My only frand[DAPHNE]

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"Leave it to you to injure yourself in the craft house." An Apollo girl stood over the red-head on the bed, arms crossed over her chest. "I told you to take it easy. You've been through too much, Trell." The red-head, who had previously been staring out the window next to her bed, snapped her head around, a glare set on her face. "I told you. Trell's gone, and she's not coming back. It's Nora..." She hissed out the words before she rested her head back on the pillow, exhaling shakily. "Okay then, Nora. You need to take it easy. You're not getting any more time out until you're healed." She wanted to protest, to scream, to blow something up, but that wouldn't work if she couldn't even get out of the bed.

Her painting day had turned into a paint fight with her ex's brother, who spun her around, effectively opening the wounds in her back, and refracturing her foot when she was set down. Not to mention the paint got into some of the wounds that had yet to close. Hence the gash on her forehead that was dyed purple and green. "Now just relax, okay? I'm going to go get you some food. Don't move that leg." Nora gave a simple nod, turning her head towards the window again. She didn't want to look at the ugly cast on her leg, since they didn't trust her to not injure herself further.

She knew the Apollo girl was annoyed. First she'd made the girl dye her hair, now the name thing, on top of taking care of the slightly psychotic girl. Of course, no one knew that she was crazy. Hades, she barely knew that she was crazy. All she knew was that it could get worse.

So much worse.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne was trying to unpack from her quest when one of her brothers came into the cabin a flaming rainbow. After asking if he had turned gay, her brother snorted as he said that he got in some fight with a girl named Trellis or something, but she was in the infirmary. Daphne stopped unpacking as she heard the name. Why in the world was Trell picking fights with her brothers? She didn't ask any more questions as she stormed away to the infirmary.

What the hell happened to this camp while I was gone? she wondered to herself as she shoved her way past the Apollo kids into the infirmary. Her eyes scanned around the room and she almost missed Trell, since the red hair threw her off. "Trell?" she asked as she approached the girl. "Are you alright?"

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Nora froze when she heard the voice by her curtain. There was no possible way. She turned her head away from the window again, feeling the sanity slip back into her just by looking at the girl she'd once called a best friend and sister. "Trell's long gone, Daph..." She whispered the words out before she turned her head away, trying to fight he emotions welling up inside of her. She just wanted to tell Daphne everything. Every little thing that happened while she was gone. "She doesn't go by Trell anymore. It's Nora now." The Apollo girl had come back with a tray of food, and there was sarcasm in her voice that Nora didn't appreciate one bit. "Get out." She addressed the Apollo girl. "Get out and give me time with Daphne. We have catching up to do." She was still facing the window, not even bothering with the food that had been set down for her. The Apollo girl didn't argue. She slipped out and closed the curtain behind her. As soon as Nora knew it was only the two of them in there, it got harder. She wanted to just break down, but she couldn't do it, yet. "I didn't think you'd ever come back, Daph.." She choked out the whisper, fighting against the tears that wanted to spill.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne stopped in her tracks when Trell said she was gone. What the hell is wrong with this camp? she thought to herself. Ever since she got back from her quest, everything went downhill. She was related to a crush she had back home, her best friend was apparently possessed or something... She didn't know. There had to be something in the water. Daphne turned her head and raised her eyebrows when the Apollo kid said she went by Nora now.

"Nora..." Daphne muttered as she looked at Trell with a raised eyebrow. Something was going on and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. For a split second, Daphne was hesitant that the Apollo girl was leaving the two of them alone, but once she was gone, Daphne noticed a whole new side of Trell. She quickly sat down on the girl's bed as she reached out to grab her hand. "No," she said as she shook her head. "I was going to come back. I was going to make sure of it." She took a deep breath as she looked at her friend. "What is going on? You can tell me."

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Nora tensed a little bit at Daphne's question, not really knowing what to think of everything. "You really don't know, do you...?" She asked in a whisper before finally turning to face the girl, bruises and scrapes on show. "Of course you don't...I left just after you did." She lowered her head, trying to fight back the memories of that awful place. "I know you know that I got...His soul back..." She practically hissed out the word, not even wanting to say his name because she knew she would just anger herself further. "But he probably didn't tell you how." She clenched her eyes shut, hands balling into fists. She couldn't believe she was going to relive all of that. But she had to. Daphne had to know what was going on. She was the only friend Nora had left.

