Son of Chaos: A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

To Be Frank...

*Leo's POV*

I am the Lord of Skittles. End of story.

Okay, actually, that's not the end of the story. It's just the beginning of a small story. A small part of my life that I'm not too shy to tell.

Psh actually I'm Leo, I'm not shy at all.

Okay. So, I'm Leo Valdez. Leader of the Hephaestus cabin.

And I wanted to visit my friends at Camp Jupiter.

Except there was one problem.

Buford had stolen my portal-projector.

"Buford!" I yelled. "I'm sorry! I ran out of Lemon Pledge! I only had Windex! I'm so sorry! Get back here, you crazy table!"

Okay. To anyone who doesn't know about Buford, you'll be very confused right now.

But it's a long story, and I don't have the patience to explain it. Or the attention span. So you'll just have to deal with my unexplanatory behavior.

I ran out of Bunker 9 and ran after Buford, still yelling at the top of my lungs.

Nyssa ran up to me. "Whoa, Leo, calm down. What's going on?"

"Buford stole my portal-projector!" I complained, hoping for some sympathy.

"Whoa," Nyssa winced. "That's not good. You used Lemon Pledge to clean him, right?"

I shook my head sadly. "I ran out of it..."

Nyssa frowned. "That's what you get for giving machines the ability to think for themselves..."

I scowled at her and kept running after Buford. "Bu-ford!" I yelled pointlessly.

*Luke's POV*

"I want to help," I said childishly.

"Luke, it's too dangerous," Zoe said softly, scowling a little.

"Dangerous!" I scoffed loudly. "You're telling me that fighting Titans and Giants is dangerous?"

"Yes," Zoe said. "They shall harm thee. I shan't accept that. Kronos is too powerful. Only Omega can take him on and survive."

I turned to look her dead in the eyes, face red and burning, feeling as if I, just like Valdez, would burst into flames. "Do you think I don't know how powerful Kronos is?" I began, a steely edge lacing my tone. "Do you think that I, of all people, don't know his weaknesses and how to fight him? Do you think, that somehow, sometime, I forgot how strong he can be, how ruthless and vile and powerful and destructive and absolutely sick his mind can be?!"

Zoe edged away, backing off a bit. "Alpha?" she asked fearfully.

"Not happening, Sunshade," I scowled.

She hated when I called her that. It was our little inside joke, and using it I let her know that I was still mad but I was cooling down a bit.

"Don't be mad at me," she whispered. It was amazing how used she'd become to modern language. She still slipped into her old-fashioned was sometimes, but she was better. "I don't want you to get hurt."

I wanted to give her a hug, to kiss her forehead and tell her we'd all be fine. That we'd get out of this war without so much as a cut finger.

But... she couldn't know how I felt about her. Not now, not yet. Not ever, maybe.

Though her vow to be an eternal maiden had ceased to hold her when she died, she was still in tune with her old life. I didn't want to take away her general dislike for boys, her distaste for masculine ideas, her feminist attitude.

Not that I'd ever have the power for that, she'd never like me in that way.

But I could still have her as a friend.

Without realizing what I was doing, I gave Zoe a hug. "Thanks for the concern, Sunshade, but I'll be fine," I said, pulling away.

She hit me lightly on the arm, smiling a little. "I know," she whispered. "But I worry anyway."

I laughed. "Hey, do you know how my little Annie is? I haven't spoken to her much. Nor Thalia... I miss them. They were the best."

Was it just my imagination, or did Zoe's expression harden a little, turn a little more harsh when I mentioned Annabeth?

Nah, must have been my imagination.

"I have not spoken to Annabeth since we arrived on this planet again," Zoe said blankly. Where had her humor, her sense of playfulness and inner child gone?

"Thalia?" I asked hopefully.

Zoe shook her head, but her expression softened a little again. "I too miss Thalia," she sighed. "Though I take pride knowing she leads the Hunt now. I couldn't have hoped for a better successor."

"Thalia is great," I agreed, running my fingers through my hair. It's a habit I have, except I only do this when I've forgotten something important.

Percy compares it to a Remembrall - some Hairy Potty thing, I don't know, I've never read the books.

"Dammit, I've forgotten something," I said, closing my eyes. I thought back to this morning, when Arkham was giving out orders.

"Luke, you'd better welcome Frank and Hazel to the camp this afternoon. 1300 hours exactly. If I find out you were late, you'll get the Drain."

I checked my watch. Styx! I had exactly two minutes to get to the camp entrance to welcome these Romans! Otherwise, the Drain... I shuddered. The Drain was a punishment device that was pressed to the forehead and it sucked away your Chaos powers for several hours. It didn't hurt, exactly, but it made you feel weak and useless during those hours, and often that came with nausea.

I looked back up at Zoe. "Zoe, I've gotta run, I'll talk to you later. See ya Sunshade," and then I took off running, using my super-speed adaption that was one of my many Chaos powers.

I got to the entrance just as my watch said it was 1300 hours exactly.

I stood there, leaning casually against an arch that I was told Annabeth had designed (I always knew she'd be a great architect) and tying to catch my breath before Hazelnut and Frank got here.

Two demigods appeared moments later and stepped through the archway, holding hands and looking slightly nervous.

I'd explain their appearances if not for my ADHD acting up at the moment.

"Hi, I'm Alpha," I said, holding my hand out formally.

The guy, Frank, obviously, shook my hand. The girl copied him, smiling nervously. "Are you friends with Percy?" she asked.

"Perseus Jackson died many years ago, Roman," I said coolly.

The Hazel looked up at Frank. "That's not what Annabeth told us. Or Cathrine. I thought we could trust Cathrine, at least. Annabeth does tend to get her facts muddled when it comes to Percy."

Annabeth getting muddled? Annabeth was never wrong. Never. Except the last image I had of her, screaming for Percy, crying desperately, didn't help me with my case.

"Are you or are you not Luke Castellen?" Frank asked.

"My identity is unimportant -"

"If you're not, just say so. It won't reveal your identity if you tell us you're not Luke." Damn, this Hazel chick was good at this.

"You were friends with Perseus?" I asked, checking.

"He chose us out of hundreds of Romans. He wanted us to be his friends. We took him under our wing when he came to Rome. We are - were - close," Frank said.

"Zhang and Levesque," I said, remembering suddenly.

I removed my hood. "Yes, I am Luke," I said, dropping the formal act. "It is great to meet you two at last. Now, if you don't mind terribly, I need every piece of information you know about defeating Giants."