madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-kentucky fried valdez-

back again lol <3 long chapter

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Teqi crept away once the thrill of prophecies and instant makeovers dissipated, leaving her siblings to get themselves to bed. They could manage it, they'd survived a few months without her.

And now she was leaving them again.

She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans and strode into the dark trees, glancing around at the tall shadows and creaking branches of the woods. Gnarled branches and creaking rotten wood. Spooky, but it shouldn't be too full of monsters, since Christmas was only a week or so away, and Chiron tended to order a new delivery of brainless bloodthirsty activities for the New Year's game of capture the flag.

Monsters didn't bother her, but she had a sneaking suspicion Leo was going to be bothered when a giant scorpion or a feral harpy attempted to rip out his throat.

Why the boy had headed off into the woods in the first place, she didn't know.

She passed the creek full of croaking frogs, the one that lead past the back of the Hecate cabin, and then the treehouse she'd helped the Stoll's build when they were younger. It was in shambled now.

Wooden walls had fallen apart, paint chips washed away by rain years ago. The little rope ladder was torn in two. There was probably still all that chewing gum stuck underneath the windowsill, though. That was never leaving. Teqi continued on. She took the less walked path around Zeus's fist. She hadn't gone back there since the battle.

The piles of bouldesr hadn't been very appealing even before she'd watched her friends and family slaughtered where she used to announce her capture the flag victories.

"It's a trap, bronze brain." Leo's voice carried through the forest. "They're trying to catch you."

She sighed, and followed the sounds of metal creaking and Leo yapping on about something or other. A nymph gave her a dirty look when she walked straight into their tree. Teqi pushed past shrubbery that scratched her palms and emerged in a massive clearing.

He was facing off with Beck's dragon.

For fucks sake.

She leaves this boy alone for less than twenty minutes and he nearly gets turned into a Leo-on-the-cob. She was going have to put a microchip in him. Or an ankle bracelet. The golden dragon towered over her friend, metal parts gleaming in the moonlight. They stood on opposite ends of the giant metal chasm, a golden net ready underneath the bubbling pot of something that smelt like Harley when no one had made him shower and barbecue sauce.

The giant metal dragon opened its mouth, hinges and wires creaking and clicking, and Teqi watched with wide eyes as the little squares up its neck flicked to red slowly. She made to run out and grab Leo before he became a lump of coal, but a column of white-hot flames had already billowed over Leo.

Her stomach dropped.

Then she was staring at Leo with the same confused face the dragon wore.

A spark flew out of its neck like it was about to short-circuit. One of the metal interlocking plates in its neck shuddered, and it tilted its head like it was thinking, 'Why no crispy critter?'