CHAPTER 6: THE LION
That night, Sholeh didn't fall asleep until very late. Try as she might, she couldn't forget what had happened. The pictures of Zeus' lighting bolt and Leo's angry and hurt face continued to haunt her. Nico tried to comfort her, but didn't know what to say. His intentions were good, however, and Sholeh appreciated.
"Uh, Sholeh?"
"What, Nico?"
"You can… uh, talk to me anytime. I mean, my sister, Bianca… died a while ago, so I mean, I might be able to help."
"You think Leo's going to die?"
"No, I well, just know how it feels to lose someone. I dunno, just… I'm here. And I obviously know what its like to be a child of Hades."
"Thanks, Nico," Sholeh meant the sentiment sincerely, but it came out in a sarcastic tone. She repeated the phrase again, with a softer and more genuine sound, turned over on her bed and fell asleep.
The next morning, it was drizzling lightly outside, a vestige of Zeus' anger, and the sky still undulated with thunderclouds. It seemed that a storm was about to erupt at any minute. Sholeh woke early, much earlier than her half brother, got dressed and ran outside. She ran to the mess hall and ate quickly, alone at the table in the back reserved for Hades kids, then to the arena. Only a few people were there this early, but Sholeh thought that she needed to train. Exercise had always made her feel calmer and in control.
Noticing Annabeth across the arena fighting against Clarisse, Sholeh ran over and watched them. When they ended (with Annabeth winning, of course) Clarisse stomped away and the victor turned to Sholeh.
"Hey," Annabeth said cheerfully.
"Hi," replied Sholeh, but the other demigod noticed the gloomy tone of her voice.
"What's wrong?"
"Well, remember the thunder last night?" To this, Annabeth nodded. "That was me, picking a fight with the father of all gods."
"Zeus? You fought with Zeus?" Annabeth now had a worried look on her face. "Oh gods, Sholeh, why in Hades did you do that?'
"He didn't like the idea of a Hades cabin," the girl replied glumly. "I yelled up at the sky, to deal with it, and he didn't take that too well. Lord Zeus was about to kill me, but my dad stopped him. And honestly, I was terrified."
"Well, yeah, I would be too, if I had just pissed off Zeus!"
"Well, see, that's not the worst part," explained Sholeh. The two girls were now sitting on the ground as they talked. "See, then Leo and I got in a fight."
"Remind me how that's worse than having Lord Zeus mad at you?"
"Never mind," Sholeh replied. She knew that Annabeth was a great friend, but Sholeh regretted telling her about this. "I just need to fight and forget about everything." The two girls stood up, and Sholeh put on battle armor.
Standing ready to fight, Sholeh's felt her mind clear. There was only one objective and one variable here; to win and avoid the other's blade. When an onlooker yelled, "Go," the girl leapt forward with her dagger from Hades. It slashed toward Annabeth's shoulder, but then the daughter of Athena swung her sword and Sholeh was forced to awkwardly fall back. Annabeth advanced and brandished her blade again, but this time Sholeh was ready, and the girl sidestepped. Before Annabeth could stop her, Sholeh had her dagger up at her throat, and the daughter of Hades and Hestia was clearly the winner of the fight.
The two girls fought six more times, four ending with Sholeh as the victor. Before long, a crowd had gathered around them. Sholeh began to take off her battle armor when a familiar someone yelled out her name. She spun around to see Leo, just as handsome as ever, and his arms around two girls from Aphrodite cabin. They stared up adoringly at him, though he was oblivious to their obsession.
"Hey, firegirl!" Leo called. The nickname seemed to mock her, and the sight of him made Sholeh think someone had twisted a blade into her heart. "Want to fight me, or are you too scared?"
Sholeh stared deep into his eyes. Outwardly, Leo seemed confident and arrogant, but the emotions in his chocolate brown eyes made her think of a desperate, trapped animal. "I'll fight you," she replied quietly.
He grinned at her, but got no smile or laugh in return. Sholeh simply put her armor back on and stood ready. Leo dressed in battle armor also and grabbed his sword, still smiling. Annabeth yelled for the two to begin fighting, and immediately Leo lashed out viciously at her. Sholeh mind did not clear this time, and the girl felt like she was on the verge of emotional collapse. Luckily, her body continued to fight by reflex and muscle memory, and Sholeh felt herself sidestep lightly.
