In Ruins |Leo Valdez|

Chapter 16

Chapter 16:
Erikka's P.o.v.

"So Brendon, how did you say you found us again?" We were in a cab heading back to Barcelona and discussing everything we might need to know about Brendon.
"I live with my grandma since my mom died when I was born and my dad is always traveling. But occasionally he will come home for a minute or an hour. Tonight he told me to go to that warehouse and save some people. So I did." He was so innocent in his explanation that I could only smile. The kid must have been sheltered because he wasn't a jerk or a creep like a lot of thirteen year olds these days. I applaud his grandmother.
"What's your dad look like?" Leo asked, trying to catch my eye over the kids head. This I averted by looking at Brendon who kept looking between the both of us.
Brendon pushed up his black rimmed glasses. He had a cute face that seemed genuinely happy. "Well, he's blonde with kind of a surfer look. And really tan. He says I look a lot like my mom."
I shrugged. "I think you look a lot like Harry Potter."
The kid laughed. "You've read Harry Potter?"
"Who hasn't?"
Leo raised his hand. "That would be me." I ignored this as well while Brendon laughed again. "Does your dad have any weird traits? Things most people don't do?" It was obvious this kid was a demigod, but Leo was trying to figure out to whom he belonged.
Brendon picked at something under his nail. "Well, he sings a lot when he's home. And when I was little we would use grandma's pots as a drum set. Lately he's just been really somber."
I shrugged, at a loss for who Brendon's dad was. "Where do you go to school?" My question was out of curiosity for if he was the end of our quest.
He gestured to the crest I hadn't noticed on his tie. "North Point Private High School. And before you ask, I turn thirteen in a week. I've been changing my appearance so the people at school would think I'm sixteen." He pushed his glasses up again, and blinked sweetly at us.
This kid was so cute I could just hug the crap out of him.
This had to be the demigod we'd been searching for. Our whole quest was centered around finding this kid.
"What about that voice?" It had been the same one from my nightmares: brought to life. "How did you know that was her Boss?"
Brendon shrugged his scrawny shoulders. "It was a hunch. I've had some pretty crazy dreams."
Suddenly the divider opened and the taxi driver called out, "Alright. Here we are, kids. Barcelona, New York." I handed the cab driver our cash as we got out of the car and he sped away, while I was still thinking of how Brendon and I had had similar dreams as me.
"Take that you sack of cheese turds! Take that!" Anna's voice rung through the air from somewhere nearby. Knowing Leo would have the same idea, and hoping Brendon would either wait of follow, I rushed off to aid my best friend. Two blocks of running is not something I'm up for, but I found her in a hidden alley.
Battling a dragon thingy.
At 12:30 in the morning.
It had maybe eight heads and a steady stream of fire coming from the center one. "Anna!" I screamed making her turn around. "What the heck is that thing?" She dropped to the ground to avoid the flames.
"Hydra!" My first thought was of the bad guy program from Marvel, my second was of the monster.
Anna was keeping it well distracted, so I turned to Leo for the first time since the warehouse. "I'll slice off the heads, you burn the stump. Capíshe?" He nodded his stupidly attractive head, and we went to work. Anna danced around his legs making faces at it, and I sliced with Kryptonite so fast that I almost lost sight of the rest of the world around me. It took longer than I hoped, but soon the monster was dead and dissolving to ash. Which meant it was about to explode. "Hit the deck!" I yelled, dropping to the ground.
Leo, however, caught me around the middle. "Whoa there, Klutz Queen. This is a normal monster. These don't explode. Congrats on your first one." The close proximity was making my cheeks flush.
"Oh," was all that I said.
Clapping from behind us made Leo suddenly let go of me, allowing me to fall to the ground. He probably gave me an apologetic look, but I was back to not looking at him as I stood up. Brendon walked into sight. "That was the coolest thing ever! Can we do it again?" He looked around excitedly, and Anna started choking on her saliva.
"Wh-who are you?" She said, still coughing.
"His name is Brendon." I said, and-at her questioning look-I added, "We will explain on the train ride home. We need to get the others. Where are they?"
Anna nodded and started walking back toward the hotel. "They had gone to bed, but we can wake them up to leave. I got hungry so I went to look for a corn dog, but this weirdo found me first." She motioned back to the alley behind us where the Hydra had been.
Up through the elevator and into our hotel room, I started banging on the walls. "Wake up, sunshines! Time to go home!" They three others groaned and started squirming. I left Anna to finish the job while I led Brendon over to the phone. "Here kid, call your grandma to come say goodbye and bring anything you might need."
He shook his head. "I've already got it." He pointed to his pockets. "And we already said goodbye. My dad told me I had to go with whomever I saved and that I wouldn't be coming back. He also gave me these pants. You can fit anything into the pockets and just pull it out later."
"Like my tool belt." Leo said right behind me. I jumped slightly, not realizing he had snuck up on us.
"Er, yeah. Exactly. Um, guys!" I said, addressing the room and stepping away from the guy who made my heart beat faster than an adrenaline rush. "We can discuss everything on the way back. But right now we need to pack." They looked at me wearily, so I smiled and said, "It's time to go home."

