BLOODSHOT . . . piper mclean

26.

BREAKING APART WASN'T really one of the things on Eden's agenda, but it'd happened anyway.

She used to have someone with her for these things — Thalia, when they were in boarding school for a semester and they'd gotten so close that Eden told her everything, and so did she. Rachel, when they'd fooled around for the summer right under Percy's nose. Connor, who'd been through most of her nightmares, all of her tears, and watched as she tore apart her cabin one glass object at a time.

Needless to say, Percy was mad at her when he'd came back for winter break, but he doesn't know or care about her that much, so.

The tears streaming down her face was just another reminder of her mortality — of how she couldn't cry tears of ichor because she wasn't a god, and they would never make her one.

That was why Eden wanted to join the Hunters so badly. She just wanted to feel the taste of immortality, of godhood.

She cried pathetically about the girl of her dreams and the fact that she couldn't be immortal. It was even sadder when someone fucking knocked on the door.

"There's another bathroom, bitch, use that one," Eden snapped, letting out a hiccup. And she never hiccupped, except when she was crying.

"It's Piper," the person outside said. Of fucking course it was. "We need you for — uh, explaining stuff."

Eden sighed. The danger must go on, she guessed. "I look like a mess," she said. "Wait a minute."

She didn't hear Kaleidoscope's voice again, so she assumed that the girl was gone.

Eden went up to the mirror and almost screamed at what she saw.

She noticed that her clothes weren't a mess. She stopped crying for a moment to look at herself in the mirror.

Clearly, someone ( probably Aphrodite ) had given her a makeover. Well, it wasn't exactly a makeover, considering she'd probably wear this on a daily basis. Black eyeshadow and eyeliner was lined around her eyes with sparkly purple eyeshadow, and there was only a bit of gloss that made her lips purple and some blush applied close to her eyes. The tears didn't let the makeup fade, or run down her cheeks.

Eden had on a short, sparkly black dress on with a similarly colored black jacket wrapped around her shoulders, with fishnet tights hidden behind knee high black heeled boots.

Suddenly, she felt like the most fucking powerful woman in the world. She could take down every fucking Titan if she wanted to. She flipped her hair over one shoulder, grinned at herself, and opened the door to see Kaleidoscope just standing outside.

Eden tilted her head. "Hi?"

Kaleidoscope opened her mouth, and then closed it. "You just — seemed so scared," she stuttered. "And so sad. Bitter. You almost fell out of your chair as you were convulsing. You were crying, Eden. Does this happen every time you sleep? I haven't seen you sleep once."

"I am not in the mood right now for this," Eden shouldered past her, finding the table where they were sitting at and seeing a chocolate donut and a really pink drink. "Do you really know me that well?" she asked Fire Boy, sipping out from the drink. Tasted like perfection.

"Obviously." He raised his eyebrows at her.

To be quite honest, Eden would've gone for coffee right now, but her spirits were up, she was looking badass, and it was time to fucking kill a giant or something. And she liked pink.

He pulled something out of his pocket — the old crayon drawing Ken Doll had given him.

Unsurprisingly, Aphrodite had given them all new outfits. Fire Boy was wearing pinstriped pants, black leather shoes, a white collarless shirt with suspenders, and his tool belt, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and a porkpie hat. Eden wanted sunglasses, but Aphrodite had given her her own. What a win. Eden suddenly decided that Aphrodite might move up the list, despite all of the bad situations they'd had with each other.