A/N: Welp, it's been a couple weeks (yay it hasn't been forever, though!) I'm finally back with another chapter, and it's a long, drama packed one. For once, I'm keeping all my notes till the end, so enjoy the chapter, then I'll ramble!


Chapter Nine: With Great Power Comes Great Angst

Leo threw open the doors to the bunker with a lopsided grin and slid aside with a dramatic flourish of his hands, bowing mockingly to Catalia. "Your highness."

Catalia laughed and curtsied, her hands delicately holding out her non-existent skirt. "Why thank you." She said primly, then flounced into the bunker. Leo stood quickly followed after her, showing her the random inventions scattered on the various work tables. Percy stood in the doorway, staring after them with a half amused, half confused expression. Leo turned around as Catalia walked further into the massive bunker, raising an eyebrow.

"Whatcha gaping at, ocean boy?" He grinned, spinning a wrench between his fingers.

Percy's face grew serious as he entered the bunker and strolled over to Leo. He grabbed the wrench and gave Leo a piercing look. "No funny business, Valdez. I'm watching you, and if you so much as make her frown, I'll sic Annabeth on you, understand?"

The grin left Leo's face, replaced by a equally serious expression. He took the wrench back from Percy's hand, then spoke slowly. "If I hurt her, I'll sic her on me myself." He said seriously, then paused, scrunching up his face. "You know, that sounded a lot better in my head." Percy laughed, then followed Leo to the largest room in the bunker. Catalia was already standing there, examining a large set of blueprints laid out on the main table.

She looked up when they entered, biting her lip. "This looks really, really, complicated, Leo. I don't know if I can do it…" She murmured, her eyes flitting over the scrawling drawings and notes written on the paper.

Leo walked up behind her and took the blueprints from her, his hand lingering a little too long on hers. Percy narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything, instead turning his attention to the massive cloth-covered thing in the middle of the room. Golden cables hung from the ceiling, keeping whatever was hidden beneath the cloth suspended in the air. Leo whispered something to Cat, then walked up next to Percy. He grinned, then grabbed the edge of the cloth and pulled it off with a flourish. The cloth began to fall majestically, revealing the skeleton of a massive wooden ship inlaid with bronze and other metals. As the cloth slipped over the figure head of the ship, it caught on the control panel and stuck fast. The rest of the drape-cloth fell on top of Leo, and he staggered and fell over, tangled in the yellow-white material. Catalia and Percy burst out laughing as he struggled to his feet, glaring at the ship. Percy tried to help him, but was laughing to hard and ended up getting him even more tangled. Cat doubled over, giggling, as they both struggled to get untangled. Finally, Leo freed himself from the cloth, and with another tug, it slid free of the ship. Catalia stopped laughing almost instantly, her mouth opening into a perfect O of amazement. She gasped slightly, staring at the half-completed mammoth ship. The hull of the ship was almost completely finished, beautiful oak wood engraved with gold carvings occasionally embedded with a shining jewel. Her eyes traced the trailing gold filigree up the side, until the intricate carvings vanished, leaving a small section of plain wood, then that too vanished, leaving only the skeleton of the remainder of the ship. A small part of the deck was finished, where the wheel and control panel rested, but the rest of the deck was simply bars of wood crisscrossing empty space. The ship was so tall she couldn't see any farther than a slight glimpse of the deck through the unfinished body of the ship. Leo smiled proudly as he looked on the ship, and for that one rare moment, he was almost completely still. Percy turned from gaping at the ship to look at the other two, a question in his gaze.

"How much work is left?" He questioned quietly.

Leo turned from staring at the ship, but didn't meet his gaze. "About….six months." He fidgeted as he spoke. Catalia's face tightened slightly, and she too turned her gaze away from the ship, instead crossing to examine the blueprints again. "Six months work if it was just me and Festus." Leo added. "I've already made a lot of the stuff that's going inside, so really it's just finishing the framework and the machinery. I mean I haven't made a lot of furniture or anything, I wasn't exactly expecting it to be used this soon." He hesitated again, eyeing Catalia.

