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

I Hope Ya'll Were Paying Attention, 'Cause I'm Never Doing That Again

From now on, Ara won't think about anything else than taking the seven demigods to the ancient lands. Once there she'll save Nico, and after that... she'll do what she must to make sure her camp gets saved, and maybe break her curse in the process.

Annabeth sits her on the mattress. "I shouldn't have forced you to do three missions in a row—"

Ara groans. "That is the only reason I'm here. And one of the missions was a tea party where Aphrodite complimented my eyeliner." She touches her face in sudden realization. "Oh gods, my eyeliner! Do I look insane?"

Annabeth smiles a little. "The storm and your crying washed it all away—you should get a better brand."

"I like how easy to remove it is," she lies on her back. "And that brand has pretty colors..."

The ship is groaning and swaying from one side to another, but Ara isn't allowed on deck. She had a meltdown and Frank had to carry her to the sickbay, and now she's too weak to do anything.

Ara stepped into the role of daughter of Olympus so sure of herself, and now... Why couldn't all this happen when she had the option to step out? She remembers how harshly she judged Clarisse during the first war, but now she understands that sometimes being impartial is not an option.

When the storm gets more violent, Annabeth is forced to leave the room. "I have to go help..."

Ara says something before Annabeth leaves her cabin. "You don't have to worry about me bailing out after this. I'll help you defeat Gaea if it is the last thing that I do." She stares at the ceiling with a blank expression. "I'm sorry I freaked out, I suck at diplomatic stuff. Lily always took care of that part..."

Annabeth crosses her arms and sighs heavily. "Yeah, that was concerning. You used to hold your front just fine, what happened?"

Ara makes a face. "Aphrodite told me not to be rash and I didn't listen. I wonder why I ignore her when she's trying to help..."

"You always complained about being underestimated," Annabeth shrugs. "Maybe you're doing the same to her."

Ever since the gods stripped her of her Aphrodite identity and dressed her in General attire, Ara has done her best to hide who her godly parent originally was. She acted all offended when Leo didn't believe she was from Cabin Ten, but deep down, she'd been satisfied. The implications of that, of course, are terrible, so Ara decides to ignore it.

"Could you not..." she clears her throat and speaks with more authority. "Don't tell the others, I don't want them to freak out over nothing. Let them have peace before we reach Rome."

"I figured you'd say that," Annabeth sighs. "Fine."

***

Moving my stuff out of Cabin Ten isn't hard, I haven't kept much in there since I moved to New York. I choose a room on the second floor of the Big House, close to the stairs so I can get out fast in case of an emergency.

Nico takes the room across from mine, and Rachel the one in the middle. We go to Apollo's cabin, and the campers salute me as I enter. Nico and Lily stay outside to start the funeral rituals and I help where I can. I use my empath touch on the mourners until I can't hold more of their grief, I employ my charmspeak so the wounded rest. 

I stand next to Chiron and Mr D and we burn the shrouds, as that comes to an end, I introduce myself as the new head of camp. I promise to be there to help and protect them.

During dinner, Nico sits with me because he doesn't have a table. Tomorrow I'll see that he gets one. Lily will help him design his cabin, they'll leave tomorrow night and Lily will stay a few weeks in the Underworld to help Daedalus, I know she's hoping to catch a glimpse of Mike.