The blazing storm

Chapter 5

Leo sat down across from her.  "Are you ready?" He asked. 

Darcy glanced around to make sure no one was around.  They sat in the deserted dinning pavilion across from eachother.  In the distance you could hear demigods training and Ms. O'leary, Percy's hellhound, barking happily. "Let's get this over with."

5 years earlier
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"Leo!" Darcy flung herself at him.

They hugged each other so tightly Darcy thought her ribs might crack.  Leo laughed and pulled a bronze pocket watch out of his pocket.  "When did I get this back?" He asked. 

Darcy grinned as she skipped along beside him.  "Long story." 

Leo bad turned up at camp Half-Blood along with a blonde boy named Jason and a pretty girl named Piper.  Darcy could detect a little bit of tension between Piper and Jason so she decided not to introduce herself. 

"I can't believe you're actually here!" Darcy says happily.

Leo laughed.  "Me neither.  What are you now, thirteen?" He ruffles Darcy's hair playfully. 

She nodded happily. 

"Miss Darcy," Chiron interrupted.  "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Darcy looked over at Chiron.  He had started to be protective of her just after she was claimed by Zeus, and when Percy Jackson went missing.  "Yes sir." She nodded.  She cast an apologetic glance at Leo before running off towards tge armory where she was scheduled to help sort the weapons. 

At supper time, she looked for Leo in the crowd of demigods.  He sat at the Hermes table, as every new demigod did.  She quickly grabbed a plate of penne alfredo, burnt her offering to Zeus and snuck over to the Hermes table.  She quietly slid in beside Leo, keeping her head low.  "Hey." She whispered.  "How was orientation?"

Leo shrugged as he chewed on a hunk of steak.  "Boring I guess.  I did catch a metal dragon, though." He leaned in closer and dropped his voice to a whisper.  "They still don't know I can set myself on fire."

Darcy surpresed a giggle.  That had been their little secret for as long as she could remember.  The first time she saw Leo do his fire, it was when the were having a little camp out in Darcy's back yard.  They were going to make s'mores but their fire kept dying out, so, Leo showed Darcy his little 'magic trick'.  They made the s'mores themselves along with Leo's fire. 

"Who are your friends?" Darcy asked nodding towards Jason and Piper who sat further down the table.

Leo looked at her.  "Nothing compared to you." He said.  "You will always be my best friend, kid." He grinned at her. 

She slammed her fork on the table lightly.  "I am not a kid!" She hissed, imitating the tone of one of the Doctor's companions.  

They snickered quietly together. 

Once dinner was finished and everyone was at campfire, they started talking about the next great prophecy and who would be going.  Jason admitted he was a son of Jupiter, Zeus' Roman version and that he didn't know how he got here. 

Leo was the claimed by Hepheastus and it made Darcy's chest swell with pride to see her best friend be claimed.  Leo was suposed to go on the quest as well and that worried Darcy a little, but she believed in Leo and was sure he would do great... and not die. 

Then Piper and the head of the Aphrodite cabin, Drew had an epic showdown about who would be going on the quest along with Jason and Leo.  Piper who the showdown as soon as she was claimed by Aphrodite and turned into a supermodel, decked out in makeup and beautiful clothes and hair.  Dacry wanted to laugh but she kept her mouth shut. 

As soon as they were done, everyone was sent back to their cabins.  Darcy ran to catch up to Leo.  "That's so awesome that you're a Hepheastus kid!" She jumped up and down excitedly.  

Leo grinned at her.  "Well it's nothing compared to you, Zeus kid."

She playfully stuck her tongue out at him and he returned the gesture.  Once they arrived at the point where they had to brach off to their seperate cabins, they turned to each other. 

"Goodnight," Darcy smiled.

"Don't let the Daleks bite." Leo finished, just as they did when they were younger.  They smiled at each other and after a few moments of silence, Leo spoke.  "I missed you."

Darcy moved in and hugged him around the chest.  "I missed you too." She said.  She breathed in his familiar scent, machine oil and breath mints. 

They pulled away and smiled at each other one last time.  They said goodnight again and headed of to their cabins.  What they didn't know was that they wouldn't be hugging again for a very long time. 

Present day

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Leo grimaced.  "I remember waking up that morning and coming to find you."

Darcy looked away.  Suddenly the events started to come back in vivid detail.

Still 5 years earlier
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Darcy woke up in the middle of the night, awoken by the echoing footsteps on the cabin floor.  She scanned the darkness but didn't see anything, so, she closed her eyes and flopped back onto her pillow. 

The next thing she knew someone smothered her with a sharp scented cloth.  She struggled against the hands holding her down but slowly starts to lose mobility.  Soon she couldn't move although she was still conscious. 

Darcy was thrown over someone's shoulder and caried out of her cabin into the dark night.  As she was caried by the Hepheastus cabin, she attempted to call for help but found herself unable to speak. 

As soon as she was caried out of camp, it started to set in.  She was being kidnapped. 

Darcy wanted to cry.

She wanted to scream.

She wanted for Leo, anybody, to hear her and come and save her,  but no sound could pass her lips. 

All she could do was watch the receding light of camp Half-Blood and just hope that the guards would walk by and see her being carried away.  But no one came. 

And then, she was gone.