❝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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/ᴹᵉˡᵃⁿⁱᵉ ᵍᵉᵗˢ ᵃ ᵖⁱⁿᵏ ᵖᵒᵒᵈˡᵉ/
𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯
"𝙻𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚎"
People are afraid. And that's normal. Very normal, actually. Fears are not something to be ashamed of, nor are certain problems that are developed because of that fear. Fear holds you back. Sometimes it stops you, but at some point it could save your life. She didn't believe the words the man had drummed into her seven years ago. Of course fear was a façade, but it doesn't make you weak.
Everyone knows this feeling. You start shaking and you feel sick. Sometimes your vision even goes black or you feel like vomiting out of fear. Your pupils dilate and your lip starts to tremble. These are the striking features. Then there are the inconspicuous ones. Your eyes wander everywhere and you startle at every little noise, no matter how brief. Sometimes you feel cold, or warm, or both in alternation. And do you know what one of the most common fears is? It's Nyctophobia. Oh, the fear of the dark. Those affected are extremely afraid of being in the dark. or being alone in the dark. And Melanie was one of the people affected. She had two big fears and they were Nyctophobia and Thalassophobia.
The second one was discovered recently. The fear of deep waters and bodies of water. This fear had first developed since Melanie had these nightmares. The nightmares where she was always drawn into the dark abyss of water. And no matter how hard Melanie tried to overcome her fears, she couldn't. She was too weak for that. Maybe she just needed a helping hand. To do this, Dionysus' daughter would have to open up to others.
♛
They were pretty miserable that night. The four camped out in the woods, a hundred yards from the main road, in a marshy clearing that local kids had obviously been using for parties. The ground was littered with flattened soda cans and fast-food wrappers. Melanie had picked up food from Aunt Em's shop and distributed it to everyone. Even though the clothes were stuck to her body, no one dared to even start a fire. No matter how damp everyone's clothes were. The Furies and Medusa had provided enough excitement for one day. They didn't want to attract anything else. Annabeth suggested taking shifts throughout the night. Melanie thought it was a good idea and wanted to take the first shift. but Percy beat her to it. Annabeth curled up on the blankets and was snoring as soon as her head hit the ground, Melanie's eyes looked around safely.
