XIV

Hazel

She still hadn't decided what to do about Leo yet. He was like a dangerous laboratory experiment and Hazel had no idea what to do or not. She didn't want it to blow up in her face.

She'd watch Louisianne call down her sisters and have them brew up necromancy spells and practises and whatnot. With a lot of swearing and make-do (like it was Hazel's fault that she didn't have 3 drops of blood from the person she was looking for), they'd managed and no. The answer had been no. Hazel was the only one that had been brought back in the last 25 years. Leo was not 25 years old.

She'd thanked the daughters of Trivia and left. She'd like to think that the daughters of Trivia were wrong but as insane as they appeared to the general audience, they were calm and collected in their minds. Error hadn't been one of the twenty things happening in that shop. Now she wasn't sure what to do.

How do you tell someone their grandfather was your childhood best friend? Did Leo have a Sammy in his family? What if this was a coincidence or something else?

She was trying to figure it out after weaselling from the barrack quickly. She liked to wait for Frank before heading to the mess hall usually –especially now that he was acting really sweet and kind with her- but when she got upset the barrack was just too crowded and noisy for her. It became too much –especially since yesterday she'd been in the calm and quiet infirmary until sunset- and she rather ditch.

She was playing with bits of egg when Leo sat down.

"Hey," he said.

Hazel felt her vocal cords snap off.

"Hey." She said. He looked tired or worried- he was drumming on his thigh and looking everywhere but at people.

No, Hazel thought. That's a Sammy-is-sad thing. This is Leo. It doesn't mean the same thing. You aren't getting anything back right now. Stop it.

Leo

Leo had long figured that going ahead and building the Argo II was going to get Gaia to hate him even more. He just hadn't realised that the revenge would be dreams by the truckload.

Leo was standing in the center green of Camp Half-Blood and the cabins were a mess of wood, glass, coral, barbwire, metal pieces torn at impossible angles and other building materials. The mess hall's columns were even more crumbled than they were, the Big House looked like it'd been torched, strawberry bushes torn from the ground and throw, and the forge looked like a giant had sat on it. That could have been true, because an assortment of giants were the ones destroying Camp.

Leo got mad. Camp had been the first place in a long time where 'home' had been more than a title he had to give. Camp had become home. Camp was home. It was a place everyone knew his name and got it right (although he'd been warned about some director). Where he was welcome, where people actually cared about him for reasons more than just because his death would mean paperwork…

He did not like seeing it crumbled.

You do realise that this will happen? A voice called. Leo turned and saw Gaia, walking towards him passing over what he was pretty sure was the Aphrodite cabin.

"It won't. Your giants have no chance. You can't handle a legion and a phalanx all at once." Leo told her, trying to be brave and make it sound like that was an unbreakable plan- like Jason would.

Yes, but for that, you'd need to have the legion and the phalanx fighting as one. Gaia said sticky-sweetly, like she knew exactly how hot things were going.

"It'll happen!" Leo said.

Confident leader was not Leo's style, and Gaia thought so too because she laughed.

You don't believe that. I doubt your leaders believe that anymore. That brings you one step closer to this, Gaia said spreading her arms to show Leo the camp. Yeah thanks, Leo had definitely missed that one.

"Get out of my dreams, Dirt Face, I've got better things to dream about."

Oh definitely, Gaia said. A special treat from me.

Gaia wasn't lying this one time. Leo wished she was.

He was about six years old and he'd gotten pink eye. Mom took his wrist and pulled it away from his eye as they walked down the street.

"Stop scratching, Mijo, that's not good for you." She told him.

"Why? It feels good." Esperanza smiled.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean it is. It's like eating a lot of candy at Halloween and getting sick."

"Candy tastes good."

"Yes, but then you're sick. Try to speed up, Leo, we can't miss the bus."

"Why?"

"Because then I can't get to work."

"But you always go to work." Leo had told her. "What if you miss the bus once?"

"Then I don't go to work once."

"Why don't you don't go to work once?" Leo asked. Mom stopped dead in her tracks and looked down at Leo with warm eyes for a second, with the same look she got like before she'd show Leo a new blueprint, or before letting him put his hands above hers when she handled a power tool.

"You know what Mijo, I think we can."

Leo'd had one of the best days of his life. He and Mom had walked around all day. They'd gotten hot dogs for lunch and ice cream cones and Leo told her all the jokes his teacher had read from her boring corny joke book. They made her laugh anyways, and that made Leo proud. She looked happy; she looked at peace when they sat down at a park and Leo went on and scampered around the jungle gym, looking at how the bars were wielded together and at the nails. Except it was only a second before she got up and chassed Leo all over the park before she caught him by the waist.