Percy nodded slowly, then turned to his sister. He could tell from her posture how nervous she was, but he had no idea how to reassure her. He could barley even understand how her powers worked, much less her limits. Unsure of what to say, he simply hugged her gently, wishing he could think of something to do. She smiled at him, then turned to Leo.

"I'm not sure how much of the machinery and furniture I could do, it's very detailed…perhaps you should work on the machinery while I work on the frame? I know you don't have much time, but every bit helps." Leo nodded and dashed off to one of the adjourning rooms, snatching a sheaf of papers off a table as he went. Catalia turned to her brother, determination starting to overcome the worry in her eyes. "And Percy? Why don't you go to the others and tell them they'll have to bring some of their own furniture and such?" Percy nodded, but didn't leave. It was a good idea, but he hesitated to leave her alone to try to build a ship. Obviously he couldn't help much, but he could at least give her moral support, if nothing else.

"I'm not leaving you. I'll ask one of the dryads to take the message back to camp." He said, jogging out to the forest before she could protest.

A few minutes later, after convincing one of the dryads to take the message, he returned to the bunker to find his sister sitting on the floor with her head in her hands. He sat down next to her and gently put his arm around her, sighing. She jumped a little, then relaxed into him, her breath hitching slightly. He stroked her hair gently, wishing he knew what to say. The two siblings sat together, listening to the clanking and crashing coming from Leo's direction. Finally, Catalia sat up and sniffed, her watery eyes meeting Percy's.

"You can tell me anything, you know that?" He prodded gently, searching her face.

She nodded slowly, her hands twisting and fidgeting in her lap. "I'm terrified," She confessed, staring at her hands. "The last time I tried to do something like this…" Her eyes clouded, and for a moment she seemed to be completely lost in the past. "I failed." She whispered, opening her eyes. "I thought I could save them all…I should have. They all looked up to me…I was a savior, a goddess to them. I was stronger, more powerful then. And I couldn't do it…I couldn't save any of them…I failed all of them. If I couldn't do it then…how can I do it now?"

Percy hesitated for a minute, his brain stumbling over all the things she'd said, not registering it. She must have thousands of memories I don't know about…so many things I don't know about my own sister, he realized. Now isn't the time, Percy. Figure that out later, and help her now. "You can do it, Cat." He answered simply, hoping it was enough.

Catalia shifted, debating his words. Percy wondered if he'd said the wrong thing, but then she stood up and nodded. "Well…here goes." She murmured, more to herself than to him. Once again, he heard the slight accent in her voice, and added it to his list of questions for her. She rubbed her hands together, than walked up to the ship, running her hands across it. Percy stepped back, trying to stay out of her way and not distract her. Catalia stepped back, then closed her eyes and reached her hands out in front of her. She'd barely started before a loud crash resounded from Leo's direction, followed by a few choice words. Catalia jumped, then sighed and closed her eyes again, muttering about boys. Percy stifled a smile, watching his sister curiously. As she stretched her hands out, the air around her seemed to grow solid, swirling around her hands and forming lines flowing towards the ship. They snaked up the side of the hull onto the deck, slowly twisting together to form clear rectangles resting on the deck's scaffolding. Color slowly spread across the shapes, as if someone had dumped a bucket of paint onto them. Percy realized she was creating wood, and watched in amazement as plank after plank was laid down. Some of the strands began to form nails, sliding into the planks and gaining a silvery color. Catalia began to work faster, directing a large mass of the clear silky strands into a large, swirling tower. Slowly, the tower hardened, the silky mass slipping downwards, leaving a strong wooden mast in its place. Catalia's face tightened, and suddenly the strands began flowing all over the ship, nearly covering the entire thing. Percy gaped in utter amazement as each piece of the ship formed and fit into the rest. Hearing a gasp, he turned slightly and saw Leo standing in the doorway of the adjourning room, staring uncomprehending at the ship. He met Percy's gaze, and a look of both amazement and fear passed between them. Percy turned back to look at his sister, noticing her hands starting to shake slightly. He had no idea if he should step in or not, so he merely watched her work. Finally the last piece of wood slid into place, and Catalia stumbled backwards, breathing heavily. Percy jumped forward and caught her as she fell, noting her labored breathing with concern. Easing himself to the floor, he sat down, holding her in his lap.