She ducked under his swinging sword and brought the dagger up, which should have been the end of the fight, but Leo viciously pushed her backwards. He flourished his sword again, and Sholeh was forced to jump back even more.
Sholeh had fought Leo before, and he had never been so reckless as this. His lunges were risky at best, and if she had wanted to, Sholeh could have easily wounded him. The two girls from Aphrodite cheered him on, yelling louder than all the other onlookers combined. Sholeh attacked only for her self-defense, preferring to dodge Leo's assaults.
He noticed this, and yelled out to her, frustrated, "Hey! Why don't you actually attack? Give it your all, show me the fire!" he taunted. "Yeah, why don't you try to burn me? Or get the ground to swallow me up? Huh? What's your problem, firegirl?" Leo mocked and every word only pushed Sholeh toward the edge. His attacks became more and more desperate, and the smile vanished from his face. Leo now looked miserable but continued taunting the girl. The crowd, sensing that some fatal tide had turned, abruptly stopped cheering and backed away silently.
Finally, something snapped within Sholeh when Leo called her 'firegirl' again. She threw down her dagger. Leo looked confused and stepped back when an inferno sprang up around him. The flames danced, mocking Leo cruelly, like his words had taunted Sholeh. The fire surrounded Leo, not touching him, and his beautiful face was contorted with suffering. The flames lapped just in front of his feet, and Leo was caged in Sholeh's anger.
"Is this what you want?" Sholeh screamed. She began pulling off her battle armor when sparks flew from it as her hair turned white-hot. "Well, you have it now!"
Leo whispered, "I don't want this, firegirl. I just want you," but the flames consumed his words as soon as they left his mouth.
"You wanted fire and brimstone and you got it. Are you happy now, Leo? Well, are you?" the girl shrieked. "I just want to you to be happy," she murmured. When he did not reply, Sholeh ended the fires with a motion of her hand and strode furiously out of the arena, into the downpour outside.
Thunder shook the heavens when Sholeh walked out of the stadium, and the rain became a torrential downpour. She stood silently, staring up at the sky and letting the water cool her. Waiting for the rain to absolve her sins in some kind of water induced catharsis, Sholeh sighed, but received no such release. When Sholeh heard Leo desperately call her name and run toward her, she began to walk away again, but he grabbed her hand.
"Sholeh! Don't run away from me," he pleaded in a tortured voice.
"Why not? You don't care anyway," Sholeh yelled back at him. "Why did you leave me?" Her frustration began to take control of her. Silent tears ran down her cheeks but were lost in the rain. Leo, however, saw how her dark eyes shone unnaturally and guessed the truth.
"You left when I needed you most! When my world was crashing down, you said you didn't care. I was lost, Leo, and you didn't find me or even try. Do you think that I like being able to use fire? That I enjoy, perhaps, destroying the things and people who mean the most to me? I hate it more than you could ever know. I can't even control my power, and you force me to use it on you," she finished, still screaming into his face.
"I left when you needed me? You said that you didn't need any help! I wanted to be there for you; you were the one who pushed me away, not the other way around, Sholeh! Leo yelled back at her. The tension surrounding the two demigods was palpable; it rose higher and higher and Leo roared in anger and disappointment. They were both completely soaked and shivered in the freezing air without noticing.
"Do you think that this is easy for me?" he continued, the volume of his voice rising. "Finding out that you're a child of the Big Three, that you face greater danger than anyone, that monsters and Kronos will hunt you, and that someday I may not be able to do anything to protect you? Do you know what would happen if I lost you? What I would feel? Can you even grasp that loss, because you're the only girl I've ever --" Leo stopped his soliloquy abruptly, but Sholeh didn't notice and just turned angrily, beginning to run away.
Leo grabbed her hand again, stopping her, and gripped it tightly, as if Sholeh was the only thing saving him from falling of the edge of the world. "What, Leo?" she asked him wearily. Sholeh was suddenly tired of this fight, of this life. "What did I ever do to you?"
