Thank you to anonreviewsyou for that lovely review. It makes me smile to see one like that :D

To Jaz: Sammy Leo has a sibling. Augustus 'Gus' Zhang, who made a brief appearance at the beginning of the story.

Speaking of whom, I'm going to try and squeeze out a side story later about the kids left behind. Aria, Zac, and Gus are gonna be having their own little adventure, too!

I own nothing you recognize as canon.


XXXII

PIPER

Piper Grace bent down and took the sedative IV out of Leo's arm. The son of Hephaestus needed only minor sedation, so whatever was in his system would be enough to let him peacefully sleep through the night. The IV had left a tiny bruise on his arm, at which she winced.

Espie was sitting next to Leo, her hand in his. Tulio was on the other side, next to Piper.

"Can't you try to heal him?" Hazel asked, coming over with a wet towel for Leo's forehead.

Tulio shook his head. "It's not something I can heal, nor is it my place. I can't heal everything. Colds, broken limbs, wounds, even tumors, sure. But some things, like heart attacks, paralyzed or lost limbs, and hereditary diseases, I cannot. You'd have to call upon my great-grandfather Bob for that. 'Course, I don't know if he'd answer…"

Piper silently nodded. She reached out and tucked a stray curl behind Leo's ear. He was peacefully asleep, no sign of the pain from earlier taking his features at all.

"I wake up from that weird slumber only to have to immediately take care of this idiot," she muttered. "Leo, why do you always have to make things difficult?"

Piper studied Leo's unconscious form. He had aged a lot since she first met him at the Wilderness School—more than Piper, that was for sure—and it was already starting to show. Smile lines were already appearing around his eyes. Wrinkles were slightly present on his skin. A few silver hairs had sprouted on his scalp—not even noticeable unless you were looking for them, but that would soon change. Piper realized that Leo had pretty much worked himself into the aging. If he didn't work so hard, perhaps he wouldn't look so old?

Normal demigods barely reach their twenties. Yet here we are, she thought. We're getting older and older each day. Even Leo has grown up…

Hazel placed the wet towel on the son of Hephaestus's forehead. Piper heard a slight sizzle and saw steam rising from the towel. His temperature's through the roof, she noted. I hope that's normal.

If it was odd, the twins certainly didn't show any concern about it. Espie had her head snuggled up against Leo's arm, her eyes closed. Tulio's head was bowed, his features masked by his hair. Both of them were as still as Leo. Seeing any Valdez like this was a huge red flag.

Piper looked at Hazel sadly. "We've done all we can," she told the daughter of Pluto. "I took Leo off the light sedatives, so he should wake up in the morning."

Hazel nodded. "Then let's go. I think the twins have it covered here."

The Valdez twins didn't show any sign of acknowledgement. They were deeply immersed in being with Leo while he recovered.

Piper and Hazel left the infirmary just to be bombarded by Mark and Jason—in the pajamas, no less.

"Meeting in the mess hall," Mark huffed. "Bobby said it was really important!"


Seeing everyone in their pj's reminded Piper of the time the Seven had been woken up by a cruise ship before they faced Hercules. At least Percy wasn't in a bronze breastplate this time and everyone's shirts were right-side out.

She did almost laugh out loud at Bobby's Hedwig bottoms and slippers. That was just adorable.

But he looked shaken, too, which cut Piper's inner giggle short.

When the young Jackson was done retelling his dream vision, everyone was dead silent. Piper shivered at the thought of poor Calypso, who had forsaken her immortality only to have a piece of it forced onto her. She had to be hurting, which in turn was hurting Leo on top of the tugging.

"So what can we do?" Hazel asked.

Annabeth sighed. "We have to wait for Leo to wake up. Until then, we must plan on how we're going to rescue Calypso and defeat Atlas."

"She said Atlas wasn't near her," Bobby said. "So I'm assuming she's nowhere near San Fran."

Jason nodded. "If she was, Camp Jupiter might have contacted us or CHB about there being a disturbance."

