To RandomFanAuthor- No and no. Never. Permanent amnesiac. Oopsie

"Lou!" Leo called. "Lou!" Calypso shouted for her as well. Leo managed to squish his way through Keepers, catching her by the wrist. Lucy-Jo took a few more steps before realising the hold-up. "Lou, I-"

"Careful, I know." Louisa nodded, squeezing his hand. Calypso joined them. Louisa took her hand as well, squashing them together. "You two stay together, have each other's backs. I'll… I'll catch up with you once this is over."

"No more lakes." Leo ordered. "No disappearing, no- no more amnesia, no-"

"No typical Lou-shenanigans." Calypso translated. "You will catch up with us later." She ordered. "And you mind your stitches."

"Yeah," Leo nodded, "mind your stitches. Or we'll get July on you."

"Consider me warned." Louisa smiled weakly. Calypso sniffed. She threw her arms around Louisa, kissing her cheek. "I'll be good, Callie." She reassured, returning the embrace with one arm.

"You'd better."

"Lou." Lucy-Jo prompted.

"I'm comin'. Leo." She held her hand out to him, pulling him into the hug.

"I will minimise the stupid." He nodded. She gave a soft laugh, shaking her head.

"If only you could do that every day."

"Now, that's asking too much of me, Lou."

"Lou." Lucy-Jo said again. Louisa closed her eyes, giving them both a final squeeze. And then she was gone.

Festus did not like the alarms. He had remained in the grounds, the only place the Keepers thought they were safe from his fire. But now they were scrambling around him, stomping his feet and bursting with flames at each wail of the alarm, each noise or movement that startled him, spinning desperately, unsure where to defend himself from first.

"Festus!" Leo called, squeezing through Keepers. He kept a tight grip on Calypso's hand. "Festus! Hey, buddy!" He smiled, reaching up to pet the dragon's snout. "We've got some work to do, buddy, you up for it?" Festus crooned, snorting a cloud of smoke over Leo. "That's my boy."

Calypso climbed up first, pulling Leo up in front of her. All around them, the Keepers were settling into formations, groups of ten in two neat lines. They were armoured from head-to-toe, armed with an assortment of machine guns, extra ammunition at their belts. Swords were sheathed on their backs, almost eighty groups. Twenty trucks, in tails of ten, flanked the foot soldiers, two Keepers on the bed to man the machine guns.

"This is madness." Calypso breathed, voice trembling. "They're children." Leo didn't respond. He wasn't sure he could.

Lucy-Jo stood at the front. The manor stood behind her, the lake to the east. The west was blocked with forests untold for miles upon miles, too dense for raiding parties to slam their way through. This meant the Bloods could only come from one way- directly ahead of her.

She could hear the footfall of the Keepers, the rumbling of tyres, bellowed orders from Second Lieutenants. Not even a thousand strong. That number would never be the same again.

Movement in her peripheral; Louisa stopped at her side, sword in hand. "What's the plan?" She asked quietly.

"We take as many as we can down."

"L.J, I- I'll do my best."

"I know you will. I'm sorry I'm asking a lot of you, Lou, and your friends. But…" She paused, inhaling deeply. "This… this won't be good. You saw what Joel was like. I know him, I've known him for years. He doesn't spook easily and trust me, I've tried. But after… after Lake Day, he… he wasn't quite the same. None of us were, but something happened to Joel. He became more… manic and eager to please everyone. Anyone new, he made fast friends with them. He knows what it's like for us on the ground." Louisa looked back at the army, heart sinking.

"There's so many of you."

"There… there was more. We had nearly two thousand here. Lake Day changed that." She sighed, rubbing her hands together. "About half of these weren't here for that. Joel, he's… he's the one that catalogues the dead. So, he tries his hardest to keep everyone safe, make sure they're never lonely, makes sure they're happy and… and loved. He cares. He really, really cares." She sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve. "You should have heard him arguing with Boss. And the Elders. It's amazing he wasn't executed."

"Executed?"

"Yeah, he spoke out of turn. Several times." Lucy-Jo looked to the sky, taking in a last breath of fresh air. "He remembers, you know."

"Remembers what?"

"Every name he's ever catalogued." Lucy-Jo nodded. "He remembers every single one."

"Leo, this is insane."

"And everything else we've done is normal?"

"For us, yes! Aren't these all mortal?"

"I don't know. Demigods have a habit of popping out of nowhere." Leo leaned to the right. They flew overhead, playing lookout under orders of Second Lieutenant Edin. They had immediately clocked a weird cloud on the ground, writhing and sickly grey in colour. It was coming right for them. At that speed, it would only be a few minutes before it arrived.

Edin had not been happy at the news. No-one was. They faced forward with grim determination, guns at the ready. They fanned out, forty groups creating the front line, each group two metres apart. The other forty filled these gaps a line behind. The trucks stationed to the side and at the back. Only a few glanced up at Festus, less and less as time dwindled.

"HOLD!" Edin shouted. "THIS IS OUR LINE! WE HOLD IT! UNDERSTOOD?"

"YES SIR!" Hundreds shouted back. Edin regarded them, hands behind his back.

"IT IS AN HONOUR!" Laughter rumbled nervously through the ranks.

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT!" They chorused. Edin smiled grimly, clenching his fist over his heart. The salute came back hundredfold.

Leo leaned forward, patting the dragon's neck. He had to help these people. The cloud was beginning to take on distinctions, snarling snapping beasts, with crimson bloody eyes, baying and shoulder-slamming brethren just to be that little bit more ahead. Festus surged towards them, calling upon his fire. The screams and the stench that arose, rotten burning flesh so potent, they could taste it.

"A-again!" Calypso coughed, covering her nose with her jacket to no avail. The more of these they took out, the better.

"Fire Boy!" Lucy-Jo's voice cut into his ear, making him jump. "Get-" The radio crackled as heat swarmed them. Festus roared. Bloods too persistent, too ravenous, to stop their plight, crashing over each other only to find themselves in a white-hot blaze.

"What?" Leo called back, pressing his hand to his ear.

"Get higher! They can jump!"

Calypso screamed. A shadow fell over them. Leo belatedly realised he hated learning things the hard way.

Mmmmm... where ya'll at?