Daughter of Olympus - [Leo Valdez xF!Oc]

Leo Survives the Vibe Check

After Lee died, Michael took his place as senior counselor. During the funerals, Lily and I stay with our friend, and a weakened Nico follows us around quietly. I decide to share my plan with them.

Lily shakes her head miserably. "Achilles passed and Heracles turned into a God, they can't help."

"I wasn't talking about them."

"You said a child of Olympus might be our solution," Mike frowns.

"Yeah, what if we make a new one?"

They stare at me like I've gone mad. "Ara, to be considered at all, you'd have to—"

"Be a jack of all trades," I nod. "And as sturdy as a radioactive roach."

"Sounds fun," Nico mumbles. He's half-asleep, and I'm not sure he's truly listening.

Lily gazes at my brother and her sister. "Percy has a prophecy to fulfill, and Annabeth—"

"I want to try it." 

Silence. The kind that comes after someone says something so nuts you don't even process it. I continue before they can stomp all over my idea.

"You've trained me well, at a higher level than most demigods and I... I think I know from where Almighty comes from."

"I'm not getting it," Mike says.

"I've been dreaming about this," I explain. "The children of Olympus."

"Make amends with your past", Pan had said. I've been given an opportunity to succeed where others didn't. I don't understand why me, when so many skilled demigods could take the title, but Aphrodite's words come to mind: Love is at the core of everything... Even war. 

***

Someone knocks on the trapdoor and pushes it open. Ara knows who it is just by the sound of the footsteps.

Annabeth enters the attic fully. "I don't understand why you like it here. You remember this is where we used to keep a mummy, right?"

"The mummy wasn't the creepiest thing in our collection," Ara points over her shoulder before returning to the laurel crown. "The horrors are endless."

Annabeth sits next to her, now both are staring at the gold crown. "That doesn't explain why you come here."

"I come here because it's packed with stuff some demigods considered meaningful—but now all those memories and people are gone. One day, someone will look at these laurels and they won't know anything about me, except that I once wore them."

"And that makes you feel... good?"

"It's not about feeling good," the girl looks back at her. "The prophecy of the seven... I'm not part of it. I'm trying to understand why."

Annabeth sighs and rubs her eyes. "I don't know, Ara. You look after the Olympians, you won't get a greater honor than that."

"And that stresses me out," she frowns. "You're telling me I reached my peak at fourteen? This is all I'll ever get?"

"Ara, I've known you since we were little girls," Annabeth raises a brow. "Your life right now is good, what's the problem with that? You got clues about Percy, you're keeping our home safe, and you got us a new guardian..."

"New guardian?"

"Yeah," Annabeth grins. "Pollo."

Ara chuckles. "You talked to Leo?"