Welp, here is chapter 3 (Sorry it's short, but I'm not going to just give you one chapter this time. Chapter 4 coming out later today after I go over it. Hope you guys enjoy, and please review or send some feedback. Anything helps to make this story better. Also I do not have an editor (well someone to help me look over the chapters for mistakes) so if there are mistakes I'm sorry and I will try to fix them as soon as possible.

*IMPORTANT UPDATE*

Chapter 1 & 2 have been tweaked a bit. New paragraphs, and some grammar fixes. More detail that will possibly be referenced in later chapters.


III

Leo

Leo's face cringed at the memories of their battle from this morning. He didn't really know what attacked them, but after Abram passed out things got worse. He remembered trying to carry Abram away from the battle, how heavy the guys was, and how there was almost no spot to put him to keep him safe so Leo could go back and help Jason. Finally putting a name to that monster made him realize that he would have to fight it again and it would be more dangerous than before. Also, getting a prophecy, basically telling him he had to go back to being in danger just days after getting back from almost dying at the wolf house made him more distressed.

"That thing was a hydra?" Leo shouted bringing himself out of his own thought. "I don't remember a lot about them, but isn't there a big no-no you are not supposed to do with those guys?"

"Yeah." Jason answered Cut off their heads . . . and we did just that."

"Oh . . .yeah" Leo's said softly making it obvious that his mood sank.

"You guys did what?" Abram asked looking at Leo.
"Remember back in the infirmary when you asked what happened after you blacked out?" Leo said scratching the back of his head. "Well, I dragged you away so Jason and I could fight that thing without worrying about your safety. Wasn't easy to do either."

"So you guys killed it?" Annabeth questioned.

"Not exactly."

"What do you mean not exactly?"

"We thought it would kill it, because at the time we didn't know what it was and -"

"I cut off six of its heads." Jason interrupted Leo. He was glad Jason had interrupted him. He didn't want to take the full blame of making things worse, when in fact it was Jason who kept slashing away at it. He quickly shot Jason his best Thanks man look he could give. "I wasn't thinking and I guess my memory is still fogged up. I didn't know what it was, but I didn't have time to think. I had to react fast. When we got back I went in search for Annabeth to get some more information from her. That is why I asked you those weird questions earlier." He said as he turned to face Annabeth. "I was trying to figure what is was without making you worry. Sorry, I should have told you what is was instead of being secretive. "

"Wait wait wait, you cut six of them off? Connor asked in shock. He was now leaning against the back wall. It seemed though as he didn't trust the chair he was sitting on earlier after falling. His pants were dry but were now stained from the shaving cream incident moments ago.

"I wasn't thinking." Jason snapped. "I just wanted to protect Abram and Leo."

Oh great, he wanted to protect me Leo thought to himself. He would never admit it out loud, but Leo was jealous of Jason. He always felt like Jason was the star. Like he was in Jason's shadow. There was a time on their last quest when those feelings were thrown out there verbally, but in his defense he was being influenced by Medea's Charmspeak. Jason and Leo talked about what was said between them and both of them agreed none of it mattered, but to Leo it wasn't a feeling that was just going to go away. It was only just going to get stronger.

"What's done is done. How do you propose to take care of this situation now." Chiron spoke snapping Leo out of his thoughts.

"Who me?" Leo asked noticing that the centaur was looking at him.

"Well both of you, The prophecy was given to you and Abram. Dealing with a Hydra is going to be a very, VERY dangerous task. I don't see another task that could be dangerous enough to fit the prophecy. You two will need to form a battle strategy. Also we all know you have a previous engagement with your project 'The Argo II', and that has to be done in six months. Can you handle it?" Chiron asked him with his right eyebrow arched.

"Yeah, I'll get the rest of my cabin to start it out today and show them what needs to be done." Leo said trying his best to convince himself and everyone in the room. He noticed that everyone was staring at him. He could tell that they looked concerned as to whether or not Leo could handle his project that absolutely need to be done before the next six months were up. The truth was, having a six month time limit was pushing it already. Now he had to go on a quest and be absent for Zeus knows how long from the most important task he has been given yet. "We should be able to still make the deadline if we finish this quest fast." He said using his best fake confident voice he could muster up. Everyone seem to have bought it. They started talking amongst themselves. Leo couldn't hear any of them but he was sure they were starting to doubt his abilities.

"Hey," Abram whispered to Leo. "You got this, we'll finish this quest fast enough to give you time to spare." He gave Leo a smile a patted his back. For some reason Leo found himself believing Abram. He felt more relaxed and less stressed out around him.

"So, a quest together? Sound interesting." Leo whispered as he pulled some gears and levers out from his tool belt and started to fiddle with them to calm his nerves. He didn't know why his mind made him wait so long to do this. Even if he did it subconsciously, he still knew he did it when he was nervous.

