Hello, everyone, I'm back with an extra long chapter!
If you've read Powerless by Matthew Cody, see if you can catch my reference. If you can, I'll give you a character in the story!
Disclaimer: I own nothing... not even Leo. Why do you continue to depress me, Disclaimer!?
When Leo woke up, he expected to be washed up on some shore somewhere, maybe with people leaning over him, maybe not. Or possibly still floating in the water, among the wreck of the Princess Andromeda.
He did not expect to wake up in a jail cell.
The cell was small, small enough for Leo to feel claustrophobic. The walls were of black and smooth stone with little cracks or rough patches. There were no windows, only a steel door of sorts directly in front of Leo. There was nothing in the cell except for a thin blanket that provided little warmth to the soaked demigod.
The door was opened by the demigod from the ship. Leo recognized his blonde hair and emerald eyes. Now that he was up close, Leo could see that he was wearing a black shirt and blue jeans with doodles all over them- Runes.
A child of Hecate, Leo realized.
"Good to see you're awake," he growled, kicking Leo in the ribs and making the already sore boy curl in on himself. "Weak."
"W-Where am I?" Leo cursed himself when he stammered.
"That's for me to know, and you to find out. All you need to know is that you are in the Titan Lord's custody, and I highly doubt you'll leave alive."
"That's comforting," Leo said, sarcastically, getting some of his famous spunk back.
The boy kicked him in the ribs again. "I wouldn't get too mouthy. The Titan Lord asked for us to bring you here alive; that cannot mean good things for you. Now, get up."
Leo used the wall to push himself to his feet, noticing for the first time that his hands were bound with some kind of glowing rope the color of steel.
"What is this?" He questioned.
"My brother made it. It shuts off your fire powers as long as you wear it. We can't have you burning us to a crisp, now can we?"
Well, there goes that plan, Leo thought.
The boy forced him to walk along, past glaring monsters and demigods that either stared at him with pity or rage.
Finally, the pair arrived at a steel door, and the boy knocked.
"You may enter," a frigid voice that sounded both young and old as time echoed through the chamber, despite the fact that the being had only whispered.
The boy shoved Leo inside and followed him, slamming and locking the door behind them.
The body of Luke Castellon (presently hosting Kronos) was seated upon a throne of stone as black as midnight, the same material as the walls that made this fortress/palace/thing. Whatever this place was.
"Hello, little fire user."
"Hello, Luke or Kronos or bastard or whatever you want to be called," Leo snapped. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to insult his captor, but seriously, you try being even remotely polite to the person that kidnapped you and tried to kill your friends!
The boy shuffled, nervously, from behind him, but Kronos simply chuckled.
"Ah, you are brave. You have some nerve, humor... I will enjoy ridding you of it."
"Sorry, dude, but many people have tried and no one has succeeded," Leo snarked. "And you're not gonna be the one to do so."
"We'll see about that. Maria!" He shouted, gesturing to an empousa that Leo hadn't noticed until now. "Bring me TW10. Now."
"With pleasure, my Lord," Maria smirked with a cruel expression, a horrible smile that sent shivers up Leo's spine.
As the vampire girl exited the room, Kronos turned back to Leo, smiling a grin that reminded Leo, rather fittingly, of the Grinch on those cartoons he used to watch.
"Now, Leo, I would love to hear all about your plan to destroy my ship. It was rather clever," Kronos stated. "Shockingly clever. What was the entire plan?"
"Oh, it was rather simple. Break in, and blow it up. Geesh, and I thought you were smart," Leo taunted.
That got Kronos angry. Before Leo knew it, a hand connected with his face with the force of a freight train, sending him flying across the room and crashing into the wall.
"I'd watch your tongue, boy. After all, I have the power to kill you or not. Which would you prefer?"
Leo didn't say a word. He just glared with all his might.
"Now, show me."
"Show you what?"
"Your powers, boy, how dumb can you get? Trent, remove his bonds," Kronos snarled.
Trent moved to do so with cautious hands, never taking his eyes off Leo in case he decided to burst into flames.
Leo had to come up with a plan and fast.
I could show him my powers, but not their full extent. After all, conceal your strengths until they're truly needed.
Leo shook his head. I have been hanging out with Annabeth too much, he thought.
He held out his hand and allowed a small ball of orange flames to appear in his palm, dancing around and illuminating the walls.
"And?" Kronos demanded.
"That's really all I can do on the summoning part. As for immunity, I've been practicing that," Leo answered, closing his hand in a fist and extinguishing the flames.
"You would have to to survive that explosion you caused. Some of the Cyclopi even burned, which should be impossible."
Leo smirked as he met Kronos's eyes (or Luke's, depending on how you look at it). "Oh, Kronos, I don't think you realize, but impossible is not in my vocabulary."
Kronos nodded. "Determined. Daring. Brave. I like you. You may be useful once I've broken you."
Leo rolled his eyes. "If you think that I'm going to serve you, you're dreaming."
"Oh, don't worry, boy, I'll make sure you change your mind. Now, tell me. What was your entire plan?"
