"She'll watch over me in the tears in her eyes, couldn't dig my own grave any deeper...Now she's showing me mercy as much as she can. She's letting me live with my demon" Bullet From a Gun, The Script
Leo's POV
"You were right," I tell Nyssa dryly.
She blinks blankly and sits up straight in her bunk. "I'm so sorry, Leo." Her voice is thick and heavy. Maybe she's reliving all of the pain she felt.
"Whatever we had before is just gone," I say quietly. Everything I love about Faye seemed to vanish. She no longer has that same tenacity that I had always admired. She came from everything I despised, the Aphrodite cabin where it's okay to break hearts. Maybe it's even an accomplishment there. Looking at Nyssa, I could see so much agony etched onto her face. She's scarred because of their carelessness. "You were right," I repeat.
Nyssa rises to her feet and walks over to the work bench that I've collapsed on. She carefully takes a seat next to me and just stays with me in silence. "I'm sorry this had to happen to you," Nyssa says in a thick voice.
"Thanks." I hold back the tears from falling. "I'm sorry too."
--
Faye's POV
My siblings surround me in a circle, wearing broad smiles as they chant and congratulate me for winning the Love Games.
I didn't mean to, but I broke Leo's heart as well as my own.
Drew holds an embroidered box in front of her, staring at me with a smug expression. "Congrats, Faye." Drew lifts the cover of the box. "As your first reward, you'll be receiving a gift from our mother." Aubrey removed the contents and rolled her eyes before passing it to Drew.
My heart pounds against my chest as the gift comes into view. The light caught the gems lining the gentle curves of it, glinting in the sunlight. Being a child of Aphrodite, the gift has to be something that represents our power. What better way than a gorgeous tiara?
Drew carefully places the tiara on my head, making sure it stayed steadily in my hair. "This tiara has been passed down to thirty other winners of the Love Games. I expect you to take care of it," she says with a smug grin.
I force a smile onto my face as she backs away. Jaws seem to drop as they catch glimpses of the most beautiful tiara ever made. They make comments about how lucky I am to have this and how surprised they are that Aubrey didn't win.
A set of fingers close around my wrist dragging me away from the excitement. "I know it's a lie," a voice hisses from the shadows of the trees outside of our cabin.
I already recognize its source. "Aubrey, I won. Just accept it."
Her red hair pops out, shining brilliantly in the sunlight. Aubrey barks, "No. It's impossible. Leo wouldn't sleep with me, why the Hades would he sleep with you?"
"Because he knows that I'm better than the rest of you," I reply coolly as I cross my arms and unpry myself from her grip. "Now, if you excuse me, I have my celebration to get back to."
She pins me to the wall once again with surprising force. My slim body is even lifted off the ground a couple of inches as she tugs my shirt higher. "Don't bull shit me," she scoffs. "You are no better than the rest of us."
"How is that?" I snort, clearly bluffing. Her power is beginning to frighten me. There's more to her than I ever expected.
Aubrey's face comes into the light. A cocky smirk adorns her face as she comes to know that she is at an advantage, that I'm the weaker being. Everything is in perfect order, even the freckles are uniform on her cheeks. "You may think you have won, but we're the real winners. We got you to sleep with Leo although you didn't want to. We got you to break his heart. We won."
Something churns in my stomach. A faint voice shouts that it's the truth. I can't take this. "No," I murmur as it sets in. "No..."
Aubrey finally releases me and straightens her Camp Half Blood tee. "Oh honey," she says with fake sympathy. Aubrey pouts one red lip. "You didn't know, did you?"
I shove her away from me, despising every aspect about her. I urgently push the crown from my head and let it fall to the dirt. At this point, I don't care what Aubrey does with it. I need to get out of her.
Without looking back, I run to the girls' bathroom to see if I looked anything like the she-devil that is Aubrey. "Get out!" I scream upon entering. A few ruffled up Hermes and Apollo girls rush out of their stalls and leave without even washing their hands.
