Many Kinds of Love

Chapter 3

Leo was on his way back to the orphanage where he lived soon after Kelita had left. He could still feel the soft press of her lips against his. Meanwhile, Festus was back at the palace, still serving everyone else and would come home as soon as he was done. 

All of a sudden, Leo felt a sharp pain in the back of his head and the memory of falling before blacking out. 

<<<>>>

"Hey, wake up!" Someone yelled, splashing water on Leo's face, making him sputter and then quickly sit up. 

In that brief moment, Leo noticed that he was in a huge space, lying on a hammock. There were lanterns and baskets full of clothes hanging from the ceiling. And that's when his eyes landed on Triton. 

"Get up." Triton grabbed his arm and dragged him off the hammock and set him on his feet, before shoving a bundle of clothes into his arms. "Put these on." Triton then turned his back to Leo. 

Leo thought briefly of knocking him out and then making a run for it, but instead, he began to change out of the ruined suit and into a loose white shirt and black slacks as well as black shoes. 

"Where am I?" Leo asked. 

"Atlantis, Poseidon's royal ship. Your now my servant and you will do as I say or you will be punished. You will also be sleeping here with the rest of the crew." Triton said. 

After he was done getting dressed, Leo told Triton. The prince then led him up a set of stairs. 

"Your first assignment will be to wash the deck." He said, grabbing a brush and bucket from off the floor. 

<<<>>>

Leo was on his knees with a few other guys, scrubbing the deck with the rough brush that Triton had given him. 

"So, what's your name?"

Leo looked over and saw that another boy who looked to be about eighteen was scrubbing along with him. The boy had dark brown skin, black hair, black skin, and a New Jersey American accent. 

"Leo." He replied, finally. 

"I'm Mike. So, what's your story, pal?" 

"I don't know. But Triton said that I'm his servant now or something like that."

"Sorry about that, friend. Prince Triton's the worst person aboard this ship and likes to pretend we're all his servants. But I heard that the last time he had a personal servant that he ended up beating the poor guy to death and then fed him to the sharks, poor fellow." 

Leo winced at that. 

"Hey, get back to work!"

Leo's eyes widened as a huge buff man whipped Mike on the back, making him wince before he quickly went back to scrubbing. The man glanced at Leo before moving on to terrorize someone else.

"Are you okay?" Leo asked. 

"I'm fine. That there was Negani. You can obviously tell what his job is." Mike replied. 

"A beautiful day at sea." 

Leo froze and looked up to see Kelita standing at the railing with her arms spread out wide as the wind whipped her hair around her. 

Of course Keltia would be on the same ship. Triton was her brother and Poseidon her father. Maybe she would be able to help him get off the ship. 

"Leo friend, I think you should get back to work before Negani notices." Mike whispered in his ear. 

Leo nodded quickly and went back to scrubbing, glancing up every few seconds at Kelita. 

"Don't worry about staring at the princess, everyone does their first time here."

But I've met her before. She even kissed me. Leo thought, but didn't say aloud. Leo noticed as Kelita turned to face the crew that there was a fresh scar on her cheek that had scabbed over. The scar went from her cheekbone to the corner of her mouth. 

"Where did she get that scar? It looks new." Leo said. 

"A demon attacked the ship a few days ago. But Kelita and Percy killed it after interrogating it. That scar is from it's tail." Mike said. 

Leo's eyes widened. The demons were like the pirates to him. Or at least, like before the festival. Just another myth. Leo remembered as a kid being afraid of the creatures that had huge black wings, white gleaming fangs, a long black tail that ended in an arrow point that was sharp enough to cut through an entire forest. But that was before he learned that only a few people have seen a demon up close and lived to tell the tale. And it was just as rare for them to attack. 

All of a sudden, there was sharp loud snap as a piece of the mast broke off and began to hurtle tilted downward toward Kelita. 

"Kelita!" Leo yelled, jumping to his feet and tackling her to the ground at the very last second, as the mast swung above them, barely missing Leo's head. 

As soon as Kelita got over her shock, her eyes widening as she recognized him. 

"Leo?!"

"Are you okay?" Leo asked, getting to his feet before helping her to her own. 

"I'm fine. What in Hades are you doing here?!" Kelita shouted. 

People were now staring at the two.

"Who did this?!"

Everyone turned to look at Triton. Percy ran to Kelita and swept her off her feet, hugging her. She hugged him back. 

"Thank the gods, you're okay." Percy said. 

Leo noticed two guys land on the deck and walk up to Triton with their heads down. 

"Negani, make sure these two receive proper punishment for their actions." Triton commanded. 

"Certainly your highness." He replied, taking the two by their arms and escorting them below deck.

Triton then walked up to Leo. "Take care of this mess."

"Hang on there, Triton." Kelita said, pushing away Percy before standing before Triton. She laid one pale finger on his chest. "Please explain to me why a citizen of Olympus, who is also a friend of the Prince of Olympus, is on board our ship and having to obey your orders?!"

Triton smirked. "He was sold to me." 

"I don't care! Do you realize that Jason could start a war over him?!" Kelita yelled. 

Everyone gasped at that and Leo noticed Mike take a step away from him. 

"I doubt that. He's just a lowly mechanic." Triton argued. 

"Just because I said those words doesn't give you a right to use them against me. And should I also mention that I was knocked out on my way home after the ball and woke up in a room in which Triton ordered me to obey his every command?" Leo added.

Triton shot him a glare before looking back at Kelita who looked she was about to kill him. Instead she punched him, making him flew into the mast.

"Kelita." Percy said, putting a hand on her shoulder. 

"This is payback, isn't it? Because Festus humiliated you in front of Jason and Piper." Kelita said, ingoring him."

"Maybe." 

"Wait a minute, where is Festus?" She asked, looking at Leo.

"He was still at the party when I left and I haven't seen him since then." Leo replied, shrugging. 

Kelita cursed under her breath. "Festus will be worried. I'll go tell Father that we need to head back to Olympus before they declare war." Kelita shot Triton one last glare before disappearing below deck.