The Fire In Me (A Leo Valdez Love Story)

My First Date With The Girl of My Dreams and a Troll

Tyson is pretty cool, and Mrs. O'Leary is apparently the hellhound. They started helping us get to Jamestown, but that plan went down really quickly. 

We were making our way to the highway, with Jason and Percy in front, Annabeth behind them studying a map, Hazel and Frank talking battle tactics in front of us. Tyson and Mrs. O'Leary kept shadow-traveling ahead, so they didn't stay with the group. Laura and me were in the back. I was cool with that. We wouldn't be overheard by the rest of the group. I had something special planned for Laura. 

"Hey," I began, trying not to have a epileptic seizure. Laura looked at me with those blue and green swirl eyes. I gulped down my nervousness. 

"I was thinking, when everyone settles down, and the rest of them are asleep, you want to sneak out, and fly around for a little bit?" Laura looked shocked that I had even thought of leaving our friends behind. But that frown slowly turned into a smile, and she said, "Sure. I'm assuming we're flying Festus, because I'm not carrying you around Jamestown!" We both laughed. She was really funny. She was the spirit that kept all of us going. I liked that. 

So, when we finally stopped to rest under a big willow tree, by a pond, Jason started an Insta-Fire, while Percy purified some water for us to drink. Annabeth insisted that she kept studying the map, but Percy made her sit down and eat some food. I prepared a nice meal of mushrooms, moss, and bread from our packs. I call it a Moss and Mushroom Sandwich! 

After we were done with our food, we started talking about what we would do after Hermes' post office. 

"We need to think this through," Annabeth began, but Percy yawned intentionally. "Relax, Annabeth, get some sleep. You've had your eyes open all day." She refused to go to sleep, but halfway through the conversation, she was out. She nestled next to Percy while they talked about their plan. 

"How can we plan anything if we don't know where we're going after Hermes," Jason asked, and Frank nodded. Hazel spoke up. "We could at least figure out what to get while we're in Jamestown." We checked our bags, and decided that we needed more food supplies, some First-Aid materials, more clothes, and weapons if we could find any. Laura was left without a weapon, so we had to find something for her to use. 

After we had taken inventory, Percy said, "So, where should we plan to go after Hermes?" No one had any answers. We had no idea what we were doing, and we had nothing to go on. No prophecy, no dreams from our parents, and not even a *poof* of a sign of where we needed to go. All we knew was that Hermes was our only play. He had to help us. If he didn't, no one would. 

We soon all felt so tired that we didn't bother to talk any more. We just settled down near the fire, and fell asleep. That is, except Laura and me. We got up as soon as everyone was out. I led her to Festus' hiding spot: A mesh of willow leaves and mud in a large pit. Festus lifted his head, and snorted a greeting. I came over and rubbed his snout. I loved having Festus back. Before, he was just a figurehead on the front of my ship, the Argo 2. Now, he was my friend again, ready to blow-torch some evil guy's booty. 

Laura took one look at Festus, and started to turn around to go back to camp. I grabbed her arm, and pulled her jokingly toward Festus. She struggled, but soon let her arm go slack, letting me drag her towards my bronze dragon. 

After I got Laura on board, we took off into the sky. Festus shook himself free of his disguise, happy to be a dragon again. Laura screamed and grabbed my waist. I was cool with that. She could hug me all she wanted. Festus lurched to the left, and we were soaring across clouds of moist air, and Laura reached out a hand to touch a raindrop. I opened my mouth, and got a mouthful of raindrops and Festus exhaust. I started coughing, and Laura pretended to do the Heimlich maneuver. We laughed, and kept flying. 

Once we were above clouds, we could see the beautiful stars, shimmering against the velvet sky. Laura pointed out constellations that she had learned in Astronomy. I started making some up, like telling her that "that line of stars over there is called 'The Stick'." She laughed, and squeezed me. Then, for a moment she let go, blushing with embarrassment. I eased her arms around me again, and she rested her head on my shoulder. We were together. We would have fun together. 

Of course, something had to go wrong. We started circling to go back to camp, when we heard a shout that sounded like a thousand Baritones screaming at once. Festus lurched back, torching the sky with his fire. 

"Cut it out, dude! You'll give us away." Festus lowered his muzzle, and snorted in contempt. I grinned at Laura and said, "You want to go beat up a monster?" 

"No! Percy and Jason will kill us. We need to back to the others." 

"But this countryside needs our help! We must save the city of Nothingville!" Laura laughed, and gave in. I thrust Festus towards the sound. When we got closer, we realized what we'd gotten ourselves into. 

Standing before us was an at least 100-foot tall troll with a hundred heads and arms. 

______________________ 

I made Festus retreat into the shadow of the trees. Laura leaped off Festus, and ran in the opposite direction of the troll. 

"Where are you going?" 

"Away from that thing!" 

"You could help me defeat it." 

"I have no weapons!" 

"Oh, yes you do!" I grabbed her by the shoulders, and ran her over into the open sight of the troll. He was too busy ripping the forest to shreds, so we were safe. 

"Look, I'm not fighting that thing!" 

"Yes you are! You have zap powers, remember?" Realization dawned of Laura's face, and she closed her eyes. I backed away quickly. I didn't want to get caught in her rainstorm of fury. 

Soon, thunderclouds gathered over the troll. All one hundred of its heads looked up, confused. An arc of blue lightning hit at least half of the heads square in the forehead. Those heads twitched and shrieked, then turned black and rolled off the troll's shoulders. I almost wanted to throw up. That was nasty! 

But, when I was about to congratulate Laura, she collapsed. I ran over to her, yelling her name. Her face was pale, and her eyes fluttered. She was cold, and she couldn't get up. I realized that that lightning had drained her, and also realized what I'd done. 

Quickly, I picked her up (which wasn't as hard as it sounded) and carried her over to Festus. "Take her to the camp, and warn the others!" Festus snorted in protest. 

"I'll be fine. Just go!" Festus shook his head in exasperation, and picked up Laura in his claw. He launched into the sky, and blew fire into a head's eye, as if to say, I made it angry for you. Don't beat it up too bad when I get back! I groaned and silently cursed the dragon. I pulled out my hammer, and ran at the troll.