Chapter 9: Leo's Depressing Backstory

When Chiron said that, Maia clapped and cheered along with everyone else, but her heart wasn't really in it. She was happy for Piper, sure, but she just didn't think Aphrodite suited her. Piper didn't look like she thought so either. Also, next to Maia, Leo was fidgeting restlessly, which normally wouldn't have made her nervous, but he was moving around even more than usual. Eventually, she had to put a hand on his shoulder to get him to stop bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

"Leo, what's wrong?" Maia asked, but it was more of a demand than a question.

"Nothing." He said while absentmindedly strangling a pipe cleaner teddy bear he'd made.

"Look, I know I don't really know you, but I'm good at reading people. Even if I wasn't, it's obvious something's wrong, or at least something's on your mind." She said. "Is this about the quest, because if it is, you can always take it back. I'm sure plenty of other Hephaestus kids will be happy to volunteer in your place."

"No. I told you, I'm fine. Nothing's on my mind." He told me, but he didn't sound to convincing.

"Leo, you're strangling your teddy bear."

He looked down at his hands and coughed uncomfortably when he noticed what he was doing. He hastily slipped the teddy bear in his coat pocket and cleared his throat. "Um...I-I...I'll talk to you later." With that, he slipped away through the crowd.

Maia huffed and followed after him. If he thought he could get rid of her that easily, he was very wrong. She finally caught up to him when they got past the crowd and she put an arm on his shoulder. "Not so fast, mister," Maia said. "You owe me an explanation."

"Why do I owe you?" He asked.

She ignored the hurt tone in his voice and kept talking. "I saved your life, remember? The least you can do is tell me what's going on."

Leo sighed and resumed walking. Maia hesitated for a moment, but jogged up to catch him. He turned to face her, "Mai," he gave her a lopsided grin. "Just give me a minute, okay? I'm going to tell you, I just need a moment to think."

She nodded. "Sure. Where're we headed?"

"The forest." He said, and they both started walking again. They walked for awhile in silence, but when they were over halfway there, she could stand it no longer.

"Are you actually going to tell me?" I asked. "Honestly, I understand if you don't want to, but if you aren't, just tell me to so, because it's getting late and I've had a really long last couple of days."

Leo ran a head through his hair nervously. "Maia, I know you don't really know me, but I've known you for months. Yeah, those memories are fake, but I really feel like the things you did in the memories are things the real you would do too. You asked me before if you were the same in the memories, and the truth is, you are exactly the same. Nothing about you's changed. So even though I'm like a stranger to you, I'm going to tell you my depressing backstory, if not just to get you off of my back."

Maia grinned. "Okay. Spill."

He laughed, but then his expression darkened. "You sure?"

She grabbed a twig and threw at him. "Yes, I'm sure. I promise, I won't think any less of you."

He sighed deeply and started talking. "You remember that old lady? The one I saw by the cabins?"

"You mean the one you thought you saw?" She interrupted.

"Shush. Anyway, as I was saying, that lady was my babysitter when I was little. Her name was Tia Callida. She was...how do I put this? Crazy? nuts? insane? Psychotic? Yeah, she was psychotic. She always wore this black widow's dress, and she smelled like ham."

Maia raised an eyebrow. "How does this make her psychotic?"

"Well...she enjoyed...giving me naps-"

"What's psychotic about that?"

"Shut up and let me finish. She liked giving me naps...in fire."

It took Maia's ultimate self control not to say something about that.

"It didn't seem strange at the time. The fire didn't hurt me, so I didn't think anything of it. I mean, she was just setting me down for a nap, right?" Leo had this vacant look in his eyes, like he was off in a far away land, and not sitting right next to her. "I remember being so tired. I dreamt about this...boat, but it wasn't in the water, it was flying through the clouds. Tia Callida was still there, and she sang some lullaby in a strange language. See, my mom talked to me in both English and Spanish, and the language Tia Callida was singing in was neither. When my mother came home, she was furious. She took me out of the fire and yelled at Tia Callida, but Tia Callida wasn't there anymore. She'd just...vanished." Leo took a deep breath and resumed talking. "Once, when Tia Callida came back, she let me play with knives. She said something weird, like, you must learn your blades early, if you are to become my hero someday.

"Another time, she gave me a rattle snake. She gave me a stick and told me to poke at it. This time, she said something just as weird. Where's your bravery, little hero? Show me the Fates were right to choose you. I didn't want to poke the snake, and apparently it didn't want to hurt me either, because it just hissed and slithered off into the grass.

"The last time, she brought a pack of crayons and a pad of paper. Tia sang that same song, and I drew that boat I'd seen in my dream. When I was done, a strong wind came and blew the picture away." Leo chuckled, remembering. "I wanted to cry. I'd worked so hard on that picture. But Tia just laughed and told me it wasn't time yet, that I'd get my time soon enough. She told me to warm her up, and I did, but when My mother came home, she wasn't too happy. Tia was gone, and I was sitting in the middle of a blazing fire."

Maia stood there, her mouth hanging open in shock. "Wow." She managed.

