LEO VALDEZ TIME TRAVEL STORY! I have only very read one Leo Valdez Time travel story, so I'm really excited to write my own.
Disclaimer: I own nada!
When Leo awoke, the first thought that came to his mind was, 'I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore.'
The second was more appropriate: 'what the hell?!'
The son of Hesphestus sprang to his feet, ignoring the ache in his body from all of his injuries and the need to crash to the floor, while rifling through his toolbelt. Withdrawing two objects from the pockets, he hefted a Celestial Bronze hammer above his head with his right hand and stabbed the air with a flaming dagger in the other.
He was in what appeared to be a throne room, but it was different than the elegance of Olympus or the gloominess of Hades. This room was painted a dark red with a white tiled floor and torches lined the walls. Shadows decorated the walls in different shapes, such as temples, ships, and people, and giving the room an ominous touch. In the center of it all, on a raised dias, was a throne of pure white and green curtains contrasted with the darkness of the throne room.
"Hello, Leo Valdez," a voice spoke from the figure seated upon the throne.
How to describe him? Well, he was definitely different with long golden hair and skin so pale, Leo could almost see through it. His robes were a blinding yellow and a necklace that looked like an hourglass on a golden chain was suspended from his neck. But the weirdest of all were his eyes. They were clear- not gray or light blue or misty like the Fates'- completely clear, transparent even. But when Leo looked into them, he didn't see veins or blood vessels; he saw his life playing out before his eyes.
He saw his mother smiling at him when he was young...
He witnessed Hera putting him in the hearth, allowing him to play with knives, and all of the other deeds she performed to train him to be her soldier...
He relived every horrifying and memorable moment that took place while he was on the run or in foster care...
He saw him, Jason, and Piper on the quest to save Hera and later, him and his siblings building the Argo II...
He shivered at the memory of Annabeth and Percy glaring at him after he fired on New Rome...
He trembled with the reminder of each of his friends' demise and the way the sky turned from blue to a murky mix of green and brown as Gaea took over the world...
Leo had enough sense to tear his eyes away from the man's, but still, he kept them trained on the man's hands to detect any tricks.
"Who are you?" Leo demanded.
"I am Chronos," the man whispered, his voice old and hoarse, but Leo suspected that this man was more powerful than he was letting on, "with a C. I am the primordial god of time."
Leo reached into his mind in order to retrieve his Ancient Greek lessons with Annabeth. He could vaguely recall her telling him of the primordals, such as Chaos, Nyx, and Tartarus. He could remember her mentioning Chronos, but the memory was hazy and he couldn't retract the information regarding Chronos's allegiances.
"Calm, demigod," Chronos commanded. "I am here to help. Gaea has taken over the world. The other primordals and I discussed the world's fate with the Fates themselves and agreed that this should not happen. That's why we wrote the prophecies and sent messengers to the Earth, such as Apollo and the Oracle of Delphi. You should have defeated Gaea, but for some reason, this did not happen."
Chronos waved his hand and the shadows shifted into one mass, creating what appeared to be a very strange movie. The darkness collected into the image of a boy battling what appeared to be a woman. An odd orange light illuminated the tendrils that seemed to be shooting from the boy's hands as they wrapped around the lady before more light exploded.
The shadows displayed the boy falling with patches of orange and debris tumbling with him.
"As you see, son of Hesphestus," Chronos announced, "you should have been the one to defeat Gaea, using your fire, but this time around, someone interfered. We are not sure how this occurred yet, but for some reason that legacy of Apollo did not cause the explosion and therefore, Gaea conquered."
"So what does this have to do with me?" Leo asked.
Chronos smiled a thin grin. "Child, the Fates and the other primordals and I have decided to send someone back in time. To the beginning of the Titan War and stop the problem before it begins. By doing this, you will create an even better destiny, a better time line, than we set out for this generation. You are that someone."
Leo gaped. "Why me, though? Why not Kayla or Miranda or Chris? Why me?"
