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Chapter 31 – Never Alone

LEO

"Mom?" Hazel, Nico, Frank and Jason asked in unison.

That was when Leo realized it wasn't the ghost of his mother that was floating above the table.

"Melinoe." He said instead, rage rushing through his body.

The woman tilted her head and looked at Leo. She still looked exactly like his mother, but her eyes were cold and she wore a creepy smile his mother would never want, or be able to, pull off.

"Mijo, it's me." Melinoe said. "It's your mother."

"Oh, yeah?" Leo rolled his eyes. "Yeah, sure. You're my mother. That's why four of all people in this room call you mom. Last time I checked, I wasn't related to all of them."

Coach Hedge and Piper, who saw Melinoe for who she really was, were too stunned to say anything. But slowly, Piper opened her mouth.

"Leo?" Her voice was trembling. "What is happening?"

"Let me introduce you to my dear friend Melinoe, goddess of ghosts. Her favorite hobbies are too pretend being others mothers and make people go insane." Leo said grimly.

He was surprised over how calm he felt. Well, maybe not calm, but he wasn't scared. He was angry.

"M-Mom?" Hazel stammered, a little less confident now.

Melinoe turned to her and smiled. For Leo, she still looked like his mother, but apparently Hazel saw her own.

"Hi, Hazel." Her voice was soft as silk, but Leo could hear the danger and creepiness in it.

Jason, Frank, Nico and Hazel's eyes were dim. They were staring at Melinoe with open mouths. Piper looked at each one of them, her eyes filled with worry. Then she looked at Leo, asking a silent question: What are we gonna do?

The most surprising thing was that Coach Hedge hadn't said a word. His eyes were glassy.

"Oh, that one?" Melinoe asked when she noticed Leo looking. "He's under a spell. I was quite sure that he would attack me at first sight, so I froze him. I'm just here to talk."

Piper looked slightly less stunned. She stared at Melinoe and asked:

"What do you mean with 'talk'?" She asked warily.

"I wanted to tell you that our plan is changed. We're not going to make you insane."

"Sure. Your plan to defeat us has changed, and the first ones you tell are us?" Leo asked with a sarcastic grin. "We believe in every word you say."

"She's actually telling the truth." A familiar, icy voice said behind them.

Leo turned to see Khione. Unfortunately, there wasn't a trace of burning marks on her face.

"Oh my god, how many times do I have to defeat you to make you understand that you're not welcome here?" He sighed.

Khione glared at him.

"You will never defeat me."

"Oh, yeah? What about yesterday?"

"I'll kill you with a flick of my finger if you-"

"Stop it!" Melinoe cut them off, actually looking annoyed. "We have a new plan. We just wanted to tell you that we won't stop you from defeating Gaea anymore. Peace?"

"What in Hades are you two talking about?!" Piper said. She looked like she wanted to laugh. "Peace?! Are you crazy?!"

"We're not crazy, McLean." Khione said angrily. "You think you're so good, knowing how to charmspeak, but-"

"Charmspeak." Leo's eyes widened and he stared at Piper.

She understood.

"Tell us what your new plan is." She said, but there wasn't any charmspeak in her voice.

"Do you think we're that stupid?" Melinoe asked, amused. "Come on. Don't underestimate us. We've made a barrier that prevents you from using your little talent."

Piper closed her eyes and concentrated.

"Tell us what your new plan is."

It was a weird rush through the ship; Leo could feel the floor vibrate for a second. Piper's charmspeak had burst through the barrier.

"We'll stop underestimate you if you stop underestimate us." Leo said and grinned.

The goddesses opened their mouths at the same time.

"We will use you to defeat Gaea for us. Then, after the war, you will be fragile. We will turn the gods against each other, letting them tear each other apart. In this chaos, we will rise and take over." They said in unison with hollow voices.

It was ridiculous, and Leo didn't think it would work. But Piper's wide eyes and pale face told him otherwise.

"If we defeat Gaea, they will win." She said. "If we don't, Gaea will tear the world apart. And turning the gods to each other has worked before, right? If this works, we're screwed, Leo."

Khione and Melinoe was blinking, looking confused.

"Where was I? Right, we have a new plan." Melinoe said.

"Let Coach Hedge go, and stop look like our friends' moms." Piper growled. The goddesses froze.

Hazel blinked.

"What happened?"

Nico, Jason and Frank looked really confused.

Suddenly, Coach Hedge rose from his feet and started to yell:

"I'm gonna make you regret ever coming here, we're on an important quest and you-"

"Coach."

