Chapter 11
I woke up earlier than usual the next day, but I felt surprisingly well rested. I skipped out of breakfast at the dining pavilion once again, partially because I didn't feel like getting dressed just yet and partially because of the incident with Kate and Kayla the night before. I instead chose a breakfast of a pizza Hot Pocket I found in my mini fridge and heated in the cabin's microwave, a candy bar from my 'welcome to camp' package and a can of tea. I sat with my meal on the couch and ate at the coffee table while Of Mice and Men blasted over the stereo. After I was finished, I threw my hair up in a high bun and curled up on a recliner with a blanket and my copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Around 10:30 or so, there was a knock at the door, and Piper and Annabeth walked in and sat on the couch. I stuck the bookmark in my book and set it aside. "Hey, guys," I said.
"You're up early," said Piper.
"Yeah, we thought you were still sleeping. We missed you at breakfast," said Annabeth.
"I dined in this morning," I said, pointing to the remnants of my food on the coffee table.
"That's a real healthy meal," laughed Piper. "Anyway," she slung a drawstring bag off of her back, "we thought we could just hang out this morning. We've hardly gotten to see you."
My date with Leo flashed through my mind. "Yeah, I've been so busy."
"Exactly, so we brought some stuff to do." Annabeth pulled out a nail kit, a deck of cards, a portable DVD player and a DVD copy of Disney's Hercules. "I thought the movie would be funny in light of things," she said with a smile.
We put the movie on and started doing nails. Piper complained a bit about not wanting hers done, so we eventually convinced her to just let us file and buff them then paint a clear coat over top. I did Annabeth's purple and blue and stuck a decal of an owl on her purple index finger and a wave on her blue one. "Might not want to show that to Percy," I told her. "It might make him get big headed."
"I don't think that would be possible, considering his brain is nothing but seaweed," she said, making us all laugh.
Piper painted mine with alternating black and pink then we focused our attention on the movie. I had liked it even before I came to Camp Half-Blood, but now it was hysterical. The portrayal of the gods was really funny considering I was sitting with two people who had actually met many of them. Every now and then, one of them would chime in and say, "That is so true," or "They would never do that." Annabeth liked to correct the movie a lot too, "That's not even close to what actually happened!" I heard her say often. Still, I think we all enjoyed it.
By the time it was over, it was past lunch, so I heated up some more Hot Pockets while Piper and Annabeth set up a game of old maid. When our 'girl time' was over, I felt refreshed and ready to tackle the rest of the day. I knew them both a lot better too, and I decided that Leo wasn't the only one I could talk to about certain things. I felt like I should tell them about the previous night; maybe it'd help me sort my feelings out. I took a deep breath.
"Guys, I have to tell you something," I started. They both looked up from what they were doing, causing me to look down at the ground instead. "Um, me and Leo may have sorta kissed yesterday," I continued quietly.
"No way!" Piper exclaimed. "That's great!"
Annabeth looked pretty excited too. "Yeah, that's awesome! What happened?"
For some reason, I didn't feel angry about Annabeth asking like I had with Kate and Kayla. Probably because they had just walked straight up to me and demanded to know what was going on. Piper and Annabeth just sounded like two old friends asking what had happened when I talked to my crush. I went ahead and told them, including the part about my pyrokinesis and what my dad had said, which Annabeth looked puzzled about.
"That's strange," she said. "I've heard of a god taking away a demigod's inherited abilities when they do something dishonorable, but you haven't done anything wrong. But then the abilities being replaced with those of another demigod? That's unheard of."
"Are you sure you still have it?" asked Piper. "It could've been just a onetime thing."
I held out my palm and willed the fire to spread out from my heart, travel through my arm and surface in the center. Just as I suspected, the flames still ignited, causing a sharp intake of breath from the other girls.
"You couldn't be a child of Hephaestus, could you?" asked Piper, who was still staring wide-eyed at the fire dancing in my palm.
I'll admit I had thought about the possibility, but I had decided it wasn't so. I shook my head. "No, Apollo claimed me, and he seemed pretty serious about me being his daughter when he came and spoke to me."
"That's true," Annabeth chimed in, "but it still doesn't explain what the gods are up to. You better be on your guard, Lucy. I hate to say it, but something bad could be on the horizon." Her face looked grim, and I could tell she knew exactly what she was talking about when it came to 'bad horizon.'
