Forever || Leo Valdez x Reader || Book 1

Camp Half-blood

A PEGASUS. Our mode of transport was a damn pegasus.

"THIS IS AWESOME!!!" I hollered as we flew over the clouds, holding my arms up like I was on a roller coaster.

"CAREFUL," Kayla yelled over the rushing wind, her orange and green hair whipping around her face. "HOLD ON OR YOU'LL FALL."

"You're no fun," I rolled my eyes as I wrapped my arms around the smaller girl's waist. "There. Now, if I go down, you're coming with me."

"Wait, WHAT?! Let go of me, I hate you-"

"No you don't- " I began, but my sentence was cut off as the pegasus suddenly plunged into a steep dive that left my stomach about two hundred feet up in the air. 

And despite what Kayla might say, no, I did not scream or nearly squeeze her to death as the ground came closer and closer at high velocities.

Welp, this is it. This is the end. Y/N, you're gonna end up as an insignificant splat on the grass. Congratulations, girl.

I'm gonna strangle this darned horse.

Just then, the pegasus touched down on the ground, light as a feather. SERIOUSLY?! DRAMATIC MUCH?

Kayla slid off gracefully, while I groaned, toppling off the horse's back and faceplanting on the ground. "NEVER again," I raised my arm to point at the pegasus accusingly. "I hate you."

The pegasus whinnied, tossing its mane before taking off and flying away.

Kayla poked my side. "You okay?"

"I think I'm gonna puke," I whined, flopping over so that I lay on my back, facing the sky.

Kayla stifled a laugh. "Come on," she grabbed my hand and pulled me up. She's quite strong for a twelve-year-old.

"Hello, Kayla, and hello, Y/N. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood." 

I turned to see a man in a wheelchair, the same man from the Iris message.

"Y/N, this is Chiron, the immortal trainer of heroes," Kayla introduced me.

I blinked. "Isn't he supposed to be a centaur?"

Chiron laughed, rising from his wheelchair. But there was something odd about the way he did it. His blanket fell away from his legs, but the legs didn't move. He kept rising out of the chair, taller than any man.

And then I realized that the wheelchair wasn't a chair. It was some kind of container, and it must've been magic or something because there was no way it could've held all of him. A leg came out, long and knobby-kneed, with a huge polished hoof. Then another front leg, then hindquarters, and then the box was empty, nothing but a metal shell with a couple of fake human legs attached.

And in front of me stood a centaur, a palomino body smoothly grafted to the torso of a middle-aged man.

My face must have looked priceless, for Kayla burst out laughing.

I glared at her. "Shut up."

Kayla only laughed harder. "Oh come on, your face looks like a meme."

Chiron chuckled slightly. "Well, looks like the two of you are best friends already. Kayla, why don't you take Y/N to the infirmary, to treat her hellhound bite? The other campers are at morning boot camp with the Ares kids, but I'm sure Will's still in the infirmary."

Kayla grinned. "I missed boot camp? Thank goodness. Come on, Y/N, let's go."

I followed Kayla to a simple white building as the redhead pushed the door open. "Will, there's a new camper here, she- seriously you two? In the infirmary?"

I poked my head in to see a tall blond in doctors' scrubs with his arms around a shorter, black-haired boy, both frozen in place, caught red-handed. "Ooh, are we interrupting something?" I grinned. "Come on Kayla, let's leave them to it-"

"Um, no-" Kayla pushed me in, plopping me down on a bed before going up to the lovebirds and pulling them apart before turning to the blond. "Will. This is Y/N, a new camper. She got bitten by a Hellhound, you can smooch Nico later, this is important."

Will cleared his throat awkwardly, coming over to me. "Yeah, yeah- hi, I'm Will. Will Solace, Kayla's brother." He shook my hand.

"Y/N, Y/N L/N." 

Will smiled at me as he unwrapped my arm, gesturing to the other boy. "That's Nico Di Angelo, my boyfriend-"

Nico rolled his eyes. "Could you not—" 

"Would you prefer 'special guy'?" Will asked teasingly, "or 'significant other'?" 

"Significant annoyance, in your case," Nico grumbled.

I laughed. "You two are so cute-"

"Whatever," Nico gestured at my bandaged arm. "Priorities."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it..." Will's voice faltered as the bandage fell off my arm. "Kayla... didn't you say the bite was bad?"

"Yeah, the beast must have taken off a whole chunk- I don't believe it..." She gaped at my arm, now completely healed.

"Well, super healing," I ventured, "Not a bad thing, isn't it?"

Nico shook his head. "Not unheard of. We have a son of Hebe here, and he's a fast healer too. But this speed? It's almost like regeneration."

"Well, whatever it is, you still need rest," Will said, fussing over me, checking my temperature and pulse rate. "Kayla, go get Y/N a spare shirt. This one's all bloody, wet, and ripped- wait, why is it wet?"

"She fell in a fountain. Anyways, on it." Kayla left the room.

"A- you know what, I'm not even gonna question it. This is perfectly normal. Y/N, lie down. Take a nap."

I snickered. "Okay, mom."

Will rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't give me that attitude."

Nico snorted. "Just lay down, Mother knows best."

"Oh, I'll get you for that."

I laughed, lying down on the bed. Gosh, I'm tired.

And before I knew it, I had drifted off to sleep.