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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO xxii. enemies of rome _______
"One more time. Exactly what happened?"
Leo Valdez was slumped against the mast, his head throbbing from Sebastian decking him. He choked back a sob. "I don't know. It's fuzzy."
Annabeth, Coach Hedge - a slightly crazy satyr - Frank and Sebastian were staying down at him. The glare the vampire was giving him made him want to curl up in a ball and die.
Annabeth crossed her arms. "You mean you don't remember?"
"I..." Leo felt like he was trying to swallow a marble. "I remember, but it's like I was watching myself do things. I couldn't control it."
Coach Hedge tapped his bat against the deck. "Look, kid, you blew up some stuff. You attacked some Romans. Awesome! Excellent! But did you have to knock out the satellite channels? I was right in the middle of watching a cage match."
"Coach," Annabeth said, noticing the rage that flared in Sebastian's eyes, "why don't you make sure all the fires are out?"
"But I already did that."
"Do it again."
The satyr trudged off, muttering under his breath.
Sebastian knelt down next to Leo. "You've just destroyed my two-thousand years of life's work and you might have killed innocent Romans. I should kill you, but I know better. Just answer me one thing for clarification; did Octavian trick you somehow?"
"No," Leo said. Sebastian had to respect him for not lying. "The guy was a jerk, but he didn't fire on the camp. I did."
Frank scowled. "On purpose?"
"No!" Leo squeezed his eyes shut. "Well, yes... I mean, I didn't want to. But at the same time, I felt like I wanted to. Something was making me do it. There was this cold feeling inside me-"
"A cold feeling." Annabeth's tone changed. She sounded almost... scared.
"Yeah," Leo said.
"Seems like a possession hangover, if you ask me," Sebastian remarked, standing up straight again.
Leo furrowed his eyebrows. "Possession hangover?"
"Mhm," Sebastian hummed. "Most likely a minion of Gaea sent to cause trouble, try to split us up before we even unite. It should be gone now."
"That's a relief," Leo murmured.
From below decks, Percy called up, "Sebastian, Annabeth, we need you."
It was to do with Jason Grace.
As soon as they'd gotten on board, Piper had taken Jason below. The cut on his head had looked pretty bad. Sebastian had given Jason some of his blood, but it still took time to heal given the severity of it. He'd have a bad headache for days.
