orenda [leo valdez]

lviii. Don't Disrespect Leo Valdez

❝her sad eyes were full of beautiful stories❞

⤷ lauren m. garcia

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"Again! Again!"

"Harley, don't you think Kira is tired of telling this story?" Nyssa asked from the crowd.

"Please, Kira?" Harley asked, looking at her with puppy eyes.

"Fine, just for you."

Kira was facing nineteen campers in the amphitheater, retelling the battle on Mount Olympus for the third time that week. For some reason, the campers still looked interested.

It was winter, which meant there wasn't many campers that stayed, but that wasn't including the campers that had been disappearing.

As head Ares counselor, she should have been out on a quest looking for the lost demigods, but since the Oracle wasn't working, and Chiron refused to let her leave, she was forced to retell the battle against Gaea that happened six months ago.

She spoke into the dark, with confidence that she wouldn't have ever had two years ago. It still shocked her how much she had grown.

She told the camp how the Eight had fought side by side the gods, but despite their best efforts, Gaea had rose due to Percy's nose bleed.

"We blame Percy for that, right?" Harley asked, and Kira smiled.

"Yes, exactly. All Percy's fault."

She couldn't wait until he returned and learned that the entire camp knew the story of Percy's nosebleed creating the end of the world. That would be a good book title. Percy Ending the World (again): This Time, with a Nosebleed.

"And what happened to Leo again?" A camper asked in the back. Kira tensed, squeezing her palms together.

He was a new camper, and he didn't know any better. But hearing his name sent the girl down a path of dark thoughts. Memories flew past her skull, and she struggled to keep her face straight.

The campers next to him elbowed him, whispering harshly.

"He died a hero." Kira said after a few moments of silence. "He saved this entire camp."

The demigods were quiet after that. Most knew what happened, and the few that weren't here had learned to not speak of him around Kira.

"I think that's a wrap on tonight," Nyssa said, standing to be beside Kira. "We don't want her lips to fall off telling the same story over and over again,"

Kira gave her a grateful grin. "Remember the three-legged death race is in two days!" She reminded as the demigods dispersed.

Nyssa and Connor stayed, but Nyssa had to go after Harley tugged on her arm, asking to be put to bed.