"You stole my heart," Leo whispered. And then his mouth was upon hers, tenderly caressing her lips, and Sholeh returned the kiss. Her pulse raced and heart pounded. Sholeh's mind told her to stop, that Leo was her best friend, that she was supposed to continue fighting, but her emotions said that this was so right. Sometime during the fight, her hair had come undone from its tie and now hung in dripping strands around her face. Leo's hand moved from Sholeh's shoulders to run his fingers through her hair, which was still warm, and smelled faintly of copper. They breathed as one, and leaned back into each other. Leo was distinctly aware of everywhere their bodies touched; his senses seemed heightened in elation. For the first time, he acknowledged what he felt for Sholeh; it was love.
The next morning, Sholeh awoke with wet hair, a neck cramp, and huge smile on her face. Recalling last night's events only served to make her happier, and Sholeh's heart seemed to overfill with joy. Her unexpected laughter woke up Nico, who was not in nearly as good of a mood, and the boy asked her 'what the Hades could possibly funny at this hour?'
"I just remembered the looks on those girls from Aphrodite cabin," she replied, grinning. "It was worth the slap." Coming out of the arena, the two demigods had seen Sholeh and Leo kissing, and were furious. Each one slapped Sholeh before she could stop them, but to see Leo's reaction had been worth it. He had harshly pushed them away, yelling that 'You only wish that you were half the girl Sholeh is,' and gently led away his new girlfriend. Plus, Sholeh lit a fire right underneath them.
The girl sat on her bed, almost disbelieving of this happiness. She hugged her knees to her chest tightly and felt like the whole world should be celebrating. Oh gods, she thought ecstatically, thank you.
Suddenly, there was a rap at her window. Sholeh had insisted that there be a window next to her bed because she loved to see the sun rise in the morning. Turning around, she noticed that the visitor was just the person she wanted to see.
"Leo!" she yelled, elated by the sight. There he was, standing right outside her window, smiling from ear to ear, blond hair messy and tan skin practically glowing with love. Sholeh jumped up, pounded on the bathroom door, ordering Nico out, and dashed in to get dressed. When she was satisfied with her appearance, Sholeh sprinted outside and was immediately wrapped in Leo's hug.
"Six-point-oh-five-two seconds," he said, grinning and pretending to check his stopwatch, "it's officially a new record," Leo joked.
"Yes, well I had a very important appointment to get to," she whispered mock-seriously into his ear, "I simply couldn't be late."
"Uh, guys," Percy said impatiently, interrupting their embrace, "Sorry to barge in on this tender moment, but Chiron wants to see you, Sholeh." Annabeth stood next to the son of Poseidon and turned to him.
"Remember when we first got together?" she asked, grinning.
"Yeah," Percy replied, reaching for Annabeth's hand.
"Wasn't that like four days ago?" Leo asked. "You're talking about it like you've been together for years."
"Yeah, really," Sholeh agreed. "And might I add, that wouldn't even have happened if not for me."
"What did you do to get them to finally admit that they like each other?" Leo asked, pretending Percy and Annabeth weren't there. The two demigods in question blushed.
"Well, Annabeth said last summer that she loved Luke because of the prophecy, right?" Leo nodded. He was familiar with that prophecy's last line, and a love will be lost to a fate worse than death. "Well, as it turns out, Annabeth here only pretended to love Luke so that she could fool the prophecy. Because if she loved Percy, she would lose him. So I just got her to admit it and things fell into place."
"Sneaky, sneaky," teased Leo, pulling Sholeh closer to him. "How did you do that?" Percy and Annabeth turned an even deeper shade of red and began to whistle suspiciously.
"That is between me and them," the girl laughed back, drawing sighs of relief from Percy and Annabeth. "Okay, why does Chiron want to see me?"
"Well, he says that someone is here to visit you," replied Percy, who was obviously happy to be on a different subject.
"Okay, let's go, Leo," Sholeh said happily, beginning to walk toward the Big House.
"Do you mind if we come too?" asked Annabeth, "We need to ask Mr. D something."
"No problem!" the girl called back. All four demigods leisurely strolled over, talking about everything and nothing, happy with the world for once.
Entering the Big House, Sholeh was surprised by the incredible warmth inside. She of course, didn't mind because her mother was the goddess of the hearth and fire, but Leo immediately said, "Whoa," and pulled up his sleeves.
Suddenly Chiron stepped out of another door to greet the two. "You have someone to see you, Sholeh. She's in here," Sholeh wondered why Chiron was being so mysterious, but walked into the other room all the same. As soon as the girl entered, the heat increased even more. Leo guessed that it was at least one hundred and twenty degrees, and rolled up his shirt sleeves. The room was totally dark, except for a huge fire in the fireplace.