"Wouldn't there be one if Atlas was rising in power?" Frank put in.

Lacy shook her head. "In my dream, he said he wasn't planning on waging war for a while. Not enough of an army and too many powerful demigods and legacies. He said he just wanted to be free."

"That guy being free is not something I want on my conscience," Percy growled. "Especially at the expense of Calypso."

The whole table nodded.

Jason fixed his glasses. "So, obviously there's going to be some sort of guard for Calypso. We'll have to prepare for that."

"If they're as easy as the guards for Percy, I think we'll be okay," Lacy said smugly.

"Okay," Jason said. "But what about Atlas? Do we bother sending out a second team to keep him occupied or do we all rescue Calypso together?"

Piper looked at everyone's faces. Bobby and Annabeth were thinking hard. Frank was pondering, his son Sammy Leo sitting next to him with the same face. Percy and Lacy exchanged a glance. Mark shifted in his seat, looking nervous. Hazel reached out to comfort him.

"I say we all go get Calypso," Piper finally said. "Leo and the twins will be heading that party, and Leo's gonna be pretty preoccupied with his heart tugging at him like this, so they'll need some protection. We don't know how long it'll take to get to Calypso or how many monsters we'll have to face; we all need to go."

"Piper's right," Sammy Leo said. "Atlas isn't a problem until he is totally free. If that happens, the camps can easily take him and force him back under the sky."

Jason nodded. "Fine. One problem down."

"One problem?" Mark asked.

The blonde looked at his son sadly. "Leo's health is going to be a concern. When he gets closer to Calypso, what's that going to do to his heart?"

Piper shifted uncomfortably in her chair. If Leo had a heart attack from being this far away from his wife…what would happen when he got closer?

"He's the only thing that can lead us to Calypso," Bobby pointed out. "Mr. Valdez is strong. I'm sure he'll pull through if it's for her."

Piper smiled.

"He'll be able to do this," Frank agreed. "He won't let any tugging stop him."

"It'll only make him more determined to find Calypso," Lacy said with a smile.

Piper was about to say something when the ship suddenly lurched forward. Everyone was suddenly one huge mass of flesh on the floor. Thankfully, none of the plates in the cabinets had gotten catapulted out, but stray silverware almost stabbed the daughter of Athena in the eye.

Weren't we parked in the air? Piper thought to herself.

"What the Hades?" Percy yelled at the bottom of the pile.

Jason was wiggling next to him, almost elbowing Bobby in the face. "Did a plane hit us?"

Frank transformed into a snake and wiggled his way out. Lacy pushed out from underneath Hazel. Piper somehow managed to get off of the pile, since she was on top. Sammy Leo (who was right under Piper) got up shakily and ran out of the room. Piper heard him yell, "Espie! Is Leo okay?"

Piper and Frank ran upstairs, followed by Lacy.

Piper paused slightly when she saw Icarus shaking his head around. It kind of resembled how a dog played with a chewy bone.

Frank sucked in a breath. "What's that in Icarus's mouth?"

Lacy bolted forward before Piper could get a good look. She had already drawn her sword and swatted at Icarus.

"Put him down," the legacy of Poseidon yelled.

Icarus spat out the thing he was playing with. It tumbled onto the deck. Golden blood splattered onto the wood, confirming it was a monster.

Piper ran up and saw that Lacy had her sword threateningly close to the monster's throat. "You," she spat. "You're that little weasel that was talking to Atlas the other day! Now you're gonna talk to us!"

Piper drew her own dagger and Frank became a tiger, pinning the Telekhine down to the ground.

The little Doberman-seal-monster squealed in fear. "Please! Don't hurt me! I come in peace!"


A/N: I'm so terrible, aren't I? :3

Also, you know, a little bit more insight on grown Leo. Not even 40 and he's just like his mother; working himself happily into old age. Does he care? Nope :) He does what he loves and that's all that matters to him!