The Boy on Fire

Chapter 4

This was the weirdest day ever. I had been whisked away from my normal school into a world with monsters and magic where I was a daughter of the Greek goddess, Athena. As you can tell, it was going to take me a while to settle into this new life. After the whole 'claiming' business was over, the kid who I met earlier, Connor Stoll, stepped up as the child of Hermes for the quest. Chiron decided that we should have a private meeting with him in the morning, then set off for our adventure as soon as possible. I was exhausted after the campfire, so I decided to go to the Athena cabin to settle in for the night. Luckily, I had met Annabeth, my new half-sister, that morning so I had someone to show me to my bunk and everything. When she showed me to my bunk, I conked out immediately. Unfortunately, that's when the dreams started.
I was in a cave that must have been -0° with icicles formed all around the walls. I was surrounded by razor-sharp icy spikes poking out of the ground in a circle shape, as if it were some sort of cage. On the wall right in front of me, I saw someone lying on the ground unconscious. in a dark corner of the cave I saw two other people, one on the ground and the other standing over the first person. The one standing up had its arm raised as if it were about to strike. The person's arm came down and something went flying from its hand, towards the one on the ground. Just as it was about to make contact, the scene changed. It was so dark and gloomy, like the sun had turned gray. I was at the bank of a river that I knew I was supposed to cross. I tried to advance towards the river, but my feet felt like lead and I couldn't move. On the other side of the river was a boy who stood in front of a tall, shadowy figure. The boy said something, but whatever it was, the figure refused. It sent the boy back towards the river. I couldn't see his face or tell who he was, but the boy crouched down near the river, head in his hands. I didn't understand what any of this meant, but I figured it would be important soon. The scene changed again. I was kneeling on a mountain covered with snow. A cold voice started to speak out of nowhere, "I promised you half-bloods that I would have my revenge, and I shall soon receive it. I shall rule the world without being under the influence of those stupid Olympians!" Then I woke up in a cold sweat. Annabeth was kneeling next to my bunk with a worried look on her face.
"Was it the dreams?" she asked, completely anticipating me.
"Yeah," I responded. I looked around to find a bunch of other campers running around and cleaning up the cabin. I decided to sit up, grab my braces and attempt to do the same thing. Annabeth helped me make my bed while I told her about the nightmares.
"Hmmm..." She thought aloud after I had finished. "That doesn't sound too good...but I'm sure you'll figure it out,"she assured me.
Next to my bunk I saw something that I hadn't noticed the night before. There was a wooden chest at the end of my bed with a fresh set of clothes and a backpack filled with toiletries and other emergency supplies.
"I figured you might need this stuff for your quest," Annabeth explained. I got changed into the new set of clothes (which took me what seemed like forever) and tucked my sunglasses into the pocket of my new jeans. By the time I finished, it was time for breakfast. I walked down to the dining pavilion with my new cabin mates. When I got there and sat down, Leo passed my table on the way to his. He smiled at me, bent down next to my ear and whispered, "See me in the Big house after breakfast," then walked away. I had no idea what he had planned this time, but I had a feeling it would be dangerous.
I made my way down to the Big House and knocked on its door. Chiron answered it and greeted me.
"Good morning, Julianna. I have a feeling you are here to see Leo?" he asked. I nodded.
"He's in the infirmary, it's the first right down that hallway. You can't miss it." I thanked him and headed over to where he described. Sure enough, Leo was standing in the huge room separated into sections by curtains for patients. He was talking to Mandy, the girl I had met the night before. He waved me over to where they were standing and motioned me to sit down on the bed in front of them.
"Hey, I think you've met Mandy from the Apollo cabin, right?" I nodded. He continued, "Well, since we're going on a quest and Mandy's the strongest healer here now that Will is vacationing in Camp Jupiter, I asked you guys to come down here." Leo turned to me.
"I was wondering how you would feel if I said that I convinced Mandy to cure you." My jaw dropped and Leo smiled. I stared at him in disbelief.
"Really? You would do that for me?" I asked Mandy.
"Yeah, sure. It's going to be pretty hard to fight monsters with your braces, so Leo convinced me to try to heal you!"
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get started!" I pleaded excitedly.
Mandy placed her hands gently on my knee caps and closed her eyes. I felt a tingly sensation in my legs and I started to feel different. I actually felt normal. After about a minute of awkward silence, Mandy opened her eyes and smiled.
"Go ahead, try to walk," she urged. I placed my feet on the floor and started to apply my weight onto them. I tried to walk a step or two, but lost my balance and started to fall. Leo rushed to my side and caught me. I looked up to his face and we locked eyes. It felt like hours of staring into those deep brown eyes until I said, "Thanks..."
"Don't worry. I'll always be here to catch you," he replied bravely. I looked away and tried to stand again, regaining my balance.
