Hello, everyone! I think my favorite line last chapter was That, and Survivor, the version from Tomb Raider. Obviously, so I included a small musical scene with that song. It's pretty short and seems kind of random, but pay attention to who sings which line because it will be significant to their characters.
Please enjoy this chapter and remember to leave a review! Thank you!
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or Heroes Of Olympus or the characters (except any OCs) or anything you recognize. I do not own the song Survivor (I don't think there's enough lines here to be considered a songfic- it's just the first two versus and chorus- but I thought I should mention that in the disclaimer).
Chapter Fifteen: Son Of Hephaestus
"Thought I couldn't breathe without you, I'm inhaling," Miranda sang, a small smile alight on her face as the thirteen demigods gathered around together.
It was the middle of the day, but it was still pretty dark. Apollo and Artemis had faded long ago, just like the other gods, and could no longer bring the sun or the moon. The sky was a murky greenish-brown, and the clouds were almost yellow, if there were any clouds at all. Despite this, the thirteen demigods were in relatively high spirits, at least as high as their spirits could get these days. No monster attacks; Lou Ellen's illusion was holding up. None of them had even had any nightmares or flashbacks that day or the previous night, which was very rare these days.
"Thought I couldn't see without you, perfect vision," Jackson harmonized.
"Thought I couldn't last without you, but I'm lasting," Isabella sang.
"Thought that I would die without you, but I'm living," Will continued.
They hummed together to indicate the instrumental.
"Thought that I would fail without you, but I'm on top," Leo sang.
"Thought it would be over by now, but it won't stop," Olivia sang.
"Thought that I would self destruct, but I'm still here," Nico continued.
"Even in my years to come, I'm still gon' be here," Chris concluded the verse.
"I'm a survivor. I ain't gon' give up. I'm not gonna stop. I'm gonna work harder. I'm a survivor. I'm gonna make it. I will survive. Keep on surviving," they chorused, energetically.
Leo's eyes blinked open, and he looked around, momentarily forgetting where he was before recognizing it as the Camp Half Blood Infirmary, and the realization brought the memories of Luke and Percy and the scorpion rushing back.
Had he really had a good dream for once? It seemed almost more impossible than time traveling.
"Good morning, my favorite patient," Will stated as he appeared at Leo's bedside.
Leo smiled. "I'm your favorite patient. That's so sweet of you!" he joked.
Will shrugged. "We'll, you are my only patient, which means you can be one of two things: my favorite patient… or my least favorite patient," he stated with a raised eyebrow.
Leo chuckled. "Touché."
"Anyway, sleep well?" Will inquired, grabbing his clipboard from Leo's bedside table and clicking a pen. "No nightmares, no strange dreams?"
"No," Leo replied. "Actually… really good dreams," he added, almost wistfully. He didn't miss the post apocalypse world, but he did miss his friends. Not just the thirteen, but he probably missed them the most because they were all he had in those otherwise empty months of danger and fear.
Will nodded, either not noticing Leo's tone or choosing not to mention it as he jotted down something on Leo's chart.
"That's good. You'll probably be out of here today," Will said. "But I think Chiron wants to talk to you before you leave my humble abode."
Leo tilted his head to the side. "Chiron. Why?"
"Well, he'll probably want to ask you about the circumstances that got you into the Infirmary-"
Will didn't say it, but he didn't need to. Leo picked up on the unsaid words. Chiron wanted to talk to him about Luke.
"-and he will probably talk to you about whether you are staying at Camp year round or going home."
Leo blinked. "What?"
Will's eyes widened. "Oh, right. I guess I forgot to mention that. You've been in here for three days. It's the last day of summer, so you can choose to either go back to the mortal world for the school year or stay here at Camp year round."
Will paused.
"You mind telling me which you're doing?" Will asked.
"Staying here," Leo answered. In truth, he hadn't thought much of it, but where would he go? Unfortunately, Leo had no home to return to.
