RECLUSE - (n) a person who lives a solitary life and tends to avoid other people.
MAISIE ELLIOT WAS ANGRY.
Angry at the world.
Angry at the Gods.
Angry at the demigods who seemed to move on too fast.
And when forced onto a quest with three stranger...
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THE ROUTINE OF MAISIE STOMPING TO HER ROOM WAS BECOMING REPETITIVE
However, this time her hand hovered over the handle to her door, pausing at the quiet sounds of crying from Hazel's room. She found herself moving to the room next to hers, gripping the cold handle with intensity.
The door gave a click as it opened. Hazel had been sitting on her bed, head in her hands, surrounded by every metal thing in her room. Necklaces, gems, trinkets, gravitated towards her, almost as if they were trying to comfort her. Maisie could feel her own necklaces and rings shift towards her in an attempt to be closer.
Hazel looked startled, her eyes became wide and she rushed to wipe her tears away, which hadn't helped much since they only continued to flow.
Maisie was never good at comforting people; she was usually the one who needed to be comforted. Maisie hadn't known Hazel very well and regret began to seep into her bones. Maisie was probably the last person she wanted to see.
But Maisie swallowed her doubts and advanced onwards the crying girl. Maisie was the only one who could understand.
Maisie awkwardly scooted to the edge of the bed while Hazel looked at her apprehensively. She struggled to find the words to console the girl. Maisie must've looked stupid sitting there, mouth opening and closing, words refusing to leave her mouth.
"Nico told me about you," Hazel quietly spoke.
Maisie hadn't expected Hazel to talk to her, let alone speak about her brother, "he did?"
She nodded, "when he rescued me, he told me about his sister, Bianca."
"So, you know what happened?"
"Yes," Hazel said. "But he also told me about you. How you treated him like any normal kid. How you helped him. How you made him feel welcomed."
"Yeah, we were pretty close," Maisie smiled. "Especially after the war, he understood me like nobody else could."
"He told me about it," Hazel recalled. "What you went through during the war."
Maisie locked eyes with Hazel, "and?"
"I think you're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for, Maisie."
Maisie paused for a second, she had never truly felt strong. As much as she wanted to pretend nothing ever bothered her, it really did.
"What else has he told you about me?"
Hazel laughed softly, "he told me of that one time, the one Percy mentioned at Camp Jupiter, where you beat up that boy for talking bad about him."
MAISIE HAD BEEN HANGING OUT IN THE ARCHERY RANGE
Her, Harmony, and Donovan were attempting to fire arrows into the targets of the mostly empty range. Harmony was getting a bullseye every time while the Nemesis kids were only able to hit few.
