Coincidences

This whole story is set if Leo and Calypso never got together but became friends instead. This is my first fanfic, so please give me some feedback!
Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Rick Riordan does. OC introduced.

JASON

"How did these things get past the camp's borders?"
Panting, Jason skidded to a stop in a storm of clashing bronze and claws. Of course, he was late to the fight. Everybody was breathing hard, words escaping their reach. Percy, Annabeth, Piper, Frank, Hazel and Leo were already assembled in front of Zeus' fist, weapons drawn against countless snarling monsters.

The ocean churned behind the battle, waves of mutated birds with sharp bronze beaks, beady crimson eyes and feathery backsides somehow rising from its depths, but more were getting drowned by the savage waves Percy was creating. He was also swinging Riptide relentlessly, a deadly arc of celestial bronze colliding with monster and metal. Jason had been around Percy for so long that he'd started to think if he was a monster, dying at Percy's hands would be an honour. He wouldn't rather be killed by another monster-that would be downright embarrassing.

Jason didn't see Annabeth, but he highly suspected that she was wearing her magical New York Yankees cap which allowed her to turn invisible, because random monsters were disintegrating like floppy bags of flour with surprise written on their faces (or beaks. Whatever). Then he'd catch a millisecond of a drakon bone sword slashing through the explosion of monster dust.

A blur of cream and brown and the glint of a heavy cavalry sword was all Jason could make out of Hazel, who had summoned Arion and was gathering and sweeping up the enemies with ease-speed and pinpoint accuracy made a deadly combination. Occasionally a blob of gold would crop up behind Hazel and Arion would bend down leisurely to gobble it up. The only problem was that there were so many monsters, and Arion could only keep running for so long.

Frank had transformed into a giant iguana; probably not the best choice for the battle, but he was probably nervous. Besides, the birds were having a hard time penetrating his tough iguana hide with their beaks, sharp as they were. Frank was literally having a walk in the park, scurrying through and knocking monsters right off their paths and onto their fuzzy backsides for a while, but he wasn't managing to kill any, only disorient them.

Piper was fierce. That was already saying something for a daughter of Aphrodite, but she was moving rapidly, spinning and slashing and jabbing. Sometimes she'd look down at Katoptris, hoping for a peek of the future and an advantage over the battle. Piper looked down on the monsters without a hint of remorse and delivered the finishing blow. She definitely wasn't making as much progress as Annabeth or Hazel, but in order to protect her family and friends, he realised, she would do anything.

All Jason could see of Leo was a blazing inferno shouting curses in Spanish and things like "JOIN TEAM LEO, BABY!" He was burning through monsters all around him, his ADHD kicking into overdrive as he lobbed fireballs into the sky and whooped as the birds squawked and went crazy trying to avoid them, bonking into each other and falling to their deaths. Leo went into insane pyromaniac mode, setting fire to the birds and watching them burn. Jason was sometimes very concerned for Leo's mental health and safety.

Jason joined in the fray, drawing his new imperial gold lance and cutting down monsters trying to dive-bomb him, summoning bolts of lightning and gusts of wind. (He heard Percy say in the background, "Arion! Will you stop swearing for one second?!" As if he'd been saying the same thing for the last year.) Instantly Jason knew something wasn't right-these bird mutants were unlike anything he'd even faced, agile and harder to kill than his friends made it seem.

"What are these things?!" He yelled at Leo, who was closest to him. He had no idea what kind of answer he was expecting, but the one he got was, "SUPER MCSHIZZLE MEISTER IS IN DA HOUSE BROS! GET OUTTA THE WAY JASE!" And a flaming little Latino barrelling past him. He couldn't make out anybody else's answer over the pounding in his own head and the roar of a battle and beating wings.

It didn't take long for Jason to tire out. Pain shot through his body whenever the monsters got a hit in, like poisoned needles jabbing into his flesh. His feet were moving sluggishly, as if these creatures were slowly draining their energy and becoming stronger. He had a vague feeling that he'd experienced this before, but he couldn't remember where exactly.

Gritting his teeth as he blocked a strike, Jason knew that one slip could cost him; the others had been fighting for longer than him and yet were miraculously carrying on, Leo's fire was dimming, and their attacks were slowing down. He glimpsed Hazel's cavalry sword being trampled by dozens of creatures and heard an indignant whinny from Arion. Annabeth was still invisible, but there were less random monsters disintegrating courtesy of her.

