The Curse of Oenone (Daughter of Olympus II) - [Leo Valdez xF!Oc]

Are You Serious? Right in Front of My Salad?

I wake up with a start. My mouth is dry as if I've been running for hours. I just had the weirdest dream about Janus in a forest and now my mind is racing, so I get up. I leave Annabeth in Geryon's old bedroom and make my way downstairs. 

Nico is seated on a tall chair in the kitchen aisle, he doesn't look up as I walk past him, but as I'm filling a glass with water, he speaks to me. "How's Lily?" He asks hoarsely. "And Michael?"

I want to ignore him, but his voice is so broken my heart can't bear it. We spoke to his sister's ghost today, and Bianca told him to stop trying to bring her back.

"You know, now that you're all grumpy, you and Lily would get along even better."

"I don't want friends," he cuts me off, voice quivering. "Just wanted my sister."

"Nico," I leave my glass on the counter and cross my arms. "I grew up in an orphanage—"

"What's that got to do with—"

"Shut up and listen," I scowl. "I didn't know how it felt to have a real family until recently, and sometimes Percy annoys me on purpose, but no one cares for me the way he and my mom do. If Bianca, your only sister, was asking you to trust us, you should've listened."

"Like how you listened to Percy when he asked you to stay put?"

I tense. "That's different. Geryon would've killed him if I hadn't—"

He interrupts me bitterly. "Percy's not your real brother, and you'll never know what a real family is. You get in everyone's way trying to be a hero."

I try not to pout, but I'm not succeeding. "That's mean."

If Nico is ashamed, I don't sense it. "It's the truth."

"You don't talk to your friends like that," I say, voice quivering. "Bianca—"

Nico gets up and exits the room hastily, speaking through gritted teeth. "We are not friends."

***

"...Gaea told me that she needed the blood of only two demigods—one female, one male. She—she asked me to choose which boy would die." Piper explains during the meeting.

"But neither of us died," Jason replies. "You saved us."

"I know. It's just... Why would she want that?"

"Guys, remember at the Wolf House? Our favorite ice princess, Khione?" Leo mentions. "She talked about spilling Jason's blood, how it would taint the place for generations. Maybe demigod blood has some kind of power." 

"Oh..." Percy leans back in his chair looking nauseous. "Oh, bad... Bad. Bad." He turns to Hazel and Frank. "You guys remember Polybotes?"

"The giant who invaded Camp Jupiter," Hazel replies. "The anti-Poseidon you whacked in the head with a Terminus statue. Yes, I think I remember."

"I had a dream, when we were flying to Alaska. Polybotes was talking to the gorgons, and he said—he said he wanted me taken prisoner, not killed. He said: 'I want that one chained at my feet, so I can kill him when the time is ripe. His blood shall water the stones of Mount Olympus and wake Earth Mother!'"

"Jolly way of dying..." Ara mutters.

Piper makes a face. "You think the giants would use our blood... the blood of two of us—"

"I don't know," Percy replies. "But until we figure it out, I suggest we all try to avoid getting captured."

"That I agree with," Jason sighs.