SANITY; heroes of olympus

04.9

[act four; chapter nine     -     the vanishing of leo valdez]

Zara didn't know much about the Mediterranean, but she was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to freeze in July.

Two days out to sea from Split, grey clouds swallowed the sky. The waves turned choppy. Cold drizzle sprayed across the deck, forming ice on the rails and the ropes.

"It's the sceptre," Nico murmured, hefting the ancient staff. "It has to be."

Zara was curious, she couldn't help it. Ever since Jason and Nico had returned from Diocletian's Palace, they'd been acting nervous and cagey. Something major had happened there—something Jason wouldn't share with her, but she wasn't pushy about it. Everyone had full rights to their own privacy, but she also couldn't help but notice how Nico had been steering clear of Percy ever since.

It made sense that the sceptre might have caused this weather change, she guessed. The black orb on top seemed to leach the colour right out of the air. The golden eagles at its base glinted coldly. The sceptre could supposedly control the dead, and it definitely gave off bad vibes. Coach Hedge had taken one look at the thing, turned pale, and announced that he was going to his room to console himself with Chuck Norris videos (although the daughter of Flora suspected that he was actually making Iris-messages back home to his girlfriend Mellie; the coach had been acting very agitated about her lately, though he wouldn't tell Zara or anyone else what was going on).

So, yes...maybe the sceptre could cause a freak ice storm. But Zara didn't think that was it. She feared something else was happening—something even worse.

She pulled Jason's hoodie tighter around her body, regretting the decision to wear a skirt today, even if it was long. It was long and flowy and it was yellow with little lavender flowers on it, but she liked to think they were more of an amethyst than lavender.