6

This takes place after the battle with Gaia. It is being written before the last book has come out. For the sake of the story, assume that they won with everybody making it out alive (except Octavian but no one liked him anyway. It was the only good thing that Gaia did. May he rest in pieces like the teddy bears he has slain) and the camps are in the process of being rebuilt.

Leo was tinkering with the Archimedes sphere, trying to see if he could rig it to do something useful, like become a soldering gun, or send messages around the camp, or give that annoying kid who kept boasting about his battle skills that didn't exist an impromptu haircut. The sun was starting to set and the bell for dinner rang, reminding him of how hungry he was.

As he scraped some of his food into the fire as an offering, he hesitated for a second and sacrificed a little more to his dad. He thought of how tired he had looked the last time he visited to help rebuild some of the more intricate parts and machines of Camp-Half-Blood.

He sat down at the table with Jason and Percy hoping to get to talk with them. They were in the middle of a conversation and greeted him when he sat down, but quickly continued, almost ignoring Leo. They were talking about the finer details of the plans to rebuild the big house and most of the weapon sheds so he could wait through this important conversation.

His thought began to drift off. They had done this a lot recently and Leo knew why. "Dude, you are so quiet, is something wrong?" Percy asked waving his hand in front of Leo's face to get his attention.

"Nothing wrong, I just wanted to talk to you guys."

"Well, fire away," Jason said, obviously glad to get off the subject of rebuilding.

"Well, you see," Leo started but was interrupted by Annabeth who stood up on a chair so she could speak to everyone.

"Thank you for your attention. Rachael just told me that she has received a prophecy and she needs everyone to gather at the fire pit immediately after dinner. Quite honestly, I don't see what could be so important, but I have faith in her. So, immediately after dinner, head on over there. Thanks." She sat back down and began whispering to Rachael who kept glancing at Leo and smiling.

Leo was one of the last ones to stand and head for the door. As he was passing the path that lead to the sword-training arena, a shimmer caught his eye. Looking over, he saw Rachael staring at him. She beckoned him over and he obeyed. Her bodyguard was nowhere to be seen which Leo was ok with because that guy from Ares' house freaked him out.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, a little of his confusion showing in his voice.

"I just thought I'd let you know that you needed to pack."

"For what?" Leo asked, shocked.

"Oh, just pack and meet at the fire pit." With that she turned and slowly meandered off in the general direction of the meeting. Freaky, he thought, heading to his cabin. As he stood next to his bunk by his worktable, he realized that he didn't know what he was packing for. He always had his tool belt on, and his clothes would stay clean, but did he need anything else?

Other than food, he couldn't think of much; just his Archimedes sphere and a few of his smaller projects that he could fit in his belt. He turned and saw a knapsack sitting on his bed. He could have sworn it wasn't there not twelve seconds ago the last time he looked. Peeking inside he saw it was filled with a few days supplies of ambrosia. Ambrosia? He thought, what am I getting myself into? He closed the sack and slung it over his shoulder, heading to the meeting. By the time he got there, all of the formalities were over and Chiron was standing in the middle, giving reports on deadlines of finishing buildings and such.

Leo stood at the edge of the firelight, wandering if this was what the meeting was all about. When Chiron finished, Rachael Elizabeth Dare stood up and walked to the edge of the fire, staring at its brightest ember in the middle. She raised her hands to the sky as if in prayer and the smoke began to condense and form a sphere above the fire. Leo's jaw hit the dirt. In the middle was a picture of the garden that he had been dreaming of for the past few weeks. He immediately knew what was happening.

"Fellow demigods, an unusual prophecy has been brought to me. Here is what it says. 'The fire shall be brought through water and wind to restart a flame of eons ago, this single flame shall burn for all to see but not approach' one of the campers here is being called on a quest, a solo quest." A bout of whispering swept through the crowd. A solo quest was almost unheard of and extremely dangerous. Leo knew that and he didn't like it one bit.

"Leo Valdez," Rachael called, "step forward, please." He took one tentative step and every eye turned to him making him falter. Recovering quickly, he walked the rest of the way and stood, staring at Rachael. "Leo, do you accept this solo quest to fulfill this strange prophesy?"

Leo thought of that garden and the memories it brought. Without much hesitation, he said, "Of course I do."

