Starlight and Repair boy (Leo Valdez x OC)

Chapter 12

Leo

"We're going on a Caitlyn hunt - to get ourselves killed!"

I held onto Festus tightly as I looked straight ahead. Angry thoughts bounced around in my head but I only had one goal in mind. Save Caitlyn.

Piper had worked out the first line of the prophecy when we had a small team meeting before leaving the camp. She thought we were supposed to go to the Tongass National Forest someplace in Alaska, she had contacted Hazel before answering. But I'm not giving her any credit, she cheated.

The place we were flying to, was the biggest forest in the country. I had typed in the location (I realised then it was enormous) in Festus' GPS and he seemed to know where he was going. 

Connor was annoying Piper behind me, probably saying dumb stuff (totally unlike me) He had angered Piper so much, she used her charmspeak to force him to seal his lips together. Sometimes, I love Piper's charmspeak but I hate it when she uses it on me. 

Throughout the journey, we were all quiet (Conner had his lips sealed, so he couldn't talk) It was uncomfortable driving Festus with nothing to keep my mind off Caitlyn, we occasionally almost crashed into birds but luckily, Piper would charmspeak the birds to get out of the way. 

I wasn't myself, I could tell by the looks my friends were giving me. I guess they expected for me to crack some jokes throughout the journey, but I didn't feel like it.

I felt as if it were my fault she was gone, the monsters wanted me, not her. I remember feeling a void of blackness in my stomach as I held onto the equipment to prank Percy after I was assigned this quest because I knew that I can't do the prank without her. 

"Look out!" Piper shrieked, pulling me out of my thoughts. My eyes darted around looking for the danger when I saw a fireball, coming towards our direction. It blazed with extreme heat and it was going at least 100 miles per hour. I hated it when monsters interfere with quests.

"Duck!" I screamed. Festus heard and he swooped down, dodging the fireball. But there were other fireballs. This time, they were the size of houses. I cursed under my breath as Festus flew around the obstacles.

After the last one, we hovered in the air trying to look for the throwers. Underneath, it was all forest. Festus did a series of clanks, he was communicating with me in morse code. "Guys, Festus just said we are here," I told Piper and Conner. "Welcome to Tongass National Forest." 

Festus slowly flew down in case there were more fireballs to come. "What?" Piper groaned when Conner frantically tapped her shoulder. He was doing a series of hand gestures, he was pointing behind us. Piper sighed, "You can talk now."

Conner sighed, "Too late." I tried to make sense of his comment when something hit us. We went spiralling out of control with the ground coming towards us rapidly. The wind pushed me back making it hard to see the cause of the problem. I braced myself for impact when I finally had it. 

We landed with a loud crash, shaking the entire forest. Smoke trailed around the trees making my vision foggy. I slowly sat up knowing that I had bruises everywhere. "Is everyone okay?" I asked. The response was a series of groans and attempts to get up. 

I looked behind me where Festus was lying and screamed once I saw his condition. He creaked and stirred but didn't seem to be able to get up. I ran over to him and inspected his wing, the fireball had dented it, leaving a black burn. 

There were scorch marks all over his bronze armour. "Festus buddy, will you be able to fly?" I asked him praying for a good answer. Festus creaked and groaned, he said no. I needed to repair him, if only we weren't in the middle of the woods. 

I dug my hand inside my toolbelt and got out a piece of cloth, I wiped his wing, needing it to be clean so I could fix it. "Leo, we need to go. Someone's coming after us." Piper warned me. I turned around to see the bushes rustling on the other side of the clearing. 

Low voices were now heard, it was a group of monsters. Their conversation sounded like growling as if they were hungry. I glanced at Festus, "Will you be okay?" Festus' red eyes gleamed as he told me he was going to be fine. 

Before I could stand up, a group of Cyclops came into view. Conner took a step back as he muttered under his breath how much he wished these Cyclops would be as nice a Tyson. Apparently, they were not. They carried catapults with rope as they stormed towards us. 

They were the ones that were aiming the fireballs at us. I tried to stand tall, I survived an explosion anyway. But I was pretty sure I looked like a mouse trembling underneath a cat's claw. 

The Cyclopes sneered at us as they clenched their fists. "Hello demigods, I hope you're ready for lunch." The biggest of the Cyclops growled. Conner and Piper looked as if they were ready to fight. I, on the other hand, didn't know what to do,

Cyclops were immune to fire. 

But I didn't realise that at that moment. I summoned a fireball in my hand, ready to throw. "Fool, we are immune to fire, we once worked in scorching Tartarus!" The big Cyclops jeered. I really hated Cyclops.

Once, some Cyclops captured Piper and Jason when we were on our way to free Hera from her cage. Let me just say, it was not a fun experience. A small Cyclops took a small step forward and pointed his beefy finger at me, "Isn't that the one that killed Sump when Ma Gasket was hiding out in a factory?" 

Piper and I paled, these guys were going to kill us for sure. Before I realised it, I shouted, "Run!" These guys didn't need telling twice, we all dashed deeper into the forest. I felt guilty for leaving Festus behind, but my main focus was not getting killed, like always. I could hear stomping not far behind me, the Cyclops were catching up.

I tripped over a root of a tree, causing me to fall to the ground. Pain rose in my ankle, making it hard to stand up. I limped forward, trying hard to run fast. But it was too late, I could hear the growling of the hungry Cyclops, only a few feet away. Sweat dripped down my face as I forced myself forward, desperately trying to get away. 

"Gotcha!" The growl behind me sent up a chill across my body. I tripped over again on a rock, bracing myself for the cub to swing down. When I expected to hear the crunching of my bones, I felt a quick breeze go past my ear. I opened my eyes to see a silver arrow dug deep in the Cyclop's stomach as he fell backwards with a loud crash.

I sighed with relief as lifted myself off my knees, ready to stand up. The pain in my leg got into the way, it hurt so much I fell back, into someone's arms. My vision went blurry as I looked into the face of my saviour. 

She had a silver puffer jacket with a quiver full of silver arrows paired up with a silver bow. She looked like she belonged to the Hunters of Artemis. But most important of all, she had recognisable brown eyes with gold sparkling in them. Her golden-brown hair trailed down her shoulders, gently touching my forehead.

Her soft touch made me want to cuddle up just then. The pain in my ankle burned me like never before. I searched the face of the girl, as if I were returning to an old home, I knew where I was going. Her mouth moved but I couldn't hear her voice, I could only hear ringing in my ears.

A thought crossed my mind when the forest started getting darker. "Caitlyn?" I whispered gently to the girl holding me. Then everything went black.