American Royalty II

Part 4: Heading back to PigPimples

"Leo, I swear to all the gods, if you don't give it back right now, I'll get Clarisse to stick your head in the toilet!" Piper's voice shouted across the house. Connor poked his head out of his room and saw Leo running for his life, followed by a very angry Piper with bright pink hair.

Connor chuckled and then closed the door to finish packing. He had finally gotten a solid three nights of rest and was starting to feel more like himself. But he knew he wouldn't fully feel like himself, not until the missing piece of him was reunited.

Not really caring to fold anything, he chucked his belongings into the trunk, but something caught his eye and he paused. In the corner of the room was Kit's trunk, but that's not what had caused Connor to stop. Through the open lid of his fiancée's trunk, Connor could see a book.

Curiosity piqued, he walked over and picked up the book. It was a large book with a blue cover with the words "You're never getting away from me, never again" written in gold letters across the front.

Carefully, he opened the book and immediately choked up. On the first page was a live photo of him and Kit. Kit was watching, unamused, as Connor and Travis hung upside down from the bunk bed playing rock-paper-scissors.

Connor couldn't help but smile at the memory. He remembered that day vividly. It was the first day Connor had met Kit. She, along with Percy, had been moved into the Hermes cabin as undetermined. At first, Connor hadn't exactly paid much attention to the newcomers, until he rather embarrassingly tripped right in front of her. He would have never admitted it then, but he had found her pretty. In fact, he wouldn't admit it for another three years. But on that day when the photo had been taken, Connor was just trying to make her laugh. She had pretended to be annoyed, but there was a hint of a smile on her face that gave her away.

He turned the page and the next photo was one of them kayaking on the lake although Connor had fallen in and was being laughed at by Travis, Kit and Percy. 

The next photo was one of Kit in armour from capture the flag, the next was at the camp fire with Kit laughing at Connor who had chocolate smeered all over his face, the next was of Kit chasing Connor and Travis her face covered in whipped cream.

As Connor flicked through the pages he couldn't help but wonder how she had gotten all the photos or who had given her the book. He double checked the front and written on the first page was a note.

'To Kit, I'm glad he finally plucked up the courage to ask you - Hermes' 

Connor chuckled, of course his dad would give her something like that. Apparently he had been rooting for them since day one. Connor continued flicking through the book.

Each page had doodles and scribbles of Kits writing on it making the book feel more personal.

As he continued to flip through the book, he found a page dedicated to their engagement. There was a photo of the moment he had proposed, both of them smiling with pure joy. Kit's handwriting next to it read, "The happiest day of my life."

Connor closed the book, tears threatening to spill over.

"You ok?" came Annabeth's voice, pulling him from his thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm ok," Connor replied as Annabeth came further into the room and spotted the book.

"Oh," was all she said.

Connor broke, tears sliding down his cheeks as he put his head in his hands. He hadn't meant to get emotional—he hardly did—but this was the second time in less than a year that she had been kidnapped.

Annabeth wrapped an arm around Connor's shoulder. "We'll get her back, Connor."

"Yeah, you're right, I just..." Connor said, rubbing the tears from his cheeks.

"I know," Annabeth said, understanding the depth of his pain. She watched as Connor stood up, placed the book back into Kit's trunk, and shut it. They were bringing it with them in case Kit came back while they were at school.

Connor took a deep breath and straightened up. "Alright, let's finish packing. We don't want to be late."

Annabeth nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. "We'll be ready."

Annabeth helped Connor pack the rest of his stuff, then they went downstairs to join the others.

Annabeth did a quick head count and realized that they were missing someone.

"Has anyone seen Leo?" she asked.

Piper, whose hair was now back to normal, grinned like a maniac.

"What did you do?" Reyna asked noticing Piper, a small smirk creeping to the corners of her lips.

Piper's smile grew even wider. "Leo may be a little tied up."

"Someone better go find him," Annabeth said, mildly annoyed but smiling at the thought of what Leo had gotten himself into.

"I'll go," Jason said, handing Frank his trunk and running up the stairs.

Jason found Leo hanging upside down in his bathroom with bright orange hair and duct tape on his mouth. Leo's eyes widened, and he made muffled noises of protest.

Jason couldn't help but laugh. "Leo, you know, you kinda deserved it"

He carefully untied Leo and pulled the tape off his mouth. Leo winced but quickly recovered, running his hands through his now orange hair.

"Piper's going to pay for this," Leo grumbled as he examined his reflection.

"Well, you put pink dye in her shampoo and made her look like a Barbie," Jason pointed out, as he watched Leo stare helplessly at his own reflection.

"Yeah, but orange hair? That's just cruel," Leo muttered, shaking his head.

Jason laughed again. "Come on, let's get downstairs. We're running late."

The two of them hurried downstairs to join the others who were all in the car already. As they rejoined the group, Piper winked at Leo, who just glared back, still fuming.

"Wow, Leo, you really dug yourself quite the grave," Valerie laughed, examining Leo's bright orange hair.

"Thanks," Leo grumbled, causing everyone to laugh even harder.

"Don't worry," Jamie said, raising her wand after everyone had teased Leo. She waved her wand and muttered a spell under her breath, and Leo's neon orange hair faded back into the usual dark brown.

"Thanks, Jamie," Leo said, sighing with relief. "I owe you one."

"You bet you do," Jamie said, turning serious.

"Rocky, come!" Reyna called out the door, and their excitable dog came running from the garden, hopping into the car. Soon, all attention was diverted from Leo, and Rocky became the center of attention as the car pulled out of the driveway.

The drive to King's Cross was filled with animated chatter and laughter, Rocky's antics providing plenty of entertainment. The dog eagerly moved from person to person, basking in the affection from everyone.

The driver, Albert, navigated through the busy streets, expertly weaving through traffic until they finally reached the station. The group quickly unloaded their trunks, making sure not to forget anything, and headed inside after saying goodbye to Mrs. Scalewik.

They walked through the station, seamlessly blending in with the crowd of mortals. As they approached the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10, they went through in small groups, slipping through the magical entrance to Platform 9¾.

The familiar sight of the Hogwarts Express greeted them, steam billowing into the air. They hurried to find an empty compartment, managing to secure one towards the back of the train.

The train began to move, and they watched as the platform slowly disappeared from view. They were going back to Hogwarts, but none of them were happy about it.