Shattered |Leo Valdez|

Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Erikka's P.o.v.

"Look, I'm sorry. The sun was in my eyes and-"

"Who are you?" Well, aren't we quick and to the point. I pursed my lips and stood up. He was already standing and he was almost a full head taller than me. His hair was brown and kind of curly, the kind where if you ran your fingers through it they would just spring back.

"Rikki. I'm, er, new? I'm looking for the cabins. I'm supposed to meet coach, um, Shrub? No. Hedge? Yeah. But I got lost and ended up here. Yeah." I rambled. The guy rolled his eyes at me and bent to start picking up the things he'd dropped.

I dropped to my knees and began to help him, grabbing a wrench and a hammer from the ground. The next thing I grabbed was like a picture frame. It was golden edged with beautiful designs. I flipped it over in my hand, noticing not a picture, but a moving one that rippled like water.

The picture was of a beautiful girl with auburn hair and almond eyes. She was gorgeous, more than I ever could hope to be. Her shoulders shook like she was laughing while her smile beamed out of the frame. A name was engraved at the top, but before I could read it, the guy ripped it out of my hands. "Thank you for helping. Goodbye." His voice was cold and angry.

"Well, what's your name?" I asked, noticing that his hands were shaking. His glare increased and his hands tightened on the picture frame. The guys mouth opened to speak, but someone beat him to it.

"Valdez!" I jumped, the hammer and wrench flying out of my hand. As if on impulse, the guy in front of me shot out both of his hands to catch them. I'm sure that normally worked, but probably not when he was holding a fragile glass picture thingy. The hammer head slammed right into the center, shattering the glass instantly.

My mouth dropped open. "Oh my gosh. I am so sorry." The guy- Valdez was it?- looked as if his world had shattered rather than a picture frame glass. "We can fix it, I mean, unless there's a hole in the picture." I was never very good at sugar coating things.

He glared at me. "Fix it?" He choked out. "Fix it?!" I flinched at his risen tone.

"Valdez, what are you doing talking to our newest cupcake?" It was the coach Hedge guy jogging over. Or, should I say trotting?

"She murdered her!" The guy shrilled. Coach glanced at the wreckage of glass. The odd thing was, though, the picture still seemed to be on the glass shards, rather than a piece of paper.

Coach lifted a hand to his mouth. "Not the Memory. No." The elfish looking guy looked like he was going to be sick, but nodded; he sunk to his knees on the ground. The picture that had been stuck to the glass was quickly fading from the it like water running off the land. "Valdez, I-"

"Just get her away from me." Valdez was grasping the glass so hard that it cut him, the blood running down his hand in tiny streams. Coach Hedge grabbed my arm and pulled me away, glancing sadly at the boy.

After we were out of earshot, I talked to coach. "What did I break?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder at the guy. He pursed his lips, thinking of how to reply to me.

"It started with the war against the earth. You know those earthquakes we had last summer? And the earth swallowing things up with odd sink holes?" I shook my head no. "Do you live under a rock, cupcake?"

"No. I lived in a rundown hospital."

That shut him up for a second. Clearing his throat and scratching his stomach, he began again. "Well that was the Earth Mothers doing."

"Gaea?" I asked, the name popping into my head at the word earth. Coach Hedge's eyes widened.

"Are you stupid, cupcake? Be careful with names. They are very powerful. Even I can't always kill them." I glanced at his pot belly doubtfully before nodding as if he were Chuck Norris.

This seemed to please him since he continued. "Well, that kids a son of Hephaestus. He's great with machines. He made the war machine we all road in on. However, during the beginning of the war, an icy goddess he'd met on his first quest came after the ship. She froze everyone on board except a few. A girl named Piper, and him, whom she'd thrown who knows where. The Fates apparently let him get on the island of Ogygia."

Well that was an odd name if ever I heard one. I racked my brain for what that name was and why it was so familiar. At my confused look, he continued. "Ogygia is Calypso's island. You know who Calypso is?"

This time my brain had an answer. "She's the one with Odysseus and stuff, right? Falls in love with the ship wrecked hunks and then they leave her heart broken." Coach nodded.

"Well, she fell in love with that boy. After the war and a lot of butt kicking on my part, he went back to the island to save her." He cleared his throat again. "Well, the big thunder man upstairs- no! Don't say his name!" He stopped me as I'd been about to say Zeus, proud of my limited knowledge of my new world. "Well, apparently he wasn't happy about her escape, even though he had promised Percy that she would be released."

"Percy, Grover's best friend?"

"Yeah. Stop interrupting. Now where was I? Oh. Yeah. So she asked him for mortality instead so that she could live with that cupcake for the rest of their lives." My eyebrows knit together.

"Where is she now? That seems like a cute love story." Coach looked at me.

"What did I say about interrupting. Well, anyway, he went to go help out a saytr with a new half-blood. Something went wrong and a monster found them. Something happened and she got attacked by a monster." Coach cleared his throat again. "She died. Apparently she was the last line of the Big Seven prophecy. 'An oath to keep with a final breath.' The Fates almost regretted the decision, so they gave him a Memory."

My eyebrows knitted together even more, if that was possible. "A memory?"

He glanced away. "What did I say about interrupting? And it's a Memory with a capitol 'm'. It's like a picture except it's a memory brought to life. It can move. It's better than a picture because still has the life in it. It's how he remembered her. But once it breaks, it's gone. A Memory is a rare gift."

My stomach twisted. "And I broke his." My hand covered my mouth. I felt so terrible. My eyes welled up like they did whenever I read sad parts in my books. They spilled over and suddenly I was crying. I dropped down on my butt and just started bawling.

"Uh, cupcake?"

I cried harder, the pent up emotion from three years of being strong just poured out of me. "M-my mom died. I g-g-got att-tacked by a monster, found out my dad's a g-god, murdered the la-last Memory that guy had of h-his dead girlfriend, and on t-t-top of everything else, I think I'm about to start my period!" My shoulders shook from the sobs, reminding me of the girl- Calypso- in the Memory thing.

Coach patted my back awkwardly. "Um, it's, ok? I suppose. Er, can't you just stop crying, cupcake?" I kept crying. "It's almost lunch time. We can go get food."

I sniffled. "Yeah. Ok. Food works." Coach laughed, reminding me of Grover.

"Finally! Something I can relate to! Let's go, kid." Taking his outstretched hand, he pulled me to my feet. I glanced back at the top of the hill before walking, though. Wiping my eyes, I noticed the guy was still sitting hunched over in the grass.

"Hey," I started, "coach Hedge?" He raised an eyebrow at me, signaling me to go on. "What's his name?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me. The coach smiled a sad little smile.

"Valdez. His name is Leo Valdez."

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Hi my beautiful stalkers! I hope you liked the chapter because idk what I'm thinking. As my friend would say, "I'm whipped." So thank you guys for reading and comment your thoughts and/or suggestions. ~Brie