"Mm fine…" She whispered, then closed her eyes and passed out. Leo hurried over, sharing a worried look with Percy, but both were still in too much shock to speak for several minutes.

"Holy Hera…" Leo finally whispered, staring at the newly completed Argo. Percy just nodded, half-expecting the entire ship to simply collapse. "She just made a ship…out of thin air!" Leo stood up, pacing. "What else can she do? There has to be something we don't know. There is absolutely no way anyone is that powerful! Even the gods! Oh gods, do they even know? They'd kill anyone powerful, much less someone more powerful than them! How the Hades is this even possible?!" Leo ripped his hands through his hair, his voice growing louder.

Percy's heart began to thump quickly in his chest as he recognized the truth of Leo's words. "Gods…I hadn't even thought of that," He looked down at his sister, realizing with a start that he barely even knew her anymore.

"What if Alex is right? What if we can't trust her? I mean yeah, we've known her for years, but that's nothing compared to the thousands of years she's been alive! How do we know she's on our side? Someone with that much power…and you saw how she made a freaking living mouse earlier, and then just poof! It's dead! If she can create that…and destroy it, who knows, she could destroy the entire world! Her father is Chaos, for pity's sake! She could be in league with him…we don't know! How can we know?"

Percy glowered at him, opening his mouth to protest hotly. But no words came out…because Leo was right. They didn't know what she could do, or even what side she's on…they barely knew anything about her. "Oh gods…oh gods…" Percy whispered. I can't even trust my sister…is she even my sister? How is this happening? Why? I was supposed to go to college…take a break…instead my sister might be evil…and she's basically a goddess! Leo stopped pacing, staring at him. "Percy? It's your sister, your call. Should we trust her?"

Percy couldn't believe that was even a question, but sadly, it was a completely fair question. "I…" He stared down at his little sister, his heart and head warring inside of him. "She doesn't have all her memories yet…she still seems exactly like the girl we know. Maybe she'll change more once she remembers more…but for right now…she's still our friend and she's definitely still my sister." He said quietly, wishing he really believed that.

Leo nodded slowly, then started toward the ship. "I'm going to look it over, see what still needs to be done and such. Uh, maybe see if you can wake her up?" Percy nodded, watching as Leo's form disappeared up the ladder to the deck. He turned his attention to his sister, trying to ignore his troubled thoughts. "Cat? Wake up," He gently shook her shoulders, but to no avail. After several more attempts, he resorted to pulling water from the moisturize in the air and splashing her face. She coughed and sat up quickly, nearly colliding with Percy's head.

"Wha-" She spluttered, her confused gaze sweeping the room. Realization quickly dawned on her, and she sighed, slumping back into him. "Ow." Percy didn't say anything, and she looked up at him with a questioning gaze. "Is everything okay? Did I do it?" She inquired, shaking her head to get the water out of her eyes.

Percy nodded, finding his voice. "Yeah, you did." Catalia looked a little confused by his unenthusiastic tone, but didn't comment on it. She pulled herself to her feet, admiring her handiwork on the ship. Percy stood as well, watching her face carefully. "Are you okay?"

She nodded distractedly, running her hands over the ship again. Leo popped his head out onto the deck, soon followed by the rest of his body.

"Everything seems to be in order, other than some missing machinery and furniture." He shouted down, then noticed Catalia. "Oh, uh, hi, Catalia." He added, causing her face to scrunch up with confusion again. "I'll add the last bit of machine stuff, and everyone can bring their stuff." Leo climbed down, jumping the last few feet. "You did a good job." He directed the last bit to Catalia, who nodded. "And I was thinking, since you…built most of it, you should get to name it." Leo suggested, smiling.

