Sorry it took so long. But me and my sis have had lots of crap.
*Cough Cough*
My sis. I hope it doesn't suck that much. Men my eyes hurt. Oh and to anyone whose watching Mean Girls? Isn't it just swag?
Chapter 2.
Leo
Leo knew how cats felt about water. It was the same feeling he had with lakes. They both were terrified of it, and wanted to stay clear away. He was thinking about this, as he gazed down the water.
He gulped.
He wondered what creepy crawlies lived deep inside.
Granted, it was a lake, and probably not that deep. Not like an ocean.
If it was an Ocean, I wouldn't be in this mess. He mumbled to himself.
"What was that?" Annabeth called from somewhere behind him. She had been waiting for him to open up the door panel.
"Nothing." Leo said.
He breathed deeply. The Lake smelled like clean air and danger.
Here goes nothing. He thought to himself.
He felt like he was plundering toward his death.
"Leo! Are we going to meet the Romans or not?" Annabeth asked testily. Leo could sense that she was getting agitated.
With a sigh of deep regret, he opened the door and stepped out onto the edge.
The sight was nauseating. A bunch of water just sitting there. As if it was expecting him to fall and then it would attack him.
He turned around. "Annabeth?" he asked cautiously.
"What?" she asked, in an even more agitated voice. He could tell that she was really angry now. He knew that he was wasting time, and she probably wanted to slap him.
"How far down is this lake?" he asked. He hoped he said it in a cool voice.
Annabeth frowned. She thought about it for a few seconds.
"Fifty or sixty feet?" Was Annabeth's reply.
He gulped again.
A sense of nausea overtook him. Before he knew it, he was out cold.
Flashback
Leo was standing at the edge of an engine powered boat. He peered down from it. The water looked calm and still.
He held onto his shorts, afraid that he would fall down and lose them.
"Leo, don't go to close." His mother warned.
"Mom! Don't get your screwdriver in a twist! I'll be fine." Leo exclaimed.
He noticed the hurt look in his mother's eyes. He automatically felt a pang in his heart.
"Yes mom I'll be careful." He said to her in what he hoped was a nice voice. He went to sit next to her.
He picked up his fishing pole again.
"You know, you should wear clothes while you're fishing." His mom remarked suddenly. "There's no reason why you should only have your boxers on." she said in a teasing voice.
Leo blushed.
He didn't want to admit it, because he knew it would get him in trouble. He had lost a bet with a friend, and he had been forced to wear his underwear in public. Thankfully, there was nobody in the lake, so he wasn't completely embarrassed. And the lake counted as a public place.
He threw his line into the water. He made sure that he touched the part with the worm. He liked how squishy it felt.
Nothing happened. Fishing was boring.
He waited. Nothing again. No nibble or bite or anything.
He glanced at his mom. She was reading the National Geographic. Her fishing pole was lying next to her. She was totally missing the meaning of 'mother and son bonding time' Leo couldn't blame her. Today was probably the dullest moment in his life. So far.
"The fishes are being mean." He complained to his mother. "They won't jump into my line." he pointed toward his empty line.
"Honey you can't expect the fish to jump into your line. It's not part of nature." His mom replied and flipped a page of her magazine. Leo could see a smile trying to hide.
"Well, nature is stupid." Leo said. Since there was nothing else to do, Leo just sat there looking over the lake.
Leo felt like his mind was slowly being bored to death.
Suddenly, he saw movement in the water. His fishing pole told him he got something.
"Mom! I think I caught something!" he exclaimed.
His mom immediately dropped her magazine. She rushed to his side.
Sure enough, she saw how much his pole was rattling.
"That's great honey! Now try and reel it in." his mom commanded.
He complied.
Leo tried, but failed.
The pole felt like it weighed a ton.
This must be one heck of a fish. He thought to himself.
Suddenly, he felt a tremble beneath his feet. The lake was starting to churn violently. He lost his balance, and fell into the lake.
Yet, he was still holding onto his fishing pole.
"Leo!" His mom screamed. "Hold on to my hand!" she yelled at him.
He shook his head.
No. He thought to himself. He wouldn't let his fishy get away.
He almost smiled. He reminded himself of an anime he used to watch. He sounded exactly like the talking cat in it.
Suddenly, his fish finally rose.
Boy was he a BIG one.
Leo was so startled by what he saw, that he dropped his fishing pole. It sank to the bottom of the lake.
Leo barely noticed. His lost fishing pole wasn't his biggest problem right now.
"Dear God!" His mom screamed. "Leo, give me your hand! We are leaving!" His mom continued screaming orders at him.
