Champion of Olympus

by HephaestusBuilds

Post 'BOO'. A new Prophecy telling the destruction of Olympus is foretold, Zeus forbids the demigods to know & closes Olympus. Meanwhile a mysterious man with immense strength shows up at camp and the campers must figure out who he really is and if they can trust him. Who is he? Was he sent by someone to kill Percy or will he stand with the camp during the Prophecy? (OC Centered)

10. Ch 4: The Man Named Leonidas

Chapter 4: The Man Named Leonidas

(Author's Note)

Hey everyone, sorry about the delay, this chapter turned out to be much longer than I thought it would be, even with taking a part out(48 pages, fyi). As always I have a few things to let you know before we get started:

First, we get more Leonidas in this chapter, if that wasn't obvious by the title. His backstory isn't for the faint of heart and gets kind of messed up. We'll be learning a little about him in this chapter, somethings I'm not quite sure how you guys will take. Obviously I love him, since I know everything about him, but you guys don't yet so I'm curious to how you take it.

Second, everyone's favorite and most beloved character makes an appearance in this chapter, Drew Tanaka! Wait, what was that, you all hate her because she's a conniving b**** and pretty much the entire fandom hates her and she's dragged through the mud in virtually every story she's in? Well, get ready to hate her even more. A quick reminder what her power is, it's Charmspeak, the same one Piper has that lets you control the minds of people that works better of people of the opposite gender. Keep that in mind.

Third, as you know I have a Poll up on my Profile for my next Pertemis story, please vote on it so I know which one to do first.

Fourth, can I ask for some Reviews? It seems to me that pretty much everyone is liking this story so far, but without Reviews telling me why I don't know what to keep and what to change. While you're there let me know if you like longer or shorter stories, so I know if I should lengthen this story or not.

Fifth, so, pet names, what are your thoughts on them? Like them? Hate them? Well I suck at them since I'm eternally single so I don't know what to use. I want the couples to use more than names, nicknames like Seaweed Brain and things like 'babe'. Let me know if you have any ideas for any or if my few in here are too cringy.

Lastly, I'll be going to Denver Pop Culture Con(formerly comic con) this year for all three days. If any of you will be in the area for any reason and are going, PM or tweet me, I'd love to meet up and say hi. I don't have anything planned, of course, but I'd like to meet one of my readers in person one day.

Well that's all of them, sorry that was so long. I try to be as brief and as descriptive as possible in my AN's. I'll see you guys at the bottom!

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Chapter 4: The Man Named Leonidas

(April 2, 2011, Later that afternoon, Big House, War Council Room)

After finishing the camp meeting at the Amphitheater and assigning the campers various tasks, Percy called a War Council Meeting. The War Council was made up of the heads(usually the eldest camper of each cabin or the most responsible member of it, in Piper's case) of each cabin and a select few so called 'veteran campers' that had moved out of the cabins after turning eighteen but still kept leadership roles in the camp. Not every veteran camper was on the Council, however, some after reaching eighteen stayed at camp but decided to help around and not take up such a leadership role. At the moment, Percy and Clarisse were the only veteran campers on the Council. Annabeth had been offered a seat, of course, but turned it down in favor of focusing on her online schooling. Wishing that Percy would do the same as well, much to her chagrin.

Percy sat in his seat in the War Council Meeting room, waiting for the others to make their way in. They met on the second floor of the Big House in a fairly large, open room. The room, as it seemed, had seen more use and been turned into a sort of office/command center in Percy's absence. Books, paper, pens, maps, lists of supplies, activities and campers, a watercooler, desk fans, cork and whiteboards filled the room. Smaller desks and tables dedicated to a few specific members lined the walls, adorned with staplers, paperclips, sticky notes and everything an office of people would need. All in all the room looked like someone had robbed an office cubicle supply store and dumped the contents in the room.

At the center of the room sat a large, custom wooden table that the Hephaestus cabin built specifically for the room. Each cabin had their own seat around the table, except for the few that had co-leaders, which in their cases they had two. It was in the shape of a large U, reminiscent of the layout of the cabins outside, but the order was vastly different. Instead of having Zeus and Hera at the front, or the bottom of the U, the two seats were reserved for the General of the War Council and the acting second in command. In this case that was Percy on the right and to his left, Clarisse, who was also Head of Security for the Camp in Argus' absence. The camp currently had twenty four cabins in total, yet not every one of them contained campers and were only honorary, such as the Hera cabin. On each side of the large table were twelve nameplates, one for each god, with either one or two chairs behind it(depending on if the cabin had co-leaders or not).

On Percy's right were the first and original cabins and their respective leaders. Jason, naturally, led the Zeus cabin with an empty, honorary seat for Hera on his right. Following Hera's empty seat came another empty seat, Poseidon's. Since Percy had moved out of his cabin and taken the leadership role of the Council, he no longer sat in his old seat. Technically, if Tyson were to ever visit camp and attend a meeting, he would be given Percy's old seat on the Council. After Poseidon camp the following; Katie and Miranda from Demeter, Sherman for Ares, Malcolm from Athena, Will for Apollo, Thalia's empty seat for Artemis, Leo from Hephaestus, Piper for Aphrodite, Travis from Hermes and Pollux for Dionysus.

To Percy and Clarisse's left were the next and newer twelve cabins and started first with Nico for Hades then followed with Amethyst from Iris, Clovis for Hypno, Damien from Nemesis, Laurel and Holly from Nike, Paolo for Hebe, Chiara for Tyche and Lou Ellen from Hecate. The final four seats on the left side were for the four newest cabins, starting with Gardenia for Persephone, the goddess of Spring and the Queen of the Underworld. To her left was an empty, honorary seat for Kymopoleia, the daughter of Poseidon and the goddess of Violent Seas and Sea Storms, as well as Percy's half sister. To the left of the empty seat was a small, formerly Amish boy named Kent, the youngest member of the Council at eleven, as well as the only known child of Aristaeus, the minor patron god of animal husbandry, bee-keeping and fruit trees. Finally, at the end of the left side of the table was a tall, stocky, heavily muscled girl named Mika who was the only daughter of Palaestra, the goddess of wrestling.

Once everyone was seated Percy began the meeting, feeling like the situation called for him to hit the table with a gavel. "Thanks for coming on such a short notice, everyone."

"Nah, don't worry about it." Pollux said form the opposite end of the table, waving at Percy. "We're just all happy you're back."

"Same here." Travis agreed, nodding with Nico and the rest of the council.

"Well, we can celebrate later," Percy said as he was being handed a small stack of papers from Amethyst, the daughter of Iris as well as the messenger for the council. "Get me up to speed. What's going on with camp? What do we need to do?"

On the right chair nearest him, Jason spoke up. "Well, first off, Chiron's been summoned to Olympus by my father. We have no idea when he'll be coming back."

"On top of that the gods didn't send anyone to run the camp for us." Chiara from Tyche said from the middle of the left side of the table. "We don't have a camp director."

"I've brought Prissy up to date on all of that." Clarisse spoke up from next to Percy. "Let's get to the pressing matters, we've run out of food, don't have any camp schedules for activities or people set up for chores and the camp is under attack, we need a solid defensive plan." She explained, placing her large arms on the table. "Chiron's schedules only lasted until the end of the month, so we've been making it up as we go."

"Who's been in charge of the schedules so far?" Percy asked.

"We all have." Damien from Nemesis answered. "The council has been voting on everything."

"But it takes too long for us to decide everything." Malcolm, head of the Athena cabin said. "I'm all for equal voting so we all agree, but it just takes too long when all twenty three," he gestured to Percy. "Twenty four of us now, have to vote on every single thing. It's just illogical for all of us to have to vote on the camp schedules."

"I agree." Piper spoke up. "Chiron handled all of this stuff on his own when he was here, it shouldn't take all twenty four of us to do what he did. We should have one person make the decisions," She gestured to everyone around her. "We can all suggest what we think, we are a council for a reason, but ultimately the final decision on running camp should be up to one person."

"But we agreed on voting so that not one single person had more power than the other." Gardenia countered. "It's not like I think anyone here would use their power in a bad way, but it's more fair if we vote."

"Voting is fine when it comes to larger decisions," Nico spoke up suddenly from his seat at the front of the left side of the table, nearest Clarisse. "But for the day to day decisions we should let one person decide them. Look," He eyed every member of the council. "I've been to New Rome, I've seen how they run things. They vote on every little thing, with an even larger group than us, and they just end up holding debates that go nowhere and they usually don't actually achieve whatever they were trying to do. Voting is fine sometimes, like if we need to elect new leaders at camp or decide on quests, but for which cabin is doing which activity at a certain time? Only one person needs to decide that."

"I agree with Nico." Will nodded, which received several nods from across the table.

"But that begs the question, who's gonna be in charge?" Sherman asked.

Without preamble all eyes in the room silently turned to Percy. He sighed under his breath. "Me?"

"Makes sense." Leo spoke up from next to Piper. "You're already general when we go to war, you should be in charge all the time too."

"I move that from here on that we make Percy the temporary camp director in Chiron's stead until he comes back." Malcolm spoke up, facing Percy and then the rest of the council. "Shall we vote on it? Clarisse?" He turned to face the daughter of Ares. "As second in command you have the right to the position too, if you want it."

Clarisse let out a huff, crossing her muscular arms over her chest, giving Percy a smirk. "As much as I'd love to boss Prissy here around, I called him back to camp for a reason. I couldn't handle it by myself, none of us could, I wasn't born to sit in an office all day and do paperwork. He can have that job."

"That settles that, then." Malcolm said, sitting up straighter in his seat. "Percy? What do you say?"

"I accept." Percy said without hesitation. "If the camp needs help I'll be here to help it. If it needs a leader, then I'll step up." He scanned the eyes of the other campers. "As long as no one has any objections, of course."