"Then I hereby send you off with the blessings of the gods. You will leave tomorrow."

The circle was empty, but Leo still stood there, staring into the dying embers. He didn't know which god had sent the prophecy, but he knew it wasn't his father or Zeus. Someone walked up behind him and he turned quickly, alert.

"Hey," it was Piper.

"Oh, hey, can I help you?"

"I just saw that you were still standing in the exact same spot. Which is really unusual for you so I thought I'd see if you were ok."

"Yeah I'm fine. Just thinking about the quest, that's all." He shuffled his feet nervously wishing that the conversation could be over.

"Before you go tomorrow, make sure you come see us. Promise?"

"Promise." He said, smiling for the first time since dinner. She gave him a hug and jogged off. Curfew was in a few minutes and she didn't want to be late. Quite frankly, Leo couldn't care less about curfew, especially tonight. He heard Chiron's hooves clopping against the stones as he approached.

They both stood there in silence for a moment. Chiron broke the spell by saying, "You should probably go check on Festus. You haven't been around him in a few days; you might want to make sure everything is ready." Leo gave a sigh and nodded, walking off to the lake where the ship sat and waited.

He woke up before the rest of his cabin and snuck outside to get some fresh air. He found Percy, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Jason, and Piper standing around, talking. Hazel was the first to spot him in the gloom of the setting moon and beckoned him over. The circle spread out to allow room for him and everyone started talking at once. He had to set his arms on fire to get them to finally shut up and let him speak. "To answer your questions, no, I wasn't expecting this, yes I do know what I have to do, and yes, this does have everything to do with what happened after Khione threw me off the ship. The only thing I don't know is how I will get there, and what exact trials await me but I have a feeling they won't be as difficult as the past couple of months."

Everyone remained silent. Piper reached behind her back and grabbed the cornucopia. "Here, you will need food." She gave him a hug and stepped back Annabeth stepped up and handed him a celestial bronze dagger.

"Just in case" was all she said before hugging him and stepping back by Percy. Jason stepped forward and clapped him on the shoulder.

"If you are ever in trouble in the sky, just call for some help and my friends will come." Leo nodded.

"Same with the sea," Percy piped up, "I'll pray to my dad for safe passage for you if necessary.

Frank and Hazel stepped up together and handed him a small bag. Hazel said, "My dad told me to give this to you, something about having to get back at Jupiter for something or another. And don't ask me what's in it, I have no clue." He took it and stuffed it in his tool belt. They both gave him a hug and stepped back.

Leo felt a thud through the ground and looked around. The sun was starting to come up and he could see a silhouette of someone running towards them. He smiled when he realized it was Tyson, jogging and waiving to get their attention. He came up, not even out of breath and knelt down to get eye level with them.

"Forge Buddy, I made this for you." He said, holding out his hand. In his palm was a small, thick celestial bronze shield. By the grip, was an indention. The front was smooth and shiny and it seemed to glow even in the light of the rising sun. "Can I see your mechanical ball quickly, please?" He asked holding out his other hand. Leo hesitantly handed it over and Tyson turned the shield over and placed it into the indention by the grip. It immediately stared humming and shaking. Within seconds, it was spinning in his palm, and then floating in the air with the smooth part up. It had turned into a flying saucer.

Tyson waved his hand and the saucer followed it, moving in an arch. Quickly grabbing it, he pulled out the sphere and handed them both to Leo. "Also, if you push that before you insert the ball," he said pointing to a well hidden button next to the indention, "you can use it to fly short distances. You can stand on top of it. Although it has a one hundred and fifty pound weight limit." He stepped back and smiled, obviously pleased with himself. He may have a simple mind, but he could still surprise even Leo with his building skills.

"Thanks man, its just what I might need." Tyson started tearing up and he scooped them all into a big group hug with Leo in the middle. As much as he wanted the moment to last, Leo knew he had to head off.

The entire camp was crowded by the beach of the lake as Leo made the final few adjustments on the control panel. Festus gave a whir of satisfaction as he prepared for this journey. Leo looked at the crowd one last time and waved. A round of cheers went up as the boat lifted into the sky and turned towards the Atlantic Ocean, and towards the beginning of Leo's quest.