Not replying to any reviews this time as this is a very quick update since I'm pressed for time. I may not be able to update again for a day or so, life's hectic at the moment but I will upload a few chapters next time I promise. Also, probably should have said this before- getting rid of the gray streaks was dumb so I'm not doing that.
The conversation that followed Leo and Jason's decision was a heavy one- not fun. Chiron clearly knew more than he was able to explain- but he was honest enough about that fact, and he was incredibly worried that much was also clear.
It was also clear that there would be some kind of quest- though Jason and Leo weren't sure what would happen yet. They'd need a prophecy for that and Leo wasn't sure where May was- she lived in camp these days, she had her own cabin- it wasn't with the other cabins but near the lake- and of course when he and Jason went to check there to see if they could get a prophecy before the quest was actually announced- but she wasn't in, and so Leo gave Jason a tour of camp before leading him to the cabins- to be more precise to Cabin one- Zeus' Cabin, Leo pushed open the huge bronze doors when knocking provoked no response- he'd been inside a few times- and he gave a wide dramatic sweep of his arm as Jason stepped inside "Welcome home Jason."
And it was impressive- he could hear thunder but that was usual, the ceiling was domed and decorated with a blue-and-white mosaic like a cloudy sky. The cloud tiles shifted across the ceiling, changing from white to black. Thunder rumbled through the room, and gold tiles flashed like veins of lightning. The walls were carved with alcoves, each holding a bronze brazier or a golden eagle statue on a marble pedestal. In the center of the room, a twenty-foot-tall, full-color statue of Zeus in classic Greek robes stood with a shield at his side and a lightning bolt raised, ready to smite somebody.
Before Thalia had made it her own it had been basically empty, now there was a big double bed- she'd paid for it herself and Luke had helped put it together- in the corner of the cabin, and a large bedside table with a lamp next to it, and a chest of drawers next to that- and on the table and the drawers were photo frames- several of them- there were a couple of pictures from the early days- when Thalia had first found Annabeth- and several from the days since them- Pictures of Thalia and Annabeth after the fleece, there were a few pictures of her and Luke- and there was one of Thalia, Nico and Percy grinning into the camera with McDonalds, Thalia taking the selfie of them all, Percy wearing Nico's jacket for some reason.
Leo noticed Jason's gaze focusing on the corner and he smiled, "Bet Thalia will hate having to share soon- she won't be able to have Luke sneak in-"
"Is that even allowed?"
"Technically no but Chiron's given up on enforcing those rules with us these days." Leo admitted, his eyes following Jason as the other teen mover towards the corner, a curious look on his face as he looked at them.
"And Luke's her boyfriend."
"And my brother." Leo added, "He was the first that mom adopted- technically Percy was her only bio kid for now but she's pregnant."
"Thalia looks happy in the pictures." Jason looked at them, picking up the one of the three big three kids, "Who are the others in this one?"
"That would be Nico." Leo tapped on the glass of the frame, "His dad is Hades, I think he's technically the youngest of us. And this-" Leo tapped the glass again, "Is Percy. Daughter of Poseidon, my big sister and hero."
"What's with her hair." Jason gave Leo a sidelong glance, "You have it too- and so does Annabeth. That streak of white."
And Leo reached up automatically, giving his white streak a small tug and twirling it around his finger, "That-" he hesitated before shrugging, "I didn't know about this world- Grover, he's a Satyr, he was at my school, found me. Unfortunately a monster was there. Percy, Annabeth and Thalia came as a retrieval team to get me out but it was a trap for Percy. Long story short I ended up rushing the monster like a dumbass to protect Percy because she tried to protect me. I got captured and- they had this plan, they wanted to free Atlas." Leo stared blankly at the picture- though it wasn't what he was really seeing, "They planned on trapping Artemis with the sky, that was part of why they needed Percy- she'd take it from a maiden more willingly. They kidnapped our mom- though- she wasn't my mom then, they told me they'd kill her if I didn't take the sky from Atlas. I didn't hold it for long before Artemis saved me. She'd made a promise to Percy." he could feel Jason's gaze on him, stunned. "I don't really remember it much- I blacked out right away afterwards- and the physical effort of holding up the sky turns your hair white-"
"So they did it too?"
"They couldn't fight Atlas so Percy took it from Artemis so she could fight him- which I helped with." Leo grinned faintly, "The great Flameo was born that day. And anyway- Annabeth got hurt so she decided since she couldn't fight she'd help Percy hold the sky.
"That-" Jason's voice was stunned, "That's... intense."
"Yeah, definitely not the best way to learn I'm a demigod." Leo's lips twitched into a grin, "Still it ended well. I got a whole family out of it."
"You Greeks are crazy you know that." Jason let out a laugh despite himself and Leo laughed back.
"You're one of us sparky, so you should probably get used to it." and Leo noticed how Jason almost twitched- as if he wanted to refute Leo's statement but he couldn't.