"All in favor?" Clarisse asked, putting her hand up first. Silently all of the twenty two other hands shot up. It was unanimous. "Well then, looks like you're in charge, Prissy." She elbowed him in the side.

"What should we decide next?" Will asked. "I say that we try to figure out what to do about not having any food. We have twenty seven sick and wounded demigods on the first floor. We're quickly running out of Nectar and Ambrosia, they need good, healthy food to get them back up and running again."

"I agree." Percy said, looking to Katie and Miranda. "The Demeter cabin is usually in charge of the strawberry fields." He looked to Pollux, Gardenia and Kent as well. "Your cabins can also help, since your parents are all connected to plants and crops. Starting tomorrow morning I want every member of your cabins working double time in the fields to help the crops grow. We don't have Mr. D or the Satyrs anymore to grow them for us, we'll have to do it ourselves."

"We've already tried everything we can, Percy." Katie said. "We're using all of our powers to just keep them alive."

"What are we growing again?" Sherman asked.

"Strawberries, grapes now that Mr. D is gone, blueberries, sunflowers and apple trees." Miranda answered.

"I can try to pray to my dad about helping the apple trees." Kent said. "My dad, Aristaeus, is the god of fruit trees, maybe he can help."

"I doubt it would do any good, though." Holly said from beside her sister, Laurel. "The gods have been silent for ten months now. We've been praying and sacrificing to them every single day and, nada. They just won't answer."

"But we have to try." Percy said from the head of the table, looking to the same demigods. "I'm sure that between the four of your cabins that you can help the crops grow. Any amount of food we can get will help."

"What about going into town and buying a truck load of food like we were thinking?" Leo asked. "Are we still doing that?"

Percy shook his head. "No, at least, not right now. We can last on provisions for a little while longer as we wait for the first crops to ripen." He turned to Kent, the youngest member of the council. "Your dad is the god of animal husbandry, right?"

"Yeah," The scrawny boy nodded. "Why?"

"If we get some chickens, cows or something, do you think you can help us raise them?"

The small boy nodded. "Of course, farm animals love me, I've been raising them since I could walk. They pretty much do anything I ask. But we'll have to build pens, get feed and put feeding schedules in place and assign a group of people to tend to them." He said, saying more than he usually said in an entire day. "Raising livestock isn't like keeping a pet fish or a dog, we'll have to wait some time before we can even move them in."

Jason noticed Percy putting his hand to his chin in thought. "What are you thinking, Perce?"

"We have plenty of free room by the fields, we can have the Hephaestus cabin start building up pens and housing for them." He looked to Leo and Kent. "Leo, you'll be in charge of having you cabin building everything we need. Go to Kent and have him tell you what we need. Kent, go down o the fields and make a list of everything we need and give it to Amethyst," He said looking to the daughter of Iris. "From there she can make sure it goes to the cabin leaders that will be handling it."

"Sounds good to me." Amethyst smiled, nodding as she made a note in the notebook in front of her.

"That's sounds like a lot of unnecessary work to me," Paolo said. "Wouldn't it just be easier for us to go into town and buy the food we need?"

Percy shook his head. "It's too dangerous. With the gods gone, the Monsters are running around more than ever. If we need to leave camp, we'll do it in armed and well experienced groups." He looked to every camper in the room. "As of now I hereby forbid anyone to leave the camp unless it's approved by the council. The gods are gone and the Monsters and Titans still want us dead and will do anything to do it. We just can't risk it."

"Then how will we get the animal's if we can't leave?" Kent asked. "If you're expecting me to wiggle my nose and make them poof into existence, then you're crazy.'

"You'll be going to the farms around camp with a few Ares guards." Percy explained. "Once we get everything ready, of course. Think you can do that, Kent?"

"Of course." He nodded under his wide brimmed hat. "I also have a few beehives outside my cabin, with my father being the god of beekeeping and all, so we have honey as well."

"How many do you have?" Piper asked.

"Only two hives." Kent replied. "But I have several young queens I can move into new hives. They don't listen like farm animals, since they don't have much of a mind to communicate with, but I can try to increase the amount of honey they make."

"Have your bees also help with pollinating the crops," Katie said. "We really need it."

"Will do." Kent nodded.

"Well we have a plan for food along the line," Clarisse said. "But what about now? We can't wait until we get everything ready."

"What about fish?" Mika asked from the end of the table, looking at Percy. "Can't you just get a school of fish to jump up on shore so we can eat them?"

Percy grimace. "I don't think I could do that," He replied. "My dad probably wouldn't be so happy. Besides, I don't like killing fish, as the son of Poseidon they don't really like it."

"The fish?" Mika asked. "But they're just fish."

"Not to my dad. It's complicated."

"We can do what Leonidas suggested the other day." Lou Ellen said.

"And what's that?" Percy asked.

"Hunt some animals in the woods. We know we have deer and rabbits. He said that we can set traps for the rabbits and hunt some deer." She said simply. "He even volunteered."

"I don't know." Jason said, a worried look on his face. "The forest is sacred land to the gods, I don't think that they'll take kindly to us killing their animals."

"I know one for sure that wouldn't mind." Percy said from his spot. "Artemis."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't even be able to contact her to ask." Damien said. "I don't think we should kill any animals in camp. They might be a sacred animal of one of them for all we know. We don't want to piss of the gods anymore than we already have."

"Do you think that Lady Artemis would be okay with us killing animals in the forest, Percy?" Piper asked. He nodded. "Then I think that we should. We will starve if we don't."

"I'll send a quick prayer to Artemis asking about it tonight at dinner." Percy said, looking at the paper in his hand. "But I'm sure she wouldn't mind. She can just make more of them anyway."

"What's next?" Holly asked.

"Assigning people to lead group activities and lead classes." Percy replied, reading the paper. "With Chiron gone we need someone to take over the masters archery class." He looked to Will. "Can you-."

"No." Will quickly shook his head. "Like I said, I have twenty seven wounded campers to look after. I'm up to my ears in work. I can't." He gave Percy an apologetic look. "Sorry, but I'm not even the best archer in Apollo."

"Then pick whoever you think would be best for the job." Percy said. "I'll trust your judgement."

"How about we ask Leonidas to do it?" Leo said, an excited smile on his face. "I heard that he beat the hunters in an archery contest! He'd be great."

"Where did you hear that from?" Percy asked.

"Leonidas." Leo said simply. "He told us a whole bunch of stories the first night he got here at the campfire."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Pollux said. "His hunting stories are always really cool. He's like a master storyteller."

"What he said was true, right?" Holly asked Percy. "Did he really beat the hunters in an archery contest?"

Percy nodded. "He did." He said before moving onto the next item on the list. "Next up, we need to decide who will be leading the master swordsmanship class." He looked to Clarisse besides him. "Any chance you can-."

"Wait," Holly spoke up suddenly, looking to Percy with a confused look. "Why can't you lead the class like you were doing before? You are the best sword fighter we've had at camp in a century."

"I'm too busy." Percy said, looking down to the small pile of papers in front of him. "I'll have to spend most of my time running the camp, I won't have the time to run a two hour class every other day. Clarisse? How about you?'

The daughter of Ares shook her head. "I'm already teaching the hand to hand combat class as well as running the camp defenses. I can't either."

"I'll do it." Sherman from Ares said. "I ran the beginners class last year, I'll take the master class and give the beginners to one of my siblings."

"Works for me." Percy nodded. "Well, we have more to do, so let's continue."

. . .

(A few hours later)

"Kent, make sure you get that list to Amethyst and she'll get it to the Hephaestus cabin." Percy said before turning quickly to Lou Ellen. "I want you and your cabin to try putting more protective magical wards on the walls tomorrow. Then talk to Katie and Miranda and see what you can do about trying some of the Satyr's nature magic on the fields." The daughter of Hecate nodded.

Percy stood, pushing his chair back, looking to everyone around him after eyeing the clock on the wall. "It's almost time for dinner, Katie, Miranda, have your siblings start making dinner if they haven't already. I'll make an announcement to the campers before we start eating." He let out a long breath. "Well, if that's everything, I'll be working on the cabin schedules until dinner if anyone needs me-."

Jason cut him of suddenly. "You can do that later, isn't there something more important you should be doing right now?" He asked.

Percy looked confused for a second before his eye lit up, shuffling the papers in front of him and grabbing one. "Oh yeah, the chore schedules-."

"Not that." Piper interrupted him this time, looking at him with a narrow gaze. "Annabeth?" She asked. "Your girlfriend who you haven't seen in two months? WHat about her, ring any bells?"

"Ah Hades." Percy cursed.

"Hey," Nico cut in. "Leave my dad out of this. It's not his fault you don't pay attention."

"I didn't even see her when I got back…" His eyes widened. She wouldn't be happy about that, crap. He turned to Gardenia. "I need some flowers. The prettiest you have."

The daughter of Persephone gave him a smirk, raising her brow. "And you think that some pretty flowers can make up for the fact that you forgot to see her first?"

"Yes?" He asked hopefully before sighing, defeated. "Ah man." We rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as the entire council judged him with their eyes. "I gotta go see her, I'll be back for dinner."

With that the son of Poseidon left the room and headed for his apartment. "I swear," Piper said shaking her head slowly. "That boy can be either really romantic or completely oblivious, there's no in between."

"That's true with all boys." Holly said, smirking.

"Hear hear, sister." Laurel gave her a high five, laughing.

"Oh, I get it." Leo said deadpanned. "So boys are terrible."

"You sure are." MIka mumbled from the end of the table.

"Hey!"

"If we're done here then I gotta get back to the defensive wall." Clarisse said, rising from the table. "Council dismissed."

oooOooo

(In Percy and Annabeth's apartment)

Percy silently made his way into their apartment, making sure to be a quiet as possible. He was hoping to surprise her, maybe it would lessen her anger if she didn't hear him coming? He doubted it, but it was worth a shot.

