When Flames Go Dark [A Leo Valdez Fanfiction]

Chapter 7

They made their way through the crowd towards the Aphrodite cabin. Leo had already spotted them from the corner of his eye. Minos was beside him, helping to regenerate monsters, though he was less solid than before. Weaker.

Leo let them advance.

"You'll have to fight them on your own. Prove to me how much you've benefited from my training." Minos said grandly.

Leo almost snorted. He knew this was just an excuse to not fight, since Minos was fragile right now. He only let it slide since Minos was his leader, after all.

Minos drifted away, not wanting to risk the chance of getting tangled up in the upcoming fight. Leo cracked his knuckles, the sounds ringing through the air ominously.

"Let's not dither and just end this quickly, alright?" Leo said when Jason and Piper were within earshot and could hear him. Leo saw as they exchanged glances.

The air felt charged with electricity , filled with tension- or maybe that was just Jason?

Either way, tension between him and the duo was as thick as smoke. For the first time, it felt... weird to be the one to initiate the fight. Maybe it was because of the bond that they'd had, which seemed an eon ago.

Piper flashed one of her (albeit nervous) brilliant smiles. "We just want to talk, Leo. We don't want to fight you. Lower your weapon." Jason could feel the effect of her magic washing over him, loosening his grip on his spear.

Leo glared at his old friend. "Your charmspeak can't affect me or my ideals. My ideals are what I have spent my blood, sweat and tears on, and nothing you say is going to change that. Your magic doesn't affect me."

"Come on, Leo," Piper dropped the charmspeak, her smile replaced by a serious expression. If her magic didn't work maybe her sincerity would. (A/N ha ha ha ha ha ha yea no) "We're your friends. Do you really think we wouldn't want the best for you?"

Leo roared. "Shut up! You were never my friends, you never made me feel like I was at home, you both made me feel like a third wheeler, and you weren't there for me when I needed you. So shut your pretty mouth." He flung a fireball at the daughter of Aphrodite like one would with a baseball, and she was knocked off her feet, smoking. She didn't rise.

Leo then charged for Jason. Jason, slightly in shock, was unprepared and only barely saved by his quick reflexes. He blocked a strike. The demigods' weapons blurred and clanged in a shower of sparks - fire versus lighting, platinum versus gold, Leo flinging the occasional fireball at him.

Swiftly, Leo slammed the flat of his blade into the son of Jupiter, and Jason was knocked off-balance. The impact was enough to let Leo tackle him. Pinned under Leo, Jason was powerless. Leo raised the Avenger, and Jason was stabbed straight through the gut.

Again.

The ground came up to meet him as he clutched at his stomach, the blood pouring out and soaking the dirt beneath him.

"You may have healed from that gut wound the last time, but you won't now. If the fire and smoke don't finish you off, the monsters definitely will."

With that, Leo disappeared into the flames, his silhouette swallowed by the fiery orange.

Jason was exhausted from the fight, with Piper out cold next to him. They both had burn wounds all over them. His head was spinning, and his torso had gone numb.

He fought to stay conscious, but it was too much for him. He was already feeling faint and woozy when a brick knocked (hard) against his skull.

He finally closed his eyes, giving in to the pain as his vision went white.