I'm starting to really get into the story now. And I decided not to kill anyone per say, but I did need to take out some obvious possibilities that Leo could be discovered, but blood is literally spilled. Maybe not exactly what you expected but...
~Melissa L.
"Come on," Rachel squeezed her eyes shut, trying to concentrate on the Oracle. "Just let me see who did this." After learning that someone had died in the camp, she was determined to understand what had happened that night. She had succeeded in getting glimpses of the event, painted some pictures, even, but none had yet revealed who it was that had caused David's death.
Rachel knew for a fact that it wasn't suicide. Last night, she had a vision where she was David and was hit in the head by something heavy. The pain fueled as she felt the fear spread all over her body, trying hard to concentrate in not losing consciousness for the fear that she might not wake up again. Then she'd heard a muffled voice, but couldn't make out the words or the pitch of the person talking. The vision ended abruptly when Rachel felt the cord tug her upwards.
Then she snapped back to the present. There were so many questions swarming in her head, but Rachel wasn't sure what to think. And why wouldn't the Oracle let her see the whole picture?
...
Octavian was grudgingly tearing the bowels of another stuffed bear in his hands. Reyna had instructed him to try to find an answer to the murder. He didn't really care much for the pathetic Greek that was killed. In fact, he didn't care much for almost anyone, but he couldn't disobey the Praetor again. He was already on probation for leading the Romans to Camp Half-Blood after Reyna had set out on her crazy mission.
He looked closely at the stuffing on the floor, trying to make a picture out of it, but all he got was what everyone already knew. A noose, a boar's head (since it was a son of Ares), and something else. It looked like a hammer, but what did that tool have anything to do with anything? Octavian wasn't sure what to think of. Maybe it was a symbol for another that was involved in the killing.
A hammer, huh? Isn't that a symbol of Hephaestus? Octavian smirked. He tried again, using a stuffed care bear this time. The stuffing shifted. Was that fire surrounding the picture?
...
I don't know what to do. Leo was the one that killed David. He's the murderer. He told me. I know I'll have to tell people what happened soon enough but I can't help but lose my nerve at the last second. Leo said he wouldn't hurt me, or was that just a ploy to get me to let my guard down? I'm not sure. I can't separate instincts from fear. I can't tell if my mind is telling me to not trust him or if it's the fear that is consuming my ability to think properly. Am I really that afraid that Leo will try to kill me? No, I shouldn't think that way. We've known each other far too long and been through too much for him to just decide to kill me. Or is the fear I feel my instincts itself? I think that maybe it would be best if he faces the consequences and I'll try to protect him the best I can, but I don't know when to take the first step. -Piper
Piper closed the journal in her lap and slid it under her bed. She hadn't been able to get a good night sleep ever since the day she found out about Leo. It had been three days since the encounter with her friend, if she could even allow herself to call him that anymore. She knew she had been acting strangely after what happened. Jason had pointed it out.
"You look so tense," he said, "Is everything alright?"
Piper so badly wanted to just pour her heart out to him and explain everything but she couldn't bring herself to it. The fear had resurfaced and as shameful as she felt for keeping such a dark secret, she put on her best smile and nodded, "Everything's fine. I just haven't been getting enough sleep. That's all." She could tell that Jason was still worried but he didn't try to pry. Piper wasn't sure if she was disappointed or grateful that he wasn't being stubborn.
Hazel had also noticed Piper's strange behavior.
"You can always write your thoughts down in a journal or something," she suggested, "I'm sure it'll help." That's why she was writing in the first place. Hopefully that would let her catch up on her sleep.
...
"Have you noticed how weird Piper is being?" Jason asked. Nico was ignoring him, as always. The blond had decided to hang out with him since Piper was keeping her distance. Besides, he thought Nico needed the company, although the son of Hades liked to pretend he was invisible. Today, however, as he passed Cabin thirteen, Jason noticed Nico on the roof and an idea had popped into his head. He didn't want to sound like he just wanted Nico to do him a favor so he tried small talk, which was not working as well as he'd expected.
As he flopped down next to the younger boy, Nico immediately tensed. "What do you want, Grace?"
"I just wanted to say hi," Jason answered.
"Go away."
Jason held his hands up in surrender, "Hey, I come in peace, but seriously, how are you?" He got no response. Then he'd asked about Piper, at which Nico glared at him.
"How am I supposed to know? She's not my friend."
"Sorry, but it was worth a try." Jason decided to change topics, "Look, I was wondering if you know anything about what happened."
"Are you accusing me?" He growled. Jason was taken by surprise at the sudden aggressive tone.