Percy made his way through their tiny living room, it was just as he remembered it. Nothing had been messed up in his absence, but, knowing Annabeth, that wasn't surprising. But no Annabeth in the living room or kitchen. Which meant she was probably either in their bedroom or their office. Honing all of his stealth skills, Percy made his way down the hallway and in front of the open door to their room. His smile widened as soon as he saw her.

There she was, dressed in one of his large t-shirts and a pair of short sitting at the small desk, working on her laptop with her headphones on. He snuck up behind her close enough to hear her music, it was 'California Gurls' by Katy Perry, not something he would expect her to be listening to, but it made him smile regardless. Not being able to control himself any longer, he got up right behind her, whispered "I'm home, Wisegirl." And kissed her on the side of her neck right where he knew made her melt.

What Percy expected to be a romantic moment, turned into a painful one when without warning Annabeth turned in her chair, yelled "Hiyah", grabbed his arm and judo flipped him to the ground, his feet crashing into the small table and almost knocking her laptop to the floor.

"Ow!" He cried from the carpet. "What in the gods names did you do that for?"

"Percy?" She yelped, letting go of the arm she was twisting almost out of its socket. "What were you thinking, sneaking up on me like that?" She chastised him. "You know I hate that."

"...I was trying to be romantic." He mumbled as she helped him to his feet, he held out a now slightly messed up bouquet of flowers. "Surprise?"

"Oh, they're beautiful." She smelled them, fixing the messed up flowers. She wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "I missed you so much, Seaweed Brain."

"I missed you more." He whispered into her hair, lightly kissing it. "I wanted to IM you everyday, but-."

"But you were busy, I know." She pulled away slightly to face him, her nose touching his. "I didn't know you'd be back today."

"Neither did I. I got an IM from Amethyst saying that the camp was under attack and I came right over."

She kissed him, letting her lips linger on his. "Well I'm glad you're back, I was lonely without you."

He couldn't stop the smirk on his lips and he kissed her back, longer than necessary but neither of them cared. "I'm sure you were, because I was lonely too."

Annabeth let her head lean into his shoulder, just enjoying the fact that he was here again. Relishing in the feeling of him next to her again. After a minute of him just holding her, she looked up to again. "...You have to leave to go back with the hunters again, don't you?" Her face has hard, like she didn't care but Percy knew her enough to be able to read her eyes. She was worried and holding back tears.

He lightly shook his head, taking her hand and kissing her fingers. "No, I'm done traveling with them." He said softly. "We killed the elder Hydra. I was getting ready to leave when I got the IM."

"Really?" Her eyes widened, her grey orbs turning brighter. "You're not pulling my leg, are you?"

"Of course not, love." He whispered, a smile on his lips. "I wouldn't lie to you."

She hugged him even tighter and he relished in remembering how great it felt to hold her in his arms. "Are you working with the council again?"

He nodded. "Yeah, the camp is in rough shape, they needed my help more than I thought."

"I see." She sounded a little disappointed, most likely because that meant that he would have less free time to spend with her. Even before he left, Percy rarely had a lot of free time. It would be even worse now. "When do you have to leave?"

"In a little over an hour." He answered, eyeing the time on her laptop. "I have to give the campers an update at dinner. You coming?"

"Of course," She smiled before looking down to her clothes, tugging on the t-shirt of his she stole some times several months ago and refused to give back because it smelled like him and she liked to wear it when the was gone. "But not in this, I've been studying all day, didn't take a shower this morning. How about we take a shower, change and go from there?"

Percy smile turned into an suggestive smirk, his brow raised dangerously. "A shower?" He asked, his voice even more suggestive. "You mean together?"

Her cheeks flushed red immediately, her eyes widening and her mouth opening in shock. "I meant separately, you doofus." She slapped him in the arm playfully. "Here you are coming back after being gone for two months and asking me that."

"We've done it before." He said in his defense.

Her face reddened even more. "That was at the beach in the public showers, you loon." She said, quickly. "And we were in swimsuits!"

"I still thought it was hot." He chuckled, having fun seeing her face red even if his face was too.

"Of course you would." She mumbled into his ear. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

His smile threatened to split his face in half. "You're damn right I would." He laughed.

She laughed too, lightly pushing him back and gesturing to their bathroom connected to their room. "Go take a shower, alone-."

"Ah man." He whined.

"You reek to high Olympus." She said, covering her nose with her fingers in show of mock disgust.

"Fiiine." He groaned, walking to his dresser and pulling out a fresh pair of pants and underwear. "I'll go take a shower, alone, all by myself, lonely in the giant shower big enough for two people." He called over his shoulder as he made his way into the shower.

She called out to him right before the disappeared behind the door. "Wait, Percy."

"Yeah?" The asked, his head popping out from the doorway.

Annabeth sat on the bed with a suggestive smile on her own lips. "Hurry in the shower and we might find something to do with our free time." She finished with a wink, something that she felt foolish doing but thought Percy would like it. Besides, it wasn't the worst thing she's done. Not even close.

"I'll be out in a second." He said before slamming the door with enough force to almost rip it off its hinges. Needless to say but Percy took the fastest shower of his entire life.

oooOooo

(April 2, 2011, Later that evening)

It was an hour after dinner in the pavilion and the entire camp was sat around the campfire in the setting sun, handing out s'mores as the Apollo cabin began to tune their guitars and warm up their voices. And even after all of that time, Percy couldn't wipe the big goofy smile off of his face no matter how much the tried. His time before dinner with his girlfriend was well worth the two months wait, if you caught his meaning. Now only if other people didn't notice the dumb look on his face.

"I see the flowers you stole from outside my cabin helped." Gardenia said as she stood next to him by the fire, her smirk letting him know that she wasn't fooled. "Did Annabeth pay you back for them in kind?"

"Shut up." The whispered, looking to a group of younger campers a few feet away. "They could hear you."

The daughter of Persephone only giggled. "Oh, I'm pretty sure they're already familiar with it. I hear the Aphrodite girls have been trying to teach the younger girls about the 'harpies and the cherubs'." She said moving her fingers in quotation marks.

Percy let out a grumble. "I'll have to talk to Piper about it."

Gardenia giggled again. "You do that, Percy." She said as she started to leave before calling over her shoulder. "Oh, and I'd wipe that goofy smile off your face before an Aphrodite girl, or gods forbid, Piper, sees it!"

"Shut up!" The hissed but louder than the meant and suddenly the found that all of the eyes of the nearest campers were looking right at him. "Oh, uh, that was nothing." He lied, trying to keep his blush hidden as he heard Gardenia's laugh sounding in the distance. "Get back to what you were doing."

A few minutes later and every able bodied camper has sat around the large campfire, singing songs led by the Apollo cabin, talking, or like a select few and dancing animatedly to the music. All in all it made Percy smile. Camp was always home for him, he didn't know what it was, but something here just made him feel at home and relaxed. Maybe it was the fact that he had spent so many years here, known so many friends here, or that this was the place where he met Annabeth, but it just felt right being here. Like this was the place where he belonged. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Annabeth sit next to him, handing him a hot chocolate.

"You okay, Seaweed Brain?" She asked, handing him the cup.

"Oh, yeah, sorry." He apologized, rubbing the back if his neck. "I was just thinking."

"Dangerous." She mumbled into her cup. "There's no telling what could have happened if you actually succeeded."

"Oh, quiet, you." He chuckled as he placed his free arm over her shoulder, bringing her in close.

"It's what you get for giving me a hickey." She whispered low enough so that other people wouldn't hear, placing her hand on her neck now masterly hidden by a scarf. "And on my neck too, why couldn't you leave it somewhere no one could see it?" She ended with a soft chuckle.

"Because you turned down my shower idea." He whispered back, his lips ghosting over her ear. "It's what you get. I'll hide it better next time." He smirked.

She lightly pushed his face away. "Stop that, you," She smiled, trying to keep her body under control. It was still over sensitive from their earlier 'activity'. "People are watching. Save that for later."

"Oh, I intend to." He whispered back just as the Apollo kids finished the song and people began shouting their requests.

"Row your boat down the river Styx." One camper yelled.

"No no, 'We're going on a Erymanthian Boar hunt'!" Another called out.

"How about a story about heroes!" A young voice yelled next.

"How about a love story?" A girl from, you guessed it, the Aphrodite cabin asked.

"I want a story about Monsters!" Another young voice called out and was repeated by several other campers. Seems like a story about Monsters it was.

"Alright." DJ, a son of Apollo who was the oldest member of camp at twenty six asked. He was usually in charge of the songs and storytelling, had been for as long as Percy had been at camp. "Which story do you want to hear? How about the story of Medusa? The Minotaur? Oh, I know, how about the Chimera?" He raised up his hands and held out his finger like claws, causing the younger campers around him to laugh at his roars. He was always good with children, and as the eldest camper he was like an older brother or even a father to the youngest campers that had lost or never known theirs.

"A new story!" The same young camper requested. "I want a new story!"

"Yeah, a new story!" Several cheers were agreeing with him.

"A new story?" The man asked, scratching the light stubble on his chin. "Hmm. Let me think, I'm sure I have a new story somewhere."

"How about the story of the Nemean Lion?" A low baritone voice asked from behind the small group of youngest campers. "Now that, was a wondrous tale indeed!"

"But we've already heard that story." One kid said.

"Yeah, Heracles killed it." Added another.

If Leonidas was disheartened, he didn't show it. The giant man knelt next to the small children, a wide smile on his face as he held out his cloak. "That is true, little ones, but you have not heard the story of how I slayed the mighty beast."

"Wha, really?!" One kid asked, his eyes huge as he looked at the Nemean lion skin in Leonidas' hands.

"Whoa! Cool!"

