Annabeth groaned then stomped back to the arena, while muttering some colorful words. Percy then trotted after her like a loyal pup, leaving me and Nico alone.
"What's going on? Shouldn't we be helping them?" I asked trying to pull Nico to the arena.
"Nah, Leo most likely just got angry or something and set himself on fire. Everything is fine," he explained. My eyes widened when he said "set himself on fire."
"Leo is a fire user. Like Percy can control water, Leo can control and make fire. He's also fire-proof," Nico said noticing my questioning look. I just, once again, nodded my head. All of this was a lot to take in. Most of it was cool, but it was so odd. I've lived my whole life thinking all this was fake, or a myth. But then I'm thrown into it just because of an old bird. Wow, that would sound weird out of context.
Moments later Annabeth comes out of the arena with a new hole in her shirt and some ash on her face. Percy soon follows her out with some ash on him too, but I also noticed someone following him. He was a medium height Latino, he didn't look too bad ether. His eyes were chocolate brown, and his hair looked like chocolate too, but a bit darker. His hair fell in short curls past his ears. It wasn't as long as Nico's, but it was longer than Percy's. He didn't look too muscular, but he wasn't a twig. His facial features made him look similar to an elf. He had a mysterious look in his eye. But not the way Nico's did, Nico's held power. While this teen held humor. When he brushed his hair behind his left ear, I saw that they had a slight point at the end. Making him look even more elfish. It wasn't in a bad way, he looked handsome, but he still held that childish look in his eyes. His smile also held humor, but I could see past it. Like Nico, there was pain behind it.
I figured he pushed humor over the pain. I push my attitude, and silence over my pain. It's easier to hide it, than show it. Wow I sound like Elsa on Frozen.
"That's Leo," Nico whispered into my ear. I just nodded my head showing that I heard him. Now, I'm not gonna lie, Leo looked kinda cute. But I don't know, something held me back.
"Hi, I'm Leo. You're the new chick, right?" Leo asked when he saw me.
"Ya, and don't call her a chick. Her name is Atalanta," Nico said irritated.
"Ok, ok, I was kidding. So who's her parent?" Leo questioned.
"I'm unclaimed. And before you ask, no I don't know if it's my mom or dad. I grew up in an orphanage," I told him.
"Hey, lots of us got it ruff here. Nico, Hazel, Frank, Jason, and I lost our mothers when we were young. Well not Frank or Hazel, they lost their mothers when they were older. But every demi-god has it bad. Almost none of us get lucky in the family department. So don't be too down 'bout it," Leo said, attempting to cheer me up. I just nodded my head a little bit in response.
"You don't talk much, do you?" Percy asked.
"Not really. I can, but I choose to watch, rather than join in the conversation most of the time," I explained.
"Sounds like Nico," Leo said, earning an eye roll from Nico.
"So where we off to?" Leo asked after a moment of silence.
"We?" Nico questioned.
"Ya, I'm bored, and got nothing better to do. So you guys are stuck with me," Leo said giving us a toothy grin.
"Great," I heard Nico slightly mutter.
"We are off to show Atalanta, to the Hermes cabin," Annabeth said, ignoring Nico's moan in protest. I made, yet another, mental note to ask Nico about that.