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~thegirlwiththetrident

Chapter twelve: The explanation

When Leo awoke the next morning, he felt completely at ease. For a moment he couldn't think why, but then he noticed that he was lying in his bed in the Argo II, and it made him feel good to be in his ship.
And then, the feeling of dread washed over him.
Today, he would tell a friend something that would probably ruin her life.
Ah well, better get it over with.
He got up, dressed, and walked into the mess hall, where Annabeth and Piper were already sitting, eating some cereal.
"Morning, captain" Piper winked at him, and Annabeth chuckled.
Leo didn't answer, but yawned and got himself some pancakes.
"Where's Jason?" he asked, savouring the syrupy flavour.
"Still sleeping" Piper said and rolled her eyes.
"Figures" Leo muttered, continuing to devour his breakfast, while listening to Piper and Annabeth chat.
When they'd all finished, they divided tasks: Annabeth was to go send a message to Chleo, telling her that Penelope wouldn't make it to lessons today, Piper was going to try and wake Jason, and Leo would go get Penelope.
In Leo's opinion, Piper had the hardest job.
He made his way down to the lost room, and opened the door as silently as he could. The two torches were still on it, and Leo kinda liked the idea, thinking of adding symbols to all their doors.
Then, he stood in the doorway, unsure of what to do next.
Penelope looked so peaceful, and as far as Leo could tell she hadn't shifted a bit, merely her hand was now lying next to her face.
Carefully, he walked up to the bed and knelt beside it, just as he had last night.
Then, very softly, he shook Penelope's shoulder, whispering
"Good morning."
She didn't move. She didn't even stir!
Fine, Leo thought. You can have it the Leo Valdez way then.
"Hey, magic girl! Rise and Shine!" he yelled extremely loudly, and with a flourish, pulled the covers off her.
"Argh!" came a yell and then "Leo! What the-"
"Morning, sunshine" Leo smirked, as Penelope groped around for the covers.
The look on her face was priceless.
"Morning. And that's still a bad pun."
And that's when realisation dawned on his friend's face.
"Oh gods, I just woke up, didn't I?"
Leo nodded, grinning.
For a moment, Pen didn't say anything and then she leapt out of bed and threw her arms around Leo, squashing him.
"I slept! I actually fell asleep! Oh Zeus, I feel so good, it's like everything's sharpened and I slept, and in a bed and-"
"All right, that's enough! Holy Hephaestus, Pen it was just a little sleep!"
Leo broke her off, but he couldn't help grinning himself. It felt good to see his friend in such a good mood.
Pen grinned too, a little abashed and then looked around, her face taking on a confused expression.
"Er- where am I exactly?"
"The Argo. Come on, I'll explain everything at breakfast."

Five minutes later, Annabeth, Piper, Leo, Penelope and a very sleepy looking Jason were all seated around the table in the mess hall, with Pen and Jason eating their breakfast.
Leo had just asked Pen how she had gotten into Bunker nine, but she didn't seem to know.
"Well, I was walking to my cabin, after lessons with Chleo. And then, I thought of the Argo II, you know, because I'd seen it that day, and after that, I sorta stopped thinking about what I was doing and before I knew it I was here, in the room you said was a closet" here she glared at Leo "and fell onto the bed. That's the last thing I can remember."
"How did you get the bunker to open?" Annabeth asked, worry and awe mixed on her face.
"I don't know" Penelope confessed. "I just touched the door, and thought about wanting to enter and it opened. It's like someone was guiding me"
This made the others look at each other, and Piper voiced what they were all thinking
"Hera."
Penelope turned to her, confused "What?"
"Hera" Piper repeated "Hera made you do all of this. She sent you here, she-" but then Piper broke off, seeming at a loss for words.
"What do you mean, Hera sent me here? Do you mean to camp? Like Jason?"
Pen looked from one face to the other, searching for a meaning in Piper's words.
"Look, Penelope." Annabeth started, and Leo was secretly glad that he didn't have to explain all of this. Annabeth was better as this stuff than him.
"Leo's told you we will be flying to Camp Jupiter, hasn't he?"
Penelope nodded.
"Well, we are going there, but after that, we'll be travelling a little further. There's this prophecy you see.."
And with that, Annabeth explained all about the prophecy, what they thought it meant and the real reason why Hera had swapped Jason and Percy.
Penelope listened intently, but when she learned that Leo hadn't told her the whole truth, a shadow passed over her face.
Leo felt a twinge of guilt, but Annabeth was already continuing the story
"..and so the four of us, Percy, and two Roman demigods are going to Greece, to try and stop Gaia. Oh yeah, and Coach Hedge, our "adult supervisor""
Here Annabeth scowled, which made Jason snicker. Piper shot him a look and he quickly murmured "Sorry".
"Well, that's all really terrible and all, but what has it got to do with me?"
Penelope asked, her voice a little desperate.
"A few weeks ago" Annabeth continued, her voice growing softer "Rachel spoke the second part of the prophecy."
Here, without deciding to, Leo took over
"The lost one shall join the seven
a child of the light in heaven
And though the source of mighty power"
He fell silent, leaving Penelope staring at him.
"Though the source of mighty power what?" she asked
"We don't know" Annabeth said regretfully "It finished there:"
Penelope looked at them all, her face disbelieving. "And you seriously think it means-"
"You." Leo told her, nodding. "You're a daughter of Hecate, Pen. Your mother is the goddess of the moon, of the light in heaven. And you were lost, when you came here. You're supposed to join us."
There was silence after Leo's last words. He supposed the truth was settling in on them all,
and he glanced at Penelope, who was sitting there unmoving, her eyes staring into space.
"Me" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Come with you." She lifted her eyes to meet Leo's gaze, and he couldn't help but notice again how intensely startling they were. But now, they were scared, and on an impulse, Leo took his friend's hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Don't worry" he told her, trying to make his voice sound steady and reassuring "We'll help you prepare. We'll be there for you."
The others nodded, and there was a sense of companionship filling the moment.
Then, Jason broke the silence by saying "Well, any questions?"
To Leo's surprise, this made Penelope giggle.
"You tell me I'm destined to go on some sort of major quest with seven of the most powerful demigods of all time, and all you can think of saying is any questions?"
"We're not the seven most powerful demigods of all time." Piper said, her cheeks flaming.
"Well, you have to be pretty bad-ass to get picked by the Queen of the gods to save the world."
Penelope stated.
"You got picked, too" Piper reminded her, which made her frown.
"Yeah, I supposed I did. Why me though? And why erase all of my memories if she wants me to fight?"
"Who knows how her mind works" Annabeth said, bitterly, and Leo was sure she was inwardly cursing the goddess.
"So what do I do now?" Penelope asked, uncertainty in her voice.
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Leo grinned at her, pulling her up.
"Start training."