"Super cool!" Another cried, trying to get as close to the lion's head as possible.

"Mega cool." Leonidas chuckled, his voice like a soft, low rumble inside his chest. "How about I tell you kids how I slew this fearsome beast?!" Leonidas asked, his deep, boisterous voice getting louder as he spoke, a massive smile on his face.

"Yeah!" The kids around him yelled.

"I wanna hear it too!" Leo cried as he made his way over, only to have Piper elbow him in the side. "What?"

"Act your age, Leo." She rolled her eyes at his antics as he ran off to the group.

"Then gather 'round, everyone!" Leonidas had the kids form a circle around him, standing with his back to the fire.

From beside him DJ whispered, "Thanks, man. I couldn't think up a new story on the spot." Leonidas nodded silently before facing the cheering kids again.

With the kids finally settling down enough for him to start, Leonidas put the cloak over his head, almost covering his face with the lion's. His voice louder and more animated than usual, a good thing, because the entire camp was listening to his story.

"The Nemean Lion," He started, his voice low and gravely, tilting his head down so the lion's piercing eyes looked at the kids. "Was the scourge of Nemea and the lands around the city. It was no ordinary beast, it had an indestructible hide so thick that no weapon, no matter how sharp or how deadly, could penetrate it." He bent his knees, moving his body so that it looked like the lion was moving in the shadows of the fire. "Arrows bounced from its hide, swords deflected from its fur." He quickly held up the paw of the lion in front of the kids, causing them to step back in surprise. "Its claws, each the size of a dagger, were the color of back steel and could tear through any armor, no matter how strong it was."

In one quick motion he threw back his hood and summoned his spear from the tattoo on his left forearm, held it out in front of him at a safe distance from the kids and dropped into a stance, the flames of the fire reflecting off of the giant spear head. "For seven days and seven nights, I hunted the beast." He walked side to side in a low crouch, his spear still held in front of him. "Through snow, storm, fog and cold, the journey was long and dangerous," He quickly pivoted on the spot and faced the other way, his spear held out in front of him. "But I was ready for the challenge."

"It was on the eighth day on the beasts' trail that I learned that I was not hunting it, but that it was hunting me." A few kids let out 'oohs' or 'what did you do's'. He continued to pace low in front of the fire, holding his spear as if he were still hunting the lion. "The beast and I circled the other in the blinding snowfall for hours, trying to sneak up on the other and land the first blow." He flipped his hood back up and had the lion's head face the children, a few stepped back in surprise. "The mighty beast was smart, it used the sound of my breath and the heat of my skin to track me. But I listened too, and heard its massive paws in the snow as it crept ever closer."

"Then all of a sudden it leaped at me, its maw open wide!" He quickly turned to face the ids, the lion's open mouth shaking by the movement. Several of the kids yelled in surprise, but were too enthralled by the story to be scared. He was like a master storyteller, changing the tone and pitch of his voice to coincide with the story. He made use of the darkness and shadow expertly, using it to hide his body under the cloak so that it looked like the lion was right there in front of them, continuously moving side to side as if it were alive. "The mighty beast landed on my back, its curved, dagger-like claws digging into my back as it tried to bite through my helmet."

"But I was stronger than the beast expected!" He cried, throwing his hood back again and lifting his bare arms up, flexing them and showing his impressive muscles. "And I threw the beast from my back! Not wanting to waste a second, I summoned my gauntlets and tackled the animal with my mighty strength and pinned it to the ground!" He clenched his fists around the twin tattoos of lion heads in his palms and half a second later two massive celestial bronze gauntlets formed with ornate lion heads with open mouths over his large forearms and hands. The twin lion heads shinned and reflected in the changing color of the campfire behind him. Percy's eyes widened when he saw the gauntlets, he had no idea Leonidas had those weapons, and from the surprised looks of the older campers, neither did they.

"These gauntlets," He started, rising them in the air. "Contain the combined strength of the strongest demigods in history and increase my already massive strength by ten!" Several of the kids let out 'oohs' and 'aahs' at the over the top display. He continued, his voice louder and faster as he got to the fight. "The beast and I wrestled in the snow for a whole hour, neither of us gaining nor giving an inch, that is, until I called upon the strength of the gods and punched the mighty beast in the snout!" He shouted, throwing his gauntlet covered fist out over the heads of the awed children. A punch so fast and powerful that the air pushed out of its way made an audible noise.

"The mammoth beast flew into the mountain side with a mighty roar, echoing the rumble of the earth under it. Then it stood and studied me, and I it. The legendary beast was double the size of a rhinoceros," He held his arms up above him in a display of its size, the kids gasped, hanging onto his every word. "And ten times as strong and fast!" He cried. "It leapt at me again, but this time I was ready for it! For I never fall for the same trick twice! I pulled back my mighty fist and just as it opened its crushing jaws to swallow me whole, I thrust my fist into its massive maw and hit the back of its throat!" He threw out another arm and yelled to the sky.

"You shall not kill me, beast! For I am Leonidas, son of Sparta and the strongest demigod to ever live!" The kids, and several older campers, cheered or whistled as he brought his hands together in a gesture like he was holding something open. His voice started slow before increasing with speed and volume. "Then, with my arm down the throat of the mighty beast," He threw apart his hands quickly to the sides, making a loud ripping sound with his mouth. "I tore apart its mighty jaws with my godly might! Killing the beast!"

The entire camp burst into cheers around him, the flames of the fire growing brighter and higher as the energy of the crowd reached its peak. Leonidas took the cloak from his back and held it out in front of him. "Then, with its own indestructible claws, I cut it and turned into a cloak fit for a warrior of Sparta and took my spot among the names of the legendary heroes of Greece!" Applause engulfed the clearing, every camper on their feet and cheering, yelling or whistling.

"Thank you, thank you!" Leonidas gave a big, comical bow in several directions before raising his fists to the sky, the gauntlets disappearing in a light golden red glow. "Praise to the gods for allowing me to slay the mighty beast of legend!"

"Another story!" A young kid of only seven yelled in front of him, pushing to the front of the circle. "Tell us another story!" All of the kids in front of him began yelling their agreement.

"Yes!"

"Please?" Another cried. "Another story!"

"More stories! Cool stories with Monsters!"

Leonidas chuckled, kneeling down so that he was at more or less eye level with the kids. "You will have to ask Perseus that." He said, giving the son of Poseidon a glance. "It's getting late and I'm sure that it's nearly bedtime."

"No!" The kids yelled, turning to Percy. "Percy! Can we please hear another story?"

"Yeah, another story!" Leo cried with the kids. "Please?"

"It's getting late-."

"Please?" The group of campers interrupted him, causing him to smile to himself, Annabeth nudged him in the side.

"Let them have another story," She whispered. "I can't remember the last time I've seen them this happy."

"Fine then," Percy said the crowd, looking to the little kids. "One more story, but you'll have to go right to bed after-."

"Yay!" The kids, and Leo, cheered.

Percy leaned back into his seat, pulling Annabeth closer to him. She chuckled. "How's being in charge going?"

"Quiet, you." He mumbled into her hair, kissing it. "Story time."

"Well then," Leonidas smiled, chuckling as he stood back on his feet in front of the fire, looking to the crowd of campers. "What story do you want to hear?"

"A Monster story!" A small Apollo camper yelled.

"How you got so strong!" A young Ares camper cried.

"How you got your tattoos!" Pollux yelled from behind Percy.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" A girl from the Aphrodite cabin yelled out, receiving several words to sit down and be quiet from the campers around her.

"How about when you met Percy?" Leo yelled over the shouting children. "Didn't you two fight?"

The cacophonous roar of agreement caused the fire to dart higher than it had before. Clearly the campers wanted to hear that story.

"Well I don't see why not." Leonidas spread his arms wide in front of the crowd before looking to Percy. "What say you, brother?"

Percy ignored the tenseness in his gut and nodded. "Sure, why not?"

The younger campers cheered again, throwing their arms around. Leonidas let out a hearty laugh before quieting the kids down. "Alright then," He started like he did earlier, his voice low and calm. "I was deep in the Colorado mountains, rising with the sun, ready to hunt, when I was suddenly attacked by a large horde of Monsters!" He held his hands out by his head like claws, causing the kids to startle.

"Whilst I was slaying the endless number of beasts one by one with my mighty sword, from off in the distance I heard the loud cry of a young child coming from the trees." He brandished his sword and raised it in front of him, swinging it in a masterful display. "Making haste to kill the Monsters around me, I bolted off into the woods to find the source of the cry. But what I found was not a young girl in danger, by the mighty daughter of Zeus, Thalia, Lieutenant of the hunters of Artemis." Several of the campers let out more 'oohs'.

"Not knowing who the other was and what side they fought on, we did battle." He let his sword disappear and he clapped his fists above his head with so much force that Percy's ears popped. "Then the powerful daughter of Zeus struck me with a mighty lightning bolt taken from her father's domain! But I hid under my Nemean Lion cloak and was unharmed!" More campers cheered, throwing their fists in the air with Leonidas.

"But then," His voice dropped low and quiet so that the entire crowd had to lean in to hear him. "I was attacked from behind, and that, is how I came face to face with my brother, the strongest opponent I have ever faced, a man so strong that I secretly feared that I was fighting a god himself, Perseus! Son the seas!" He roared the final words. The crowd cheered and the flames of the fire flew high.

