orenda [leo valdez]

xlv. Leo Hates Cheerio's

❝i told the stars about you❞

⤷ dj

△△△

Kira watched as Leo and Percy took turns looking through Leo's spyglass, girlish giggles coming out of Leo as they peered out to where Annabeth, Piper, and Jason were on a mission.

"Can we keep Jason as an old man?" Leo giggled. "He's hilarious to watch hobble uphill."

Kira looked out to the sea, the water so blue it looked like it had been dyed with food coloring.

The island was a spiral of forested hills twisted down its centre. Chalky white slopes plunged into the sea. Inlets formed rocky beaches and harbours where red-roofed houses and white stucco churches nestled against the shoreline.

The hills were dotted with poppies, crocuses and wild cherry trees. The breeze smelled of blooming myrtle. The air was hot and humid.

She wondered what it would be like to live here in bliss about the monsters that roamed among the earth. To grow old with Leo without the constant loom of death hovering over them.

Kira let a gentle smile fall, leaning into Leo slightly. Leo gave her a small kiss on the cheek in response, wrapping an arm around her shoulder lazily, handing the spyglass to Percy.

"Hey, hermosa," He said with a cheeky smile. Kira laid her head on his shoulder.

Things had been rocky since Kira had reunited with her friends. Everyone wanted to hear the three's story, but the three demigods refused to speak of it. Even the thought of the place made Kira's hands shake.

She knew she wasn't at her best. She had been through hell and back, literally. She knew there would need to be time to repair what had been broken, and Leo respected every wish.

Leo had been an angel since she came back. He would shower her with love, but he always seemed to know when it was too much, and he'd leave her be. He never got angry or impatient with her needs, never raised his voice.

Kira knew she'd never feel anywhere as safe as she did with Leo with anyone else. Of course, she never really felt truly, purely safe. The attacks and monsters she had encountered had put her on constant edge. She always had a weapon near her, always ready to defend her friends. Sometimes that was good, sometimes not so much.

She hadn't slept since she returned. She couldn't face her dreams. She was terrified she would see Tartarus' face, Bob, or even the arai. She was scared of her own mind.

Despite all the dark thoughts that ran through her mind constantly, she was surrounded by her boyfriend and her best friends. Physically, she was healed. Her mind, on the other hand, was a dark place.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Leo asked, looking at her with his large, chocolate eyes that Kira had fallen for so long ago.

He let go of her, leaning against the rail. His curly hair blew in the breeze.