Alex(Again:))

My eyes were zooming in and out, in and out. I think it was the truck. I tried to push it off me, and I got up to a certain point, but then, my arms drooped again. I stayed there, not wanting to move a muscle.

"Take one more step, and I'll destroy you with fire." Leo said. My heart sank. Cyclopes were immune to fire. Apparently, Ma Gasket was having the same ideas. She laughed.

"Oh, would you? Cyclopes are immune to fire, you idiot. But if you wish to play with fire, then let me help!" She scooped red hot coals into her hands, and she chucked them at Leo. They scattered around his feet.

"Missed!" Leo said, trying for a nonchalant tone. Only then did I understand what would happen.

"Leo, n-" I began to say, when Ma Gasket took a barrel named kerosene, and threw it. I gasped. Flamed erupted around Leo, engulfing him. My heart started pounding at the same time Piper yelled,

"Leo!". I knew his pyrokinesis would protect him, but parts of me were beginning to doubt it. What if he couldn't survive a fire that big? But the flames died down, revealing Leo, clothes a bit tattered, but still well alive. Piper's face fell.

"How-"

"You live?" Ma Gasket looked astonished. "Who are you?" She took that extra step forward. I looked up, and saw Leo's plan. I grinned, as much as it hurt. That boy was a freaking genius. Leo. Freaking. Valdez.

"The son of Hephaestus." Leo said. "And I warned you I would destroy you with fire." He pointed his finger at the chain above Ma Gasket, and shot a bolt of white hot flames at it. My heart was racing. It seemed like it would do the trick. But nothing happened. My heart fell into the depths of the underworld. Ma Gasket laughed.

"A nice try, son of Hephaestus. It has been many years since I saw a fire user like you. you'll make a spicy appetizer!"

That's when the chain broke, heated beyond it's tolerance point.

"I don't think so." Leo said in a deadly calm voice. Ma Gasket didn't even have time to look up. The engine fell on her, and there were no more cyclopes left, just a pile of dust.

"Not immune to engines, huh? Boo-Yah!" Then he fell on his knees. That had drained all the energy out of him. I finnaly managed to get the truck off me. I winced in pain. Piper started calling his name. Leo didn't notice for a bit. Then he jerked up.

"Leo, are you alright, can you move?" I asked. He tried getting up. Wow, he was really drained. He muttered,

"I'm fine," before asking, "What 'bout you?". I gritted my teeth. I had nasty gashes over my face from the truck's glass windows, and my shoulder was bruised and re-dislocated.

"I've been better." I said. He started coming over to help me, but I shook my head. He got the message, and went over to help Jason and Piper.


It took a long time to get Piper down from the chains, then they tried lifting Jason, who was knocked out, unconscious. Piper trickled some nectar into his mouth, and the welt shrunk a little, along with some color returning to his face. Leo frowned at the welt.

"Yeah, he's got a nice thick skull. He should be fine."

"Thank god," she sighed. Clutching my shoulder, I managed to limp over to them. Piper looked at Leo with some fear in her eyes. "How did you-the fire-have you always..." Leo hung his head.

"Yeah. I'm a freaking menace. Sorry, should've told you guys before, Al already knew, but..." When he looked up, Piper was grinning at him. She punched his arm.

"That was amazing, Valdez, you saved us! What are you sorry about?" Leo blinked. Then I did something very unexpected. I pulled him into a hug. It hurt, but he needed it.

"Don't you dare ever say that again, Valdez. You are not a menace. You saved all our podex' today." I pulled back. Leo seemed to realise just how bad my face was.

"Oh, gods what happened?!" Piper said in alarm. I shook my head.

"Trucks and cyclopes happened." Then I noticed something next to Piper's foot. The golden dust, maybe Torque, was reforming, like invisible winds pushing it together.

"They're forming again." I said, frowning. Leo and Piper looked down. Jason, the poor dolt, was still unconscious. Piper stepped away from the dust.

"That's not possible. Annabeth told me that monsters dissipate when they're killed. They go to Tartarus, and can't return for a long time." Leo shook his head.

