The House of Hades

Chapter 11: Leo

   I don't really have anything to say, except that I hope you enjoy this longer-than-usual chapter!

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                     Chapter 11: Leo

               Leo had been through a lot lately. He had gone on a crazy quest to save Her Most Annoying Majesty. Fine. He had had to build a giant warship in six months, and almost see it blow up. That was hard, but he could deal with it. He had been posses ed and blamed for starting the next Civil War. That was pushing it. He had had to go on another impossible quest that caused to friends to fall into Tartarus. Now he was mad. Finding out that after all this he was doomed to death was the final straw. Seriously, the gods seemed to really have it in for him. 

               He sat fuming, as Hazel talked about what had happened. Being pretty much the most ADHD kid ever born, it was hard for him to sit still and listen, even if it was a thrilling story about his friends being possessed by crazy gods, though normally when Hazel spoke he always listened. Everyone was talking about Enyo and Momus, but he didn't care. What did it matter that two gods had possessed his friends and almost kidnapped Hazel when he, Leo, was going to die at the end of this for some stupid oath that he had supposedly made?

                He suddenly realized that Piper was talking to him, and was abruptly jerked out of his reverie.

                     "Leo? Leo? Are you even listening?"

                     "Not really," he mumbled. She whacked him upside the head.

                   "Ow! What was that for?" he protested.

                  "Listen to Hazel!" she hissed at him, as if he was some five-year-old kid who hadn't been paying attention to his kindergarten teacher. Apparently she didn't care Leo was going to die. But there had been that moment right when she had announced the prophecy, when she had gotten a tight look on her face, as if she was holding back a scream. Leo felt more hopeful. Maybe when they got back to the prophecy, he would receive the torrents of sympathy he had been expecting. 

                  As he slouched back in his chair, he noticed Nico staring at him. His powers were cool, but sometimes that kid really creeped him out. Staring at Leo with those intense, black eyes, now was one of those times. He had a weird expression on his face...was it disdain? Leo hoped it might be pity. Then Piper gave him a hard jab in the ribs, and he realized she was talking now. 

                  "Well, first I got this kind of icy feeling all over me, and suddenly, I felt really angry, like I wanted to hit something. It was kind of like the feeling you get when you're near Ares," she was saying.

                       "Or his children," Jason muttered. Leo knew he was thinking of Clarisse.

                       "Hey!" Frank protested.

                     "Frank, he was talking about Ares' children, not Mars'," Hazel consoled, "And in any case, you're an exception to every rule when it comes to those kind of things..."   How could they be joking around after the prophecy they had just heard?

                           "Ahem," Piper coughed, bringing everyone's attention, including Leo's, back to her. Even the cough had been dripping with charmspeak, so unfortunately, he hadn't really had a choice, "As I was saying, then this jolt of pain ran through me. Seriously, it was like I was being ripped in half, and I remember screaming," Piper shuddered, "Then this voice said to me, 'Give up, daughter of Aphrodite, let go,'. Then I remember more pain and I blacked out." Leo would have felt sorry for her if he hadn't been so busy feeling sorry for himself. He saw Jason put his arms around Piper.