𝗪𝗔𝗜𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗠𝗘 ━━ l. valdez

xv ━━ gray and blue and fights and tunnels (handcuffed to the spell i was under)

04. chapter fifteen

━━━━━━━━ ( 💫 ) ━━━━━━━━

I HOPED FOR AN EXPLANATION, but walked away empty handed. Leo, for once in his life, was silent.

I caught him alone at the helm once. When I leaned against the railing and tried for a casual, "So, where've you been?", I got a vague response of, "Oh, you know, here... there... yeah."

I scowled and walked away. I took to sitting atop the foremast beside my brother. Nico looked at me, but didn't say anything. I had a feeling he was practically reading my mind. We sat in comfortable silence, our mutual sorrow like friendship bracelets. Two souls love had failed miserably.

I knew that I probably wasn't a great example, but I had expected Leo to relay what had happened to him the five days he had been gone. I anticipated a conversation—to finish the talk we were having the night before he disappeared.

None of that happened.

Instead it was failed attempts at small talk and stolen awkward glances. A wall had been put up between us and I didn't know why. I had finally been getting somewhere, but fate had to step in the way again.

It wasn't like Leo suddenly took no interest in me though. It was more so he was guilty and unsure. From the foremast, I caught Leo plenty of times staring off in my direction. When our eyes met, I'd receive an awkward smile before he would look elsewhere.

I studied him. His hair had grown out longer and shaggier, and his face was leaner, so he looked less like an imp and more like one of those willowy elves in the fairy tales. The biggest difference was his eyes. They constantly drifted, as if Leo was trying to spot something over the horizon.

I wished Percy where here—I could ask him what really happened with him and Calypso to get some insight. I could compare and contrast symptoms of the sorceress's eternal beauty and its ability to transfix boys who already have a girl waiting for them.

Was that really where Leo went for those five days? On one hand, that meant he was most likely in a safe location and wasn't hurt, but on the other hand... Calypso was an immortal sorceress known for her renowned beauty.

Leo and I's kiss looped on replay in my mind. The simple act of bringing my lips to meet his took more courage than fighting the Minotaur or any giant. The Fates seemed to laugh at me as they handed him off to some other girl just as I had gotten him.

I thought about what my mother had told me, love and hate are two sides of the same coin. I couldn't help but think she was terribly incorrect. I was the daughter of the river of hatred and solemn oaths, of course love wasn't for me. I was, what I called, a burden.

"Hey, guys!" Piper called from the bow. "Better get over here. You need to see this."

Nico hopped down from the foremast and offered me a hand to steady myself as I jumped down next to him.

We found the source of the dark lightning.

The Argo II hovered directly over the river. A few hundred metres away at the top of the nearest hill stood a cluster of ruins. They didn't look like much–just some crumbling walls encircling the limestone shells of a few buildings–but, from somewhere within the ruins, tendrils of black ether curled into the sky, like a smoky squid peeking from its cave. As I watched, a bolt of dark energy ripped through the air, rocking the ship and sending a cold shockwave across the landscape.

"The Necromanteion," Nico said. "The House of Hades."

Piper hugged her arms. "I feel vulnerable floating up here like this. Couldn't we set down in the river?"