Leo just stood frozen.
All he could do was stare at what he was looking at.
It had eight tentacles like an octopus. It was really long. Like really, really long. Leo didn't know anything about measurement yet, but he could at least tell that much. Its head looked like a cross between an ugly turtle, and a hideous bird. It would have looked funny, if Leo wasn't so terrified.
It opened its mouth.
Leo saw it had razor sharp teeth and an awful breath. It needed a huge pack of trident layers. Like four hundred pieces.
He had seen these types of monsters on the cartoons that he used to watch. He knew that it would eat him.
The beast's tentacles went down toward the lake.
Leo didn't get it.
Why not eat me now? He thought.
Suddenly, the lake became a black, inky color.
Eww. Leo thought. The thing just inked.
He would have started laughing, if it hadn't been for the strange feeling that had overcome him.
He felt like he was being drained of strength. Like he was slow dying. Decaying.
He started sinking towards the bottom of the lake. Leo would have frowned .This made no sense. He was an excellent swimmer.
The beast roared again. Leo knew he was about to die.
*End of Flashback*
Leo came back to consciousness. He rolled to his side, and threw up a bucket of water.
"He's awake!" A voice cried.
Leo opened his eyes. He saw a bunch of people peering down at him.
He smiled up at them. His horrible memory forgotten.
"Wow, personally space people." Leo joked. "There's enough Leo to go around."
"Yup. He's definitely awake." An amused voice said. It sounded like Jason.
"His name is Leo?" A voice asked. Well, more like squeaked.
Leo frowned. It was a voice he didn't recognize.
He looked for the source of the voice. It belonged to a girl with chocolate colored skin and curly brown hair. She looked about thirteen. He had the distinct feeling that he had met her before.
He vaguely wondered if she was a run away.
"Are you alright?" Another voice asked. It sounded distinctly male.
Leo looked over and found it was a guy. He looked to be about 16, and not too shabby looking. Though Leo had to admit he wasn't as good looking as himself.
"Who are you?" was Leo's reply.
The guy frowned. "I'm Percy Jackson." he said.
Leo frowned again. The name sounded familiar. Something in his head clicked. His brain finally worked.
This guy was Annabeth's missing boyfriend.
Annabeth! He thought. He wondered what happened to her. He began to feel a panicky, awful feeling at the pit of his stomach. If she was gone or missing, Leo would feel nothing but guilt.
Then he heard another voice
"Why did you say your name all dramatic seaweed brain?" The voice chided. This voice sounded familiar. He looked to the person that was standing next to the guy named Percy Jackson. It was a girl with blonde hair.
"Annabeth!" Leo yelled. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
Though as soon as he said it, he knew it was pointless to worry about her. This was Annabeth for Zeus's sake.
Leo could swear he heard thunder rumble in his head.
Sorry. He thought.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. She mouthed something that sounded suspiciously like 'clueless'.
Leo frowned.
He was sure that he had heard wrong.
"Of course I'm okay." Annabeth said. "You're the one I should be worried about. You passed out before you even stepped into the lake. I had to swim you and myself over here. To the Roman Camp." She added, to make sure he knew where he was.
All that Leo could think was, duh.
That's when Leo realized that he was soaking wet, and so was Annabeth.
"You look as wet as me now." Piper added in. She was smirking triumphantly. Leo noticed that she was all dry now.
"Yeah." Percy chimed in. "You guys could pass as marsh people."
"I see your sense of humor hasn't improved one bit." Annabeth said. She seemed to be scowling, but it also looked like she was trying to hold back a smile.
"How long have I been out?" Leo asked cautiously. He didn't want to hear that he had been unconscious for a few hours. Especially in front of really scary Romans. That and it would seriously bruise his ego, to found out that he had been knocked out by water. Without even touching it.
Before any of them could reply, Leo could hear another voices screaming.
"Look at these Greeks!" The voice snarled. "You can clearly see how weak and pathetic they are!" The voice continued.
Leo could hear a lot of pushing and shoving. The guy with the voice came into view.
Leo was shocked. The voice had sounded commanding and powerful. This guy just looked like a scrawny white kid. Totally not what he was expecting.
If ugly was a guy, the dude was him.
He looked and saw that the guy was still talking. He had turned his body toward the assembled crowd. They looked like they might actually listen to what this guy had to say.
"We Romans have always been a strong people!" he rambled on. "It is our duty to eliminate anyone that is weaker than us! Jason has thrown his lot in with these pieces of trash! "He yelled. Throwing a f hurt looked towards Jason. (Though even Leo could tell from his position that it was fake).