So she told her. She told her about the deal with Nyx, that she only got two days above ground before Rayne pissed off Hades and got her put on lockdown. She spoke of the whippings from Hades, the daily attacks from the grotesque demons, the days without sleep or food, then finally the coma. "I left a couple days after you did, Daph...I got back three days ago." She wanted the words to sink in, for Daphne to realize that Nora had been gone just as long as she had. "And not once did anyone come to save me. No attempts, no interventions, for Zeus' sake I didn't even get a single Iris message!" Now she had her jaw clenched shut, her words hissing out as the tears finally won.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne decided not to grab Trell's hand as she saw her hands ball up into fists, but instead she listened to the girl speak. She listened to her horrific story about how she dealt with Nyx and became a slave... but one thing was just completely off about her story.

"You... you got his soul back?" Daphne asked as her mind immediately went back to that one night a couple of nights before her quest as Rayne gave her something. It hit her like a wall as she glanced down at her cleavage and saw the glowing green locket down there. "Oh my gods..." she muttered as her eyes widened as she pulled out the piece of jewelry. "He gave it to me..." Her eyes looked at Trell, no, Nora apologetically as she muttered, "He gave it to me before I left on the quest... I'm so sorry... I've would've refused if I knew... or tried to save you... I'm so so sorry."

[Deleted]

Nora couldn't help but blink a little bit at Daphne's words. How could she not know? He had even sai- "I'm. Going. To. Kill. Him." She hissed out each word slowly as soon as she saw what was around Daphne's neck. She knew that glow all too well. She'd felt the weight and burn as she carried it all the way from the Underworld the first time. Her fists clenched again, nails digging into her palms as she turned her head to the ceiling, trying to calm herself down. "All of that...Everything I did...Everything I went through..." She closed her eyes for a moment to steady her breathing. "It was all for nothing."

Try as she might, she couldn't control the rage that filled her at that moment. She grabbed the closest thing she could, the tray of food, and flung it across the room before she calmed down substantially. "That son of a bitch." She blinked her eyes open again before she looked at Daphne. Oh Daphne. One of the only people she could really count on anymore. She knew Daphne would have done something if she knew, if she hadn't been on a quest of her own. "Don't beat yourself up, Daph..." She whispered softly as she reached out, putting a shaky hand on her best friend's knee. This was just the icing to the cake.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne wasn't beating herself up for not being for Trell... Nora... whatever the Hades she was going by nowadays. No, Daphne just felt anger inside of her. Anger for her brother for being a butt and not taking his soul completely back and instead giving it to her. Anger that nobody bothered to tell her or Iris message her that her best friend was taken by that bitch Nyx. Daphne was basically taking all of the advice her therapist gave her about her anger and threw it out the window. Then again, her therapist was Aphrodite who decided to screw with her life as well.

Daphne was boiling in her anger until she was jolted out of her thoughts as Nora threw her tray of food halfway across the infirmary. She looked over at Trell and down at the hand on her knee before she took a deep breath. "No, I'm not beating myself up," she said as she looked up at the girl. "Instead, I'm going to beat up my brother and that goddess. Both have crossed the line. I'm not letting them get away with this."

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Nora couldn't help but chuckle at the look on her best friends face. "You'll have to wait until I can move everything properly again, because I'm not missing that for the world." Her words were a bit strained, since she was trying to retrain her anger. Daphne didn't need to see her getting all worked up, especially in her condition. "I'll take them down. All of them." She hissed the words before she took a few deep breaths through her nose. "Nora, what did you break now?" The Apollo was finally back behind the curtain, shaking her head at the tray of food and the newly shattered vase it made contact with. "Better be on your best behavior, Willowroot. Chiron said you can go back to your own cabin in a few days as long as you take it easy until then."[/b] She didn't even hide her groan.

Nora didn't want to be stuck in this place anymore than she had to, and she had far too much to do when she got back to the cabin. She was the Leader now, after all. Chiron thought she'd deserved it after all she'd been through. She needed to make sure it was in tip top shape. "I'm glad you're back, Daph." She tried to force a smile onto her face as she went back to ignoring the Apollo girl, simply trying to just enjoy the time she had with her best friend.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne couldn't help but smirk a bit as the image of their plan unfolded in her mind. Rayne was all bloody and bruised and the goddess Nyx laid at their feet. That would be a triumphant moment for the Zeus child. She would finally relax knowing that the goddess was gone and none of her children would bother her for a long time. Who would want to bother someone who took down someone powerful such as a god? "I'll help you," Daphne said as her smirk got a little wider as she thought about all the things she would do to her brother. He deserved them anyway.

The Apollo girl walked in again and Daphne couldn't help but glare at her. That girl had many faults about her, especially invading girl time with her and Trelly. "She'll be fine," Daphne said as she tried to shoo the girl away with the flick of her hand. "Go attend someone else for a little bit. I got her." Daphne turned back to Trell, no, Nora as she smiled back at her. "I'm glad I'm back too. I thought some times during that quest we wouldn't make it back alive... or at least in one piece. But Marius is cured now, which makes me glad."

