So uh, if I get the chance I will post twice today as a celebration of the fact that that it's my birthday! But I may not be able to it may be a busy day.
Replies:
Undeath9087: If Percy had been there she'd just be there like 'Ah yes, another after my own heart, just beat em up no matter what'.
Guest: Yeah, that's the same as in canon though I must admit- but Leo losing his shit definitely isn't lol.
The Official Clarisse: Not a problem! And yes, yes Leo is amazing and we all love him for it. We also love him for being a petty bitch in this chapter.
Guest: Sorry, no can do my friend.
Once Zoe was gone Leo turned his gaze to Hera- he felt a bit calmer now that Jason was gone- though her expression was still one of immense dislike as she met his gaze and he spoke up. "So. We saved your ass. Jason. Do you have your memories back?"
"They're starting to come back." Jason said slowly.
"Seems like you did keep your side of the deal then." Leo glanced at his friend, "You okay?"
"Yeah. It's just- it's still murky." Jason let out a breath, "I remember bits- I know this place. The wolves-"
"You were given a destiny," Hera said. "You were given into my service. "
Jason scowled. "Because you forced my mom to do that. You couldn't stand knowing Zeus had two children with my mom. Knowing that he'd fallen for her twice. I was the price you demanded for leaving the rest of my family alone. "
"It was the right choice for you as well, Jason," Hera insisted. "The second time your mother managed to snare Zeus's affections, it was because she imagined him in a different aspect—the aspect of Jupiter. Never before had this happened—two children, Greek and Roman, born into the same family. You had to be separated from Thalia. This is where all demigods of your kind start their journey. "
"Of his kind?" Piper asked.
"She means Roman," Jason said. "Demigods are left here. We meet the she-wolf goddess, Lupa, the same immortal wolf that raised Romulus and Remus. "
Hera nodded. "And if you are strong enough, you live. "
"And Jason was strong enough." Leo said, "He made it to the Roman camp. Because there is a Roman camp."
Jason turned to the goddess. "The memories are coming back, but not the location. You're not going to tell me, are you?"
"No," Hera said. "That is part of your destiny, Jason. You must find your own way back. But when you do … you will unite two great powers. You will give us
hope against the giants, and more importantly—against Gaea herself. "
"You want us to help you," Jason said, "but you're holding back information. "
"Giving you answers would make those answers invalid," Hera said. "That is the way of the Fates. You must forge your own path for it to mean anything. Already, you three have surprised me. I would not have thought it possible …"
The goddess shook her head. "Suffice to say, you have performed well, demigods. But this is only the beginning. Now you must return to Camp Half-Blood,
where you will begin planning for the next phase. "
"Which you won't tell us about," Jason grumped. "And I suppose you destroyed my nice storm spirit horse, so we'll have to walk home?"
Hera waved aside the question. "Storm spirits are creatures of chaos. I did not destroy that one, though I have no idea where he went, or whether you'll see him again. But there is an easier way home for you. As you have done me a great service, so I can help you—at least this once. Farewell, demigods, for now."
The world turned upside down and Leo once more felt like he was gonna puke. And, as they landed very suddenly on the Aphrodite cabin table in the dining pavilion Leo realised very quickly that he was in fact, definitely going to puke, and, with just a little vindictiveness, he jumped off the table and ran to the nearest bronze brazier, and threw up in it, very audibly gasping, "This is for you Hera."
Which made Piper groan loudly and Jason snort as the daughter of Aphrodite managed to announce;
"So. We're back!"
And then she nearly fell over and Drew lurched to her feet, catching Piper before she could fall and pulling off the table- and chaos broke out as Luke and Thalia sprinted towards them, Luke splitting off from Thalia to rush over to Leo and hug him tightly while Thalia rushed to yank Jason off the table.
"By all the gods how?" Chiron's voice was stunned and Leo managed to squirm enough to free his face from Luke's shoulder and call out.
"We saved Queen Bitchface-"
"Aw. Shame." Nico's voice was sarcastic- he was sat at the Apollo table- or he had been. He was standing now and he looked almost amused.
"I know right?" Leo shot his brother a grin, and he was shocked to see Nico offer a faint one in return.
"Children." Chiron sighed, "Can we please refrain from insulting the queen of the gods-"
"So you're saying that Leo shouldn't have spent the last ten minutes screaming in her face and threatening her?" Piper asked shakily.
"Wow Leo." Thalia grinned, "I'm too busy hugging my brother to death but I'd high five you if my arms weren't full-"
"Please stop hugging me to dea-"
"Shut up you don't get a say."
"Please don't hug him to death." Piper huffed, "I doubt I can talk him back a second time-"
"You-" Thalia stiffened, "What does that mean?"
"Hera unleashed her true form." Leo gave a very forced smile "And Jason didn't have time to close his eyes."
There was a beat of silence and then Luke had released Leo and he was launching himself at Thalia, who let go of Jason and tilted her head up to the sky.
She was cut off before she could start a screaming rampage by Luke's hand slamming over her mouth as Chiron let out a long suffering sigh.
"Leo, why is it that when a Jackson is involved in a quest it always ends in complete chaos?"
"I would say it's in the DNA but we're not even biologically related so I just dunno." Leo shrugged, watching his older brother physically sit on his girlfriend and try to talk her down as she raged.