Jason looked like he was about to go all 'Son of Zeus' on him at any moment. Leo wished he would.
The guy hadn't seemed to notice Jason's death glare. He just continued yelling. "We should destroy them now, while we have them surrounded!"
Maybe Jason should eliminate you. Leo thought angrily. He could feel anger building up inside him, the longer he heard the idiot talk.
He didn't need to say anything though. Percy Jackson did it. He looked at the scrawny kid.
It was a look of weary and irritation. "You can't hurt them." He said in a strangely, soft voice. "I swore on my life that they weren't harmful to us. And they aren't. They haven't shown any acts of violence toward any of us. They are my family. I won't let you hurt them. I make this promise as a Roman. And I am prepared to keep it."
A horrible smile spread across ugly's face. He was looking gleefully at Percy. Like he knew he had just baited him.
"Ah, but you aren't really a Roman are you?" He said in a silky voice. "You are one of them aren't you?"
He pointed dramatically at Leo, Piper, and Annabeth.
They looked just as murderous as Leo did. Before they could do anything about it though, the guy plowed on.
"And here are some traitors." He said in a disgusted voice. He sounded like he was talking about a bunch of slugs. He pointed at Jason, the girl called Hazel, and another boy who was standing next to her. Leo noticed that he was holding her hand.
"We are not traitors!" They all yelled simultaneously. The loudest was the boy holding Hazel's hand. Leo peered closer at him and realized he looked like a baby. A Chinese baby with some ripped muscles, and a military style haircut.
Ugly was about to retort some more lies, when another voice yelled.
"Octavian! Silence yourself!"
Again, he didn't recognize the voice.
Leo turned and found the only person he hadn't noticed yet.
He had no clue how he hadn't. Usually, she would be the first thing he saw.
This girl was just his type.
Hot.
She had long, dark hair and beautiful, dark eyes. She looked regal and stunning.
She reminded him of Thalia. She had the same look that said 'if you don't get out of my face, I will gut you like a fish'. Exactly his type.
The only thing that he didn't like about her look, was the bed sheet that she was wearing around her. Yet, she was able to make it good look.
He noted that Percy had the same type of bed sheet on. He didn't look half bad in it also.
They seemed to be the only ones who was wearing it. It made them stand out. Leo would take a bet and guess they were kind of like the leaders. Below the wolf that Jason had mentioned of course. He remembered that he had said her name was Lape.
Leo got up from the grass, and brushed himself. His clothes were almost dried.
They were in California after all.
"Are you and Percy the leaders?" He asked her. He vaguely noticed that Jason had scowled when he had said that. But he was pretty sure that he imagined it.
Jason wasn't that type of guy.
She obviously ignored him. Like all the other girls who tried to resist the Leo Charm.
"Romans! I command you to disperse! We will have an emergency Senate Meeting! Right now!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Another one?" Someone yelled. "Second one this week!"
A different voice yelled, "I don't want to wear my bed sheets again. They itch!"
"There not bed sheets idiots! Show some respect!" A different voice yelled.
Pretty soon the Romans were arguing and screaming at each other.
Someone took care of it really quickly. Leo heard a really loud dog whistle, that pierced his ears. It was the type that you could hear from a mile away.
Leo looked at where it came from. It was from Percy Jackson.
He was glaring at the crowd. He looked really irritated. "Listen up guys!" he yelled. "Reyna has something to say."
The girl named Reyna glanced at him. She gave him a grateful look, then went back to her speech.
"There will be no need for customs!" She yelled. "All centurions, Senators, and our Guests, will report to the Senate House immediately. Everyone else is dismissed. Go back to your various activities. We will tell you about everything during supper time." Then she waved her hands, expecting everyone to clear out.
Her request had gotten another round of yelling.
"No tradition?" A voice yelled. Leo looked toward the voice, but he couldn't see anything.
"Speak for yourself Vitellus!" Another voice cried gleefully. "I got Kool-Aid all over mine!"
"Why can't supper be now?" Another voice chimed in. It sounded really wistful.
Yet, they all went to their designated areas. Including the irritating guy named Octavian.
That just left the small crowd gathered around Leo.
"We might as well leave." the guy with the baby face said.
"Frank is right. Let's go." Hazel said. She tugged at his hand, and dragged him off. She looked really anxious to leave them. Never less, she glanced back at them constantly. As if to make sure that they were following. Leo could feel her gaze on him
"That just leaves us." Leo said.
