Leo never realized that his past was so close behind him until there was nothing to do but run.
It's been 1 year since everything calmed down, the titans, giants, Gaea, and Apollo was back to being a god, every demigod was hoping and looking forward...
Leo paced around bunker 9, a half eaten apple in his hand , his feet echoing through the vast chamber. His shadow so large that it stretched through the entire bunker. The Hearth that he had built inside it roared a deep purple,reflecting his emotions. Festus looked at him with red ruby eyes puffing out smoke every few minutes.
He always had a stash of food, clothes and water neatly packed in a light weight backpack next to his work table if he ever needed to leave at a short notice. He kept thinking about what he should do.
Should he tell Chiron?his friends?
No, he decides almost immediately. He could never do that. His friends were trying to start a better life and he had been growing distant from them ever since everything had calmed down and he didn't think that most of them minded. The only ones who did were his siblings, especially Harley, and Piper, his oldest friend.
Those two would cause trouble if he left.
Then there was Chiron, Leo had a sneaking suspicion that Chiron already knew that there was something Leo was hiding from him. Leo tried to avoid him at all costs which proved to him more difficult than he thought. Chiron seemed to always be there when Leo wished he wasn't.
Leo sighed, running a hand through his hair and looked at Festus who had shut down for a rest. If Leo were to run, which seemed like the only option at this point, he needed to modify Festus. Festus could turn into many things but most of them wouldn't be owned by a normal teenager.
Leo needed him to turn into something really small, something he could carry without being suspicious, something he could hide easily if needed.
He got to work after he sacrificed another apple to the Gods.
Leo looked at his creation with satisfaction. There was nothing a little Olympian magic couldn't do. As his father's child, Leo could bend a little bit of it when he was little, but after being claimed, he started to realise it could be harnessed at great lengths if he practised.
He had been able to make Festus contract into a celestial bronze watch. It had taken a little more time than he had wanted it to but he was glad he finished. He turned Festus back to his normal size, letting him stretch and plop down and look down at his hand(paw?) as if he had never seen it before. Leo didn't blame him, he had hidden 2 buttons on Festus's hand, one: to allow him to change into the watch and the other allows him to change his size, from doubling his monstrous form to turning him as small as a chihuahua.
He had worn one of the only things he had kept with him his entire life. A small bracelet that a little kid had given him in thanks of him warning of another kid who had been bullying him. He frowned at the memory before pushing it to the back of his mind.
He had written a note for his cabin mates and had placed it under his lamp, hoping and praying that they would only find it after he was far, far away.
He led Festus outside and strapped himself onto the dragon before prompting him to fly. As the mighty Beast flapped his wings launching himself into the air, the Hearth inside bunker nine glowed a threatening black before turning blue and consuming the sacrificed food and leaving behind the delicious aroma of baked apple pie.