"Well." a smile played across Chiron's lips, "I'm glad that you're all home." his eyes flicked over all three of them, "Alive and whole. I imagine you have quite the story to tell."
"We do." Leo let out a breath, "But first- Beckendorf- I asked dad a favor-"
"He's here." Beckendorf gave Leo a sad smile, "Scared the crap into me, I went to check in and I saw the scraps. I was really worried about you."
"Charlie what is it?" Silena looked confused, "You haven't mentioned anything-"
"Festus was destroyed. Dad brought him back here for me and sent him to a place Beckendorf and I found a while ago. I'll show everyone tomorrow." Leo announced,
"Oh Leo." Luke's expression softened, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah. He's not- he didn't die for nothing. Festus still has a role to play." because he knew now what his ship as going to be for. "But first." he glanced at his friends, "We have a story to tell."
And so, together the three demigods told the others the story- leaving out a few things that they all mutually seemed to have decided that they needed to tell at a better time- after figuring out how to explain- like the fact that Jason was Roman.
So they told the others how they had met Boreas and his children, about Festus' crash, their escape, about Medea, finding Coach Hedge and the storm spirits, about Midas- and Luke actually snarled when he heard that Leo had been turned to gold- and Drew- well, Leo would personally rather fight a dragon than even try to speak to Drew when she got that very dark angry expression on her face- the pure fury was honestly kind of intimidating, and she'd pulled Piper into her side tightly, as if worried that she'd disappear.
When Leo explained how the hunters had saved them and helped them, and Calypso had been with them he'd received some laughter- and Beckendorf had stood up, walked over to him and clapped him on his shoulder with his metal hand.
"You have a good one there."
And Leo's grin was all the answer anyone needed as Piper had taken over and explained about their meeting with Boreas, their escape and her fathers rescue from Enceladus- which had made Luke and Thalia instantly go back to fussing over their respective brothers, and Jason took over to explain their battle at the
Wolfhouse, how the hunters had helped hold down the fort until they arrived.
And Leo couldn't help but flush with pride when Jason explained how he'd probably saved their lives with his fire and how he'd battled a goddess single handedly- which earned some very proud and awe filled looks from other campers- and Piper looked just as proud when Jason detailed how she'd fought off the Earthborn, and how working together they'd freed Hera while Jason had faced down Porphryion.
Of course Thalia did need to be sat on again by Luke when they reached the stage in the story where Hera had unleashed her true form, to stop her from trying to storm to Olympus to brutally murder the goddess who nearly took her younger brother away from her for the second time.
And Leo took over at that point, explaining how Jason had been dead- and how Piper had somehow, through sheer willpower managed to charmspeak him back to life- which wouldn't have been possible had the doors of death not been open, but still. It was an impressive feat, and Drew gave a smug grin,
squeezing Piper into her side proudly.
"That's my trashbaby I knew you could do it."
"Oh yeah, Pipes is good." Leo grinned, "She actually managed to charmspeak Hera-"
"She what?" Chiron's eyes widened and Piper flushed.
"It wasn't anything big like Leo's making out."
"I was bickering with Hera." Leo looked unashamed as Chiron sighed loudly, an exasperated look on his face.
"I understand that at this stage it is essentially a family tradition for you to be disrespectful and irreverent towards the gods, but I do wish you could perhaps show some sort of self preservation instincts Leo. Please try to remember that most of the gods can and will kill you on the spot if they decide you're being disrespectful."
"Yeah yeah I know." Leo shrugged, "I was just super pissed off at the time. She had it coming after all of the shit she's pulled lately. She did kill one of my best friends." he pointed out.
"You-" Luke looked torn between laughter and tears, "are as bad as Percy ever was when it comes to respecting the gods you know that?"
"Who do you think I learned it from." Leo did a mocking bow, "If they earn my respect then I'll be respectful. If they haven't I'm gonna treat them exactly like
they deserve, and Hera deserves my respect as much as a lump of Minotaur dung does." there was laughter from other campers at that, and Butch called out;
"Aren't you used to the Jackson's yet Chiron? I don't think any of them know the meaning of the word respect-"
"Hey!" Luke let out a laugh, "Don't lump me in with that lunatic." he pointed at Leo.
"Eh, it's not like he's wrong." that came from Ethan- Leo hadn't even noticed that he was there until he'd spoken up. "And you're the one who basically
ordered the gods to behave better Luke, you really can't talk about being respectful-"
"Ah hem" Chiron let out a little cough, trying to hide the way his lips were twitching- he was very clearly amused despite the situation. "As much as I hate to interrupt, we've gotten rather off topic I think." his expression turned serious, "So you say it's certain Leo. Gaea is rising."
"Yeah. We've slowed her down but it won't last for long. Gaea's starting to rise with her Giants." Leo took a deep breath, "But- we've brought ourselves time." he felt a rush of gratitude when Luke pulled away from where he was sat on Thalia and moved towards him, wrapping an arm around Leo's shoulder.
"You brought us time, you three." Luke's voice was firm, "You're heroes- and right now I think the best thing you could do is get some sleep. We'll make plans tomorrow. And no matter what happens- I mean, we took down the Titans, I'm sure we'll take down the Giants too."