WINGED ₁

65

MADELEINE WAS HAVING A PRODUCTIVE SUMMER UNTIL RACHEL ELIZABETH DARE SHOWED UP AT HER DOOR.

Before that, things went like this:

Ethan stayed with her sometimes, and sometimes he didn't. They rarely touched, never fucked, and only occasionally would he kiss her neck. When he did this, she would give him tarot readings. He would always pull the death card.

Sometimes he would bring Nico back with him. On one of these particular days, when Ethan left and it was just Madeleine and Nico in the big, empty house, Nico looked at her very seriously over the wooden kitchen table and told her his plan for Percy.

Madeleine hated it, but she knew Nico was right. If there was one thing she had figured out about him, it was this: Nico loved Percy enough to kill himself for it. It was so starkly similar to what Madeleine had felt for Zoe that it hurt to watch, and if it kept going like this, it meant that maybe Percy would die and Nico would become that hollowed-out shell that Madeleine had: one dead relative, one dead lover.

Drew and Lee didn't have time to visit this summer. They were too wrapped-up in war preparations. They did keep in communication with the coin, and Madeleine promised to bring them weed when she returned to camp. 

She bought a mobile phone to keep in contact with Annabeth and Rachel. She IMed Percy every day after work, and kept up with Clarisse and Thalia when she had the time. She drank tea. Whenever she got a little too lonely, Apollo stayed for a few days. He was never there when she had guests, probably because he didn't want to complicate things, but his company was nice.

They had sex less. They were less broken than they had been last year, and they needed the company of each other's skin little. That didn't stop them from doing it occasionally, though, when Madeleine was so full of want she overflowed and Apollo was so exhausted that she could see his eyes change.

Hermes and Dionysus visited her, too. Hermes wouldn't stay for as long as Apollo ever did, but he would eat dinner with her. They would put on that old record player and laugh and talk about Madeleine's dad.

Dionysus visited biweekly, on his own schedule. He would bring her war reports, updates from camp. He would never stay for long, but sometimes she would catch him looking at her with a look that was entirely mortal.

Madeleine was leaving for camp in a few days, lining it up with Percy and Beckendorf's mission, when Rachel arrived.

She didn't bother to knock. She barged into the house, and immediately, Madeleine had her silver dagger at Rachel's throat.

Rachel held up her hands, looking unthreatened, despite the fact that Madeleine's dagger was unlike regular demigod weapons and could easily kill Rachel.

Madeleine lowered her dagger slowly. "What the hell are you doing here?" she asked. "I don't remember giving you my address, and I locked that door."

Rachel glanced back at the open front door, then looked back at Madeleine, as it reaffirming that she wasn't going to get her throat cut open. Once she decided the situation was safe, she closed the door, then said, very seriously, "You know Nico's plan?"

Madeleine blinked. "You know Nico's plan?"

Rachel made her way to Madeleine's couch. Her face was the color of her hair, and she was panting as if she had run all the way to California, which made no sense. It was physically impossible. Rachel lived in New York. She went to school with Percy.

Rachel took a deep breath. Her hands were shaking. "Madeleine," she said, "Nico wants Percy to dip in the Styx."

"I'm aware," Madeleine told her, leaning against the doorframe. "So, what?"