"You alright? Abram had asked him

"Aces" he mumbled.

"Chiron, quests usually have groups of three demigods. I request that Jason comes with us since he was there at the attack." Abram spoke up getting the attention of the room.

"Very well, if Jason chooses to agree, he will be the third demigod for your quest. Jason. do you wish to join their quest?" Chiron asked

"Of course. These guys will need all the help they can get." Jason replied getting a smile from Leo.

"Then its settled, you three will journey through the forest, find and defeat the Hydra to protect this camp."

"Chiron!" Annabeth spoke out standing up. "I wish to lead a mission of my own to venture through San Francisco in search of the Roman Camp."

"Annabeth," Chiron replied stroking his beard, "It will be dangerous to go there, but I feel , I can't stop you. If you can find more people to agree to go with you, you may lead them on this mission. She nodded as a smile started to form across her face. "If there is no other news that needs to be shared I guess we can end this meeting. You are all dismissed."

Leo let out a sigh of relief. He had only been to a couple of meetings but he knew each one was going to be a drag for him. So far he was right. Well, one thing good came from this meeting, and it was waiting for him by the door. A new friend that seemed easier for Leo to open up to than most of the people he met here at camp. "Estás listo?"(Are you ready?) Leo asked approaching him near the door.

"Sí. Cuando estés listo."(Yeah. Whenever you're ready.) Abram replied to him smiling. Leo could feel his mouth stretching into a wide grin. "So why did you want me to wait for you?" Abram had asked him.

"Well, to be straight forward I have no idea. I guess the thought of having someone who is a little more like me as a friend would be nice. I mean Piper and Jason are awesome and stuff, but I feel like a third wheel with them." They followed the rest of the head counselors out the door of the Big House rec room.

"Ahh, makes sense. I wouldn't know the feeling. I don't really talk to many people outside of Apollo Cabin and my friend Klari." Abram said

"Who?" Leo asked.

"Klari? A girl from Ares Cabin. She's-" Abram stopped to chuckle a bit. "A lot shorter then we are, very dark, and come to think of it I don't think you have seen her yet." He said as both of them were now walking down the staircase of The Big House. "She left on a quest a few days before you guys came back. I hope she's alright. Usually she would send me an Iris message but I haven't gotten one so far." Leo took the time to study Abram's reaction of the conversation. His face was full of concern as he talk about Klari. I wonder if anyone would feel like that for me if I wasn't heard from for a while Leo thought to himself. Well, probably Piper and Jason. He was brought out of his thought as the door to the Big house squeaked open in front of him. "Counselors first." Abram said holding the door open.

"So what's the catch?" Leo said as he walked through the door and down the front steps of The Big House.

"What do you mean?" Abram asked.

"Well, usually people aren't this nice to someone they know almost nothing about. I mean we just started talking this morning."

"It's just how I am I guess." Abram replied. Leo could clearly see him blushing now that they were outside in the midday sun. "So I have to have a reason to not be nice? I mean my mom . . ." His face darkened. "She was always nice to everyone. I guess I just picked it up from her, besides. Us cursed kids need to stick together. Right?" He added with a winked.

Leo stopped on the front porch of The Big House. It wrapped all around the farmhouse. As they came around the opposite end of the house, he had to catch his breath. The view was always so much to take in. The valley marched all the way up to the water, which glittered about a mile in the distance. He still had trouble processing everything he saw from The Big House. The camp's landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture-an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena -except they all looked relatively new. Their white marble columns sparkled in the sun. In a nearby sandpit a group of Apollo kids were playing volleyball against a group of satyrs. In a small lake some campers glided across in canoes. A group of satyrs were in the strawberry fields playing their reed pipes. They must have been using nature magic, because they vines of the plants moved every so often. An army of ants and insects marched out of the field.

The wind would blow a soft breeze every once in a while as they started to walk away from The Big House and towards the Mess hall. The ringing sound that was carried with the wind came from a eagle weather vane with wind chimes that turned into dryads as they spun. They continued to walk, neither one of them saying anything to the other. They decided to take their own path instead of following the main path with the rest of the counselors. They traveled along the river that ran from the beach to The Big House. Occasionally one of them made a remark about something they saw or rumors going around camp. For two demigods about to go on a dangerous mission, they were relaxed and enjoying the afternoon sun.

"You know what, I think I am going to skip lunch." Abram spoke up.

"Why?" Leo asked.

"I think I am going to go pack for the quest. We want to leave tonight right?"