"I guess I should- do you think I'll be able to get a bed brought in here-"
"We'll get one of the spare cots from the Hermes cabin." Leo offered, "They're comfortable enough- besides you won't be in here for long before we're on the road on this quest that Hera's demanding we go on." he pulled a face, "I really hate her."
"Yeah, I don't blame you." Jason pulled a face, "She stole my memories-"
"We'll get 'em back buddy." Leo patted Jason's shoulder comfortingly, "And who knows, maybe we'll get to tell her what we think about her."
"Sounds fun." Jason looked around again- his gaze moving towards the statue of Zeus.
Leo followed his gaze and snorted, "Ah yes- your dear old daddy-"
"It looks like a really buff hippie." Jason said the words without thinking and Leo's mouth dropped open in shock before he burst out laughing- doubling over as he cackled- he couldn't help it. He didn't think he'd laughed this hard in a long time.
"Oh my gods- holy Hephaestus you're amazing- I so so love you Jason. You're like, my new best friend."
"I shouldn't have said that it was disrespectful-"
"Oh it was awesome." Leo grinned, "Don't obsess over what is and isn't respectful sparky, the gods might throw hissy fits and grumble but it's not likely that they'll actually do something, at least not while you're in camp anyway- all of us have bitched about our parents one time or another- for example my dad is a dumbass who has no idea how to deal with humans- though honestly- I wasn't much better than him a few years back."
And Jason relaxed slightly- which was what Leo had been aiming for- he seemed to have a bit of a hang up about respect- he acted pretty straight laced from what Leo had seen so far but there was definitely something beneath all that. He was pretty sure they'd be good friends by the time all of this was over.
"You've actually met your dad?" Jason's voice was curious, and Leo gave a small nod, smiling faintly at the memories.
"Yeah, yeah I have. Over a year ago now. It was on a quest, we needed to find him to get his help in finding out how to navigate the Labyrinth?"
"The Labyrinth? Why does that sound like you're not talking about some normal maze?"
"The Labyrinth." Leo grinned, "Like the one from the myths- with Theseus-"
Jason's brows furrowed as he thought before he gave a slow nod, "I remember that one I think- you really went in there?"
"Yeah, and it was so much worse than the stories make it sound." Leo shuddered, "It's not around any more it was destroyed but it-" he shook his head. "It definitely left it's mark on everyone. My advice? Stay the fuck away from scary mazes." he shook his head,
"Anyway- that's when I met my dad- he was really- he was gruff. He does care, he gave me one of his automatons." he grinned, "It's back at home at the moment- this little spider one- I was lucky that Annabeth picked it up or it would have probably been lost?"
"Wait? If it's that important why didn't you have it?" Jason raised an eyebrow- and Leo shifted nervously, face flushing very slightly.
"I... we were following it back to my dads forges but I may have turned around and gone the other way to try and help Percy." Leo admitted, "She was in a spot of trouble but- I mean that's a long story. Nothing you need to worry about." people tended to get a little bit funny about the whole 'Oh yeah, I totally blew up a volcano with my sister one time' which was ridiculous in his opinion. It wasn't that big of a deal, not really. And it had led to one of the best things to ever happen to him- which had been landing on Ogygia with Calypso- she was so beautiful and smart and fierce and amazing- he'd never forget how he'd felt when he'd woken up, battered and bruised and there she'd been, pressing a damp cloth to his brow and frowning worriedly down at him- she was so very beautiful that he'd thought she was a literal angel. And when he'd said as much her laugh had been so beautiful that he'd felt breathless.
And when he'd panicked, tried to invent his way into making a boat she'd been almost sad but she'd helped him and she'd proven that she was incredibly smart too- it had been impossible not to fall in love with her- especially when they'd bickered at she'd get all annoyed with him and huff that he was an idiot- and then a few hours later he'd tell some dumb joke and she'd try and hide her smile and it would be like magic- suddenly they weren't fighting any more.
Yeah. It had been terrifying- and he didn't like how much of a big deal some people made about it- especially since technically he and
Percy had been the reason Typhon had been freed when he was, but... whenever he thought about it he just found himself thinking about that week with Calypso- how in those moments before he'd left he'd pressed his hand to his cheek and swore on the Styx that one day he'd find his way back to her- she'd cried at that- had told him it was impossible.
He'd done it anyway though.
He was plucked from his thoughts by Jason's voice once more.
"Hello? Hello earth to Leo-"
And Leo, being Leo, shook himself and grinned, "Oh? Is that where we are? Here I thought we were on the moon-"
"Seriously?" Jason couldn't help but laugh at that and Leo grinned.
"What can I say, I'm a joker at heart."
"You're crazy, that's what you are-"
"Uh huh. Normal people are just boring- do you want to be boring Jason?" and Jason seemed to almost hesitate, something flashing
across Leo's face, though he couldn't place it.
"I don't think I do." Jason gave an uncertain grin, "So, what now Leo?"
"Well." Leo hummed thoughtfully, "Do you wanna come with me? I've given you a part of the tour but there's a lot of other places in camp."
"Sounds like a plan." Jason nodded, "Let's go then, I look forward to getting to know this place better."