AN: Thank you guys for reviewing and for the great advice! XD Keep reviewing! (It makes me feel all special inside)
Standing stock still at the rear end of the ship was a tall, slim figure. Sunlight glinted off of the mysterious visitor's hair, and this new arrival radiated an essence of evil. Evil so ancient that not many that knew it still walked the earth today. Gripped in the figure's hand was a long, wicked blade, sharp enough to cut a man's head from his shoulders with one solid swing. The person listened to an argument the rang through the air, echoing from the front of the ship.
"I told you! We. Do. Not. Play. With. Fire. Around. ME!" shrieked Hazel, panicking as bursts from Leo's hands danced around.
"Awww, come on Hazel. It's just a bit of fun!" Leo complained in a slightly nasally, quite nasty voice.
"Cut it out!" Piper cried, noting the look of horror on her best friend's face.
"Dude.." Jason murmured into Leo's ear. "Come on, quit it."
Leo sighed and lowered his smoking hands to his sides. Something flashed through his eyes, and he gave Hazel a wicked grin and winked at her before dashing below decks.
"What was that all about?" Piper asked nervously, putting a comforting arm around Hazel.
"No idea." Jason said, slightly disgruntled. "Leo's been acting weird ever since that incident back in New Rome. He's probably just a little shaken up. But still..." he trailed off, looking slightly confused as to why his best friend would pull such a risky prank.
The sound of feet pounded up the stairway, just before Percy and Annabeth rushed through the door.
"Where's Leo?" Annabeth instantly, looking around the deck to see if Leo could be hiding around a corner or behind a wall.
"He just ran downstairs," Jason responded, "he was shooting fire at Hazel. We're pretty sure somethings wrong with him."
"We're sure there's something wrong with him," Percy replied. "We've been talking it over downstairs, and we're pretty sure we've figured out what's wrong with him."
"Right," said Annabeth, "we already know that Leo's not himself. What we don't know is what could be making Leo act so differently than normal. We're suspecting Gaea, because she seems to be the cause of everything these days. We also have a couple theories as to how Gaea can be controlling Leo from so far away."
"Yeah," Percy continued, "we IM'd Chiron to catch him up on some news and asked him about possessing spirits. It isn't pretty. We're pretty sure that an Eidolan has got hold of him, but we're not sure what it could make him do, or how to get rid of."
"Which means," Annabeth broke in, "that we need to keep a close eye on him for the time being. So where is he?"
"Like we said, he's downstairs," said Piper, "but where's Frank? Wasn't he with you guys?"
"He was right behind us..." Percy muttered.
"Where could he have gotten too?" Annabeth said, "we've got to go find him. With Leo in the state he's in, it's probably best to stay in pairs. We don't know what he's capable of. Come on!"
Annabeth dashed back through the open doorway with Percy, Hazel, Piper, and Jason on her heels. They dashed through the bottom decks of the Argo II before finally finding Frank standing alone in the stables.
Frank stood with his back to them, strangely still and unresponsive when they called his name. Slowly, he turned around, with a smile nearly identical to the one Leo had flashed to Hazel right before he dashed away.
"Frank's not here right now," he said slowly, in a slightly slurred way. "Can I take a message?" He stood stock still as Hazel let out a small whimper.
He fixed his eyes onto her and a sadistic light poured into them. Then, he disappeared into thin air.