Hi everyone! Another chapter came out! You can see that if I don't have school works, everyday I can post one chapter (but the New Year break almost end *sign*).
Anyway, this chapter still seemed like a filler to me. Next chapter will contain actions and battles (I'm not good as describing actions, but I'll try).
Reply to "the girl who hears it all" - Thanks for pointing it out! I always thought Carter can only do that when he's the host of Horus. Your review helps me in this chapter and the next one, since it deal with Carter in battle :)
Another long AN. Let's get back to the story! Oh, and remember to answer the questions at the end of this chapter!
Disclaimer: I. Do. Not. Own. P. J. O. And. K. C.
Leo's POV
As Leo ran to the maintenance room, a thought unexpectedly came to his mind.
You will always be the outsider, the seventh wheel. You will not find a place among your brethen...
Leo had tried to get that thought out of his mind, but he couldn't. The fact that Piper has told him to check on the ship alone so his friends may greet the new guests just assured Leo that what Nemesis said is true.
You have work to do, Leo, he thought. And as he was about to pick up the sphere he found with Frank and Hazel, Piper walked up to him.
"Oh, Leo, can you also cook for the magicians. Just something like you did on our quest, remember?", Beauty Queen said.
Another reason for Nemesis's theory.
"Sure, no problem Pipe", Leo said before going back to work.
"How many times had I told you not to call me by other nicknames? Please, only call me Piper. Or I can charmspeak you into swearing to the River Styx not to do that again."
"Jeez, no need for that, Piper", Leo said as she gave him a dagger look, then turn away and walked out of the room.
Leo now have two jobs to do. So instead of upgrading the ship himself, which take a lot of time, he introduced his table Buford to do it. With just a few adjustments in Buford's control center, or his brain, the table can do the task just like Leo can. As it went to upgraded the ship, Leo walked outside to begin his second chore, cooking.
His friends had brought out chairs from the rooms on board, and were talking to the magicians on different topics. The magician that was called Felix is the strangest in the group. He had made a skating site for his crew of penguins. Leo had to admitted that magicians were not so different from demigods.
Carter was talking about the battle of Apophis, a serpent that represented Chaos. He said that all the Egyptian gods had to fight Apophis, and with Carter and Sadie execration spell, the serpent was destroyed. The Egyptians gods had to retreat from the world for a period of time, except Anubis.
Leo saw Nico and Hazel glanced at each other. Maybe they couldn't believe an Egyptian god from the Underworld was just in front of them.
Leo took out some food from his belt pocket. Zia and Sadie began to looked at him funny, like they're thinking how can food be pull out of a pocket. Leo began to cook them, and soon sixteen meals were available.
Leo pick one plate and yell out to the other, "Lunch time!"
As they eat, Jason discussed each other's power. Like Leo with fire, Jason with lightning, and Piper with charmspeak.
That got Leo attention. And it's time for them to get into Leo's World. "Hey guys, I have an idea! Wait here."
Leo ran to the other side of the Argo II. Large enough, he said to himself. Around here were some trees and a vast piece of land. He then run back in the ship, and with the help of his tool belt, find the necessary supplies and tools.
-o-O-o- (Pagebreak)
After about thirty minutes, he looked back at what he has done. A large stage with rows of chair for about twenty people were set up. The stage is made of tough supplies, so if even a hurricane happens or Leo accidentally burst into flame, the stage remains the same.
Leo jogged back to where everyone else is to announce his plan. He can see his friend had finished lunch, and the magicians had done the same. Leo came and called out, "Let's go to the other side of the ship. I had a plan for everybody there!"
As demigods and magicians settled in the rows of chairs, confused, Leo step on the stage. "Welcome everyone! Me, Leo, will be the host for today event. There will be two programs, and the first one on the list is the Talent Show!"
People were looking at him like he's crazy. Piper freak out the most. It's strange to Leo that a daughter of Aphrodite don't like the idea of a talent show.
"Um, Leo, can you explain more about this talent show idea of yours?", Frank said. He looks confused like everybody else.
"So", Leo still keep his crazy grin on his face. "Everyone will get a chance at showing their power. It'll not be anything fancy, just enough to let others know your power."
Piper look at Leo nervously, clearly showing that she doesn't like this idea. But since everyone will do it, she must too.
"And so here is the first one", Leo continued as he looked at anyone else but Piper, "Piper McLean!"
Piper literally groaned. "Why me?"
"Because", Leo try to look at Piper. "Everyone will do it, so you can't complain."
"Ugh, I hate talent shows", Piper said. When she went past Leo on the stage, she whispered to him.
"Remind me to gut you with Katoptris next time."
"You know there's no need for that, right Piper?", Leo whispered back. "It's just a talent show."
As Leo move away, all eyes turn to Piper, who doesn't like that. She shifts around nervously, maybe fighting the urge to run away. "Um... what should I do?"
"How about you show us your charmspeak", Jason suggested.
