<div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/5/5d/Raegen2.jpg)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Raegen Connolly (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=207204.msg10266569#msg10266569)<br/><strong>Cabin:</strong>Aphrodite<br/><strong>Location:</strong>Sword & Shield<br/><strong>Date/Time:</strong>September 21st || 0915 AM (or so)<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Open<br/><strong>Notes:</strong>Wearing leather armor (chest) over casual clothes, wearing flat boots<br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>Warning:</strong></span> Possible trigger warnings for mentions of child abuse.</div><hr/><hr/>Every morning was the same, which in a way was comforting, but made every moment predictable and as uneventful as the last. Raegan could not complain- would not complain- as anywhere was better than the world she had come from. More than half her life was spent at Camp Half-blood, wrangling her cabin- though uninterested in leading so she left that to others. The fear that she would immolate her ‘dear’ father’s physical hatred for her as a small child made her worry to be in a position where someone looked up to her. What was the characteristic that made someone abusive?<br/><br/>Time was never a defining factor in forgetting the past. While it may dull the ache, or blur the edges of the memories, those reactions stay with someone for an undetermined amount of years, perhaps centuries. Raegan knew she would be dead before she could fully let go of her childhood fears. For now, she flourished in the freedom to be herself- whatever that was- in the Aphrodite Cabin. While one of the oldest campers, she could be the least mature of them all.<br/><br/>Where there were often dreams of white picket fences, and rambunctious piles of child and puppy- they were mingled with the choking fear of bruises, of bleeding, of sexual advances that would color her forever. As a demi-god, she could easily defend herself now, growing into the powers that gave her the ability to turn the tide in her favor- should she choose to use them against another camper. Instead, she focused on the physical attributes her half-goddesshood at gifted her with. While there was a stereotypical response to Aphrodite being the weakest of the Cabins, Raegan had made a promise to herself that she would never be the weaker one.<br/><br/>Her fight was not only with the emotional scars and terrors of the child abuse she had suffered at the hands of her father and step-mother, but with the physical limitations that had kept her in that position for so long. While Aphrodite had sent satyrs to save her, to bring her into the fold, it was simply too late. Raegan was now too determined to be able to take care of herself, and so she fought and scrapped and forced her way into being more than just a pretty face.<br/><br/>Raegan stood on the edges of the mingled crowd of campers that paired up for their Sword and Shield class, her mind as settled as the weight of her sheathed sword across her back. Her balance, both physically and mentally, was better when she was armed. It made her feel halfway invincible… And it was better than nothing. Whether she fought again today or not, she didn't care- it felt good to be in a place that made sense to her.