LEO

AS LEO FLEW BACK TOWARDS CIVILIZATION, his first thought was how to explain everything that had happened.

First, he died. Then, he saved Calypso. Next, he had to let Calypso go. Finally, his father and his stepmother appeared to him while he was flying a sixty foot long tank back towards Camp Half-Blood.

Oh yes, Leo was definitely ready to write the children's book depicting the life and times of Leo Valdez.

But first, he had to get him and Festus back home...and face the wrath of his friends, who were probably going to kill him for carrying out his stupid plan, forcing Jason and Piper to fall from an airplane's height, and killing himself.

Just another day in the life of Leo.

The painful part was the physician's cure. That horrible red liquid had acted like a defibrillator, that thing used in that old James Bond movie, the one Piper and he had watched at the Wilderness School. Of course he remembered Jason being there, but thanks to Grandma Hera, that didn't actually happen.

He remembered what Hephaestus had said: Civilization is never over. Unfortunately, neither is Greece and Rome. Beware what lies next.

'But what could come next?' Leo wondered. According to Jason, Percy Jackson, and Annabeth Chase, Kronos had been the original enemy. Next came Gaea, Princess of the Potty Sludge. So what was worse than Gaea?

He had accessed Hephaestus internet for help on Festus' built in tablet, but of course, nothing. Leo was now really confused.

Hephaestus had told him to go to Mexico, specifically the Yucatan Peninsula. There, his journey would be easier. So Leo had pulled Festus left, and they soared to Mexico. That was the last place Leo wanted to go.

Mexico was where he had been planning to go with Calypso, that fine immortal girl. Oh, man, that was painful, thinking about that. Sometimes, he wished he wasn't so humble, brave, noble, handsome, brilliant...the list went on.

But the look Calypso had given him when he told her, it had made his heart shatter...for the second time that day.

Leo's tears had splashed onto Festus' control panel, temporarily confusing the dragon. His master was crying. Why was his master leaking?

Leo managed to get Festus under control, and dipped below the clouds. There, he saw the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. Sailing into the harbor was a large Greek trireme, with a broken front hull.

"WHOOOOOOO-HOOOOO!" cheered Leo. "The Argo II's supreme commander is back, baby!"

He directed Festus straight towards it. On deck, Coach Hedge spotted Leo and Festus and turned the ballista on him. Suddenly, Jason Grace was there, knocking the ballista away from Festus.

"Leo?!" shouted Jason. "What the heck? Are you a ghost?"

"No, man! Took the physician's cure! So how's the weather?" At that, Jason toppled over the railing and into the bay. "Ha!" laughed Leo. "Festus, front of the Argo II, buddy!"

Percy Jackson stood on the deck, trying to lift Jason out of the water, but when he saw Leo, he lost his concentration, and Jason fell again, yelling all the way down. Next to Percy was Annabeth Chase, who had her laptop out, clearly trying to identify Leo. Frank Zhang stood nearby with three bows nocked right at Festus's eyes, but he lowered it when he saw Leo.

Amidships, Piper McLean and Hazel Levesque stood, peering down at Jason screaming from the water. Next to Hazel was…Leo's heart skipped a beat, which probably wasn't good for it, considering everything he had just been through. There was a girl next to Hazel, the praetor of New Rome, Reyna Ramírez-Arellano.

Leo had never actually spoken to Reyna one-on-one, but he had seen her. She was regally beautiful, the kind of girl who could put him into submission if he tried to make a move on her. Yeah, he definitely wanted to get near her.

Leo landed Festus on the dock and ran up the gangplank. "What's up, everybody? Commander-" Piper walked up and slapped him, right across the face. "You suck, Leo Valdez! You killed yourself, and you don't Iris-message for a week! We pronounced you dead!"

"Owww!" yelled Leo. "I was dead for two days, Beauty Queen. After that,...I had some business to take care of."

Percy inspected Festus. "So, the dragon becomes the front part of our hull? I'm no child of Hephaestus, but I can guess that much."

Leo nodded. "Yeah, Festus can repair the broken hull, giving it an extra sixty feet. But I'll need someone who knows what they are doing. Someone who's worked with automatons before.

Reyna stepped forward. "I built my pet greyhounds, Aurum and Argentum. I do know something about automatons. I can help." Leo grinned. "You're hired!"

Percy now was on Festus' back. He held up a harness, the second one on Festus. "Leo, why do you have two harnesses? Who was the other one…" The question died in his throat. He knew the answer. Leo had told him back in Olympia.

But now everyone was interested in the second harness. "Leo?" Piper questioned. "Who was the other harness for?"

"Uh...do we have to do this now? I kind of have to get Festus reinstalled into the hull. But if you want, I can tell you guys…" Leo faltered. Piper looked like she was going to slap him again. "Fine, it was...uh, Calypso. I sort of rescued her off of Ogygia."

"Well, then, where is she?" asked Reyna. Frank kept peering around like he was afraid Calypso was standing next to him, invisibly. Leo forced himself to look at everyone but Reyna as he continued his saga.

"On the way back, I kept thinking about Odysseus, Sir Francis Drake, even Percy. What would have happened to you guys, or even me, if Calypso hadn't been on Ogygia, waiting to tend to you? I think we would have died. Calypso's fate is to help the greatest heroes, so I told her, and left her on an island near the mainland."

A cold silence followed Leo's story. "God, I'm so sorry, Leo," Hazel said sadly. "That must have been tough, but you are right. If Calypso hadn't been there, Percy would have died, Saturn might have destroyed the gods, and we'd all be dead."

Frank awkwardly attempted to change the subject. "So, why Mexico?" Leo looked up and grinned. "I'm glad you asked. According to my stepmother, this place was home to a famous son of Hephaestus."

"You have a stepmother?" Jason interrupted. "Please, Jason?" Leo fake sighed. "Yeah, Aphrodite, man. Piper's mom. She talked to me over the Atlantic about…well she talked to me. Sibling-five!" Leo raised his hand for a high-five to Piper and kept talking.

"Anyway, this particular son of Hephaestus attempted to do the impossible: conquer time. He created a green LED watch way too advanced for his time, mostly be breaking into Daedalus' place as well as my dad's forge. He froze time for so long, it only unfroze when it broke. I think it might be in that temple."

"So, could one of you brave soldiers go and get it?" finished Frank. "Yeah, I'll go. I kind of want to see this guy's work, so I have a bar to compare against you when your next thousand inventions blow up."

A chorus of laughter broke out. Jason and Percy volunteered to go as well, and Leo would stay with the girls to finish the hull.

After the boys left, Annabeth, Piper, and Hazel went back on board. Leo was about to head for the front of the ship when something tugged at his arm.

"Hello, Leo," smiled the praetor of New Rome. "Do you mind if we talk as we finish your ship?"