Leo

Finally a normal summer at Camp Half Blood. Ever since a certain son of Poseidon was claimed by his father, every year has been Armageddon threat after threat. Now that Gaia was finally defeated, camp was slowly going back to normal. No war to prepare for, no invasion to plan, just peace. Rachel Dare hadn't had a prophecy in almost a year; in fact things were a bit boring. Leo didn't mind the peace and quite; it gave him a lot of time to work on his inventions. The only problem is there wasn't a reason to use a remote control catapult, or a super soaker flamethrower, or a teddy bear grenade (well maybe if Octavian got mothey). Leo walked over to the lake and looked out at the water.

"Miss her?" the voice started him so much his hair started smoking.

"Jesus, Pipes. You really shouldn't sneak up on someone like that.

"You're avoiding the question" she teased while giving a slight smile. Piper had pretty much been Leo's unwanted big sister for the last few years. Although he loved her like family, she could be just as annoying as a blood relative.

"I'm just catching my breath," Leo avoided her eyes "Miss who? Annabeth, nah that'd be real weird."

"Leo, I the child of love incarnate, I can tell when you're heartsick." It wasn't enough to have a big sister, she had to know how to read him like a child's book. "If you were stuck on an island for centuries, you'd want to go off and see a bit of the world to." Piper's words made sense, but didn't make him feel any better. Leo rescued Calypso from her island prison at the end of last summer. Sure they traveled a little and spent the holidays together, but it has been 3 months since he'd seen the goddess. She was off seeing the world while he was here, at camp, for no reason. He didn't realize being head counselor came with this responsibility.

"It's just dumb. Percy and Annabeth are both Counselors and they-"

"-They earned more time off than you. You took your vacation time at the beginning of the year. Now they are taking theirs."

"But nothing is happening!" Leo through his hands up and sat on the bank. Piper followed and put her hand on his back.

"There's been two back to back world ending prophecies, I don't think Chiron setting up a little bit of restrictions on his head counselors is such a bad thing. Besides there has been a huge influx of Cabin 9ers. It's not like you don't have anything to do."

"Yea but there's nothing I want to be doing" Leo could feel his sense of humor had almost completely dissipated. He just wanted to get on Festus and fly away to Calypso. If only he knew saving the world lead to responsibilities.

"I understand. Trust me I do" Piper moved closer putting her arm around him. Unfortunately this was the wrong affection from the wrong female.

"No offense Pipes, but you and Jason haven't been apart since the day we got here. And because of Hera, you have memories from even before that. You know love, but I don't think you've wrapped your head around separation from it." With that Leo got up and walked towards the woods. Maybe he'd spend time in Bunker 9, maybe he'd allow a nameless monster attack him just so he could feel something. No matter what he did, he felt like he'd be bored doing it. As he reached the edge of the woods he felt the warmth of someone following him.

"Piper, don't follo- AH!" as Leo turned he let out a screech like he was starting puberty again. Nico Di Angelo stood behind him, just as gray pale as ever. He looked like a 16 year old corps, except his muscles were lean and he had all his black hair. Leo never understood how Nico could be a year younger than him, but look almost a year or two older. His best guess was all that time in the underworld could mess with the natural aging process. That made him think about Calypso, and how she looked 15 for thousands of years…would she choose to grow old with him. Snap out of it Valdez he thought to himself.

"What's happening?" Nico's voice was stern, and almost a little frightened. Leo had a feeling he didn't meant this in the 'Hey bro, lets fist bump' kind of way.

"What am I doing here?" This time Nico was more forceful, and Leo was pretty sure a bit of his own soul was sucked from him.

"First, Hey how are you?" He mocked "Just because you hang out with dead people doesn't mean you can be rude. Second, how the hell should I know? You're the one sneaking up on me." At this point Leo really didn't care if he offended Nico. Yeah, the kid's been through a lot, but really what Demigod hadn't.

Nico's weight shifted, he seemed to get the point that he was being harsh.

"It's just, I was in China Town, when I tried shadow traveling to the Brooklyn Bridge. Instead I ended up here. Every time I try to shadow travel out I keep popping up here."

"When did you get here?" Leo asked half caring.

"Last night." If Leo had been drinking anything he would have spit it out all over Nico. Half for comic effect, half because it was genuinely shocking.

"You've been hanging around the wood all night?!"

"Yea" Nico's face was deadpanned. Leo thought "Of course you don't find that weird'.

"Why didn't you go see Chiron, or at least head to your cabin?" When the words left his mouth the answer screamed in his head. Fear.

"Well umm, I-"Nico's eyes darted back and forth. Being Jason's best friend came with certain privileges. He knew Nico and Annabeth had a secret fling and he was afraid of Percy beating him up. Well, he drew that conclusion himself. Jason was actually very tight lipped about the whole fight with cupid, but Leo was no dumby. At that moment the meeting horn sounded. It was way too early for dinner, so it had to be important.

"Come on, odds are that sound and you being stuck can't be a coincidence." Leo started walking and noticed Nico hadn't moved "and with Percy and Annabeth out on vacation, they'll probably need all the help they can get." Leo tried to slide that comment in as easy as possible. No needed freaking this kid out with his massive knowledge of his personal life. It seemed to work as Nico followed him up to the big house.

(I hope you enjoyed the first chapter.)