Despite their best efforts, the monsters kept coming-they were getting overwhelmed. Sooner or later, they would be massacred, and the camp would be stormed and everybody in it slaughtered. Percy kept the ocean drowning monsters, but more rose than drowned. Surprisingly, nobody was coming to their rescue, as if this whole ambush had been carefully planned. Percy couldn't keep the ocean tumbling forever. Was this a test? No. Chiron would never risk them getting killed… would he?

"JASON!"
"Piper! Are you okay?" He heard Piper scream somewhere in front of him and charged towards the sound of her voice, immediately feeling adrenaline rush through his veins and dispelling his fatigue, if only for a moment-he'd save Piper. Must save Piper.

She was battling a giant feathery monstrosity for control of Katoptris and one of her little feathered braids had been chopped off, her kaleidoscope eyes flashing with anger. Piper was also punching multiple monsters in the face so hard that Jason thought she could probably just punch it straight back into Tartarus. Her face was flushed, and her arms were trembling from exertion.

All around him, Jason saw his friends succumbing to the monsters. They were coming in endless waves, diving and slashing, trying to reach the heart of camp. As he continued running and killing, Jason dimly heard Annabeth's cry as she got knocked out of her rampage into Zeus' fist and a faint yell of "Annabeth!" from Percy. (Jeez, Percy was yelling a lot today) He desperately stretched his hand out to Piper, too worn out to speak, limbs wobbling like jelly.

Jason looked into Katoptris' golden blade and his eyes widened as he glimpsed part of the inevitable future. He saw it happening in slow motion. His doom couldn't be avoided.

Piper's fingers were a millimetre from his, the bird monster's vicious bronze beak aiming to scratch her cheek, when a brick rose from amidst the battle. That. Dumb. Brick. It had popped up in his life so much that Piper had started to jokingly ship him with it. 'Brason', she called it.

He'd even been contemplating a name for it. Maybe 'Brick'… Brick was an actual name, right? That moment of Brick x Jason appreciation cost him. Jason's foot hit the brick agonisingly slowly and he tripped, his fingers slipping past Piper's and landing flat on his face. One thought flashed red in his mind: murder all bricks.

Yep. All hope was lost.
Curse that damn brick.
Jason's friends were tossed violently down next to him in a sorry line of beaten demigods, Frank turning back into a human. Surprisingly, Arion had ditched Hazel and ran (or maybe he got injured, but Jason was willing to bet that Arion was a wimp on the inside). Piper poured charmspeak into her broken voice, trying to keep her speech calm, still managing a sweet smile in these circumstances. "Please let us go. You don't want to hurt us."

Unfortunately, the birds weren't affected in the slightest. They cocked their fluffy heads and squawked before attacking in a blur of feathers and sour monster scent, so brutal that Jason almost threw up right there on Piper, which would have been super embarrassing. His energy continued to seep away. He couldn't even reach for Piper's hand…

In a split second, dozens of giant sharp icy toothpicks emerged from the water and disintegrated the monsters on impact. Jason blinked. Was he hallucinating? No… the monster about to kill him was now an exploding pile of shimmery monster dust drizzling over his legs, which was weird, because normal monster dust looked like rotten flour.

Peeking over the debris and blinking blood out of his eyes, he saw a frosted layer of ice spreading over the ocean and trapping more monsters in, dark wings and eyes trying to escape from the boundary. One spike landed right on stupid Brick. He couldn't believe it-who was this? All the monsters had been destroyed in a matter of seconds. One person had this much power?

Jason refused to believe it. He blinked stupidly as his brain whirred to keep up. It was unfathomable (new cool word from Annabeth)-actually, it was impossible. The surface of the ice-covered ocean cracked, monsters around it cowering, and out stepped… a girl.

The dark, writhing shapes at the surface of the water immediately fell back around the girl. Jason had a sinking feeling in his gut that those birds had either died from fear or from her sheer power and control. Her hair was seriously on point, not even wet. Obviously, she was a child of Poseidon.

Dressed head to toe in simple black, with tanned skin, ruby lips and deep dark eyes that held secrets and suffering nobody should know of. The giant stygian iron scythe with one side serrated and the other deathly cold and sharp that scarily resembled Kronos' was a big bonus to the 'I'm about to kill everybody as a warm-up' kind of vibe.

One side was designed for a slow, painful death, the other for a quick one. The epitome of OHKO, except you wouldn't be knocked out, you'd be dead.

Jason would never admit this, but she was almost as pretty as Piper, in a mysterious kind of way. Just like how Nico was kind of cute in an emo little kid way. Jason got the weird feeling that he'd seen her somewhere before, but he was sure that he'd never talked to her before. It was even weirder than Leo's classic 'I've got a crush!' expression right now. However, she didn't seem like a daughter of Aphrodite.

