Fanfics: Love? Hate? Or Is It Just Me?

She was never the one to fight, so when Piper challenged Drew for the position of Head counselor she immediately stepped down. Children of Aphrodite, especially someone of Drew's status, were supposed to have someone fight for them. Beauty and the battlefield do not go together. The goddess of love was never into wars and neither were her children.

Unsure of what to do while everyone cheered the Cherokee daughter of Aphrodite (she refused to call that her sister), the young girl stormed away from the cabins and to the only place that seemed to calm her down at the camp: the lake. Now, Drew knew that she was no child of the sea god but the water calmly riding the wind relaxed her. Sometimes she secretly wishes that cabin 3 was her real home and that the Olympians made a mistake. She hope that her true godly parent was Poseidon, but then it was impossible since her mortal parent was a man. She almost joined the Hunters, truly disappointed with her parent, but that would've made her look weak in front of everyone. Drew, as intimidating as she is, was just as confused as the rest of the Camp Half-Blood population.

She sat down at the dock, taking her designer camp shoes off and tossing them aside, letting her feet dangle right above the water. Even just the smell of fresh water blowing past her comforted her. Drew's lips curled into a smile, not a fake petty grin but a genuine smile of happiness. Near the lake was the only place she could ever do that. She let herself fall, hearing a soft thud before feeling the wood press against her back. To Drew, this was the closest to pure happiness she can get. Her eyes closed and the sun's rays pierced through her thin eyelids. She took a deep breath. A few seconds later, something stepped over her, blocking the sun.

She opened her eyes and the silhouette of a young lady appeared before her and said, "You shouldn't simply throw shoes like these just anywhere, Drew." The voice was familiar but Drew didn't know who it belonged to. She stood up. The woman was only a few inches taller than her. She had fairly tanned skin and mousy black hair that dropped down her right shoulder. The woman's eyes had an Asian feel to them pointing slightly upward just like Drew's, which seemed to be their only resemblance. Her pupils, however, caught the young camper's attention. They kept changing from blue to green to yellow to orange to red. Every color of the spectrum alternated in her eyes. It was like looking into two small kaleidoscopes. The woman's outfit was simple: a yellow flower-print maxi dress that fit the woman perfectly, showing her delicate figure.

"Dear child, will you not greet your own mother?" The woman says. Drew realized who this woman was in front of her and bowed. "Enough with the formality, child. I was expecting more of a hug." Aphrodite sighed, "Oh well, I guess that will do." Drew re-positioned herself to stand straight, but still looked at her feet. She had a feeling that her mother was disappointed of how she was acting. "Let's take a walk." Aphrodite says.

They start walking.

After a few moments of awkward silence, Drew spoke up. "Mom, why are you here?" Those are the only words that came out of her mouth. She wanted to slap herself. Aphrodite smiled, and Drew instantly knew why her mother came. She was worried about her daughter, not disappointed. A rush of guilt and pride ran through Drew's veins. Guilt because she made her mother worry about her. Pride because she was important enough that a goddess would worry about her. The guilt was stronger.

"I came for you, dear." Her mother replies calmly.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"You tell me."

Drew stepped back. Of course she did something wrong. She must have. Charm speaking everyone into doing everything she wanted. What if her mother takes away that gift? She'll have to work for herself. No one will dare help her after what she's done to the campers. Not even Lacy, the girl she goes to school with in the mortal world, will be there for her. Drew sighed, hoping that her mother would decide to go against punishing her. Looking up at Aphrodite, Drew could see a resemblance with her mother and various siblings. "You look like Piper." she blurts out.

Her mother seemed surprise, "Do I?"

Drew nods, taking in carefully her mother's features, "Your eyes stand out though. They look like mine."

"Well, my child," Aphrodite says, "I only ever look like what you perceive as true beauty." Drew frowns, obviously taken by surprise with her mother's statement. Aphrodite laughs, "Is something wrong, my dear?"

"True beauty... and you look like Piper..."

"Is there something wrong with that?" The young girl stands still. Completely awestruck that the person she was supposed to hate the most was her perception of true beauty. "My child, sometimes hate isn't exactly what you're feeling." Her mother continues, "Sometimes, it is simply pity. Not that you pity Piper of course." They stop walking.

Drew looks at her mother, "Then who do I pity?"

"Probably yourself, dear."

"That doesn't make sense."

"Oh," her mother counters, "but it doesn't have to. All it has to be is its own. That's what everything has to be." Drew doesn't talk. She realizes what her mother was trying to say. She has been hiding her real self behind a mask and has always been someone else's. Sure she's never had a serious relationship at all, but she was a slave. A slave to ego. "You shouldn't be hiding behind that mask anymore, Drew. No child of mine should be a slave to oneself, either." Her mother says, as if reading her mind. "Pride, in all honesty, is most of my children's fatal flaw --- as I've been told. Be careful with that, dear." Aphrodite sighs, but smiles, "You had better return to your camp. People are probably looking for you. Especially Piper." Drew turns around, looking at the cabins. Everybody was gone except for Piper, who was sitting on Cabin 10's front porch.

