Outcasts of Olympus: Book 1

Chapter Six

We took a nice stop at a diner to relax after the whole Midas incident. Leo was still being moody, so he was in the car by himself, while the rest of us were sitting in a booth. I was sitting next to the window with Evadne, while Nick, Stella and Athena were sitting across from us.

Nick was in deep thought, while Stella was trying to do some subtle flirting to Athena, though she seemed to be completely oblivious to what Stella was doing, because she wasn't even acting embarrassed or smiling. She kept looking out the window to the car.

Evadne still seemed really tired. She had barely touched her food, and she was leaning against me, her eyes partially closed.

I managed to hold back my blush and looked at Athena. "Thinkin' about Leo?" I asked, taking a bite of the fries that we were all splitting. She nodded absently. "He hasn't done anything like that in several millennia," she said quietly.

"He sacrificed himself before? That seems very out of character," Nick chimed in before taking a sip of his raspberry slushy. "Yeah, that sounds more like Castor than Leo..." Stella said, glancing at the truck.

Athena was silent for a moment. "Yes," she finally said. This caught my attention as well. Leo actually being a decent person? When would that ever happen? He doesn't really seem like the guy to even put a quarter into the bucket that those people dressed as Santa Claus have.

"You're... absolutely serious?" I asked, raising an eyebrow and tilting my head. Nick turned his head to face Athena. "I'm with Castor on this one. This doesn't seem very real, and I've only known him for a few weeks," Nick said, taking a fry.

"Yeah, he was very interested in the mortals... He was fascinated with their way of living, their mindsets--everything. That fascination went farther than it probably should have," Athena said, her voice fading.

I always knew Leo was pretty easy to distract, I mean, you could literally wave car keys in his face and he'd forget whatever he was doing and try to grab them. No joke, that actually happened. But I never expected this.

"What happened...?" Stella asked, her voice soft but interested. Athena stared at the truck for a few moments in silence. "He fell for a mortal... A girl who was the 'light of his life' as he put it."

I saw Nick frown slightly, like he was thinking of someone like that. Possibly his girlfriend?

"That... doesn't seem so bad," I said, looking at the truck. Athena looked at me, slightly disappointed that I'd even consider that to be the end of it. I admit, that was a stupid move.

"They were happy together. Well, that's what it looked like anyway. She was cheating on him... falling for another man behind his back. I warned him--I really did--but he refused to listen, saying, 'she would never'... How 'it wasn't like her'," she continued.

"One night, Leo was going to her house... He walked in and... well, there she was--with that other man..." Athena's voice cracked slightly. I saw Stella shedding a few tears, I even saw Nick staring at the truck grimmly.

"So that's why Leo's such a jerk," Evadne said, slightly more energized than before. "I mean, I can understand that, but I mean, it's been several thousand years. Shouldn't he have gotten over her by now?"

Athena looked at her grimly. "Those wounds are often the deepest," she said. "He isn't the only one with scars like that."

"But... that can't be it, right? A bad breakup?" Nick asked. "There's more, but... it's not my place to tell," Athena replied.

Stella sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Poor Leo..." Look, I may sound like a dick, but I was not feeling an ounce of sympathy for him. He'd done some pretty dark things in the past, some things even Ares wouldn't do. I mean, sure, it was pretty sad to hear a younger Leo being hurt like that, but, lets face it, this wasn't the right way to act because of some girl a couple thousand years ago.