Daughter of Olympus - [Leo Valdez xF!Oc]

We Ran Out of Chill Pills

The walkie turns on, and Lily picks it up quickly. "Mike?"

The sounds of battle startle us, and we think Michael's in trouble. We almost drop everything and run straight to where he is, but then he speaks. 

"Do you know that look in Ara's eyes when she's training?"

"When she looks insane?"

"Hey!"

"Precisely," Mike replies.

"Hey!" I repeat in outrage.

"I think I get it now," he continues. "Listen to this..."

Way in the background, we hear a manic peal of laughter. I recognize it only because I've heard my brother laugh that way before, when he's demolishing me while playing UNO.

"What's Percy doing?"

"That's your brother?" Lily asks in shock. "He sounds crazy!"

"He looks crazy," Mike states. "He's helping though, the bridge was—Oh, wow! Hang on."

I finish my bombs and Lily finishes her traps in a hurry, we start to walk in Mike's direction, we want to help him. 

"Yes!" He laughs, it sounds like he's running. "That's what I'm talking about!"

"Sounds like it's going well," Lily points out.

"We're going, Mike, maybe you can put our bombs to use!"

"Yeah, maybe..." I don't know how he's able to speak to us and shoot arrows at the same time, but it sounds like it's no biggie for him. 

We haven't been walking for long when Mike talks again. No fight noises are coming from his line, and he's whispering.

"Don't come."

Lily presses the comm. "Is it over?"

"He's here," Mike replies, and we immediately know who he means. "Annabeth's been hurt. Don't come."

We look at each other, and instead of listening to him, we run. Probably not the best idea considering we're carrying bombs, but we aren't thinking about our safety.

"We're going!" Lily yells to the walkie-talkie. "Hang tight!"

"Blackjack took Annabeth to safety, Lily. Go to her—Do not come!"

I snatch the walkie out of Lily's hand. "You must be out of your mind if you think we're leaving you!"

"I'm not repeating myself!" His line is failing. "Focus on your mission, beast. Good luck."

***

Ara's eyes linger on the wall where Michael's picture is hanging.

Next to him are Austin and Kayla, they're hugging each other and making faces, Michael is laughing with his whole face like he used to. Ara remembers how he glowed whenever he did that.

Michael's leaf-green light was so easy to bring out, he had an awful temper, but man, whenever he laughed...

"Wow! Are these all former campers?"

Ara gives a start, Leo's standing at the doorway. She points to the wall next to her. "Yeah. That's Percy, in case you were curious."

Leo approaches and takes a look. The picture shows Percy and Annabeth arm in arm, he has pitch-black hair, green eyes, and a great complexion. Now that's a demigod. Then he notices the girl clinging to Percy's waist: A younger version of Ara that barely reaches her brother's shoulder.