Leo Valdez - the Android

Chapter 3

"How did he die?" Leo asked. "My brother, Beckendorf"

"Explosion" explained Will. "Beckendorf and Percy blew up a ship full of monsters. He didn't make it out."

'This guy must have been some sort of leader of the camp' thought Leo as it was uncanny how much times he had heard the name of the missing person since the freak show at the canyon.

"A wild guess, Beckendorf was pretty popular around here right?"

"He was pretty awesome. One of the souls and pillars of the camp" Will reminisced as he remembered the days before the war started. "It was pretty hard on the whole camp when he died. Jake he became head counselor in the middle of the war. Same as I did, actually, Jake did his best, but he never wanted to be leader. He just likes building stuff. Then after the war, things started to go wrong. Cabin Nine's chariots blew up. Their automatons went haywire. Their inventions started to malfunction. It was like a curse, and eventually people started calling it that-the Curse of Cabin. Then Percy, one of the leader of the camp, disappeared all of the sudden, and Annabeth, the other leader, was shaken up entirely due to which that affected the camp's already a bit down morale a hell lot more. Then, cherry on top, Jake had this accident-"

"I understand" affirmed Leo, but at the back of his mind he had a thought process going on. To be honest the son of Hephaestus had forgotten the count, but just like always he felt he did not belong here. 

Not like the camp wasn't great. The distractions and the facilities were totally cool, however for some reason, there was a nagging feeling lingering in his mind ever since his conversation with his head counsellor. Leo had always tried not to, but at the end it inevitable - his too good to be true observation skills always ruined stuff for him. The guy, Jake Mason, however friendly he may appeared, kept pulling their dead-half brother, 'Charles Beckendorf' into their conversation way too often. It wasn't like Leo was uncomfortable in the discussion, the words and actions had been eerily strange.

Offering the guy's bed to him, pulling him into conversations often, scanning Leo top to bottom multiple times and then the words - 'Olympus bear we have another philosopher in here' - it almost felt like the guy was trying to replace Beckendorf with himself, most probably to get rid of the role of the head counsellor or probably to make the curse go away.

It felt weird on so many levels, to be a replacement.

"Here we are," said Will without much enthusiasm.

The forge looked like a steam-powered locomotive had smashed into the Greek Parthenon and were fused together. White marble columns lined the soot-stained walls. Chimneys pumped smoke over an elaborate gable carved with a bunch of gods and monsters. The building sat at the edge of a stream, with several waterwheels turning a series of bronze gears. Leo heard machinery grinding inside, fires roaring, and hammers ringing on anvils. They stepped through the doorway, and a dozen guys and girls who'd been working on various projects all froze. The noise died down to the roar of the forge and the click-click- click of gears and levers was the only sound to be heard. 

"Sup, guys," Will said. "This is your new brother, Leo-um, what's your last name?" 

"Valdez." Leo looked around at the other campers. It was a slight shock, as not every little while a person could know that they were related to so many people. His cousins from back home came from some big families, but he'd always just had his mom-until she died and dad-until that day. Kids came up and started shaking hands and introducing themselves.

Their names blurred together for Leo as memories started hitting him like a truck: Shane, Christopher, Nyssa, Harley (yeah, like the motorcycle). Leo knew he'd never remember all these people's names. It was simply what he had accustomed to, after years of being alone. Never bother to know the person, as ultimately they would leave him behind. None of them looked like the others all different face types, skin tone, hair color, height.  'Hey, look, it's the Hephaestus Bunch,' someone would say. But once glance at their built made Leo realize what was the common thing that bonded all of them together. Powerful hands, rough with calluses and stained with engine grease. Even little Harley, who couldn't have been more than eight, looked like he could go six rounds with Chuck Norris without breaking a sweat.