Kingfisher: The Oneshots

Begin Again

Y'ALL TAYLOR ON SOTY SCREEEEE

Ok, kind of a lot to explain for this one.

So this is from the original plot I had for Anti Hero where Leo is this sort of exchange student. He goes to live with the Ilzarbes in Florida and attends their high school while Crystal (who, along with Lydia, Eliana, and Evelyn, was originally supposed to be Via and Pat's cousin) goes to live in New York and attend high school there. Via wasn't aware that she and Pat were demigods, or that Leo is a demigod, and Leo doesn't know that Via is a demigod because he thinks she's fully mortal and can't talk about it.

Prior to this one-shot, Pat had died in a car accident (because angst) and (since the plot loosely follows TOA) Jason died in California at the hands of Caligula. Both Via and Leo are grieving and when they learn about the other's loss, they help each other with that and bond over that.

Just before this one-shot, Leo leaves Florida and drives up to New York during spring break to visit Percy, Annabeth, and Calypso (whom he calls "Callie" in front of Via & Fam). Calypso cheats on him with Sherman Yang from Cabin 5 and when Leo finds out, he rushes back down to Florida to get away from them and process everything.

I know, it's a lot, I'm sorry. This is why I scrapped this, but I found it and wanted to share it with y'all. Hope you like it! :)

Via lounged on the couch, feeling bored. She had no inspiration to write a song, had already played every song she knew the chords to, and wasn't up for another round of what Eliana thought was Poker (it was really just Go Fish.)

Leo was still in New York, visiting his friends Percy and Annabeth and his girlfriend Callie (Via was still almost positive Callie wasn't the girl's full name), so she was unable to hang out with him. He rarely answered his phone, so she doubted calling him would do any good.

A wave of longing for Pat washed over her. She missed him so much. He'd have thought of something to do. Tears stung Via's eyes as she remembered all the trouble she used to get into with her twin brother. Why did he have to die?

Why did he have to die? How many times had she thought or said those words when referring to her favorite fictional characters, like Fred Weasley or Finnick Odair. She'd always said the phrase almost laughingly, and it was usually followed by a half-joking curse on the author. But now those words were a reality. Pat was gone, and there was no way to flip back to the chapter when he was still alive as she had in her favorite books. All she could do was cry and curse the author of Pat's life, whoever it was.

She would have wallowed in sorrow and depression on the couch for the rest of the night, but her cell phone rang. Via grabbed it, looking at the phone display and reading the caller ID. An unflattering picture of Leo and his name lit up the screen, notifying Via that Leo was calling her. Taking a deep breath and hoping she didn't sound like she'd been on the verge of tears, she pressed the green answer button and held the phone up to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hey, Via." Leo sounded terrible. Via felt a pang of concern.

"Are you okay, Leo?"

No answer. A siren wailed somewhere on Leo's end, and Via felt a wave of panic rise in her chest. "Leo?"

"I'm here," He replied. "I'm... uh, I'm in my car."

"What happened?" Via asked. "Are you -- just tell me you're not hurt."

"Define 'hurt.' "

"What happened? Did you crash?"

"No."

"Leo, what happened?" Via couldn't keep her voice from shaking. "Where are you?"

"You know that gas station over by First Watch?"