𝕱𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖑𝖞 𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖊 - a Leo Valdez slowburn

Chapter thirteen

Chapter thirteen.

[It's Ismeju time] 

"I am but the lover of someone

who will know me as nothing but a ghost, 

and I will not know them as anything but a name on a gravestone."

Since the three of them didn't all share the same wing, Leah also didn't have the same classes or cafeterias, which meant the only time for them to meet up was out of academical hours - from eight in the evening 'til about six in the morning. It was nothing bad for Leah, seeing as she didn't sleep much, but it was obvious Lin slept a lot more. Aiden had gotten into the habit of sleeping again too, so it weighed a lot on their overall health and energy. 

Leah got up out of her bed at midnight, once everyone was asleep, except for one girl on the other side of the room. Well, that's the only one she knew of. Everyone could've been faking their sleep in the room for all she knew. Hell, that's what she had been doing. 

But she got up nonetheless, wincing at the squeak her bed made. She grabbed her ID card from its hook and shrugged on the cloak the students wore, then she made her way out of the door and to their meet-up point. 

Aiden and Lin were already waiting for her, discussing something or the other. It was their what, third night at the Academy? No one had raised alarm yet, so Lin thought it was high time they started doing something about the Ismeju. 

"But how are we going to even get to it?" Aiden whispered, a panicky tone in his voice. Once he noticed Leah he greeted her quickly before he jumped back to the conversation. "Hi, Leah," Lin said. Leah nodded back as a hello. 

"But it'll be easy," Lin protested, "won't it? We've all seen how slack the security is, however strict they make it seen. Hell, I'm sure your Camp Half-Blood's harder to sneak around at night then the Academy." Leah nodded again, snickering to herself at the thought. The harpies there would scoff at the lack of attention the guards had. The Good Dragon must have been causing quite a stir for there to be so few staff members there to watch.

"I know where the Ismeju is," Lin continued. "I was supposed to be the one to ride it a few years back. Andrea was never the sharpest tool in the shed, although she likes to think she is. We just go up there, and ride the dragon out into the open. It doesn't have a tracker or anything, and we'd be gone before they can even think of following us." Aiden hummed. 

"When do we go to get the Ismeju then?" "As quickly as we can," Leah butted in, frowning. "The guards might not be suspicious, but students soon will be. Three teenagers randomly showing up's weird. They grow up here, right?" 

"Yeah," Lin agreed. "Besides, some have started recognizing me. Rumors spread quickly, there's no doubt we'll be seen through within a few days." Aiden nodded. "So we go tomorrow?" he asked. "We do," Leah said. 

"We meet up here after supper, then I can lead you guys to the Ismeju," Lin said. "I can take care of it until we escape, but remember Leah, it's going to be your dragon to tame." "Of course," she laughed, "this is my quest after all. Thank you, Lin." A look of appreciation was shared between the two. 

"It's no problem," they responded with a smile. "Well, I'll go now. Wait a bit before you leave," they advised. Then they jumped out of the tunnel into the hallway, waving goodbye to the two teenagers. And that left two. 

"So," Aiden started awkwardly. Leah put her hands in her pockets. "When do you want to go-" 

"Can we resolve this?" Leah cut in. "Please." Aiden nodded. "Yeah, of course. I want to apologize - it wasn't fair of me to assume, and I joked about really serious shit." He sighed. "Flower girl, I never wanted to hurt you, you know that, right? And I seriously cannot imagine what you went through, and your feelings don't need validation, and I'd still like you even if you destroyed the entire Earth so you don't have to worry about killing your abuser-"