Leo
I just stared at her.
"Oh. My. Gods." Hazel said, covering her mouth.
"Kal!"
Kal's eyes met mine, her's full of fear. She began to change back. I stood in front of her doing my best to shield her from Percy's gaze.
"Percy, you don't have to yell." Nico said, as he and Percy came up to us.
I saw that Kal was good and stepped off to the side. Hazel and Frank swallowed their shock and fear, Hazel sending us a we'll talk later glare.
Percy smiled at his sister, his sea green eyes full of joy and happiness. At first, he would seem happy, as if nothing was wrong. But when you got closer, you could see the scars from all of his previous battles that he's fought, the bags under his eyes, and the white streak in his raven black hair.
Percy was holding Nico's hand. Nico had a smile on his face. Nico had rarely smiled before he had started dating Percy. But now, Nico knew how much Percy relied on him and Kal. And so Nico smiled, knowing that it made Percy happy, and because he was happy.
Gods, we were really messed up, huh?
"So, did you figure out why he wanted to see you?" Kal asked.
"He was just checking up on me." Percy said.
Percy and Nico stopped right by us.
"Hey, I think Frank and I will go see if we can find Mrs. O'leary. We'll catch you guys later." Hazel said, smiling at them.
"See ya." We replied.
They then quickly left the beach. But I knew that Hazel was going to kill Kal later, probably charging me with association.
But, ignoring that happy thought, we decided to talk a walk on the beach.
"So, what were you guys talking about?" Percy asked.
Kal's smile disappeared along with mine. We froze in our tracks. Please tell me we were just imagining it. Percy stopped and looked at us confused. Nico seemed confused as well.
"Guys, what's wrong?" Nico asked. "It's a simple question really."
I glanced at Kal and saw that her skin had become that ghostly pale. Percy noticed and his eyes narrowed.
"Kal, there's something you're not telling me. You were arguing about something." Percy said.
"Percy." Kal said.
"We weren't that loud, were we?" I asked.
"When Kal was on vacation, she had gone to visit Hecate. In order to protect Percy she had Hecate bond her soul to his. It's kind of like an empathy link, just stronger." Nico explained.
How in Hades had she been able to tell him that much without revealing the truth?
"Kal, you know that I'm stronger now." Percy said. "I'm not a baby."
"I know that, damn it! But listen, you don't want to know. I-I-it's not good for you to know." Kal said.
Looks like she's in trouble.
"What could be so bad that you can't tell me?" Percy asked.
"I can't tell you." Kal answered.
I noticed that she wasn't staring at Percy's eyes. She was staring at the very faint mark around his neck. Wait a minute, Kal had a mark around her neck that looked like that, just more noticeable.
Her hand went to her neck, where she rubbed it. How did she even get it? I highly doubt the Ares kids did it with the knives, otherwise it would be a scar not a bruise.
"You're doing it again." Percy said.
"Doing what?" Kal asked, matching his eyes.
"You were looking at my neck and then you rubbed yours. Seriously, what is wrong?" Percy asked.
I watched as her facade fell. I could tell that she was close to breaking. The roots of her hair had become white. And Percy noticed that too, which made his eyes narrow even more.
"Percy, this isn't the time." Nico said, placing his hands on Percy's chest.
Kal closed her eyes. Tears began to fall. Percy's anger disappeared and was replaced with worry. I looked at Nico.
Get him out of here. I mouthed to Nico.
He nodded.
"Percy, I think she just needs some alone time. C'mon, let's go back to my cabin and watch Finding Nemo." Nico said, grabbing his hand and leading him away.
Percy begrudgingly left with him. Once they were out of eye sight, Kal collapsed to her knees, letting her tears fall full force as she changed back to how she was with the scars.
The scar around her neck was worse than I thought. It was all around her neck and it was a dark red, purple in some spots.
My eyes widened. Those were marks left behind from a rope. I knew because I once lived in a foster home where this kid committed suicide by hanging himself.
"Kal, did you try to kill yourself?" I asked softly.
She dried her tears and wiped them away. Then she looked at me, her brown eyes full of sorrow. But I knew the answer to the question.
"Why?" I asked.
"I was tired of the stares and the whispers wherever I went. I don't belong here. The only reason why I'm here is for Percy. But what was worse is that I had no friends besides Percy and Nico. You guys were just acquaintances. People I barely knew. That's why." Kal answered.
"What if Percy realized that? You could have killed him with you, you know." I said.
"I know. That's why I stopped myself at the last minute. I realized that if I killed myself, I would either kill him with me, or he would find my dead body and he would lose it." Kal said.
I sighed. She was more far gone than even me. Kal than hid her scars.
"Hey, listen. Why don't we go to Bunker nine? I could use some help with the Argo VII." I told her.
