Disclaimer: If I were Rick Riordan, "The Mark of Athena" would already be out and there would be a book just about Leo. …I'm not Rick Riordan, so, me no own. D: (Yeah, I use emoticons all the time.) A/N: Sorry this took so long to post: between play practice, insane amounts of homework and a multitude of other dilemmas. (-_-) Anyhoo, thanks so much for your patience and lovely reviews! I hope this chapter was worth it! Warning: Chiron and some of the other campers might be OOC. :P

Last time:

The daughter of Aphrodite and Jason exchanged horrified looks.

Leo moaned, "Ugggggghh…."

"LEO!" he heard somebody shout his name.

And then he blacked out.

When Leo woke up, he was laying on a cot in a large, gloomy room illuminated with an intimidating light that made his eyes sting. "What? Where am I? The Big House?" Leo was surprised at how hoarse his voice sounded. He started to sit up, but a pair of calloused hands gripped his shoulders and pushed him back roughly. "Not so fast, tough guy." Leo jumped a little at the sudden reply. Nyssa stepped into Leo's view, with her arms crossed. "Nyssa?" He thought. "What the heck?" Leo cleared his throat. "Hey; what are you doing here? What am I doing here? I should be working on the ship!" he retorted. Nyssa chuckled humorlessly. "Well, according to Chiron-"she stepped into view, showing off a paper with neat, loopy handwriting, "'Leo Valdez is not to leave the Big House for the next two weeks to be able to recover properly. His condition should be recorded each day by myself or a child of Apollo. In addition to this, he must be monitored twenty-four, seven.' You want me to keep going?" she asked, lips twitching up into a small smirk. "No way am I staying here for two freaking weeks!" Leo wished to argue; but, honestly, he was just too tired to say anything. His half-sister seemed to notice his eyelids starting to drop. Nyssa's expression became grim. "I'm going to leave now, so you can get some more shut-eye. Just-" her voice cracked mid-sentence.

"Just don't try anything stupid while I'm gone." And with that, she left, leaving Leo alone to fall into a fitful sleep.


Leo dreamed he was somewhere underground-a cavern, maybe. He knew he was deep under the surface, because it was hard to breathe the thin, smoky air. He had a feeling he was supposed to be there, but that didn't help ease his nerves. In fact, it only frightened him more. "Why would I ever come here?" he asked himself, taking a few steps forward. Nothing drastic happened. He decided he would search for a way out. Leo made it about five miles before he came to a stop. His path was cut short by a seemingly bottomless pit fall of lava and steaming pieces of earth, practically melting into the fiery river.

"Hello, Leo. So nice to see you again." An all-too-familiar voice purred in his head. Gaea. "Get out of my head. Now." Gaea laughed darkly. "Now, why would I wish to do that? After all, Leo, you shall be the key to my success." she whispered, her voice filled with the cruelty of a cat messing with its prey. "And I'm sorry to tell you: there's nothing you can do to change your destiny, boy." Dirt Woman just sounded delighted now, as if she were simply offering him ice cream, like: "Hey, if you help me destroy the gods and their children, I'll buy you a shake! Sound good?" She definitely did not sound sorry. Leo was officially terrified. "Wh-what?" he asked, dumbfounded. Mother Earth's voice bellowed out one last laugh: a long, horrible cackle, dripping with amusement. He caught a glimpse of her from the corner of his eye-she was clad in her churning dirt robes and the veil covering her ivory face like usual, but she was much bigger this time; easily three times taller and wider than him. She shifted until she was standing right in front of him and smirked. Her lips moved this time, much to Leo's horror: "Until next time, son of Hephaestus."

"LEO! Leo, wake up! LEO?!"


