The Wants of a Young Demigod Heart (Nico di Angelo, Leo Valdez x OC)

Sadness and Happiness

"That was nice of her," Leo says, surprised. "Well, we should probably get some sleep and then go to Missouri."

"Good luck demigods," Chiron says, and then cuts the connection. Merrily manages to stop crying and looks up. Her usually vibrant blonde hair looks limp and dull. Somehow, her already pale skin has managed to get paler, yet blotchy. Her eyes are red and puffy, not to mention bloodshot. Abigail hands her a tissue.

"So we'll head to Missouri, which is Abigail's part of the quest," Leo says. "For now, though, let's get some rest." Everyone agrees numbly. We all have sleeping bags so we pull them out and lay them down in the soft grass. As I'm drifting off to sleep, I hear...

"How could you??" I shoot up and look over to where the sound came from. Over the tips of Festus's lowest scale, I can see a bit of curly black hair and a rainbow headband. I walk over to the noise. "What do you mean you're dating him?"

The scene in front of me would've been hilarious if Chey hadn't been so scary and... crying? Abigail was standing in front of an Iris message looking irritated and Chey was swiping through it.

"Hey!" Abigail shouts. "Just because Josh liked me better doesn't mean you have to act like a bratty child!" Chey is at a loss for words yet again. I can see her eyes filling up with tears and she quickly rushes away. Merrily is awake and sitting up.

"Chey?" she asks. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"I am not crying!" Chey cries. "Leave me alone! I wish I'd never gone on this *&%$ quest, I wish I'd just stayed home!" With that, she runs into the forest, leaving behind a hurt looking Merrily.

"Oh gods," Merrily wails, beginning to cry again. "Things are such a mess!" She sobs into her pillow, her crying, racking her whole body. Then she gets up and rushes into the woods in the opposite direction. I hurry after her.

Merrily might be small, but she is definitely fast and I have a hard time just keeping her in sight. If it weren't for the fact that I could sense souls, I would have lost her several times over by now. Finally, she stops and falls to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.

Not thinking, I run over to her and hug her. Merrily turns into my shoulder, soaking my shirt with her tears. "Shhh," I whisper softly. "It's okay. I'm here." I continue to run my fingers down her hair and whisper soothing things until she stops crying. Merrily looks up at me with bloodshot eyes.

"It's all my fault Nico!" she whimpers. "I should've been the one to summon the spear. I'm a daughter of Athena after all. It should have been me who died!"

I feel my heart break. Tilting her chin up, I stare into her gray-blue eyes. And I kiss her firmly on the lips. After a few seconds, we part and I look straight into her eyes. "Never say that to me again," I whisper, tears pricking the edges of my eyes. "I couldn't bear it if you died, you mean too much to me."

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When we walk back into camp, Leo is sitting next to a scowling Chey. He's speaking softly to her, but when we arrive, he looks up, real concern in his eyes. Then his eyes travel downwards to our entwined fingers and he frowns. Chey still hasn't looked up. Leo grabs her arm and leads her away. Weird.

Merrily sits next to me, still not letting go of my arm, and leans her head onto my chest as I look around. Abigail is already asleep, her breathing even and slow. Ryan isn't, but he's in his sleeping bag. I can hear hushed whispers from the other side of Festus. I can't hear what's being said though. Then I look down.

Merrily has fallen asleep. She looks so peaceful, her long hair falling over part of her face. I look up at the clear night sky. The stars are shining brightly tonight and Zoe's constellation is brighter than ever.