement echoed from Silena's cabin mates and they all stood up beside her while the Athena cabin stood with Annabeth.

Annabeth gaped," Well....I mean it's not possible for her to have such powers, no child of Aphrodite has ever been known to be that powerful. What makes her different? What makes her special? Nothing that's what, because she's just a fairytale."

The Aphrodite cabin gasped as if Annabeth had just killed their cat.

"You bitch!", shouts rang out from the Aphrodite cabin and the Athena cabin rang out with their own ranges of insults. Annabeth and Silena practically standing nose to nose, except Silena was considerably taller so she had to bend her head to meet Annabeth's agitated gaze.

Percy has no idea how it got so out of hand but a moment later, Annabeth had Silena's hair fisted in her hand and vice versa. The rest of both cabins ten and six had started fighting too.

The Demeter, Hephaestus and Dionysus cabins tried to find an opening to interfere and stop the fight and upon finding none had resorted to shouting causing further chaos

"Gods you guys think you're so superior just because your mother's the wisdom goddess, well those acne scars aren't going to go away themselves so some skincare would be of good use, trust me."

"oh please like the goddess of love is any better?"

"I hope both sides of your pillows are warm, you prick."

"go step on some legos you bastards"

"Why don't you buy a personality instead of more clothes?"

"What in Zeus' name is going on here?" Chiron's voice thundered through the camp. He'd arrived at camp a few hours ago after Mr D had sent word that the centaur was welcome to come back.

The fighting seized and they all retreated from one another, not wanting to get the teacher angry.

The Apollo cabin, who along with the Ares and Hermes cabins had watched in amusement as their fellow campers quarrelled (Percy swore he saw Connor and Travis Stoll pull out a bag of popcorn from thin air), explained the situation to Chiron.

Chiron frowned and looked taken aback.

"Ah, Cher Delacroix, yes I'm familiar with the legend."

Annabeth shot a smug smile at Silena, confident that their teacher would prove that she was right, like always.

"I knew Cher Delacroix myself, trained her even." Chiron stroked his beard as he talked.

Annabeth's smug look dropped and the Silena's brightened.

"But-"

Chiron interrupted the blonde girl, "The legends might be exaggerated but there is truth in them. Cher was...well she was remarkable. She wielded the spear like no one else."

All the campers settled back down and gazed up at Chiron, Percy included although Thalia had left, Percy didn't know when. Curiosity shone in all their eyes, all of them eager to know about the girl legends claimed as the huntress.

" -She liked winning, lost very few battles and when she did, she would train all night and all day so she'd never make such a mistake again. She may have had her powers, her pink fire and ice, her powerful charm speak but she trained harder than anyone I've ever known, even to this day. The training she put herself through was brutal. She wasn't as powerful as a child of the big three of course, although if powers were excluded then perhaps. She was stronger than any of the other cabins, this much I know".

"You mean like...all of us? except for Percy that is." A confused Hermes cabin resident raised his hand.

"Indeed. She had made herself into a strong yet crafty demigod, and earned many quests. Of course, quests are less frequent now but time was different fifty years ago. She gave the Aphrodite cabin a new reputation, one that faded away when she did." Chiron shook his head in sorrow.

"She did not train in vain my dear children. She put herself through so much at such a young age because she had to. Her death was something many of the gods wanted."

"Why?" Murmurs echoed out the question.

"Because she was different. Her powers were nothing like the rest of her siblings or any of her siblings before her. Fifty years later and still not one child of love has the same powers. Aphrodite's children were not known for such powers. The gods can feel power. The power that radiates from demigods, the scent of power that monsters seek out, the gods can sense it too.

The power they felt from Cher terrified them. All they needed was one mistake to justify their wishes."

Horror. That is what Percy felt creeping up his spine. He was sure everyone else felt the same way but not as he did. He understood. What it was like to have the gods searching for one reason, to kill you because of something you couldn't control.

At that moment, Percy Jackson was the only one in the crowd who felt closer to Cher Delacroix than anyone had in fifty years.

"That is why she trained. To give the gods a reason to not wipe her off the face of the earth. She begged me for more quests so she could have something to show them that she meant well.

When she first started camp at the ripe old age of eight, oh what a delight she was. Always had a smile on her face, yet all those years, of being told that she was dangerous and wasn't normal. That she would be killed before she could live out her life. It took a toll on her and by the time she turned fourteen, she may have been the most terrifying demigod I had ever encountered.

Fashioned from hate and bitterness , with rage seeping through her bones, the gods had made her precisely into what they had wanted to prevent."

"Couldn't you stop them?" Percy spoke, his voice barely a whisper but audible in the pin-drop silence that had surrounded them. His voice cutting through the darkness that shrouded them.

"I did try in fact Lady Aphrodite herself pleaded but to no avail. Cher had been out hunting monsters, had I known that morning that letting her go would send her to her doom..." Chiron sighed and closed his eyes.

When he opened them after a long pause, Percy could see the tears in his eyes.

The Aphrodite cabin had long since started weeping, their sobs muffled in each other's shoulders. Their sister. Their kin.

" - Cher had accidentally hunted a monster Lady Artemis had vowed to kill. Unintentionally, she had caused a goddess to break a vow. It was not all that serious, merely a bet between Lord Apollo and Lady Artemis. But nonetheless, she was put on trial and found guilty."

"Guilty of what? She couldn't have known, didn't they understand that?" Annabeth spoke, her voice sore. Percy was sure she regretted calling Cher a fairytale now.

"I know not my dear. The Gods do not need solid evidence, their word is law and those laws must be abided. Lady Aphrodite was excluded from the meeting, she was not informed of it and I am told her wrath was none like ever seen. She is not known for her anger but let it be known, I find myself lucky to not have witnessed it. Cher was turned into a constellation, to forever be bound to the night sky. It was considered mercy on their part I suppose, to spare her from an undeserving end."

"There-," Chiron pointed to a constellation in the sky, a girl with her eyes closed and a teardrop on her face.

"I pray that she may have found peace at last."

Chiron sent us off to our cabins, the screeches of the harpys' a signal for curfew.

The Aphrodite cabin usually had a usual glow about them however that glow was nowhere to be found tonight. The usually vibrant cabin now seemed gloomier as if it too had heard the story and yearned for its past resident.

Percy was alone in his cabin that night. Tyson was long gone. His only companion at the moment, the moon shone brighter outside his window.

After about an hour of trying to sleep, he climbed up to the roof and sat with his knees pulled up to his chest. He wondered how cruel the gods could be. Surely, there must have been some extent? Some line they weren't meant to cross? Percy doesn't know when he started crying, but he did.

He cried for his old life.

He cried for his mother.

He cried for himself and all that he'd been through.

Mostly, he cried for Cher Delacroix.

He cried for this girl he didn't know but felt like he did. He cried for her because he understood her. He knew why she was the way she was because he was like that now.

He was the one trying to prove himself this time.

He cried because he wished he could've been there for her.

He wept and he wept. The ocean seemed so far away now. The usual saltiness he adored, now seared his nose and his eyes. He didn't stop crying until dawn.

Until he could no longer see the constellation of Cher Delacroix in the sky.