Or maybe that was because he was already home.
"You?" Leo inquired.
"I stay here year round," Will replied, and he didn't elaborate, but little did the son of Apollo know, Leo was already aware of the reason why.
Will had a wonderful mortal parent, unlike a few of the other demigods Leo had met (namely, Miranda and her awful father), but his mother had died when he was younger. With no other relatives willing to take him in, Will found his way to Camp Half Blood with help from a satyr named Reed. Even in the future, Will missed his mother Naomi dearly, but he was grateful for the siblings he had found.
Leo nodded. "Well, I guess I'll see you around then."
"It better not be in the Infirmary again," Will ordered with a stern gaze in his eyes that Leo recognized from the times he forced Nico to rest or eat or have an injury treated… well, whenever he forced Nico to take care of himself.
"No promises," Leo said, cheekily.
Will rolled his eyes, and Leo looked away from Will, only to see something he hadn't noticed before.
Or more accurately, someone.
"Has he been here all night?" Leo questioned, his brown eyes on a certain son of Poseidon that was snoozing in the chair beside Leo's bed, looking rather uncomfortable, even in his sleep.
Will followed Leo's eyes before nodding. "Yep, you have one great friend there."
Leo nodded. "I really do," he responded, sincerely, before a smirk found its way onto his face. "Too bad he's going to hate me in about 2.2 seconds."
Will frowned, but before he could question it, Leo sat up, leaned close to Percy, and…
"WAKE UP, SLEEPY HEAD!"
Percy yelped at Leo's loud yell, and Will couldn't resist the urge to laugh as Percy tumbled out of his chair and onto the floor, laying on his stomach on the ground, eyes confused and alert as he glanced around.
"Where's the monster? I will protect you!" Percy shouted, grabbing the pen Will had dropped during his fit of laughter, but when Percy took the cap off, nothing happened, which seemed to immensely puzzle the sleepy and disoriented hero.
Leo chuckled at the hilarious reaction of his friend. "There is no monster, and that's Will's pen," Leo told Percy through his laughter.
Percy blushed, and he shot to his feet, shoving the pen into Will's hand.
"I knew that," Percy rushed to say.
"Sure you did, Perce," Leo drawled, sarcastically.
Percy lightly punched Leo's arm, to which Leo scolded, "Percy, no harming the patient."
Percy turned to Will, who shrugged. "I'll allow it."
Leo clapped a hand over his chest, dramatically. "Will, you have betrayed me. I hereby disown you."
"What-"
"Disowned!" Leo repeated.
Will rolled his eyes. "Leo, you're weird," he said without any real bite in his voice.
"But you guys love me for it."
"I would say that yes, we do," Percy replied, taking his seat once again, "If that didn't sound unbelievably sappy."
Leo chuckled and nodded. "It does sound sappy."
"Well, I have to go do inventory (1)," Will told them before pointing a finger at Leo. "Do not get out of bed, and do not injure yourself further in my absence. Am I understood?"
Leo mock saluted. "Yes, sir, yes sir."
"Leo, you're saluting with wrong hand," Percy pointed out.
Leo repeated the motion with the correct hand. "Yes, sir, yes, sir," he reiterated.
Will shook his head before heading over to the medicine cabinet while Percy returned his gaze to Leo.
"How are you feeling?" Percy wondered, concerned.
Leo shrugged. "I feel better than you look. Will told me you were here all night."
Percy smiled, sheepishly. "Wouldn't you have done the same for me?"
Leo blinked. "Nope, you do not get to do that. You are going to go to your cabin, take a nap, and I will be out of here by the time you leave for the city this afternoon, so don't worry, we will have plenty of time for all sorts of heart felt goodbyes."
"But-"
"No ifs, ands or buts about it!"
"B-"
"Nope!" Leo interrupted, turning his head away from Percy and continuing to point to the door of the Infirmary.
"Le-"
"No!"