Piper perked up suddenly. "Speaking of being on your guard, you still don't have your weapon yet. Remember Leo said he'd make you one."
"That's right," I said and stood up. "I'll go talk to him about that now. Do you know where I could find him?"
"He wasn't at breakfast, so we asked the rest of his cabin," Annabeth said. "They said that he had gotten up early to head down to Bunker 9. He told them that he had something important to work on and that he'd be there a while."
"Okay, I'll just go and check on him then," I told them. I was anxious to see him again. That loneliness I had felt when we parted the night before had never really left. "Can you tell me where Bunker 9 is?"
"Yeah, it's not hard to find. It's a bit of a hike, but there's a path marked out. Eventually, you'll cross a stream and not far from there you'll come to a huge cliff. Press your hand to the face of it and it should open right up," Piper explained.
"Okay, thanks for everything, guys. I'll see you around, then." I threw on a t-shirt and jean shorts, grabbed my iPod and a bottled water for the walk and headed down to the forest. Just like Piper had said, there was a large trampled path not far from the log where Leo had comforted me two days ago today. The thought that that much time had already passed brought a small smile to my face. A large tree at the opening of the path had 'Bunker 9' burned into it, so I assumed I had the right one. I took a step forward and began my trek towards Leo.
Piper had been right: it was a bit of a hike. I had made it through my bottled water and The Black Parade by the time I finally reached the stream. I leaped over and just as I had been told, a huge cliff face loomed up ahead. I placed my hand to the rough surface and felt it get hot. Little lines of fire spread out from the point of impact and formed the outline of a gigantic door. I backed up out of surprise and the door swung open to a slightly startled Leo at his workbench.
Leo put his hand over his heart and exhaled. "Jeez, Lucy, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" He blew a stray strand of wavy black hair out of his face and wiped his grease stained hands on a cloth before coming over to hug me. "Hey, I missed you."
I blushed a little. "I missed you too."
I took him in. Today he was wearing a Camp Half-Blood shirt under a green army jacket with jeans. He had bags under his eyes and appeared sleep deprived, but still smiled brightly at the sight of me. His wavy, black hair was ruffled and stuck out at odd angles. There was a little grease smudge on his nose, which I wiped off with my finger. "Your face is all dirty," I nagged to him.
He rolled his eyes. "Sorry I didn't clean up for the company I didn't know I'd be having," he laughed. He took my hand and dragged me to this workbench. "So I started working on your weapon last night, and I may or may not have gone a little crazy." He held up a necklace with an old skeleton key on it and slipped it over my head. "Press the third tooth," he instructed. I did what he said and the key suddenly erupted. Metal plates extended across my chest and onto my back, forming a gleaming piece of armor with the outline of a key at the center of the chest.
"Woah, that's awesome! I lo-"
Leo stuck his finger to my lips. "Please hold any and all applause until the end of the presentation," he said, grinning. I pouted, but stayed quiet.
Next, Leo pulled out a little black ring with three red jewels set in it and slipped it onto my right index finger. "I may or may not be proposing right now, but press the middle jewel in." I moved to do so but he held up his hands for me to stop. "Just let me take a step back." After he had, I pressed the jewel and realized why he had wanted to keep his distance. A three-foot-long Japanese style sword unfolded from the ring. It hovered for a moment before I reached up and snatched it out of the air.
"Wicked," I couldn't help but say.
"Glad you like it," Leo said with a chuckle. "I'll be right back; I've got to use the little mechanic's room, if you don't mind." He disappeared into the tangled maze of the workshop, leaving me there with my new gifts. I took a few swings with the sword and ended up knocking a radio off the workbench. It fell to the hard floor, sending pieces exploding into the air.
"Oops," I breathed. I knelt down and set all the parts back up on the workbench. I was just going to leave it and explain to Leo when he got back, after all it was nothing he couldn't fix, but I felt a sudden urge like the one I'd had to work with the celestial bronze in the armory. My instincts took over and I began to reassemble the broken radio. I didn't know what I was doing, or how I knew what to do, but it seemed to work. In no time I had the radio looking good as new. I dusted off my hands and turned around to see a very shocked Leo.
"Apparently pyrokinesis isn't the only unusual ability you have."
Hello, all! Thanks again for reading! I hoped this chapter clears up that I will NOT be making them siblings like some of you have been worried about. The gods are just up to something as always. Anyway, if you have anymore questions or concerns, feel free to voice them!
