Hi gang! Took a break from posting yesterday, but now I'm back, and I've reached double-digit chapters! Woo-hoo! This is only like a quarter of the way done so there's still a long way to go, but every milestone counts, right?

Thanks as always to all readers. Now, let's welcome the fourth and final POV character. Enjoy!

X
LEO

Funnily enough, Reyna hadn't tried to leave without the rest of them, to which Leo had to admit he was a bit disappointed. He would have loved to see the Roman praetor try to operate his control panel. In his opinion, she needed to fail at something every now and then – everyone did. And boy, would she have failed.

Instead, they'd found her pacing back and forth on the ground beside the Argo II. Her arms were crossed in front of her, but her expression had softened, making Leo think she might have cooled off a bit, which was really best for everyone involved. Leo had already suffered enough of a beating from Reyna as far as he was concerned, and the calmer she was, the easier this trip was sure to be.

Everyone was strangely quiet as they boarded the ship and got underway. Once in the air, Reyna retreated belowdecks, stating that she needed to be alone for a while. Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Hazel went down to the mess hall for breakfast. Leo remained at the helm by himself.

The late-morning, summer air was clear and bright – perfect for flying. The Argo II had been cooped up at camp since last fall, as they really hadn't had much need for a warship in the past year. Things had actually been peaceful, which was a fantastic change after the Giant War of last summer. The upside of having nowhere to go was that Leo had had plenty of time to study the Archimedes sphere and scrolls he'd found in that workroom last July, and his dream of rebuilding Festus' body was now actually a possibility. Sure, Festus made a great figurehead for the Argo II – but there was nothing quite like a giant, mechanical, bronze dragon. You just can't beat something like that.

But of course, even those few short months of peace and excitement couldn't last. As soon as Nico was sent on that errand for Hades, Leo knew something big was up. Sure, gods asked their demigod kids to do things for them all the time. And Nico was always off looking into something or following someone or tracking some random monster. Heck, that kid could barely sit still. But for some reason, this time felt different – almost darker. Leo hated trusting gut feelings and usually preferred to figure things out logically, but he just couldn't shake the sense of foreboding and anxiety he'd felt ever since Nico had left. And when the son of Hades hadn't returned, Leo had tried really hard not to take that as a sign that his gut feeling was right. But then Rachel had told them her prophecy, and he stopped trying to deny it altogether.

As vague and equivocal as the prophecy was, one thing was clear: they had another war on their hands. The problem was, they had no idea what the sides would be. Would some totally new enemy show up and take them all on? Would a whole army's worth of monsters decide to go demigod-hunting? Would one or more of the gods revolt against the rest? Or worse, would friends be turned against one another? Even when you were given predictions of the future on a daily basis, it seemed like the real future was anything but predictable.

"You hungry?"

Leo had been so lost in thought he didn't see or hear Annabeth approach him, and nearly jumped out of his skin at her sudden voice. She smiled and quirked an eyebrow at his reaction. Leo chuckled sheepishly and eyed the plate of buttered toast balanced on her left hand, not having realized how empty his stomach was.

"Actually, yeah," he replied, reaching for a slice and shoving the whole thing in his mouth. "Thanks," he tried to say, but through a mouthful of toast it sounded more like "Hainsh."

Annabeth must have understood, because she said, "I actually wanted to thank you. For intervening earlier, and for coming up with a compromise." She reached the plate toward the control panel beside them, but evidently couldn't find a space clear enough to set it down, and instead held onto it. "You were right, fighting is the last thing we need right now. I just wish there was something I could say to Reyna to show her that we really do want to help, you know? That we care about her, and everyone else."

Leo swallowed the toast and reached for another slice. "It's gonna take more than a few pretty words to show her that. Romans are men of action," he added, straightening his back and placing a fist over his heart for emphasis.

Annabeth smiled and shook her head. "I guess you're right," she admitted. "Still, it would help if we didn't purposefully do anything to make her angry or upset." She shot Leo a pointed look, and he raised his eyebrows innocently.

"What, me?" he said. "It isn't my fault that girl's a fuse waiting to blow."

"You would be, too, if everyone you knew just disappeared into thin air," Annabeth replied dryly, and Leo gave a half-shrug, conceding the point.

Leo didn't know Reyna very well, having only met her twice before. The first time, he'd made a fabulous first impression by bombing her city and officially (if accidentally) declaring war on the Romans. The second time, she was clearly still a bit sore about the first and while she accepted that the attack wasn't intentional and agreed to join forces with the Greeks to take on Gaea's army, Leo wasn't stupid enough to expect to be completely forgiven. When they'd met with her and Jason yesterday, she had treated them as allies, which was the best he could really hope for. She hadn't spoken to him much during their pillar stake-out that night, but she hadn't tried to kill him either, which was a good sign. And after her freak-out late last night, Leo was content to leave her be. Sure, the girl was gorgeous, in a strong, regal, look-at-me-like-that-and-I'll-kick-your-tail kind of way. But like Annabeth, she was also downright scary. She was maybe half an inch shorter than Leo, but when she stood straight he could have sworn she grew at least a foot (or maybe it was just that she made everyone else shrink). It was impossible to tell what she was thinking, and even tougher to guess what she would do, especially now that she'd just lost everyone she cared about. Annabeth was right – Reyna had a reason to be short-tempered.

