Sorry for the delay...was kinda busy. I'll be even busier starting from the 18th, so don't expect immediate updates.

-L


Demigod+Sleep=Dreams. The equation that Leo kept forgetting. Well, serves him right, then. He would have to suffer for the rest of the night. Oh, wait a minute…was that Percy?

Leo scanned his surroundings and realized that he was in Camp Jupiter, which meant that Percy had arrived at the Roman camp. He was talking to Reyna, who had an indignant-looking Octavian huffing beside her, reluctantly shutting his big mouth up under the praetor's orders.

Frank stood on the other side of Reyna, listening intently to the conversation. Leo had to applaud the big guy. He had never thought that the Chinese-Canadian babyface would become a praetor. Yes, Frank was a child of Ares (Mars, whatever) and all, but he didn't really show much leadership until the time when the seven (and Nico) were in the House of Hades. Jeez, it was like he had a growth spurt or something. Leo, who was the shortest of the seven (Nico included), wasn't really encouraged by that. He remained as short as ever, just taller by a few centimeters or so. Leo wished that he could have a growth spurt. He wouldn't have to bear with Piper ruffling his already-too-messy-to-behold hair anymore if that happened.

"…I have to save Annabeth," Percy was saying, looking imploringly at Reyna. Leo could see the latter's eyes soften by a fraction. She nodded, and held out her ring. "Just remember to return it in one piece."

Of course, Octavian just had to ruin it. "No, Reyna! How can you? This is your ring, the ring that your mother gave you! You can't just go lending it to others like it's a toy or something!"

Reyna glared at him. "How many times have we been through this, Octavian? I told you that we have already made peace with the Greeks. And we are friends, too."

The female praetor seemed more pissed off than usual. She probably had to bear with Octavian's complaints for the whole day. Leo pitied Reyna. Seriously, who would want to listen to some crazy teddy-bear slayer ramble on and on about something that was already as old as the dinosaurs? Okay, fine, Leo was exaggerating, but you get the point.

"But-but," Octavian stuttered, and then glared at Percy when he realized that he was at a dead end. The Augur sneered, "Fine. Give the ring to him, then, Reyna. If he doesn't return it, don't go blaming others."

Reyna hesitated, but placed her ring in Percy's palm and closed his fingers around it. "Please keep it safe. Now go, you still have to save Annabeth."

The son of Poseidon's eyes flitted between Reyna and Octavian (who was folding his arms and pouting) before nodding. "Thank you, Reyna."

The Romans (and Leo) watched as he mounted his pegasus and rose into the air. Leo glanced back at Reyna and Octavian, trying to read their expressions. Reyna had her usual pokerface on, and Octavian was still acting like a spoilt brat. Did these people ever have any other facial expressions?


Leo looked around in wonder. He'd never known that Octavian appreciated art. Somehow, every time he thought about it, Leo would start chuckling when scenes of a wall covered every single inch with paintings and stuffed teddy bears appeared in his mind. As he stood in front of that very wall, Leo couldn't help but admire some of the artworks. They were each painted with different styles, some meticulous, some rough and messy.

Octavian sat on a chair by a table, frowning while he fingered a sugar biscuit. He sighed and glanced at a clock on the wall. Okay, wow. Was that even Octavian? Leo felt like grabbing him by his shirt's collar and demanding why he was suddenly bi-polar. The son of Hephaestus nearly jumped when Octavian muttered, "Why, Cupid? She's a maiden. Even if she loves me, we can't be together."

Leo felt his jaw drop. Cupid? Love? Octavian was in love? Holy Hera. That couldn't be possible. Who were maidens? Artemis, Thalia Grace (who was totally out of Leo's league), Rachel, Hera… Leo had heard that Athena was a maiden too. But there was no way that Octavian could be in love with a goddess. So strike them out. That left Thalia and Rachel. Leo didn't remember Octavian meeting any of them. Well, it must've been some maiden in Camp Jupiter.

Just as Leo was contemplating whether he should blackmail Octavian to give Percy a safe journey (an army of teddy bears was dangerous), he heard a distant ringing. It sounded so familiar…

"Leave me alone…," Leo mumbled, but his eyes fluttered open to reveal Bunker Nine. The annoying sound was coming from his alarm clock. He groaned and left his bed, still thinking about Octavian's serious crush on a mystery maiden.


"You ready for an adventure, Festus?" Leo asked as he patted the bronze dragon on its head. Festus roared and spouted fire-Leo took that for a yes. "Well then, pal, we'll be leaving tomorrow!"

Festus' jaw creaked. Leo understood what the dragon was trying to say. "I want you to meet a friend. Her name is Calypso. She's a nice girl. But she's stuck on an island, Ogygia. We have to look for her. You up for it?"

Another cheerful roar raised Leo's spirits a little.


"Be careful! And don't do anything stupid!" Piper shouted from below him. Leo called back, "I won't, Beauty Queen! Good luck on your quest!"

Festus gave a final roar before he spread his massive wings. Leo had built them so that they ran on solar energy. Blame Grover for getting the 'Go Green & Recycle!' notion inside his head. Seriously, the satyr didn't know how expensive the solar panels cost. Leo was pretty sure that he'd raised some suspicions by putting the delivery address as 'Farm Road 3.141 Long Island, New York 11954'. The delivery van ended up parking in the middle of the road.

After some 'Thanks for going green, Flame Boy', 'Good luck' and 'How much did those solar panels cost? We want some for our newest prank's later (the last comment came from the Stoll brothers, no doubt), Leo finally took off, enjoying the feel of the breeze tousling his curly hair. He hadn't ridden Festus for such a long time. The son of Hephaestus grinned down at his dragon. "First stop, the Sea of Monsters."

No, no, Calypso wasn't a monster, but Leo figured out that since so many weird creatures from the Greeks myths were there, the Sea of Monsters had to be where Ogygia was. The guidance console had reset itself the moment he left Ogygia, making it impossible for him to find out the exact location of the island. Bummer. Leo had fixed the crystal that Calypso gave him into the astrolabe, so now he had a back-up if the guidance console suddenly went wrong.

It would be better to have a back-up if one was flying over the Bermuda Triangle. Leo had heard of many strange disappearances of ships and planes that travelled over it. It was due to all the magical islands, of course. Leo, despite his ADHD, had dutifully read up on the Sea of Monsters. The books in the Athena Cabin came in handy. He'd found out that there was an island of sirens, a Cyclops' island and Circe's island on that sea. And Scylla and Charybdis. The Sea of Monsters was full of those and other godly things. Leo thanked the gods that he'd read up on those stuff, or he would turn into demigod pulp the moment he got to the entrance of the sea. The details were too gruesome to mention, so let's just leave it at that.

Camp Half-blood disappeared from Leo's view. He knew exactly where to go. "Festus, set course for Washington DC. Choose the fastest route, but avoid flying over water. I'll guide you from there."

It was safer to fly above land, now that Gaea had returned to her eternal godly (or titan-ly) slumber. Well, compared to water. If Festus' brain suddenly short-circuited, at least Leo could land (more like crash) on dry land to fix it. Water wasn't good for massive bronze dragons. Hence, even though flying to Washington DC first wasn't exactly the fastest way to the Bermuda Triangle, Leo opted for that choice. Taking more time to save Calypso was better than stumbling through the air with a drunk-on-water mechanical dragon then drowning in the Atlantic.

Just saying, Festus! No offence intended.


Oh, I can't believe myself. I actually let Octavian fall in love with someone. BTW, I had to do tons of research on the map of USA to choose the right route for Leo. I'm not American, so I don't know much.

-L