"Our legendary swords clashed, a mighty sound that sent vibrations through the air and shook the very foundations of Mount Olympus itself!" He cried toward the darkened heavens. "We swung our mighty blades and did battle worthy of Achilles and the warriors of Sparta! Every strike of our mighty blows shook the very mountain under us!" He summoned his massive warhammer and held it above his head with a single hand high into the sky. "I summoned my mighty warhammer, the slayer of Drakons and Hydra alike, as he summoned his trident, a weapon of the seas powerful enough to shake the very earth itself!" He cried in his deep, boisterous voice, his free hand clenched in a fist above his head. His words turned soft and slow again, getting ready for the climax. "The battle that followed…, not even the legendary poet Homer could have described it in detail." His voice got louder with each word. "The fight between the two strongest demigods to ever live shook the very heavens and the earth! The battle was legendary and was worthy to be written in the stars above them!" He cried, pointing to the constellations in the crystal clear sky above them. The crowd around them exploded with cheers and yelling, everyone on their feet.

"Wow," Annabeth whispered in his ear, nudging him in the side softly. "Sounds like some fight? Is it true?"

"More or less." He whispered back.

"More or less what?"

"Less of us fighting a 'legendary battle' and more of him kicking my ass black and blue." He mumbled.

"Oh," She puffed out her cheeks in a mock pout. "Is someone upset that he lost?" She laughed towards the end.

"You're ornery today, aren't you?" He whispered into her ear.

"Maybe I'm just making up for lost time." She smiled, turning back to the crowd in front of Leonidas, a kid shouting out a question.

"Who won?" He cried. "Who won the fight? You or Percy?"

"Percy of course," Leo came to his friend's defense, yelling above the voices of the kids. "Percy's never lost."

Leonidas wore a massive smile, the largest Percy had ever seen on his face as he had fun laughing and cheering with the kids. Finally, after calming the crowd down he answered. "The fight had no winner." He said simply, turing to look right at Percy. "My brother and I learned that we were on the same side and stopped. Deciding to unite against the Monsters!"

"But who was going to win?" A young kid from Demeter yelled out. "Who's stronger?"

Leonidas' and Percy's eyes met and locked for several seconds before Leonidas finally broke his silence and answered, still looking at Percy. "We don't know." He answered calmly. "We fought but neither of us gave it our all in the end, I know that for sure, because if we did, then the world itself would feel the recoil. Only the Fates themselves know which one of us would triumph over the other." He finally tore his eyes from Percy and smiled to the crowd. "But I would love nothing more than to find out. The son of Poseidon versus the son of Sparta… Might versus seas. A final fight that would shake the very earth, a battle like nothing ever seen before by mortal or immortal eyes in the Tapestry of Fate or across any pantheon in history." He closed his eyes briefly, a look of peace washing over his face, his voice low, slow and calm. "...Truly, a match worthy to be written in the stars. A duel worthy of two legendary sons." He opened his eyes and looked to the stars above him, looking at something that no one else could see. He slowly raised his open hand to the sky and slowly closed his fist around the darkness. His voice was so low and quiet that Percy thought that he may have not meant to say it outloud. "That… is my dream. To live among the stars forever."

oooOooo

(AN: Remember to leave a Review,

they help me know you're liking the story)

oooOooo

(May 4, 2011, With Jason and Piper)

Jason and Piper were taking advantage of one of the rare instance of both of them having free schedules from War Council meetings and helping run the camp and decided to spend their afternoon quietly walking around the edges of the strawberry fields near the first lines of trees of the woods. They lazily waved to various members of the Demeter, Dionysus and Persephone cabins that were attentively tending the fields, trying their best to keep the crops from wilting and dying. Ever since the gods had fled from the world, so too did their presences and effects. Without gods like Demeter, Dionysus and Aristaeus walking the earth and maintaining the crops and vegetation, the entire world was feeling the negative ramifications. Crop production and growth were reaching dangerous lows all around the world, something that was both confusing and frightening the mortal population. But only the demigods knew of the true reasons as well as the true danger, without the attention and presence of the gods, the fragile balances of the world would start to slowly erode and fade away, and, before long, the world may no longer be fit for mortals to live in.

"Ugh, my feet are sooo tired," Piper complained next to Jason as they walked along the wall of trees. "Carry me?" She asked, her eyes wide for a greater 'cute effect'.

Jason chuckled, a smile on his face. "We have only been waking for five minutes, Pips." He turned his head to her, shaking it back and forth lightly. "I'm sure that you can work through the pain for another minute, we're almost there."

He saw her puff out her cheeks in mock frustration. "You're so mean." She jokingly mumbled, elbowing him in the side.

"Says the girl who's physically assaulting me." Jason joked, countering by bumping his shoulder into her, almost making her lose her balance.

"That's because you won't carry me." She bumped her shoulder into him but found him much harder to budge. "And look who's physically assaulting who now."

Jason smiled. "Well, I'll make it up to you later," He promised. "Besides, we're here." They were stopped in front of a small clearing where a few fallen trees had been cut and placed into a little sitting area. Couples would often come to little places like this around camp in order to get away from the other campers and enjoy a few minutes of peace and quiet. With both Jason and Piper being seventeen, they weren't old enough to move out of their cabins and have their own apartment like Percy and Annabeth or Clarisse and Chris had, so they weren't able to spend as much time together alone as they wished. So when they were able to get away from the others like this, even for a short period of time, they relished the opportunity.

They ate lunch from the picnic basket Jason brought, enjoying their food in peace, talking about nothing at all, but happy that they were able to have conversations that weren't council related. Jason was sitting back against a tree with Piper leaning into his side, her head on his shoulder. In other words, he was in heaven. Jason loved nothing more than to be able to spend some alone time with his girlfriend. He let out a content sigh, breaking the previous comfortable silence that had fallen between them. Piper shifted her head slightly to be able to face him.

"What?" She asked softly, her eyes closed as she relaxed on his shoulder.

He shrugged his free shoulder as to not disrupt her. "Nothing, Pips. Just happy to be able to spend some time with my beautiful girlfriend." He answered. "It's nice."

Piper smiled, snuggling into his side more. "You charmer." She paused to kiss his cheek. "I love it too."

A smile formed on his face as well. "I'm serious," He let his head rest on top of hers. "I could stay like this forever. Just you and me, forever. It would be perfect."

She blushed, nudging him lightly in the side with her elbow. "What's with you today, babe?" She looked up to him with a smirk. "You trying to sweet talk me?"

"What if I am? Would that be so bad?" He returned the smirk, removing his head from atop of hers and looking down to her. He put on an overdramatic voice, his free hand over his heart. "Oh, Piper, my love." He started, his voice smooth and overly dramatic like he was in a romantic play. "I could write sonnets about your stunning beauty. Haikus about your luscious lips. Poems about your dazzling smile. Ballads about your-"

"Alright, loverboy." She cut him off, rising up so that her lips brushed his, smiling. "I think I get the idea."

He put on a mock frown, wrapping his arms around her lightly as she straddled his legs. "But I had a few dozen verses prepared-"

She cut him off again, but this time by covering his lips with her own, not that he minded, of course. "You talk too much." She breathed out between kisses.

"You say that as if you didn't like it when I flatter you, dove." He retorted, biting her lower lip softly. Piper countered by kissing him more feverously. Jason absolutely sucked at pet names, but whenever he called her 'dove' it made her smile like a lunatic. She pretended to hate it, since it wasn't very creative since her mother's sacred animal was the dove, but she secretly loved it.

"Oh shut up," She mumbled in between breaths. "It's hard to kiss you when you're talking." He only let out a few chuckles before giving in to her wishes and going silent.

After about a slightly ravenous fifteen minute make out session and some not so innocent wandering hands, Jason heard some noise in the forest behind them, knocking him out of his stupor. He pulled away from Piper's lips, causing the daughter of Aphrodite to come to her senses, looking up to her boyfriend with a questioning look. "Jason?" She asked, breathless. "What's wrong?"

"I hear someone coming this way." He answered, listening to the trees around them. He could make out a pair of voices coming towards them, one distinctly male while the other was very obviously female. He started to move Piper off of him carefully, removing her hand from under his shirt, it wouldn't be good if other campers caught them like this. Even with Chiron gone, the camp still had strict rules about couples sneaking off and participating in 'illicit activities' as the old centaur called them. "Get off me." He said in a frantic whisper.

Piper let out a curse despite herself, quickly unstraddling her boyfriend and sitting herself a good, acceptable distance away from him, unbunching her shirt and fixing her hair. "Who is it?" She asked in a worried whisper. "Some younger campers?"

"Don't know," He admitted. "But they're coming closer.

Piper let out an annoyed sound. "Well whoever they are, they picked the worst time."

"We'll continue later." He promised with a suggestive smirk, peering through the bushes. The voices were getting closer and he could now recognize the female voice as someone that he absolutely did not want finding them like this. "It's Drew." His eyes widened, recognizing her annoyingly screeching voice.

"Drew?" Piper asked, distaste sounding in her voice. "Why is she here? Who's she with? One of her boyfriends of the week?"

Jason listened to the conversation as they got closer. "Come on, hun," Came Drew's overly sickly sweet voice. "You know as well as I that you're just playing hard to get. What, do you think that you can do better than me at camp? Honey, let me tell you, I am the best you'll ever meet."

"Never before has such an inaccurate sentence ever been spoken in the entire history of mankind." The low baritone, normally boisterous voice identified itself as an exasperated Leonidas.

The pair stopped just a dozen or so paces from the still hiding Jason and Piper. The son of Jupiter could make out the two clearly now. Leonidas, the man that had mysteriously shown up one day and had quickly befriended most of the camp, Jason included, with his lively personality and enthusiastic willingness to help teach the younger campers everything he knew about fighting, was dressed in his now usual exercise clothes he wore around camp at all times bar when they were under attack. An oversized pair of sneakers, black shorts and a sleeveless shirt that showed off his muscular arms. And attached to said arm was a certain daughter of Aphrodite.

"What?" Drew questioned, momentarily stopping her attempts to latch onto his arm as she tried to grasp what he just said. "Are you trying to be poetic?" She let out a high pitched girly squeal. "Oh, how charming!"

