War & Victory

Prologue

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The day that Mryina Faust met Luke Castellan, her life changed forever. She was 10 years old, on her own, and completely and totally comfortable with that fact. There was no one coming to help her, no divine providence that could have made her life better by any means—and certainly, fate was not on her side.

She knew that when her mother told her that she was a demigod. That life would always be dangerous and difficult for her. They were always on the run, never staying in the same place—all over the world they went. But they always came back to Brooklyn. They always came back to New York.

She knew that the day her mother was horrifically murdered by some creature in front of her. She knew that when she prayed to her father for help and nothing happened. She knew that she was on her own when she had to leave her mother's body there and run. And that's exactly what she did.

Stealing to get by, surviving by the sheer grit and willpower of her nature—she believed in one thing and it was herself. They had been in Nevada and her mom had been meeting up with someone there. It was all kind of a blur, at least in her mind. They had gone to spend the night in a hotel and when they got to the room, something had happened.

But she didn't stop. She made it all the way to Colorado before ultimately being preyed upon by some sort of creature—all she knew was that it was big, it had sharp teeth, and it had her scent.

Rin had a weapon—it wasn't much, a pocket knife that she had stolen off of a guy that was a little too drunk to notice her anyway. And she did her best—ferociously she fought against the creature—

But in the end, it was too much for the girl. And just when she was certain that this was how she died, they had arrived. Two boys and a girl wearing orange shirts and wielding swords, slashing and hacking at the creature. They had tugged her to her feet and they had run. It wasn't until they were safely on a train miles from the thing that she even learned their names.

Luke Castellan, Chris Rodriguez, and Demitria Conners. 17, 15, and 16 respectively, all three of them were on what they called a 'quest for the gods.' Rin didn't put much stock in it at the time, but they did their best to explain what Camp Half-Blood was to her. She knew about demigods, knew that there was a place—and now she had found it.

Neither Rin, nor Luke, nor Chris—or Demi, for that matter—attributed this to the Fates. No, this was pure and simple chance. Luck of the draw. They weren't going to give the gods any credit for this one. This ferocious kid that had been abandoned was just another tick on the list for Luke Castellan. Another point that needed to be made to the gods.

Still, they got her to Camp. They were there when she was claimed by the god Ares, citing that only a 10 year old daughter of Ares would've tried to take that thing down with a pocket knife.

She didn't care about being a daughter of Ares. Truth be told, there was little that Rin Faust cared about. And there was little the gods could do to make her interested in their affairs. For as much as they cared about her, she would return the favor.

And that's where our story begins:

With an apathetic 12 year old, who chooses peace over violence unless someone she loves is threatened. With the Lightning Bolt being stolen and everyone gunning for glory—and she doesn't care one damn bit.