The Undead Heroes (The first part of The Reiteration of Olympus)

CHAPTER 14, I meet my little bro

CHARLES

Before me stood a small latino kid with his mouth gaping open. I guess seeing your dead half-brother that you've never met is a shock.

"But, aren't you dead? Are you like some no-muerto or something? Cause I don't wanna deal with that."

I wasn't really sure what no-muerto meant but I guessed it meant something like a zombie.

"Well, I don't know what no-muerto means but I'm not a zombie if that's what you're asking."

He nodded and continued to nod for a long while. He put his hand on his hips.

"Okay, so you came back to life then?"

"Yup."

"Cool. Cool, cool, cool." He seemed to accept it pretty easily and I couldn't really understand how.

"Uh, Leo kind off died last year, too," Jake said. I stared at Leo with wide eyes. I mean, I knew it was possible to come back from the dead (obviously) but it still surprised me.

"Yeah, it was this thing with an old dirt-hag and an explosion, it's a long story." He seemed to be nonchalant about it, but there was some fear behind his words. It seemed to be more about this then he let on.

"Hey, Leo!" Jake said. "Would you mind showing Beckendorf Bunker 9?"

I desperately wanted to see the bunker and the bronze dragon again, but I didn't want to push the kid. He seemed quite antsy, even for a demigod.

"Yeah, sure," he said and fiddled with his tool belt. "Hope you like what I did with the place, big bro." He grinned at me and I couldn't help but laugh. Big bro, seriously?

"Well, little bro, It'd be cool to see how you renovated the bunker," I said. I stood up and Silena followed me.

"I'm going to say hi to my siblings," she said and kissed me on the cheek before walking over to Leo and pulling him into a hug. He looked extremely confused when she let go and I could swear that he was blushing.

"I heard about how you saved the world, Leo. I'm proud of you." She ruffled his curly hair and walked out of the cabin. Leo looked at me and I chuckled.

"Sorry about Silena, she's a bit affectionate. Being an Aphrodite kid and all." I left out the part about how I loved that about her.

"Yeah, I noticed. My best friend Piper's the same," he said with a smile. It was different from the smiles he had shown before, more genuine. I guess he really liked this Piper girl.

"Friend?" I asked when we walked out of the cabin. "That sounds similar to how Percy described Annabeth."

"Woah, you know Percy and Annabeth?" He looked shocked.

"Yeah, we've known each other for a few years. Percy used to talk about his 'friend' Annabeth all the time, I can't believe he didn't realise his crush sooner."

"Well, me and Pipes are not the same as Annie and Percy," Leo said and made an 'X' with his arms. "She's dating my friend, Jason, son of Zeus. I would NOT want to break them up. Plus I already-"
He got quiet and something seemed to bother him. Now, I've only known this kid for five minutes or so but I felt that I had to be a big brother to him. I'm not the best at this whole relating and emoting stuff, but I gave it a try.

"You already what?"
"Nothing," he said with a grin. "Just had some chick who I used to date, that's all." He was smiling and joking but I could tell that he was hurt.

"Wanna talk about it? Who better to talk to then your brother you've never met before?" I tried to joke but it isn't my strong suit.

"Nah, I'm good dude. Here we are!" We had arrived at the bunkers front door. I remembered how long it had taken me to open it the first time. It had taken a lot of flamethrowers to open the door and I was just about to ask Leo if he had something to open it with when he blasted the door with fire. I had heard about children of Hephaestus being able to control fire but I'd never seen it in person. I couldn't do anything but stare, even when the door had opened. Leo looked at me and grinned, but I could see pain in his eyes.