La-de-dah.
Nothing to see here.
Except a Tulio chapter :3
I own nothing you recognize as canon.
XXXV
TULIO
After they had established where they were going, Tulio took it upon himself to drive. He hadn't done so in a while and needed some time alone.
Tulio thought about Houston. He hadn't been there since he was really little, so he hardly remembered it. All he knew was that it was hot, steamy, and dusty sometimes. And muddy after the rain. For some reason he remembered lots of mud.
Houston had held some pretty bad memories for Leo, so Tulio knew it was going to be pretty hard on the son of Hephaestus. Though Leo had moved there when the twins were born, it was still a scar over his heart and sometimes he couldn't handle it. There had been many a night when Leo had not slept—and not because the twins kept him up, either.
Tulio sighed, squinting as the rising sun glared in his eyes.
Rising sun? How long have I been up here?
Tulio realized he had been driving all night. Huh. Oh well…
He looked over at Andy, who had fallen asleep next to Icarus. Considering the other Telekhines' sizes at the Hoover Dam, Tulio supposed this guy was pretty small. He didn't seem like much of a threat. That, and his feelings and emotions were pretty genuine earlier. Tulio hadn't sensed any sort of threatening aura, so that was good.
Tulio yawned.
"Why don't you let me take the wheel, mijo?"
Tulio jumped, yelping. He whirled around and saw Leo standing there. The son of Hephaestus had his arms crossed and was grinning a little.
"Papi," Tulio said. "What are you doing up? You should be resting. Your heart—"
"I'm fine," Leo said. "That tug caught me by surprise, that's all. I wasn't expecting such a hard tug."
"But your tie pulls harder the closer you get after such a long separation, right?"
Leo's eye twitched. "Yeah, but now I'm expecting it. I can learn to deal with it now that I know it's coming."
Tulio gave him a hard stare. "Go back to bed, Papi."
Leo shook his head. "As if! I'm up now and ready to go! I'm not gonna go to sleep when Calypso is close! Besides, I'll feel the tug regardless of my conscious state."
He stumbled a little. Tulio went to catch him. The man waved him off. "No, not a tug. Those sedatives are still wearin' off. They're almost out of my system now."
Tulio shook his head.
Leo straightened up again. "So, where's my Sunshine located?"
Tulio pointed to Andy and told his father everything that had transpired last night. Leo looked at the Telekhine with narrowed eyes, like he was considering something. Then, he groaned. "Houston? It would be Houston."
Tulio nodded. "Still think you should drive?"
Leo gave him a half-hearted glare. "I'm driving, kid. Outta my way."
He shoved Tulio softly. "I'm fine, mijo," he said, grinning like a crazy person. "Honest."
Tulio smiled. Leo was telling the truth. "Mind if I get my sleeping bag and camp out up here? Just in case."
Leo shrugged and sighed. "Fine."
Tulio left the control center. Before he headed below deck, he heard his father yell, "Am I that old that I have to be taken care of 24/7? It's not like I'm as ancient as your tartarabuelo!"
Tulio smiled and shook his head at his father's overdramatic attitude.
A few minutes later, Tulio had curled up behind Leo in his orange sleeping bag. Leo hadn't complained again, but at least gave him a bit of a lean-to to shade his son from the sunlight.
Tulio closed his eyes and fell asleep.
A chill ran up Tulio's spine. He woke up in the dark, smelling something that resembled dirty socks and poo put together. It was not a nice smell.
He twirled on the balls of his feet, trying to get a feel of where he was. It looked like a cave, but the roof was so bent in, Tulio thought he might be under a feeble chair…
His gaze landed on a lone figure crouching in the dark.
"Mom!" he yelled.
Calypso lifted her head and smiled. Her face was drenched in sweat. "Tulio," she groaned. "Please hurry…"
"We're trying," he said. "A monster we captured said you were in Houston in the sewers."
"Oh that's what that smell is…I thought I had terrible body odor…"
Tulio cracked a smile. Leave it to the Valdez family to joke under serious circumstances. "We're almost there, Mom. Can you hold on?"
"Oh, I can hold on," she said. "Your grandfather has made sure I can. It's not my strength failing you need to worry about. Atlas has almost put all of the weight onto me now. You must get here quickly!"
Tulio nodded furiously. "Are we following the right path, though? Is Houston correct?"
"I've no idea," Calypso said. "You'll just have to trust this monster of yours."
"His name is Andy. He says he used to be your father's assistant. He's an intern."
Calypso, despite her obvious pain, smirked. "Intern, huh? He mention where he was studying?"
"Said his major was business management."
"If he's telling the truth, and if we all make it out of this, we could always use a desk clerk in the shop."
Tulio chuckled. "Be serious, Mom."
His mother smiled sweetly. "Just lightening the mood. It's the only thing I can lighten at the moment."
Tulio could feel his presence slowly disappearing. He held out his hand, but the scene was fading. The last thing he saw was his mother's smile.
The last thing he heard was a soft voice speaking in his head. It wasn't his mother's voice—it was the Fates' together.
"The last of rescues is hardest of all.
Titan's strength shall prevent her fall."
The dream faded and Tulio jolted awake.
"You okay, mijo?"
Tulio opened his eyes. Leo was crouched beside him, looking a little worried.
The demititan sat up and rubbed his eyes. "I'm okay…how long was I out?"
"Couple hours," said Leo. "You had a dream, didn't you?"
"How'd you guess?"
"You were whimpering and shifting in your sleep."
Tulio shook his head in confusion, then remembered the dream. "It was Mom," he said. "I had a dream about her."
He explained the dream. Leo nodded, totally serious.
"Not much time, then," the son of Hephaestus muttered. Then, he smirked. "Good thing we all have practice with deadlines, then."
Tulio nodded. "How long until we reach Houston?"
Leo nodded to the starboard side. "We just entered the city limits."
Tulio stood up and stretched. "Time to see if our little friend is telling the truth."
He walked over to Andy, who was still sleeping. He prodded the Telekhine with his shoe. "Wake up."
Andy yawned, revealing his doggish fangs. "Ngh?" he said through the yawn.
Tulio pointed over the rail. "We're in Houston. Care to point us to the graveyard entrance?"
He unlinked the monster and held onto the chain like a leash. Andy walked over to the side of the ship and glanced down. He looked around a bit before pointing his flipper toward the Southeast. "There."
Leo shook the Wii remote and the ship slowly descended down near the spot. The rest of the crew came upstairs to see the approaching cemetery.
Espie squeezed Tulio's shoulder. Tulio looked at her with a knowing stare.
As soon as the Argo II was low enough, the entire company went down the gangplank and halted next to the entrance. Leo whistled to get Icarus's attention.
"Fly into the clouds," he instructed, pulling a plastic whistle out of his tool belt. He blew the whistle. "If you hear that, come find us. Don't blow anything up, please."
Icarus roared in delight. The Argo II ascended and disappeared into the smog clouds above Houston.
Leo pulled out a few more whistles, along with a hammer. He handed the whistles to Sammy Leo, Percy, Esperanza, Piper, and Tulio and put his own around his neck. "Just in case," he said. He shouldered the hammer. "Now, let's get this over with."
The group nodded and faced the cemetery. Tulio gulped, still gripping Andy's leash. What were the chances it would be this cemetery? Of all the cemeteries in Houston…it had to be this one…
Leo led the way inside, tall and proud. "C'mon, guys," he said. "Stop staring."
Tulio followed with Andy in front, walking under the sign that read VALDEZ CEMETERY like nothing was wrong at all.
A/N: Whelp...yup...this is happening.