The giant man rolled his eyes slowly, obviously tired of how oblivious this girl was. "Clearly, you don't seem to get it," He paused to unlatch her arms around his own, pulling away from her easily due to his superior strength over hers. "So let me say this clearly so that even you can comprehend it." He took a step back from her, looking down at her with a slightly disgusted face. "I appreciate your kind words, truly, your determination is commendable, but I'm not interested. So if you would stop following me around, I can get back to hunting our dinner for tonight, as you know we have ran out of food. But you're scaring them off because you won't stop talking."

Piper quietly snickered beside Jason, having to hold in her laugh by covering her mouth. The motion was slight, almost unnoticeable, by Leonidas' head turned slightly in their direction, indicating that he knew they were there but said nothing about it.

Drew looked taken back for a few seconds, pulling back, covering her heart with her hand like she was insulted. "Why that was uncalled for, love." She reached out for his arm again only for him to pull away. "I shouldn't, but I'll forgive you this time, 'kay? You can make it up to me later-."

Leonidas took a large step back, avoiding her well manicured claws, cutting her off with a slightly more stern voice, opposed to his usually overly animated one. "Look, I've tried being nice…" By the tone of his voice he was clearly fed up with this girl. "But you're starting to irritate me. So read my lips; Leave. Me. Alone."

He turned on the spot quickly and began to walk off into the bushes, but Drew broke out of her trance and latched onto his arm again, pulling on it and causing him to face her. Once he did she put her face as close to his as she could despite the massive height difference between them. "And you clearly don't recognize a good thing when you see it, hun." She countered sharply before turning her voice softer, more sensual and filled with Charmspeak. He started to pull away again, turning to leave but she spoke up. "Stop." She commanded, putting all of her charmspeaking power into her voice.

Leonidas halted midstep, his body still struggling to move despite the power she had over him. "Now hun, I want you to face me." His movements were tight, rigid and stiff as if he was putting all of his effort into not following her command. After a few seconds he turned to her, his body shaking slightly, his large fists gripped tightly by his sides, but his face, his face was the worst. His usual smiling and animated face was pained, his jaw set tight and his eyes filled with burning rage. If Drew noticed any of this, she didn't show it.

"Good," She purred. "Now you're starting to behave like a good little toy." She latched herself onto his muscular arm, pressing the curves of her body into his bare skin. "You're going to come with me back to my apartment and make it up to me-."

She was cut off suddenly by his forced, pained, slow voice, each word separated by an audible breath, every word was forced out by all of his might. "Release me… from… your spell!" He spat out his order like venom. He tried to pry his shaking arm from her grip but found it impossible while she was controlling him. "Release me!" He barked.

Drew's previously sweet smile turned into a devilish glare. She raised her voice, putting more power into her voice. "Quiet." She ordered, smacking his arm with her hand. "You're stronger than I thought, resisting my charmspeak like that." She admitted, her claw of a manicured finger placed to her chin in a thinking position. "But I like that. More of a challenge when you can fight back."

Jason and Piper watched in awe at the display in front of them. Neither of them had been present when Drew asked out Leonidas the first few times, but they could tell that it was escalating quickly. Leonidas looked like every word of charmspeak he resisted was physically hurting him, which wasn't anything like Piper had ever seen before with people resisting charmspeak. His body was shaking so much that he looked like he was going to fall over from it.

"Should we do something?" Piper whispered in Jason's ear, not taking her eyes off of Drew and Leonidas. Drew always abused her charmspeak powers at camp, so the majority of the campers were used to her, but Leonidas' reaction was far above and beyond anything Piper had ever seen when someone tried to resist charmspeak. Never before had she ever seen someone physically in pain from resisting it. "You should do something."

"Why me?" Jason whispered back. "She's from your cabin despite moving out. Besides, she doesn't listen to me. We'll have to call Clarisse or Percy, they're the only ones Drew-."

"Release me, now!" Leonidas' pained baritone voice cut off their conversation. They looked back to find his eyes ablaze with fury. His jaw snapped back shut, unable to resist her words to be silent for longer than a few seconds at a time.

"Or what, sweetie?" She asked in an obnoxious, insufferably sweet voice. "You gonna scream at me? I'll have you screaming later in my bed-."

"Gaaah!" Leonidas roared, his low voice like a rumbling storm, seizing control of all of his will and forcefully pulling his arm away from her with such force that he fell to the side. Causing the smaller girl to fall back on her backside with an undignified squeal. "Finally, freedom…" Leonidas muttered, dropping slightly and having to rest his hands on his knees. His chest was heaving like he just ran a marathon and fresh sweat could be seen dripping from his forehead.

"Why you," Drew started to bring herself to her feet, brushing off the dirt from her miniskirt. "Why you bastard!" She cried. "You barbarian! You're gonna regret that, honey!" She paused slightly to fill her voice with power before speaking again. "Now help me up and apologize-."

Drew was cut off again when Leonidas' massive hand quickly shot forward and covered her mouth, covering half of her face as well. The giant man leaned down to put his face an inch in front of hers. "Never attempt to use your vile magic on me again, Aphrodite-spawn!" His voice was lower than normal and filled with bristling venom as he spat out his next words, emphasizing each one. "Try it again, and I will cut your whorish silver tongue from your Siren mouth, you enchantress!" He roared louder than Jason or Piper had ever heard him, yelling with so much force that spit flew from his mouth and onto her frozen face.

"Now it's time to do something." Jason said to Piper as he burst through the bushes and up to Leonidas, waving his arms to get his attention. "Hey!" He yelled to the man. "That's enough, Leonidas."

Leonidas relaxed his shoulders slightly but still held his hand over Drew's face, only allowing for the smallest amount of air to reach her lungs. "Oh, it's you, son of Jupiter. I knew you were somewhere around here." Leonidas said as if he were having a normal conversation and wasn't holding another camper by her face. "I thought I heard someone, but I could have sworn it was a female. Tell me, is that other daughter of Aphrodite back there with you?"

Jason hesitated for a second, deciding to not say anything about what they were doing. "How did you know it was me?" He asked before remembering that Drew was being pinned against a tree, though he honestly wouldn't have cared if not for her safety. "And let go of Drew. I saw everything that happened, she crossed a line, several lines actually. I won't get you in trouble, don't worry. She brought in on herself. So it's not on you, but if you hurt her, it will be."

After internally debating for a few seconds, Leonidas removed his hand from Drew's face and took a small step back, facing Jason. "The smell of ozone." He answered simply, tapping a large finger to his nose. "The air is thick of it whenever you are around. Moreso whenever you are emotional or your body is excited." He gave the son of Jupiter a sideways glance for a second before looking back to where Jason came from and smiling, turning back to him. "You were with the Aphrodite girl." He chuckled light heartedly. "Don't worry, my friend, your secret is safe with me."

He looked back to where Drew still sat in the dirt, her eyes wide with fear as they bore into Leonidas' skull. "I meant no harm to this woman, son of Jupiter." He stood in a relaxed stance, his hands in his pockets as he faced Jason again. "I would never harm a woman." He shook his head as if the thought shook him. "I was just trying to get this… seductress to heed my warning."

"I believe you," Jason said, and he did. Leonidas didn't seem like the type of guy who would just hurt someone, let alone a woman, without reason, despite his intimidating appearance. "But you just can't threaten her-."

"She tried to control my mind and force me to sleep with her." Leonidas' low voice interrupted him, he wore a fierce look on his face. "What she tried to do is many times worse than my empty threat."

"I get that," Jason started. "But you just can't-."

"I knew you of all people wouldn't understand the danger of her bewitching voice." Leonidas cut him off sharply, shifting his eyes back and forth from Drew to where Piper was still hiding behind a bush. "You constantly have your mind molded and twisted by your own personal Siren whispering into your ear."

"What?" Jason said, his voice edging towards a yell. "What did you-?"

"You are being kept under control by that Aphrodite girlfriend of yours." He said calmly, as if he were discussing nothing more unusual than the weather. "It is in their nature to manipulate, influence, control and exploit men around them. They are no different than Sirens or Empousa, one day you will learn this, thank me and take control over your actions again."

"..." Jason had no words, he just stared in awe at the man in front of him. What is this guy talking about? Jason thought. I'm not under her control.

Leonidas continued a second later, taking a small step towards Jason, a kind but worried expression on his face. Like he was genuinely worried for Jason's well being. His voice dropped to a hushed whisper, the feeling of familiarity in his voice. "You are a victim." He said in a soft, caring voice. "Under the control of an enchantress. I have been too, once, I know how hard it is to see clearly. I can help-."

Drew chose this exact second to speak up, a decision that would soon prove foolish. "Oh bull." She cried from her spot on the ground, climbing to her feet and straightening her clothes. "You want me to control you, Leonidas sweetie, you're just-."

After letting a low growl that resembled the rumbling sky, Leonidas stepped towards Drew dangerously, a venomous glare on his face. "Speak that again, trollop, and I will-."

"Trollop?" Drew asked, wide eyed just as Jason stepped in between the two, putting his hand on Leonidas' arm near one of his six tattoos.

"Whoa, man. Hang on-."

"Careful!" Leonidas pulled his arm free, inspecting his tattoo like it could have been damaged. "You don't know what you could have-."

"Let's all just calm down, okay?" Piper spoke up calmly, running up to the three heated demigods, using her charmspeak to try to calm them all down. "Just take a deep breath, take a step back and-."

Leonidas spun to face Piper, his face even angrier now. "Do not attempt to control me either, Siren."

Piper's face grew slightly red with anger but she maintained her cool. "I'm not a Siren, Leonidas." She said, trying to keep her voice relaxed and calm him down. She moved as slowly and calmly as possible reached for his hand. "Just a daughter of Aphrodite. You don't have anything to worry about, I'm not going to-."

"Unhand me, you vile creature!" He yelled, pulling his arm free from her as soon as her hand made contact. He made to move closer to her but Jason got in his way.