"Let go Mommy, let go!" Leo said, half shrieking half laughing, trying to run away as she started tickling him.

"Never!" She said in her big-scary-monster voice.

Yeah, the memory was happy, but Leo woke up with his mouth feeling disgusting and his body empty. Never she'd said. He wished.

He knew all those sayings about when you lose someone. Junk like 'don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened'. Yeah, well, that was easier said than done. And it's even harder when it turns out that it was basically your fault that it was over. It was actually because of that memory that Leo hadn't eaten hot dogs or ice cream more than he had to since Mom died; that'd been a few days before the fire.

And Gaia was trying to remind Leo of the fire- like he forgot. Like he'd ever forget.

"What's wrong?" Hazel asked him.

"Me?"

"Well, you and I are the only ones here." She said. Leo tried for a smile to make it look better.

"Dreams. Again. I'll live."

Hazel nodded and looked back at the ground.

It didn't take long for the others to show up and even less for the wind spirits to bring food to everyone. How they kept track of what everyone liked- even total strangers- beat Leo. He had troubles with everyone's names, screw their favourite foods.

"Where's Piper?" Jason asked when everyone seemed to have arrived (and after they'd collected Octavian who was trying to sit with a couple of legionnaires from the first cohort who looked disgusted).

"I don't know," Leo said.

"There she is." Frank said. He nudged his head, and Leo saw that Piper wasn't coming alone.

"Hey Piper. Hello again, Quinn." Annabeth said when she saw Piper and the shy girl got within ear's reach. Leo remembered her name at least. Quinn looked about 13? 14? Not much older than Hazel. She had grey eyes behind rectangular glasses, and Leo noticed that her eyes were tired and highlighted with tiny pockets, like she hadn't slept in a while. Just like a lot of his siblings had gotten towards the end of construction. Her blond hair was straight and ended mid-neck, and she was small. The sword at her side was a regulation gladus.

She blushed.

"Hello."

A few people who knew Quinn said hello, and Quinn just blushed and nodded back, muttering 'hi'.

"Quinn thinks she's found something." Piper said. She launched herself into explaining her slip yesterday.

"You didn't mention that," Reyna frowned.

"I didn't think it was a top-notch priority." Piper said, "But Quinn went back and she found out why I'd slipped."

She looked over at Quinn and Quinn seemed to deflate when she realised Piper wanted her to talk too.

"Bubble, umm, err, bubble bath." She babbled.

"Bubble bath?" Frank repeated. Quinn nodded.

"At- at least I- I think…" Quinn stuttered.

"So again someone was trying to make us look bad." Annabeth said. "Why? Haven't we done enough? Haven't we proved our worth?"

"You have," Dakota said. "You guys have been awesome."

"Then why?" She asked again defiantly. Her eyes looked like they'd start shooting lasers any time. Leo had spent a lot of time with Annabeth and Jake over the last 8 months, and judging by the way her eyes were getting darker and stormier this seemed like a god time to run and freaking hide.

Percy put an arm around her.

"That's not how things work here."

Annabeth closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.

"You know I can't take him any longer."

And by him she meant Octavian.

"Yeah, same, mine hates my guts." Piper said.

And by mine she meant her centurion (Leo was getting good at this distinguishing rants thing).

"Joan hates e-everyone." Quinn said, trying to be comforting.

"Am I the only one whose centurion actually likes him?" Leo asked feeling like 'score!'

"Probably," Jason said. "Brady's a good guy."

"Brady's awesome, bro!" Leo said. He was determined to lighten up the atmosphere. This talk about bad people was making Leo uncomfortable. Even with Thanatos back loose on the world, demons were stirring for Leo. They'd been stirring even before Gaia had. "First day Brady's all like 'okay, let's put this row of English verbs into Latin- yeay!' And then Percy gives me the trick of destiny, and BAM!"

"That didn't actually work." Annabeth said. This went against study, intelligence, hard-work, digging deep and about twenty other things on the Athenian Ethical Code.

"No, but Brady starts laughing and he's like 'that's cool, no Latin, just Greek, show us'."

"Since when do you even speak Greek?" Piper asked.

"Since the day we started training." Leo said. "If you really concentrate it pops up in your head. I'm trilingual- how sick is that?"

"Yeah, Leo, that doesn't get you brownie points in this group of people." Dakota said. "I for one, speak a very old dialect of Pig-Latin."

It was nearly systematic how Jason took the flask and Reyna dumped its content on a plate of leftovers that an aura was carrying by. She tossed it back to Jason who put it in Dakota's hand that hadn't moved yet.

"Come on, you guys!" Dakota whined.

Percy pushed a glass of water towards Dakota.

