The Curse of Oenone (Daughter of Olympus II) - [Leo Valdez xF!Oc]

I Wanna Go Home

"What are we looking at?"

"Ah, Señor Zhang, you know how you're always saying, 'Leo, you are the only true genius among demigods'?"

"I'm pretty sure I never said that."

"Well, turns out there are other true geniuses! Because one of them must have made that work of art down there."

When the eery-looking boy taps away in the Archimedes sphere, all Ara sees is her favorite person on Earth, and the closer they get to fighting Gaea, the more Ara wastes her time staring at him.

"It's a stone circle," Frank raises a brow. "Probably the foundation of an old shrine."

"No, it's more than that," Piper studies it carefully. "Look at the ridges and grooves carved around the rim."

"Like the teeth of a gear," Jason points out.

"And those concentric rings." Hazel adds. "The pattern reminds me of Pasiphaë's pendant: the symbol of the Labyrinth."

"Huh." Leo frowns. "Well, I hadn't thought of that. But think mechanical. Frank, Hazel... where did we see concentric circles like that before?"

"The laboratory under Rome—"

"The Archimedes lock on the door," Hazel nods. "It had rings within rings."

"You're telling me that's a massive stone lock? It's, like, fifty feet in diameter." Percy scoffs in disbelief.

"Leo might be right," Annabeth shrugs. "In ancient times, the temple of Asclepius was like the General Hospital of Greece. Everybody came here for the best healing. Aboveground, it was the size of a major city, but supposedly the real action happened belowground. That's where the high priests had their intensive-care super-magical-type compound, accessed by a secret passage."

"So, if that big round thing is the lock, how do we get the key?" Percy asks.

"Way ahead of you, Aquaman."

"Okay, do not call me Aquaman. That's even worse than water boy."

"You gotta give me something, man, you don't let me call you Nemo!"

"My name is Percy."

"Boys, focus," Ara presses.

Leo shifts his attention to Jason, Piper, and her. "You guys remember the giant Archimedes grabber arm I told you I was building?"

"I thought you were kidding," Jason frowns.

"Oh, my friend, I never kid about giant grabber arms!" Leo rubs his palms excitedly. "It's time to go fishing for prizes!"

While Leo and Jason open the entry to the secret palace, Piper pulls her away from the group. For a moment, Ara feels a wild desperation, because she isn't ready to say goodbye and others can see it.

"You okay? I'm getting big waves of 'Help me!' from you, and I was standing pretty far away."

Ara watches how Leo works from a distance. "He treats machines in a kind, gentle way—they need care as much as us... He'll be sorely missed in camp."

Piper tries to get a real answer. "Ara, what's the matter?"

"Take a wild guess," she turns to her with frustration. "Jason is at risk of dying too. How do you feel about that?"

"I don't need to think of Jason to understand it," Piper responds dejectedly. "I'm scared for Leo too—even if he pretends to be okay, he's dreading it as much as us... I can try and make him reconsider."