Leo thought about it. "Well, break in, set up the explosives, get captured, set the explosion off after I warned Percy, and that's about it."
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that getting captured was not part of the plan?"
Leo shrugged. "Nope, but I've learned to work with what I've got and that there is a way out of everything, even kidnapping."
"Wise... are you sure you're not a child of Athena?"
"Not that I know of," Leo responded.
"And what of your mother? Dead? Didn't want you? I know you're a year round camper. Surely, you have a reason."
Leo gritted his teeth. "She died when I was eight."
"She's a lucky duck, not having to deal with you for thirteen years," Kronos smirked.
Kronos was baiting him, and Leo knew it. He was trying to get a Leo angry, to get him to show his true powers and rage. To show that Leo was just like his sick twisted army. But Leo wouldn't allow that, so he kept his mouth shut.
"She should've killed you the second you were born. Both of you would've been better off."
Leo bit his tongue in his effort to keep his lips closed while he clenched his fists to control the flames that threatened to sprout out of him any second. The flames that would consume Kronos and that awful child of Hecate...
Leo shook his head. Use your powers to help. Never hurt. While Leo may help people by getting rid of who appeared to be Kronos's right hand man, he would not do so when angry. He'd do it for the right reasons and not because he was enraged at Kronos for bringing up his mother.
Thankfully (or not-that was still undetermined), Maria chose that moment to walk in, and the three of them turned to face her.
Leo's heart stopped dead.
Maria was holding a whip, a thick braided whip that could easily tear Leo to shreds.
"Maria, thank you. Now, boy, it's about time you started answering some of my questions."
And that's when the true torture session began.
Percy coughed as he stumbled onto the shore of Camp Half Blood, his lungs still weak from all the smoke he couldn't help but inhale after the explosion.
He looked up to see Connor Stoll, who must have been on look out, come running over, covered in leaves and twigs from falling out of the tree. Only Connor...
"Percy, how's it go? Where's Leo?" Connor asked, his words blurring together from the sheer speed of his speech.
Percy stared at the sand and shrugged, not meeting Connor's eyes. He truly didn't know.
At least, there's the possibility that he's not dead, Percy thought. Dad said so himself that even the gods (other than Hades) didn't know if he was dead or alive. There was still a chance.
But if he's alive, then where is he?
"Percy!" Nyssa shouted, skidding to a halt in front of him, Beckendorf, the other Hephaestus campers, and basically the entirety of the camp following her. "Where's Leo?"
"I don't know," he answered. "We succeeded in blowing up the ship. Leo got captured, but he'd already set up the explosives. He could set him off at any time, but he waited for me to get off the ship, even he didn't."
"So Leo's dead?" Shane whispered.
"I didn't say that. I had a dream... about my dad. He told me that even the gods, besides hades, who's not talking, don't know if Leo's dead or alive."
"But wouldn't Dad be able to tell?" Jake demanded.
"Apparently, something's blocking the ability because according to my dad, Hephaestus has been in a rage all day, trying to figure out why Leo suddenly went off the grid."
"This is bad," Annabeth muttered. "If his dad can't tell, it probably means he's alive, but something's blocking Leo off from the rest of the world. And I have a feeling I know what that is."
"You don't think..." Beckendorf trailed off.
"Head councilors, meeting the Big House. We have much to discuss," Chiron announced.
Percy took one last look at the sea, as if expecting to see Leo swimming towards the shore, but deep down, he knew he wouldn't.
Deep down, he knew that Leo wouldn't be coming back to Camp Half Blood for quite some time.
In California, Reyna Avilo RamÃrez-Arellano shot up in her bed, the screams of that Greek boy-Leo- echoing in her head.
She swung her feet off the bed, standing to fetch Jason. Leo was in trouble, and she knew that if she was going to rescue him, she couldn't do it alone.
In the Fifth Cohort bunks, Jason Grace awoke with a gasp as the screams of that stranger sounded in his head.
He stumbled to his feet to find Reyna. He may not know who this kid is other than the name that he somehow knew without explanation, but that Leo kid was important somehow. And he couldn't save him alone.
Meanwhile, in another room, Octavian fell out of his bed, the screams of that kid bouncing around in his skull, like a horrible CD put on repeat.
He shoved some random items into his backpack and left a note on his bunk before heading for the camp boundary. He would've gotten help, but he didn't have any friends, so who would help him?
At the edge of camp, he was just approaching the Little Tiber when he ran into somebody. Literally.
Grabbing the person's hand and yanking him back before he fell in, Octavian caught a look of the person in the light of the full moon above their heads. Jason Grace, son of Jupiter of the Fifth Cohort.
"What are you doing here?" He hissed, looking around to make sure no one heard him.
"We could ask you the same question," Reyna, daughter of Bellona of the Third Cohort, said, stepping out of the shadows.
But as if reading each other's minds, they all knew the answer.
"Leo," the three of them said in unison.
Trivia time! I actually have two opportunities to get a character in the story this time!
1: if you can find my quote from Powerless by Matthew Cody in this chapter and restate it in a review, the first person to do so will get a character!
2. Trivia question:
Name three SONS of Hephaestus, other than Leo.