"Water," he said.

Quinn

Cate, Jedediah and Quinn had been skipping stones in the Little Tiber.

Cate had been called to help on an aqua-bat dilemma that one of her sisters had caused and she'd had to run.

That left Jedediah and Quinn skipping stones in the Little Tiber and Quinn's heart was beating as fast as the stones skipped.

Her dad often nicknamed her I.Q. because her initials were 'Q.I.' and he said she had a way of understanding things that a lot of people couldn't. But Quinn didn't understand at all. What was it about Jedediah that made her feel small and nervous around him? Why couldn't she just be happy and comfortable with people, like Cate? Why was it especially bad around guys?

But that Quinn knew; the curse.

Although part of it was surely genetical or inherited or something, because even when she was under six years old she was the shyest girl around. Uncle Tyson had never liked speaking to crowds apparently, although it wasn't that bad according to Dad.

She was so focused on her thoughts, once again what would happen if she did decide to like a guy, that her stone just sunk to the bottom. Jedediah smiled.

"Your wrist wasn't right," he said kindly. "Like this."

He took her wrist and placed himself behind her, sending Quinn's heartbeat on a wild sprint. He moved her wrist with his hand.

"If it's too slow, it won't happen." He said. "Try it."

He took a step back and Quinn chided herself for being disappointed, even a little.

She did like he told her and the stone skipped five times.

"Five times," Jedediah said. "Impressive."

"My name means five." Quinn said because she had nothing else to say.

"My mom named me after a guy called Jedediah Smith. He was a mountain man, explorer, hunter, trapper, fur-trader, cartographer, stuff like that. She said he was a brave man, and he got attacked by a bear once."

"I read a book on him." Quinn said shyly.

"I'm sure you did," he smiled.

"He wore his hair long to cover a scar he got from the bear attack."

"I'd never heard that, but I'm ready to bet its right. My mom said it takes a lot of courage to face the unknown and explore mountains. She probably wanted me to get some of Jedediah Smith's bravery." He said.

"I think you got plenty of it," Quinn said shyly. Jedediah smiled at her and she held his eyes. That was one of the first times she actually did.

"I hope so," he said.

"Is that why you don't hate the Greeks?" Quinn asked. "Because they're unknown?" Jedediah shrugged.

"Maybe. I don't see a reason to hate them. Leo in my cohort is a good guy, and he doesn't look like he'd hang out so much with Piper or Annabeth if they weren't too. And I respect Percy- after what he did for the legion, and standing up to Octavian." Jedediah said.

"It looks like people just forgot that last bit." Quinn said. "If you'd ask me, I think Octavian is trying to make everyone forget."

"Opiniative on this, are we?" Quinn blushed but she returned to human colours once she saw Jedediah smiling. "But you're right. You seem to get along with them fine."

Quinn nodded.

"Would it sound stupid if..?" Quinn bit down on her tongue with as much power as a gator's jaw.

No. N-O-No! You can't buy into it- the voices are twisted and evil and they won't help you in any way! They're messing with your head, scaring you into what they want you to be!

"If what?" Jedediah asked. Whenever he looked at Quinn, the corners of his lips would go up a bit, like a tiny, shy smile just for Quinn (or that's what she liked to think). And his emerald green eyes seemed to tune out everything else –the Little Tiber's water gurgling past, the monsters in the forest growling and the animals running, the sounds of noisy New Rome- and focus completely on Quinn. Quinn didn't like spotlights, but this was different. It didn't scare her, it made her feel special.

You can't buy that either- what's wrong with you?

"If I thought that I might have to go to Greece and Rome with them." Quinn said. Jedediah frowned and examined Quinn like the answer was written somewhere on her.

"You know; you're really smart. Even if you don't walk around with books or blueprints or talk like you're reading out of the dictionary, you're really, really, smart. So if you think you have to go with your gut, and with your brain… you probably do have to go." Jedediah said. Quinn looked down at the Little Tiber. She'd never voiced that out- not even to Cate. Now it seemed so much more real and… logical? Did that sound right?

"But if you do go… I'll miss you." Jedediah said. Quinn looked back at him.

"I'd miss you too." She said with her heart frozen mid-beat. Oh my gods… He was so sweet… Quinn just wished she could hold his hand or kiss him. Which was like wanting the cheese from a mousetrap. "But I'm probably not going to go."

"I don't think you should say that too quickly," Jedediah said. He sat down on the edge of the river and for some reason; Quinn sat down next to him. It shouldn't have mattered to her- that their knees and feet were touching, that he was supporting himself with an arm from behind, an arm that was nearly touching Quinn's…

But it did. And she wished she could stop feeling so guilty about it, every time.