"No-one told the dust that." Leo watched slowly, as the dust started to slowly gain shape.

"Oh, god," Piper turned pale. "Boreas said something about this-the earth yielding up horrors. 'When monsters no longer stay in Tartarus, and souls are no longer confined to Hades.' How long do you think we have?"

I immediately thought of the face of the sleeping 'Mother'-Dirt face was most certainly a horror.

"Not long," I confirmed. "We need to get out of here."


We were flying across Detroit, the busy city bumbling below us. I had cleaned myself up a bit, so now the gashes on my face were light cuts, the fast magic of ambrosia doing its job, turning into faint scars. My shoulder was well and good, with just an immobiliser for safety. Piper's ankle was doing okay, though the nectar's magic was wearing off. Leo was newly energized, driving Festus with gusto. Suddenly, Jason eyes snapped open, and he yelled,

"Cyclopes!"

"Woah, sleepyhead!" Piper helped keep him balanced.

"Detroit, d-din't we c-cr-crash land, I thought-"

"It's okay." Leo told him. I flashed Jason a grin. "We got away, but you got a nasty concussion. How you feeling?" Jason rubbed his temple.

"How did you-the cyclopes-"

"It was awesome!" I said, going on into classic Alex with the big hand gestures. "Leo ripped them apart, single handed, and he can summon fire!" Leo went red (or as much as I could see with his dark skin) and he looked down at the floor.

"It was nothing," he muttered.

"Shut up, Repair boy," I laughed. "I'm gonna tell him all about it."

And I did. About how Leo defeated the whole family of cyclopes, got Jason out of there, started to notice the dust re-forming; how he'd fixed the dragons remaining corroded circuits, and had gotten them airborne as they'd started to hear cyclopes yelling for vengeance in the factory. Looking at Jason's face, I could tell he was impressed, but was that...regret in his face? I started to realise that being a son of the king of the gods, Jason was under a lot of pressure, being the star. And being knocked out the whole 'cyclopes ambush' while his friends had to come and save him, that wasn't the image everyone expected. Piper told him about the other kid the cyclopes had eaten, the son of mercury, Jason went pale. My inner gut strings pulled. I sort of knew what it was. And it was killing me.

"Who was the other kid? Son of Apollo, orange shirt. Alex did you know him?" Piper asked. My expression darkened.

"Yeah..." My voice trailed off. Leo turned around, and put his hand on mine.

"Hey, Al, you don't need to talk about it-"

"No, I want to," I said, sighing. "Liam was a great person, really, and I think more people ought to know about him." I shook my head. "He went on an epic solo death quest to go to the forge of a friendly cyclopes to get protection for the camp. He said he would come back, he swore on the river Styx, but he never did." I looked down, twiddling my fingers nervously.

"God, Alex, I'm sorry, I really am." Piper's voice washed over me. I shook my head. I was doing a lot of that.

"He was the first person I met, after I came to camp. To seven year old me, Liam was like a hero to me. He was only a year older than Luke, he was 15 at the time, but I really looked up to him. But when he left, I was 10, and he was 17. I'd never stopped looking up to him, really. He was everything I thought a child of Apollo should be. Every day, I try to live up to his standards." I felt my shoulders trembling, and I buried my face in Leo's shoulder, his shirt absorbing my tears. He didn't say anything, just reaching over, and placing a hand on my head. I was there for a bit, until I calmed down. I put my head up.

"Thank you," I whispered. There was silence.

"So, the son of Mercury." Jason said. "That mean's I'm not alone, then. There are others like me." Yes! I wanted to scream. Yes there are!

"You were never alone, Jason." Piper placed a hand on his shoulder. "You've got us."


And I just wanted to upload another chapter. So sorry about the cliffhanger/not-so-cliffhanger. It was just the best one I could stop on. So yeah. See you...at some point in our lives.

ps. Chapter 15...WHOO!

PPS-goodbye

ppps-is there such thing as ppps?

Yours truly,

MilkandCheez