The mood was very dark for a while.
No one dared to speak, and not even Leo made an attempt to break the unnerving silence. But the loss of a member had downed all of our spirits.
I looked back over my shoulder at everyone filing down the path hastily. Who else were we to lose? I didn't think that I'd be able to bear it. If we lost anyone else, I was sure that I'd break down and cry. None of us had been prepared, even after the warning that Athena had given Sophia through her dream. Ren had been hard enough for us.
Sophia stopped so abruptly, I almost ran into her.
"We should stop and make camp," she stated, looking around. "It's getting late, anyway."
Nico arched an eyebrow, kicking at the ground restlessly with one foot. "Lots of death here. Be cautious."
The fact that the creepy but strangely pretty cute dude could sense death probably should have creeped me out, but I was too tired to think straight or be even more wary of him. I sat criss-crossed on the ground, heaving a sigh that I had probably been holding for an eternity.
"I'm going to go scout the area, make sure it's safe," Sophia stated, shouldering her bag.
"But what if it's not safe, and you get hurt?" Leo mused from sitting beside me, looking up at her.
"I'll fight them off," She patted her knife that was strapped to her side, very confident about it.
"Be careful," Nico warned, rather edgy for some reason. It was odd, he hadn't been on edge before.
"I'm as careful as it gets." Sophia responded, and, shouldering her bag again, marched down the path to scout the area. Percy set down an armful of sticks, and Leo willed his hand to fire, setting the sticks ablaze. I dug around in my pack, and brought out a bag of marshmallows. "Yum," Leo stated, no hint of enthusiasm in his voice.
I stabbed my marshmallow onto a stick that I found by my foot, and stuck it into the fire. It wasn't very long until the silence grew too awkward for me to bear, so I broke it before Leo got the chance. ".. I think we're going to lose another member," I stated, in no effort to lighten the mood. "The prophecy says 'lose a loved one to a maiden fair.' Medusa isn't exactly a fair maiden."
"It could be any one of us," Percy responded, meaning him, Nico, Leo, or Phillip. "Whoever it is, it's going to be hard for the one who loves us. I hope it's not me. I belong only to Annabeth. Never anyone else. I - I love her."
To my surprise, Nico spoke. "Well, I wouldn't say love always makes you happy," he muttered bitterly. "Sometimes, it makes you incredibly sad."
Leo flashed me a look that asked the same question which I was asking myself; 'What would Nico know about love?'
I, honestly, couldn't imagine Nico acting out of love for anyone except his sister that I'd heard about, Hazel Levesque. But what did I know about him? He could have had a major crush on me or Sophia. He had seemed concerned for her safety, and he'd let me doze on his shoulder. He needed to make up his mind.
"Well, guys, I'm gonna go to sleep. Wake me if anything happens." I started to get out my bedroll, when Leo ruined it.
"You gonna sleep on Nico again?" He mused, grinning. I launched my stick at him, managing to smack him in the side, while Nico flashed him a glare that said a thousand death threats.
After that awkwardness slowly vaporized, I laid out my bedroll and got comfortable. "I'll stand guard, you guys rest," Percy stated, rising to his feet and uncapping Riptide. No one argued. Phillip passed out at once, just before I fell asleep.
