Another chapter, ready to be read and enjoyed by all of you!
There are some problems coming up, and some other exciting events soon to happen!
Hope you like it, please tell me what you think in a review!
Thank you for the reviews I already have, they are very much appreciated!
I only own Pen.
~thegirlwiththetrident


Chapter eight: Insomnia

Five days later, the glory of the winner's victory had finally begun to wear off, and Leo could walk through camp again without being made fun of.
It was all good-naturedly he knew, but it did grow old.
Today, Leo had planed on taking a day off work, and was now looking for Penelope, thinking of asking her if she fancied going to the beach with him.
They got along really well, especially in the aftermath of the game, now that she seemed to feel more at ease here at camp.
Everyday, they had spent some time talking, training or simply sitting at the lake, and Leo liked the fact that she got along well with Jason and Piper, too.
All in all, life at camp was definitely going well, except for the fact that Leo was starting to worry about Penelope.
Not only had her amnesia gotten no better at all, but she hadn't been able to sleep since that day Leo had found her at the beach, and that was a long time to go without a rest.
When he found her sitting at breakfast that morning, she looked terrible.
There simply was no nice way of saying it.
Deep, dark circles were under her eyes, her hair was limp and dull, and her whole body slumped, as if she was going to keel over any second.
"Morning Sunshine" he greeted her, and it was a mark of how tired she was that she didn't laugh or punch him or anything, but simply muttered "Bad pun, Leo."
"Still no luck with the sleeping then?"
"No" she sighed, not touching her food. "I've tried every bunk in our cabin, sleeping outside, in the sickroom, I've even" she lowered her voice "sneaked into the Poseidon cabin, because, well, you know..."she trailed off, looking guilty.
It wasn't even a bad idea, as both Hecate's and Poseidon's cabins had attracted Penelope when she'd arrived here, but it still took a lot of courage, Leo thought, and a lot of stupidity.
"Holy Hephaestus, Pen, you've got to be careful! Sleeping in the wrong cabin can get you vaporised!" he hissed.
"I know that Leo" she answered back, quietly. "But believe me, getting vaporised probably beats this! I've been awake for 160 hours! The others say it's only our mother's affinity for the night and her blessing on our cabin that's keeping me on my feet. If it weren't for that, I'd literally die of exhaustion."
The expression on her face was now no longer guilty, but downright scared.
Only then did Leo understand how serious the situation was, and suddenly he felt pretty afraid, too.
"Have you been to see Clovis? Chiron? One of the Apollo kids?"
"Yup, all of them, but no one knows what's causing this." A wary look entered her bright eyes and Leo asked "What?"
Penelope hesitated "What if...what if one of the gods is punishing me? What if I did something before – you know- I came here, and now this is my punishment?"
Leo tried to keep his voice steady. "Nah, I don't think so. It could be anything, really. It'll get better soon."
He knew he didn't sound very convincing, but what else was he supposed to say?
Trying to think of a distraction that was big enough, he suddenly had an idea.
"Hey! Why don't you come with me to the Bunker nine today, huh? It's pretty cool"
his voice sounded a little too perky, but it was worth a shot.
"What's that?" Penelope asked, wearily.
"Secret Hephaestus place. Come on, there's something in there I want to show you."
He didn't know why he had decided to show her the Argo II now, but there was no doubt in his mind that he could trust her.
And he could simply tell her that they needed the Argo to fly to Frisco to get Percy back. There would be no need to even mention the second Great Prophecy.
Anyway, Pen deserved to know that her friends would be leaving soon, even if she didn't know for how long.
"So?" he asked, eyes wide and pleading.
"All right, Mr Awesome, I'll come meet you in fifteen minutes?" she said as she got up.
"I like that name!" Leo called after her, before she left.
When she was out of sight, the smile slid off Leo's face.
He hadn't realised how much trouble his friend was in, and frantically tried to think of a solution.
And if there was anybody who would be able to help him with that, it was a certain daughter of Athena he knew.
He found her inside her cabin reading a very ancient looking scroll.
"Annabeth? Can I talk to you for a sec?" he called in.
Annabeth looked up, saw Leo and hurried over, the scroll tucked under her arm.
"Leo! Is everything okay? Is it the ship?"
"What?" Leo asked, confused "No, no, it's not the ship. The Argo's fine."
A look of relief passed over Annabeth's face. "What's up then?"
"It's, um, Penelope. She hasn't been able to sleep since she got here. She says something just keeps holding her off, as if she wasn't in the right place to rest, or something. I'm afraid that at some point she'll just...fall over and not get back up again." Leo explained.
The relief had fled the face of the girl before him, replaced by the usual worry, omni-present these days.
Instantly, Leo felt guilty. Annabeth had enough to worry about without another friend in distress added to her "find a solution" list.
Already her grey eyes seemed to be calculating a million different possibilities and possible solutions.
"I'm sorry" Leo apologised, starting to turn away. "I know you've got other things to think about, I just..." he was about to close the door when Annabeth grabbed his arm.
"Leo!" she said loudly, "I think I've just understood something!" her voice sounded more excited than it had in days, and her whole demeanour had changed.
"What?" Leo was totally confused.
"Gods, I can't believe how stupid we've been!" Annabeth cried out.
"Er" stated Leo intelligently, not cottoning on at all.
"I need to go check something, just to make sure. Can you meet me back here at four o'clock? It's important!" and with that she rushed back into her cabin and back out, not even waiting for an answer. "Four o'clock, Leo!" she yelled and disappeared.
Well, that was...disturbing.
For a few minutes, Leo simply stood there, perplexed.
What had Annabeth understood? Was it about Penelope's sleep problem? Or something more sinister? He guessed he'd just have to wait till four o'clock to find out.
"Hey, repair boy!" a voice yelled from behind him and he turned to see Penelope, her hair freshly washed and tied back, coming towards him.
"Hello." Leo said, somewhat lamely.
"Are we going?" she asked, and her sweet, calm smile was back on her face, lifting Leo's spirits up.
"You bettcha." he grinned, and started to lead the way to his ship.

