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

Chapter 73: Third Time in a Stadium!

The chariot kind of reminded Laylana of the chariot they rode back to Camp Half-Blood on the day she met Piper, Jason and Leo. could dig the chariot and the two white horses. The goddess herself had a wide-eyed, crazy expression. Like she'd just had twenty espressos and ridden a roller coaster. The polished gold wings however were a little overkill.

"Lady," Leo said, "could you fold your flappers, please? You're giving me a sunburn."

"What?" Nike's head jerked towards him. "Oh... my brilliant plumage. Very well. I suppose you can't die in glory if you are blinded and burned."

She tucked in her wings. The temperature dropped to a normal hundred-and-twenty-degree summer afternoon. Laylana didn't feel much better, but it no longer felt like her skin was roasting. Not a good feeling considering her history. She glanced over at her friends and sister. Leo was the one closest to Nike, having been continuously making eye contact with her. Frank stood very still, sizing up the goddess. His backpack hadn't yet morphed into a bow and quiver. 
Hazel was having trouble with Arion. The roan stallion nickered and bucked, avoiding eye contact with the white horses pulling Nike's chariot.

Nobody stepped forward to talk. Laylana had arguments with the Nike kids before, and she knew that she had quite the mouth. That got her in a bit of trouble with the Nike cabin a few times. If she tried to pull that shit with the goddess, she would probably be dead. Thankfully, or unfortunately, Leo seemed to take the lead.

"So!" He pointed his index fingers at Nike. "I didn't get the briefing, and I'm pretty sure the information wasn't covered in Frank's pamphlet. Could you tell me what's going on here?"

Nike continued to stare wide-eyed at him. "We must have victory!" the goddess shrieked. "The contest must be decided! You have come here to determine the winner, yes?"

Frank cleared his throat. "Are you Nike or Victoria?"

"Argghh!" The goddess clutched the side of her head. Her horses reared, causing Arion to do the same. The goddess shuddered and split into two separate images. On the left was the first version: glittery sleeveless dress, dark hair circled with laurels, golden wings folded behind her. On the right was a different version, dressed for war in a Roman breastplate and greaves. Short auburn hair peeked out from the rim of a tall helmet. Her wings were feathery white, her dress purple, and the shaft of her spear was fixed with a plate-sized Roman insignia – a golden SPQR in a laurel wreath.

"Nice going, Frank." Laylana hissed. 

"Well sorry!" Frank groaned after realizing his mistake.

"I am Nike!" cried the image on the left.

"I am Victoria!" cried the one on the right.

This goddess was literally saying two different things at once. She kept shuddering and splitting. Laylana had seen Dionysus/Bacchus split, but it definitely was not like this.

"I am the decider of victory!" Nike screamed. "Once I stood here at the corner of Zeus's temple, venerated by all! I oversaw the games of Olympia. Offerings from every city-state were piled at my feet!"

"Games are irrelevant!" yelled Victoria. "I am the goddess of success in battle! Roman generals worshipped me! Augustus himself erected my altar in the Senate House!"

"Ahhhh!" both voices screamed in agony. "We must decide! We must have victory!"

Arion bucked so violently that Hazel had to slide off his back to avoid getting thrown. Before she could calm him down, the horse disappeared, leaving a vapour trail through the ruins.

"Nike," Hazel said, stepping forward slowly, "you're confused, like all the gods. The Greeks and Romans are on the verge of war. It's causing your two aspects to clash."