Outcasts of Olympus: Book 2

Chapter Seven

There wasn't much we could do, since Leo was still really badly injured when he woke up. I had to stop him from getting up off the couch multiple times, because I did not want a repeat of yesterday. "I'm fine," he kept protesting. "Leo, you're still as white as a sheet. Rest!" I replied, glaring at him.

"Yeah, I know I'm white, it's just how Hermes crafted me," he said, grinning at his little joke. I groaned. "You know exactly what I mean," I said exasperatedly. Leo rolled his eyes. "No, I don't. Could I see a slide presentation? Or perhaps a pie chart?"

"How about your reflection?"

I went over and grabbed a small mirror from the bathroom, holding it out in front of him so he could see. "You see?"

He stared at himself in the mirror. A few moments of silence passed by and he looked up at me. "I may have lost my color a little, but I'm still handsome as shit," he said with a straight face, looking me right in the eyes. I sighed. "Please, just rest. I don't want you to pass out like that again. Or get nauseous. That would be a terrible mess to clean up."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Fine, sure, whatever."

"Thank you," I said gratefully. "Besides, you have full reign over the TV. Stella and I won't even touch the remote." What I didn't tell him was that I had plans for that afternoon with her, but I didn't want to make him more annoyed than he already was.

"I love watching French soaps that I can actually understand so I can't even make up my own dialogue," Leo said, grabbing the remote and spinning it like his dagger. "That's not all that's on there," I said, rolling my eyes. "The French have some okay cartoons and stuff too."

He turned on the tv. "Ooooh, twenty-four hour perfume commercials!" he said, the sarcasm pouring out into his voice. I gave up and went into mine and Stella's room to grab my purse, and found her sitting on the end of the bed.

She turned her head and smiled at me. "You ready?" she asked. I nodded. "I just had to convince Leo to stay where he was so we don't have to bother Alexa again," I answered. "Let's go."

Carefully, we snuck out of the suite, trying not to alert Leo to the fact that we were leaving. As we shut the door and made our way down the hall, I gently slipped my fingers into Stella's hand. Her grip tightened slightly and a smile crept onto her face. I smiled back.

We had just made it out onto the surface street when I felt a different feeling. A cold and dark feeling. It seemed so familiar but I couldn't tell what it was. It felt like I was about to walk into something horrible.

I looked around and saw a quick glance of a shadowy figure standing off at the corner, but when I turned my head to see who it was, the figure was gone, but the feeling stayed.

"Athena?" Stella asked, concerned. "Did you see that?" I said, looking at her. Her look of concern only got worse. "See what? Was it a monster?"

"No... It... Never mind. It was probably nothing." But I didn't believe those words even as they left my mouth. Whatever that was, I didn't like it.

I forced a smile. "Come on, let's keep going," I said. A soft smile went onto her face as she nodded and hugged my arm.

We headed over to a taxi stand and waited for one to appear. In the early afternoon, It was mostly just us. All the tourists seemed to be taking the bus instead. That was fine with me though. It would be a lot better if it was just her and I.

"So, where are we going?" Stella asked, looking at me. I flashed her a grin. "You'll see when we get there. But trust me, you're going to love it."

She smirked a little. "You can be so sly sometimes."

"I'm supposed to be the goddess of battle strategy. It's in my job description."

Stella giggled slightly and kissed my cheek. I smiled as the taxi finally pulled up and we got inside. I paid the driver up front, and said, "Pour la tour Eiffel, s'il vous plait." He nodded and immediately set off down the street.

The drive was quiet, but not uncomfortably so. I looked out the window at the city around us, happy to get to see the architecture, while Stella was resting her head on my shoulder, relaxing. At one point, I leaned over and kissed the top of her head gently. "You good?" I asked, just checking on her. "Anytime that I'm with you, I'll always be okay..." she whispered with a soft smile. I chuckled softly.

A few minutes later, the driver stopped and told us this was our stop. "Close your eyes," I told Stella. She raised an eyebrow at me. "Just trust me, okay?" I said with a laugh. She sighed and smiled before closing her eyes. "It better not be Leo with a bucket of water waiting for me," she teased. I scoffed. "Yeah right, like I'd ever submit you to that torture," I grumbled playfully.

I gently led her out of the car and towards the structure itself, and the driver left. As we got closer to the tower, I remembered the conversation I'd had with Aphrodite at the top. I realized that, for the first time in maybe forever, I had ended up heeding her advice. Maybe not wholly intentionally, but still, I had. And I didn't regret it. Not really. The only problem was still one that could potentially be solved later.

Hopefully...

"Alright," I whispered. "Open them."

She followed my instructions and her eyes grew wider with amazement. "Athena... you didn't!" She said breathlessly. I leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I did," I said, laughing. "I mean, I promised, didn't I?"

I saw tears roll down her cheeks and she hugged me tight. "You're so amazing!" she said crying, though she was smiling wide. "Hey, I was just trying to keep a promise," I replied. I was trying not to cry too, mostly because she was crying. I had to admit, it was pretty cute though.

She stood up on her tip toes and kissed me as her tears fell. I felt pure happiness bubble up in my chest as I kissed her back. She slowly stopped and wiped her tears away. "This is the first time I've ever seen you cry like that," I said. "Wow."

She playfully smacked my shoulder. "You tell Leo, I will sleep on the couch," she said. "I wasn't planning on it," I said with a smile. She smiled back and gave me one last quick kiss before turning to the tower and taking several pictures. I took out my phone and quickly took a photo of her big smile as she did so.

...

When we came back to the hotel a couple hours later, Leo was still sitting on the couch, but Castor and Evadne seemed to be trying to keep him company.

"So, tell me, why did you choose A Christmas Carol for the movie we're watching?" Castor asked, resting his head on his hand. "Because it's fuckin' awesome?" Leo asked, seeming completely confused at the question. Evadne smiled and shook her head. "Just leave it, Castor. It's a fun movie, even though it's way too early for it."

Castor sighed. "Right, sorry."

Leo smirked. "Apology accepted," he said, before pressing play. Stella shook her head and walked into our room, as Alexa walked into the suite and sat down on the floor, watching the movie too. I decided, why not? I sat down on the floor next to Castor, trying to figure out what point they were at in the story. Also, why were there Muppets?