THE PROBLEM WITH LEO VALDEZ

Disclaimer: thanks Uncle Rick for making such great characters


STILL FIXING THIS BUT HEYO READ IF YA WANT

11/05/16

Two chapters updated so far today! Not even halfway done!


CHAPTER: V
LEO

Discoveries

Leo felt like he was slowly losing his mind. And for real this time, not just because of the funky Mist stuff that Hazel was able to do.

He could barely talk to anyone without feeling like he was going to... fry them? Was that the right term? Leo wasn't sure if that conveyed how he felt completely, but when Piper had tried to talk to him, he felt like... like...

Leo flinched back at the thought of it. Really, he had wanted to... permanently get rid of her, so to say. It was so unlike him, so horrible that he knew he'd never do it, but just seeing Piper's face and hearing her voice had made him want to fire up his hands and burn everything within a ten feet radius. It was terrifying. He had managed to get her away, but the thoughts lingered and with every new one he buried himself deeper and deeper in to his blankets.

He was freaking himself out.

And as for his lovely little fire powers? It was suddenly as if Leo had become some sort of deranged, hypo-pyromaniac. He'd pull out graphing paper from his toolbelt just so he could watch in burn in his hands. Then, because it was fun, he'd go and do it again and again.

He was out of control. He had resorted to pulling a set of fireproof gloves from his toolbelt and tying them to his hands with plastic zip ties just so he wouldn't be able to rip them off. He had tried five times already, much to his dismay. But Leo had learned a thing or two about tying knots in Wilderness School, and so far he was pretty optimistic about those baby's not coming off.

Still, his wrists hurt a bunch from all the failed attempts.

All that aside, though, Leo couldn't stop himself from worrying about what he was going to do now. He couldn't keep away from the others forever, but he couldn't exactly confide in them, either.

He paused, considering that. Couldn't he? He had never doubted them before.

He shook his head, realizing with absolute certainty that he couldn't. The problem wasn't about doubting them, it was that he was doubting himself. He was out of his mind. How did he know that he wouldn't accidentally 'permanently get rid of' anyone? What if he...

Leo pushed the thought out of his mind as quickly as it had come. He didn't even want to think about it. He couldn't do that. Not to his friends, not to... not to anyone. But something, a feeling, made him think that he wanted to.

He had managed shoo Piper off, thank Hephaestus for that, but how long could he keep it up? Leo glanced down at the gloves and wondered how long it would be before the flames ate through them? His palms were sweaty from the heat, but so far the fabric was doing a good job at smothering everything inside. Leo frowned. He knew that he wasn't purposefully using his powers. It was as if his brain suddenly decided that it'd work completely on it's own, doing and thinking of things without Leo's consent.

He rolled off his bed and dropped down to the floor, then tucked his hands tightly against his chest. It was colder down there, and he hoped that the chill would kill the flames, but the heat only seemed to get worse.

Leo cursed. He hated this.

Hazel is the easiest to get rid of first, a voice in his head whispered to him. He had been hearing it for hours now, but still Leo was confused whether it was actually him thinking or someone speaking in to his ears. There was no one here to speak to him, though, so he guessed it was his brain.

At first he had assumed that it was Gaea. He had heard her plenty of times, but this voice was no sleepy evil woman speaking. As far as Leo could tell, it didn't even have a recognizable gender to it. The voice hissed and sneered, but never did it give away who it belonged to. Maybe it was him, maybe it was some other magic at work. Leo hardly cared. He just wanted it to stop.

Throw her overboard and let her fall to her death, that would be fun, the voice snickered. Or, kill everyone all at once by causing an explosion in the engine room. No one would survive except the one immune to the flames.

"Stop it." Leo said aloud. He couldn't force back his frustration.

Oh, but little hero, I am only getting started.

He was the one who fixed things. He solved problems. He made sense of things that sounded completely insane to anyone else.

Leo didn't want to admit that he couldn't find a solution to his own problem.

Don't get angry, little hero. Not everything needs to be fixed. We can work together properly if you would just stop resisti-

"I said stop!" Leo snarled, hitting a burning had against his head. "I don't want to listen to you." He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping it would help him concentrate better on getting rid of whatever was bothering him, but now in the darkness Leo saw a golden pair of eyes gleaming back at him.

What made you think that you had a choice?

Leo's eyes snapped open immediately and he scrambled backwards. He backed himself up against the wall, and although the air outside seemed to be dead from the lack of the ships movement, Leo felt a cold breeze brush through him.

"You." he said, his voice lethal.

Me?

"You're not supposed to be back."

You have me mistaken for a sibling of mine. Though I must admit that it's flattering of you to think I'm worthy of being called the best. I certainly do try.

Leo was speechless. What was he supposed to say? They were back.

Of course they would be back.

What if-

Earth Mother did not want the son of Poseidon and the son of Jupiter, the Eidolon said, giving an answer to Leo's question before he could even speak it. But why waste time explaining? You are needed for much more important things.

"I'll get Piper to send you away, just like she did for the other three!" Leo snapped, regaining his courage.

It all made sense now. He wasn't slowly losing his mind, after all. It was just...

Just an Eidolon.

The relief that Leo had felt for a few short seconds was quickly washed away and replaced with a knot of fear.

I control you now, Leo Valdez, the Eidolon hissed. Make one move against me and your friends will have more painful deaths than I already have planned.