"Val-"
"Zip! Dr. Hen is more capable of taking care of me while you get some much needed sleep," Leo ordered.
"But Leo…" Percy abruptly stopped before adding, "Dr. Hen?"
Leo nodded. "Yeah, Will. The mother hen who is also a doctor."
Percy thought this over for a minute before replying, "It oddly works."
"I know, right?" Leo responded. "Now, stop stalling. I will not take no for an answer."
Percy sighed. "Fine, but only because Chiron will be here soon to talk about Luke," he said, voice breaking slightly when he said the name of the traitor and (although Percy didn't know this yet) future hero.
Leo nodded. "I'm in good hands, Percy," Leo promised, and Percy nodded in return before exiting the room.
"That boy is too loyal for his own good," Leo muttered, the only one who knew the true extent of Percy's loyalty.
"I know, right?" Will called from the medicine cabinet.
Leo's head whipped around to look at Will, who had his back to Leo as he stacked medicines inside the cabinet.
"Were you listening the entire time?" Leo demanded.
"Maybe. You hear some weird conversations in the Infirmary."
Leo leaned away subtly before laying back down on his bed.
A few moments later, Will snorted, "And you say I'm the mother hen." (2)
Leo threw a pillow at him.
"Ah, Mr. Valdez, how are you feeling?" Chiron inquired as he rolled his wheelchair into the Infirmary.
"I feel fine, considering I was poisoned three days ago," Leo stated.
Chiron nodded. "That is good."
"I'm assuming you mean the fact that I feel fine and not the poisoned part," Leo quipped, and Chiron chuckled.
"Yes, but I'm afraid I need to ask you some questions about what happened. Do you mind telling me why you were in the woods?"
Leo shrugged, having already formed a vague explanation, but detailed enough to satisfy Chiron. "Well, I was looking for Percy, and Connor told me he saw him go into the woods with Luke. I didn't think much of it, simply thought I would join them, so I headed into the woods and found them at a clearing. I came in at the tail end of it, so I only heard Luke telling Percy goodbye and disappearing into thin air.
"At first, I didn't notice that anything was wrong. I thought the dramatic exit was a little weird, but other than that…" Leo trailed off. "But then I saw the scorpion. Considering how scared Percy looked and being from Texas, I immediately deemed that the scorpion was bad news (3), so I swatted it off of Percy's leg, and it landed in the water and sunk.
"I didn't notice I'd gotten stung at first until I saw the look on Percy's face. After that, it gets a little fuzzy, but I know Percy carried me back to camp," Leo finished.
Chiron nodded, scratching his beard. "I see, and do you know why Luke tried to kill Percy?"
Leo shook his head.
"Well, Mr. Valdez, we believe Luke is working with someone, the same being who was pulling the strings on the theft of the Master Bolt."
"So Ares wasn't behind it?" Leo questioned, pretending to be ignorant (he was doing that an awful lot lately).
"The god of war did steal the bolt, but something else pushed him to do it."
"And you believe Luke is working for this… something else?" Leo stated.
Chiron nodded. "I'm afraid so, but until Luke or whoever he's working for makes a move, there isn't much we can do. I only ask that you try to keep this quiet. People know Luke tried to kill Percy and ran away from Camp, but they don't know why, and to avoid a panic, I'd prefer to keep it that way until further notice."
Leo nodded. "I understand, sir."
"In the meantime, I have to ask: are you planning to stay at Camp for the school year?"
Leo nodded. "Yes, sir."
Chiron said, "All right, then. I will allow Mr. Solace to do one last check of your vitals and over all health, and then you will be discharged.
"Thank you, Chiron."
Chiron nodded before rolling his wheelchair out of the room, and Will approached Leo after he left, once again placing his hands on Leo's arm.
After a moment or two, Will removed his hands and picked up Leo's chart.
