The Child of Hecate

Chapter Eight - Guess Who's Dying

Will gave me a prescription of bed rest and moderate doses of nectar and ambrosia. I've been in bed for a couple of hours and I'm already bored out of my mind. I've been waiting for Lou Ellen but nothing; I guess she's busy in the armoury or something. When my eyes wandered on my nightstand, I saw a small pile of Drachmas glittering by the ray of sunlight.

I wanted nothing more that to Iris message Leo, but I didn't want him to see me all pale and with blood dripping from my nose (yes that started a few hours ago). But I couldn't control my curiosity any further, I sat up and did the best I could to fix myself up. I'm going to Iris message Leo. I took the Drachma in my hand and tossed it mid-air, it turned to mist and with that I thought deeply, "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow. Please accept my offering." The mist turned to a rainbow. Leo Valdez.

The rainbow vanished and soon transformed to a vision of the sky. The entire video call was a mess due to the loud gusts of wind, sleet raining down, and the barking of orders of who I assume is Leo trying to fix whatever is wrong with Festus. I ended the call and it made me feel even worse than I already was.

"Oh! You're here!" A cheery voice piped in, slamming the door behind them, "I've been looking all over camp for you." Lou Ellen sat on the foot of my bed and handed me a box wrapped in foil.

"And you didn't even see to check if I was in my cabin?" I said jokingly, "What's this for?" I asked taking the box in my hand. It was heavy that's for sure. Lou Ellen smirked, poking the box, "It's from your boyfriend at cabin 9 – "

"HE'S HERE?"

"Wha – No! Sorry, I didn't mean to get your hopes up." She said sympathetically, "Leo told me to give this to you on your birthday before he left for the quest." Oh.

I looked back at the box and untied the twine holding the wrapping all together. Once I had un-wrapped it completely, it was a small wooden box containing another wooden box inside. There was a note duct taped on the lid that said:

Happy birthday, little witch!

Here's something to help you sleep at night – Leo McHotstuff

"Oh, it's a music box." Lou Ellen said, "How charming."

So this is what he was working on all those nights at Wilderness school. Back then, I had insomnia for at least a month. Whenever I couldn't sleep, I would go to Leo's dorm and we'd talk for hours until he could finally get me snoozing. I would wake up and see him tinkering with his toolbox, and when he realized I was awake he'd stash it away instantly.

The music box was a masterpiece. Instead of the usual dancing ballerina in most music boxes, this one showed a moving diagram of the solar system. You could see the gears that made the planets move about, I love it.

When I looked up from the music box, I saw a sad look on Lou Ellen's face. She was looking at the thermos of nectar and the Tupperware of ambrosia on my nightstand, "Will and Chiron told me. I know you're dying, Angela. I can actually feel your cells dying."

"What did Solace say?"

"He said you might have Pneumonia, but he also said you might have Tuberculosis or scarlet fever... I don't know, he said a lot of medical terms." She held on to my hand, smiling sweetly, "Please tell me you can fight this. I – I can't lose another sister – "

"Well technically, I won't be dead after this – "

"No but you'll be this hot shot goddess from Olympus," Lou Ellen said, "It's the same thing. You still have a chance to change your mind, Angela. Choose Elysium, go and get some peace." I shook my head but I stopped because I literally felt my brain shake like gelatine when I did, "I have to do this." Once she realized that there was no changing my mind, Lou Ellen pushed her bed closer to mine and moved our night stand to the opposite sides of our beds.