The Wants of a Young Demigod Heart (Nico di Angelo, Leo Valdez x OC)

Welcome to California

Leo POV

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Before Merrily had come running, telling us that Nico had fallen through the ground, Chey and I had had a rather interesting conversation.

"How's your neck?" I ask her.

"I'm fine Valdez," she answers me grumpily. "Now, do you have any food?"

I shake my head no. "I have a question," I say, testing the word.

Chey cocks an eyebrow. "Well?" she says impatiently. "What is it?"

I roll my eyes. "I just wanted to know why Merrily is so afraid of fire," I tell her. "I just don't get it. I mean, it kinda hurts 'cause fire is a part of me so—"

"Shut the hell up Valdez," Chey says sardonically, clamping a hand over my mouth. "You're rambling. I'll tell you, but this stays between us, and maybe Merrily." I lick her hand and nod. Chey's hand doesn't move. "Back home I had a younger brother. Getting my hand licked was the least of my worries."

I roll my eyes again and push her hand away. "Fantastic," I say. "Now could you tell me?"

"Gods, you sound like a teenage girl," Chey teases. "But fine." She sits cross-legged on the grass, looking slightly sad. I sit down across from her, pondering her expression. It wasn't one you saw often on her face. Then she started talking. "Over the summer, Merrily told Abigail and I a lot about her past life. Including life with her father.

"After her dad found out that Merrily's mom was actually Athena, he went insane, like most mortals who discover that they banged a god or goddess. Well, there are various ways of going insane. Some versions are slightly less traumatic than others, but Merrily got the bad end of the deal. Her father began to slightly hallucinate, along with going out every night to drink.

"The hallucinations were the worst. He began to see her as a freak; a monster. He tried to burn the godly DNA out of her. Literally. And y'know, he came up with some pretty creative ways to do it too. He'd smoke cigarettes or cigars, 'cause cigars are bigger and cause more damage. Other times, he'd get a long nail or something and heat it up in the fireplace and drag it down her arm. I've seen the scars.

"Lucky for her, some of the worst are on her back and whatnot so she can still wear short sleeves without attracting too much attention. I think she has one on her back that says "FREAK" in huge letters. Seen that one too. Pretty neat handwriting for a drunk dude."

Then we got interrupted by the fact that Nico fell through a hole. So we had that little issue to deal with. However, we could only hope that he was okay and wait for him to surface. Then there was the whole David being an a-hole and falling out of the air stuff. It was then that the punch happened.

"Hey, Merrily," I say. "Can I talk to you?"

"Uh, sure," she replies. "What about?"

"Chey told me why you're afraid of fire," I say quickly, nervous as to how she'll react.

Merrily's reaction is instantaneous. Her shoulders tense and her eyes fix me with such a stern stare, I feel shivers running up and down my back. "She did?" she asks, seemingly testing out the words on her tongue. "What exactly did she say?"

"Uh, mostly a few things about your dad," I mutter. "And the burns. Listen, I'm really sorry, I guess. Like, most people always say that and it's awkward, but I mean it." Merrily's gaze softens and I gently touch her arm, accidentally pushing her sleeve up in the process. I gasp when I see the blisters and burns. Then, before I can react, Merrily's face darkens and her fist leaps out and punches me square in the nose.