They nodded, and together the group walked to wherever they were supposed to go. Reyna was in front with Jason. (Which surprised him. He would have assumed she would be the first one to arrive at the house place.)
Both of them were already deep in a conversation. Piper was walked a little bit behind them. She seemed kind of dejected. She was constantly scowling at the back of Reyna's head.
Jason must have sensed Piper's mood too, because he kept glancing back at her and smiling. But those just mad Piper scowl deeper.
Leo would have to start calling her scowl face. Which would be a really big shame. She really hated being called Beauty Queen.
Annabeth and Percy brought in the rear.
That just left Leo in the middle of course. This turned out to be a really bad position. He was stuck listening to Annabeth and Percy babbling.
"You're insufferable." Annabeth would say.
Then Percy would retort with, "You're annoying."
It kept going on that way until Leo kind of tuned them out.
He glanced back and realized that they had become silent.
They were holding hands and talking quietly to themselves. Leo wondered what had just happened.
He was so busy glancing back, that he didn't notice that he had bumped his head onto something. Something hard.
"Ow." he muttered to himself. He rubbed his forehead. He really hoped that he didn't have a bump.
"Watch it!" The statue said angrily.
Leo just blinked.
Maybe he was just hallucinating. Or did that statue just talk?
He didn't realize that he had voiced it out loud. The statue seemed to scowl at him and said, "Of course I talk boy! And I can also strangle you!" It continued.
Leo blinked again.
The statue didn't have any hands. He voiced that thought out loud too.
The statue was practically glaring at Leo now. And he could see it clearly.
"More insolence!" the statue yelled. " Very well. Give you weapons to Julia so I can get rid of you. And tuck in your shirt! You look like one of those gangsters I've heard about." The statue rattled on.
Leo barely had time to register what he had just said. A little girl who looked around five had just ran up to him.
She was holding a platter in her hands.
He glanced down at the platter.
He almost had a heart attack when he saw what was on it. There was a range of weapons placed everywhere. Daggers, swords, bows, chewing gum, and a lot of suntan lotion.
She was eyeing the tool belt that was wrapped around Leo's waist. Leo didn't know how she knew about it. He had tucked it underneath his shirt, before his ship had set sailed.
If Leo didn't know any better, he would have guessed that she expect him to put it in the platter.
He didn't want to.
He didn't trust a little girl with a hammer and all those sharp tools. And gum. Especially his gum. It was his secret stash and he didn't feel like sharing. He had the feeling that the girl could see all that was inside his tool belt.
He noticed that Annabeth and Percy were right behind him.
He knew that they would agree with him. They would see how crazy and ridiculous it was.
Nope.
Even without being asked, Percy took something out of his pocket.
Percy took out a pen, and placed it carefully on the platter. Like he was afraid it would explode. Though how a pen was dangerous, he didn't know. Maybe it was like Jason's coin. He didn't know.
The statue nodded at him though, and said, "Jackson, you may entered. And you have some grass stains on your toga! Wash that after were done here!" Percy nodded, and tried to look embarrassed and shameful. Though in fact, he was grinning.
He nodded at Annabeth to do the same.
With a hesitant glance at him, she placed her dagger carefully on the tray too. The little girl stumbled, and almost fell under the weight. Percy and Annabeth steadied her. This didn't give Leo any vote of confidence in the kid.
They were about to enter also, when they glanced back at Leo.
"Are you coming?" They asked.
Leo just nodded and told them to go on.
They did.
Pretty soon, he was the only one left outside.
With a sigh he took his tool belt carefully off. He placed it gently on the tray. He helped the girl lower the tray carefully toward the ground.
Then he bent down. He was eye to eye with the little girl.
"Hi there! Can you take care of this for me? It's really precious, and I don't want anything to happen to it." he asked, pointing toward the tool belt.
The girl just looked at him. She said carefully, "Yes I can! I'm res-pon-sible." She said those in syllables, like she had been practicing them.
That was all Leo needed.
He stepped into what he expected to be the Senate House. Which was painted and decorated to look like a detention center.
Leo gulped.
He had been in many of those.
He vaguely wondered if it was built like that on purpose. To make people feel terrified, without even stepping in yet.
With a sense of foreboding, he stepped carefully inside.
The last thing he heard was the statue saying. "Idiot, isn't he, Julia? Wasted our precious time, that one. Took longer than I expected. I love guarding the Pomerian line, but sometimes it's just irritating."
He knew that the little girl was nodding.
" Guard-ing line is irri-tat-ing." She pronounced slowly.
"You're so right Julia." The statue said.
Leo frowned.
What in Hades name was the Pomerian line?