You'll Learn to Love Me (Leo Valdez x OC)

Chapter 53: Nightmares

"What happened?" Leo asked as Hazel climbed aboard. Hazel's hands were shaking as she glanced back over the rail. Arion had taken off shortly after dropping Hazel back at the ship. On the hill, the old ruins stood white and silent, unlike it had been before.

"Hazel?" Nico asked. Hazel's knees buckled. Nico and Laylana quickly grabbed her arms and helped her to the steps of the foredeck.

"I met Hecate," she managed. She told them about the secret northern pass through the mountains, and the detour Hecate described that could take them to Epirus. When she was done, Nico took her hand. Laylana saw the rare ounce of concern that he would usually only show her.

"Hazel, you met Hecate at a crossroads. That's... that's something many demigods don't survive. And the ones who do survive are never the same. Are you sure you're—"

"I'm fine," Hazel insisted. Laylana could sense there was a bit more to her story that she wasn't telling them. But one glance between her and Nico told her that she shouldn't press for more information.

"What if Hecate is tricking us?" Leo asked. "This route could be a trap."

Hazel shook her head. "If it was a trap, I think Hecate would've made the northern route sound tempting. Believe me, she didn't."

Laylana watched Leo pulled a calculator out of his tool belt and punched in some numbers. "That's...something like three hundred miles out of our way to get to Venice. Then we'd have to backtrack down the Adriatic. And you said something about baloney dwarfs?"

"Dwarfs in Bologna," Hazel said. "I guess Bologna is a city. But why we have to find dwarfs there...I have no idea. Some sort of treasure to help us with thequest."

"Huh," Leo said. "I mean, I'm all about treasure, but—"

"It's our best option." Nico helped Hazel to her feet as Laylana spoke. "We have to make up for lost time, travel as fast as we can. Percy's and Annabeth's lives might depend on it."

"Fast?" Leo grinned. "I can do fast as fuck querida."

He hurried to the console and started flipping switches. Laylana and Nico took Hazel's arms and guided her out of earshot. Laylana couldn't help but ask then; "What else did Hecate say? Anything about—"

"I can't." Hazel cut her off. "I'll tell you later. Right now, we should rest while we can. Tonight, we cross the Apennines."

Laylana frowned but nodded. "You guys should get some sleep while you can. I'll stay up here with Leo. You look like you could use it, Hazel." 

Hazel didn't seem to want to argue and nodded. She kept to resting on the deck until Leo was done with whatever he was working on, and she insisted on taking the wheel after that. Nico looked more hesitant.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"Am I sure, what?" 

"That you are okay to stay awake?" Laylana knew what Nico was hinting at. 

"I'll be fine, Neeks. Take my bed to yourself. I'll come down in a bit to check on you." 

Nico rolled his eyes, pushing past her towards the stairs. "I don't need to be babied, you know." 

Laylana didn't respond as he left for her (their) room. That left her on deck with Leo, who continued to plan out their route before setting the ship on auto-pilot. 

"Are you up for helping me with the statue?" Leo asked with a grin as she approached.

The past few nights, Laylana and Leo had been going back and forth, researching stuff about the Athena Parthenos. Laylana knew some things about the statue and its history, but not anything about how it could help cease their war with the Romans. It hadn't been exactly successful so far.