Leo Valdez X Reader

Chapter 5 (Y/n)

A girl full of muscles with brown shoulder-length hair came sauntering over, three others behind her. Her hair was tied back with a red bandana, and she carried a long spear attached to her back. She was draped in orange and camo.

"So grease monkey," she looked at Leo, "who's the cripple?"

Her eyes met mine, and I felt the rage bubble inside me.

Rage for being lied to, being alone, and being so weak I couldn't walk by myself.

I started to crutch off and do the mature thing by removing myself from the situation, but she caught the toe of my crutch, and I stumbled, landing on my wrong foot. Pain shot up my leg, making me wince.

Never mind, maturity was for babies.

Today was a terrible day, and I was sick of it.

I turned towards the girl, looking her dead straight in the eye.

"Wow, fighting somebody injured and on crutches takes a lot of guts and self-importance." I hobbled forward, smirking.

"Lucky for you, I can fight back."

Before she could even blink, I whipped the crutch around, and it banged against her shin. She winced and looked me up in the eyes.

"Okay, you want to dance cripple? Let's dance."

Her fists were up momentarily, and I ducked, swinging the crutch around and smacking her face. 

She stepped back, running her tongue along her teeth, probably to ensure they were all still in there. 

She smiled, grabbing the spear from her back, and I watched it crackle with lightning,

"You're in for it now."

She swung her foot around and knocked the crutches out from under me; I landed on my back as she towered over me. She brought the spear down, and I rolled to the side.

It was not my bravest move, but hey, I didn't want to become a shish kabob.

The spear came down again, and in the half-second I had, I reached down, and my sword was out of its sheath.

The sound of metal on metal rang through the air, and I watched a few heads turn our way. Sparks flew off the end of her weapon, and I felt the searing pain as one hit my face.

Frost began to crystalize off the tip of my sword and up her spear shaft, the lighting flickering out. The sunny sky had started to turn grey, and I could see the frost slowly spreading from below me. She pulled back her frozen spear, my sword still stuck to the end and tossed them aside. I managed to scramble to my feet just as she threw a punch. 

I parried and hit her back, then lunged.

Suddenly, flames erupted on the side of my vision, and both of us froze.

"Enough!"

Leo's entire body had erupted in flames.

"Both of you."

He glared at each of us, and Clarisse moved backward; as she did so, Leo's flames subsided.

He went to hoist me to my feet, but I swatted him away, grabbing the stupid metal crutches. The sky had returned to pale blue, and the frost was gone. Clarisse stood up and caught her spear, ensuring it still held its electric current.

My nose was bleeding, and a cut on her cheek dripped down to her chin. She smiled.

"I think I'm going to like you, cripple. What's your name?" she boomed.

I wiped my nose on my tattered sleeve, licking away the excess dripping onto my lip.

"(Y/n) Hale."

"Next time, you owe me a fight in the arena, Hale. That way, Grease Monkey here can't mess it up."

She pointed her thumb at Leo.

I extended my hand, and she shook it. Her grip was strong and tight, almost crushing the bones in my hand.

"You're on."

I hadn't noticed before, but a group of demigods had formed around us. There was loud chatter as I thought Clarisse's siblings cheered her on.

Someone shouted, 'I've got next fight.' and I took that as my cue to leave. I crutched my way past Leo.

"Your hair is on fire," I grumbled, returning to the big house. He quickly patted it out and ran after me.

"We have a tour to finish; at this point, it's more like a start." He mumbled the last bit to himself.

I turned to him.

"Leo, I just finished fighting a ball of muscle in a red headband.

If you heard everything Chiron and Mr. D told me, then you know how stupid this day has been. Okay? My life has been a lie! I just want to take a shower before I go have my fate decided by a prophecy-spitting teenager!" 

I didn't realize I was yelling until I looked at his face. His nose was scrunched up as he recoiled back from me. I sighed, hobbling down the stairs.

"I'm sorry; today's just been hard," I mumbled, rubbing my face. I may not like it here, but that didn't mean I could take it out on the campers. Even if I wanted to.

A flame had taken up residency in his thick curls, and I quickly pointed it out.

"The showers are this way," he said as the smoke curled from his now put-out hair.

I followed him to a large building near a ring of cabins. Leo handed me a towel and smiled like I hadn't just gone ballistic on him.

"I'll send someone in with a spare change of clothes. In the meantime, I'll be at cabin 9. Ask someone, and they'll point you our way."

With that, I turned and got lost in the showers.

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