Chapter 26!

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"Chapter 23: In Which The Trio Arrive In The Underworld."

'Leo gulped, and pushed the door open. Why was it that he was more scared of meeting Percy's mom, than the Lord of the Underworld? How was that logical? Leo mentally snorted, how was anything about his messed up life logical?'

"Very good point," a child of Hecate said.

"But seriously, dude, don't be afraid to meet my mom," Percy told him. "She's awesome."

"I know that now," Leo replied.

'Upon opening the door, Leo could see a grey room, with a grey bed, grey carpet, and grey everything else. The only spot in the entire room that had color was the woman standing in front of the bed. She was holding her chin high, but Leo was an expert at hiding emotions, and he could see the panic and confusion in her eyes.

"Lord Hades should defiantly fire his interior decorator." Leo glanced at the walls, "between the floor of the throne room, and the walls of this place, he, or she, is doing a terrible job."

Leo glanced back at Percy's mom, she hadn't moved, but the look of confusion in her eyes was getting more pronounced. Leo couldn't blame her, she had been imprisoned in Hades's dungeons for the majority of time she had been here, then abruptly moved to a drab room, which Leo bet was way more comfortable, and now some random twelve year old kid had walked in and commented on the decorating of all things! Leo figured he owed her an explanation.'

"I would think it was pretty weird too," Chris, the son of Hephaestus, said.

"Yeah," Leo agreed.

'Leo winced, how was he going to explain this? Percy's mom had just had her life ripped apart, how do you explain that? Leo walked back over to the door, and leant against it, forgetting that if opened out, and that he had unlocked it earlier.

Leo hit the floor with a grunt; he seemed to end up on the floor unduly often, "ouch." Leo saw Percy's mom come over, amusement dancing in her tired eyes. Now that Leo looked properly, he could see how tired and week she actually was. She acted strong, but he could see that she was almost swaying as she walked, he could see the effort it took her to remain standing.'

Percy glared at Hades, who actually shrunk away. Yes, the god of the dead shrunk away from a twelve year old kid; I'm not lying.

'Leo leapt to his feet, and gave a grin. "I'm fine! Um, I don't mean to sound rude, but you better sit down, or you might fall over."

Percy's mom retreated to the bed and sat down; she looked at him and said, "Are you implying I'm old?"

Leo was about to protest, before he noticed the glint in her eyes. She was pulling his leg. His respect for Percy's mom shot up. Anyone who could still joke after spending more than ten days in the underworld deserved respect. Especially when they were a mortal, and spent some of that time in Hades's dungeons. Leo grinned again.

"I have got to tell Percy that his mom is awesome."

Leo noticed Percy's mom stiffen, had he said that out loud?

"You know Percy? Is he alright?"

Ah, he had said that out loud, well that was awkward. Well, the least he could do was answer her questions, now that he'd worried her like that. "Yep, I know Percy; he's awesome. As far as alright goes... He's on a quest, so he's not dead, but he'll be arriving via Charons' ferry, to talk with Lord Hades."

"Why is my son on a quest? He's known about being a demi-god less than a month, he isn't trained enough!"

"Lord Zeus's lightning bolt was stolen at the winter solstice; he immediately blamed Lord Poseidon, who in turn, blamed Lord Hades. Unfortunately, since Zeus is somewhat paranoid, he said that if his bolt wasn't returned by summer solstice, then he would declare war on Poseidon. Unknown to the both of them, Hades's helm was also stolen, and he also blamed Poseidon. That's why the mad bull was after you. So both blamed Poseidon, but since gods can't steal other god's weapons directly..."

"They both blamed Percy."

"Yeah. Well, they did, until I blurted out in front of one of Hades's minions that it wasn't Percy's fault, he didn't know what he was, and he didn't know where the Helm or Bolt was. Since Hades hadn't told anyone about the Helm's disappearance, yet I knew, he assumed that I had taken it. So Zeus was after Percy, and Hades was after me. I think that's why he moved you here, instead of keeping you in the dungeons. So, Yeah..."

Percy's mom wasn't saying anything, just looking at him with that stare that Percy had whenever he was trying to figure out whether someone was lying. Leo could now see where Percy had gotten that stare from. Just as Leo was about to bolt from the room, Percy's mom spoke.

"You're not telling me everything, but I don't think you've lied either. I have other questions though, do you mind?"