"You can't do a thing." Leo spat, though even he could hear the doubt in his words. The Eidolon had managed to do so much already, what was stopping it from doing any more?

Let us test if that's true...

Without his will, Leo got up from the floor and walked over to the shattered mirror by his dresser. His head turned so he could see his reflection, and the face staring back at him made his heart drop.

It was his. Completely his.

From his experience, when Eidolon's took control the eye color of the person changed to gold. Leo's eyes, however, remained the dark brown that they always were.

See? It took me many days of practicing on mortals to figure this trick out. You were a bit of a challenge, being a demigod, but look. No one will know I'm here. I made you walk to this very spot, but there's no proof to others that it was me.

Leo clenched his fists.

He was a puppet.

"They'll figure it out." Leo snarled, finding a small bit of confidence again. "The others will know."

Oh?

"You don't act like me. Didn't you notice that Piper's suspicious enough already? I wouldn't have treated her like that!" Yeah... that was true.

He felt a little better knowing that his friends were already seeing straight through the Eidolon's act.

You are a hormonal orphan human teenager with worries that could create mountains. Little hero, your actions could easily just be the effects of a mood-swing.

Leo's reflection grinned at him, once again without his actual approval, and within seconds he heard himself speak.

"I'm the Super-sized McShizzle, man!" He laughed, placing his hands on his hips. His voice sounded just like his own. "Leo Valdez, bad boy supreme."

His arms fell and his grin dropped, but Leo didn't move away from the mirror. He stared at in shock.

"You just..."

You may think you can fight me, but you can't, little hero. I want to make it clear that if you even try, your friends last thoughts will be wondering why it was you who betrayed them, without my influence at all. Why would you ever join Gaea? Why would you hurt them like that? What would cause you to-

"Stop it!"

Are you going to try and stop me?

Leo clenched his jaw and nodded. "I'd rather die than let myself be controlled by you."

His reflection shrugged and the Eidolon began walking towards the door.

"This is not a game, Leo Valdez." it growled, bending low so that Leo could climb through the hole. "Will the death of a friend be what it takes for you to understand that?"

Leo's heart lurched. He couldn't let the Eidolon leave the room.

He wouldn't.

His feet shook as he and the Eidolon fought for control over it, but in only a matter of seconds it moved forward smoothly and he stepped through.

With a light thud, he was out of the room.

"How about... oh! Annabeth sounds like a good first kill." The Eidolon decided, grinning again as it moved Leo's body through the hall. His movements were slighty rigid as Leo tried to stop walking, but the Eidolon pushed through and forced him to take another step forward.

"Leo!" Jason's voice sounded behind him, making both the Eidolon and Leo stop. "Hey, I need to talk to you."

Leo turned around and saw his friend coming down the stairs. His expression was cold, almost angry, and for a second Leo wondered if the guy was going to punch him in the face. So much for friendship, then.

"Can it wait? I need to talk to Annabeth for a second." The Eidolon spoke for him, but there was no trace of this in his voice.

Jason's brow furrowed. "No, actually. It can't."

See, he found out! Leo wanted to scream.

"If you insist, Superman." he said, holding out his hands in front of him. "What's up, Chuck?"

"Piper thinks you need help."

Leo lowered an eyebrow. "Well I guess it's fair to say that I'm a bit out there, but can't seeing a psychologist wait until the war's over?"

Jason sighed. "That's not what I meant. She thinks..." he said, taking a moment to find the right words. "Just, are you okay or not?"

"Do I look okay?"

"Well yeah I guess you look-"

"Then I'm fine!" He cheered, patting Jason on the shoulder. "Anything else?"

Leo wanted to scream.

You would not dare.

What if I did? Leo thought, pondering on the idea.

What if I killed Jason? the Eidolon shot back.

Jason, oblivious of what was going on, folded his arms over his chest and glared. "Are you sure?"

"Dude, I'm pretty positive."

Can you stop talking for me? Leo silently muttered. He was cold. Freezing, actually. Being under the control of the Eidolon was like being stuck outside during Autumn. He wanted a jacket or a hat or something, but most of all he also wanted to be let back inside.

Not a chance, little hero.

Jason eyed Leo closely. After a few quiet seconds he gave up looking for the sign that would tell him the boy in front of him was lying.

"Alright, then."

"Okay."

"I'll tell Piper that you're doing fine."

"Gotcha."

Jason headed back up the stairs.

As soon as he was gone, the Eidolon directed Leo in the direction of Annabeth's room once more.

"Wait, you're really doing this?" Leo blurted out, finding that he could once again speak.

Perhaps. I am mulling it over.

"You can't!"

Oh, hush. Do you take me for an idiot? I would not murder a human so blatantly. My goal is not to be figured out before I can get you off from this awful ship.

Leo managed to get his legs to stop moving. "Awful ship?

The design is disastrous, son of Hephaestus.

Leo scowled. He wanted to argue more, to defend his design choices like the true captain he was, but there were more pressing matters at hand. "You said you were planning to kill everyone. You said you were going to kill Annabeth!"

And what would that do for me at this point in time? It was a threat, Little Hero. A fear tactic, really.

"That's cheating!"

Ah, but there are no rules. Now, Little Hero, may you silence yourself? Any more of this speaking aloud and I fear that the death of one of your friends will be necessary.

"There's no one here but you and me."

No one here but yourself and another.