Chapter Twenty One

He was running and he was so mad about it. When Chiron had announced that they were going to pay capture the flag, he thought, 'Cool, never played that before.'

Not cool and he never wanted to play again. The number one reason was because Elsa wouldn't stop chasing him. They had been put on separate teams and so, when she spotted him minding his own business she charged him like a crazy person. Seriously, he had just been strolling in the woods and she just about took his head off. Leo wanted to tell her to stop taking the game so seriously, but he was afraid that he'd get impaled if he stopped for even a second.

The most annoying thing about about fighting her and why he was avoiding it so much was because she was mortal. All weapons just phased right through her and it was totally unfair. Instead, he ran.

Given that he wasn't much of a track star, he got winded very fast and tried to maneuver around trees to throw her off. Just as he thought he got her off his trail, he tripped. Leo sent himself rolling down a very steep and bumpy hill. It was a miracle he hadn't hit any trees on the way down. He was certain that it wouldn't have been pretty.

A large rock stopped his fall. It hurt, but he was glad it hadn't been his head that hit it because he would have been out cold due the force. He didn't move for a second and wondered why he always seemed to have the worst luck. The son of Hephaestus picked himself off the ground in a fury of curse words due to the unimaginable pain in his left shoulder. He was almost positive that it was dislocated.

Leo then glanced around. The large rock hadn't been a large rock at all... It was cave. "Huh, Percy never mentioned this." he murmured to himself, out loud. It was something he did often. Typically, while he was working on one of his many inventions. Saying things out loud helped him sort through his mind a little better and then, it just turned into a habit.

His curiosity got the better of him and he entered the cave. It wasn't really spacious, but he could tell instantly that it had been carved out. He knew craftsmanship when he saw it. It was dark though and he couldn't see much. Since, he didn't carry his headlamp everywhere he went, he used his fire abilities for light. It wasn't something he liked doing, but eventually Annabeth had convinced him to learn how to control them. That he understood, given that his abilities had caused more than enough tragedies. Now, the boy was just glad that he'd never have to worry about getting lost in the dark.

A ball of flames appeared above his palm and the cave lit up welcoming him with a strange sight. Though, he didn't know what to expect, the sight of a large Eta, the Greek symbol for the letter H wasn't not something that had ever crossed his mind. It was carved into the stone walls and Leo found it very peculiar. He stepped closer to the wall, feeling compelled to do so.

Unexpectedly, the flame in his hand caused a spark and the Eta lit up with his fire. It caused him to jump back in surprise and then the cave began to shake. He watched in awe as the wall with the carving, pulled open and revealed a room. Leo stared stupidly at the sight before him. "Did that really just happen?" he whispered in astonishment. "Did I really just find a secret workshop?"

But workshop just didn't quite cover it. It was huge. Easily fitting at least one aircraft inside. And there were tools, supplies and schematics covering all of the work stations. Leo couldn't believe his eyes. There was no way his luck had been that good. He had just been talking to Nora about wanting a bigger work space because Cabin 9 was not cutting it. His new siblings were great, but they were also kind of everywhere. He really didn't have space to get things done. He couldn't even fit Festus inside!

But looking at this hanger, he knew his automaton was about to get a serious upgrade.

"Leo!" a female voice shouted and it caused him to tear his eyes away from the scene. He had almost forgotten about Elsa.

"Over here!" he called back.

There was the sound of footsteps and then she was there. "Whoa." she gasped, and skid to a stop.

Leo turned to see Elsa peering into the hanger in shock. He gave her a look. "Glad to see that you didn't want to actually kill me." he sassed with a tinge of annoyance. He could have died!

The mortal gave him a sheepish look, but quickly donned a grin. "Looks like I did you a favor."

"Finder's keepers?" the boy of flames pondered in hope. He stepped inside and decided to glance around. He did a quick scan of the schematics. There were so many that he'd have to span decades just to look through all of them. After, getting a closer look at the materials, he realized how outdated they were. "This place is old school." he noted, thoughtfully. "Who forgot about this place? It's sweet."

His eyes landed on his friend, she too was looking around. "We should get back." she then sighed and began to head back the way they came. They hanger was so huge that they haven't even made it halfway inside. "The game ended when you fell. I heard the horns."

The Latino boy frowned in disappointment. Part of him never wanted to leave this place. It was his own personal type of goldmine. "Party pooper." he accused, even though he agreed. The others wouldn't like it too much if they had up and disappeared. Especially Nora. She'd probably hit him or something and he really didn't want that. The girl really packed a punch.

"Hey, look!" the blonde pointed and Leo looked above them to where she had been pointing. There hung a sign that read: Bunker 9. "Isn't your cabin number 9?"

"Yeah, it is." What if this hanger belonged to his Cabin? It would explain the Eta on carved on the entrance. It only made him even more excited. All he wanted to do was make it back to camp to ask Percy if he could have it. He'd run it by Annabeth first, though. Just to see how she's go about it.

To him, it felt like hours until they made it back to camp. It had only been like fifteen minutes, but his eagerness wore his patience thin. He found Annabeth and Nora sitting in front of the Big House. Nora's smile was nowhere in sight and it made him feel uneasy. She couldn't be mad already, could she?

He approached the two girls with an impish grin, but they paid him no mind. "I might take longer than usual." the speedster had revealed. "I'm still not up to full speed."

The slight pun in her words didn't escape him. Honestly, they never did, but when she didn't laugh or say 'Get it?', he got a little worried. "You know if I could ask someone else I would, but you're the best bet. I need to know what they're up to." Annabeth responded with wariness in her tone. "And I want to know where they headed off to. We know it wasn't to Olympus."

It all dawned on him then. Annabeth wanted Nora to check on the Romans. He didn't like it. She was barely running again. They only thing he found slightly positive about the whole thing was that Annabeth was planning again. She hadn't done that since leaving the city.

"I can leave in the morning." the Hispanic girl than offered and cast a look in his direction. The corners of his mouth turned down at the worry in her eyes. It wasn't often that she was like this.

Annabeth nodded in thanks and gave her an appreciative smile before looking to him as well. "What happened to you?" she questioned, quirking her brows. There was slight amusement in her tone that caused him to look down at his clothes. He was covered in dirt and twigs.

Leo had forgotten that he rolled down a hill. "I fell."

Nora snorted, seeming to forget the conversation he just witnessed. He knew she would tell him about it later. "Dummy."

"I'm okay, too. Thanks!" he rolled his eyes at her as he tried to rotate his shoulder. It only erupted in pain causing the boy to wince. "But I might have dislocated my shoulder."

"How'd that happen?" the blonde asked further as if she sensed there was more. To Leo, her intuition was scarily on point at all times and he was certain that wasn't natural.

"Elsa's a maniac." he muttered, irate. He truthfully wasn't mad at her. Elsa had said it herself, she had actually did him a favor. If he hadn't of ran deep into the woods and fell, he would have never found Bunker 9. "I'm going to have nightmares of her chasing me in the woods."

"So, what did you come over to tell us?" Nora deadpanned, reminding Leo why he liked her so much.

His grin returned, and it was wide. It was quite clear that he was excited. "I found the ultimate workshop, can I keep it?"

I love Leo. Things are going to start speeding up. Nora's up next and she's leaving camp. Stay tuned.