Ah, I'm taking so long to update lately. Sorry, lots of stuff happening so close to graduation. I swear as soon as summer comes i will write a lot more.
FPSCanaRussia- calm down there it's not going to be that extreme. it'll be pretty extreme but not THAT extreme.
Aight guys enjoy and review pls
The moment Leo finished eating he stood up on the table and banged his silverware against his goblet.
"Hear ye, hear ye!" He shouted to get their attention. When the talking died down he continued, smiling.
"I suppose you all want to know my heroic tale of how I rescued Calypso and why I took so long getting back. I'll give you guys the short version so we can skip to the partying quickly. So, I managed to not stay dead because I programmed Festus to give me the cure when I died- yeah, pretty impressive, right? Come on, you can applaud, it's alright." He paused a moment and grinned even wider as his friends cheered.
"Then, I made it back to Ogygia, another thing that is typically considered impossible, but hey, that never stopped me before. I picked up my beautiful girlfriend, Calypso. Where are you, come on up here with me," He gave her a hand to help her up onto the table, "Here she is, the most gorgeous, most amazing, most talented, most perfect girl in the world. And, in a strange turn of events, she ended up dating me. Yeah, I know, she's totally out of my league, but somehow she manages to put up with me." Calypso elbowed him in the side and he laughed.
It was a few moments before he continued. "And you know, I'd like to say that I took so long getting back because of the whole 'time is different on Ogygia' excuse, but I would be lying. We only lost about two days on Ogygia, and we only ran into a few monsters, no more than is to be expected, and nothing especially difficult to defeat. We ran into a few mechanical problems too, but the truth is I stalled a lot. We could have made it here over a week ago but I made the trip last longer, because-" Because you were too scared to face them after you found out you would be facing eternal punishment as soon as you die again? No, don't want to tell them that one. How about the second reason? "I was scared. I knew the battle had casualties, but I didn't know how many, or who had died. I was staying away because I knew when I came back everything would be real. Whoever died would be dead, not just 'possibly dead' or anything. It was a pretty selfish move on my part, but I just needed a few extra days before facing who died." He took a breath. The people who could have used the Cure if you weren't so selfish. One less would have died if you would have just accepted your fate. And they probably had no current promises sworn on Styx, so they could have gotten out of Punishment by explaining themselves to Hades. "So, yeah. I hope you all can forgive me for staying away so long and-" He was cut off by Hazel, who had stepped up onto his table and wrapped him in a hug.
"I forgive you." She whispered. They got down from the table in time for Leo to be attacked by other people hugging him.
"Come on guys, give the hero some space." Leo said with a smile.
Later, the campfire roared higher than it had in weeks. Even Leo shared some genuine laughs with his friends. Still, he was the first to sneak away the moment everyone else was busy talking to their other friends. He thought no one was watching him when he left to get some air.
He went to the outskirts of the forest and sat with his back against a tree. He sighed deeply and started to run a hand through his hair.
"How long were you dead?" A voice rang out through the dark, startling him.
Leo let out a short, high-pitched shriek before leaping to his feet and grabbing for something from his toolbelt.
"Relax. It's just me." Nico walked into his line of sight and when Leo made a flame appear on his hand he could make out his face.
"Oh. Hi, Nico." He turned the flame off. "What are you doing out here?"
"Following you. I wanted to talk to you and I knew being alone would be my only chance of ever getting real answers from you."
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Questions about what?"
"How long were you dead?" Nico repeated himself from before, not wasting any time working back up to it.
"Um, a few seconds only? Why?" Leo's confusion convinced Nico he was telling the truth on this question. If he were hiding something about that, he would sound more defensive if asked it first thing. Nico sighed in relief, thinking at least what was bothering Leo didn't have to do with the Underworld.
"Why are you so upset, even after reuniting with your best friends and having Calypso here with you?"
Leo's heart sped up. "I'm not upset about anything." He put up the best fake smile he could manage at the moment, because he felt like the other boy could see his face perfectly even through the dark.
