Be forewarned: I am about to make a small rant.

I WAS gonna make this particular prompt about Reycent, since I haven't done them in ten chapters and Purple is a Roman color. But then I saw someone told me to tone it down with the Leo, so…MOAR LEO! YAY! Purple is now switched with Sword. Say thanks to that guest for more Leo, guys :)

Here's the thing: When I say my muse is Leo, I mean it. He and his family (former and future) are the easiest for me to write; next would be Frazel. I don't go to someone else's 100 chapter story and say "Could you tone it down with the Percabeth/Percy?" Their muse is obviously Percy and/or Annabeth and I respect that.

Nowhere in the site or this particular challenge does it say I have to use all characters equally. To me, Leo is the main character. Meaning: he and his family will be getting more attention and, as a result, more chapters (most likely in a row). End of discussion.

On a lighter note, guess what? This particular Leo chapter will be in a popular AU of mine.

PIRATES!

You're welcome.

I own nothing you recognize as canon.

36: Sword

Inspiration Strikes Again

"You sure you wanna do this, Sunshine?" Leo asked. "Handling swords is pretty dangerous…"

Calypso rolled her eyes, tapping her foot as Leo drew a couple practice swords out of a bucket in the ship armory. "You didn't see that wanted poster? There's a bounty on my head. Seeing as how you can't defend yourself very well against hunters, I might as well learn how to fight for the both of us."

Leo scoffed. "I'll have you know I can put up a decent fight!"

Calypso cocked an eyebrow in disbelief. "Says the man who went into a coma after trying to take on Octavian and Kahale."

"I did take two bullets, one of which was for Jason, y'know," he said casually.

Calypso marched up to him and took one of the practice swords. "Guns are not my style. I'm going to go up and learn a move or two from Piper and Hazel. Maybe when you've got the balls to take on a girl, you can come join me."

Leo smirked. "Look at you. Three months after leaving your princess-hood for a pirate and already you're throwin' insults at the captain's manhood."

Calypso smirked back and left the room, happy to know he hadn't taken her insult seriously enough that it had hurt his feelings.

Leo smiled. An idea came to his mind and he skittered off to the engine room, excited about his new project.

"You need a rest?" Piper asked, panting.

Calypso slid against the cool metal of the smokestack mast, panting hard. "Yes! Oh, gods, that was intense!"

Hazel slid next to her as they all sat down together. "It's the best way to learn," she informed Calypso. "Trial-by-fire is the way you keep those swordplay thoughts in your head. But, at least with you learning with us instead of during a raid or a battle, the fire is less heated and you have a few safety nets."

Calypso sighed and leaned her head back, looking up at the sky—or, the smoke-filled sky. "I suppose you're right."

Piper smiled. "By the way, at least your wanted poster has a good picture of you. It took them forever to get one of me."

Calypso grimaced. "My picture is of when I was still a princess! That's not very 'good', if you ask me."

"At least it makes you look good," Hazel put in. "While you look like a runaway princess—which, might I add, you are—some of the main captains look like drunken gremlins. Have you seen Dakota the Drunk's poster before Captain Solace became a privateer? It was the most ridiculously disgusting thing I'd ever seen!"

The girls laughed. A whistle sounded and all three shot up and ran for the galley. They knew from experience that being last in line for food meant bad tidings for your stomach.

Jason poked his head into the engine room. Calypso had asked where Leo was, so he'd volunteered to check on their oh-so-amazing captain.

"Leo?" he called. "You in here?"

"Yeah!"

Jason followed the sound of the captain's voice. "It's dinner time, Leo. Calypso's wondering where you are."

Leo's head poked out of a cubby corner, which scared the tar out of the former naval captain. His eyes were wild, his hair was unruly, and he looked all sorts of intense. "Go away," he barked. "I'm busy."

The captain shot back into the cubby, away from Jason's vison. Jason was way too big to fit in there, so he called again, "Look, you know the doctors said not to push yourself too hard so soon after your recovery. You've gotta take it slow."

"I am inspired! Leave me be, Jason!" Leo didn't even poke his head out for that. It was just an echo.