"Hey!" Jason stepped in front of his girlfriend and glared down Leonidas, pointing a finger at him. "You take one more step and I'll-!"

"You'll what?" Leonidas asked in an overly calm, almost lazy voice, almost amused by Jason's anger like he didn't have anything to worry about. He took a half step closer to the son of Jupiter, taunting him. "I'd like to see you try-."

"Hey, what's going on here!?" A loud voice broke the small group out of their state. A few seconds later Percy appeared followed by Katie from Demeter, Gardenia from Persephone and Kent from Aristaeus. The son of Poseidon stepped in between Jason and Leonidas, looking to his friend to answer him. With a nod he gestured to have Katie and Gardenia help Drew to her feet. "Here I was trying to solve the problem of our dying crops with the Katie, Gardenia and Kent in the fields when I hear yelling coming from the woods. But instead of doing something productive for the camp I have to waste my time and come over here." After receiving no word from Jason he turned to Leonidas. "What happened here? Why was Drew on the ground? Why do you two look like you're gonna come to blows?"

Leonidas was silent for a few seconds before answering. "...This… seductress tried to use her silver tongue to control me and force me to sleep with her."

Percy looked to Drew, his surprised face turning to disgust. "Is that true, Drew?" The girl silently nodded. Percy let out a sigh, turning back to Jason and Leonidas, moving so that he was facing both of them. "Then what happened?"

"Drew used her charmspeak to try to control him." Jason answered, not facing the large man. "He broke free from it and things got heated when I tried to calm him down."

Percy eyed his best friend, he could sense that he was hiding something from him but didn't say anything, he figured that Jason had a good reason. He turned to Piper. "And what about you, Piper?" He asked. "What happened?"

"..." Piper looked from her boyfriend and to Percy, sighing. "It's true." She admitted. "Drew tried to control his mind and Leonidas got angry when Jason tried to stop him. I… I didn't make it any better when I tried to use my charmspeak to calm him down." She paused, facing Leonidas who was still glaring at her. "I'm sorry, Leonidas. I- I shouldn't have done that, not right after you just had Drew do it to you."

"...I… accept your apology." Leonidas finally broke his silence, softening his look towards Jason and Piper. He looked to Percy. "I apologize as well, I… lost myself when that woman tried to control my mind."

"Why?" Percy asked.

Leonidas looked uncomfortable, like he was remembering something terrible from his past. "...I have had many… unspeakable experiences with Monsters using charmspeak on me in the past. Whenever I am under the control of it, I lose myself and become enraged." He looked to Piper and Jason. "I am truly sorry, you two. I… I did not mean to- I should not have threatened you like that." He held out his hand to Jason.

After a few seconds Jason accepted the hand and shook it once before letting it drop. Leonidas didn't move to shake Piper's hand. "I'm sorry too," Jason said. "I added to the tension too."

"Good, you've all made up." Percy said from his spot, his hands crossed over his chest in front of him. He turned to face Drew. "Now you, Drew." His voice turned more serious. "You have been warned numerous timed to not use your charmspeak to control people. Because you have refused to listen, you will receive clean up duty after dinner and in the training fields for a month."

"What?" The girl cried. "You can't do that! You're not Chiron!"

"Chiron's not here!" He returned with a yell out of nowhere, his voice suddenly showing his frustrated and tired mindset. "And because he's not here the War Council is in charge. And as leader of the War Council I decide the punishment of those who break the one month of clean up duty, now it's two."

"But he nearly killed me!" She pointed an accusing finger at Leonidas. "He should get chores too!"

"As far as I'm aware no one threw a punch," He eyed Leonidas and Jason. "So they haven't done anything wrong. They overreacted, and they apologized. As far as I'm concerned the matter is over."

"But-."

"I said it's over." Percy said, his voice hard and tired now. "Now, Jason, Piper, I'm sorry but I need you guys to get back to the Big House, we have more work to do." He gave the pair a sympathetic look, sorry that he had to take away their free time. He looked to Katie and Gardenia. "Take Drew to the training grounds and hand her over to Clarisse or Sherman, they can take over her supervision." Next he turned to Kent."Go back to the crop fields and work with the campers about increasing the water and fertilizer along with the nature magic. Oh, and tell Amethyst to make a note to make sure we sacrifice more burnt offerings to Demeter and the like." The young boy nodded and ran off to the fields. Finally Percy turned to Leonidas. "And let's go cool off, Leonidas. I want to talk to you more about what happened. I'll have to write up an incident report like Chiron would." Under his breath he mumbled, "Damn paperwork."

oooOooo

(May 4, A few minutes later, Training grounds)

Percy let out a long, tired sigh as he dropped himself on a wooden bench at the edge of the training grounds. Leonidas was a few paces to his left but didn't make to sit, instead deciding to wander near a large tractor tire the campers used to exercise with and in one quick motion bent low and flipped it over as if was an empty cardboard box.

"I don't feel like talking about it, brother." Leonidas muttered as he made to flip the tire again. "I'm… agitated at the moment and I… try to keep to myself when I am."

Percy watched him flip the tire over two more times without showing any effort at all. Using a little more effort than necessary, Leonidas flipped over the tire again and slammed it on the ground. "It always amazes me seeing you throw around those six hundred pound(272kg) tractor tires like giant pillows." Percy admitted, watching Leonidas frustratedly kick the tire with his sneaker, causing the massive tire to slide across the dirt a few feet, leaving a trail of flattened dirt in its wake.

"Do we have anything heavier?" Leonidas asked, stepping away from the tire and inspecting the rough pile of tires, round stones, sandbags, logs and weights the campers used to train. Ever since the second Titan War, the camp had stepped up their training to the maximum so that they would be as physically prepared as possible. It wasn't uncommon now to see campers with six packs and giant arms and shoulders lifting weights in the early hours of the morning or running laps around the fields. Back in the old days the campers trained, sure, but that was mostly training how to fight, not pure physical exercise and strength training like they did now, Clarisse was mostly to thank for that.

Every demigod, by nature, was naturally stronger, faster and generally had more potential in terms of building muscle than the average person. But some campers took it to the next level. Take Mika for example, the daughter of Palaestra, the goddess of wrestling, she was by far the physically largest and strongest girl at camp and even then she was only outclassed in size by Leonidas alone and in strength by Leonidas and Percy with his increased strength from his Curse of Achilles along with being a son of one of the Big Three. Beating out Clarisse in terms of pure strength but losing out in terms of fighting ability, no one beat Clarisse in terms of pure combat ability. Nowadays the camp more resembled a bodybuilding or crossfit camp than a normal summer camp. No weight machines or treadmills existed in camp though, since Chiron didn't allow modern technology in the camp borders, so the campers had to make due with natural and old fashioned training equipment. Such as the heavy tractor and bulldozer tires Leonidas was expecting, seemingly looking for the heaviest thing to lift and get his anger out.

"A few," Percy said, pointing to the end of the pile of tires and round atlas stones used for lifting. "But the biggest one we have is over there at the end." Leonidas made a beeline for the gargantuan tire and quickly pulled it from under the pile and rolled it to the empty dirt patch in front of them. Percy put his hand to his chin in thought. "That's been there since before I got here," He explained. "As far as I know, no one has actually used it seriously because it's too heavy-."

THUD!

The enormous tire caused dirt and dust to fly in every direction as it slammed into the earth. "Until now." Percy muttered, watching Leonidas walk up to the tire, bend low and threw his arms up, causing the tire to flip and crash into the ground again. "I get it, you exercise when you're upset."

Leonidas paused, the tire held at an angle in front of him, ready to be pushed over. "Who said I'm upset?" He asked, his voice faking calmness, before pushing the tire over, the mass of rubber rumbling the dirt after the impact.

"Maybe the eleven hundred pound(498kg) bulldozer tire you're throwing around like it pissed in your cereal." Percy answered, rising from his seat and making his way to Leonidas, absentmindedly moving some of the tires around as he paced. "Look, Leonidas, I'm not trying to dive into your personal life or history, but if you need help, with anything, the camp is here for you. That's why it exists, to help demigods." He ran a hand through his hair, he was never good at this, but anyone with half a brain could see that Leonidas was upset and Percy wanted to help him. "Why did you get so upset when Drew used her charmspeak on you?" He asked.

Leonidas flipped the massive tire over again before stopping and looking to Percy. "...I just… don't feel comfortable talking about it right now." He finally said, lifting the tire again but this time rolling it over to a large boulder that stood even taller than him and leaning the tire against it. "It's personal and I'd rather not remember it."

"I get that." Percy nodded, leaning down to pick up a small weight and hold it, moving it between his hands mindlessly. Even after all this time he couldn't help but fidget. "Then you don't have to, but tell me something, why do you exercise when you're upset? You don't have to answer if you don't want to." He added as an afterthought.

Leonidas stood in a boxing stance before throwing out his arm like a sledgehammer with a missile attached to it and slamming his fist into the rubber. A wave rippled from the impact and the sound almost made Percy's ears pop. "I guess it's because of how my mother made me train as a kid." He answered before punching with his left arm, the punch equally as powerful. "My mother would leave me for hours on end as I trained behind our house. With no noise other than the birds chirping, leaves blowing and my fists hitting the pads on the trees, it made me feel at peace." He paused to reposition the tire after one of his more powerful hits caused it to fall off to the side. "Exercising was the only time I could just get away from my mother's constant babble and snidely lectures and just let my mind be free."

"Sounds nice." Percy said, dropping the weight and making his way to stand near Leonidas. "I know what you mean, whenever I go into the water it help me just relax and get away from my problems."

Leonidas let out a breath after punching the tire again. "But sometimes I just need something to hit." He admitted. "It helps get my anger out."

"I get that too," Percy agreed. "Gods know I lose my cool sometimes."

