~ { Shadow and Beauty } ~

Princess of Colchis

{Jason}

After Piper ate, Jason encouraged her to get some sleep. Without another word, she curled up and put her head in his lap. In two seconds she was snoring. Jason looked up at Leo, who was obviously trying not to laugh. Kiara was just looking at Piper, admiring her. Jason couldn't blame her: Piper was beautiful.

   "I'm gonna go take a walk," she decided after a while. "All this sitting is making my ADHD worse."

   "Alright," Leo said. "Be careful, Morrigan."

   "I will, Valdez." Then she slipped behind a corner and disappeared, her footsteps receding as she walked further away.

   They sat in silence for a few minutes, drinking lemonade Leo had made from canteen water and powdered mix.

   "Good, huh?" Leo grinned.

   "You should start a stand," Jason said. "Make some serious coin." But as he stared at the embers of the fire, something began to bother him. "Leo... about this fire stuff you can do... is it true?"

   Leo's smile faltered. "Yeah, well..." He opened his hand. A small ball of flame burst to life, dancing across his palm.

   "That is so cool," Jason said. "Why didn't you say anything?"

   Leo closed his hand and the fire went out. "Didn't want to look like a freak."

   "I have lightning and wind powers," Jason reminded him. "Piper can turn beautiful and charm people into giving her BMWs. Kiara is... well, she's scary. You're no more a freak than we are. And, hey, maybe you can fly, too. Like jump off a building and yell, 'Flame on!'"

   Leo snorted. "If I did that, you would see a flaming kid falling to his death, and I would be yelling something a little stronger than 'Flame on!' Trust me, Hephaestus cabin doesn't see fire powers as cool. Nyssa told me they're super rare. When a demigod like me comes around, bad things happen. Really bad."

   "Maybe it's the other way around," Jason suggested. "Maybe people with special gifts show up when bad things are happening because that's when they're needed most."

   Leo cleared away the plates. "Maybe. But I'm telling you... it's not always a gift."

   Jason fell silent. "You're talking about your mom, aren't you? The night she died."

   Leo didn't answer. He didn't have to. The fact that he was quiet, not joking around—that told Jason enough.

   "Leo, her death wasn't your fault. Whatever happened that night—it wasn't because you could summon fire. This Dirt Woman, whoever she is, has been trying to ruin you for years, mess up your confidence, take away everything you care about. She's trying to make you feel like a failure. You're not. You're important."

   "That's what she said." Leo looked up, his eyes full of pain. "She said I was meant to do something important—something that would make or break that big prophecy about the eight demigods. That's what scares me. I don't know if I'm up to it."

   Jason wanted to tell him everything would be all right, but it would've sounded fake. Jason didn't know what would happen. They were demigods, which meant sometimes things didn't end okay. Sometimes you got eaten by the Cyclops.

   If you asked most kids, "Hey, you want to summon fire or lightning or magical makeup?" they'd think it sounded pretty cool. But those powers went along with hard stuff, like sitting in a sewer in the middle of winter, running from monsters, losing your memory, watching your friends almost get cooked, and having dreams that warned you of your own death.