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THE WALK BACK TO THEIRSEATS WAS COMPLETELY SILENT. Oliver didn't feel like talking at that point, and Isabelle wouldn't have forced him to talk if he didn't want to. Once they had reached the table, he wanted nothing more than to just pretend everything Echidna had said was a nightmare, that it didn't really happen, that she never really said it.
In fact, once he sat back down, he only stared at his hands. He didn't dare to look up at them, he couldn't bear to look at Annabeth, Percy or Grover's faces. They were probably disappointed anyway.
"You two lost most of my explanation." Echidna sighed as her little monster kept growling from inside the carrier. "Oh well, it's not a problem. You won't need it anyway." She continued, the creepy smile not leaving her face for one second.
Oliver slightly turned his head up to look at her, noticing the carrier opening on its own. Whatever was inside that thing, it was trying to get out. But he didn't react. He didn't feel scared at all. He felt at peace just knowing that everything was probably gonna be over in a few minutes for him. The voices, the nightmares, everything. Everything would be over in a few minutes.
Oliver wouldn't describe that as a suicidal thought. He would say it was more like a feeling of freedom. He could finally be free from whatever was haunting him. But once the carrier finally opened, whatever was inside that stung Percy, not him.
When Ollie noticed that, his eyes widened. He quickly got up from his seat, letting Percy escape as Annabeth stabbed the monster. That moment felt like a blur, and before he knew it, he was alone. Well, not alone. He was with Echidna. He didn't know why he didn't run with them, he just didn't.
"Oh sweetheart." Echidna placed a hand on Oliver's shoulder again. "I guess you're stuck here. With me." She smiled, looking straight into his eyes. Her expression changed when she noticed the look of someone who didn't care on Oliver's face. It was like whatever was happening to him, wasn't bothering him.
He just kept thinking that sooner or later, Echidna would kill him and that everything was gonna stop. There was no way that she wouldn't kill him. That was her mission. That was what she was supposed to do. If he was really a monster, why couldn't she kill him, like every demigod did when they saw a monster?
"My sweet, poor, child." Echidna sighed, rubbing his cheek gently. "They have left you here, haven't they?"
"No." Oliver replied, making a disgusted as he quickly removed her hand from his cheek. "They haven't left me. I chose to not go with them. There's a difference." He muttered under his breath, sitting back down at the table where his friends sat earlier.
The mother of monsters made an offended face when she saw the way he reacted, but she quickly cleared her throat and sat down opposite from him, making sure he could look into her eyes. "Listen here, son of Poseidon." She started, pointing at the curly headed boy. "I could kill you right now, but I'm giving you mercy."