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Nora couldn't help but laugh at the look on the Apollo girl's face when Daphne sent her away. Did she not understand that Nora and Daph just needed time with each other? They'd been separated for a year, nearly more. "Well I'm glad you're safe. I would have come with you, you know, if I hadn't been caught up in being a love sick idiot." She grimaced at the words. She had never hated herself more when she realized that Rayne wasn't coming for her, and that everything she'd done was for nothing. "When I'm back on my feet, you and I are kicking some serious butt in the arena." She gave her friend a little smirk, even though it still hurt every time she moved. "Maybe I can actually beat you, now." She gave a wink before a broken laugh escaped her. It sounded so foreign. Obviously there wasn't much time for laughing in the Underworld. "Though I'm pretty sure it will be a while, since the stiffs are idiots." She rolled her eyes, motioning to the Apollo's beyond their curtain. She knew they wouldn't let her train until she was fully healed. But of course, she had a habit of doing things she wasn't supposed to.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne laughed a bit as she rolled her eyes. "I was being a lovesick idiot too..." she mused as she shook her head. "Achilles broke up with me like a couple of weeks before I went on the quest. I was definitely one that should not have been on that quest... I really didn't think the most rationally." She couldn't help but think of the stupid things she did with Marius, but she was hurt and he was there for her... Daphne couldn't imagine what would happen if he was still dating Valeria, instead of her.

"Yeah," she said as she was shaken out of her thoughts. "Butt kicking in the arena, definitely sounds like a fun time. I haven't been there in forever. I think the Ares kids forgot who's boss." She gave a side eye to the Apollo who decided to hover just outside of the curtains. "Well, I would want it to be a fair fight anyway," she smirked as she looked over at Nora. "I don't want to go easy on you because you're injured, alright?"

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Nora's next laugh was a bit choked out, mainly because of the pressure on her ribs. "I wouldn't expect anything less, Daph." She tried to give her friend a smile, but it just wasn't working, everything hurt too much and she just didn't want to admit it. She knew, though, that one person in this world wouldn't judge her for being weak, it was Daphne. "They really messed me up, Daph." She finally whispered the words, choosing to stare at the ceiling instead of her friend. She didn't want the Zeus girl to see the tears welling up in her eyes, or the pain and fear in them. "They have to drug me so I can sleep, you know. I still see things in my dreams." It was difficult, voicing the fears she'd kept to herself since she'd gotten back to the camp, but Daph would understand. Daphne always understood.

"Sometimes I still feel claws on my legs, and it's all I can do not to freak out and cause a panic. I don't...I don't want anyone to know what really happened down there." The words had barely come out, because her tears were starting to. She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to stop the few tears that fell from her lashes. The pain and the fear was something she needed to get over if she wanted to get back at the world for leaving her in that horrible place. It was only a matter of time.

[Daphne Scotts]

Daphne's chest started to tighten as Trell... no, Nora... told her of the nightmares she was having. It hit too close to home for the Zeus child and she could see the tears welling up in her friend's eye. Daphne was hesitant on what to do. She almost reached out to her friend, but paused for a second. She took a deep breath before she placed her hand on top of her friend's. "I understand... I really do, Tr-Nora..." She took a deep breath as she nodded her head.

"Those nightmares... they're scary. You wake up screaming in the dead of night because those horrors come back to get you. But you don't want to tell anyone, because you don't want to scar them too." She nodded her head as she gave her friend a sad smile. "I understand... you've probably heard, but I was possessed by one of Xenos's demons a few years ago... it took months and lots of therapy to get over it... but sometimes I'm not over it... I had a nightmare at the beginning of the quest right after Achilles broke up with me..." She squeezed her friend's hand. "I understand so you can tell me more if you want."

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When she felt the hand in hers, Nora squeezed with all of the energy she had left. "Hades, the demons, all of them I-" Her voice cut out, and she actually had to fight back tears. What was it with her lately? Was she really so broken that she was crying? There was no time for tears. She needed to recover, then kill every last one of them. "Th-there's a journal under the mattress." She whispered the words, making sure no prying ears could hear. "I've written everything. It's a bit sloppy, but it's all there." Every last detail. How Hades beat her senseless nearly every other day, how his demons did unspeakable things to her when she was already bloody and broken. How Nyx just left her there to rot when Hades got bored or found a new plaything. Every last detail.

"If something bad happens, I need you to tell me. You know I'd do anything for you, Daph. No matter what it is, I'll help you." She needed Daphne to know that she was there and would protect her. She had heard the stories. The attack at the ball, the Usurpers, Gideon going nuts, everything. She knew what she was going to do. She was going to fight her way to the top and rip the Gods apart piece by piece. She would get her justice.