"Because you have the strongest spirit. The ability to lighten a situation with a few words and your personality. The ability to spread hope and happiness when it's needed the most. That is what I need, Leo Valdez."
The mechanic stared at the ground in shock. "How would I do this, sir?"
"However you see fit, child," Chronos answered. "You make the decision. I will guide you when you truly need it, but I trust that you will make the right decisions."
Leo didn't respond for a moment. He was thinking of his friends, Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, everyone. Could he really save them?
"If I do this, can I save my friends?"
Chronos once again smiled. "Child, if you want to save them, you can. If you don't, then don't. But I believe that you want that more than anything. Will you accept?"
Leo met Chronos's eyes and saw his friends' faces flash before him. He had to stop this. "Yes, I accept."
"I knew you would. I will be sending you back to the very beginning, where everything went wrong. You will awaken at Auntie Em's Garden Gnome Emporium, the home of Medusa. Percy Jackson with two companions will arrive there and you will join them on their quest to retrieve Zeus's Master Bolt and stop World War III. When you awaken, you would have just turned eleven years old. Go, Leo Valdez and save as many as possible."
And then, he was falling, spiraling down into a vortex of shadows and fire until he hit the ground and knew no more.
Percy hated this. He, along with Annabeth and Grover, were trudging through the woods, stumbling over branches and roots and all around having a very bad day. The trio hadn't conversed since Percy had had a rather heated conversation with Annabeth and when Percy smelled food, things seemed to be looking up.
They halted on top of a high hill that overlooked a small diner/shop surrounded by statues, some polished while others were covered in layer upon layer of dust. Florescent lighting shining through the windows, but that was the only sign of life. A neon sign read something like 'Nuaty Me's Danger Ognem Pemronimu.'
Sorry, Percy's dyslexic, part of the whole demigod thing, so words often got mixed up in his brain. The son of the sea glanced at Annabeth, but she seemed just as confused as he. It was hard to imagine the know it all daughter of Athena having dyslexia, but then again, all half bloods had it and ADHD and it was a very rare thing when they didn't have at least one of them.
"Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium," Grover translated. His whiskery chin was trembling. " I don't know about this, guys. Something smells off."
"Your nose is still clogged up from the furies," Percy pointed out and he could've sworn he saw a look of hurt flash across Grover's face, but he was too distracted by the amazing smell of hamburgers and greasy fries.
"Yeah, Grover," Annabeth agreed. "We're all hungry. What can it hurt to stop and eat something?"
The Ocean's child and Wisdom's daughter marched ahead towards the building, and the satyr reluctantly followed.
Percy knocked and the door was swung open by a pale woman, dressed in a black dress that covered every bit of her skin except for her hands, neck and face. A dark cloth encircled her head, hiding her hair and huge sunglasses hid her eyes.
"Hello, children," she greeted in a sweet voice that sounded confused and concerned. "Where are your parents?"
"We're orphans," he lied. "We got separated from our caravan. Our circus caravan. The ringleader told us to meet him at the gas station, but maybe he forgot or maybe he meant a different gas station. Anyway, we're lost, is that food I smell?"
"Of course, come on in, dearies," the woman ushered them inside. "Please, call me Aunty Em."
"Circus caravan?" Annabeth murmured, perplexed.
"I panicked, okay!"
Aunty Em rushed to the back to whip up some food for the trio while the three were left alone.
"Look, something's weird, guys, and don't you remember the prophecy?" Grover hissed.
Percy shivered; how could he forget?
*FLASHBACK*
Percy stared in horror as the mummy began to slowly move, straightening and opening it's decaying mouth from which green mist poured.
"I am the Oracle of Delphi," her voice was like nails on a chalk board, "speaker of prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, Seeker, and ask."
The son of Poseidon gulped. "What is my destiny?"
The mist swirled in huge tendrils around the mummy until it formed an image of seven people.