XxXxXxXxX

Our group of seven seemed enthralled by the tale Leo was telling. Though he was skirting nicely over the awkward parts as always, I couldn't help but admire him. He was so strong and brave. And here I'd almost done something stupid.
Back at the hotel, my dad had shown up in the mirror. "Erikka Marie Foster. How dense can you be?"
"Hi to you, too, dad."
"This is no joking matter, Erikka! I warned you before, did I not? That no one can reawaken the dead? And not to bargain as if they can?" His tie was undone and his hair looked like he'd been pulling at it. "Im not allowed to interfere, but here I am risking my hide for you and you don't even care!"
"When am I not risking my hide for you and the other gods?" I'd yelled back at him, anger and fear finally bubbling up together. "And you're wrong. I saw Marlee. Talked with her."
Hades had shaken his head at this. "No. Marlee was their own creation. Just as they create monsters, Nyx created Marlee. She was their first, and they programmed her memories. Something went awry and she caught an obsession with your Valdez friend. That is all I have been able to find out."
"So, I almost-"
"Died for absolutely nothing? Yes. Yes you did." He adjusted his tie and fixed his hair, having said his piece. "Now, I hope you will be more wise in the future." And with that said, he had disappeared.
So back to the present, where I was staring in awe of Leo. Did I mention he was attractive? When he came to the part about Calypso, and the deals, I couldn't take it. I got up and walked out of the compartment, muttering something about fresh air. Somehow my legs took me to the food bar on the train, and I patted them appreciatively for it.
Sitting down, the bar tender handed me a Dr. Pepper and a BLT. "On the house," he said, noticing my eyes were already tearing up. I sucked in a breath and nodded my thanks. "Wanna talk about it?" He asked, wiping out a glass with a rag. I shook my head, wanting to be alone with my food. He took the hint and walked into the storage room to wash some dishes.
Finally alone, I ate my sandwich with tears running down my face. If I was being honest, while they'd talked of bring Calypso back, I'd imagined bringing back my mother in her place. My healthy mother. She used to be so full of life, and now I could barely remember her without her being hooked up to a million tubes.
I heard the compartment door open and I turned away, hoping they would leave so I could cry in piece. They hit one of those service bells, and the bartender came back out. After helping them, they left. The elderly bartender patted my arm before going back to the back room with his dishes.
Why was I so stupid? Brendon in there was a genius, Annabeth was a master at strategy, and Leo could fix anything. Nico was calm and levelheaded, while Anna could change anything people saw to go her way. Percy himself was a natural born leader.
All I could do was klutz things up. No wonder Leo picked Calypso over me.
Honestly, I threw a pretty lame pity party.
Grabbing a piece of bread from the counter, I quickly wiped my tears away on the slice and ate the evidence. "Did you just eat bread after wiping tears on it?" Someone asked making me turn around.
Busted.
"Nyoh?" I said, my mouth stuffed with my own lie. "Maybreeg?" I tried again before swallowing.
Brendon walked over and sat down on one of the green swivel stools beside me. He put his elbows on the oak bar and smiled at me. "I think you did." I chuckled before a hiccup caught me. "So Rikki. How about you and I have a chat."
Great. I was gonna have a heart to heart with the newbie.
I had officially reached a new level of awkward.

--------------------
About 4 more hours of travel time! I am just cranking these chapters out! I am so excited for the book to end, which it does very soon. You will all enjoy the next chapter. This one was kind of boring and focused more on the in between stuff, and Brendon, who is pictured above. Comment who you think he is the son of!!! ~BrieD