DEJA VU || Leo Valdez

thirteen

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Leo didn't stick around after Piper turned beautiful. Sure, it was amazing and all—She's got makeup! It's a miracle! —but Leo had problems to deal with.

He ducked out of the amphitheater and ran into the darkness, wondering what he'd gotten himself into.

He'd stood up in front of a bunch of stronger, braver demigods and volunteered—volunteered—for a mission that would probably get him killed.

He hadn't mentioned seeing Tía Callida, his old babysitter, but as soon as he'd heard about Jason's vision—the lady in the black dress and shawl —Leo knew it was the same woman. Tía Callida was Hera. His evil babysitter was the queen of the gods. Stuff like that could really deep-fry your brain.

He trudged toward the woods and tried not to think about his childhood—all the messed-up things that had led to his mother's death. But he couldn't help it.

Brooke had seen Leo leave during the campfire but decided it was best to leave him be, assuming he had first-quest jitters. She surely had them when she got her first one.

So after the campfire, Brooke made her way to her cabin for the first time in a while. Once she stepped inside she couldn't help but be flooded with memories, both the good and the bad. But there was a common factor in almost all of them, Percy. Gods, she felt like the worst sister ever. How could she just leave? Now what if she never saw him again? She tried to shake away the thoughts and get some sleep.

Brooke tossed and turned that night, like most nights, but eventually was able to sleep. And dream.

See even though Brooke knows that her dreams are sometimes predictions. She still always found a 'reasonable explanation' for them, which is part of the reason why she can't figure out which ones are premonitions or not. And trust she had plenty of prediction dreams that night but unfortunately also a reason for each one.

She dreams of the name Festus—oh that's cause that idiot Leo referred to Hephaestus as that.

She dreams of a gold room, completely gold, with a gold mirror that she somehow can see through, but it's distorted so it appears as though she's gold as well— that's because she saw Jason's gold sword and lance.

That one didn't make much sense to her but she didn't dwell on it for long because then she dreamt of Thalia —oh that's just her subconscious telling her she misses her friend.

She dreams that she will be kidnapped by Cyclopes—that's just a fear of Cyclopes stemming from what happened in the Sea of Monsters. That also didn't make much sense because her brother Tyson did well to make sure she didn't have any lingering fear of them.

Her last dream before she awakens is of a giant bronze ship with a dragon masthead, this isn't shocking, she's dreamt of it at least 4 times in the past 6 years. But just like the other times, she doesn't have an explanation for it.

The woods weren't like any place he'd been before. Leo had been raised in a north Houston apartment complex. The wildest things he'd ever seen were that rattlesnake in the cow pasture and his Aunt Rosa in her nightgown, until he was sent to Wilderness School.

Even there, the school had been in the desert. No trees with gnarled roots to trip over. No streams to fall into. No branches casting dark, creepy shadows and owls looking down at him with their big reflective eyes. This was the Twilight Zone.

He stumbled along until he was sure no one back at the cabins could possibly see him. Then he summoned fire. Flames danced along his fingertips, casting enough light to see. He hadn't tried to keep a sustained burn going since he was five, at that picnic table. Since his mom's death, he'd been too afraid to try anything. Even this tiny fire made him feel guilty.