I was not happy to be riding Arion again. The horse's hooves turned the surface of the lake to salty mist. Ahead of us lay an island, a line of sand so white, it might have been pure table salt. Behind that rose an expanse of grassy dunes and weathered boulders. I sat behind Hazel, one arm around her waist, and Leo sat behind me, holding on for dear life. Before we left, Percy and I had pulled Leo aside to tell him Hazel's story. Percy made it sound like he was just doing Leo a favor, but there'd been an undertone like "If you mess with my friend, I will personally feed you to a great white shark." Arion thundered onto the beach. He stomped his hooves and whinnied triumphantly. Hazel and Leo dismounted. Arion pawed the sand.
Hazel: He needs to eat. He likes gold, but-
Leo: Gold?
Hazel: He'll settle for grass. Go on, Arion. Thanks for the ride. I'll call you.
Just like that, the horse was gone, nothing left but a steaming trail across the lake.
Leo: Fast horse. And expensive to feed.
Hazel: Not really. Gold is easy for me.
Leo raised his eyebrows.
Leo: How is gold easy? Please tell me you're not related to King Midas. I don't like that guy.
YN: Oh yeah, I heard you guys ran into him. Didn't you and Piper...
Leo: Yeah. Thankfully it was reversable.
Hazel pursed her lips.
Hazel: Never mind.
Leo knelt and cupped a handful of white sand.
Leo: Well... one problem solved, anyway. This is lime.
YN: The whole beach?
Leo: Yeah. See? The granules are perfectly round. It's not really sand. It's calcium carbonate.
Leo pulled a Ziploc bag from his tool belt and dug his hand into the lime. Suddenly he froze.
YN: Leo? You okay?
He took a shaky breath.
Leo: Yeah. Yeah, fine.
He started to fill the bag. Hazel knelt next to him and helped.
YN: We should've brought a pail and shovels.
Leo smiled.
Leo: We could've made a sand castle.
Hazel: A lime castle.
Their eyes locked for a second too long. I cleared my throat, and Hazel looked away.
Hazel: You are so much like-
Leo: Sammy?
She fell backward.
Hazel: You know?
Leo: I have no idea who Sammy is. But Frank asked me if I was sure that wasn't my name.
Hazel: And... it isn't?
Leo: No! Jeez.
Hazel: You don't have a twin brother or... is your family from New Orleans?
Leo: Nah. Houston. Why? Is Sammy a guy you used to know?
Hazel: I... it's nothing. You just look like him.
They finished filling the bag in silence, as I kept a lookout. Leo stuffed it in his tool belt and the bag vanished. He stood and scanned the island. Bleach white dunes, blankets of grass, and boulders encrusted with salt like frosting.
YOU ARE READING
The Son of Death (Percy Jackson x Male Reader)
ActionYN Ernten and his sister Alexa are the twin Demigod children of Thanatos... the God of Death. I don't own Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan does. The Lightning Thief - Finished The Sea of Monsters - Finished The Titan's Curse - Finished The Battle of The...
