Nico's mussed up mop of hair was nestled beside me. His shoulders were shuddering every now and again, though he was trying desperately to muffle his sobs. It was Leo Valdez's funeral. I turned my head, and I watched the sun begin to peek over half-blood hill. The sun would make a great boyfreind. Just always there, watching over everyone. Supportive. Unlike Apollo. Ever since the gift of prophecy was taken away, my dad became a literal, reclusive hot mess. like hot, hot mess. The amber grasses swayed a little as the first of the morning breeze touched them. It was little Chuck, Gleeson Hedge's new baby, romping. He didn't understand that one of the bravest demigods to see Camp Half Blood had just died. Chuck was kind of special to me. I mean, I'm his godfather. I delivered him. I made him his first ever pair of dungarees. Yesterday. And his first pair of tiny woven flip flops. Also yesterday. And I warm up his microwaveable hottie toys before he goes to bed. I stretched out my foot, letting the tide seep into my flip flops and between my toes. In the dawn clouds, the fireworks started. Jake and his second in command, Nyssa, had worked day and night down in bunker nine on those fireworks. They were a pretty awesome feat too. Depicting Leo's finest moments. The team Leo showdown with Narcissus. Festus the dragon's epic comeback. Finding Bunker nine. Building the Argo II. The Archimedes sphere. And defeating Gaia. He was shown in a momentous blaze of flames, suspended in the air by Jason Grace. Needless to say, he died a hero. A big hero. Nico's face turned inward, burying itself in the crook of my shoulder. With a subdued hiss of black mist, he was unconcious. I cursed to dad under my breath. He's the fricking god of healing, and he couldn't do one tiny thing to maybe help my boyfriend become less like a ghost.
'Doctor's orders- get some rest' I muttered to him under my breath. 'Doctor's orders' was a little joke between us: The first time we kissed was on strict medical basis: I needed to check the temperature of his mouth. Obviously. And for medical reasons that are long and too complicated to explain, I couldn't use a thermometer. Because.
'Incoming!!!!!!!!' Squealed Frank. I could see a vast shape in the sky, looming over me like a really fast paced cumulous raincloud. It mooed. IT MOOED! Yes, the thing did in fact appear to be a cow.
Possibly a rabid, feral cow.
It charged straight at me.
Now, I'm meant to be pretty good with cows. I mean, my dad's lord of cows! But as I tried to make calming gestures, and become one with this tranquil, free creature of nature (a.k.a crazy-ass wild animal.) And, being pretty good at understanding cows, I could tell that my soothing actions were having the wrong effect: The cow was giving me a pretty clear idea about why mad could also mean crazy. It probably took my orange Camp T-shirt as a red flag. From behind, a spear shot into the cow's thigh. It was Lara, a feisty daughter of Menippe. Being technical, Menippe wasn't a godess, but, having found her roaming the underworld after sacrificing herself to stop a plague, Athena finally set her free a couple of years ago. They cow gave a strangled grimace and collapsed. Lara approached it warily, and then, in a lightning volley of stabs, peirced the cow's chest.
That was one scary heifer.
Lara's hair was blowing around her face like a strawberry blonde tornado, and I had an uncomfortable flashback.
Back in the summer, when Percy, Leo, Jason, Piper, Annabeth, Nico and Gleeson were all away, Lara and I were pretty close. I think everyone expected us to become an item. I think we did too. I was remembering one day at the beach. The sun was setting, and most people were in the mess hall, but we had a basket of strawberries from the feilds, and were eating them picnic style on the shingle area. I have to say this: Lara looked hot in a bikini. She strolled out of the surf, laughing. I tossed her a strawberry, and she caught it in her mouth, smiling. I rolled down the sand dunes, enjoying the dusky sun glancing off her glistening wet stomach. As I crashed to the bottom, I literally knocked Lara off her feet. Yes we were in swimsuits and alone. Nothing happened. Okay, we made out on the beach. But don't pretend to me that every half-blood couple hasn't done that in the same place at least once. We got teased when we turned up for the campfire for being tanner than at lunchtime. It's not my fault!
