Ah you guys, I made a mistake in the last chapter!
I wrote that Jason said "meet you in Athens in a month" but I totally
mixed it up that they were heading for Epirus first!
So let's just pretend Jason actually said "meet you in Epirus in two weeks." okay?
Sorryyy for the mistake!
Also, a million thank-yous to everybody who is following this story, to the people who
review and those who favourite. I would never have dreamed this story
would ever get the attention it has gotten, and I'm really grateful!
Thanks to Taylalee Morgan for your extremely kind review, that was so nice to hear :)
Okay, I'll stop talking now. I'm not Rick Riordan (shocking, ey?)
Enjoy this! It's a bit short, but don't worry, there's a long one in the making ;)

Chapter fifty: A Fiery Journey
~Leo's POV~

"Leo, you don't even know if this will work!"
Hazel and Piper were looking at him in alarm, as Jason and Frank helped him pile more wood onto
the already large heap.
"Why wouldn't it work?" Leo asked, huffing slightly as he lifted an especially big log. "Nico can
shadow travel, Jason can fly and Percy-" the others winced slightly as the mention of their friend
"he can swim really fast and far through water. And you Hazel," Leo said, as he realised "you can
travel underground better than anybody! So why wouldn't I be able to do this?"
The girls eyed him, clearly unconvinced.
"But you've never done it before!" Piper now said. "What if it doesn't work, or if it does and you end up somewhere completely wrong, like, I dunno, China or somewhere!"
Leo grinned "Well, if I end up in China, I'll just call on Frank's family for help."
"Hey!" Frank, who was coming around the corner with the last bit of wood, grumbled "I'm Canadian, Leo. For the last time."
"Yeah, yeah, Ping Ling, we know." Leo dodged a branch Frank chucked at him.
The truth was, Leo felt far less confident than he acted. Sure, the theory was good but would it work?
"It's not like it will hurt me if it doesn't." Leo told Piper, partly to convince himself as well. She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything more.
They were all standing on top of a hill, with a few splatterings of forest and the odd sheep milling around. Frank, Leo and Jason had spent the last hour chopping down trees and piling the logs on top of each other, creating a nice big bonfire. Leo had had the idea after Nico suggested he could shadow travel Leo to the next airport. The guy still looked so pale and weak, Leo had declined immediately, but the concept of shadow travel had given him an idea.
If the son of Hades could use the shadows to travel, then why shouldn't he, the son of Hephaestus, be able to use fire to do likewise?
"Right." Jason said, and everybody gathered round. "Leo, we'll see you in Epirus in two weeks, okay?"
Leo nodded, not meeting anybody's eyes. "Yeah. We'll be there." he tried to say it with as much conviction as he could, which wasn't a lot.
"You'll be fine" Piper said, as she hugged him. He didn't know whether she was using charmspeak or not, but he felt a little better anyway.
"See you soon, Valdez." Frank said, clapping his hand on Leo's shoulder.
Hazel hugged him as well, and Nico held out his hand, which Leo shook.
"I hope this works" the son of Hades whispered, eyeing him intently. Why did he care so much? Leo wondered.
Coach Hedge grunted "Kill some Turkish monsters for me cupcake", swinging his bat in his hand.
"Er, sure Coach."
"You can do this." Jason said, giving Leo half a hug. Somehow Leo wasn't so sure.
He felt guilty for leaving the others like this, especially now when they were all so understanding about letting him go.
"So Festus will take care of everything right? If something goes super wrong, send me an IM or something and-"
"We'll be fine, Leo." Piper interrupted him. "Now go!"
"Yeah. Yeah right. Take care, all of you."
With that Leo stepped onto the pile of wood. He let his whole body catch fire, and soon the bonfire
was ablaze.
"See you guys soon!" he yelled over the roar of the flames, and he had a last glimpse of the six of them standing around the fire, before he closed his eyes and concentrated with all his might.
Please, dad. I need to travel to Lagina. Please help me use this fire as a way to get there. Lagina.
Come on flames, take me to Lagina. Take me to- "AAH!"
Leo yelled as suddenly it felt like his whole body imploded. The flames around him squeezed him to a pulp, and he lost all sense of orientation. All he could feel was the flicker of fire, and the way his body seemed to be forced through an opening the size of a keyring. He had no idea how he would get out of this, so all he could do was think, desperately: Lagina!
Then, just as suddenly as it had started, it was over, and Leo fell to the ground with a painful thump.
Disorientated, it took him a while to register his surroundings.
He was on top of a hill, and for one wild moment he thought it hadn't worked. But then Leo realised that the landscape around the hill was completely different, lush green and almost untouched by humans.
In the distance, he could spot what looked like white marble ruins, and he knew he had come to the right place. Now all he had to do was get there as quick as he could, and then he would
be able to save Penelope. Hope filled his chest.
He was so focused on reaching the temple, he almost forgot to thank his father for the trip.
"Thanks, dad!" he shouted to the heavens, giving the thumbs up. Leo had no idea if it really had been Hephaestus who had helped him, but he'd rather not risk being disrespectful.
A small fire was still burning beside him, fed by a dry shrub. Leo lifted his arm to touch it.
Though why did his arm feel like it weighed a million pounds?
That was when Leo realised he was still lying on his back, yet when he tried to get up, the million pound weight sank onto his whole body. Struggling to shift into a sitting position, Leo felt more drained than he had ever felt, except maybe after he'd battled Talos.
Great he thought, moodily. Nico couldn't have mentioned that I'd need a full body refuel every time
I did this, could he?
There was nothing for it, he knew he wouldn't get very far like this. Under painstaking effort,
he crawled towards the nearest tree, which had low hanging branches, and propped himself up against the trunk. He fished some ambrosia out of his backpack, which thankfully had survived the
fire travel as well, and ate it, savouring the taste of fresh brownies.
Almost immediately his eyes began to droop, and he barely had time so set an alarm on the watch
he'd built a few days ago, before slumping sideways onto the ground. He wouldn't allow himself more than a couple hours of sleep, even though he was so, so tired.
Don't worry Pen, he thought dreamily.
The last image he saw before he fell asleep was a dark haired girl with bright turquoise
eyes, laughing and holding out her hand to him.
Don't worry. I'm coming to get you.