The Blood of Olympus: Fan Fiction

Chapter I

I- Leo

Leo's morning was going okay until Gaea decided to ruin it. 

Leo sat at the helm, listening to the calming sound of the waves crashing against the hull of the Argo II, while he was thinking anything but calming thoughts. 

Leo was relieved that his friends' spirits had lifted now that Percy and Annabeth were out of Tartarus, but now the Seven of the prophecy faced yet another impossible challenge: defeating Gaea in two weeks and saving the world. And that set another dreary mood on the demigods. 

Just when Leo thought everything was going great for them, and the mood had improved, the demigods aboard the Argo II realized how much time they had left to reach Athens, defeat Gaea the evil earth goddess, and save Olympus and the world. Oh, and then there was that tiny matter of the Greek/Roman conflict. Can't forget that. 

It was the day after they had rescued Percy and Annabeth, defeated Clytius, Arachne, and Pasiphae (well, sort of), and closed the Doors of Death. Leo sat at the wheel, listening to Festus the dragon creak and whir as Leo maneuvered the trireme through the air. 

Leo had refused to sleep that night so they could get to Athens faster without any interruptions. The only other demigods awake were Hazel and Jason, who had volunteered to take the night shift and guard the ship. Leo could see Jason and Hazel talking out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't hear what they were saying over the roar of the wind. Other than them and Leo, there was no one else awake. Or so he thought. 

"Morning," a voice said, startling Leo out of his thoughts. Leo whirled around to find Percy leaning on the wall, staring intently at the water below as if he were tempted to jump overboard for a quick swim. 

"Morning?" Leo repeated. "Dude, it's, like, 2:00 A.M. What are you doing awake?" 

Percy shrugged and fingered the necklace with the clay beads around his neck. "Couldn't sleep. Every time I try, I get dreams of..." 

He trailed off, but Leo understood. He nodded understandingly. "I get it. I wouldn't want to sleepp either if I had been to, you know, there, and back. Though, if I went there, I probably wouldn't have come back." Leo looked up at Percy. "I still don't know how you and Annabeth did it." 

Percy laughed softly, but his usual bright green eyes were dull. "You know what, Leo? I don't really know either. We could've died in there, but we were lucky we had help..." 

He stopped there, but Leo knew there was more to that story. Heck, there was more to the whole story. Percy and Annabeth hadn't told anyone much about their journey through Tartarus, but Leo knew, with time, they would open up. Hopefully. 

Besides, if Leo had gone through Tartarus and back, he probably wouldn't want to talk about it either. But something about Percy, and Annabeth, too, worried Leo. Despite how hopeful or cheery they tried to look, they both seemed... was broken the right word? They both seemed like they had seen too much, too much of something they didn't want to see. 

Leo felt bad for the couple. They're the heroes of Olympus, for Zeus' sake! From what Leo had heard about them at Camp Half-Blood, Percy and Annabeth have done incredible things. They deserved a break. They'd both been through so much, yet they're still forced to do things they didn't want to do; like be apart of another prophecy, defeat yet another immortal being who wanted to destroy civilization, fight as pawns of the gods, fall into Tartarus just because the Fates proclaimed it to happen. The list goes on. 

Leo realized Percy was still standing there. Percy was waving his hand in front of Leo's face, saying, "Earth to Leo." 

Leo shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. "Uh, sorry. I was just thinking about... demigod stuff."