Akrasia [Leo Valdez x Reader]

10

Y/N looked up weakly at the soft voices coming from outside her stony cell. Dehydrated and hungry, all her ears picked up were bits and pieces of the conversation between a tall, lean figure and a large stocky man wearing armor and wielding a spear. She heard the words "army", "surprise attack", "the gods", and "the girl". She didn't need her thinking cap to figure out that "the girl" was her, because the tall man glanced at her when it was said. He noticed she was awake and a chilling smile crept onto his face. He unlocked the cell door and stepped inside, walking up to Y/N and standing just inches in front of her.

"Eavesdropping, are we?" he questioned, grabbing her face roughly with his hand. Y/N shook her head out of his grasp and glared at him, recognizing his sinister amber eyes. He lowered his voice to a menacing whisper. "I gave you a chance to be part of these important conversations. You had an opportunity, and you threw it away." He stepped closer, grabbing her face again, forcing her to look at him. In this light, she could see his full face, narrow and chiseled, with a large scar running from the bridge of his nose to his jawline on the left side of his face

"You could've been great, Y/N," he said, sounding almost disappointed. "We could've been great. Our powers combined would've made every god kneel before us. But you ruined it." He pushed her face away, stepping back.

Y/N tried to take the opportunity to attack him, but he expected as much and pinned her to the wall, injecting something in her neck.

"Sleep. You're lucky I'm letting you live." he said.

~~~

Y/N woke up from her vivid nightmare in a cold sweat, her heart beating a million miles an hour. She tried to slow her breathing down, checking the time. 8:13 AM. Y/N decided to get up and eat breakfast, she probably wouldn't be able to fall back asleep anyway. She got out of bed and realized she was still wearing the clothes from the previous day. She threw on a little black tank top and gray sweatpants, feeling like being lazy. After brushing her teeth and whatnot she headed upstairs to the dining hall, sitting down at her usual spot. Everyone else was awake except for Leo and Jason, eating breakfast already. She decided on pancakes and practically inhaled it, remembering how she forgot to eat dinner the night before.

After about fifteen minutes Jason arrived, then five minutes later Leo did too. After everyone had grabbed breakfast and sat down, Y/N decided to tell them about her dream. She explained it carefully, adding as many details as she could remember. The mood dampened as she continued her description, everyone's expressions growing more concerned by the second. After she finished her lengthy recap, everyone sat in silence for a few minutes before Viv spoke up.

"Yesterday, when Cetus attacked us, I knew something was off, and it just came to me. It doesn't live in these waters. It actually doesn't live anywhere near here, and it hasn't come to the surface in decades, much less attacked a ship." Vivian explained. The rest of the crew frowned, exchanging looks of confusion.

"So... why did it attack us then?" Frank asked, saying what everyone was thinking.

"Well, my standing theory is that the monster army that we're after sent it. Which means they know about us, and they're trying to stop us from getting to them." Viv said. Y/N stayed silent for a few seconds, connecting the dots, before speaking up.

"What if... what if the guy from my dream is part of this army?" Y/N said hesitantly. "In my dream before he saw me awake he was talking to the guard and I overheard some of their conversation. They were talking about an army and a surprise attack and, well, me. Not sure how that was relevant though," Piper nodded in understanding, seeing the connection.

"That actually makes a lot of sense, and it explains why you've been having those dreams, since it's directly relevant to the quest." Jason reassured. The rest of the crew nodded in agreement. "Now that we know the army knows about us, we need a solid plan for tracking them down. So far all we've been doing is going West, but we need a more specific path if we want to find them before they cause any serious trouble." Jason said after a few seconds of silence.

"I do have something that could track down the army," Leo said, catching everyone's attention. "You know how satyrs can sniff out monsters? I worked with Coach Hedge and the satyrs at camp to kind of recreate that power in technology, kind of like a sonar. I haven't actually tested it out yet, but it's a good starting point." The mood lightened a bit as they started to see some hope for this seemingly doomed quest.

"That's great Leo! Okay, that's honestly the most progress we've had on this quest, so let's get working on it. Leo, if you need any help, just ask Viv or someone else good at building. Everyone else, do whatever is needed around the ship and keep training." Piper ordered. Everyone got up and scattered to their respective places slowly, lingering to have quick conversations.

As Y/N got up to find Vivian, she caught Leo's eye for a split second before they both awkwardly looked away. Y/N's heart ached with longing as she recalled the previous night's events, and the way Leo had been avoiding her all morning. Y/N was shook out of her thoughts as both Piper and Vivian approached her, looking slightly concerned.

"Y/N, are you okay?" Vivian asked. "You've been off all morning." Piper nodded in agreement. Y/N contemplated telling them about the previous night, and she eventually decided to fill them in. She led the two girls to her room and closed the door behind her before sitting on her bed next to them. Y/N inhaled deeply before telling them about the entire interaction, from the bandaging tension to Jason ruining the mood. Piper groaned when Y/N told them about Jason barging into the room without knocking, embarrassed of her boyfriend.

They all sat in silence for a few seconds after Y/N finished, her best friends processing all of the new information. "Y'know, I always thought there was a little something between you two." Piper confessed, breaking the silence. Y/N giggled, amused by her statement.

"That's basically cheating little miss daughter of Aphrodite, I, for one, had no idea." Viv complained. Piper rolled her eyes. "So, what are you gonna do? I mean, you've gotta talk to him right?" Piper asked.

Y/N sighed. "I guess, but we're all so busy with the whole monster army thing, and I don't want to be a distraction, you know?" Y/N explained. "If he wants to talk, I'll wait for him to come to me, because he has enough on his plate right now." Piper and Viv nodded in understanding, embracing her in a comforting hug. Even though Y/N was going through some life struggles, she was glad to have such good friends.

~~~

Leo had managed to get his monster sonar up and running, and after a few weeks (and a few more monsters) they had reached the army base. It was a huge cave, which probably had plenty of underground and underwater passages. The outside was covered with boulders and fabric drapes, concealing the entrance just enough to avoid detection from the untrained eye. Leo parked the Argo II behind a large rock, and Hazel cast a camouflage charm so they could stay fairly undetected. This was it. The final destination.