Hello! Sorry it took me a while to get some more uploaded I got busy with other stories and such. Here is the next few chapters! Hope you enjoy! And sorry if Leo is terribly OOC he's just so hard to write. -Sicily
NICO
Telling someone you put them in mortal danger so you can never be with each other again and oh hey I might die on my quest is extremely difficult. It's not like you can just walk up and blurt it out in one sentence. You have to start slow, but when you do, you think of all the stuff you have to say and all that's going to happen and you choke up, which does not help at all. This is where my godly parentage got in the way. Children of Hades do not deal with delicate emotions and sensitive feelings well. Socializing with the living is not something that comes naturally. This unfortunate weakness made breaking the news to Sarah very hard. She was patient though, and didn't rush me.
"Sarah…" my voice cracked. Lovely. I looked down at the ground, mildly embarrassed, and tried to get a grip.
She asked me what was going on, and I could hear the concern in her voice. I took a deep breath and began to explain all that happened. I told her how the scorpion had been a trap set by Gaea, and how I had played right into it. She didn't seem angry or upset, but I could tell she was really worried. Her eyes got big and her eyebrows knit together, which looked surprisingly cute. When I got around to telling her she had to stay at the camp until the war was over, she protested a little.
"Why should I have to stay? I can fight just as good as anyone else."
"It's not about how good you fight. It's about keeping you safe. Gaea will do everything in her power to capture and torture you to use you for leverage."
She looked quite annoyed, but she knew I had a point.
"I couldn't let you fall into her hands when it would be so easy to protect you." I continued. "I know you aren't stupid and that you'd be careful, but we can't risk it." I looked at her pleadingly hoping she would understand. She met my eyes and tried not to smile. That puzzled me.
"What?" I asked.
Sarah quickly looked away. "It's nothing."
"No, c'mon. What was that little trying-not-to-smile look for?"
She started swinging her legs, obviously embarrassed. "It's just…" her voice trailed. "Your eyes."
That caught me off guard. What was so fascinating about my eyes?
"What about them?" I asked.
Sarah blushed, which really brought out the blue in her eyes. "They get really pretty when you're worried. They get all big and… yeah." She flushed even brighter red.
Whoa. She had just said my eyes were pretty. I was not expecting that one. I might have blushed, but I'm not sure.
She looked up at me and said, "Sorry."
Girls sure are complicated, I thought. "For what?"
"I didn't know if I had made you uncomfortable or something…" she looked a little uncomfortable herself.
I smiled at her. "No way. That's the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me." She smiled back at me, and that weird impulse to kiss her swelled up in my chest. We edged a little closer. Gods, she's cute, I thought. My whole body felt warm and fuzzy and I could feel her breath on my face when I heard a rustling behind us. We broke apart and drew our swords. Out of the bushes popped Sarah's cousin Leo.
"Leo!" Sarah yelled in frustration and surprise.
He attempted a winning smile. "Hey, cuz!"
Sarah was not amused. Her eyes flashed, and I could almost see waves rippling through them. "Leo, this is not a joke, unlike the rest of your life."
Mental note: do not get on this girl's bad side.
Leo looked hurt at that. "I was just heading to Bunker 9…"
"Don't you dare lie to me." Sarah raised her voice. "I've been to Bunker 9, and I did not have to pass Zeus's Fist to get there. You followed us." She threw her arms up in the air. "Is there no privacy on this stinkin earth?"
Leo's face looked so miserable I felt sorry for him. Then I remembered he had interrupted my first kiss and my pity vaporized. I pointed my sword at him. "Valdez, leave."
Leo glared at me. He opened his mouth to say some snarky comment but shut it when Sarah spoke.
"Leo, please go away." Her voice was a mixture of aggravation and sadness.
"Cuz, I'm sorry." Leo looked desperate.
"Sure." Sarah turned to face him. "Did you ever think, Leo, that this isn't a joke? This is very serious to me, and I don't need goofballs like you messing them up."
Leo's face crumbled. He left without another word, but gave me a don't-touch-my-cousin look.
Sarah turned to me and said, "Sorry about that. Leo's always been a joker, but this…" She slumped down on the rock, and I sat down next to her. She sighed and stared out into space. We sat there for a while, until Sarah looked at me and spoke.
"So. You were saying something about keeping me safe…?"
"Yeah. You have to stay at camp until we defeat Gaea because we don't want you to get captured."
Sarah nodded. "Is there anything else you need to tell me?"
I sighed. I had put the final truth off for long enough
"Yeah." I took a deep breath. "On this quest…" my voice trailed. I gazed into Sarah's blue-gray eyes and forced myself to get it out. "There is a very slim chance of me returning to Camp Half-Blood. Ever."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Sarah, I think I'm going to die."