Jason rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine. But when Calypso comes stomping in here to drag you out, don't start crying."

If the captain had heard the threat, Jason didn't hear an acknowledgement. Jason could hear some muttering, though. Something about a design being too girly or manly?

Two days later and the captain of the Argo II had still not shown his face. When Jason told the girls Leo was 'inspired' Hazel and Piper groaned.

"That means he's not gonna be human until he's finished with his project," Piper warned him. "He's gone for weeks like that."

"Weeks?" Jason and Calypso asked incredulously.

Hazel nodded. "Just deliver food to the engine room once a day. He'll eat it. If he realizes he needs to eat more, he'll actually come to the galley."

Calypso shook her head. "How is that man alive? He should be resting!"

"You said he was in a cubby?" Piper asked.

Jason nodded.

She smiled. "Give him a few days, then. He's making a weapon. Probably found a way to make lighter swords again. Can't thank him enough for my deadly dagger. Light as a feather, yet deadlier than a snake."

Hazel giggled. "Be thankful it's a weapon so soon after his recovery. Anything big and we actually might feel nervous."

So, for the next two days, someone delivered food to Leo in the engine room. Calypso had tried to get him to come out, but the moment he realized it was her he screamed at her to get out. Not angrily, of course; he'd merely shoved her out the door, asking her to not come back until he said so.

The former princess was rather peeved at her lover's blatant disregard for his own health. She complained to Piper, but her friend shrugged it off and offered to take her thoughts away from Leo.

They practiced sword fighting for a few more hours before Calypso went off to tend to her garden.

On the third day, Leo came into the light. And he looked stupidly terrible with disheveled, unbrushed curls, a pale and sunken face, wild eyes, and skinny limbs. In his bony hands he held a long box with a misshapen bow wrapped around it.

"Princesa," Leo called.

Calypso, who had been lounging on the top deck with Frank and Hazel, turned to her dumb lover. She grimaced at his smell—clearly he hadn't thought of his hygiene the past three days.

"So the prince of pirates finally graces us with his presence," she noted. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

Leo handed her the box. "Happy birthday!"

Calypso eyed the box. "It's not my birthday."

"But it's the gift's birthday, since I finished making it today!"

Calypso smiled and rolled her eyes. She unwrapped the box and opened it. Her eyes widened in surprise.

Inside was a long rapier, sparkling new and glittering in the sunlight. A little sapphire was placed at the end of the pommel. The handle and guard shimmered gold, delicately carved with intricate designs that swooped and swirled around. The crossbars shone like glass, but Calypso could tell it was just delicate and thin silver. The blade was thin but sharp, also bearing designs. Upon closer inspection, Calypso saw tiny rose designs shining between the abstract carvings.

"Is this…is this what you were working on?" Calypso stammered.

Leo blushed. "Took me a whole day just to be happy with the swoopy parts on the hilt. And making it light enough for you to swing around."

Calypso did a few test swings. The blade sliced through the air cleanly and swiftly. No resistance. Little to no weight. She sliced a test 'C' on the side of the ship. Sharper than any blade she'd ever seen. No jagged lines were present on the cut or the metal.

"It's amazing," Calypso gasped. "And beautiful!"

Leo grinned from ear to ear. "You really like it?"

"I love it!" She hugged Leo hard enough to knock them both to the ground. They lay there, laughing and kissing.

Frank rolled his eyes. "You two should get a room. I'm getting cavities from the sweetness."

Hazel giggled. "Like we don't do it to them." They kissed, too.

Leo's eyes sparkled and he gave his love a mischievous grin. "A room, huh? Not a bad idea."

Calypso stood rapidly and pointed the tip of her new blade right at his throat. "Not until you eat and take a bath, you dummy."

Leo laughed. "And when I do as you tell me?"

Calypso bent down and kissed his nose. "You do what I tell you, and we'll see about that room for two."

Leo rushed to get clean so fast he left skid marks on the ground.

A/N: I actually like that song. I just think that the way the guitar is played would probably hurt a monster's ears. It's not metal or anything, it's just different. :)