Personae Non Gratae (a Percy Jackson AU)

Thanks For The Memories

***Calypso***

         "I did exactly what he feared," I told Leo. "I eloped despite all the measures he took to prevent me from even speaking to a boy."

     "You could't resist me," Leo said. "I know it's difficult."

     I sighed. "Leo," I said, looking at the green beans we were eating for dinner. "What if my father was right?" I asked. "I did abandon him."

     Shame washed over me. It was Father's day and I hadn't paid him a visit or bought him present or even a stupid, trashy card because he was dead and he very well might have died because of me. What kind of daughter was I? "You didn't abandon him," Leo insisted. "He pushed you away. You only ran from him because he isolated you. He is the one who should be feeling guilt, not you."

     "Thanks," I said. "I needed that. What are you doing tomorrow, seeing as today is our day together?"

      "I'm going to repair Jason and Piper's broken oven," he said. 

      "Sounds fun," I said and he laughed.

      "As much fun to me as making music is to you," he said.

     "I love singing," I said, folding my arms. 

     "Well, your voice is lovely, so-"

        I shut him up with a kiss. 

***

     After spending a relaxed day sewing and singing, while Leo polished his favorite table, which he had christened Buford, we decided to go out on a walk. Typically, we took a few wrong turns and ended up near the funeral home that Nico ran. "I'm not sure if I want to go in there," Leo confessed. "Nico creeps me out a bit."

     "It's only a funeral home," I scoffed.

     "Haven't you heard the rumors that he has people killed to get more business?"

    I looked at him and for once, I couldn't tell whether he was pulling my leg or not. I shook my head and his face cracked into a grin. "I did it again!" he  said with relish.

    "Valdez, you will be the death of me," I grumbled.

    "Then, let's go shopping for your funeral casket," he said as we strolled into the store. 

      I knew something was wrong when I saw Hazel comforting her brother, who looked more dead than usual. His pale skin looked slightly green, as if he was part amphibian, and he looked as if he might have been crying or shouting at someone-I couldn't tell which. He looked at us with his blazing eyes. "Go away," he muttered, pain permeating into every syllable.

      I looked at him and quickly diagnosed him with the same problem I had suffered from before when I was 14 and had a hopeless crush on a guy named Odysseus, but he had fallen for a girl named Penelope instead of me. Nico was heartbroken, but there was more to it because there was one person he ever invited over to his house besides family: Will Solace. 

     I wasn't sure if Hazel knew what I did, so I went up to him and whispered quietly so that no one else could hear. "Your secret is safe," I said.

    He snapped up in fear, looking like a marionette that had been jerked up by a puppeteer. "Hazel, Leo," he said. "Can you please leave? Now."

        They both exchanged puzzled glances and went outside. Nico asked me one question as soon as the doors closed. "How did you know?" he asked.

     "Because I've been through heartbreak," I said. "I know the feeling better than anyone. I spent years pining over a guy I could never have, but you can have Will Solace."