madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-Its a toxic fandom, what a surprise-

"Who is aunt Rosa?"

"Long story," Leo said quickly, walking a bit faster. "She abandoned me after my mom died, gave me to foster care."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well..." Leo was obviously anxious to change the subject. Teqi didn't quite feel like helping him right now, though. "What about you? What Nemesis said about your brother?"

Hazel blinked like she'd gotten salt in her eyes, she glanced at Teqi awkwardly. "Nico...he found me in the Underworld. He brought me back to the mortal world and convinced the Romans at Camp Jupiter to accept me. I owe him for my second chance at life. If Nemesis is right, and Nico's in danger...I have to help him."

"Sure, and what Nemesis said about your brother having six days to live, and Rome getting destroyed...any idea what she meant?"

"None," Hazel admitted. "But I'm afraid..."

Whatever she was thinking, she decided not to share it. She climbed one of the largest boulders to get a better view. Leo tried to follow and lost his balance. Hazel caught his hand. She pulled him up and they found themselves atop the rock, holding hands, face-to-face.

Teqi looked back at the sunset, gritting her teeth. She wasn't weak. But for some unknown reason she felt like crying.  

She couldn't get what the goddess had said out of her head. Who was she more like than she thought? Who needed her? She couldn't get her thoughts in order either, so she just shook her head and held her hand to her side, hoping to stifle the pain.

The thoughts crept back in; she walked a few meters away as the two people behind her muttered to each other things she didn't want to hear. Teqi remembered all the times she had had to fight monsters, giants, people back from the dead with smoking heads and golden touches. Of course, she had wanted to kill them, make them suffer, drive them insane and make sure they didn't hurt her friends again. That was normal. Right?

Teqi wasn't a monster, she wasn't evil, she wasn't bloodthirsty. Right?

There were lists and lists of guys that Teqi didn't think she was like, Leo, Jason, Pollux, Percy, Frank, even Tony wasn't that much like her, only in looks. Who on Olympus needed her? Would she have to manipulate them into getting what she wanted?

"We should keep going," Leo said, drawing Teqi attention back. "I wonder what Nemesis meant about finishing before dark."

"And who is the cursed boy she mentioned?"

Teqi gritted her teeth, took a deep breathe, and turned around to watch the guy she was sort of absolutely obsessed with stare into the girl's eyes, the girl who was here instead of Tony.

Someone spoke from right next to Teqi, and she flinched back, not seeing anyone, "Cursed boy she mentioned."

Then her eyes adjusted. She realized a young woman was standing only a few feet from her. Her dress was a Greek style tunic the same tone of grey with the salt frost as the rocks. Her wispy hair was somewhere between brown and blond and grey, so it blended with the dry grass, nearly every strand a different shade. She wasn't invisible, exactly, but she was almost perfectly camouflaged until she moved. Teqi had to find her more than once when her eyes lost the girl in the scenery

"Hello," Hazel said quietly. "Who are you?"

"Who are you?" The girl answered tiredly. Her voice sounded weary, like she was tired of answering that question. Hazel and Leo got down from the boulder, coming to stand next to Teqi in the grass. "Are you the cursed kid Nemesis mentioned?" Leo asked. "But you're a girl."