Forced to Love

Eliza
Percy, Coral, and Nico burst into Bunker 9, startling me, but I didn't move. I couldn’t. My energy was gone. I couldn’t do anything but sit there and cry. They quietly walked in. Percy and Nico came to sit by me and Coral went over to Leo. No one said anything for a while. I cried into Nico’s embrace as he rubbed my hair. Percy put his arm around Coral as she cried over Leo’s dead body. Percy looked down trying not to cry for our sake, but there was a single tear sliding down his cheek. I buried my face in Nico’s chest, no longer able to bear watching the scene.
A soft voice echoed in my ear. Nico’s voice. “Are you ok?” He asked. I answered him with a sob.
Coral’s wails startled me, and I looked up to see her sobbing uncontrollably. I recalled when Leo said he had a crush on Coral, and I wondered if she had felt the same. It didn't matter now. Leo was dead and lost forever. Hate filled my soul. I wanted Aphrodite to sink to the darkest pit of Tartarus. I had been afraid of Luke and his evil ways, and the levels of evil he would do and what he would do for me, now, I wanted him to seek Aphrodite, find some way to feel the pain of Leo’s death. The thoughts darkened me.
Nico helped me up and took me away from the scene. He suddenly turned me toward him. “Eliza, you can't blame yourself, and you can’t blame others.” he said.
“Why?” I said bitterly. “It IS my fault, after all.”
“Eliza.” Nico said quietly. “There is darkness growing in your soul, I feel it. If you keep thinking like that, it will continue to grow, and you will be nothing but evil and in dark and despair.” He said, whispering the words, like it scared him.
I started to cry again, and I passed out, from exhaustion, in Nico’s arms.

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