PERI'S POV
"Who is Aunt Rosa?" Hazel asked.
I cringed.
If Aunt Rosa was to Leo as Miss Lich was to me, then she must've been awful. And he probably didn't want to talk about it very much either.
"Long story," he said. "She abandoned me after my mom died, gave me to foster care."
I stared at the ground as we walked, saying nothing. I knew exactly how that felt. When nobody wanted you. When nobody was there for you in your time of need. No words could describe how horrible it feels. I was very glad nobody asked me to elaborate on my feelings towards Miss Lich. Some things were better left unsaid.
"I'm sorry." Hazel said.
"Yeah, well. . ." Leo said somewhat nervously. "What about you? What Nemesis said about your brother?"
Hazel blinked like she'd gotten salt in her eyes. "Nico. . . he found me in the Underworld. He brought me back to the mortal world and convinced the Romans at Camp Jupiter to accept me. I owe him for my second chance at life. If Nemesis is right, and Nico's in danger. . . I have to help him."
I nodded once. "Of course."
"And what Nemesis said about your brother having six days to live, and Rome getting destroyed. . . any idea what she meant?"
"None," Hazel admitted sadly. "But I'm afraid. . ."
Whatever she was thinking, she decided not to share it with us. We trudged onward in silence. My mind wandered to what Nemesis had said to Leo. You will not find a place among your brethren. . . You will always be the seventh wheel. One glance at Leo, and I could tell her words were bothering him as well.
"Leo," I stopped walking and faced him, looking him in the eye as I spoke. "Don't let Nemesis's words get to you."
He frowned. "But what if it's true?"
"No!" Hazel piped. "Of course it's not!"
Leo stared at the ground and said nothing.
"Leo, so what if you're the seventh wheel! You don't need any other wheels! You're-you're a unicycle!" I blurted.
He looked up and smiled. A genuine smile. One that reached his eyes and made you all warm and fuzzy on the inside just from seeing it on his face.
"Thanks, Peri." he said. "I actually feel a lot better now."
"That's good." I said.
"Not to seem heartless or anything," Hazel said nervously. "but we should keep going."
I nodded, and we dutifully followed her on our search for the Celestial Bronze.
Hazel glanced at the sun, which was just touching the horizon. "And who is this cursed boy she mentioned?"
Below us, a voice said, "Cursed boy she mentioned."
At first, I saw no one.
Then my eyes adjusted.
I realized a young woman was standing only ten feet from us.
Her dress was a Greek-style tunic the same color as the rocks. Her wispy hair was somewhere between brown and blonde and gray, so it blended with the dry grass. She wasn't invisible, exactly, but she was almost perfectly camouflaged until she moved. And even then, I had trouble focusing on her. She was pretty, but not memorable. In fact, each time I blinked, I couldn't remember what she looked like, and I had to concentrate on finding her again.
"Hello," Hazel said. "Who are you?"
"Who are you?" the girl answered. Her voice sounded weary, like she was tired of answering that question.
My friends and I exchanged looks. The last time I was in the forest, I came across a hobo cyclopes who wanted to turn me into stew. Now there was a suspicious ninja girl toying with me. I didn't like it.
"Are you the cursed kid Nemesis mentioned?" Leo asked. "But you're a girl."
"You're a girl," the girl said back.
"Excuse me?" Leo said.
"Excuse me." the girl said miserably, and it almost sounded like an apology.
"You're repeating. . ." I said, folding my arms.
Leo snapped his fingers. "Wasn't there some myth about a girl who repeated everything-?"
"Echo," Hazel said.
"Echo," the girl agreed, nodding her head. She shifted, her dress changing with the landscape. Her eyes were the color of salt water.
"I don't remember the myth," Leo admitted. "You were cursed to repeat the last thing you heard?"
"You heard." Echo said.
"Poor thing," Hazel said. "If I remember right, a goddess did this?"
"A goddess did this," Echo confirmed.
"Was it Nemesis?" I clenched my fists. "I hope so. I need a reason to kick her ass!"
"Kick her ass!" Echo exclaimed fiercely. Apparently Nemesis wasn't too popular with anyone. Surprise, surprise.
Leo scratched his head. "But wasn't that thousands of years. . . oh. You're one of the mortals who came back through the Doors of Death. I really wish we could stop running into dead people!"
"Dead people," Echo said, like she was chastising him. I sucked in a breath as I realized his mistake.
Hazel stared at her feet.
"Uh. . . sorry," Leo muttered. "I didn't mean it that way."
"That way." Echo pointed toward the far shore of the island.
"You want to show us something?" Hazel asked. She ran in the direction Echo had pointed without a moment's hesitation. Leo and I exchanged a glance before following her.
Even up close, Echo was hard to see. In fact, she seemed to get even more invisible the longer I looked at her.
"You sure you're real?" Leo asked her. "I mean. . . flesh and blood?"
Echo nodded. "Flesh and blood." She touched Leo's face, and he flinched. I snickered at his reaction.
"So. . . you have to repeat everything?" he asked.
"Everything."
"That could be fun." Leo smiled, and I could see that mischievous glint in his eyes return for the first time since the incident this morning.
"Fun," Echo said unhappily.
"Blue elephants."
"Blue elephants."
"Kiss me, you fool."
"You fool."
"Hey!"
"Hey!"
I laughed at her clever responses. "Haha! She played you!"
"Played you!" Echo smiled.
I grinned. "High-fives!"
"High-fives!" Echo and I high-fived. Her hands were surprisingly warm.
"Guys!" Hazel said sternly, almost like a mother, "Don't mess around with her!"
"Alright, alright." I said.
"So what were you pointing at?" Leo asked Echo. "Do you need our help?"
"Help!" Echo agreed emphatically. She gestured for us to follow and sprinted down the slope. I could only follow her progress by the movements of the grass and the shimmer of her dress as it changed to match the rocks.
"We'd better hurry," Hazel said, already chasing after her. "Or we'll lose her!"