Daughter of Olympus - [Leo Valdez xF!Oc]

It's Been (0) Days Since I Almost Died

Ara's parents leave her at camp for New Year's. Lily welcomes her on the hill, along with the Stolls and Nico Di Angelo.

"You piece of sh—" Ara tries to reach for his throat but Lily gets in the way.

"Hey! It's my birthday and you know the rules!"

"I want my dino back!"

"I've no idea what she's talking about," the boy smirks.

"I'm gonna feed you to my lion."

"Mrs. O'Leary and Pollo both said they like me more."

Ara gasps. "Take that back!"

"You know what, Ara, why don't you take a walk?" Travis suggests. "And maybe, by the time you come back to the Big House, your T-Rex will be right where you left it. Right, Nico?"

"Unlikely."

"Nico!" Lily berates him in Italian, to which he replies with an eye-roll.

"Okay. Yeah, maybe."

Ara flips off Nico before leaving, she doesn't want to do this, but if that's what it takes to save her dino, then she's got no choice. The girl walks into the forest and quickly loses track of time. 

"...or a raccoon."

Ara stops, there's a group of people a few feet ahead of her.

"With no toes?" 

"Piper? What do you think?" 

The girl scoffs. "Just because I'm Native American doesn't mean I can track furniture through the wilderness—'Yes, kemosabe. A three-legged table passed this way an hour ago.' Heck, I don't know."

"Okay, jeez!"

"It's probably a table. Which means Buford went across this stream." 

"You lost a table?" Ara's voice startles the trio.

"Holy crap!" Leo lands on his butt. "How are you so quiet?"

She points at the tracks. "A table did that?"

A young nature spirit—Ara thinks it's Brooke—comes out of the stream in front of them. 

"Could you be any louder? They'll hear you!"

"Are you a naiad?" Leo asks, not caring about the warning. 

"Shh! They'll kill us all! They're right over there!" 

Ara seizes her compass. "What's out there, Brooke?"

"Brooke the brook?" Jason asks with a grin, Piper hits his leg. 

"Okay, Brooke. I'm Piper. We won't let anyone harm you. Just tell us who you're afraid of." 

Brooke approaches with wide eyes. "I'm glad you're back, Ara. It's my crazy cousins. None of us is safe! Now go away. I have to hide!"

Brooke vanishes and Ara pinches the bridge of her nose. "I literally just got here."

"Crazy cousins?" Piper turns to her. "Any idea what she was talking about?" 

"No, but crazy for a Greek is probably way off the rails."

"Maybe we should keep our voices down," Jason suggests.

"We have to follow the trail," Leo insists. "I mean... we're heroes and stuff. We can handle whatever it is. And Ara's back, so that doubles our chances!"

"Right," Ara turns her compass into Almighty. Jason and Piper draw out their weapons and stand next to her, she looks at Leo and raises a brow. "Still no weapon?"