CHAPTER TWELVE

Leo's Rescue Mission, Part II

Leo couldn't believe his eyes.

Annabeth stood in front of Busiris, her bronze knife at the ready, and Dakota's throat was being slowly compressed by the old man's hand. He held his lantern in the other. He should've been able to hold her like that, but he was. Dakota struggled violently against him, but it was no use.

Leo twirled his hammer in his hand.

"Let her go!" he yelled.

Busiris turned to face them as they slowly approached, making a circle around him.

"Ah," he said, with a harsh grin. "You have survived, I see. No matter. I have a child of Rome here. I will kill her and that will be an even better plot! The son of Jupiter turned against his own legion to aid the Greeks. Oh, the Romans will be infuriated! And I thought Enceladus's plan was astonishing. This will be a tremendous revolt!"

"Release her!" yelled Piper, forcefully.

Busiris paused, but only for a moment. Then, he gave a great laugh.

Leo stared at Dakota. Their eyes locked and he saw her gaze lower to the lantern. Had Leo not known what she wanted him to do, he probably would've been staring at the lantern another minute or two just to understand.

"Hey!" Leo said, getting Busiris's attention. "You should know that I'm the son of Hephaestus."

Busiris face dropped in a mock surprise.

"The foolish god of blacksmiths…so what? Big deal! When the Giants rise up against the gods, they all will pay and I will make sure every child of Hephaestus is crushed under an anvil!"

"Yeah," said Leo, "that maybe true. But you forgot one thing."

"What's that?" Busiris said, raising an eyebrow.

"Hephaestus is also the god of fire," said Leo, holding his hand out.

In that moment, the lantern's flame ignited beyond containment. The lantern exploded with such force that it knocked both Busiris and Dakota to the ground. She didn't move again.

Busiris's sleeve was on fire and he waved his arm in anguish trying to extinguish the flames, as he rose to his feet. Leo concentrated on keeping them alive and flickering lively.

That's when Jason, Piper, and Annabeth went in for the attack. All of them slashed and twisted around Busiris, but even the three of them still couldn't take him down. Leo was trying his best to keep the flames going on his arm, but it seemed to not be having any effect. In reality, Busiris used the flames as a great defense move to keep the other's from getting to close.

Leo held out his hand and sent flames exploded from his palm and splashing into a nearby apple tree. Flames began to rise.

"More!" he yelled.

The flames got bigger as they rapidly consumed everything around them. Leo knew they had to destroy this place or other demigods, Greek or Roman, might fall into Busiris's trap.

"Someone need to hurry and do something," he said, feeling his energy slowly draining.

Annabeth punched Busiris in the face and Jason was able to knock his legs from underneath him.

Piper ran forward and she radiated beauty so much that Leo stopped and stared. The charm had worked on Busiris because he didn't move. She raised Katoptris and plunged it into his chest. He looked up at them and said, "You won't win!" Then, he burst into dust and blew away in the wind.

"Well, that was bracing," said Leo, breathing heavily.

"That was some awesome fire work!" said Jason, clapping Leo on the back. He was a little woozy and almost fell over.

"Yeah man," he smiled, "quite a ride!"

"Dakota!" yelled Piper, rushing over to her. She was still unconscious and Leo couldn't help but notice how pretty she was, even knocked out. She wasn't moving and she was barely breathing. Piper leaned down and held her up.

"Ambrosia and nectar," said Annabeth, pulling some out of her supply bag she had brought with her. She trickled drink of the gods into Dakota's mouth and broke off a square of ambrosia. Dakota began to chew slowly, but she still didn't move and her breathing was shallow.

"Oh gods," said Annabeth. "It's not working. Why isn't it working? Ambrosia and nectar always, always works!"

"Dakota," said Piper, looking down at her. "You need to wake up. You have to help us continue the quest."

Suddenly, her eyes flicked open. And all of them stood back in shock.

Her eyes were pure white.

Piper looked like she was ready to jump out of her skin, but she held Dakota firmly.

Dakota took in a sharp breath and her eyes returned to normal. She jerked free of Piper and stared at them.

"What….what…what happened?" she said. "I feel like I've been trampled by fauns."

"You're okay!" said Leo, smiling, but she didn't return it and Leo, of course, didn't care.

"Annabeth healed-" began Jason, but Dakota cut him off, looking defiant.

"Lupa taught us never to lend a helping hand in battle," she said, moving passed him.

Jason didn't say anything, but Leo could tell that little hint of his old teachings had struck a nerve.

"We need to get back up in the air," said Annabeth. "Leo, is there anyway your strong enough to get us sailing?"

Leo went into his tool belt and pulled out a portable power drill. He clicked it and whirled to life.

"Leave it to me! I will have us in the air in no time!"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm so SORRY I had you guys waiting a month for this. I've been stressed with exams, but I'm on Spring Break now! So, I'm writing more as you read this and will be posting the remainder of the story through the rest of the weekend with it hopefully being done by Sunday night! Thank you so much for sticking with me, I love you all! J