Leo chuckled. "Yeah. Now, I know Tia Callida, my psychotic babysitter, was Hera all along. So that makes her what, my godly grandmother?"

"Double wow."

He nodded. "I sometimes wonder if my mother had known the truth. After that last visit, my mom had a big talk with me. She told me Tia Callida could never come back, that I was still too young, still her baby." Leo's voice caught on those last words. "She told me fire is a tool, and nothing else. She made me promise to not use it until I met my father. I'd never met my father, but my mom always talked about him like he'd just gone to the store for some milk, and would be back any minute."

"Well, I guess you know now." Maia said lamely.

"Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, everything was great until I turned eight."

"Hey, that rhymes!" Maia pointed out.

"Cut it out, I'm trying to be serious, here." Leo scolded her. "As I was saying, for the next couple of years, we were happy. It all came apart when I was eight. I spent a lot of time with my mom in the shop. I knew how to use the machines. I could measure and do math better than most adults. I'd learned to think three dimensionally, solving problems in my head like my mom."

Maia opened her mouth to tease him about bragging, but she realized now wasn't the time to do so.

"One night, we stayed late because my mom was finishing a drill bit design she hoped to patent. If she could sell it, it'd change our lives forever. She'd finally get a break. It was kind of creepy that night, because we were the only ones there, but I didn't think much of it. As long as I was with my mom, I was happy. When we were about to leave, my mom realized she didn't have her keys. She told me to wait where I was and she'd be back in a minute. S-she smiled at me, and went back into the warehouse." Leo stopped for a moment and shook his head sadly.

Maia put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you don't have to tell me you know? I understand if you don't want to."

"No. No, I have to." Leo said. "Please, don't interrupt me, or else I think I'll stop talking all together." Maia nodded and let him finish. "Okay. Um...she was only gone for a second. Just a second, then the door slammed shut." His voice was sad as he remembered. "I called for her, but she didn't answer. I-I heard a crash...inside the warehouse, and I ran to the door. I pounded on it and screamed, but my mom just wasn't responding.

"Someone said something behind me, and when I turned around, a strange lady was there. She looked like Tia Callida at first, wearing black robes and a black veil that covered her face. When I asked who she was, she just chuckled and said she wasn't Tia...something about a family resemblance. I asked her where my mom was, and she didn't answer my question. Instead, she started talking about how she had children too, and how one day I'd fight them, and I'd try to prevent them from waking her up.

"I told her I didn't want to fight anyone, and she said it was a wise choice. Something about the way she talked reminded me of a sleepwalker in a trance, and I realized she actually was asleep. Her clothes were weird. I think they were made out of dirt or something, dry black dirt, churning and shifting around her. Her face was so pale..." Leo paused and took a deep breath. "She looked like she'd just risen out of the grave.

"The woman said the fates couldn't let her destroy me, but they didn't protect my mother. She said...she said they couldn't stop her from breaking my spirits. I shouted at her to leave my mother alone, but she just whispered, how will you stop me. She walked through a table, and now she was standing over me. I knew she'd pass right through me too, and I was the only thing protecting my mother. You remember that thing Nyssa was talking about? The power over fire that some Hephaestus kids had but it's like super dangerous and always results in mass destruction and death? Well, I have that. My hands lit on fire, and the woman smiled. I screamed and everything turned red. Flames engulfed the whole room, the earthen lady and all. I lost consciousness, and when I woke up I was in an ambulance. The paramedic tried to be kind. She told me there had been an accident and my mother hadn't made it out. The police weren't so nice. They thought I started the fire purposely. Long story short, everyone hated me. They knew said how strange I was, and how there was something wrong with me. I went to a foster home, but I ran away just a few days later. Some lasted longer than others, but I always ended up running sooner or later."

When Leo didn't say anything for a few minutes, Maia realized he was done with his story. Maia didn't know what to say. She knew he was more sad than he portrayed himself to be, but she would never guess something like that had happened to Leo Valdez, the jokester, the one with the laughs. "Gods, Leo. I had no idea."

"Yeah, I'm sorry for piling all that on you, since technically, we've only known eachother for less than a day." He sighed. "I just...needed to get it off my plate."

"No, Leo, don't apologize. When's the last time you told somebody. When's the last time you told someone about your mom?"

"Um..." Leo shifted uncomfortably. "Well, you'd be the first one I've told."

Maia exhaled. "Okay. Wow. I wish I actually was there at the Wilderness School. Then maybe you'd've told me sooner and you wouldn't have to carry all that on your shoulders alone. It really sucks that you didn't have anyone to talk to."

"Thanks, Mai."

"Yeah, that's what friends are for, even if they technically have only known eachother for less than a day."

Leo smiled at that, which made me happy that I could cheer him up. "Let's go," I said. "I have a feeling the reason you slipped away has something to do with our transportation problem?"

"Yeah, c'mon." Leo said. "I've got an idea." And with that, they each took a deep breath, and plunged into the forest.

A/N:

This is kinda short, sorry but there will be more maybe by tonight, if not then tomorrow.