Haunted || Leo Valdez

51 - Leo Hates the Quest

Rebecca walked warily in the dark, swords drawn. The Stygian Iron seemed to suck out what little light there was.

Suddenly a monstrous face dove out of the shadows. An aurai clawed at Rebecca's throat, snarling.

Which curse will you suffer next, Daughter of Hades? Will you suffer the feeling of rejection? Will you endure a shattered wrist? Will you be crushed by betrayal and abandonment?

As the aurai spoke, its nasty face morphed into Leo's. His face was distorted with anger and resentment.

You've made me suffer the most, Rebecca, he growled.

"Leo, please!" Rebecca choked. "I was trying to protect you!"

And you failed, Leo said. You've rejected me, abandoned me. You've kept secrets from me. You deserve every curse.

He grabbed Rebecca's sword and stabbed himself.

"No!" Rebecca cried. Then she was falling.

With a gasp ravaged by a sob, Rebecca woke in her cabin on the Argo II. Looking around her cabin, she tried to calm herself down. There was nothing wrong with the cabin. Leo and Anne, the two people who knew her best, had joined forces to set it up for her.

What was wrong was the fear and guilt building up inside of her. Thinking rationally, she knew Leo would never curse her. He'd said everything was okay. There was nothing to fear from him. But that didn't stop the guilt from making her doubt herself.

Tossing and turning, Rebecca tried to sleep, but sleep wouldn't come. She sighed.

Leo. She needed Leo.

There was always the possibility that he was still awake, fixing something in the engine room or tinkering with a smaller invention in his cabin down the hall. Pulling her blanket around herself for warmth, Rebecca set off down the hall.

Leo wasn't in his room, asleep or otherwise, which made Rebecca's goal much harder. Now she'd have to make it all the way back down the hall and downstairs to the engine room without getting caught by Coach Hedge. He may have been busy watching his cage matches, but he had keen ears and could tell when people were walking around unless he had the volume turned way up.

Rebecca slipped past Hedge's cabin without being discovered. Sighing with relief, she continued downstairs towards the engine room.

Sure enough, Leo was there, messing with the engine. He was muttering to himself in Spanish. Rebecca stood in the doorway, not wanting to disturb him when he was on a roll... well, sort of. As Leo worked, he continuously dirtied himself with machine oil and kept leaving tools where he'd forget about them.

This was the Leo she knew and loved; he was a far cry from the savage boy in her nightmare, and she was fine with that. Leo would never curse her.

Finally, Leo seemed to sense her presence. Pausing his antics, he looked up and spotted Rebecca.

"Hey," He said, his mouth stretching into a delighted grin. "Hi. You're here."

"I am here," Rebecca agreed, trying not to laugh.

"Well, obviously." Leo got up and, after crossing the room to her, wrapped his arms around her. "I mean, I'm glad you're here and not, you know, at an aquarium in Georgia."

"Yeah," Rebecca hummed, not sure what else to say.

"Man, I'm stupid," Leo muttered. "What I meant to say is, I've been really worried about you and I almost forgot you were here, but I'm really glad you are, and I'm really happy to see you right now, and... ugh..." He trailed off and pulled away.