"Yeah, I guess so. " Leo agreed. "Hmm I guess I'll skip too. I have to gather everyone in my cabin and start them on the project before we leave anyways. See you at dinner!" Leo shouted to Abram as he ran off not waiting for Abram to answer back, feeling a little sad. He wasn't completely sure why he enjoyed Abram's company so much, but he did. Leo followed the stream to the camp forge. Upon arriving closer, the familiar sounds of machinery grinding, fires roaring, of hammers against metal grew louder. The forge looked like a steam-powered locomotive had smashed into the Greek Parthenon and they had fused together. White marble columns lining walls stained with soot. Chimneys on the roof pump smoke over an elaborate gable that was carved with a bunch of gods and monsters. He stepped through the doorway and five of his siblings were there. "Oh good, you guys are here. Thought I was going to have to hunt you guys down by myself."

"Hey, Leo. What's up?" Harley said, removing his goggles.

"I was just given another quest and it turns out I won't be able to keep track of the construction on The Argo II. I am going to need you guys to gather everyone else and meet me outside the cabin right away." They agreed as they put down their latest creations and ran out of the forges to gather the rest of Hephaestus Cabin. Leo walked to the big wall map they had pinned up of Camp Half-Blood. He should have the location of bunker 9 memorized but he had other things on his mind. He studied the map and recalled a general idea to where it was, he then ran out to meet his cabin-mates.

"Alright guys, like I told Jake, Nyssa, Shane, Christopher, and Harley, I have been assigned another quest. It will be time consuming so I am going to need your help to keep The Argo II project on track. This means You guys are going to have to work harder. Sucks, I know but I have to go on this quest. So, I hope you guys already ate or planned on skipping lunch because we need to get moving right now." He turned toward the forest and the direction he hoped Bunker 9 was in.

They walked through the forest for a while until the trees where as tall as skyscrapers and the canopy of leaves blocked almost all of the sunlight. Leo couldn't explain it. Everything felt familiar around him. It wasn't just because he was leading them to the bunker. It felt like if he had turned a different direction he would find the trail they followed that morning to the Hydra. It couldn't be that close to Bunker 9, could it? He asked himself.

Finally they crossed a stream and came to a familiar dead end, a limestone cliff a hundred feet tall. Leo put his hand on the cliff. Lines of fire spread from his fingertips. The burning lines raced across the cliff face until they had outlined a glowing red door five times bigger than himself. He backed up and the door swung open, disturbingly silently for such a big slab of rock. The group of demigods started to walk through the entrance before stopping in their tracks. A sound traveled through the trunks of the trees. The leaves that were on the floor started to move slowly, as if there was a soft breeze rolling in, but they felt no wind. It was very faint, but Leo had already heard that same sound twice that day. "The hydra" he muttered."

"Uhh, the what?" Nyssa asked. She was dressed the same as the first day Leo met her. She was wearing a tank top and a red bandana to tie back her dark hair.

"Get in! I'll explain later!" Leo cried gesturing his cabin-mates to move faster. It took longer than Leo wanted, but everyone finally crowded into the airplane hangar sized cave. The combination of Florescent lights on the ceiling and torches mounted on the walls all lit up as the door closed. Even though Leo had been here twice before, he still found himself in awe at the sight of the workshop around them. Endless work tables placed along the sides of the walls, all piled with blueprints and design notes for inventions that would take a century to prototype them all. All kinds of equipment was scattered throughout the cave. Hydraulic lifts, wielding torches, hazard suits, air-spades, and even forklifts.

"So explain, what was that sound outside." Nyssa questioned him.

"It was a hydra." Leo replied

"A Hydra? Like a real life Hydra?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, it's the monster that has been attacking the camp. That quest I told you about, well Abram, Jason, and myself are going to go defeat it. Like I said, it will probably take some time to accomplish so that is why I brought you here." Leo told the group as he brought out his newer version of the Argo II blueprints and spread it out on one of the worktables. "While I am gone, I want you guys to start on this. I want this thing to be two hundred feet long with a bronze hull. On the lower deck we are going to build some stables here." Leo said as he took out a pencil and circled the spot on the blueprints. The floor will be glass and operational like hanger doors. Next to it I want to put two storage areas. In the middle of the lower deck we are going to make the Main Engine Room. We will also need to put in a Sickbay and an Armory here and . . . here." His brothers and sister listen intently to him as he explained his dream ship. Occasionally one of them, would ask a question on how big Leo wanted a certain room or how much celestial bronze would they need for the whole project.

"Now the upper level is where the cabins are going to be. We need to make eight cabins in this general area." He said as he circled his blueprints again. " We can also put a Mess hall here and a Gallery on the opposite side. I think that covers the basics."

"What about the top exterior?" Harley asked.

"Yeah, there is a lot more things we need to make and still go over, but for now you guys can start on those two parts. I doubt I will be gone longer than it would take to build the lower level. Alright guys Let's get started. We have A spankin' hot war machine to build!" Leo cheered causing the rest of Hephaestus cabin to cheer with him.