Catalia nodded thoughtfully, giving Leo a grateful look. "What about Episis?" She proposed shyly. "After my mother." Percy was slightly surprised to realize she wasn't referring to Sally, but he pushed the thought away.

Leo grinned. "That's a great name for a ship. Want to do the honors?" He gestured towards the side of the ship, but Catalia shook her head.

"I'm a bit too tired, honestly." She murmured quietly. Leo raised his eyebrows, but shrugged and grabbed a paintbrush.

Percy turned to Catalia, noticing she was still breathing heavily. "I'm going to go back to camp and make sure everyone is ready. Will you be okay?"

She nodded, smiling slightly. "Yeah, of course. I'll help Leo finish up and then…I guess we'll fly the ship over there and get going?" Percy agreed, then hurried out the door and into the woods.


Catalia watched Leo hurry around the room, searching through various boxes and buckets. "Looking for something?"

Leo looked up distractedly, continuing to dig through a toolbox. "Just paint and a chunk of celestial bronze…I need it to finish the engine."

She nodded, then looked down at her hands. In all truth, she wasn't that tired…but she didn't want them to know. She'd seen the looks on their faces when she'd finished the ship…they'd been terrified. Glancing up to make sure Leo wasn't looking, she quickly formed a small sheet of celestial bronze in her hands, smiling as the material swirled around her fingers. "Here, I found some." She called. Leo turned around quickly, surprised.

"Oh, thanks," He took it from her and hurried back into the adjourning workroom, grabbing a hammer and nails on his way. "Can you find some paint?" He called over his shoulder, followed by another loud crash.

"Sure," She sighed, doubting there was paint anywhere accessible. Leo may be a genius, but he was terribly messy and unorganized. So she simply held out her hands again, painting the words on the sides of the ship herself. As she stood admiring her work, Leo returned, tugging a massive machine on a cart behind him.

"I thought you said you were tired…" He questioned, examining the ship.

"Um…it wasn't a a lot of work, I'm fine." She responded brightly. "Do you need help getting that on the ship?"

Leo shook his head, grinning. "Nah, Festus can get it."

"Festus?" Catalia wondered. "I thought…actually, she is Festus?"

"He's been helping me build the ship. He's fully functional now!" Leo answered proudly, then whistled. Creaking and clanking sounds responded, coming from the other adjourning room Catalia hadn't explored yet. Festus slowly freaked out into the main room, stretching his wings. "Hey, buddy! Fly this up there, will ya?" Leo gestured toward what Catalia assumed was the engine. Festus creaked and clacked at Leo, sounding slightly grouchy, but carefully lifted the engine and flew it up into the deck.

"Is he coming with us?" Catalia asked, following Leo up the ladder onto the top of the ship.

Leo shook his head, frowning. "Nah…he's…well he's not actually fully functional." He admitted, tugging the engine over to a trap door in the deck. "He had a malfunction a few days ago, and I haven't had time to fix it. I don't want to bring him just in case…something wrong." He grabbed ropes lying on the deck and tied them to rings on the engine, then slowly lowered it down. Catalia followed Leo down the ladder into the engine room, below, helping him hook the machines up and check them over. As she leaned over to check the gauge on one the engine, Leo walked up behind her and looked over her shoulder, getting very close to her. Her heart started beating quickly, and butterflies turned somersaults in her stomach. She tried to stop the blush that was spreading rapidly across her face, instead focusing on the gauge in front of her. She would not think about the tickling feeling of his warm breath against her neck. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she wiped her sweating hands against her jeans and managed to say the number without stammering. Leo thanked her and walked around her, somehow getting even closer as bent to examine another gadget attached to the machinery surrounding them. She blushed even more profusely, but thankfully Leo didn't seem to notice. Catalia had almost succeeded in calming down, then Leo turned around and was suddenly right in her face. A slight gasp slipped from her lips, and Leo's eyes slid down to her mouth, then back up to her eyes. All thought fled from mind as she leaned up slightly, her nose brushing his and her eyelids sliding closed over her shining eyes. Leo slid his arm around her waist, bringing their lips even closer together. Just before they touched, Leo jerked back, shaking his head. Catalia gasped in shock, stepping back with a wounded expression.