The aura hanging around her was so distinct and powerful that it was like standing right next to a lightning strike, with the crackling ozone and thunder and the fear of being struck dead-that was the exact feeling. An aura matching Percy's, if not more powerful. Jason was completely speechless for once in his life; his mouth couldn't seem to form words properly. He had a feeling that if he'd be talking in gibberish if he tried.

She stepped right over the pathetic line the seven of them formed on the ground, all of them gaping up at her. With her came the faint scent of the sea breeze. Jason was dumbstruck-she had awesome Poseidon powers that made him look shameful. But who was she?

"Oh, Cordelia! You're finally here!" Chiron came galloping up behind them and trotted to meet her, acting all cheery as if the camp hadn't just been ambushed by a bunch of mutated Tartarus birds. And of course, he didn't show up sooner to help them. What was going on today? Annabeth was the first to find her voice, her piercing gaze raking over Cordelia, sizing her up. Jason could almost see the classic Athena calculations whirring around in her brain.

Annabeth looked pretty shaken up, but her voice was bold and clear as always. Chiron seemed a little nervous that Annabeth would figure this all out, upholding her reputation as a ruthless, clever soldier. The camp's best of the best. "I know you," she said simply. "You were in one of Arachne's tapestries. Battling something… or someone."

Annabeth's stormy grey eyes locked onto Cordelia's and filled with something Jason had never seen in them before: confusion. It was just an unnatural thing to happen to an Athena camper, something like fire growing brighter in water, or Leo not talking for five minutes.

Cordelia stared right back at her, but broke eye contact first. Jason caught Percy smirking a little, probably glad to know that his girlfriend was still queen. "Hey, I know you too! I saw you… something related to Hazel… the underworld?" Frank then chipped in, Hazel nodding slowly. "How come you didn't tell me I had a sister?" Percy interjected, looking puzzled.

Chiron gave them a pointed 'not now' look, and said, in that same falsely cheery voice, "VIP guest here! No questions, keep moving!" Cordelia remained silent, only turned her back on them and continued walking placidly towards the Big House. Jason watched as she flicked her finger and all the monsters still clawing at the ice collapsed into the water. Chiron turned to her, smile completely gone, replaced with concern and fear. Who was this girl?

They all stood up, Annabeth trying to have a silent conversation with Percy, but him not understanding a thing. She shook her head and turned to the group, her eyes searching for answers. If there was one thing they all knew about Annabeth, it was that she always found the answer.

"Jason, Percy. One of the carvings on the walls of the nymphaeum was of her, I'm sure of it! It was also where we felt that energy draining thing when the nymphs were trying to snatch our powers. She was also once one of my dad's makeup artists, and I'm telling you, she has some skills," Piper muttered.

"I've seen her too. When I was in Poseidon's kingdom a few years ago, I saw this girl outside. I kind of thought it was a random vision, but obviously not…" Percy trailed off, his eyes displaying shock.

"She-she was the one…" Jason said, choking on his own disbelief. "She led me to the Wolf House! No way! Was she once praetor of Camp Jupiter? How does she look so different from before?"

Flashback
A young girl stepped out of the shadows, with frizzy raven hair and sparkling eyes, dressed in smiley face clothes like the goddess Iris. "Can you help me?" Jason asked her. "I have to go to the Wolf House for Juno. I don't know where my mom is. She was supposed to bring me there."

"I know," the girl replied, smiling brightly. "That's why I was sent here. To bring you to the Wolf House!" Jason was sceptical but went with the girl anyway through the forest and to his destination. As they walked, he noticed something unusual about the girl. She seemed to have magic powers or something.

"How can I become like you?"
"Huh?"
"Admit that you have magic powers! Do you know karate?!" Jason asked excitedly. "I want to train to become like you. Like a blonde superman!" The girl laughed and just said, "You will find out soon. We've arrived. This is the Wolf House." Dry leaves crackled under their feet as they stepped into a gloomy clearing illuminated by the moonlight.

The she-wolf Lupa stepped out and snarled at the girl and Jason, ready to pounce. She had chocolate fur and silver eyes like mist and the moon. Jason thought she was just protecting her cubs, but the girl seemed to think otherwise. She stretched out her hand to the wolf and said forcefully, "Back."

The command rang through the area, so powerful that even Lupa paused in her prideful stride towards them, misty eyes flickering, before she bowed down to the girl's hand. Jason looked on in awe. He suddenly heard a woman's voice in his head-was it Lupa's? "You have proven yourself worthy… Cordelia. You have done your part. And you, Jason Grace. Prepare yourself. I tolerate no weakness."