When Piper look at Jason, Leo can see confident spreaded through her face. "So as you know, I can tell people to do what I want. That's called charmspeak. So for example, I can tell Sadie here to give me her staff, and she would listen to me."
Sadie snorted. "Like that would ever happen."
Piper looked at Sadie straight into the eyes. When she spoke, her voice was sweeter, like Drew's, but not evil. "Sadie, can I have that staff you're holding?"
Leo fought the urge to follow that simple command. Even though he doesn't have a staff to give, he almost wanted to find and steal it from someone else.
For Sadie, she simply cannot resisted Piper, despite the fact that average Aphrodite demigods cannot use charmspeak on magicians, something Sadie had mentioned earlier. She stood up, walked to Piper like she's in a trance, and held out her staff. Piper took it and looked at everyone, her face said, See?
Walt and Carter were looking at Sadie in disbelief. It seemed like the Sadie they know were no longer there.
"You may sit down now", Piper tell Sadie.
The magician sat down, still looking at Piper. Then she shook her head, and Leo knew the charmspeak was over.
"Huh? What happen?", Sadie asked no one in particular.
"Hey, Sadie, catch it", Piper called out to Sadie. She threw the staff and as Sadie catch it in her hand, she started to realized what happen.
Leo the host come back to the stage. "Well, well, well. That was a good show, Piper! Now let move on to Frank Zhang!"
The guy scowled at Leo, but he stood up. Frank walked to the stage, and Leo moved out for him.
"Um... I'm a son of Mars, but I like to use bows and arrows", Frank said. "So, should I demonstrate my shooting skill?"
"Why don't you show us your transform ability?", Sadie asked, still embarrassed from the charmspeak experience.
"Um, yeah", Frank said nervously. "I can also change into some animals I've seen. Like this."
Frank change into a dragon, making the magicians gasped. Then an eagle, a bear, and an elephant.
Hazel laughed at the sight of Frank the Elephant. Leo know that by the way Hazel laugh, it's not because she want to embarrassed Frank, but because of some good memories they had shared.
After Frank, Hazel came up, then Jason, Nico, and Leo. The magicians got to see some gems, lightning, skeletons, and fire. Clapping were heard along with gasps and surprised faces.
"Now", Leo announced. "It'll be one of our guest's turn, Carter Kane!"
Carter didn't look like he was interest in this, but he managed to walked on the stage. "So to start, I followed the path of Horus, just like one of my trainees, Julian. This was combat magic, so I can summoned the avatar of Horus."
As Leo watched, Carter began to grow. Now he was a fifteen-feet tall warrior with a hawk head and a blade on his hand. Although Leo never sees the Greek gods in their real size, he guessed they are also as tall as this glowing avatar.
As Carter shrank back to normal, he thanked the audience, and walked back to his seat. Leo announced that next is Sadie, and the girl got on the stage with her staff.
"Hi everyone!", she said. "I'm Sadie and today I will show you some magic tricks."
Leo watched in amazement as Sadie threw her staff and with a spell, it can become anything she likes. Then Sadie turn to the nearest tree, spoke a Ha-di command, and the tree disintegrated. Leo hoped Coach Hedge wouldn't be mad at this, although he had a feeling the coach is watching some martial art shows right now.
After Sadie's turn, Leo called out the other magicians. Alyssa with her control on the ground, like Gaea (except the magician wasn't evil), Felix with his crew of penguins and his skating skill, and Jaz with her healing magic like an Apollo camper.
Leo noticed that Zia's power was using fire like he did. She said she was following the path of Ra, the sun-god. Leo though it was rare to see a fire user, and he's seeing one right now.
As everyone settled down, Leo continued his job. "So that's the Talent Show. Now everyone had got a chance knowing each other's power, let's move on to the next program, which is Survival Skill."
"Don't tell me it's another kind of talent show", Frank groaned.
"No, it's not. This will be a battle-show, it can be one-on-one, or two against two. The max number of each side is two. This show who got the better skills in battle."
Everyone was silent after what Leo just said. Maybe they're deciding if this is good or bad.
"Seem like a good idea", Hazel said. "Okay, let me and Frank come first."
"Fine. Still, I hate Leo's ideas", the guy grumbled.
As they went on the stage, Sadie and Walt volunteered. "How about you two against us?", Sadie asked.
The four of them got into position. Leo couldn't decide who will win, since both seem powerful like each other. As they got their weapons ready, Leo can't wait to see who the winner in this first battle, demigods or magicians.
Hope this chapter wasn't suck. But now I have two Qs to asked everybody who know the answer:
1. What is the age of Sadie and Carter in the Serpent's Shadow? Is BAG a middle school or high school?
2. Do you want Piper to fight in the next chapter? Although she can use the knife Katoptris (I think the name is right), she have to use charmspeak (her main power). I think it's not fair for the magicians, since she can control them if she want to. Any ideas?
You can PM me or simply put those answer in your review. I had every character planned out in the next chapter. Review!
