Love Games (Leo Valdez/ PJO Fan Fiction)

Chapter 23 - Young and Beautiful

Leo's POV

The words of the great prophecy replay in my mind. They echo off the walls of my brain, never truly leaving my thoughts.

At this point, I know I have to tell Faye. I'm still upset with her, but I don't care. She needs to know about my destiny. I arrive at the Aphrodite cabin and wring my hands as I await on the doorstep.

"Faye?" I call out desperately. My voice cracks, still broken with fear. "Is Faye there?"

The screen door swings open, revealing Faye's half brother, Corey. His normally tanned face is flushed, pale. His brown eyes reveal disappointment and depression. And his lips are pressed into a thin line. "She's not here right now. I think she's at the arena." His tone revealed pain he tried to hide. 

I want to ask him if he's okay, but I have to get to Faye. "Thanks, man," I murmur before darting off. 

And then there she is in the arena, still surrounded by her siblings, bragging about her accomplishments and receiving their compliments. I push my way through the crowd of overly-attractive people and lightly place my hand on Faye's arm. 

"Faye," I try to say over all of the sound. "Faye!"

She's districted while she attempts to converse with five or six people at once. "No it totally didn't take that long. Yeah, I think I can win the games? Why wouldn't I?"

I try not to be curious about the games and assume it's only about the chariot races. My voice never seems to reach her ears. Getting aggrivated, I pull on her arm and drag her out of the crowd. "What the hell is going on Fallon?" I ask, doing my best to remain calm.

She tries to turn back to her siblings, but I gently pull her back. "Leo!? What is your problem? Let me go!"

"No, I have to tell you something really important," I insist, searching for her eyes.

Faye groans. "Can't it wait until later?!"

"No, I might die," I say warily.

Fallon finally tears her arm away from me and reunites again with her crowd. Their chatters drone out the sound of my sigh. 

--

Delia's POV

It's strange to look at a child of Aphrodite and think of all the cruel things they have done. 

Heart break is a recreational sport to them. It's horrendous, yet ingenious. It's common knowloedge that the Aphrodite Cabin lacks intelligence. Most people only believe that beauty is among their assets. Upon finding out about the games, I learned that this was a misconception. A lie.

They're seemingly harmless, but they are vicious none the less. Although I've been intrigued by this new found information, I still see Corey out of the corner of my eye. He watches me with a sad expression from time to time, still appearing to be aching.

I don't believe that he's truly suffering from his loss of me. Corey is attractive, handsome, sexy, you name it. I'm the complete opposite: the introvert, the brain, and the overshadowed daughter of Athena. It's completely unlikely that someone who can have anyone would even take an interest in me.

But here I am, yearning to fall back into his arms and let him hold me tightly. Or perhaps even to feel the smooth surface of his lips brush against my own. However, these wishes are unacceptable at all levels. Again, it is highly unlikely to even believe that these events could happen to me without a fatal outcome. It just cannot happen.

I feel a presence behind me. A voice sounds so incredibly soft, I initially think that it's in my head. Just a ceaseless echo of the past. "Delia." His tone is weak, defeated, desperate.

"I asked you not to talk to me," I say, refusing to face him. My eyes stay trained forward, fearful that if I turn back I'll fall once more, never hitting the ground.

He takes a long breath. "I know. I'm sorry to bother you."

"Please just say what you were planning to." I need to end this quickly. A part of me urges me to lunge to him and envelop him in a bone-crushing hug. Another part of me wants to slap him across the face. None of it can happen. When he doesn't respond immediately, I let out an airy wisp of his name. "Corey."

"I miss you," he tells me quietly. "I know I lied. You shouldn't forgive me for that."

"I'm aware and I probably will not forgive you. Feel free to continue," I interject. I sound cold and calculating. I suppose that's who I am.

The sigh he lets out creeps into my heart, spearing it with guilt. "What can I do to prove to you that everything was real?" Disparity is evident in his pleas.

"I can't tell you how to do that," I reply, more guilt seeping into my systems. 

Monotonely, Corey says, "Why not?"

It is at that point that I turn to him, stare him into those deep brown eyes. My fists ball up, but they begin to unravel as I peer into his eyes longer and longer. He leans down his head a little bit, his pink lips parted slightly. More than anything do I want to lean in closer as well. But I can't. I simply can't.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know if that's possible."

--

A/N: A quickie update. I am in a really intelligent-ish style of writing right now and needed to get that out. 

The name of this chapter is Young and Beautiful, as inspired by the Lana Del Rey song in the Gatsby soundtrack. It's a beautiful song that encompasses the character of Daisy Buchanan.

I'll probably update some other time this week considering I have like no homework other than studying for finals. 

Thanks for your patience and for so many votes on the last chapter, that was incredible. I'm not going to have a set vote amount in exchange for your pains in waiting for this update. 

I found some of the other covers made that I lost earlier and I'll be posting them. If it's your cover, please comment. As for the collabs: Schnargle, I'm brainstorming for the first chapter and have three quarters of it done. Calypso, Take your time sweetie <3

Oh, THE_NINJA: I NEARLY FORGOT ABOUT THE CHARACTER AND I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHERE TO PUT IT IN BUT IT'S OKAY BECAUSE I PLAN ON HAVING THIRTY FIVE TO FORTY CHAPTERS.

Ah I love this cover to the side, it's so beautiful c:

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you all very soon. In fact, I'm already outside your window... hi.

-Em