"I'm just saying we should try to cut her some slack," Annabeth continued, looking out over the horizon. "She's probably so worried and lost, not knowing what to do. I know how hard that is. Lashing out must just be her way of letting out her frustration." She turned and glanced thoughtfully at Leo. "You should understand. She's a lot like you, actually."

"Like me," Leo repeated incredulously. How was Reyna anything like him? "You're kidding, right? When have I ever attacked somebody out of nowhere?"

"I don't mean like that," Annabeth explained somewhat impatiently, shaking her head. "I mean she uses coldness and anger as a way to hide what she's really feeling, the same way you use humor and jokes. You both hide how much you're hurting—you just do it behind different masks."

Leo stared at Annabeth, dumbfounded. She said it so matter-of-factly, like it was obvious, that for the life of him Leo could think of nothing to say in reply. Mostly, that was because she was absolutely right. And judging by the calm, serious look on her face, she knew it without a doubt.

"Don't worry, I think you have everybody else fooled," Annabeth said with a knowing smile, noting the look on Leo's face. "I'm just good at reading people—especially my best friends." She reached out and squeezed his arm lightly. Leo gave her a wry smile.

"Sometimes I hate how smart you Athena kids are," he said pointedly.

Annabeth grinned. "No, you don't," she said confidently. She grabbed the last slice of toast from her plate and handed it to Leo. "Just remember what I said about Reyna, okay? We don't want to make this any harder for her than it already is."

"Aye-aye, Captain," Leo promised with a mock salute. Annabeth smiled and retreated back down the stairs.

-ψ-ψ-ψ-

A few hours into the trip, Festus reported a nasty storm front over southern Nebraska, and Leo was forced to angle their flight to the south to avoid the chance of an unwanted bath. It would make the journey a bit longer than anticipated, but he didn't think the others would mind. Especially Reyna – it would give her more of a chance to try and find New Rome, however it was she planned on doing that. Who knows, she might have even been hiding some kind of Roman telepathy she was using to track their friends. She hadn't said much of anything since they'd left San Francisco, and at the moment was standing on deck near the bow of the ship, leaning on the railing and staring off into the distance. But any minute, Leo was expecting her to turn around and yell at him to land immediately.

So naturally, he was rather surprised when the order came from someone else first.

"STOP THE SHIP!"

Leo jumped in alarm and immediately decreased the power output from the ship's engine, slowing its speed considerably and causing him to stumble forward against the control panel (He couldn't outright stop the ship or they ran the risk of falling out of the sky). He was just about to run to the stairs to see who the heck had decided now was a good time for a detour when Grover suddenly appeared on the quarterdeck, a wild look in his eyes and a scrap of aluminum hanging from his mouth.

"What? What's wrong?" Leo demanded, worried by the look on the satyr's face. "Something after us?"

"No," Grover said, shaking his head vigorously. "I don't know—It's not the air—Down below—I can sense—There's something—I don't know." And with that helpful explanation, he turned and dashed back down the stairs to the main deck. Leo threw up his hands emphatically and followed him.

By the time Leo caught up to the satyr, he was already leaning so far over the railing that Leo had a horrible vision of him tumbling over the side of the ship and falling to his death. He blinked it away and shook his head, noticing that the others were slowly gathering around.

"What's going on?" Hazel asked, eyeing Grover nervously and probably also imagining him as a goat-pancake.

"I don't know," Leo replied. "I think Lord of the Flowers over there senses something below us."

"The Wild," Grover corrected sharply. "And yeah. Something bad. Like… and entire civilization in trouble. Also something powerful—really powerful. I… don't know if it's dangerous or not."

"Where are we?" Annabeth asked, leaning over the railing to glance down below them (though not quite as far as Grover), but all they could see were clouds and colors.

Leo ran back up to the helm and glanced at the navigation panel. "We're over Tennessee," he called down to the others.

"So how 'bout it?" Percy asked. "Want to check it out?"

"I don't know," Reyna said skeptically. "What if it takes too long and… and we miss something?" Leo was sure she meant What if something happens to Camp Jupiter? He understood her concern. They had a mission, after all.

"There's always a chance whatever's down there could give us a clue," Annabeth pointed out. "Think about it. What if this is related to the prophecy – the darkness and the shadows? Maybe we're really supposed to go see what's going on."

Reyna bit her lip and glanced over the side of the ship. "…Alright," she finally agreed. "Let's do it."

"Okay, guys," Leo said with a grin as he set to work on the ship's controls. "Let's go answer the Call of the Wild."

So short... It's weird for me to write short chapters like this. Most of my other stuff is like, uber-long.

I actually already have the next four chapters finished, but I'll probably wait a bit to post them. Don't want to rush through this, after all, and I've been making good time so far. There's some exciting stuff coming up, though - just you wait.

Who knows, maybe if I get more reviews I'll update faster? I should start a system to that effect, haha. I like to know I haven't lost you guys.

Later days!

-oMM