One looked like him with green eyes and black hair, but he was at least four years older. His muscles were more prominent and his skin was tanner. Around his body were purple robes and a white toga. There was a tattoo on the inside of his arm.
Another reminded him of that girl, Annabeth, with blonde curls in a ponytail and startling storm clouds for eyes. She wore a Camp shirt and jeans shorts, her dagger suspended from a cord around her waist. The girl was around sixteen.
The third he didn't recognize. He was blonde and fairly muscular with electric blue eyes. The male wore a purple shirt that read Camp Jupiter and jeans. There was small scar on his upper lip and a tattoo on his forearm.
The fourth had choppy brown hair, threaded with an eagle feather. She wore a snowboarding jacket and ripped jeans. Her eyes were ever changing like a kaleidoscope: green, brown, blue, and everything in between.
The fifth had curly cinnamon brown hair and eyes of pure gold. Her skin was dark and she was the youngest at twelve or thirteen. She wore the same clothes as the blonde, but a golden sword was clenched in her hand.
The sixth was burly and Asian with a buzz cut and a bow and quiver slung over his back. Once again, the violet shirt and jeans showed up and he was pry fifteen.
The final one was a scrawny Latino with impish features, tan skin, and pointy ears. He had brown hair and eyes to match, so full of humor and mischief. Dawning a toolbelt, he wore an oil covered shirt and ripped jeans with suspenders.
The Percy look a like opened his mouth and spoke in the Oracle's scratchy voice. "You shall go west and face the god who has turned."
The Annabeth twin stepped forward. "You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned. "
The blonde boy took over. "You shall find the Flame at the monster's lair."
The rebellious looking girl began. "He shall protect you with a friend's care."
Golden sword girl opened her lips. "You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend. "
"You shall fail to save what matters most in the end," the archer hissed.
Finally, the mechanic held up seven strings, each a different color. One was ocean blue; another gray; a third was electric blue; a fourth was a bright green; a fifth was golden; a sixth displayed a reddish brown color; and finally, an orangish red strand. With the Oracle's voice, he spoke, "The broken strings, the Flame shall mend."
The vision vanished in a swirl of green and all that was left was a mummy on a three legged stool.
*FLASHBACK OVER*
As Percy came out of his memory, he saw Aunty Em beckoning them outside, saying something about getting a picture, and his quest mates looked incredibly anxious.
"Come on, guys, what can it hurt?" Percy laughed and followed Aunty Em out into the garden. The woman positioned them on a bench: Grover on the left, Percy on the right, and Annabeth in the middle. "Where's your camera?"
"Oh, I don't need one, dearie," Aunty Em called and reached up to undo the cloth around her head.
"That is Uncle Ferdinand!" Grover squawked and dove behind a bush.
"Percy, get down!" Annabeth warned.
The son of the sea obeyed, shielding his eyes and stumbling to get away from the monster. From Medusa.
Unfortunately, his plan didn't work so well. Percy tumbled to the ground, smacking his head on a rock, and he could hear snakes hissing as Medusa approached him.
"You looked just like your father," Medusa whispered, fondly, and she stroked the side of his face. Percy recoiled. "Come on, Percy, sneak... a... peak."
The boy felt the need to look into her eyes, to see what she looked like, and he found his head drifting higher and higher to stare at her...
"Percy, no!" He heard Annabeth scream.
Then, a shick! sound was made and a wet plop! pierced the night as Medusa's slimy head landed a foot away from Percy, face down.
Leo Valdez promptly crashed to the ground, his dagger flying away from him.
what did you think of chapter one? in a lot of time travel stories I've read, the character gets a lot of help from the person that sent them back in time, but Leo will be mostly on his own in my story.
Now, TRIVIA!
I do his trivia thing where I ask you a trivia question and the first person to answer correctly gets a character of their choice in the story. I'll probably do it for the first ten chapters, take a break from trivia for five, and do it for ten more, and so on.
What magical item did Luke Castellan give Percy before he left on the quest in the Lightning Thief?