To RandomFanAuthor- yes you did read that right! ^_^

To zantarak- OF COURSE I WANT TO HEAR IT, TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME!

To HoO Storys- Not cheating, it's dealing with Aphrodite's thing, explained below!

To JasonGraceIsNAPPING- Mwhaha!

To HoO Fan- YES


Leo would have much preferred Louisa had stolen his wallet. He wasn't sure who was more stunned though, and that brought him some comfort. The kiss did not last long, but he could not tell that, having completely spaced out with shock.

Calypso let Louisa go at some point and that's when his brain started to tick back into action. Louisa's had shut down. She would need a minute. Followed by an abundance of swearing. Or loud swearing. Or both.

Leo cleared his throat to get his own thoughts back on track, puffing out his cheeks and re-appraising Calypso.

"Sorry." She said, crimson faced. "But it worked."

"What-?" She pointed. The writing on the floor glowed pink. "Oh." Leo said. The letters began to break apart and wriggle around. "Oh." He said again as they melded into a line and disappeared down a tunnel. "And, uh… did you, uh, did you know that was going to work?"

"It was… my best idea." She admitted with a wince. "Come on." She said, struggling to her feet. "Let's get the girdle and get out of here." She reached down to take hold of Louisa's arm, startling when Louisa squeaked and jolted away.

The swearing started. First in Latin, then Ancient Greek and then finally, "THE FUCK?" in rather high-pitched English.

"I'm sorry!" Calypso blushed. "But it worked!" She directed Louisa's attention to the pink line.

"THE FUCK?" She repeated, accompanied with mad arm-waving.

"OK, Lou." Leo said gently, gripping her elbow and hand and helping her up. "Why don't we go and yell at some ghosties? You want to yell at some ghosties?" She swallowed, glancing at him and hurriedly away again.

"Yes please." She croaked.


They followed the pink line in silence. Leo walked in the middle. Louisa was on his left, gripping his arm and using him as a shield. He held Calypso up on his right- she was not steady on her feet and had gone from green to grey-green, which was an interesting shade on a human, but not in the slightest bit reassuring.

There were no ghosties for Louisa to yell at. She settled for muttering in Latin, absolutely bewildered.

"I'm sorry." Calypso said quietly, sniffing. Leo turned his head, chest constricting as she caught tears on her sleeve.

"I'm not mad at you." He said. "Just… confused."

"'Love's power needs love to flower'." She said shakily. "I said it was something new and… and it was. There had already been love between you two, of… some degree. And then between us, obviously, so it was… it was the last one. I didn't know… it was my only idea."

"Huh." Leo managed, facing forward again. "And the, uh, 'hearts aglow, love will flow'?"

"Warm." Louisa correlated, returning to her grumbles.

"Yes, Cal's face does look rather warm. Cal, you broke Lou."

"I'm sorry. It just felt like- like the right idea."

Leo thought about the last two lines- truth be told, the future will hold/ Paths intertwine, paths align. Calypso did not seem ready to elaborate on those two; if she had thought as far ahead as them, he wasn't sure. The pink line led them on, there were no ghosties and it was the first and only solid lead they had had for however many hours they had been rattling around down here.

"Fuck." Louisa said again.

"Ah," Leo smiled, "here she comes."

"Bollocks."

"Cal, if we want her to shut up in future-"

"No." Calypso squeaked, far redder than before. Louisa glared over at her in amazement.

"Bitch."

"No, Lou, she got us through the tunnels."

"Shit-lamp."

"What the fuck is a 'shit-lamp'?"

"Mothershitter."

"She's going to be like this for a while." Leo nodded. Louisa took a deep breath, grip tightening on his arm. "Ow."

"Fuckin' bullshittin' son of a dick piss-stained bastard!" The tirade continued, most of which Leo would never repeat in his life or the next. Calypso remained silenced, stunned and pink-faced. Leo knew she meant nothing by it, but at the same time… this opened a whole new window of teasing.

He was certain his left ear was deafening the more they walked, almost half an hour of vulgarities and angry, confused noises, but he tried not to take it in. Or laugh. He tried not to laugh. He had rather missed her little rants; he could remember hearing them from various points on the Argo II, often aimed at her brother or Coach and then Nico, when he was about.

Calypso was taking shaky little breaths to his right, engrossed with the pink line. Leo leaned over and kissed her temple.

"Just ignore her. Her brain's rebooting." He smiled. Calypso pressed her lips together. "Lou," he pulled on her arm, "breathe."

"I did not steal ya girlfriend!"

"I wasn't even going to say that."

"She kissed me!"

"I know. I was there." Leo nodded. Louisa all but growled at Calypso, exasperating wordlessly and flailing a hand at her. "You done?"

"No!"

"Be done." Leo advised. "Because the line's done." He stopped, so they stopped. The line had finished at the end of the tunnel, which opened into a cavern. No other tunnels led on from it. It was perfectly round, like walking into a ball. The floor was tiled with mosaics of roses and doves and seashells. Even the underground musty smell of the catacombs had faded, replaced by a sweet, rosy scent.

In the middle, on an altar of white marble, was the girdle. Golden and shining and definitely not going to be touched with bare hands.

"Too easy." Louisa frowned. Leo hummed in agreement. He wriggled his arm from Louisa's grip, helped Calypso sit down. Then he knelt, at the very edge of the room, laying his hand on the floor.

"Oh, yeah." He said, senses firing back at him. "There is a massive system down there."

"Traps?"

"Of course."

"Why would Aphrodite have date night in a trap room?" Louisa coiled her hair around her finger, eyeing the girdle up.

"Don't even try it." Leo warned, grabbing the back of her jacket. She huffed, crouching beside him. "The floor's pressure sensitive. You could fall into a pit, set off a fire, chopped to pieces…"

"Isn't she the goddess of love?" Calypso asked. "Why so violent?"

"I love violence." Louisa smiled. She froze, frown returning. She jabbed a finger at Calypso. "I'm not talkin' ta you!" She declared, turning her nose up. Leo elbowed her.

"Behave." He instructed, rising. It was Louisa's turn to grab his jacket.

"If I can't go out there, you can't go out there."

"Do you know where the traps are?"

"No…"

"Are you fire-proof?"

"I was supposedly fire-resistant."

"Do you want to touch the butt corset?"

"Oh, hell no." She let him go, patting the back of his leg. "Take one for the team, Valdez!"

"Thanks, Lou. I feel really valued." She nodded and smirked. Leo shook his head, hopping to a nearby rose, landing on its outer petals. He could only laugh when she swore, realising that she had been left alone with Calypso.


Come on, peeps! Got 67 reviews to go!