Arsonist's Lullabye ──── Leo Valdez

𝟒𝟑: 𝐁𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝟗 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧

─────𝐕𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 about the rest of the night. They told their story and answered a million questions from the other campers, but finally Chiron saw how tired they were and ordered them to bed.

Annabeth led him to a different cabin, away from the original twelve. Sure, it sucked to say goodbye to Leo and the others, but Vincent could live with it once he saw the cabin. 

It was similar to the Ares cabin on the outside, just a darker red. A stuffed lion head was mounted above the door, which Annabeth assured him was fake. She gushed about how she felt guilty for making him room with the Ares campers for three months and had insisted they rush with this project. Vincent gave her a long hug as a thank you. He was too exhausted for anything else. 

On the inside, it was pretty much standard, rows of bunks which Vincent thought was a bit unnecessary, though he seriously hoped some other children of Phobos would join him, otherwise it would get lonely fast. 

Annabeth had graciously added a bookshelf with loads of books Vincent was sure he wouldn't read. But from the titles and book covers, he could tell they were horror stories. He raised an eyebrow at her. 

"What? Sometimes cliche is the way to go."

Vincent didn't blame her. He did like horror.

It felt so good to sleep on a real mattress, and Vincent was so exhausted, he crashed immediately after Annabeth had left. 

He knew the next morning would be more eventful and he had lots of sleep to catch up on. 

─────𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝 up slowly in the sky. 

Leo hadn't wasted any time in seeking Vincent out first. He hadn't felt this jumpy since he offered tofu burgers to the werewolves. When he got to the limestone cliff in the forest, he turned to the group and smiled nervously. "Here we go."

He willed his hand to catch fire, and set it against the door.

His cabinmates gasped.

"Leo!" Nyssa cried. "You're a fire user!"

"Yeah, thanks," he said. "I know."

Jake Mason, who was out of his body cast but still on crutches, said, "Holy Hephaestus. That means—it's so rare that—"

The massive stone door swung open, and everyone's mouth dropped. Leo's flaming hand seemed insignificant now. Even Piper and Jason looked stunned, and they'd seen enough amazing things lately.

Only Chiron and Vincent who had been there before, didn't look surprised. The centaur knit his bushy eyebrows and stroked his beard, as if the group was about to walk through a minefield.

That made Leo even more nervous, but he couldn't change his mind now. His instincts told him he was meant to share this place—at least with the Hephaestus cabin—and he couldn't hide it from Chiron or his other two best friends.

"Welcome to Bunker Nine," he said, as confidently as he could. "C'mon in."

The group was silent as they toured the facility. Everything was just as Leo and Vincent had left it—giant machines, worktables, old maps and schematics. Only one thing had changed. Festus's head was sitting on the central table, still battered and scorched from his final crash in Omaha.