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

Side Stories: Laylana's Scars

Welcome to another side story. This one is a bit angsty, as it tells the story of how Laylana got her scars, how she was saved, and the aftermath when she wakes up from it. It might get a bit graphic so here's the warning for that now.

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Laylana watched. the battle rage around her, Percy, Annabeth and Grover. Of course the hunters were here now, along with Nico and his father, step-mother and Demeter. But horror dawned upon her when she realized that her mom and Paul were awake, and stepped out of their car down the road. 

"Mom!" She shouted. 

"No," Percy said. "Don't..."

Their mother could see through the Mist, so it was clear she knew what was going on. She locked eyes with her children, said something to Paul, and ran straight for them while Hades caused a distraction. He charged at the wall of force, but his chariot crashed against it and overturned. He got to his feet, cursing, and blasted the wall with black energy. The barrier held.

"ATTACK!" Hades roared.

The armies of the dead clashed with the Titan's monsters. Fifth Avenue exploded into absolute chaos. Mortals screamed and ran for cover. Demeter waved her hand and an entire column of giants turned into a wheat field. Persephone changed the dracaenae's spears into sunflowers. Nico slashed and hacked his way through the enemy, trying to protect the pedestrians as best he could. Laylana watched her parents run toward them, dodging monsters and zombies. She was too far away to help, even if she shadow-traveled.

"Nakamura," Kronos said. "Attend me. Giants—deal with them."

He pointed at Laylana and her friends. Then he ducked into the lobby. The first Hyperborean giant smashed at Percy with his club, only for Laylana to shove him out of the way before he could get hit. Her instincts switched and she charged into battle. She rolled between the giant's legs and threw her daggers towards his back. He shattered into a pile of ice shards. The second giant breathed frost at Annabeth, who was barely able to stand, but Grover pulled her out of the way while Thalia went to work. She sprinted up the giant's back like a gazelle, sliced her hunting knives across his monstrous blue neck, and created the world's largest headless ice sculpture.

Laylana glanced outside the magic barrier, trying to see Nico or her parents. Nico was fighting his way toward her mom and Paul, but they weren't waiting for help. Paul grabbed a sword from a fallen hero and did a pretty fine job keeping a dracaena busy. He stabbed her in the gut, and she disintegrated.

"Paul?" Percy and Laylana said in amazement.

He turned toward them and grinned. "I hope that was a monster I just killed. I was a Shakespearian actor in college! Picked up a little swordplay!"

"God damn!" Laylana grinned. "Maybe we'll do a bit of swordplay when this is all over!" 

Paul smiled even wider at his step-daughter. Laylana snapped back into it when she spotted a Laistrygonian giant charged toward her mom. She was rummaging around in an abandoned police car—maybe looking for the emergency radio—and her back was turned.

"Mom!" Percy yelled.

She whirled when the monster was almost on top of her. For a second, Laylana thought the thing in her hands was an umbrella until she cranked the pump and the shotgun blast blew the giant twenty feet backward, right into Nico's sword.

"Nice one," Paul said.

"When did you learn to fire a shotgun?" Laylana demanded.

My mom blew the hair out of her face. "About two seconds ago. Percy, Layla, we'll be fine. Go!"