madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-fireboy and bluegirl-

Leo had somehow escaped his fall unharmed. 

Frank would probably be annoyed.

He ran in a wobbly line, ducking from portico to portico, blasting fire at the giant eagles swooping down on him with sharp talons outstretched. Roman demigods tried to chase him, tripping over piles of cannonballs and dodging tourists, who screamed and ran in circles.

Tour guides kept yelling, "It's just a re-enactment!" Though they didn't sound sure. The Mist could only do so much to change what mortals saw. Leo imagined their view was of giant chickens chasing kids around, and of him spraying bubbles out of his hands instead of fire.

Unfortunately, his distracting thoughts caused a burly looking demigod to leap over a cannonball and block him from running to the Argo II, which was docked only a hundred meters away. He was confused for a moment, nobody else knew how to steer his boat well enough to do that.

"Nice try Fireboy!" The girl hissed, holding out a long spear level with Leo's throat. He gulped, reaching for his tool belt, but nothing could help him when all the blue haired girl had to do was prod him and he would die. She held a shield with spikes around the edges, making her even harder to fight. A large eagle landed on a column behind her, glaring down at Leo, its wings singed.

Leo glanced around, hoping Jason was close by or even Frank the elephant. Said elephant rampaged around the flagpoles, scattering Roman warriors. Jason stood about fifty yards away, sword-fighting with a stocky centurion whose lips were stained cherry red, like blood.

"You really don't want to do this you know." Leo started rambling, eyes not leaving the pointed tip in his face. 

The girl smirked, cocking her head. "Really? You destroyed my home. I really want to do this."

"It wasn't me! Well it was, but-"

She lunged forwards, and Leo scrambled out of the way, ducking the razor-sharp edges of her shield and yelping when the silver spear imbedded itself in the ground right next to him. When his eyes flicked away from the eagle flying at him, Leo saw Annabeth running through the chaos.

"No one's going to help you now." The soldier spat, strands of blue hair hanging down her face. Leo rolled his eyes, stalling for time as she monologued about his death.

"You talk a lot. I mean so do I, but I'm just...better." He shrugged with a smile, and threw a brick at her face. It missed, clattering to the ground a few meters away in a pile of rubble near a now abandoned kiosk.

The eagle made a horrifically screechy sound behind the two, but they didn't turn around. The girl dug her spear into Leo's chest, but didn't break the skin. She wasn't a murderer, she was a child soldier, and there was a very big difference. 

Then her eyes changed.

They flashed purple for a moment, and she stumbled back, spear falling to the ground. Leo saw the eagle; he saw the vines wrapping around its body and growing up the column it was perched on. The vines pinned the oversized bird to its spot, no matter how hard it squawked and flapped pitifully.

"Nooo!" The girl wailed, clutching her head. She wobbled on her feet, tears streaming from her now normal eyes. She sunk to her knees. Leo scrambled up, kicking her weapons to the side.

Jason blocked Dakota's strike, and then lunged forwards, vaulting over a piece of cracked concrete and coming up behind the centurion. Dakota whipped around, stabbing his sword at Jason's chest, but he paused. Jason turned around to see what he was distracted by.