Chapter 24
Dianne's POV
Polydora is a good listener. When we explained to her our quest and all that has happened, she just smiled and nodded. She didn't ask questions while we were explaining.
"So, how did you say this was all Sterope's plan?" asked Nico, after we explained to her everything.
"Well, all of you know that Frances now has the sword of Peleus, my dear father," Polydora replied. "All of you also know that Peleus killed a lot of people with this sword, like Phocus, King Eurytion, and of course Sterope's parents, King Acastus and Queen Astydameia. Astydameia loved Peleus more than she loved her husband, but Peleus, my dear father loved my mother, Antigone more, so Peleus rejected her. Queen Astydameia then swore that my father would regret rejecting her, so she sent a letter to my mother, Antigone, that Peleus will marry her daughter, Sterope, in result, my mother hanged herself. And I can't forget that day, I swore that I will avenge my mother for that."
Polydora paused for a while as she looked at the ground.
"Anyway, Queen Astydameia told King Acastus that my father tried to rape her. King Acastus believed her of course, so he took Peleus on a hunting trip which was a trap. He hid his sword and abandoned him before a group of drunk party centaurs attacked. Chiron, the wisest of all centaurs, returned Peleus' sword with magical powers and Peleus managed to escape the attack. He then went back to Iolcus and killed Queen Astydameia and King Acastus. It was a surprise that Sterope was nowhere to be found since that day, but one day, I had a dream. A dream that told me to find the heir of my father's sword. It took me years to find only the LOCATION of the sword, not the heir. When I was about to die, the gods took pity on my unfinished mission and grant me life until I finish my mission. But now, I'm glad I found you Frances, but I'm still wondering why I am not yet dead."
"Maybe your mission is not yet over," I blurted out. "Perhaps your mission is to help Frances, to help us in whatever we need in this quest."
"Maybe you are right, Dianne," she told me. "Anyway, where are we going next?"
"Circe's Island," said Clarisse. "We need to pass Charybdis and Scylla, and the sirens in order to get there. The problem is, I've only encountered Charybdis and Scylla, and they happened to destroy my ship."
"Don't worry we can do it! Right guys?" asked Leo.
All of us smiled and nodded at him.
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" said Frances as we went off the train we were in.
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Clarisse asked a ship from her father, and gladly, Ares did not give us the Titanic.
"All aboard the big red boat!" Leo said in a funny accent which earned a playful punch from Clarisse.
I giggled at his adorableness.
So I went aboard the ship and saw that it was really sturdy. The ship was made of iron in the color of red, it had many cannons and lifeboats. It was also very big.
"Iron is a good conductor of heat. How sure are you that we are not going to be fried up in your ship?" Leo asked Clarisse.
"Just trust me on this! This ship is called "The Sturdy Iron" not "The Frying Iron!" So please, make yourselves comfortable," Clarisse replied as she went in a room.
Nico then went inside a room with a black door. "Night guys," he said, even though it was still afternoon.
Polydora looked at the rest of us, particularly at Frances.
"Frances, mind if we have a little talk?" she said.
"Uh-sure," said Frances to Polydora. Then turning to Leo, she said, "Take care of Dianne for me for a while."
Leo smiled at her and nodded.
Frances and Polydora then took off to somewhere.
"So Dianne, what do you want to do?" he asked me, smiling.Oh my gods, he is so cute!
"I - uh - I want - uh - I - what do YOU want to do?" I stammered. Gods, I'm so nervous around him, but I know that I must keep myself in control, not to be flirty much.
"Well, I wanted to boom the cannons..." he said, smirking.
"But you musn't! Clarisse will kill you!" I told him. "And it's dangerous."
"Well, danger is the middle of my middle name!" he told me, crossing his arms. "Besides, Frances would've agreed with me..."
Wait - is he telling me that Frances os better than me?
"What?" I asked him, furious as ever.
"Oh, I didn't mean that, I'm sorry!" he said. "I meant that Frances would've agreed with me because we're the same. We're like siblings! Siblings!"
"Well, okay then," I said. "Why would you want to boom the cannons anyway?"
"Oh, nothing," he said and skeddadled off.
"Hey - wait!" I ran after him.
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Leo's POV
Now THAT was a good catch. I almost blew my cover that I like Frances better than Dianne.
I don't want to hurt Dianne's feelings.
But I also don't want Frances to not know what I feel for her.
Gods, this is so hard.
Anyway, I made my way towards a cannon that is as big as my body.
"Leo! Don't!" I heard Dianne say.
I sighed, "What?" Sometimes, people just have to adjust to what I want to do.
"I care for you, Leo. And I know what will happen if you boom that cannon. I can see the future," she said.
"No you can't," I told her.
"Yes I can!" she said.
"No! Your father is the god of haikus and healing," I told her.
"Apollo is also the god of oracles and prophecies. Therefore I can read the future," she told me. She is right. Ugh!
"Fine," I told her. "But now I'm bored."
"Well, we could have a private talk," she smiled at me. "Only the both of us, talking about things."
"Like a date?" I looked at her surprised. Why did I say that word?
"Well if that's how you put it, then yes," she said.
And that's how a conversation about cannons turned into a date.
Dianne took me above the deck where we looked at a horizon.
"So, Leo, you know that I like you," she began the conversation, with nervousness in her eyes.
"Yeah..." I said.
And surprisingly, she giggled. "I just can't believe that I'm in a date with you right now!"
"Really?"
She nodded and smiled. "I've been wanting to ask you this..." she said.
"What?"
"Do you like me as a friend, or more than that?" she asked.
I was speechless, I didn't know what to say. Yes, I liked Dianne more than a friend BEFORE. But now, I'm afraid that I only like her as a friend.
My mind says that I should not answer her at all, for I don't want to hurt her, and I don't want to lie.
But my heart says that I need to tell her that I only like her as a friend, and that I love her sister, Frances. I cannot keep it in any longer.
"There's something I need to tell you," I began nervously. "I - I - I only like you as a friend."
I looked away from her, not wanting to see her obviously hurt expression.
"I'm sorry Dianne, I really am," I told her. "It's just that, I'm in love with someone else. I'm sorry, I hope you understand."
"Well, who is it you love?" she asked, with tears in her eyes but with a smile in her mouth.
"Frances," I told her. "I love Frances."
"I knew that you wouldn't love me, and I also know that Frances is better than me," she said, crying. "I admit it. I'm a nobody, I am a weakling. And it really hurts to admit that."
"No you're not a weakling nor a nobody!" I said, wiping her tears away. Even though what I did was out of its place, Dianne was still my friend. "Dianne, you killed plenty of monsters, okay? I admit that before, I also liked you more than a friend. But I really hope you'd understand that before is different from now."
"I understand Leo, I perfectly do," she said standing up. "My sister is always better than me. It took me a long time to realize that. Now if you'll excuse me, I want to rest."
Dianne then jumped off the deck and ran towards a room and closed the door.
Sigh, now why did I tell her all that?
I'm so stupid. Probably now, she developed a little hate in her sister, and it's all because of me.
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A/N
I'm really sorry to end this chapter here. But I swear to the River Styx that if this chapter gets at least 4 votes and 4 comments, I'll post the next chapter.
So, Dianne's attitude changes here because she really loves Leo and she got really hurt that Leo loves Frances more than her.
Anyway, at least the truth came out... But still Frances doesn't know that...
So, please vote, comment, fan, and also promote this story, please? Thank you.
Read and Rock on!
Lea V.