Cordelia turned and disappeared, and the last of her that Jason saw was a bright smiley shoe. Totally magic powers. Jason couldn't wait to learn those sweet moves!
Flashback end

"How come we've all seen her?" Hazel asked (maybe to herself). "This can't just be a coincidence! What about you, Leo?" She asked. Leo's mouth was still hanging open. This was literally just a repeat of the Khione situation, Jason thought, rolling his eyes.

"Uh, she… did you guys know that a penguin has knees?" Leo said. That wasn't even a joke, which meant Leo definitely had a hopeless crush on Cordelia. He busied himself with pulling out a piece of wire from his toolbelt and setting it on fire as he twisted it nervously.

"She what?" Annabeth said impatiently. "When I was, uh, on the run, I saw her in the sewer for a second before she disappeared," Leo said quickly, cowering a little as every man does under Annabeth's gaze, but quickly plastering a big smile back onto his face.

Jason hated how real it looked-he wouldn't bring himself to say this, but he usually couldn't tell whether Leo was smiling for real or not. Jason noticed Piper's distressed expression as she fought her big sister instincts to tackle Leo in a hug.

"She used to look really different," Jason blurted mindlessly. All eyes were on him now. "I remember her. She used to have kind of frizzy hair, with a lot of smiley clothing and twinkly eyes." Piper giggled while Jason turned all mushy. She naturally had that effect on him. "We need to find out more about her," Annabeth offered. "I have a plan (of course), just still in development."

"Let's just let it go for now," Frank said, sounding exhausted after and they all mumbled an agreement. "I don't completely trust her yet. We can figure this out later." For once Leo agreed with Frank, nodding his approval. Everybody headed slowly back to their cabins, staring at the doors of the Big House, finding supplies and downing nectar, but Jason didn't leave before kicking Brick into the trees first, safely out of his life. For now, at least.

Percy laced his fingers in Annabeth's, thankful for the fact that he didn't lose her again. Jason almost tripped again in his hurry to meet Piper in a hug, detaching the feather from her remaining little braid-he'd had enough feathers for a lifetime-and Hazel punched Frank playfully in the arm as she teased him about turning into an iguana.

Jason didn't realise that his best friend was alone, tagging behind the six of them, still twisting his piece of wire and moulding it to form the shape of a broken heart.

LEO

As he trudged back to Bunker 9, Leo couldn't help thinking about Cordelia. He wondered what secrets her past held and what she'd done to become that powerful. She was way out of his league-of course, that meant he was already falling head-over-heels for her. Leo knew he would never be good enough… He wasn't good enough for anyone.

Leo knew he couldn't ever compare to Jason, the blonde superman who could literally fly and use awesome lightning powers, who toppled the Black Throne and defeated Krios with his bare hands. Percy was about a hundred times more useful than Leo with his control over water and his ability to defeat almost every monster he comes across.

He'd admit that the big guy Frank wasn't his favourite, but he could shape-shift into just about everything-that's everything more than Leo could. Nico was a weirdly emo guy with a serious addiction to the colour black and summoning an army of the dead with a raise of his hand.

Piper, his best friend, was already more powerful than Leo would ever be. She could bend anyone to her will with one sentence and a smile. Hazel had the power to pull up gems and metals effortlessly, with the bonus of Arion and control over the ground. Annabeth was the smartest person in existence (apart from Athena, obviously), who had wicked combat skills, retrieved the Athena Parthenos and survived Tartarus.

And Leo?

He was nothing compared to them. He had control over fire, but all that meant was that he was an insane pyromaniac with no self-control that couldn't prevent himself from destroying things. Always destroying things, like when he fired on Rome, let his friends fall into Tartarus, and destroyed his own mother in a fire.

Leo Valdez. Useless. A seventh wheel. Repair boy. Mechanic. Jokester. Murderer. Diablo. And he'd never be accepted.

He collapsed onto his bed and lay staring at the sun as it sunk down the horizon. The sky looked like it had been set on fire for a minute, streaks of gold and fiery crimson lighting up the camp before night fell. The whole world was laughing at him. Why were the fates so cruel to him? He pondered over this for a long time as stars dotted the sky.

Eventually Leo got up to work on repairs, as usual. Lately, the only reason people would bother talking to him is if they needed something fixed. He sighed and followed his usual routine, the same one every single day. Leo continued, occasionally smudging the equipment with grease and dropping parts, silently hoping and waiting. As he expected, nobody knocked to call him to dinner.

Was this a good start to the story? Let me know! Also, I would really appreciate some comments on my writing, if there are any problems, etc.