²Olden Crown, heroes of olympus

011.

OLDEN CROWN
━━ chapter eleven

━━ WATCHING TWO QUEST members separate into a smaller group made Delaney nauseous—or perhaps her stomach was still reeling from shadow traveling her, Elisa, and Leo inside the warehouse.

               She had tried to pretend that she wasn't as affected, or to try and pass it off as something minor, but she still felt like shit. The only time shadow traveling had affected her this badly was when she was first learning the power, not ... Well, maybe it was because she was transporting three people all at once instead of just herself. But still, she never thought that it would tire her out this badly.

               She sighed and held her stomach. "This place gives me the creeps," she admitted.

               Piper raised an eyebrow at her. "This place is shrouded in darkness, wouldn't this be, like, a dream for you?"

               The daughter of Erebus glared at her. "It's not the darkness, Beauty Queen, it's the ..." She shrugged. "I don't know. A gut feeling, I guess. Something just feels off. Maybe it's the Mist."

               "The Mist?" Jason asked. "How do you know."

               "That's also her thing." Piper waved her hand. "I mean, she was able to create a whole identity—"

               Delaney cut her off; "My dad's God of the Mist. He helped me learn how to control it some."

               Piper averted her eyes and mouthed the word Some like it was funny to her.

               Jason raised his eyebrows, in some twisted, surprised manner. "That's cool."

               "I guess so." Delaney shrugged.

               The son of Zeus gave her a smile, though a nervous one at that. She noticed the scar on his lip curve into a crescent.

               Delaney gave him a disgruntled look. "Why are you smiling?"

               "No reason." Jason shrugged. "I think it was cool—the shadow travel."

               Delaney glanced at Piper, who had busied herself with poking at the makeshift brace around her ankle. "... Thanks, Jason," she said slowly. "But you can fly. Like Superman."

               Jason's eyebrows furrowed. "Superman?"

               "Blond Superman." Delaney nodded.

               Piper snorted, but even she looked shocked at that. "That's cute, Delaney. The nickname."

               The small smile on Delaney's face melted. She shuddered, as if the interaction scared her. "You look better, Piper." She changed the topic. "The ambrosia looks like it's helping."

               Piper's eyes flickered over to Jason, whose smile had faded, too. "I guess it is," said Piper. "Hey—what is ambrosia?"

               "What d'you mean?" asked Delaney. "It's just the food the gods eat. It helps us heal and stuff."

               "But ..." Piper frowned. "Why does it taste like ...?" She trailed off.

               Delaney's dark eyes became knowing. "It does that to everyone. It tastes like ... something comforting."

               "So tasting like my dad's black bean soup ...?" Piper trailed off.