"I just have to get used to walking again..." I reassured myself out loud. "Then I'll be fine," I tried to walk around the infirmary with Leo following at my side, ready to catch me at a moment's notice. I started walking normally, or at least close enough, and I sat back down on the bed.
"Mandy, thank you so much!" I exclaimed before pulling her into a hug.
Mandy had said that it was no problem and that she had been happy to do it, and then she left. I got up and walked towards Leo. I smiled at him and gave him a big hug.
"Thank you," I whispered. "It was so sweet of you to think of me,"
"Does this mean you're over the whole afraid-of-men thing?"
"No, that'll take a while. But now I know I can trust you," I pulled away and looked into his eyes.
"Anyone who cares about me enough to get rid of my paralysis is definitely a keeper," I said with a smile.
"That reminds me," he looked away sheepishly.
"Um...I...uh...made you something," he stuttered while pulling something out of his tool belt pocket. He opened his hand to reveal two necklaces with charms on them that were shaped like hearts. He placed one over my head and around my neck, then the other one around his own.
"Um...I made us matching necklaces...uh...They're magic!" he burst out, all flustered.
"Leo, why do you seem so nervous?" I asked.
"When one of us rubs the necklace, the other person's necklace gets warm, so if you're in trouble, just rub the heart charm and I'll know to come find you." Leo explained.
I looked into his eyes again. "That was really thoughtful of you," I said with a smile. I gave him another hug and he rested his head on top of mine. Leo sighed with content.
"I was going to ask you something..." Leo muttered.
"What is it, Leo?" I asked curiously, pulling away again.
"Well, I thought the necklaces would represent something...like..." he sighed.
"Tell me," I pleaded
"It's embarrassing..." He looked down at the floor. I gave him a stern look and we started a silent conversation. I won the argument.
"Well, since they're heart-shaped and I kind of thought we...I don't know..."
"Spit it out, Valdez!" I chided.
"Will you be my girlfriend?" The question totally caught me off guard. I mean, I didn't hate the guy, but I just wasn't expecting it.
After a minute or so of silence, I asked, "So the necklace is kind of like a wedding ring, only we're not getting married. Am I correct?"
"Uh, I guess so," he answered. I pondered this. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Yes," I answered. He sighed a great sigh of relief. Then Connor walked into he room and stopped dead in his tracks.
"Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt anything." Connor spat. "But Chiron wants all of us in the living room ASAP." We followed Connor down a hallway where we found Chiron in the living room, but this time he was sitting in a wheelchair with a blanket over his legs. He looked as if he was normal.
"Ah, hello, young half-bloods. Come take a seat and we can discuss things." All three of us sat down on a couch, facing Chiron. Leo and Connor sat next to me. Connor scooted closer to me, just as Leo did in his room. Then he leisurely outstretched his arm and rested it on the back of the couch behind me. I started taking deep breaths and looked at Leo. He didn't notice. I started to rub the new necklace. Then Leo looked down at his own and looked at me. He finally noticed the worried look on my face and looked at Connor.
"Hey, Connor, could you move over a little bit over there? I'm kind of squished,"Leo asked with a friendly smile. Connor moved over about six inches and I relaxed.
"So where is this cave we're supposed to go to? And what frozen kingdom are we supposed to melt?" I began.
"Well, caves are usually in mountains, right? And almost every mountain I can think of has snow on it..." Leo put in.
"That really narrows it down..." I muttered
"The cave is supposed to be the 'the coldest cave', right? And it said something about us fighting snow?" Connor asked.
"Well, Mount McKinley has been considered to be the coldest mountain on earth, so there has gotta be some snow there," I reasoned. Leo turned to me with a small grin on his face. "What?" I asked, noticing the behavior.
"You're so smart..." he mumbled in astonishment. I raised my eyebrow, amused, then rolled my eyes. I turned back to face Chiron and out of the corner of my eye I noticed Connor scowling in Leo and I's direction and I wasn't sure why. I nervously glanced at Connor and scooted closer to Leo about an inch.
"If you are planning to go to Alaska, I must warn you that it is a place far beyond the gods. You will loose contact with us. As long as you're aware of the dangers, then I will give my permission." Chiron warned. I glanced at Leo, then at Connor.
"You guys ready for this?" I asked cautiously.
Leo gave me a huge smile. "Are you kidding me? I'm Leo Valdez, Bad Boy Supreme! I don't know about you guys, but I'm not afraid of some mountain! Let's do this!"
"Gods, Leo, you can be so arrogant sometimes," I criticized playfully. I wasn't too sure about the whole melting and sacrificing part, but I knew that if I had Leo with me on this quest, I would be just fine.
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Hey, everybody! Sorry this has really slow updates...It's kinda hard to keep up with school and finding stuff to write about at the same time. I just wanted to say thanks for all the readers out there! I'm almost at 100 views now! It might not be much compared to other stories but it's much more than I thought I'd get.

And I'm wondering...Should I do a chapter in Leo's P.O.V. soon? Leave a comment and let me know!
-Gussifer Lopez :-)