Once upon a time-
Actually, no. Let's start this the right way.
This is the story of Leo Valdez, a demigod that was different from the rest. He was a happy, imaginative and, kind of crazy, demigod. He was always making stuff with his hands, crazy inventions and gadgets. Some to entertain, some to help. Other demigods were grateful for his help and his inventions, but behind his back, well... the story was a different one.
You see, Leo besides being special because he didn't think like the rest, had a power that wasn't granted to anyone in at least fifty years. A power that was both worshiped and feared at the same time. His own siblings didn't know what to think of him, as they were fearful that, someday, either by accident or not, he ends up hurting them.
Leo was aware of this, that his siblings though he could hurt them, and in secret, he learns how to control his powers, with the help of his friends Jason Grace and Piper McLean. He wanted to give the surprise to his siblings for Christmas.
"You can do it, Leo" Piper encouraged him in his failed attempt to light up a candle. Leo had been working on that particular attempt for days and it was always a failure.
"I...can't..." Leo gasped and the candle stayed unlight. Jason sighed and watched as his friend slumped his shoulders down, in defeat "I'll never be able to do it..."
"Yes, you will, Leo" Jason agreed with Piper, patting his friend's leg "You just need a little motivation..."
"And my motivation is...?"
"We cannot help you with that, Leo..." Piper admitted, a little upset she cannot help her friend more "Why don't we go back to the campfire? You need to relax a little..."
"No" Leo surprised his friends "I don't wanna go..." Jason and Piper shared a look, not understanding why their bubbly friend, the one who brushed away everything with jokes and pranks, was that serious and becoming a solitary one.
What Jason and Piper ignored was that Leo caught a conversation that he can't let go or be over it.
"This is gonna be a fabulous prank..." Leo had heard one of the Stolls, Travis, bragging to his brother, Connor, along with some other campers. They were hiding in the edge of the woods.
"Are you sure this will work?" A girl had asked, looking slightly worried "We should had asked some of gadgets from Leo-"
"From the fire-freak? You hear yourself, woman?" Sherman Yang had snorted. Leo congratulated himself that he was hidden behind a bush and hadn't left the place "He probably would make us burn just by touching him..."
"I don't even understand why my sister is with him all the time..." Drew Tanaka had rolled her eyes "That makes me question my crush on Jason as well... He should feel he owes him something..."
"It's the only way someone would be with him..." Connor Stoll added to that comment. Soon, the group moved away from where Leo was, leaving him alone in the darkness of the woods.
Jason and Piper stared at Leo, trying to discover what had happened to him. Piper didn't like seeing her friend that sad, which is why she gave him a hug before leaving to the Christmas bonfire. Jason didn't want to leave his friend alone and sad like that. He wanted to keep insisting, but he realized that would not make any progress, so after patting his shoulder.
It was near midnight when Leo finally decided to come out of his hiding spot and have some leftover from the Christmas dinner. His stomach grumbled and made noises all the way to the pavilion. People were gathered around the bonfire, so Leo was alone when gathering his food.
"You came at the end..." Leo heard behind him Jason's voice. He turned, his mouth stuffed to see his best friend dressed as Santa Claus. With the red suit, the fake beard and the black boots, complemented with the big belly and the gigantic bag full with presents and the hat hanging from the side "Ho, ho, ho!"
"You look old" Was all that Leo could say without laughing. But his laugh came out the second he saw Piper, dressed as Mrs. Claus. With the big hat over her head and the big dress that made her look older and bigger and the Christmas' apron around her waist and over the red dress she was using "And you look soooo motherly-"
"Watch your mouth, Repair Boy" Piper scolded him, smiling behind her fake glasses. Leo smiled at her.
"You're giving the gifts to the smaller campers..." Leo deduced.
"You could give us a hand, if you want..." Another voice came behind Jason, only to show the most ridiculous group of demigods dressed as reindeers. Among the group were Percy, Annabeth, Hazel and Reyna. Will and Nico were there as well, along with who Leo though it was Frank, because there was no way that someone could train a real reindeer for something so trivial as this.
"How could I?" Leo argued back, not really wanting to mess with this or to ruin his friends' Christmas' spirit "I could burn the suit the second I put it on... I could scare the kids..."
"You don't know that, Leo..." Hazel insisted. Frank nodded, trying to push him into changing his clothes.
"I'm not gonna risk it, Hazel" Leo shook his head, repeatedly.
Just when he was about to leave them, a dense fog lowered inside the camp, shocking more than one camper, as the camp had some kind of dome that didn't allow bad weather to pass through it. However, this small fog simply concentrated around the bonfire and didn't leave by any means. Soon, the cries of the kids and the voices of worry were heard, surprising the custom-dressed group.
"The bonfire is off..." Annabeth muttered, surprised and somehow scared.
"Means the mood of the campers is not happy..." Reyna pointed out.
"The prank..." Leo remembered, making everyone looking at him "I heard the Stoll and a group of campers making a prank today..."
"They're gonna scare the little kids..." Will noticed, rushing towards the bonfire. Nico and Reyna rushed after him.
"Leo, you're the only one who can help it now" Annabeth surprised Leo "The fire is a godly one. No regularly fire can turn it on..."
"I cannot light it up!" Leo screamed, scared "I cannot simply light up a candle, what makes you think that I can light up godly fire?!"
"Because we believe in you" Percy popped inside the conversation, secure of his words. Leo suddenly understood why everyone looked at him when they didn't know what to do "Leo, I know you can do it..."
"I- I..." Leo looked up and saw the sure and confident looks all of his friends were giving him. Suddenly, a little feeling of security and confident ignited in him and did what he never expected.
He nodded in agreement.
Without waiting for a reply or even an encouraging word, Leo marched up to the bonfire, from where the cries and complains were coming. Without everyone noticing, Leo concentrated on the bonfire. He ignored the chuckles and the mean words that were coming from his nightmares and fear and focused on the words and moments that came from the people he loved and cared about.
He thought of his mother, the woman who took care of him in his early years.
He thought of his best friends, the ones who backed him up on quests and saved his life.
Suddenly, his hands light up softly. Nothing lethal, but soon was growing and growing. When he reached a very dangerous size, Leo concentrated enough to use it to lit up the fire and the bonfire.
"Look! Santa's Elf lit up the bonfire!" one of the little campers shouted, excited. Soon, everyone was looking at Leo, with fascination and awe. The kids were surrounding him, giggling and staring at his hands. Long forgotten were the campers dressed as Santa, his wife and his reindeers, Leo was the star of the night.
"When I grow up, I wanna be like him!" One of Leo's younger siblings whispered on Jason's ear, of course believing he was Santa. Jason, behind his fake beard and glasses, smiled at him.
"You know what? I wanna be like him too"
From that night on, Leo was never afraid of his powers again. He didn't hide to practice or even kept his ideas to himself. He shared with the rest of the world his passion, the gift of being who you are.
Also, don't forget to vote!
A-Mate?! Ain't Australian, Buddy! (HoO WereWolves AU - Canon, but mainly Octachel)
B-Sis/Bro, Your Shadow is Hot! (HoO Bodyguards AU - Canon, mainly Percabeth and Jasper)
C-Mortals: Meet the In-Laws... (Spin-off of Mortals: Meet... - Canon, focused on non and godly parents)
D-One Thousand And One Heroes (HoO One Thousand And One Nights AU - Non-canon, MATURE, and Octachel)
E-All Over Again (HoO reincarnate genderbent - Canon, daily Camp life)
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