The Child of Artemis

Chapter Fourteen

I jump down, landing directly in front of Leo. I stare at him with a hard, steely expression. He shrinks back slightly but I only step forward, maintaining the small distance. Eventually, I speak in a low, demanding tone, never leaving his eyes with my own.

"What makes you believe for one second you aren't a hero? Don't you even dare try using comparisons for an answer." I cross my arms and stare at him expectantly.

"She's got you now Leo. Don't worry, I got the same treatment. I guarantee by the end you'll rethink how you view yourself." Nico comments with a small chuckle.

"I died." Is how Leo chooses to respond. I take a deep breath, letting it out with barely controlled rage.

"So? You killed Gaea! You came back to life! You're the only demigod to reach Ogygia twice! Calypso chose you, and she trusted you'd make it back, which you did! You are by far one of the strongest demigods at this camp. You did so much, even if it wasn't in the fighting part of the war. Understand me now, the fighting is not the most important part of a war. Without smart, brave, amazing demigods like you and Nico to help, I don't think the demigods would have won." I pause to take a breath.

"Wait hold up, how do you know all that?" Leo questions.

"Ah ah ah!" I cut him off sharply. "I'm not done! Have you forgotten the amazing things you've built and repaired? For one, Festus! You found his wings in that workshop and you fixed him. Later you built the entire Argo II! Not to mention, while you were doing everything else, you still found a way to build Festus a new body within the ship! You are a genius, and not just because you're Hephaestus' son. Don't give yourself so little credit!" I end with an angry huff. Leo is silent in a state of shock.

"What I tell you, Leo? This girl won't let anyone think too low of themselves unless it's herself. It can be both amazing and highly irritating." Nico comments with a chuckle, coming over to hug me from behind.

"Are you su-" Percy starts to say, but stops abruptly when I visibly relax in Nico's grip. I turn around to face him in his loose grip, giving him a small hug in return. Nico let's go of me, only to hold my hand securely in his own.

"Uh Nico? Got something you wanna tell us about, um that?" Leo asks with an impish grin while gesturing at our interlocked hands. I look up, just in time to see Nico get pink eared and nervous.

"Um, well, I kinda like her." Nico confesses quietly. The two boys grin widely, while I blush a deep red.

"And you, little miss sunshine?" Leo says, walking over to nudge my side with his elbow gently.

"Sunshine? Really? That the best you can do?" I grin, then bite me lip. "To answer your question, I like him back." I smile happily at actually saying the truth of how I feel about Nico to other than myself and him for once. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest, and I suddenly felt giddy and wanted to tell the entire camp. Then it dialed back, and I was once again just comfortable in Nico's presence.

"Nice job, Nico my man! She's pretty, smart, nice, stubborn, and caring! You like all the good ones, don't you? Man, I wish I had your good judge in character!" Leo grins cheekily again, and I blush at the compliments.

"You don't know all that yet. You just met me." I mumble softly, unwilling to take the praise. Nico sighs in slight exasperation, looking at me with an incredulous expression.

"He's 100% right for all of those, Amaris. It's so clear when you get angry at us for not giving ourselves enough credit that you are all those things. I promise you that." Nico says with a grin. I blush look at the ground.

"Thank you. Both of you. I've never actually gotten compliments before so I don't really know how to handle this very well." I chuckle nervously, rubbing the back of my head as Nico pulls me in closer to himself.