Leo is an all time favorite of mine. I love him, relate to his backstory and wanted to hold him when he was treated like crap by his so called friends. I have a real special plan for him...

"So you just dig a hole, fill it with food and drink and mutter some Greek?" Leo's tone was so filled with disbelief that it made Aaron chuckle as he watched the Daughters of Hera dig him a hole.

"On the surface yes, but you also have to link your presence to a specific spirit through empathy, resist the other spirits aiming to be granted an audience and I have to do all of this while only an astral projection."

Leo looked at him oddly. "You're a what?"

"An Astral projection. Hera summoned my mind from my body, and used her power to make me more solid so I can cast more spells. Sucks but I get why she did it. I am not somewhere that I can safely be summoned." He shrugged. "She really is trying to make amends, I can feel your dislike of her. I won't tell you to forgive her for whatever she did, but I can tell you to change is really hard for immortals. That she is changing at all is huge."

Leo went quiet. "She was my baby sitter...she did a lot of terrible things. Made cut hot peppers, play with knives, poke a rattlesnake, put me in a firep-" he stopped then, eyes wide as if he had made a massive mistake, but Aaron caught on quickly.

"You're a firestarter aren't you?" He focused his magic, peering into Leo's aura. It was Big Three strong, not Percy's equal but not at all far off. It was warm too, like a fireplace. "I can sense the heat on your aura. I have heard some children of Hephaestus can control fire, it's rare, insanely so, but It is possible. You have that gift, don't you?"

The poor boy started to shake, terror in his eyes and every facet of his being. "Please, be quiet about that... it... Fire killed my mom. I killed her..." Tears prickled at his eyes, Aaron's heart shattered for the boy, so he pulled the tiny thing into his chest and rubbed his back soothingly.

"I don't buy that for a moment. I can sense evil, you have not an evil bone in your body. Tell me what happened and I can almost ensure you are not at fault."

Leo mumbled into his chest. "My mom ran a machine shop and she was amazing... she could fix anything, make even more. She... we were late at the shop when I was eight. She thought she lost her keys, so she went to get them but the doors closed and locked. A lady, made of dirt came... She said some weird things..."

Aaron placed his lips on Leo's forehead, using the telepathic skills Agnes had taught him to dig into the boy's mind. "Let me in Leo, and we will see this together..."

He felt Leo's damaged soul, a life time of hate and pain and rejection and as much abuse as Aaron himself had suffered. Racism, bullying, fear... the boy's heart was filled with so much pain, Aaron felt tears break down his face even before his fully joined with the boy.

In a flash, he and Leo were present and standing next to each other. Leo wasn't himself though, he was a little boy radiating joy and love... looking at a beautiful greasy woman that looked at her little boy with more love than Aphrodite could have processed.

"That's funny." The woman frowned, clearly talking about her keys. "I know I had them. Wait here, mijo. I'll only be a minute." She gave him one more smile and she went back into the warehouse. She'd only been gone a few heartbeats when the interior door slammed shut. Then the exterior door locked itself. "Mom?" Something heavy crashed inside the warehouse. He ran to the door, but no matter how hard he pulled or kicked, it wouldn't open. "Mom!" Frantically, he tapped a message on the wall: You okay?

Aaron shook, the boy's fear was palpable, leaking into his very soul. He sobbed, he couldn't help it. He wanted to protect his baby, from any and everything. His very soul ached with that need.

"She can't hear you," a voice said. Leo turned and found himself facing a strange woman. She looked like Hera, she was a gorgeous creature. She was wrapped in black robes, with a veil covering her face.

"Tía?" he said.

The woman chuckled, a slow gentle sound, as if she were half asleep. "I am not your guardian. Merely a family resemblance."

"What—what do you want? Where's my mom?"

"Ah … loyal to your mother. How nice. But you see, I have children too … and I understand you will fight them someday. When they try to wake me, you will prevent them. I cannot allow that."