"Pulse: 78," Will said, speaking as he wrote. "Blood Pressure: 120/80. Respiratory rate: 18. Height: 4'9. Weight: 98." (4)
"You can know people's weight just by touching them?" Leo asked.
Will nodded. "You can tell a lot of things from people's vitals. I can tell if someone has a crush on somebody just by touching them when they talk to them or about them."
"That's awesome," Leo nodded. "Mind if I use you in my match making service?"
Will laughed, but Leo was only half joking. He would not only have to save the world, but make sure things went smoothly while doing it, including making sure that everyone ends up with the right person because if Leo messed up and had Nico end up with Percy or Annabeth ended up with Jason or anything like that, who knows how that would affect the future? (5)
"Anyway," Will continued, "Everything seems okay. Looks like you're free to go. I better not see you in my Infirmary any time soon, especially because you got poisoned again."
Leo chuckled. "You got it, Doc."
"So I guess you're staying behind?" Percy said as Leo and Percy stood on Half Blood Hill, surrounded by tons of other campers with bags as they waited for someone to pick them up or were saying goodbye to their friends.
"Yep, but I'll still be here next year, pal," Leo replied, clapping a hand on Percy's shoulder. "I expect to see you here no later than June 1st. Understand?" Leo said in the sternest voice he could muster before he ruined the effect by smiling. He raised a hand for a fist bump, which Percy gladly returned.
Percy suddenly glanced up, mouth open with shock before it slowly turned into a smile. His face was illuminated by a soft orange glow. All activity stopped as the chatting campers turned towards him.
Leo looked up, already knowing what he would see: a flaming hammer floating above his head.
Chiron, who had been sending off the departing campers, folded his front legs in the form of a kneel and the rest of the campers soon followed his example by kneeling. Chiron announced the words Leo had been waiting for, words Leo had heard before:
"All hail Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, god of blacksmiths and fire."
1. I changed the word tutorial to inventory. Thank you to Moonlight22qu and Red Renegade 777, who suggested the word and helped me find a better word than tutorial, so a bit thank you to them for helping that sentence to make more sense.
2. I wasn't sure if everybody would get this joke, so I thought I would explain. Will is joking about how Leo called Will a mother hen (or Dr. Hen), but Leo was acting like the definition of a mother hen when he made Percy go catch up on some sleep.
3. I'm not sure if Texas has scorpions since I don't live there, and I really should pay more attention in my Geography class, so I'm assuming there are. If there aren't, whoops, my mistake, but it works with the story, so just roll with it.
4. I researched these vitals, and they are all within the normal range. I know Leo is not 4'9 or 98 pounds, but keep in mind, he is in his 11/12 year old body.
5. I am not hating on these ships or any other ships, but in this story, if certain couples get together too soon or too late or don't get together at all, it could affect the future in a negative way, so I don't mean to bash any ships or start any shipping wars, and I mean no offense to Percico or Jasabeth (?) shippers.
Moonlight22qu will be assisting me with spell check because while I have spell check on my tablet, it doesn't do its job most of the time, so I wanted to give a shout out to Moonlight for correcting my spelling of Manicore (to Manticore) last chapter and Lou Ellen's name (I was not aware she had a canon last name, so I went back and fixed it).
This is the official last chapter of Back To The Beginning, but it is a series. There will be a short break between this one and The Sea of Monsters (But I will still try to get the next book up sometime this summer). If you have not already, make sure to follow me as an author, so you don't miss the sequel (I'll also post a notification on this story to tell you).
I might add some chapters that will take place between The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters, but they won't be considered 'official' chapters because they aren't terribly relevant to the overall story line and are just fun chapters with a lot of fluff, some angst, and maybe a little humor, as well as Leo meeting and bonding with his siblings.
I do not have any plans to rewrite this story, but do not be surprised if I go back and edit it since I made a lot of spelling mistakes.
Well, thank you for reading Back To The Beginning, and I will try to return within the next month or two with sequel (and maybe earlier for those extra chapters I mentioned in the note above).