Flaming Hearts (a Leo Valdez Fanfiction)

II

LEO

I followed the kid Will to a forge. There, I met all of my new siblings. Well, not new, exactly. Newfound, maybe?

It was all kind of a blur. The rest of the day was a blur, in fact. I remember Piper turning beautiful, Jason calling her "a knockout," and, of course, volunteering for the quest. But I remember that night perfectly.

I ran out of the campfire while the Apollo kids were singing and everyone was distracted. I ran to find the dragon everyone kept talking about.

I was looking around when I heard a crunch behind me. I whipped around, making myself dizzy. There stood a girl with hazel eyes, pale features, and black hair with red streaks. Her dark pink lips were pressed together in a thin line and her muscular arms were folded across her chest. She wore all black leather, with a dagger strapped to each leg. The only elegant thing she wore was a thin, pure silver charm bracelet with charms of what looked like different weapons. I decided it was better not to find out what that was about.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked.

"L-looking for the dragon," I answered truthfully.

"Without anyone?" she asked, one black eyebrow raised. "You want a death wish?"

"N-no," I stuttered, "I j-just wanted to find him before he gets stuck in a trap."

"Why?" she asked rudely.

"Because he could be our form of transportation for the quest," I replied. "You see, if I can just--"

She held up a hand. "Imma stop you right there. Now, come on. Let's find that dragon and get back so that we don't get in trouble." She unsheathed her twin daggers, both bronze blades with black and red handles, matching her hair.

Holy Hephaestus, she was scary.

I hadn't realized she was walking until she turned around and said "You comin' or not?"

I ran to catch up with her.

When I finally caught up, I turned to her, out of breath. "I...don't think...I caught...your name," I panted.

Without glancing at me, she replied, "Willow, but most people call me Will."

"Why?" I asked, but immediately regretted it.

Willow turned to face me, her menacing hazel eyes bore into mine. It took all of my strength and willpower not to look away. "Because," she said, "Willow is a girly name. Will sounds tougher, and around here, Ares's kids are supposed to be the toughest kids."

So she was a daughter of Ares. Made sense.

"What about you? Your dad's Hephaestus, right?"

"Yeah, apparently. I'm Leo," I say.

"So, Leo, where're you from?"

"Originally, Texas, but my mom died when I was 8, so ever since, I've been bouncing from foster home to foster home." I didn't know why I was telling a girl I had just met this. I rarely told anyone this. The only people who knew were Piper and Jason. Well, really only Piper, with Jason losing his memory and all. Yet I kept talking. I felt like I could talk to her about anything; my problematic life story, my third-wheel problems, everything. It helped that she was a good listener. She listened intently and didn't interrupt me at all, just nodding occasionally and appropriately. I didn't expect this from a child of Ares, him being the god of war and all. Things just kept pouring out until I had told pretty much my entire life story.

I smiled, embarrassed. "Sorry about that," I said, my face growing hot.

"No problem," she replied. "I actually enjoy listening to people's stories. It makes me feel like mine isn't as bad as I tell myself it is."

"It's that bad, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah. I don't really like to talk about it."

I got the hint. "Ok, cool," I said. "If you ever need to talk about it, you can talk to me." I flashed her one of my winning Leo smiles.

She smiled at the dirt. "Thanks."

I felt bad for not being able to do anything else.