The Lord Has Returned

Chapter 4 - Trust

Leo stumbled as we emerged into the shrieking shack, he let out a small shriek as he fell, get it- Shriking shack and he shrieked... no? Okay... 

"What was that?" Leo asked backing up.

"It appears to be a chair," I said gesturing to the toppled chair on the ground.

A hint of a smile appeared on his face but it left as quickly as it came. "No I mean the thing with Annabeth, what you said was really true?"

I frowned and ran my hand through my hair. "Yeah, I mean, She, Percy and Thalia were on a small quest, by the request of Grover. " I did it again, Quest- Re-quest... no? Anyway, "They were at the school where Bianca and I were at and one of the school teachers Dr. Thorn was a manticore, he knew who Bia and I were and he tried to take us to the other side, Krono's side." I paused. "That's when Percy came in trying to act heroic, that's when I realized, Oh shit, I'm gay." He chuckled. "Well, Annabeth, Percy and Thalia attacked while trying to protect us and then there were a bunch of arrows coming out of the woods hitting the Manticore with such precision he should have died, unfortunately, he was going after Percy and Annabeth lunged herself at him sending them both over the side of the cliff."

"So Biancas death wasn't Percy's fault?"

I frowned. "Let me finish." he nodded and sat down on the floor next to me. "So, Percy was devastated and I, on the other hand, was a ten year old with questions and once he got all defensive over one question I figured I had to get over the crush and I tried I really did. Anyway, I was told by Percy that Bianca was joining the hunters and I was devastated. I was a ten year old and I loved Bianca, she cared for me after my mother was murdered by the god that think with only his co- I mean Zeus. Anyway, Zoe made her go on a quest with her to go save Artemis and Annabeth, they wouldn't have gone if Annabeth didn't get herself captured and lure Artemis there. So then Bianca died on that quest, she was new to the whole demigod thing. She had no experience other than the two nights we spent at camp."

"Do you think this is Annabeth's fault."

"It's not just that, it's that- you know how it is with us, our kind. The unwanted, the unnoticed. My father is the king of darkness and yours of fire. You dad is considered the ugliest god and mine is considered the evilest. Both of which are lies," I paused again. "Your dad is a bit ugly though, but it's the inside that matters, like a refrigerator, its the inside that matters. It's the most beautiful part."

Leo laughed again. "You're right."

"Don't think I don't notice all the fake smiles you give when you're around Jason and Piper. I mean you're also the major reason we survived the War with Gaia. You died for them, built a flying ship and a flying dragon. Figured out all the important math things all of us are too stupid to comprehend yet the ones with the most popular parents get all the credit. Maybe they acknowledge you for about a day or two then they forget and move on." He nodded. "What I'm getting at is that I know that you hide your true self, when you get nervous or anxious or you feel the need to make a joke, you've had pain in your past and you don't want anyone else to feel the way you felt. You smile even though your eyes cry and you feel like falling apart. She can't just go around telling people about your mother, or that you ran away or your life experiences. That's not her story to tell."

It was silent for a minute. It was cold until Leo leaned forward and he-

(Sike)

- hugged me. "You're right."

"Thanks?"

"Sorry, it felt right."

"It's fine, we're friends right?"

He nodded. "Right. But what happened with your powers."

I looked down at my hands as he pulled away. "I don't know it's like the shadows radiated off me." I put my palm out and shadows danced around on my palm, I shook my hand scared.

Leo opened his hand and fire pranced around on his palm. "I think it may be emotion controlled, the fire gets bigger the angrier I am, like sometimes I accidentally make my nose catch on fire or I accidentally burn my hair. Or when I'm happy the same thing happens."

"Can you teach me how to control it?" I requested.

He nodded. "Of course." we sat in silence a while longer before he spoke up again. "Why me?"

"What?"

"Why did you choose to talk to me?" he asked again.

"Well, I guess because you'd be the only one who would understand, I know that everyone else would jump to the hero's defense but seeing as I'm an outcast and you're the 'seventh wheel' you'd understand better than the others. And... you're my friend." I put Seventh wheel in quotations. "Right?"

"Right," he said, he smiled and this time I saw it was genuine, the smile reached his eyes, not just his cheeks. "So..." he drew out. "What do you want to do? It's almost dinner time."

"I- I don't know. I have no clue if I can face her or Percy. But who are the new people."

"Um, the dwarf was named Blitzen, he's cool he makes things like me. The tall guy is the Elf, Hearthstone, he's deaf and mute, Alex Fierro is the green-haired girl/boy, demigod before and after-mortem, child of Loki" he listed off. "Samirah Al-Abbas- but she goes by Sam- is the one with the Hijab and she is a Norse Valkarie, also a demigod and the daughter of Loki." he took a deep breath, "Finally, the blond one was Magnus Chase, Son of Frey and also a demigod before and after death." 

I took a second. "They're Norse." 

"Yeah, they are."

I let out a chuckle. "There's Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, and now Norse?"

"Wait a second there's Egyptians?"

"Yeah, Annabeth and Percy told us the story of how they met these two magicians and stopped an evil sorcerer from destroying the world." I paused and laughed. "That sounded a lot cooler in my head."

"We should get going, but I have a question."

"Shoot."

"What happened to Angelos?"

"She was helping Hera because she was kind of blackmailed from escaping her punishment for over two thousand years."

"That sounds like it sucks."

"It really does, except her peacock sized brain is no match for my brawn and brains." A voice said from the doorway.

"Angelos?" I called out.

"The one and only."