Bloody Lover | Piper McLean

CHAPTER 10 : Meeting with the Daughter of Mars... Sorry Ares

EARLANA

Earlana headed for the arena, where only the cries of rage and the clash of swords could be heard, which was the exact reason why she walked towards this sound. She was familiar with this, and familiarity, right now, was something she really needed. The Arena was built like the pits of Antiquity : same shape and same use. There, several campers were fighting each other. The rage of their blows was visible, their fighting style was sloppy, and the number of missed openings by one or the other was far too high. The latina walked in and sat in the bleachers, at the highest point, without a sound, watching the fights unfold before her eyes. Stabbing, sandblasting, tackling, she had never seen anything so messy. Earlana was analyzing their style, their movements and she was shocked by the disorganization of these fighters. Where was the strategy ? Did they not try to read their opponent so that they could strike quickly and efficiently ? Earlana was so focused on the fight, trying to understand them, that she didn't hear the person who sat next to her.

"What are you doing here, newbie ? Looking to get your ass kicked already ?" she threw out in a loud, almost sarcastic voice. But her speaking startled the latina. She was a tall brunette, 6 feet tall, with a cold look and hard features. She seemed cold, calculating, and perhaps a touch angry. A sparkle in her eyes danced that looked dangerously like the one in Earlana's eyes.

"I was just looking. But if you want to compete with me..." The Latina left her sentence hanging, a smirk on her face. Adrenaline had begun to run through her veins, in anticipation. She was never the one to say no to a fight. Especially one that she knew she would win.

"Beware newbie. I'll crush you !" The older girl roared, making Earlana chuckle, and roll her eyes.

The two proud teenage girls sized each other up before walking down the stairs to the fighting pit. Earlana's mind was surprisingly calm and at ease, it didn't even feel weird. It felt familiar, the feeling. As if, all her life she had done that, again and again. And she didn't mind it, not even a second.

Once in the pit, the other girl went to pick a sword from a weapon railing, waiting expectantly for the Puerto Rican to do the same. However, Earlana didn't move an inch, she stayed there watching her closely, while twisting confidently one of her rings. People had gathered in the stands, they were curious. One of the newcomers against a senior resident, that was a fight to watch or to bet on.

"You need a sword, perhaps, newbie ?" The girl's tone was taunting, and usually the Puerto Rican would have snapped some mean comment back, but she was in a good mood.

"No, thanks, I already got one."

On those words, she removed her ring and flipped it off in the air, the same way Jason had done with his coin on the skywalk at the Grand Canyon. The ring turned mid-air into a sword, made of gold, of course, before the Puerto Rican grabbed the hilt and got in position. The sword was a weapon halfway between the Roman spatha and the Chinese jian. The blade's length was around 20 inches, weight around 1kg. And yet, the Latina seemed to find it incredibly light, as if she had practiced with it so long, that the weight became an afterthought. On the hilt of the sword was encrusted a crest. One that didn't know, or that she couldn't remember.

Earlana smirked at her opponent and raised an eyebrow at her, as if saying something along the lines of What are you waiting for ? The provocative action made them spurt in motion. The Puerto Rican lifted her sword, staying on the defensive, waiting and analyzing her opponent's next movements. It seemed to be the only logical option there. The latter threw herself at the latina, without any regard to strategy or analysis. It seemed that she fought just like the other campers Earlana had been watching before. She was a brawler, and like them she didn't have any form. The only thing that made her at least a bit more interesting was the fact that she seemed to be way more reckless and brutal than the others. The older girl's sword collided violently against the Puerto Rican's. The latter didn't even flinch or take a step back and it was unusual, by the gasping of the campers watching them fight. Earlana's muscle memory had taken over, and she smirked even wider when they broke apart and began to circle around each other. The brawler fight style was something interesting, very useful against someone who didn't take the time to know their opponent, it promised a quick and efficient fight. However, if you went against someone who refused to fight blindly, like Earlana, it left a lot of opportunities to flip the fight around. Way too often the older girl let her guard down for half a second, and it would have been easy to strike for the kill, but it wasn't the goal here. There was perhaps a rule saying, no killing other campers, right ? If she waited for the right time, the fight would end rather quickly. Scratch that, if she waited for the perfect time and struck, the fight would end. So when the camper decided that circling around the pit was too boring, and to throw herself at the latina again, with a yell and her sword raised threateningly, Earlana dodged quickly and carefully. Then, the Puerto Rican proceeded to swipe the older brunette off balance, disarming her before she could make contact with the sand floor of the pit, all the while smirking widely. The point of the golden sword the Latina was holding was posed in the hollow of the throat of her opponent. She was dazed, eyes wide, not believing in her defeat. Earlana lowered her blade and reached out her hand, which the brunette grasped, to help her up.

