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

You Can't Spell Drama Without A-R-A

"It's my fault," Leo sentences.

"No. No, this is Gaea's fault. It had nothing to do with you." The boy only sinks further on his chair, so Hazel insists. "Leo, listen to me. I won't allow you to take the blame. I couldn't bear that after—after Sammy..."

Nico is shaking from both, anger and sickness. "This is Ara's fault."

In different circumstances, Ara would've jumped at his throat, but this one time, he's absolutely correct. 

"I told them to leave," she says hoarsely after all the screaming.

"Like Percy would ever do that," Nico's voice is weak but charged with resentment. "He has to carry you through every quest—"

Ara glares at him. "We came to save your miserable corpse and you almost died right after!"

"Because I had to run after you, you stupid—"

"Ara," Leo's voice sounds so different from his usual upbeat tone that it gets everyone's attention. "What were you thinking?"

Nico continues heatedly. "She tried to jump into Tartarus."

"What?" Piper asks with shock. "No, Ara wouldn't do that, that's insane and she's always telling us—"

Nico laughs dryly. "None of you know her. Annabeth and Percy tried to stop her but those who help Ara always meet tragic endings. Have you told them about Michael?"

Ara stares at him, refusing to react to what he's saying. Nico steps closer to her, his eyes darkening. He speaks in ancient Greek. "Revolting arae."

The girl grasps the neck of his jacket in a fit of rage. "You—!"

"That's enough!" Jason pulls them apart, thunder booming above them threateningly. "Ara, what is he talking about?"

She pushes Jason away. "I have a prophecy. I can tell you about it, but I don't need you to help me with it."

"Ara, that's a serious deal, what if it has to do with ours?" Hazel asks anxiously. "What if it has to do with Percy and Annabeth?"

Her voice quivers. "Please, focus on your quest."

"And how do you expect us to do that?" Leo asks angrily. "There is no way to contact your brother and Annabeth in Tartarus, without them this quest might go stale—and you were going to jump in like it's nothing?"

"Leo, they're not dead," Nico intervenes. "If they were, I could feel it."

"How can you be sure?" Leo demands. "If that pit really led to that place, how could you sense them so far away?"

He's agitated, and Ara knows it's not only because of Percy and Annabeth. He's freaking out thinking that it could've been her if Annabeth hadn't jumped in to save her at the last minute.

"We can't be one hundred percent sure," Hazel says. "But I think Nico is right. Percy and Annabeth are still alive... at least, so far."

"I packed well for the journey, and Annabeth took my bag," Ara looks down at her feet. "They can survive a whole week if we push their luck."

"Gods, Ara," Jason stares at her not believing what he's hearing. "You were going to jump in for real? What were you thinking? I thought we were past hiding things..."

Disappointing Jason almost feels like making her mother cry, which is weird and unexpected, she didn't know she cared this much about his opinion. Her throat tightens and Ara struggles to get the words out. 

"Janus and Nemesis are talking to me all the time... Leo told me he'd used the fortune cookie, everything had fallen into place for me to act accordingly."