"Wow."
"Pretty cool, huh?"
"Leo" Penelope was gaping at the huge ship. "It's amazing. Did you seriously build this?"
Leo could feel his cheeks redden, as Penelope walked around the Argo II slowly, wonder in her face.
On the way here, he had told his friend all about building the ship for the past few months, so they could sail to Camp Jupiter and rescue Percy, and Penelope has listened raptly.
"Wait till you're on it!" he laughed, opening a hatch for them to climb inside the hull.
"I can..go in?" his friend said in awe.
Her whole attitude, so tired before, was now excited, which made Leo feel glad.
He offered her his hand, and soon they they were touring the inside, which was lit by magical lamps at regular intervals.
Penelope wanted to see everything, and seemed to be very impressed by Leo's designs.
When they were looking at all the rooms, his friend frowned.
"Why are there so many? I thought only you, Annabeth, Piper and Jason were going to get Percy. Why eight rooms then?"
Leo cursed silently to himself. He hadn't thought of that, and even if he had he probably wouldn't have guessed that Pen would mention it, even though that would have been stupid as she was simply too clever.
"Er, one for Coach Hedge, a mad satyr supposed to be our "adult supervisor" and some spare ones" he offered as an explanation, which didn't seem to satisfy Penelope, but she didn't press the subject.
As they passed the door of the lost room, she ran her hand along it. "What's this?"
"Closet" Leo said automatically, ushering her on. He wasn't sure why he didn't want her to go in there, yet somehow the idea didn't please him at all.
"My room's best, isn't it?" he asked her quickly.
She laughed at him and rolled her eyes. "Of course it is, Mr Awesome."
They spent the next hour or so in Bunker nine, Leo explaining all about the mechanics of the ship and how the steering worked.
"Sounds good to go" Penelope stated, eating a grape of one of the magic plates they had borrowed.
"Not quite yet" Leo said, absent-mindedly. "I have to make sure it's strong enough to survive that journey."
He realised what he'd said only when Pen cocked her head at him.
"Leo, you do know you're only sailing to California and back right? It's not like it's the end of the world." she frowned, obviously confused "Come to think of it, why do you need a ship like that anyway? Couldn't you just take a plane or something? I thought this was a peaceful mission."
Damn, Leo thought, trying to think of an answer.
"Well, Percy isn't allowed to fly in a plane, you know because of his dad and Zeus not always agreeing" he explained, inventing wildly "and also I just don't want to seem weak in front of the Romans." This last part was true, at least. He didn't like keeping stuff from Penelope, and he felt sorry that he had to. But it was for her own good, as well as theirs.
At his words, a sympathetic smile appeared on Pen's lips and she said, putting her hand on his arm,
"Don't worry, Leo. You could never seem weak."
Uh...Leo's mind had gone blank.
"When are you leaving anyway?"
This brought him back to coherence.
"About a month I guess"
"A – a month?" Penelope tried to sound upbeat but failed miserably.
Leo couldn't think of anything to say. His gut twisted with guilt when he thought of leaving her alone here, without any guarantee that they would be coming back.
"But, you're not going to stay long, are you?" Pen asked, as if reading his thoughts.
Before Leo could think of a response that wasn't too big a lie, Penelope suddenly spotted the clock on the wall and jumped up.
"Oh gods, I forgot! I've got another lesson with Chleo in twenty minutes! I have to go, I'll see you later! And Leo, thank you for showing this to me!"
With that she hurried out of the door, her dark hair whipping around the frame.
For a moment, he sat there unmoving, the spot where she had touched him tingling pleasantly. He felt his heart beat fast...
Stop, he told himself sternly.
You are going on what's probably going to turn out as a suicide mission in a month. None of that now.
But still a sad feeling settled inside Leo, and he felt a jab of regret.
Penelope had come to camp at the wrong time, she had no idea that the world she was only just getting to know might soon be destroyed.
It would be up to Leo and the others to save it, and he would have to make sure they gave it their best shot.
Sighing, he packed up and shut Bunker nine for the night.
When he arrived back at the cabins he was so lost in thought that he didn't hear the person behind him say his name, only when she grabbed his arm and turned him around.
"Leo" said Annabeth, her face very serious.
"We have to talk. It's about Penelope. I think I know who she is."