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

Can You Pray Back Later? The Gods Are Busy Right Now

Piper revealing her singing voice while trying to control serpent people isn't in Ara's bingo card, but it's the easiest way they'd ever dealt with a monster, so she's thankful for the concert. At the gangplank, she sends off Annabeth, Percy, and Piper. Her brother stands before her with a rigid smile. 

"And again we part."

"At least this time we planned it," Ara retorts. "It'll be fine, Nemo. I love you."

"Love you too," he hugs her. "Good luck."

Her friends go away. Ara goes to her cabin and packs her things: Polaroids taken during the trip, Olympian ointment she prepared beforehand, and Lily's dagger. Her hair tie-shield is around her wrist, and Almighty is in sword mode already. She's got her cloak on, her eight blessings on display, and—mostly as superstition—her laurel wreath atop her head.

All her old clothes will stay here, they never fitted her right after her growth spurt anyway. She tries to remember if she's forgetting something when Leo comes knocking on the door, holding a sheet of paper.

"I have something for you." He hands her the crayon drawing of the Argo II. "I drew that when I was five," he taps the sheet of paper. "I can do anything I put my mind into, doll, and I'm set on coming back to you."

Ara pulls him into a fierce kiss. Leo yelps and then gets deadly quiet, his hands cling to her and Ara hears a 'Puff!', his hair probably bursting into flames. "I need you to know," she breathlessly whispers. "I would watch the world end and do nothing if you decided to stay."

Leo gulps down all the liquid blazes she's put into his body, his hands are stuck on her waist, but Ara's are all over him. He's immune to fire, but his skin burns everywhere she touches. The gears in his brain lose traction and he almost crumbles and begs her to run away with him. Almost. She is the best and worst thing in his world. 

Luckily—or maybe to their detriment—Jason's voice pulls them out of their bubble. "Hazel can't sense the others, it's time to move," he frowns, noticing their flushed faces. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, we were... packing the essentials," Ara puts Leo's drawing in her pocket. "Let's go."

***

"They got Percy and Annabeth!" Ara exclaims while looking through a spyglass. "Piper's surrounded!"

"Leo!" Jason urges the boy, electricity surrounding him and lifting the hairs on his body.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Leo shouts back. 

Ara turns the spyglass into Almighty. She pauses and turns it into a spear, then a bow. "I'm freaking out!" She mutters, leaning on the mast and lowering her head while breathing deeply. "C'mon, Birdy..."

"General, we're leaving," Frank informs her. "Arion is waiting for Hazel, Jason will take her to him and I'll fly down and follow them, remember Annabeth's plan?"

"I never forget," Ara shakes his hand. "Good luck, Praetor."

"Yeah," Frank grumbles. "I'll need it."

"You won't wish the same for me?"

The boy raises a brow. "You don't need it."

Leo calls after her and she approaches. "Stuff your bag with as many bombs and vials of Greek fire as you can," he taps on the Archimedes sphere. "I'll keep an eye on you."

"Keep an eye on everyone," she kisses his cheek. "And don't die—yet." 

Leo smirks. "Wouldn't dream of it."