She looked at me confused. But she grabbed my extended hand anyway and I helped her stand. Neither of us let go once she was standing.
Her hand was cold as ice, and it felt frail, as if I squeezed it too hard it would break. But holding her hand didn't bother me at all, especially since I am Leo McShizzle, Hot Stuff, and the Bad boy Supreme, so of course my heat canceled the cold out.
But what did bother me was why her hand was cold. I decided to head to the Bunker and talk as we did so. She walked beside me.
"Kal." I said.
"Hmm?" She asked, looking at me as if I had just brought her out of her thoughts, which I probably had.
"Why is your hand so cold?" I asked.
She blushed and looked at the ground.
"It was kind of part of the deal with Percy." Kal answered.
"Something happened to him besides the nightmares, didn't it?" I asked.
Kal sighed.
"Before I left, I ended up finding Percy in a pool of his own blood in the bathroom, Riptide in pen form on the ground. I grabbed Percy and found that he was still alive, then I brought him to Nico's cabin. Nico agreed to watch over him so I could go down to Tartarus." Kal said.
"Nico knew all along?" I asked.
"Yeah. Before I had said that I had done it to make sure that he was safe, and it's the truth. But it was because he was dying. The only way Nico kept him alive for so long was because of nectar and ambrosia." She answered.
"That doesn't answer my question." I said.
"Well, you see, Percy and I didn't trade souls, or give each other half of it. Percy already had half of his own soul, the other half was dead. And so, in order to save him, I gave him half of my soul." Kal answered.
My eyes widened as I realiazed what she had just said.
"Your half dead?" I asked.
Kal nodded.
"Yes. That's why I'm so pale, and that my hair is white and how I can change my eye color when I get mad." Kal answered.
Well, it seems that I have a crush on a half ghost. Wait, no, half demigod. Yeah, if that makes any sense at all.
And it's true, I do have a crush on Kal, I won't deny it. Kal is gorgeous and way out of my league. And even though she has scars both mentally and physically, I still love her. Before, it was because of her looks, but now that I see that she isn't what I thought she had been, I found that I still loved her.
Before this had happened, she had been a happy girl, who was kind to everyone, not caring what they thought, and trying to help as much as she could. That's why I had liked her. But now, she was insecure, afraid, angry at everyone and everything. The only thing she cared about what was her brother. It was as if she given away the half of her soul that was the kind girl I knew and had become this sad shell of that one girl that I once known.
But now that I saw this side of her, I found that it just made me love her more. I wanted to shield and protect her from anything that would want to cause her harm. Gods, I love her.
"Leo, are you okay?" Kal asked.
I looked at her confused.
"Yeah, why?" I replied.
Then I realized that I was holding onto her hand more tightly than before and that my hand was on fire. I quickly let go of her hand extinguished the own on my hand. Kal brought her hand up to her face and stared at it curiously.
The fire didn't spread up her arm. Kal didn't cry out in pain. The fire just stayed on her hand, crackling.
"Doesn't it hurt?" I asked.
"No." Kal answered.
"How are you doing that?" I asked.
"My telekinesis." Kal answered. "I don't want my arm to have blisters. But then again, It would be easier to hide than my hand."
But then the fire was extinguished as her hand was coated with frost. When the frost disappeared, her hand was left with a nasty burns all over it.
"I have a first aid kit back in the bunker." I said.
"Ok." Kal said, shrugging.
We finally reached the bunker. I opened the door and we went inside. Once inside, I grabbed the first aid kit and took a better look at her hand.
"We should put that in water." I said.
"How do you know that?" Kal asked.
"Hunger games." I answered.
Kal laughed. I looked at her surprised. For the first time in weeks, I saw her really smile. But what was even better was that I heard her laugh. Now that I hadn't heard in months. I watched as she laughed, the sound echoing throughout the room. Her smile seemed to be make the room light up. It was brighter than the sun chariot itself. And it melted my heart.
"I bet you did." Kal said, ending my thoughts.
Her smile that lingered wasn't as bright, and it wasn't a normal smile either, being a rather small one, but it was still genuine, making my stomach fill with butterflies.
"Well, stay here, while I find something to fill up." I said.
I got up and soon found a bucket. Then I went over to where the sink was. I turned the faucet on and filled the bucket. Then I brought it back to the table.
Kal put her hand in the water and doing what I had seen in the movie, I scrubbed her hand gently. To my surprise, it worked. The blisters disappeared soon enough. And I knew that the burn was going to be gone by tomorrow.
"It worked." Kal said, surprised.
"Well, I am Leo Supreme Mcshizzle, so of course it did." I said, flipping my hair.
Kal laughed again. I sighed, trying not to whimper. Gods, the effect this girl had on me was amazing. Let me just say this, opposites do indeed attract.