Good evening/morning/whatever time you're reading this!
First of all, thanks so much to Elmlea for reviewing every chapter, you don't even know how much that means to me!
Also, Mila-is-a-bookworm-101 asked what Leo and Penelope's ship name would be, which made me laugh and got me thinking. I quite like Lenelope, but what do you guys think?
Not that I'm promising anything ;)
Of course I'd like to thank her for all her lovely reviews as well!
Lastly, do you guys think I should do Penelope's POV?
Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter (there might be a hint of Lenelope in it ;) ) and leave me a review!
Reviews make me happy...
Okay, I'll stop now. I don't own this (just my OCs)
~thegirlwiththetrident

Chapter thirteen: Unexpected talents

Two weeks had passed since the night spent on the Argo II, and Leo had to admit, Penelope had come a long way.
Everyday since she had discovered that she would be joining them on their quest to Greece, she had spent training, getting up at the crack of dawn to do so.
Usually, he would find her at the climbing wall, or in the forest, and for the past few days she seemed to be frequenting the arena.
Although Leo felt glad that Penelope was doing so well, he did experience a certain sense of let down, as he barely saw her nowadays. When she wasn't working on her battle skills, she was in lessons with Chleo, or Annabeth, learning as much about magic and the legends of the gods as she could.
He knew it made sense, that she needed to catch up to be up for the challenge they were facing, but still...
Sometimes he missed their quiet afternoons down at the lake, when Pen had just been Pen, and not the lost one of the prophecy.
Therefore today, Leo had made up his mind that he was simply going to make her come down to the beach with him.
Quite apart from wanting to spend sometime with his friend, he knew that her attitude wasn't healthy, and that she would only end up exhausting herself.
So, in the morning, he got up and made his way to the arena, not even bothering to look for Penelope anywhere else.
As he was walking, flashbacks of the council meeting they'd had two weeks before came to him.

All of them were sitting around the ping pong table, and Annabeth had just told the other head counsellors about what they'd discovered.
Penelope wasn't there yet, as she wasn't head of her cabin and so couldn't join them for the first ten official minutes of the meeting.
When Annabeth had finished, there was a moment of silence, before Katie Gardener spoke up
"Are you sure about this, Annabeth?"
"Yes." Annabeth answered, her voice concerned, but certain. "We're absolutely certain. The door to the room Leo planed for the lost one was engraved with twin torches coloured dark blue after Penelope slept there. That sign is definite."
Katie nodded, and some of the others did as well.
Then, to Leo's surprise, Chleo spoke up, her expression dark.
"She can't go."
The others looked at her, some with sympathy, and others with confusion.
"Why not?" Clarisse asked.
"Because" Chleo's tone was just as dark as her expression. "she will die. She is too inexperienced, she doesn't even know who she is, for Hecate's sake! How can you even think of sending her on this quest, especially you Leo? It will kill her! "
With that, the usually so composed daughter of Hecate had stood up, and swept out of the room, but not before Leo had seen her dark eyes glisten as she shot him an accusing glare.
Silence had followed Chleo's outburst, and it had only been broken when there was a timid knock on the door.
Chiron opened it, and there stood Penelope, looking a little lost.
"Can I come in now?"
No one answered.
They all simply looked gravely at the girl, as if her death sentence was already hanging above her head.

Stop thinking of that! Leo had to wrench himself out of the memory.
But the lingering feeling of Chleo's accusing stare still weighed him down, and he couldn't help repeating her words to himself.
Penelope could die. Leo was letting her come on a quest, with barely a month of experience in being a demigod. It would be his fault if she got killed.
After the meeting, Annabeth had taken him aside, and said, in a very convincing tone
"Leo, there's nothing you can do about this, okay? Penelope was chosen, she has to come. And we'll do our best to keep her safe."
Leo had simply nodded, unable to speak past the lump that had started to forme in his throat.

