"Leo, what are you doing?" Piper cried, clutching at her wounded shoulder and looking at Leo with something akin to betrayal in her eyes.
Leo laughed, letting the flames in his hands travel up his arms, engulfing them fully. He tensed and released his shoulders muscles in quick succession, resulting in bursts of fire sporadically jumping off of his skin. It felt good, he had bottled up his fire for so long, the fear of hurting others always hindering him. But no more. The freedom was exhilarating, and Leo felt his grin widen, as he let his fire do what it wanted.
Piper and Jason were standing in front of them, Piper had a wounded shoulder and Jason had a bloody lip, and looked a bit dizzy. Both were looking at him as if they had never seen him before.
Leo cackled at the sight of his normally strong friends in such a pitiful state. A strange sense of pride coursed through his veins, filling him with adrenaline and encouragement. He was proud that he of all people was strong enough to take down two powerful demigods. Seeing their pained expressions filled him with a rush he had not felt since his days of running away from foster homes, and avoiding the police.
He shot a stream of flames directly at his two friends, and delighted in their horrified expressions, Piper screamed, Leo felt the scream resound in his bones.
"Do you understand now young warrior?" A dreamy voice said.
Leo was startled out of the dream, sweat clung to his brow. He quickly did a self-assessment. He was still bleeding from hi head wound but his legs were fine. He was in some sort of cave, but he could somehow sense that this cave was very different from the first one he had been in.
"My apologies for waking you son of fire." The voice spoke again, sounding not at all apologetic.
Leo whipped his head around, and saw that the goddess Nyx was i the cave with him.
"I-" Leo started, "I don't understand."
Nyx smiled. "You will soon young hero. I will show you that you are strong. That your fire is strong. And then you will understand that you are fighting for the wrong side."
Leo's blood froze. Fighting… for the wrong side?
"Cut the crap, I know for a fact that I am fighting on the right side." Leo said angrily, his mouth finally catching up with his brain. He was still reeling from the shock of his dream. The things he did, and more importantly, the joy he felt when he did those things.
"You… you caused that dream?" Leo asked, needing proof that it wasn't his mind that conjured up that scenario. That it wasn't his mind that tortured his friends, and enjoyed doing so.
"I may have guided it along the path it needed to go, but I can assure you Mr. Valdez, that dream was of your own making. I just tend to bring out the worst of dreams. The dreams your mind tries to forget, because you could never handle the truth of how devious and horrible your mind can truly be. Your mind's innermost wants and desires are never quite what you expect."
Leo felt horrible. Hurting Piper and Jason, laughing while he did so. That couldn't be his innermost desire. Gaea had to be manipulating him.
Right?