"I don't know you. I don't want to fight anybody." The boy was shaking, terrified but brave. His heart oozed so much love it hurt.

She muttered like a sleepwalker in a trance, "A wise choice."

Aaron realized then that she was sleeping, truly asleep. Behind the veil, her eyes were closed. But even stranger: her clothes were not made of cloth. They were made of earth—dry black dirt, churning and shifting around her. Her pale, sleeping face was barely visible behind a curtain of dust. Aaron sensed her power, even though Leo's mind, the boy's instincts bled into Aaron's adult mind and he knew the woman was beyond the Gods.

"Gaia." he whispered, and true fear filled him.

"I cannot destroy you yet," Gaia murmured. "The Fates will not allow it. But they not do protect your mother, and they cannot stop me from breaking your spirit. Remember this night, little hero, when they ask you to oppose me."

"Leave my mother alone!" Fear exploded in the air as the vile woman shuffled forward. She moved more like an avalanche than a person, a dark wall of earth shifting toward him.

"How will you stop me?" she whispered. She walked straight through a table, the particles of her body reassembling on the other side. She loomed over Leo, not an ounce of compassion on her face.

His hands caught fire. A sleepy smile spread across the woman's face, as if she'd already won. Aaron knew why, Demigod powers were ruled by emotions and as terrified as Leo was, there was no way he could control such a violent power. Gaia had doomed his mother and forced Leo to act as the tool that took her life.

A broken spirit indeed.

Leo screamed with desperation. His vision turned red. Flames washed over the earthen woman, the walls, the locked Leo lost consciousness kicking Aaron from the boy's mind.

The world resettled and Aaron saw the older Leo sobbing, his body shaking with guilt and pain and loss so deep it tainted Aaron's magic. "My fault, my fault."

Aaron grabbed Leo's chin, furious on a scale he had never been before. "LEO!" The boy was startled, looking at Aaron in shock. "That Lady, she is Gaia, the Earth Mother, A being far greater than any god. Even Zeus or Hera. She is the mother of many evils, she forced her kids to commit the first murder. She lacked empathy or compassion or decency. She forced you, a child, to wield a power that you could not control." Aaron conjured fire himself, showing it to Leo. "Fire is the most primal of magics, it is ruled by emotion. Even for me, and Most sorcery is an intellectual task but Fire? It is pure emotion and an eight year old, a terrified child could never control it. You did not kill her, Gaia did. You did nothing wrong, you were not to blame in any way whatsoever."

Leo sniffled. "But mom told me not to use my powers until I met my father."

"You're a demigod, your powers work on instinct and emotion. They are primal powers Leo, not like mine which have to be earned and molded with a complete conscious effort at all times. You were never taught to regulate your emotions, to mediate what you feel and even if you had you were a child that was in serious danger. You are never to blame." The boy hung his head, shaking a few more times. Aaron pulled him into the warmest hug he could manage. "When I summon her, I know she will tell you that you were never to blame... she loved you Leo.., and she seemed wise enough to know you were not to blame."

"You sure?" He croaked.

"I know so. I will teach you to control your powers, to learn to control your emotions so you are never forced into such a situation...ever again. Okay?"

Leo nodded. "Really?"

"Since I am adopting you, I really have no choice."

That made Leo jump. " What?"

"You have no choice, your my kid now. I think I can even get my boyfriend to adopt you too." A surge of power, tremendous and vast and dark made Aaron smile. He turned and pulled Leo towards it. "In fact, you can ask him. He's here. Leo, meet Lord Hades, my Boyfriend and Lord of the Underworld... and your mother..." Aaron whispered at the end, as standing next to his lover was in fact Leo's mother, faded and worn but smiling with as much love as she had in the memories. "Hades... you..."

His lover smiled, warmth oozing from his every pore. "I know what it is to lose someone you love to someone vile. I sensed what you were about to do and had to stop you. You are powerful but in Astral form the strain could have damaged your soul." He turned to Leo was pale and shaking. "Son, it seems that I have no choice but to adopt you since my Lover has taken with you so much. As your adoptive father, I present you with a gift... do you like it?"