Just then, he noticed that he'd reached the arena, and sure enough, he could hear sword fighting down there.
When he got close enough, he saw Penelope fighting against Mark, a son of Ares, who had taken over Percy Jackson's post of combat-teacher. He was extremely skilled (though not as good as Percy, as Annabeth had once remarked) and wasn't giving Pen an easy time by the looks of it.
Leo had never seen her sword-fight before, and in his opinion, the weapon didn't suit her.
It was simply to big and bland for her smaller frame, and he could see even from here, that she was having a lot of trouble wielding the blade.
At that exact moment, Mark used a simple move to disarm Penelope, and her sword fell to the ground with a clatter.
"You know how to block that one" Mark told her, in his deep, condescending voice.
Pen scowled, an expression Leo had only started to see on her face since she'd started training.
"I know" she answered, through gritted teeth. "I just can't do it."
Mark, who seemed to be used to his pupils getting annoyed, simply said "Have a break" and turned his back on Penelope, walking over to another duelling pair.
Pen, who was still scowling, turned to the seats and, upon spotting Leo, came over.
"Not your favourite discipline I'm guessing?" Leo winked at her.
Pen's face turned dark. "No. I'm rubbish at it."
"Let's get outta here then" Leo told her, and before she could refuse, he grabbed her arm and marched off, pulling her along behind him.
Minutes later, they were sitting at the beach, and the salty breeze seemed to be calming Penelope down.
She sighed, as she gazed out at the ocean, her eyes skimming the horizon.
"I love the sea." she told Leo, who looked at her.
"Really?" he asked, disbelievingly.
Pen nodded, then frowned and said "You think I wouldn't because I almost died here?"
The question was so forward, it took Leo back a bit, though he was used to questions like that from Pen. She never seemed to bother about concealing the true meaning of her words, something Leo quite liked about her.
He nodded, and Penelope sighed again, laying down, so her eyes were now staring at the blue sky above them.
Dark strands of hair were blowing around her face, contrasting with its creamy complexion.
Leo noticed that her eyes looked like they were actually sparkling when she gazed into the light like this, just like the water sparkled when the sun shone onto it.
Whoa, he suddenly realised. What are you thinking?
To make himself stop staring at Pen, he lay down beside her, closing his eyes and enjoying the sunshine on his face.
He must have dozed off a bit, for when Penelope said "Leo", it startled him, even though her tone had been soft.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think I'm going to die?"
Leo opened his eyes, and turned his head to look at his friend.
She was still staring up at the sky, her face a little thoughtful, a little sad.
"What makes you say that?" he asked, and Pen's mouth formed into a slight smile.
"I'm not deaf you know. I heard what Chleo said. She thinks going on this quest will get me killed."
Leo couldn't think of anything to say. He was stunned to learn that Penelope had heard her sister's grave assumption, and horrified at how long his friend must've been carrying this around with her.
That meeting had been two weeks ago.
And although Leo knew Penelope wasn't stupid, and that she realised how dangerous this mission was going to be, he could only imagine how much it would hurt to hear a friend, a family member, saying she had no chance.
No wonder she'd been training like a mad satyr.
"You haven't answered my question." Penelope reminded him quietly, and Leo realised how his silence must have seemed to her.
"You know, Pen" Leo began, choosing his words carefully. "the way I see it, we could all die on this quest. I mean, we're off to battle the most powerful divine being, like, ever, and there's just seven, sorry eight, of us, against an entire army of Gaia's. So odds are we might all get killed, and just because you can't remember your past or haven't been on a quest before, that doesn't make it more probable for you to snuff it. We'll just have to try our best, all of us."
Leo was actually impressed with himself for thinking of those words, and surprised when he found that he did believe them to be true. After all, neither Jason, Piper or him had had any experience before embarking on their first quest, and they had returned, hadn't they?
Well, he guessed Jason had been on dangerous quests before, but like Penelope, he hadn't remembered his past.
"Thanks, repair boy." Penelope said, looking directly at him now.
She was so close that Leo could see a thin circle of purple around her pupils, something he'd never noticed before. He was always too focused on the bright turquoise around them.
For a moment neither of them spoke, and then Pen giggled.
"What?" Leo asked, confused.
"Well, I just didn't know you could be so deep" his friend laughed, poking him in the side.

"Hey!" Leo said, indignantly. He had only been trying to make her feel better, after all.
"Oh come on, Leo. That's very unlike you, you have to admit."
Her laugh was so contagious, Leo couldn't help but join in.
"Well, wadda ya know, I might have more skills than you think I do." he chuckled, poking Penelope back.
This made her prop herself onto one elbow and grin.
"Oh yeah?" she said, challengingly.
"Yup. I'm just full of surprises and unexpected talents." he answered, puffing his chest out.
"Sure you are." Pen laughed "But I bet running isn't one of them."
"Huh?" Leo asked, but before he realised what she was doing, Pen had sprung up and started to sprint away.
"Last one to camp has to do the other's chores for a week!" she yelled over her shoulder, her dark hair flying like a banner in the wind.
"We'll see about that!" Leo called back, and raced after her, a grin on his face.