Hello ever faithful readers who are so kind as to ignore my horrible updating schedule! Here's the next chapter- and wait! You can now find my story on Percabethforever234's community: Mark of Athena stories, which also holds a lot of other awesome MOAs! Go check it out! You won't? What, you chicken? I DARE you! :) No seriously, give it a try! And as always, please review!
52 Leo
A wide smile spread across his lips as he placed his eyes on his mighty ship. Radiating a buttery glow and reflecting the vermilion shade of the dusk, it reminded Leo of poor Festus.
The thought of the dragon reminded him of the matter at- protecting Annabeth. For all that she was, she wasn't a god, and, finally, over the commute to port during which he'd been juggling possible actions, he'd come to a conclusion. Athena was the worst enemy imaginable, so he'd abide by her rules- if even the cost was the loss of her daughter's friendship… or his life.
But hopefully, it wouldn't have to come to that.
He reached into his tool belt's generous pocket, willing it to spit forth the firework rocket he'd been making on the train ride. When a solid object filled the hollow of his palm, drew it out.
It was a cylinder- the corpse of a can of soda. Its insides were packed with a mild explosive he'd snatched back at Camp. From the opening where the metal pull-tab had been, protruded a detonation wire- this, he hadn't acquired so innocently.
The train ride had proved to be unbelievably boring, so baring in fact, that he'd almost wished Hestia hadn't offered them all those tickets. Maturity temporarily forgotten, he'd teamed up with the Stoll brother- a pairing that cost the other demigods' their sense of safety and rendered them paranoid, and rightly so.
For a time, they'd excavated exquisite dishes from the storage room, which, before their not-so-mysterious disappearance, had been headed for the first-class passengers.
Eventually, though, the "three musketeers" sneaked into the cargo hold, thanks to the Stolls' instinctive reactions and Leo's familiarity with locks. They stumbled upon an assortment of luggage, some mining equipment in the process of being exported, and a peculiar cage that emitted a terrifyingly Chihuahua-like growl.
There and then, the musketeers split up- Leo going solo while the Connor and Travis returned to being the dynamic duo. The twins rummaged through the most expensive looking of the luggage, Leo added hard hats, chisels, and other tools to his inventory, and all three of them avoided the growling cage.
Returning to reality, Leo looked toward Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper, who were admiring the sunset.
"You guys carry a pen and paper?"
The demigods reluctantly withdrew their stares and searched their pockets for the wanted items.
Annabeth handed him a pen, saying, "Don't you lose that. Percy gave it to me for my birthday one year."
Leo looked at her full in the face, "He gave you, of all things, a pen!? And for your birthday? Man, I would have killed to see that moment."
Annabeth smiled, "Better than what the Stoll's gave me…"
"What did they give you?" Leo asked eagerly.
"I don't want to talk about it," Annabeth replied suddenly. Her lips were a thin white line, but her cheeks glowed red.
Leo, trying not to laugh, taunted, "I guess I'll just have to ask them myself…"
"No!" Annabeth cried.
Leo laughed again, and as he took the piece of paper that Hazel handed him he said in a sing song voice, "Listen, Annabeth. We can do this the hard way or the easy war, but whatever happens, I'm going to find out…"
Hazel gave him a wink and mouthed something that implied she knew what Annabeth so determined on hiding, and was willing to share later. Leo let the topic drop, as the mention of Percy had brought a shadow over his friend's face.
He glanced at the glossy sheet of paper he'd been given.
"What's this?"
"Magazine paper." Hazel replied evenly.
"I mean, what's the picture on it?"
Bowing her head like she'd been caught committing a crime, she admitted, "Shrimp gumbo…"
"C'mon, really?" Frank wondered as he caught up with them, changing from his eagle form. He'd been lagging behind, flying low circles across the scarlet sky, claiming that he suffered from a headache and needed quiet. Leo didn't buy it, but it's not easy convincing your friend to open up when he can fly away from you, swim away from you, and run away from you, all at the speeds faster than the best of Olympic athletes. And Piper's voice could only be convincing from a certain distance; she'd learned from experience that yelling at the top of her lungs was not an enchanting sound.
"What? I got hungry! The train's staff's hospitality is great, like Hestia promised, but their food service is slower and clumsier than Hannibal on heels!"
And now it's under stocked, as well… Leo thought, rubbing his stomach happily.
Frank smiled at the picture Hazel had just drawn of their pet elephant, and then grimaced. If the headache story was a fake as Leo suspected, Frank was doing a great job at acting his role.
Leo shook his head and began scribbling on to the piece of paper:
'Yo, my peeps!'- Here inserted a smiley that looked as if it had had plastic surgery gone wrong.
He continued-'Leo, the princess, tunnel-girl, nerd/invisible woman, and hulk here. Open the gates, we got business to do!"
Piper leaned over his shoulder and inquired skeptically, " 'the princess'? Really?"
"Hey, if it fits…" Leo began, then quickly stopped when he caught the 'princess's' glare. "I'm just trying to protect our identities here! Gaea doesn't have to humor to crack these codes."
"Whatever." Piper muttered.
He flattened the note and searched for a roll of duct tape in his tool belt. Ripping out a strip of the helpful stuff, he stuck the note to bottom of the can and check to make sure it stayed in place.
Bringing a candle worthy flame to a random finger and raising it up to avoid burning the rest of his hand, her held it to the detonation wire.
Between snickers, he heard Hazel say, "Uh... Leo?"He couldn't catch her expression but it sounded as if she was laughing as well.
"Yeah?" he asked impatiently- even being a son of Hephaestus, handling rockets was a dangerous job, and required caution- he only had so much detonation wire, no delays to slow the spark, and no way of knowing how fast the material would be eaten up.
Hazel started again to talk again. "Maybe the fire is burning up your common sense as well, I don't know, but... do you know exactly which finger you're holding up?"