Leo threw himself at his mother, sobbing with not an ounce of dignity or grace. His mother just smiled and held him, sobbing herself. "It's okay,.. shh, shh, it wasn't your fault. It was Gaia, baby, she is at fault, not you." She held him for a moment, then pulled away. "You look so big, my baby all grown up..." She wiped away his tears. "I am so sorry Rosa and the rest of our worthless family abandoned you... When she dies I am so kicking her butt."

That made Leo laugh. " I miss you so much."

"Same... So much, baby. Even in Asphodel, where my mind should have been numbed and weak, I felt my love for you... It kept my mind clear."

Aaron frowned. " Why is she in Asphodel?"

Hades sighed. "Zeus' rules and lack of resources. We only have so much room, only the purest of heroes enter Elysium... and only the vilest enter The Fields of Punishment. I literally could not put her in paradise."

Leo gasped. "What, what happens in that Asphodel place?"

Hades sighed again, pain in his eyes. "Nothing, forever. It was supposed to be a waiting place until you could be reborn but there are so many dead people now it is jammed. Aaron has been helping though, he convinced me to Hire Leto the Titanness of Motherhood to help Children in Asphodel gain peace before being reborn and Perses who helps Soldiers do the same. However, there are literally tens of millions of souls, even with two extremely powerful Titans to help me I am not able to grant rebirth or peace to all. It is a failing I cannot ever forgive myself for."

Aaron smiled, a wonderful Idea came to his mind. "Hades, you use Musician spirits to entertain right? I mean you did for our date?" Hades nodded. "Why not hire her, she is a mechanic and was good enough to draw Hephestus... that would allow her to keep her mind, do something she loves and it would allow her the chance to monitor her son even through the veil of death. I am sure you can find a use for a mechanic."

Leo's eyes went bright, excitement in his every feature. "Really?"

"I guess so...there is a president... " Hades rubbed his chin. "I also hire Spirits to be Judges... Perses is using Soldier Spirits to train my warriors and Leto is using the Spirits of Parents and Babysitters to help with the kids... fine. Esperanza Valdez, should you accept, I would hire you as a mechanic and allow you a visitation with your son in his dreams once a year. If you agree to this, once your contract is up, you will be allowed entrance into Elysium at the end of your son's life. Do you accept?"

The woman beamed. "Yes, I accept."

"The so be it." Hades said and power covered the mortal, her essence solidifying into something far clearer. She was not alive, not really, but she was not longer entirely locked into death as she had been before.

Aaron's love for the God of The Underworld deepened that much more. "You are amazing, you know that, right?"

Hades flushed.

Esperanza threw herself at Aaron then. "Thank you, so much. For this and for taking care of my baby."

Aaron laughed. "Never an issue. He seems great and if Gaia is interested in hurting him, he is clearly too important to be left alone. Hera will lead him to where I am. I know it's supposed to be a secret but it has to happen."

Hades nodded. "I will allow it." he turned to Leo. "What we are going to tell you must be kept entirely secret, you can never repeat it to anyone without the permission of a god or Aaron. Are we clear?"

Leo nodded. "Yessir."

"Good... now... I must take your mother back shortly. Say your goodbyes. She will visit you on your birthday each year, in your dreams. I rarely allow this... but in truth the Gods owe you. We did not stop Gaia or realize she was rising. I will report this to Zeus personally. In return for this, Leo, you will train hard and become as powerful as you can. Aaron will teach you, lead you on the right path..."

Aaron smiled, feeling right. This was the Hades he loved, he just wished the other idiots gods could see this Hades, the real Hades, past the pain and hate and isolation. The phenomenal man with a heart of gold. He wished they could see him as he really was... they would regret being so cruel...

Even Zeus would he'd bet.

Well, that was exaggerating a bit but still...

Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

This might be my all time favorite chapters.

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.