"I-I-I can't." Leo turned back to the engine, fiddling with the controls. Catalia bit her lip, refusing to cry, and hurried back up the ladder to the deck. Why would he do that? He basically asked me to be his girlfriend last night…didn't he? I just have done something wrong…or I interpreted that wrong…or…or… Her mind raced frantically, going through every possible cause and outcome of what has just occurred. She barely heard footsteps come up next to her until a hand gently grasped her arm. Catalia whipped around, hurriedly wiping the tears that had escaped from her eyes, not yet ready to face Leo. Instead, she found Nico's concerned gaze searching her, his bag set at his feet.

"I just came to make sure everything was going well and to help you two get the ship out of the bunker." Nico took his hand off her arm and left it hanging awkwardly at his side. "Percy said you might need some help…" He trailed off, eyeing her tear-stained face. "He said you were tired…but I didn't think it was bad enough to hurt?" He phrased it as a gentle question, but Catalia knew him well enough to know he was prodding for an explanation.

"Thanks," She murmured, trying to keep her voice from wavering. "I'm not really sure if Leo needs help, you should ask him." Despite her best efforts, her voice cracked when she said his name, and she turned away, sniffling. Nico awkwardly rested a hand on her shoulder, turning her back to face him.

"Are you alright, Catalia? Did something happen? It never seemed to hurt you this bad in this garden, but I suppose it's different here-"

Catalia's eyes snapped up stare at him. How in the name of everything holy does he know about the garden? "What did you just say?" Nico shuffled his feet awkwardly, avoiding her gaze. "Nico. How do you know about that? I barely have any of my memories back, but somehow you know about part of it? And speaking of which, where did you actually get that bruise?" She questioned, her gaze hardening as she spoke.

Nico sighed, then met her eyes. "I got into a fight with your brother."

"What?!" Catalia nearly shirked the word, staring at him in shock. "Why?!"

"He was angry at me, thought I knew more than I was letting on. Apparently I didn't hide it well when you were claimed and he noticed. He had a right to get mad, and I…well I didn't exactly help things. I would have done the same thing he did if I were in his place." Nico admitted, somewhat grudgingly.

Catalia gaped at him, trying to take in what he'd said. "I…I'm not getting involved in that fight, but obviously you do know something." Nico nodded, but didn't say anything more. "Well, tell me. Please, Nico, I'm so confused, I have thousands of years of memories coming back and I can barely make sense of it. Just tell me what you know…please?"

Nico sighed, but finally answered her. "Look, Tia, I wish I could tell you, but I've sworn an oath not to, at least not yet. I promise, the minute I can, I will. But right now…you have to sort through the memories on your own. I'm still here for you, though. I'm still your…"He hesitated, then continued. "I'm still your best friend."

Catalia blinked, then smiled. She'd always hoped he though of her as his best friend, as she did of him, but she'd never been sure. Nico wasn't exactly a sappy type of person…he didn't need to put a label to their friendship. Then she narrowed her eyes, recognizing his tactic of making her happy to ignore something he didn't want her to know. "Hold up," She said, knowing he would understand how much the words he'd said meant to her. "What'd you call me?" Nico winced, obviously hoping she hadn't noticed that. "That's my nickname, isn't it? From before?" He nodded stiffly, and Catalia stared at him, even more baffled now.

"Look, Tia," Nico said, having evidently given up on calling her by her normal name. "I'm sorry I can't explain right now, but please just trust me on this." She sighed. She did trust him, but she desperately wanted to understand her past, and Nico's connection to it. On the other hand, Nico was way too stubborn to convince otherwise, so she might as well go with it.

