Of Demigods and Monsters (Leo Valdez x Reader)

XXXIX

You

There was something warm wrapped around my shoulders when I finally started to wake up.

"Mom?" I mumbled. I had been dreaming of the days when we would stay up late watching movies. I would fall asleep through half of them. "I had the weirdest dream..."

My eyes snapped open when something tapped my foot.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not your mom," Leo teased.

It was like the adventure from the past few days snapped back. Demigods. A quest. Turning to gold...

"It wasn't a dream at all," I said. The next thing I knew, I was shivering from the cold. I really didn't notice how cold I was.

"Thank you," Leo said. "For jumping in there in my place. It really should have been me who got turned to gold."

I smiled grimly. "It was supposed to be... but, did you really have to dunk me in the water? I'm soaked and freezing."

I took a moment to look around. Next to me, a campfire blazed, turning the air sharp with smoke. Firelight flickered against rock walls. They were in a shallow cave, but it didn't offer much protection. Outside, the wind howled. Snow blew sideways. It might've been day or night. The storm made it too dark to tell.

"At least you finally got out of it before Piper. She's still out cold." Leo gestured to the other side of the fire. Jason was quietly looking into the fire while Piper seemed to be soundly sleeping, wrapped in a blanket.

"Keep close to the fire," Jason finally said. "Hypothermia is a nasty thing to go through."

I shuddered. "I'm sure it is."

Suddenly, Piper stirred and sat up.

"Oh, goodness." Her teeth were chattering. "He turned me to gold!"

"You're okay now." Jason leaned over and tucked a warm blanket around her, and me and Leo gave each other a weird glance. It felt like they were intruding in some couple moment. Thankfully, Jason pulled back.

"Y-y-y/n? L-L-Leo?" Piper managed.

I shivered. "I'm fine. I just woke up. I guess we both got the special gold treatment of being dunked in the river."

Leo scratches his head. "Yeah, I mean, we tried to dry you off, but... it's just so cold."

"You've got hypothermia," Jason said. "We risked as much nectar as we could. Coach Hedge did a little nature magic—"

"Sports medicine." It seemed like the coach appeared out of no where. "Kind of a hobby of mine. Your breath might smell like wild mushrooms and Gatorade for a few days, but it'll pass. You probably won't die. Probably."

"Thanks," Piper said weakly. "How did you beat Midas?"

Jason started telling her about how I had pulled both Leo and him out of Midas' reach and somehow sacrificed myself to save Leo. Mostly, he just said it came down to luck.

The coach snorted. "Kid's being modest. You should've seen him. Hi-yah! Slice! Boom with the lightning!"

"Coach, you didn't even see it," Jason said. "You were outside eating the lawn."

But the satyr was just warming up. "Then I came in with my club, and we dominated that room. Afterward, I told him, 'Kid, I'm proud of you! If you could just work on your upper body strength—'"