THE PROBLEM WITH LEO VALDEZ

Disclaimer: thanks Uncle Rick for making such great characters

Trials of Apollo comes out next year and I'm pumped

woo

This story was supposed to take place before Blood of Olympus came out but look where we still are

((CURRENTLY EDITING THIS STORY, FOLKS))

07/03/16

CHAPTER: I
LEO

Eidolons in the Night

Leo Valdez never claimed he was a smart man. His grades in school were less than satisfactory when he had attended, his teachers had frowned at his lack of ability to focus, and his peers had shriveled in pity whenever he handed his paper back for marking. Still, he should have been smart enough to know that something was wrong.

Ominous hissing sounding from behind his cabin door? It should have been obvious.

Leo Valdez should have heard the sound and investigated. Sure, that was how most people in horror movies ended up dying, but at least they died trying. Leo, however, let the clues fly straight over his sleepy head. Had he been in a horror movie, he'd be the dumb friend that was the first to go.

"Is he sleeping?" Came a timid, wavering voice that didn't seem to have a body to go with it. It didn't seem to be coming from anywhere, really. The hissing droned on in the background.

"Yes, you fool. But speak any louder and you will wake him!" A new voice spoke, this time much harsher. It didn't have a body, either.

"He does not look like the one we search for. There are children of Poseidon and Jupiter aboard this ship, it would be smarter if you-"

"The other two are strong enough to resist, you know that! Earth Mother promised that the child of Hephaestus would be the Seven's downfall, do you not remember? Perhaps I should tell her of your uncertainty..."

"No, no! My loyalty is unwavering, there is no need to tell mother." the first voice mumbled, it's words trembling.

Leo turned in his sleep, giving a muffled "Go away, Buford" as he shoved his face against his pillow. In an hour or so he'd have to get out of bed and raise the anchor so the Argo II could set sail again, but it felt like only five minutes had passed since he closed his eyes.

No, no that wasn't right. Leo mentally counted how long it had been since he flopped down. Thirty minutes, was it? That felt about right.

He had been so desperate to make it to Athens ahead of schedule to impress everyone that the thought of actually sleeping hadn't occurred to him. It took hours of Annabeth's chiding for him to even consider the idea, and then even more time listening to Piper's reasoning that even he, as mighty as he may be, wasn't a limitless machine.

"You're only human," Piper had told him only four hours before. "but right now you're practically a zombie. Look, Leo. You're drooling."

Leo Valdez: putting people ahead of himself just to fight the guilt away after he sent his friends tumbling down in to the pits of Tartarus. That had been fun.

"His energy feels as if he is awake." Mumbled the timid voice.

"Hush! He is asleep."

Two dark mist figures appeared in the air just then. One was large and swirling, it's colours a dark, sickly green. The other was smaller, less threatening. They wandered closer to where the son of Hephaestus lay.

"Aha! See?" Angry Voice said, sounding rather proud of itself. "The child is completely-"

Leo yawned and stretched out his arms, then rolled over onto his back and began rubbing his eyes, "Yo, Frank if that's you trying to sneak up on me or somethin'..." he mumbled, his words rolling off into a snore.

The smaller, shakier figure drooped in the air. "He does not seem like the warrior type... are you positive he will work?"

"Yes! Now be quiet! The act requires great concentration!" Angry Voice scolded.

"I just fear... he does not seem to be capable of what we need from him." Worried Voice worried.

Leo twitched in his sleep. "Dude, stop talking... trying to sleep." he grumbled, now sounding a little bit more awake than he had before. "Are we being attacked again? Those stupid... thing-a-ma-whats..."

Worried Voice's mist cloud swirled frantically. "He is but a child."

"A powerful child, you fool! If you are only set on criticizing the plan, then why have you come?" Angry Voice snapped. "You are the opposite of helpful to me. I know what I need to do without your fussing."

"Get on with it, then!"

"Uhg, how many times do I have to-" Leo growled, beginning to sit up in his bed just as the larger dark figure swooped towards him. The second the mist creature and the demigod made contact, the figure vanished and Leo went limp. He slumped back towards the mattress without a hint of fighting back, and layed there for a few moments, unmoving. The remaining mist figure floated forwards. The boy looked as if he were dead.

"Brother?" it asked, voice shaking. "Brother, did it work?"

After a few long seconds of deafening silence, Leo's face scrunched up and his eyes flickered open. He looked nearly the same as he had before, but the difference was in his eyes. The former dark brown had changed to a bright golden colour, seemingly glowing in the dark as they examined the room.

"He is odd." The boy stated, the voice sounding from his mouth was no longer his. "Very unbalanced."

"What does that mean?" Worried Voice asked.

The boy, Not-Leo, stayed silent as he held out his hands infront of him and examined them. A sly grin made it's way on to his face, mixing with his glowing eyes to create something new; something sinister. He flexed his fingers, and Worried Voice watched in awe as his grin grew with delight.

Wild flames danced from his fingertips, casting dancing shadows on the walls.

"It means," Not-Leo said darkly. "That he is an easy one to control. Leave now and tell Earth Mother of my success, will you? I plan to be finished with this business shortly."