I gaze into the dusty old mirror that sits on the far wall. For once, my face doesn't have a single zit or pimple anywhere. My cheeks are naturally a rosy red color. I wear black eyeshadow and eyeliner to accent my eye color. I release a gasp when I see that my orange tee is cut into a low v-neck and has had the sleeves cut off. What surprises me the most is that my boobs have grown at least a cup size and I haven't even noticed.
This body and face I see in the mirror don't belong to me. They belong to another daughter of Aphrodite, not me.
Angrily, I rip paper towels from the dispenser and fiercly rub the makeup off of my face. When it doesn't go anywhere, I continuously splash water into my eyes and everywhere. I roar as it remains.
The door to the bathroom pulls open and I prepare to scream at whoever dared to enter at a time like this. "Get the h-"
"Faye, are you okay?"
I turn around to see my previous best friend leaning against the door with her eyebrows raised. Her hair is tied into several braids. Anyone could see that she's trying hard to not be as beautiful as she can. Without another thought, I wrap my arms around her neck and finally let the tears flow. "No," I choke out as she gives me a tight hug back.
"The blessing," Piper pulls apart and gestures to the make up that permently marks my face. "I'll come off after a week. It's a blessing from Aphrodite for winning."
"More like a curse," I mutter as I frown at my reflection. "What have I done?" My question isn't directed for her, it's actually directed to myself. What in the name of Hades have I done?
Piper sighs and looks away. "You let them get to you," she states.
"Why would I do that?" I ask, turning to the wall. My eyes stare at my own muddy tennis shoes. I swear, I remembered to clean them off. Oh my Gods, I'm turning into them.
She swallows a lump in her throat. "Why wouldn't you?" she says wistfully. "You got everything, I mean you even became friends with Drew. Everyone loves you except for the one person that matters."
"Leo," I say outloud. "He's the only one that ever mattered."
Piper swiftly smacks my arm. "What am I? Chopped harpy?"
I laugh for the first time in a few days. "You matter too," I remind her. "I'm sorry I turned my back to you."
"It's okay," Piper smiles and fiddles with her hair. "But I shouldn't be the one you should apologize to."
"You're right." I wipe the tears from my face. "But I already ruined everything."
Piper puts a hand on my arm. "Leo really loved you. He never said it, but we both know he did. He's not just going to forget what you two had." She pauses for a moment. "But I think that you need to be honest with him. Tell him the truth about the games."
"He'll hate me," I remind her.
Piper's eyes seem to twinkle. "We both know that he could never hate you."
"I guess you're right," I say with a sniffle.
Piper chuckles. "Could you just answer one thing for me?"
I nod quickly, ready to leave. Ready to win Leo back.
"Did you really sleep with him?"
I snort once again. "Of course not. I just wanted to get this over with and beat Aubrey before she slept with Jason."
Piper pushes me out of the bathroom. "That's my girl. Now go get your man!"
--
A/N: HOLY COW YOU GUYS ARE FAST. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I'm in a much better mood. But unfortunately, we are nearing the end. Expect five to seven more chapters. There definitely aren't going to be that much though :(
Okay so let's start off with saying ... 25+ votes on this chapter and 16+ comments as well!
This chapter is dedicated to Calypso_17 for just being generally amazing and continuously supportive. YOU ARE SO FREAKING AWESOME AND I LOVE YOU
The song for this chapter is called Bullet From a Gun because I had it stuck in my head and it represents what Leo is feeling. Faye definitely has a much different song for this XD
The picture I chose is of Leo. I chose it because it shows a vulnerable Leo which is something that we don't see that often in the HoO series because of his naturally upbeat personality. And let's face it, goddamn he looks so attractive. I mean HNNNNNG.
Yep, so that's all for today folks!
Thanks for the support as always! I love your faces for making this the most popular Leo Valdez fan fiction on this site! :D
Dedication to a commenter...
-Em