Catalia rolled her eyes, then nodded, seeing the relief on his face. "So, care to tell me why you were up here crying?" He questioned, raising his eyebrow.

Catalia pursed her lips, having hoped he'd forgotten that. "It's nothing." She muttered, staring intently at her feet.

Nico laughed. "You're a terrible lier, Tia." Catalia snorted and shrugged, remembering the lie she'd told in the arena earlier that morning. "So, what's wrong?" He prodded.

"Leo almost kissed me…but I guess he decided I wasn't worth it." She admitted, clearing her throat to prevent her voice from breaking.

Nico's eyes narrowed, his face immediately turning stormy and dangerous. "He did what?"

"He just jerked back and said he can't…whatever that means." Catalia muttered, burying her face in her hands to hide her tears. She could almost feel Nico's anger, and couldn't decide if it made her happy, or sad. After regaining her composure, she raised her head and smiled at him. "It's no big deal, though."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Sure it's not. Look…" He paused, thinking hard. "I'll always be your friend." He promised, then turned and climbed down the ladder to the engine room.

Catalia stared after him, then sighed and dropped her head into her hands again. She knew Nico wasn't very good with emotions, and she appreciated him, but sometimes she wanted him to understand what she felt. With a sigh, she turned her thoughts away from Leo and Nico and to the quest that lay ahead of her.


I loved writing this chapter! We got a glimpse of Cat's power, saw the new ship, got some sibling mush (and angst!), a couple-ish quarrel, and some new reveals. I got writers block a couple times, but I made it! The story is finally starting to get underway. In the next chapter, the quest will finally begin *cheers* Shockingly, I managed to not leave a cliffhanger this time :O

Oki, a couple notes:

I finally started editing the first chapters, and I'll post the updated first chapter soon. I might wait until I'm done editing all of them, or I might update them one at a time. We'll see. There is a bit of added info in them, so you should skim them to make sure you don't miss anything. I apologize for the chaotic nature of this story, thanks for being patient with me!

Alrighty, this is semi-important. After this chapter, I'm sure many of you are thinking that Cat is way to overpowered and is a one dimensional character...but I promise you she isn't. Her massive amount of power is actually a major plot point, and you'll slowly discover more about her as we go. It's very hard to explain such a complex character as her so quickly, so I opted to slowly reveal it. Regarding Nico's secret, sorry folks, it'll be a while before you find out what that's all about (though you'll get a fair amount of info in the next chapter!)

I honestly hate Catalia's full name, lol! You'll understand where that name comes from in another chapter, it's quite a funny story, and explains why it's so weird. I keep wanting to just write 'Cat' or switch to Teletia when I'm writing, cuz Catalia bothers me so much. Just a random thing, lol :D

FYI - If anyone here also likes POTC (if you saw my A/N on a previous chapter, you'll know how quickly I got obsessed with it,) I'm looking for a co-writer to write a POTC story with me. I have a basic plot idea, just pm me if you're interested! You can check my profile for more details.

If you have any questions, comments, theories, requests, errors to point out, or anything, please drop a review! They really make my day, and I truly appreciate them. I'm particularly curious what you all thought of Percy and Leo's reaction to Cat's power, and any theories y'all have about why Leo didn't kiss Cat *cries* and what Nico's mysterious secret is.

Okie dokie, I shall stop my endless rambling now.

Thanks a million, everyone!

Elnarya

P.S. I'm getting a beta soon, so hopefully that shall help improve my crazy writing.

P.P.S. I just realized how much I love using parentheses (like why am I so weird?)

P.P.P.S. You didn't really expect me to shut up, did you?

P.P.P.P.S. Why are you still reading? Dedication right there.

Okay I'll shut up for real now *ignores my brain telling me to write ha got you* (seriously, why are my muses so crazy when I write A/N's? Like they have more ideas for the notes than the story!) (oops there I go with the parentheses again. Also I just realized the word 'parent' is in the word parentheses *thinks deeply about that*)

Ahem. Bye for real now! *slaps muse*