Nostalgia: Heroes of Olympus

○ A R L E N E ○

I FOUND IT HOT THAT LEO TOOK CONTROL LIKE THAT. Hey, don't blame me. I can't monitor my emotions all the time.

A few minutes later Harley, a little buff eight year old who a very wild imagination (seriously- three legged death races?) came in with an even scarier person. (Cue the hades song from that Disney movie Hercules.) "Nico, Rebecca is in trouble. Deep trouble. You need to find her. We need to find her," Leo said. His seriousness and confidence made my heart short circuit. Nico sighed. "Sleep first. Then we find il mio amore." "Then party," I added. Leo chuckled and hugged my tighter. "Then party." I smiled and Nico rolled his eyes. "Let's just try and get some sleep." He turned and walked out of cabin nine. Harley curled up on his bed and went back to snoring. Leo laid me back down and rubbed my arms. "It'll be okay birdie." It sounded as though he was even trying to reassure himself . "Its always okay, mamacita." "Don't call me that," I whispered. He smiled, "yeah, not gonna happen babe." Before I could shoot back, his eyes were closed and his grip on me loosened. He had fallen asleep. I stared at his peaceful face, not wanting to meet the nightmares that may be so if I closed my eyes.

_________

When I saw light poor in through the small cracks and crevices, I woke Leo up. "Have a good sleep?" He asked. I nodded, not meeting his eyes and pretending to tie my shoe. The conch horn blew in the distance- signalling it was time for breakfast.

I stood at Leo's side as we walked to the dining pavilion. "Here's a  doctors note," Will Solace said with a smile. I looked at the piece of paper he set in my hand. I allow Delilah Chase, daughter of Athena, to sit at table nine. Signed, Will Solace I had to laugh. It was quite interesting. None the less, I sat down next to Leo and curiously cocked my head at the random, bubbly conversations.

"So, Arly Ar," Leo called, his body turned to me, his amber-chocolate eyes intense. "I know I'm gonna get slapped for asking, but... What happened." I took a deep shaky breath and told him what happened. He listened intently, squeezing my hand when I paused. After I finished, he shook his head. "But Calypso is gone..." I cried, "apparently not." He took a deep breath. I knew he wasn't at all good at talking to girls. I wiped my tears away and smiled as kindly as I could. He smiled shyly back, shifting his weight. 

"CAMPERS!" all of the demigods turned to face Chiron. "Tonight, we will have a small going away party for our hero- ARLENE DELILAH CHASE!" Some campers smirked. Some started laughing after last night's catastrophe. Many just stared at their food. I, however, felt my stomach churn. I knew he was going to send me away all by myself. "ASSUMING she has a means of transportation, It has been decided she will depart later this evening. Any questions?" Nobody dared to raise their hand. Even when Chiron said my full name. Will rushed to my table and squeezed "Arlene" onto my doctor's note. I chuckled to myself as he gave me a quirky smiled and sat back down. 

Today was going to be a very long day. 

_________

During the day, I managed to train my hardest. After breakfast, I tested out my new sword, which Leo had quickly managed to finish, and had a few duels with Percy Jackson. I was extremely proud when we tied, 3 wins for each of us. After lunch, I scaled the lava wall a few times. After I did that, I slashed a few training dummies. After that, well, I was too lazy to actually train, so I played basketball. Will Solace was the only one who wasn't considering me a laughing stalk and so he played with me. 

Before dinner, I walked into the Athena cabin. For Annabeth, her schedule for them was packed, so it was no surprise to me that as I walked in, there was no one there. 

I walked to my stuff and began packing. As I packed, a strategy came up in my mind, but I keep scrolling past them. None of these would work. None. I needed to figure out where my sister was first. "Hey, Birdie boo," Leo said, peaking through the cabin door. "Hey, dork-a-tron," I muttered. "Excuse me? I am not a dork. or a "tron", whatever that is. Chiron said Nico will be joining you. But I can't go, apparently," he pouted. I looked at him, sizing him up. His black, curly hair was smudged with dirt and shiny from oil. His mischievous grin labeled him a trouble maker. "I don't wanna shadow travel again," I sighed. "Oh, you're not going to do that." "So are we taking a camp van then? Or..." 

The sound of a mechanical roar cut me off. "Or a metal dragon named Happy." "It's the only way I can make sure you're okay," Leo said quietly. I looked at him, his brown eyes sad, his smile gone, but it quickly appeared when he realized I was staring.  I sighed and sat down at the end of the bed, taking his calloused hands in mine. "Leo, stop." "Stop what?" "I know you're not happy. I know you want to keep a smile on every elses face but nobody is around. Only me. And I know exactly what you're feeling. So please, stop pretending, just for me?" I asked. His smiled slowly dissipated. A tear fell out of his eye, and he looked like he was about to break down. I brought him closer as he sighed into my neck. "Just don't get yourself killed." "I know." "A-and don't do something stupid, and be sure have extra a-" "Okay, okay, stop being such an overprotective mom." Leo sniffed and gently kissed my cheek. "Bye senorita, I have tacos ready for when you get back." "Don't call me senorita." "Okay, then babe." I rolled my eyes and stood up, setting the backpack on my shoulders. Leo quickly grabbed a Kleenex out of his tool belt and wiped his eyes. "LET'S GO HAVE A GOODBYE PARTY!!" he grabbed my hand and sprinted towards the door. I laughed, grabbing my sword as we ran towards the pavilion.

The party wasn't exactly a party. Very few campers, the ones who refused to laugh at me because of my very bad humiliation the other day, were there. They all awkwardly said goodbye, and one girl even spoke in Italian. Another kid was probably Brazilian, as he was speaking in Portuguese (I really wish I had learned that language, because all I could make out was "good luck" and "goodbye"). Kara Titha, a girl from Aphrodite, came up and gently placed a flower clip into my hair. "Lucky flower," she said. Her spanish accent was very dominant, and I could tell she probably hardly knew any language. "Gracias," I replied with a smile. Her pink lips curled into a smile. "Denada." 

When Harley and Nico emerged from the woods with a dragon flanking them, I knew it was time to leave. I nodded to Nico, who very hesitantly climbed onto the bronze animal. "Bye," I said quickly to Leo, and kissed him. I pulled away and ran towards my (almost brother-law) friend. Here we go. (I am dying😂. -Rebecca)