Leo Valdez - the Android

Chapter 2

Leo could sense something was wrong with Piper. Ever since she got on the chariot, she seemed kind of dazed. Not in the - 'my best friend and boyfriend (he still was unclear which category was he in currently) turned out to be frauds.' 

But rather in a mood of premonition, like she wanted this to not happen, but it happen nonetheless and she was now understanding the severity of the situation. 

After some initial observation of her, his eyes darted towards the view that the chariot offered. It was quite marvelous, the sea being stretched out to a vast expanse up until the horizon. Shamelessly, his focus was more on the view than his own safety in the bumping vehicle that could dive any moment and through him down the sea from at least a hundred feet from the sky.

It was Annabeth's shout to answer Piper's question that finally brought him out of his stupor.

"-Camp Half Blood."  

"Half Blood?" asked Piper, making a face as Leo realized it might hurt her sentiments, being half Cherokee and half white herself. "Is that some kind of bad joke?"

"It means we are demigods" answered Leo and Jason simultaneously, looking at each other at the end.

"Half gods-" said Leo.

"-half mortals" completed Jason.

"You two seem to know a lot," commented Annabeth with a glint in her eyes as she resumed working on the device she was tampering with. "My mom is Athena, goddess of wisdom. Butch here is the son of Iris, rainbow goddess."

"How did your mom get time to do extra stuff after everyone keeps calling her every few seconds with a drachma?" asked Leo out of general curiosity, as both Butch and Annabeth stared at him dumbfound.

"I choose not to answer that question verbally."

"Demigods," Piper said. "You mean you think you're.. you think we're-"

Lightning flashed, cutting of the girl's sentence. Thunder shuddered and Jason yelled, "Left wheel's on fire!!"

Sure enough, Leo could see the flames from his side clearly. If he wanted, he could extinguish them easily. However land was in his sight, so there wasn't any need for him to do anything. 

Was it?  

"The Anemoi come in different shapes," Annabeth explained. "Their form depends on how chaotic they are. This might get rough, hold on!!!"

Butch flicked the reins of the chariot. With the burst of speed from the pegasi, the chariot blurred. All of them combined - Annabeth, Butch, and the pegasi tried to maintain control in hopes of a stable flight pattern, however the burst of speed along with the flaming wheel had not only created turbulence but also had led to damage of the structure to the extent it could no longer bear the weight of six demigods.

"The lake," yelled Annabeth. "Aim for the lake!!" 

Leo remembered what his mother had taught him when they had first went to the community pool in their area. Whenever diving from a height, make sure to position yourself in a streamline pattern. Else the water will hit much, much worse than gravel or cement. And so at the last second, Leo jumped in a diving position. Body suspended partially in mid-air, his mind just accounted for the hit of the air when -BOOM.

And that's when he realized something else.

He hated cold. 

With two quick strokes, Leo found himself back on the top. Looking around, he saw the others being hauled by teenagers in similar orange t-shirts with logo's of 'CHB' on them. Starting to swim towards them, he was offered hands of assistance once he reached the shore. Out of courtesy and good will he denied, being in a better state than his companions as he stood up and came ashore. Looking around, he saw Jason, Piper and Annabeth being surrounded by kids giving them blankets, while Butch was tending the pegasi that looked in a good condition too. Getting offered a towel, he thanked the unknown girl with a small smile as he started cleaning his face with it.