❝𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝-𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚❞ 𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙙 - ❝𝙮𝙚𝙖, 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙧❞ 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙
In which Melanie carries a heavy burden. She holds it up like a crown on her head. She...
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/ᴾᵉʳᶜʸ ᵍᵉᵗˢ ᵗʰᵉ ᵗʳᵘᵗʰ ᵗʰʳᵒʷⁿ ⁱⁿ ʰⁱˢ ᶠᵃᶜᵉ/
𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯
"𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝙸 𝚜𝚊𝚢? 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚖𝚎"
If there's one thing Melanie Wyney absolutely loathed, it would be looks. Looks of all kinds. Friendly looks, afraid looks, angry looks, pity looks or even curious looks. They all shared something in common. They wouldn't let you go. No matter whether she was alone or among people, Melanie always felt someone's eyes on her. You might almost call it paranoid. It felt as if Dionysus' daughter was never alone. And she hated that, no, it scared her. If she could, she would blindfold every creature in this world to get some peace. She wished that the burning on her skin would stop, that the fear in her stomach would recede. But it wasn't like that. No matter where she went, Melanie's skin always burned, at any time, in any place. Even when she was sleeping, these eyes followed her.
It destroyed her mentally, broke her last nerve. And all because of one single experience. Word of the bathroom incident spread immediately. Wherever the three went, campers pointed at Percy and murmured something about toilet water. Or maybe they just stared at Annabeth, who was still dripping wet. Melanie, to her dismay, showed the Jackson boy the rest of the camp along with a bad-tempered Annabeth. The boy looked particularly scared when he discovered the red, boiling hot lava on one of the climbing walls.
Finally they returned to the canoeing lake, where the trail led back to the cabins. The water shimmered golden under the sunlight and gave the impression of peace to everyone who saw it. The waves were gentle but dangerous and became weaker or stronger depending on the wind strength. They collided with the sand and then retreated before coming into contact with the sand again. A fresh sea breeze blew into Melanie's face. A constant cycle that is not interrupted by anything in the world.
"I've got training to do," Annabeth said flatly. "Dinner's at seven-thirty. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall."
"Annabeth, I'm sorry about the toilets." The blonde huffed. "Whatever."
"It wasn't my fault," Percy said defensively. Melanie and Annabeth looked at him skeptically, one had fire in her eyes, which made Percy think that she was going to push him into the water at any moment and the other had a spell on him that made it seem like he was in the deepest, violet lake full of darkness. Only the golden points of light gave him hope. And that was the moment when Percy Jackson realized two things.