"Well fought, much better than the others. Who am I dealing with ?"

"Clarisse, Clarisse La Rue. Daughter of Ares... How are you..."

"I don't know, I have no memory. Nice to meet you, Clarisse." The Latina turned ready to leave.

"Your name ? Newbie ?"

"Earlana, daughter of a goddess of war."

"Come with us, Earlana. You just earned my respect."

Together they went to the Refectory Pavilion. The Mars kids... The Ares kids were cool to hang with. They had a mentality really similar to Earlana, except perhaps that they were less attentive to what surrounded them. They took turns explaining to the latina the different war games or any type of competition that they had at the camp, like Capture the Flag, or the Climbing Competition at the Lava Wall. Everything that involved danger seemed so awesome in her eyes. The older brunette, Clarisse, had taken her under her wing and told her about the war from last summer, and she described the functionment of the camp to her, too. Earlana had thrown an offering to both Ares and Athena, asking for guidance since she knew she shouldn't be there. Why those two ? Because they were deities of war, like her mother. The only ones that she felt attracted to. And even if she wasn't Greek, she would rely on them for as long as she was there. Well, that was what she kept telling herself.

The noise coming from the tables beside them would be unbearable in other circumstances. Only, she was around people that kept her attention alive, people who she deemed worthy being around for the time being. Their amusement was contagious and the topic of some conversations often felt familiar bringing to her a sensation of being at home. Home ? Her memory was still fragmented, thus she couldn't say what was home, for her, to her. But she would do with that for the moment.

Ares' kids were something else entirely, and honestly, she didn't mind at all. Earlana sure didn't like anything new, but in a sense, it didn't feel like new to her, so she bore it. She participated in the conversations, about battles, how to fight, or debated about the best weapons, or best fighting style. She, for sure, learned a few things, or it was just memories resurfacing, in the same way her muscle memory helped her during the fight with the venti or against Clarisse. It was nice, calming almost. She didn't feel as lost as she might have felt earlier.

The whole evening, Jason kept throwing her looks from where he sat, next to Annabeth. He seemed confused, and worried, while the other blonde seemed deep in thought, surely about them or what Chiron had said earlier, or about her boyfriend, Perseus Jackson. Leo, from the Vulcan-Hephaestus' table, looked at her with a warm smile, assuring that everything was okay. He also seemed to have a good time with his newly found siblings. The latino boy appeared to be excited by everything around him, she just hoped that his curiosity wouldn't cause any harm, to the others or to himself.

The meal itself passed quickly, flowing with conversation, laughter, jokes about the other cabins and explanations about the camp. Mars-Ares' kids were welcoming despite their unusual approach or harsh personalities. They were misunderstood, they were just passionate, really passionate about some things, fighting being the most important one. They also were so competitive, some even indulged in an eating competition. The Latina was a child of a War Goddess, she was the same as them in a way, maybe that was why they all hit off super quickly. However, Earlana and Clarisse really hit it off more than the others. The older girl had told her about the quests she did, about their search for Percy Jackson. The latter told her that she would be leaving with Annabeth in the morning to keep looking for that idiotic camper.

After the meal, Clarisse and her siblings offered Earlana to stay with them at the campfire, which they explained was a tradition there, and she responded positively, with a wide smile... even, if at the word campfire, she felt something off. By the way, where was Piper ? She didn't see her since the girls brought her inside the Big House, passed out. She was worried about her, a feeling in her guts telling her that she should watch out for her. Not in the way where Piper was the danger, more like in a protective way. Yeah, everything in her being was telling her that she should protect her.

That simple train of thoughts was enough to trigger another headache similar to the one she had at the Grand Canyon. Was there something to remember about ? To protect ? She didn't quite understand,but she had a feeling that she was gonna find out sooner than she would like. There was something deep inside her that she should have remembered, and yet, it was out of her grasp. She just hoped that like the two memories she already got back, this one would clear out soon.