Coach Hedge turned and stared at Leo.

"Stop screaming." He said.

"Leave our ship." Piper ordered Khione and Melinoe. "And don't ever come back."

They nodded and vanished.

"What the heck was that?!" Jason asked.

Piper ran to him and hugged him.

"Great job, Pipes." Leo said and grinned toward her. "We have a few hours before we reach Greece, and unfortunately a new problem to discuss too."

Leo held Hazel's hand under the table. She was trembling and her face was pale, but her eyes glowed with anger and fighting spirit.

"I hate her." Jason muttered. "I can't believe I fell for her trick. I don't even remember my mom, and I fell for it."

"It's okay." Piper calmed him down. "It's not your fault."

"It felt-It felt so real." Frank stammered. "I actually thought it was her. I-"

"Calm down, guys." Nico said. He was the only one who wasn't shaken up. "You can't blame yourself. It's the power of Melinoe to make you see the ghosts of your long lost loves. I've met her before, when I was with Percy and Thalia-"

Jason sat up.

"My sister saw mom too?"

"It doesn't matter. You have to forget about that and focus on how we're going to defeat Khione and Melinoe."

Hazel turned and faced Leo.

"You've been dreaming of her? She has done this to you every night lately?"

Everybody turned to stare at him.

"It-It wasn't that terrible-" Leo lied. "It's-I-"

Hazel squeezed his hand.

"I have to go to the bathroom." He muttered and rose to his feet. He let go of Hazel's hand and walked away.

Leo didn't really know why it upset him so much, but he didn't want the others to know about his dreams. He didn't want their pity, he didn't want them to know how much his mother's death still hurt, and he didn't want them to realize how fragile he actually was.

He walked to his cabin and leaned to the wall. He closed his eyes.

Like so many times before, her death flashed by. He remembered the paralyzing fear he felt when Gaea had appeared, he remembered how desperate he felt when he made his hand catch fire. Leo remembered how his heart had sank when the flames had surrounded him, licked the warehouse's walls. He had known as soon as he lit his finger that it was going to end badly. The worst thing was that he could remember exactly how he had fallen to the floor, crying and screaming his mother's name, and then how she suddenly was kneeling in front of him. It maybe just had been his imagination, but Leo remembered her stroking his face and smiling sadly. And when he tried to hug her but she had disappeared, he had known that it was the last time he would ever see her and it was entirely his fault.

Leo literally felt like he was on fire inside. And inside, he wasn't immune to fire. It hurt, it boiled and it made him want to scream. The flames of guilt licked his heart.

"Leo."

Hazel was standing in the doorway, her eyes filled with pain and worry and all the things that Leo missed that someone would feel for him since his mother had died.

Without a word, she walked to him and wrapped her arms around him. She held him tight, and for once Leo let all his pain out. He cried as much as he had done in the fire, he let every painful memory drain out of him with the tears. Hazel didn't say a word, she just hugged him. She didn't move, just held him, let him wet down her shoulder.

Leo was shaking violently. He couldn't see for all the tears. He held on to Hazel like she was the only thing that kept him from drowning in his own pain.

"I'm here." She murmured in his ear. "It's okay, I'm here. You're not alone."

Leo couldn't say a thing. He just hugged Hazel tight.

Slowly, he felt how he stopped crying. All his energy had flowed out from him with the tears. Hazel led him to the bed and sat down on it with him.

She didn't say anything. She just sat there, her shoulder pressed to his.

"It hurts." Leo croaked at last. "It hurts so much."

"I know it does." Hazel said. "I know how it feels. But I'm not going to let you feel that way. Leo, it wasn't your fault. You have to stop believe that it was."

Leo didn't say anything.

"You're never alone." She whispered. "I'm here. I will always be."

He felt a rush go through his body. He looked in to her golden eyes. He had never been so grateful for anything than for Hazel, he couldn't wrap his mind around that she actually loved him like he loved her.

Leo kissed her, soft and sweet. When they pulled away, Hazel was smiling.

"You have to get some sleep now. You won't dream any nightmares. I'll wake you up in an hour."

"Thank you." He said. "I-"

She hushed him, pushed him down on the bed and wrapped the bed sheets around him. Leo felt surprisingly tired, and the last thing he saw before he fell asleep was his girlfriend's golden eyes and beautiful smile.

Emotional chapter. I cried a little while I wrote it, hehe XD Anyway, hope you like it!