Leo awoke and shoot up, breathing heavily. Everything was blurry-why? The fire-user was able to make out vague shapes and flashes of color, but nothing else. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and tried focusing on his surroundings once more. This time he could identify the shapes-which turned out to be people: Jason, Piper, Chiron and all of the ninth cabin. "What are all of you doing here?" he managed to ask. "You were screaming in your sleep. We were all really worried." Jason replied, looking down at Leo with so much compassion it made Leo want to vomit. "I'm supposed to help Gaea destroy the world and you still care about me? I don't deserve it." he thought. He didn't want to give away too much-he wouldn't tell them just yet. "It was just a bad dream. No big deal." Leo assured, adding in a 'nonchalant' shrug for good measure. Leo could tell they were not convinced. Harley appeared at his side, looking at him with pleading eyes. "Wanna talk about it? It might make you feel better." He prodded his half-brother's arm, staring at Leo with an expression so full of worry that the fire-using demigod could hardly believe Harley was only eight years old. With a jolt, Leo realized as he glanced at of his friends and half-siblings, that each of them had been worried about him-stressed out, even, as he noticed the dark circles under their eyes. He had all that he'd ever wished for-and he hadn't even paid any attention to it until then. The counselor of the ninth cabin looked up, playing with his blankets absently.

"Sorry if I worried you guys. It…was nothing but a stupid nightmare. Yeah." he said lamely. There was an uncomfortable silence. Then, much to everyone's surprise, Piper came up and hugged him so tightly, Leo was sure a few of his ribs had cracked. "Don't you ever scare us like that again, Valdez!" she demanded, still squeezing out of all the air in his lungs. "Piper…..can't breathe…..too tight….." he gasped and she let go right away. "Sorry. I'm just reallyglad you're okay." She apologized, stepping back with Jason at her side. "No biggie, Beauty Queen." He managed to pull together a weak smirk, though it probably looked a little forced. That earned him a few strange glances, but nobody forced him to keep talking. Apparently, Jason had decided it was his turn to speak to Leo. "Well, if you feel like talking any of us about it…." He let the offer hang, like Leo could choose what he wanted it to mean. For once-though, it seemed to be happening more often lately-Leo was speechless.

"Wow…they really were worried about me." He thought, his arms and back aching where Piper had nearly suffocated him. Will from the Apollo cabin, came in with a plastic bag full of-lemon bars, maybe?-and pulled out a square. "Oh, yeah…ambrosia." Leo corrected himself. Will handed the square to him. "This might help. Just don't eat too much at once." The counselor of Cabin Seven looked at him with something like pity, nodded, and then departed as quickly as he came. Leo took a bite of the ambrosia cautiously. It tasted like his mother's "famous" enchiladas that she only made an special occasions. He remembered when it was his sixth birthday, his mom asked him what he wanted for dinner and he'd replied so eagerly: "Enchiladas, enchiladas, enchiladas! Oh, and chocolate cake!" Then, she smiled at him and ruffled his hair, chuckling. He wanted to stuff the rest of the bar in his mouth and relive the few good memories he had, but he knew he couldn't-not if he didn't want to burn up. Begrudgingly, he allowed himself three more bites, then sat it aside. He was beginning to feel better a lot faster than he'd thought he would. Chiron cleared his throat at the back of the mob.

"I believe it's about time we leave him to rest. Come along, everyone." After a chorus of moans and groans, the crowd of campers-and Chiron-swarmed out; everyone departing except for Jason, Piper, and Nyssa. "Don't worry about a thing, Leo. If it makes you feel any better, I can bring you down some scrap metal to work with." His half-sister offered, with a small smile. Leo nodded, clearly satisfied. "Thanks, guys…for everything." He told them, shooting them meaningful glances. "It's no big deal, really. That's what friends are for, right?" Jason answered, walking out with Piper, who was grinning like a fool. Nyssa shifted her weight, eyes downcast. "So…scrap metal?" she asked hopefully. The fire-user couldn't stop himself from chuckling. "Yeah. Thanks, Nyssa." Leo thanked her, and she practically ran out to collect the metal. Leo leaned back onto a pillow and sighed with content.

He had to admit: his life hadn't been easy so far-and that probably wouldn't change-but he was certain he was the luckiest guy in the world. Even with his rocky past and ominous future, because he knew he had family and friends now. And they would always be there when he needed them.

A/N: Oh my glob, I hardly expected two reviews last time, and I got TWENTY! Thank you, thank you, thanks SO much! *glomps* Keep it up, 'kay? Seriously…I think my head's about to explode-that's how happy I am. XD

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