Arsonist's Lullabye ──── Leo Valdez

15: Ghosts and nightmares

─────Vincent could tell Piper and Jason were thoroughly shaken up. 

They narrated what happened with Boreas and it didn't make their moods any better. Vincent had a little more experience being in the world of Greek gods and monsters, but he couldn't make sense of this all. 

There were too many things bothering him, too many questions that popped up. And if Chiron refused to answer even Annabeth, his known favorite camper aside from Percy, then something weird was definitely up. 

Leo passed them some sandwiches from his pack. Vincent bit his lip when he got his chicken sandwich exactly the way he loved them. He remembered.

Leo been quiet ever since they left the Boreads, whether it was because whatever was on his mind after Vincent's revelation or because of what happened in the throne room, Vince had no idea. "I still can't believe Khione," he said. "She looked so nice."

"Trust me, man," Jason said. "Snow may be pretty, but up close it's cold and nasty. We'll find you a better prom date."

Vincent smiled, but Leo didn't look pleased. He remembered back when it was just the two of them, some guy had told them they would get girlfriends and eventually stop being this close. Sure, they had in fact stopped being attached at the hip, but at hearing the part about the hypothetical girlfriends, Leo had loudly declared that he wouldn't and that it would be just him and Vincent forever. 

And now look at him. He grew out of his 'girls have cooties' phase. 

They ate their sandwiches as they flew. Vincent had no idea how Leo had stocked up on supplies, but he'd even remembered to bring veggie rations for Piper who was apparently a vegetarian. 

Nobody talked. Whatever they might find in Chicago, they all knew Boreas had only let them go because he figured they were already on a suicide mission.

The moon rose and stars turned overhead. Vincent's eyes started to feel heavy. 

He looked up at the stars and thought back to when his dad was still alive. 

Andre Rosier had been narrating some story from his life and Vincent, then seven years old, was just starting to realize how little he knew about his own dad. 

For little Vincent and even current Vincent, his dad was the coolest person alive, no one could ever compare. He talked like he had lived a hundred different lifetimes, like he'd travelled around the world. 

It was a June night, the kind when there's no wind and everything feels stuffy even though they were literally in the middle of nowhere. His dad had taken him camping for the first time, and after a day of trying (and failing) to catch fish, making a fire and eating Nutella sandwiches under the stars, they just sat by the fire while his dad told him stories of his life. 

"Bungee Jumping is fine" Andre was saying, "But if you want to feel like you're flying, hand gliding makes you feel like you're Icarus"

Even as a kid, Vincent knew about the famed hero who died falling into the ocean because he flew too close to the sun. 

"But I thought you said it gets colder the higher up you get" Vincent, the smartass, decided to point out. He was wearing a lightning McQueen t-shirt, the design looking more orange than red in the fire light. 

"It does" 

"Then how come the wings melted and fell off?" 

"Don't use up too much of your brain power about it. The Greek myths were mostly stories about humans and their hubris— do you know what hubris is?"