"Of course not!" He quickly reassured, making sure to sound firm, but calm, never breaking eye contact until Nico seemed more relaxed and finally looked away.
"No, actually. I don't." Jason slumped his shoulders. He'd hoped that Nico had an answer. Then hope filled his heart again as another idea emerged.
"You can talk to spirits, right? Maybe you can summon David's and-"
"I can't," Nico interrupted. "It's just chaos in the Underworld right now because of Gaea and my Father warned me not to try to summon any spirits until he got things under control."
"Okay then there should be something else we can do," Jason had to remain optimistic. There had to be something. "Oh, I know. Rachel might know something! She's the Oracle."
"Good luck with that," Nico muttered.
"You can come if you want to," Jason offered, but Nico shook his head. "Got more important things to do?"
"If I go, will you leave me alone afterwards?"
"Sure, I'll leave you alone the rest of the day." He received a scowl but no protest so he took it as a 'go for it'.
"I'm sorry, but I can't help you," Rachel sulked.
"But you're the Oracle!" Jason exclaimed. Rachel sat down on her couch and rubbed her temples. Jason was sure they'd get answers here, but apparently the fates were not helping.
"Are you sure you've tried enough times?" Nico asked.
"Of course I have! But it's like the Oracle is purposely blocking the killer's face! I don't know why," she seemed very frustrated and on the verge of finally cracking.
"Okay, don't worry, Rach. We can figure something else out." Jason tried to calm her down.
"Well, you could always go talk to Octavian," Rachel suggested, "Maybe he's found something." Jason made a sour face. Asking Octavian for help? That was somewhere on the top of the list he liked to call "Things I Hope I Never Have To Do".
Rachel noticed his expression, "It might be your last shot at getting new information, and as much as it pains me to say it, Octavian is able to see things too." Great, won't that scarecrow get a good laugh when Jason shows up and asks for his help.
...
How satisfying it was to watch Grace hold in his disgust when he approached the Aurgur. Octavian couldn't help but smirk through Jason's struggled request. Of course they couldn't know that he knew something important. He wanted to make sure first if he could get anything out of it.
"Why don't you talk to your 'Oracle'?" He asked after hearing the son of Jupiter.
"Trust me, I wouldn't be here if she'd been able to see who the killer was, but for some Godsdamn reason, she can't see anything so I had to, very reluctantly come here." So their so called Oracle couldn't see something he could? That made his smile grow wider, but at the back of his head, he wondered why.
"Sorry to disappoint," Octavian said sarcastically, "But unfortunately, Reyna had me look into your little predicament and also came up empty handed." The good thing about being him was that Octavian was a great actor. Lying was so easy to him. It was amusing to see the look of disappointment on the ex-praetor's face.
Jason finally composed himself and started walking out the door, "Okay, thanks for nothing. Let's go, Nico." The pair walked out. Joy filled Octavian as he cherished the thought of actually proving that he really was better than Rachel Dare, but his logic came in to ruin the whole thing.
Why wasn't she able to see it? What would happen if Rachel had that kind of information?
Octavian pushed those thoughts aside. There was no time to be thinking about that. For now, he needed to pay a visit to a certain son of Hephaestus. Curious to see if he could find anything else, he reached for yet another plush toy to sacrifice, but he was so distracted by his thoughts that he accidentally cut too close to his hand.
"Ow," he dropped the fabric and dagger on the floor, trying to stop the bleeding. He examined his finger and sighed with relief, knowing that it wasn't severe, but still left droplets of blood mixed in with the fake innards of the stuffed animal that was thrown aside. He didn't notice the picture in the stuffing of a cliff and a figure falling halfway down, soiled by Octavian's blood, while another figure stood at the top.
Octavian didn't get a chance to see because he decided to clean up the mess rather than examine the picture, other things occupying his mind at the moment.
Okay, explanation time!
The Oracle: The Oracle doesn't want to show Rachel who the killer is because she might become a potential victim, so it's sort of for protection. Too much of a good thing is bad, right? I'm sure it applies to knowledge as well.
Nico: Summoning David's spirit and getting the answers that way would be so much simpler, but it'll also end the story that way so coincidentally (For Leo anyway). So because of Gaea and the Doors of Death, Hades is trying to get things under control and would appreciate it if Nico didn't try to open any portals to the world of the living until further notice.
The Aurgur: Let's be honest, Octavian doesn't give fuck about a Greek's death so it doesn't really phase him. Now, I assume that he takes opportunities to make sure that he always get something in return and having one of the seven under his thumb is tempting, but that's just me.
~Melissa L.