"Hello daughter," came a voice from the dark corner of the room.
"Mom?" Sholeh asked in disbelief, "I can't see you." The girl reached for the light switch, and turned on the overhead light. Immediately, Sholeh saw a woman sitting in a black armchair, who seemed to be in her mid-thirties, with stunning, bright red hair.
Leo whispered, "Lady Hestia," in awe. The goddess looked so similar to Sholeh. Her eyes and lips were the same exact shape, but Hestia's face was free of cares, unlike her daughter's. Sholeh took a few steps backward in astonishment and skepticism.
"Sholeh Prometheus! I haven't seen you since you were just a baby in my arms, and this is how you greet me?" Hestia's words seemed kind, but the tone of her voice was dangerous.
"And whose fault is that, mother?" Sholeh replied coldly. This woman abandons me, ignores me my entire life, and now thinks that if she shows up here, everything will be fine? Sholeh thought, As if.
"Well, I admit that I haven't contacted you much. However," the goddess began.
"Much? I didn't even know you were my mother until last week!" Sholeh struggled to keep her anger under control, and would've liked to scream in frustration.
"Sweetie, that doesn't mean I haven't tried to see you," said Hestia, also visibly trying to conceal her anger. "Remember that time in kindergarten when—"
"Mother," Sholeh seemed to spit out the word, "I don't want to hear it."
"Fine! But you are my daughter and will act as such!" yelled Lady Hestia. Suddenly, she seemed to relax again, and she smiled. "Oh, dear, I almost forgot. I have a present for you." The goddess pulled out a beautiful silver package from her red handbag, and handed it to Sholeh.
Opening it up, Sholeh took out the most beautiful dress she had ever seen. It was made of a fine material, and entirely covered in red rubies. The dress reached down to a little above her knee, and Sholeh gasped at its magnificence. "Yes, I hoped that you might like it," said Hestia in a pleased voice. "As you begin to gain more control of your powers, they will become more intense. So, this dress is not only rather attractive, but also will not burn off like normal clothes." Sholeh's mother began to rifle through her handbag again.
Quietly, Leo whispered in Sholeh's ear, "Do you have to wear it?"
"Well, Leo, why would I not?" she replied in mock surprise. "Would you like to see me without clothes?" Sholeh asked, though she already knew the answer.
"More than you will ever know," Leo murmured back, and the girl giggled.
Hestia seemed enraged at something found in her bag, and suddenly, fire raged dangerously. Leo took a few steps back. He had experienced Sholeh's destructive power firsthand, and couldn't imagine what her mother, a full goddess, could wreak.
Unfortunately, Leo's movement caught Hestia's eye. "Sholeh, who is that?" she asked in a suspicious voice.
"This," Sholeh replied, bringing the boy forward, "is Leo." The demigod's head was raised and her jaw was clenched in defiance, as if daring her mother to disapprove.
"Oh," Hestia said in a cool voice. "This is the Leo I have heard so much about. I wanted to speak with you about this, also, Sholeh. I know this boy's father, Apollo, who may be a god, but has a bad reputation. And like I always say, the flame doesn't spring up far from the fire."
"Your point being?"
"I can understand if you are attracted to him, but I think that you should end this relationship," stated Lady Hestia finally.
"No." Leo was both ecstatic that Sholeh would go so far to defend him, but another side of him wished that Sholeh would give in for her own safety.
"Well, I really don't think that it is appropriate after his father made a move on you also, Sholeh—"
"WHAT?" Leo yelled, speaking for the first time in the conversation. "My dad… tried something with you?" he asked Sholeh. His fists were clenched in anger and the blood coursed furiously through his veins.
"Well, the first time we met, yes, but I told him no, and Lord Apollo left it at that," Sholeh explained.
"Oh gods, how could he? How dare he?" Leo was shaking with rage. Admittedly, Sholeh had never imagined that Leo could be so infuriated. She had known that he was extremely protective of her, but didn't that it would reach to such an extent.
"You see? Daughter, this boy is obviously not right for you," Hestia practically crowed with happiness.
"With all due respect, Mom," Sholeh said coldly, "He means more to me than you ever will," and strode out of the room holding Leo's hand.