Aphrodite placed her hand on Drew's shoulder and smiles. Drew looks back at her mother, "Thank you."

"You better close your eyes." Aphrodite releases her grip on Drew's shoulder as she turns away, not daring to look at an immortal goddess showing her true form. She'd die if she did. After a bright flash and a few moments to make sure, Drew opens her eyes, silently praying to the gods as she approaches her soon-to-be friend.

Fanfics: Diary Of An Angel

As a young child I had no idea what was going on.

Over the years in the places we've lived bad things happened. Storms were always frequent, lighting crashed almost every night, thunder became my sweet lullaby even. However, whenever my mother, Maria di Angelo, checked the local news for any storms nothing would appear. I didn't understand it, but it never bothered me. Some nights I'd catch my mother talking to herself repeatedly muttering the words "The lightning... I have to get them away from the lighting..." and when she'd see me she'd just smile and carry me to my bed, telling me to go to bed again. I'd just shake it off and go to sleep.

One late evening, the thunder and lighting grew especially loud. Everything that could swing and rattle and break did just that. The ceiling light swung violently, the various items on the cupboards and tables all shook until they fell from their places and broke. I was frightened to the last nerve in my body. My hands were clenched into fists so tight I started shaking, my heart was pounding so violently I swore that it could've jumped right out of my chest.

My mother suddenly rushed into my room. Nico was in her arms. He was too old to be carried by her, but she did so anyway. The look on her face devastated me. Her face was dotted with droplets of sweat, her breath looked heavy by the way she panted. The thing that disturbed me most was her eyes. They looked scared beyond belief. No, they weren't scared. My mother was never scared. Her eyes showed sadness, genuine sadness, as if she knew what would happen next and that it wasn't something good.

She placed Nico right beside me and whispered something. I couldn't hear it under all the noises, but her delicate lips carved the words "I love you" before she leaned in, kissed my forehead and Nico's cheek, then ran and disappeared. I wanted to run to her. I wanted to be by her side, knowing that being with her was the only place I knew I'd be safe. Looking at Nico while the thoughts circled around my head, I just knew I couldn't leave my brother there alone in the dark.

All of a sudden, the loudest blast of thunder shook the whole hotel. It was so loud that it must've caused a minor earthquake. The thunder rattled my eardrums, my ears started to pop multiple times. Only seconds later lighting had struck through the roof a good distance away from Nico and I. When the lightning flashed, it portrayed a fake daylight. It was so bright it blinded me but despite those I held Nico close to my chest, making sure he heard my heartbeat, that he heard a sign of life and that he wasn't alone.

Suddenly, everything stopped. The surroundings became still and quiet. My ears were still ringing from the thunder and for some reason I can hear someone laughing, as if the thunder and lighting were his bidding. When the ringing reduced and my sight came back, I realized that I was still holding Nico. He was small for his age. He had black hair and pale skin, making him look like a ghost. His eyes were shut, but water kept running down his cheeks. His hands were holding onto my clothes as if they were his lifeline, which I concluded that they were considering the situation.

Not a moment sooner than the realization a young woman in Ancient Greek clothing appeared in front of us. She wore a black cloth covering her whole body, including her head, but never touched her face. She had green eyes and small dry lips, giving the idea that she rarely talked but I had the feeling that when she did she said powerful things. Beside her stood a tall man with pale-white skin. He had a long chin, a pointed nose, and somehow pointed eyes. They were dark eyes, and not just because they were black, but they released an aura of grief, as if he'd seen every death the world experienced.

The man started shouting at the girl with green eyes, she was obviously scared of him. He raised his hand and even I winced. He might've heard me because he stopped what he was doing, knelt in front of me and smiled. His smile was cold and emotionless, but I had a strange feeling that I've seen that smile before. It comforted me. Nico, who was still clinging on to dear life, shifted his head to look at the man and surprisingly loosened his grip around me. The man carried Nico and reached out for my hand. My eyes firmly glued to the man.

He started walking us out of the hotel, everything was dark. The place seemed to radiate the aura of death. When the man stopped walking, he let go of my hand and put Nico down. Another strange man wearing a pair of dark sunglasses, which made no sense since the whole place was darker than the night, appeared next to him and said, "Are you sure, my lord?" With a single nod the man with black eyes, the first that appeared to us, knelt once more in front of us. He smiled his emotionless smile once again and said, "Never forget that your mother and I loved you both very much."

I took Nico's hand, "Who are you?"

"My name is Hades," he said, "I'm your father."

Then everything went black.