"What was your mother like?" Percy asked suddenly, then he hesitated, knowing how Leonidas didn't like talking about her in detail. "You know what, never mind, forget I asked-."

"No," The large man interrupted, stopping to take a breath and lean against the large tire. "It's okay." His face was hard, like every time he talked about her or his past. Percy always tried not to pry, but something in him wanted to get to know the new man that was quickly becoming his close friend at a deeper level. "I've told you a little about her, how she never really cared for me and how she was mad, but she was more than that. More complicated."

"How do you mean?" Percy asked.

"She was methodical, OCD to the extreme." Leonidas started, crossing his coiled rebar arms in front of his chest. "She woke every morning at the same time before dawn, left the house and sat at the small gazebo at the edge of our gardens and watched the sunrise silently for a few hours, never moving or speaking. Everyday for my entire life."

"Why?"

"Because my father, before he left, promised her that he would come back to us and wait for her there at dawn." He said simply, looking up to sky at the passing clouds, his mind obviously elsewhere, remembering those times. "My mother would often tell me how he built it for her before I was born so she would have somewhere to enjoy the sunrise as she looked out over the lake. "A labor of love" she would say, "built it with his bare hands for me as a birthday gift"."

"...It sounds like they were close." Percy said after a few seconds. "How long did your dad stay with your mom?"

"Almost two years, she said. Though he would often have to leave for extended periods of time. "But your father always came back to me," she would say. "He will come back to us one day, don't lose hope, my son. Your father will return one day"." He let out a scoffing sound, looking at Percy out of the corner of his eye as he watched the sky. "She told me that every single day of my life, and in twelve years he never much of sent us a sign he even remembered us."

"Sounds to me like he actually loved her though." Percy said, sitting on the dirt with a huff. "The gods don't normally stay around that long. They usually just fall in love, have a kid and leave."

"Maybe." Leonidas said, though he didn't sound very convinced. "But that love got her killed and that love never made him come to our aid. So I don't think it matters if he loved her or not." He shrugged his massive shoulders before dropping to the ground silently by Percy. "Love killed my mother. Not pure, true, untainted love, but twisted, manipulated love that turned from pure love that only a young person could feel into an obsession." He rotated his shoulder, causing it to pop several times. "My mother's love for my father deteriorated from actual love and twisted itself into an unhealthy addiction that slowly caused her to kill herself as the years past."

He faced Percy, his usually bright amber eyes dull with fog. "In my earliest memories I remember her being strong, fit, healthy, the strongest woman I have ever met, "Because a Spartan never let's themselves grow weak" she would say. "A Spartan must hold themselves to the highest standard" She was all those things and more when I was little, but as the years past, she got worse. The meals she would occasionally skip became more regular and she would often go for days without eating or sleeping." His jaw tightened slightly, his voice tight. "I would beg her to leave that damned gazebo and eat something or sleep, but she would often not even hear me. Or if she did, she would just turn to me like she hadn't heard me talking to her for the past hour and tell me the story of how my father built the gazebo or how he built our house, or how he often offered to bring her crowns of gold and jewels or some other story about him. But never once did she ever listen to me, not when she got like that."

"I don't know what to say." Percy admitted, and it was true. A lot of the demigods at camp had rough times growing up, but as he continued to learn about Leonidas' life growing up he couldn't help but feel sorry for him, not that he would say it, that happened a long time ago and him saying sorry wouldn't help any.

Leonidas let out a breath. "You asked why I got so upset when that daughter of Aphrodite used her charmspeak on me? Well, that's why I don't like it. Charmspeak and powers like that are unnatural, vile, evil. The mold, twist, contort and bend the mind of their victims to their will. Under the control of a powerful user, you are utterly helpless." Through his gritted teeth he muttered, "I will never allow myself to feel helpless. Not again."

Percy hesitated, not knowing if he was supposed to hear that last part or not. "...Sounds like you have experience with charmspeak."

The giant man nodded his head, sighing. "I do." He said, and was quiet for a full minute before continuing. "A few years ago, after I my mother died and I fled our home, I heard about a large nest of Empousa in Las Vegas using their abilities to lure and drain unexpecting men of their blood. I was younger then," He said, his lip curling at the corner of his mouth like he was remembering something humorous. "Young and stupid. So full of burning hate for the Monsters I hunted ever day of my life. It blinded me, caused me to ignore my mother's wisdom and go against her training to gather all the information I need before making a move, but I disregarded that and traveled to the Las Vegas strip and attacked the nest with the intent of killing all of the Empusa as painfully as possible."

"Las Vegas strip?" Percy asked, not wanting to interrupt but curious. "Wait, do you mean-."

"Yeah," He let out a low chuckle. "It was a nest posing as a strip club. Right off the strip, it lured in dozens of men a day, some would be let to escape, as to not arouse suspicion, their minds wiped with the beasts' magic, but most would be drained of their blood and either left for dead or used as food for other Monsters."

"Damn."

"Agreed." Leonidas leaned back onto the tire with his full weight, all 415 lbs(188.2kg) of him. "And in my foolishness I charged into the nest without a plan and without a way out. I had fought Empusa a few times in my travels before, so I thought I was prepared, gods was I wrong." He chuckled darkly again. "I ended up only being able to kill three of the vile creatures before the eldest and most powerful ones used their silver tongues and managed to control my mind." A slight shiver ghosted over his skin, clearly that incident took its toll on him.

He continued, hs voice low and slow as he recalled the dark memories "...In the end, I was in there for three hours before I managed to come to my senses enough to realize I was being controlled and broke free by snapping the neck of the eldest Empousa." His fists clenched tight over his chest. "I was in a fog for those three hours and don't remember what happened before I came to, nor do I ever want to." He let out a breath through his nostrils and looked back up to the sky. "After that it was another blur, but not like before, but like I was a passenger watching my body tear the creatures limb from limb and kill them so painfully that it bordered on torture." He held out his hand if front of him, looking at it as he closed it. "That was the first time I had ever been in a blind rage like that, I tore the walls of the building down around me and leveled half of the block before I managed to break free of my burning rage."

He looked Percy in the eye. "When I get really upset, I lose control and enter a blind rage. Destroying everything and everyone around me… I- I killed a mortal woman by mistake that night," He admitted, his eyes dropping to the ground in shame. "An innocent woman who just happened to be walking with her child to their hotel after watching the water fountains. Just a woman who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." He let out a shaky breath, keeping his eyes trained on his open palms at the matching pair of tattoos of lion heads at the center of them. "It was the eyes of that child that finally made me realize what I had done. That I had killed an innocent woman…"

The two young men were quiet for the next several minutes, only listening to the sounds of the birds above them and the sounds of other campers training off out of sight. Finally after letting out a breath Percy placed a careful hand on Leonidas' shoulder, getting his attention and causing the larger man to face him. "Thanks for telling me, Leonidas." He said, a soft smile on his face. "I won't try to say that I know what you've been through, but thanks for telling me."

"...I've never told anyone that before."

"It feels good, doesn't it? Getting it off your chest?" Percy removed his hand, bringing it to his lap with his other one.

"It does." Leonidas admitted.

"Then know that you can always talk to me if you need to, Leonidas." Percy smiled. "I wasn't there for one of my friends when he needed me and it led him to falling down a dark path for a bit." The son of Poseidon shook his head, shaking his thoughts of the young boy who had been told that his sister died despite Percy promising to protect her. "I'll always be here if you need to talk."

Leonidas gave a smile, the first genuine smile Percy had seen all day and one that he had grown accustomed to from the man's usually animated personality. "Thank you, brother." He said honestly. "You don't know what that means to hear."

"Come on then," Percy lightly smacked his arm. "That's enough depressing talk for now. You work off some more steam if you need, but I have to get back to the Big House. I swear my pile of paperwork grows when I'm not looking."

Leonidas gave a hearty chuckle, extending his arm to help Percy to his feet. "While I'm impressed that you are running this camp, I do not envy you in the slightest, brother."

"Me neither." Percy smiled, brushing the dirt from his pants.

"And remember that if you ever need to talk, that I'll be here for you, brother." Leonidas gave a serious look before it softened into a smile. "You were there for me, so I will be there for you. Brothers stand by one another until the end."

---

(Author's Note)

Man, how was that Leonidas stuff this chapter? I told you guys I've planned him out and want him to be the greatest character I've ever created and written. How did you like Leonidas' story of him fighting the Nemean Lion as well as his a Percy's first fight? Yes, I said first. The next and final one, oh let me tell you something, the earth will crack, the sky will shake and the ocean will rise into the heavens. To quote Leonidas, it will be "truly, a match worthy of being written in the stars. A duel worthy of two legendary sons". Guys, no spoilers, but MAN have I been dreaming about their final fight, I can see it like a movie in my head as I try to sleep, the soundtrack to the Final Agni Kai between Zuko and Azula from Avatar playing in the background. If a final fight between them wasn't obvious to you, I don't know what to say, really, I thought it was. Man I'm sooo hyped for it! Gah! I just want to get there now but we have a dozen chapters to go before we get there. Oh the agony! I'm I hyping it up a little too much, maybe, but then I'll have to rise to the challenge and make it the best I can.

Anyway, how did you guys like this chapter? Did it have enough of what you wanted? It was a long one and took much longer than I thought it would to write, but I'm happy with it. Finally we're getting to know Leonidas more. I'll leave it up to you guys to decide how much of his stories you'll believe. Also, if you have any theories about him, I'd love to hear them. Send me a PM so that other people aren't spoiled by Reviews and I'll always reply.

Please leave a Review, Follow and Favorite both me and this story as well. I have ideas for the next chapter, which will be different and dive us deeper into Leonidas' history and life, but that's all I'll say for now. I'll try to get it out asap but at the same time also keeping it at the highest quality I can.

Until next time, have a great day,

Hephaestus