"Not at all, but I figure we might as well have something to eat while we talk. And I reserve the right to plead the fifth."'

"Heard those rights often, Valdez?" A child of Ares- Max, I think his name was- smirked.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney; if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you," Leo recited.

Everyone stared at him.

"Erm, yeah, I've had a few issues with the law. But I swear, fifty percent of the time, I was framed; and the other fifty usually had something to do with running from enemies or running from foster homes."

By the end of his speech, everyone that cared for Leo had paled, tremendously.

"What?"

"Nothing," Nyssa said. "We will be talking about that later."

She then gestured to the god of wine to continue reading.

'Leo reached out to the box of food that he had gotten out of his bag, then walked toward the bed, and sat legs crossed, at the foot of the bed. He looked up at Percy's mom.

"You do know that any food eaten in the underworld will mean you have to stay here till you actually die."

"Ah, ha, that's where you're wrong. Any food grown in the underworld will mean that, yes, but this is food that I brought into the underworld, therefore it doesn't have the same effects."

Percy's mom was still looking a little disbelieving, so Leo added, "I swear on the river Styx that I'm not lying, about anything I have told you, or will tell you today."

She looked relieved, but then asked. "Why just today?"

"Because I don't want you to be able to hold this oath over me forever, I'd never be able to lie to Percy, because he could just ask you to ask me, and I wouldn't be able to lie!"

Leo looked back at the food box, and began to open it, he heard Percy's mom say. "What's your name?"

"Leo Valdez." Leo hadn't looked up from setting the food out on the bed, but once he did he noticed she was looking at him again.

"What?"

"Leo Valdez?"

"Yes..."

"The Leo Valdez who attended Yancy academy, and ran away just before the end of school. "

"I only ran away after I blurted to the fury that Percy didn't take the bolt, and then Chiron and Grover thought I had taken it, and then Percy looked at me like... Like you are now! And they all looked disappointed, and it hurt!" Leo's voice dropped to an almost silent level, the betrayal he had felt at that moment, when his friends turned on him, leaking into his voice. "I thought they trusted me."

The emotions were rolling around inside of him, and he absentmindedly wondered what it was about the Jackson family that made him break down whenever he was around them. The next thing he registered was arms wrapping around him, and tears in his eyes. She was hugging him, like him mom used to, Percy's mom was hugging him.

Leo pulled away, ignoring the part of him that wanted to be hugged like that, like he had his mom back, but this was Percy's mom, not his.'

Percy patted his shoulder. "For what it's woth, my mom is practically everyone's mom in all except blood."

Leo smiled. "Thanks, Perce."

'Never his.'

Hephaestus stared at his lap. Apollo- very awkwardly, mind you- patted him on the shoulder.

Artemis frowned. Maybe- just maybe- her brother wasn't a complete egotistical jerk.

'"Stop it," Leo was alarmed at how small his voice sounded, "You're Percy's mom, not mine." Leo couldn't stop a tear falling, why did everything work out for Percy, he didn't get hurt by the fury, or Echidna and her children. He had a massive destiny, but he had support. Leo had never had support. Not since he killed his... Not since his mom's death.

"Oh, Leo. What happened to your mom?"

"She died, I... I killed her." The guilt was rolling in, and he couldn't hold back the tears. He didn't understand why this was happening. The first time around he didn't cry over anything, but now he had fallen to bits twice in a week. What was happening? He didn't understand. Percy's mom hugged him again, and this time he didn't pull away.

After a while, Leo's sobs stopped, and he pulled away from Percy's mom, embarrassed. She gave him a soft smile, then "You mentioned food?"

Leo couldn't stop laughing for an hour.

A couple of hours later they had moved on to talking about Percy, and Leo was describing one of the pranks they had pulled on Mr. Angle, when a loud alarm blasted through the palace.

"What's that?"

"Your son's arrived."'

"Really, Leo?" Annabeth asked.

"Yes! Whenever you hear alarms, you know Percy had something to do with it."

"Or you," Percy added.

"Or me," Leo agreed.

"Who's next?" Dionysis asked.

Once again, another huge surprise gave everyone a heart attack when Aphrodite looked up from her nails and took the book.

"What has the world come to?" Leo muttered to Percy.

"I don't know, but I haven't decided whether or not I like it yet."

I liked this chapter, but that's just me. On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the best, how good was this chapter? Don't be surprised if I ask you to rate my chapters a lot.