Warriors || Leo Valdez [2]

12

It seemed Percy and Annabeth were nowhere to be found, but after an hour of searching, Frank said he finally found them in the stables. He was quite flustered and refused to meet their eyes and Alex had a horrible realisation. 

"Nothing like that happened!" Annabeth exclaimed when she saw Alex's wide eyes. Alex still seemed unsure but Percy shook his head too.

Alex even jabbed Leo in his ribs when he kept muttering 'classic. classic' 

The meeting was like a war council with donuts. Halfway through their meeting, Alex noticed the faint smell of grapes. It seemed that Percy did too. He called for Annabeth's attention and everyone stayed as they were, waiting for Violet to appear. 

Then there they were, emerging from a purple cloud with a small pop. They waved the coloured fumes aside and greeted Percy and Annabeth. 

They still had a wide beam, but Alex saw that they were looking way worse. Violet's platinum blonde hair was disshelved and dirty, their purple eyes looked quite depressed and Alex guessed they had had no luck while looking for Nico. 

"Hades is still there in the Underworld, says Zues' rules for not communicating with anyone don't apply to him." They popped a fresh strawberry in their mouth. "But either he doesn't know where Nico is, or he's not allowed to interfere with your quest"

"We'll find him" Hazel lay a hand on Violet's shoulder. It was clear that the two cared a lot about Nico, and they had that in common.

After that, Alex and Percy shared dreams, it seemed they had had similar dreams except Percy had confirmed that the jar held Nico.

Hazel choked back a sob. "Nico... Oh, gods. The seeds."

"You know what they are?" Alex asked.

Hazel nodded. "He showed them to me once. They're from our stepmother's garden."

"Your step... oh," Percy said. "You mean Persephone."

"The seeds are a last-resort food," Hazel said. Alex could tell she was nervous, because all the silverware on the table was starting to move toward her. 

Violet began to hyperventilate, within a second Annabeth and Percy were by their side. They seemed to go in some sort of panic attack. The floor began to rumble and vines popped out of the floorboards. Alex and Leo back away toward each other, unsure of what was going on. 

Then Annabeth must have said something right because Violet's panic turned into sobs, and the vines retreated into the floorboards. 

"Don't mention any of this" Percy glared at every single member on the Argo II. 

Everyone looked away as Violet wiped their tears. "Only children of Hades can eat them... Neek- Uh Nico told me about them. He always kept some in case he got stuck somewhere. But if he's really imprisoned-"

"The giants are trying to lure us," Annabeth said. "They're assuming we'll try to rescue him."

"Well, they're right!" Hazel looked around the table, her confidence apparently crumbling. "Won't we?"

"Of course we will" Alex lay a hand on Hazel's shoulder. "It's in the prophecy too.. Twins snuff out the angel's breath, who holds the key to endless death.. we obviously need him"

Which earned her sharp glares from Hazel and Violet. "Uh.. I mean, even if we didn't- we would still rescue him"

"Yes!" Coach Hedge yelled with a mouthful of napkins. "It'll involve fighting, right?"

"But how long do we have before... uh, I mean, how long can Nico hold out?" Frank asked.

"One seed a day," Hazel said miserably. "That's if he puts himself in a death trance."