100 reasons to love our lives

Desperation

Nico

Two weeks had passed until I saw her.

Two weeks full of desperation, two weeks of searching for my boyfriend. Celine was stronger than any other monster I had faced; excluding Kronos, Gaea or Nero, of course. She had blocked the shadows so I couldn't shadow-travel, the newspapers were surprisingly quiet - even though a demigod on the run always caused attention. I had no idea where my boyfriend was; only knew that he was at least alive because of my death senses.

What if Celine had blocked that too? Blocked my powers completely? But no, I could still call skeletons and wither flowers or phone batteries away. I didn't even dare to take that possibility into account.
Dean was surprisingly nice; he helped me as best as he could despite my objections. He was strangely stubborn about that whole thing, I couldn't understand his motivations, but his help was welcome.

And now, exactly as half my waiting time passed, Celine showed up at the breakfast table, meaning... the hunt was over. In one way or another
I was tempted to just walk over to her, pierce her heart with Dormita and then go searching for my boyfriend, but murdering a seemingly helpless petite blonde in front of dozens of witnesses wouldn't provide me a great reputation, especially not after that incident with the credit card.

Therefore, I had to settle for the peaceful solution. I sat down right before her and growled: "Where is my boyfriend?"
"Well, good morning, sugar daddy", she said, not even looking at me.
"Where is he?", I repeated, calming my fists by clenching them tightly.
"Geez, how am I supposed to know?", she asked, her tone full of annoyance. "He probably has overslept or something."

"He's been nowhere since two weeks, Celine", I hissed. The other girls at the table had a sudden interest for their breakfast; the mist made them hear away naturally.
"Only one person could tell me something other than maybe somewhere else, and I trust him. He said he was with you. So, where is my boyfriend?"
She raised her eyebrows so high they seemed to vanish under her straight, blonde hair. "So, a man told you? The only men you are talking to are Dean and Simon, and Simon definitely hasn't told you. Therefore I assume it's Dean who spread the rumor, and don't you think he just hates me because I pointed out his deeply internalized misogyny?"

I snorted angrily and left that situation before there were any corpses. But something about her words made me wary...

~~~

Simon spun around to me as I closed the room door behind him, pointing Dormita right at his chest. "Talk", I demanded. "Now!"

He raised his arms, his eyes looking at the thin blade full of fear. "Where is Will?", I asked him coldly. "Celine obviously trusts you enough that she knows you haven't told me where he is. Time to change that, Simon."
As he didn't react, I stepped closer, pushing the tip of the blade against his heart. "You are probably the closest friend I had since half a decade", I told him. "But I won't hesitate to kill you, if that brings me closer to my boyfriend. Tell. Me. Where. He. Is."

The dancer breathed out shakily, tearing a bit of my rage with him as his usual sickness washed over me. "Sunflower", he said, and I froze in my place.

His voice was the most beautiful I ever heard.

Every good feeling in the world seemed to echo through the soft river of his sound: happiness, calmness, comfort, peacefulness, enthusiasm, satisfaction... So much more I couldn't even comprehend. The excitement when someone found a cave full of precious crystals. All the giddy feelings one had during the first kiss, the first relationship, the first time. Just relaxing in the summer sunlight, the scent of strawberries still heavy in the air. A warm hellhound right next to one; spraying happiness and joy. The wonder when someone looked down from a great height, seeing the world small and insignificant. That absolute adrenaline rush when one won a battle.