"That's bullshit." Nico whispered.
"What?" Leo's smile faltered.
"You're lying."
"No, I'm no-"
"What have you built today?" Silence fell over the two after Nico's question. Leo looked at the ground.
"Nothing." He whispered.
"See, something's really bugging you, and you think your friends won't notice but we do. I've never seen you this upset before, and you have to know that you can tell us. We will do everything we can to help you, you just need to let us."
Leo considered telling him for a moment, then decided against it. They can't help you. Not even the son of Hades can change his father's mind, so don't bother worrying them. "I'm just thinking a lot about the campers who died. I'll be fine I just haven't had any time to get over it yet. Seeing the place missing all these wonderful faces you know are never coming back, it's just wrong." He lied smoothly, probably because it wasn't much of a lie. That was bothering him too, just not as much as the- other- thing.
"What were your nightmares about?"
Leo snapped his head up to look at him. "How did you kn-"
"Calypso. She's worried about you, you'd wake up screaming and then not talk to her about it."
"Nothing!" He said, too fast. "They're- They were nothing important. Just-" He said the first thing he could think of that would make sense with everything else he told Nico. "Just was reliving the battle. Sometimes it went like it normally did, with me dying and coming back, which is bad enough, but sometimes- sometimes I'd see it different ways, like with Jason and Piper getting killed, or Percy, or Hazel, any one of my friends. I just- I wasn't sure that you guys made it, so my brain got carried away when I fell asleep I guess." He looked up to see if Nico was buying the excuse but couldn't make out his expression.
"I'm sorry, Leo." He brought him into a hug and for the first time Leo noticed he was crying. Whether it was because he was thinking about what he was hiding or the truth of most of the excuses he gave, he didn't know. Gods, he's going to think you're a wimp who can't handle a few bad dreams. Not that you aren't, but still… What if he tells the others that you're just a crybaby?
Leo pulled back from Nico. "Can you- not tell the others about this?"
"Leo, you can't just hide everythin-"
"Please!" He begged. "Just for a little while, I swear. I'll be over it all soon anyway, I just- I don't want to be surrounded by people who feel bad for me, you know?"
He paused before answering. "Fine, but you should really tell your girlfriend soon. She's especially worried.
"Okay, done."
"Alright, I guess we should be getting back to the fire now, then. They're probably waiting for you to come back. You're sort of a big deal tonight."
"Do my eyes deceive me?" Leo made a dramatic gesture with his hand to his forehead. "Can this be true, or did the lack of light trick me? Did Nico Di Angelo actually- smile?"
Nico elbowed him in the side. "Yeah, I did. I've actually smiled a lot lately. Even laughed a few times."
"No! It can't be true! What miracle could possibly have caused this?"
"I have a boyfriend now. He makes me smile a lot. And he yelled at me for being all self-sacrificial. And he reminds me that people care about me and pushing them away isn't helping anyone and little by little, he's teaching me to like myself."
"You got a boyfriend? Nice."
"Leo, I'm trying to make a point here. You need someone, be it Calypso or just a friend, who you can talk to and tell them the truth so they can help you through things and smack you when you're being a doofus who thinks you don't matter as much as you do. You can't just smile and lie to everyone and handle your problems all on your own."
"…So, who's your boyfriend?"
"That's not the poi-"
"What's his naaaaammmee?" Leo taunted.
"Fine. Will Solace. But don't think that this is over."
"I should have seen it. You guys are perfect for each other, I know it."
"Yeah, alright. Just one last thing I forgot to ask."
"Yeah, what?"
"What did you mean when you said I wasn't looking in the right place anyway?"
"W-what?" Leo asked, knowing exactly what he meant.
"I said I looked all over Elysium for you, and you mumbled that I was looking in the wrong place anyway what-"
"Oh, I don't know. It was probably a bad attempt at a joke or something. I don't really remember saying it." He spoke too fast, obviously lying. "We better get back to the fire now, shall we? I'll race ya!" And he was off before Nico could reply.