Hey guys!

Thanks for reading my story!

Roses are red, violets are blue, I do not own PJO and unless you are Rick Riordan, neither do you! I do own Mark, Robert and Theseus though.

Last Time:

I concentrated on my power, before focusing it into my hands, so that I could catch him on fire. I could feel my power flow through me, until it burst forth and transferred from me, to my captor. He yelped in pain, before being blasted off of me, where he quickly scampered to his feet and ran around like a headless chicken.

Then he charged towards me, with intent to kill. I sidestepped my flaming opponent, making him crash into the wall behind me. The wall broke down, causing him to continue through the wall, until he crashed into something beyond. Suddenly, a green light erupted from the room and flooded through the hole in the wall, before an explosion rocked the Bunker, causing debris to fall. That was the last I saw, as the explosion ripped through me, forcing me to lose consciousness.

Now:

Leo's POV

All I could see was darkness. The kind of darkness that presses against you and sends a tingle down your spine. In that darkness, I saw shapes and words floating around, like some kind of lost puzzle. One of the shapes flew towards me and said, "You will see your father someday, mijo." Before it faded away into the blackness. I didn't know what that meant or what was happening; in fact, I couldn't remember who I was!All of these things were making my head hurt.

My mind kept trying to figure out what these things were, but right when I started to discern what the images and voices meant, they would vanish from my mind, leaving behind a faint sense of familiarity. Another figure flew up to me and commanded, "Get me out of this cage, Valdez! This is what I trained you for!" This time, I saw an image of a woman trapped in a cage, with rock spires around her and the earth rising upwards, as if it was trying to consume her.

This scene only added to my headache, as I couldn't exactly recall what the scene had meant to me. So many more images passed around me, each displaying different events and different people. There was some with a choppy haired girl, with eyes that kept changing color and others had a blonde haired blue eyed boy. When I saw those images, I felt a sense of home and friendship.

As more and more images clouded my head, the headache grew, until it was almost unbearable. I fell to the "floor" of the darkness, where I clutched my head and writhed in pain, before a prepubescent feminine voice rang inside my head, "Come to me. Hope survives best at the hearth." (I wonder who that is…)

I followed the voice through the blackness, until I was standing next to an eight year old girl, who had her eyes closed. She was sitting on the ground next to a fire, with a warm smile upon her face. As I hesitantly approached, she opened her eyes. I took a sharp breath; her eyes were filled with bright orange flames, dancing in a hypnotizing pattern. But she didn't feel hostile; she felt welcoming. Her whole presence reminded me of Thanksgiving and Christmas; all the times with your family. Something I never got to enjoy. Wait… Where did that come from?

As I thought over these things, she stated, "Please sit." I hesitantly sat down next to her, expecting her to eat me or something. We sat in silence for a minute, before she started, "Your path has been a long one, Leo Valdez. You have suffered more than the average demigod, yet you did not turn on the gods. No. You helped them."

"You intrigue me. You are always the loner; the person nobody wanted, yet you didn't let that dampen your spirit. Instead, you spread joy and happiness into other people. You sue your humor as a defense, so that people won't hurt you and to spread joy to other people. I find that admirable."

"Yes I can see why you do what you do. It is because you are afraid. Afraid of being hurt. Afraid of being forgotten. But you must learn, Leo Valdez, that the answer to all of your problems, is hope. You must hope that there is someone who will not treat you poorly. You must hope that the darkness can be pushed back. You must hope that you can find Calypso."

As she said these words, certain memories came back to me. Calypso. That name sent butterflies through my stomach. That name… It was from my time trapped on an island. I… I destroyed her picnic. Calypso. The name left me with an image of brown haired woman tending to her garden. She had alluring almond eyes and a gorgeous smile. Calypso. I promised I would go back for her and I would. Suddenly, I knew my name, I remembered my childhood and I remembered my jokes.

"Now, Leo Valdez, you need to remember. Remember who you are and what you fight for, because without those vital things, you can't possibly do what needs to be done. Now, take my blessing; for you intrigue me. You will be a great vessel of hope among the demigods. If you are to remember anything, of this conversation, remember this; hope survives best at the hearth. Wherever your home is, that is where your hope is. Now, you will only remember this conversation, when the time is right. Goodbye and I hope we meet again."

After she finished speaking those words, I could feel myself drifting away from her. "Wait!" I shouted, but I couldn't do anything as I was pulled away. I still had questions that needed to be answered, like why was an eight year old telling me about myself and what did she mean by her blessing? She must be a goddess. As I searched for her face in the memories stored within my mind, I wasn't paying attention and slammed into something, with the force of a wrecking ball. I sprawled on the floor, as I felt the darkness close around me, before it swallowed me whole.

A WILD LINEBREAK WAS CAUGHT!

I woke up to a pounding headache. I slowly opened my eyes and blinked, as the harsh sunlight stung my brown eyes. I blinked multiple times, before looking around, trying to get my bearings. There were a massive amount of destroyed cement lying around me, mixed with rock, granite and marble. All materials stored in Bunker Nine. I attempted to push myself upwards, but quickly realized I had a stone on my chest. One of my arms felt numb, but I didn't pay it much mind, as I positioned my hands against the stone and heaved upwards. I instantly saw red. My arm felt like it was on fire. I let forth a scream of pain, before whimpering and focusing on my arm.

I examined it and saw that it was bending at a funny angle. Uh Oh. Looks like my arm is dislocated. I searched through my memories, The Giant War, Camp Half-Blood and Chiron's teachings.

I latched onto the memory with Chiron teaching us what to do when we had a dislocated arm. First, you make a fist. I did so with my right arm. Second, you bend your arm so your fist points upward. That I did, though it worsened the pain. Then you turn your arm outward, away from your… I screamed in pain, as my shoulder grated, the muscles and tendons pulling in ways they were not supposed to stretch. I kept turning my arm and kept clenching my fist, until after a few seconds, the bone popped back into place.

The relief was immediate. It felt like I was being burned alive. I lied on the ground for a couple of minutes, catching my breath, before I climbed off of the blackened ground, happy that my arm only dully throbbed. I did a quick three sixty, so that I could get a lay of the land.

I was in a room, with rubble and dust coating the ground. The sun shone through the ceiling and bodies littered the ground; dripping their crimson liquid onto the rocks around them. Hopefully my siblings made it out okay.

There wasn't a way directly upwards, so my exits were optional. Like none at all. The only passage leading back the way we had come, had caved in, so I couldn't go that way. The massive doors, where I first came in with Festus, were blocked by rubble and the secret passageway to the Argo Two was nowhere to be seen.

I needed a way to climb upwards, so that I could escape. There was a pole up above, which was attached to the wall and the other end was angled upwards, after a few feet of it jutting outwards. Maybe if I threw a rope it wouldn't fall out. There was also another pole below, which seemed perfect for what I had planned. I started to scourge the room, looking for anything useful, that I might be able to escape with. I found a broken glass bottle, blue prints and many different ruined mechanisms.

After scavenging for supplies for a while, I began to scrutinize my surroundings with even more intense examination. After several minutes of careful examination, I found the end of a rope underneath some debris. Delighted, I lifted up some of the debris, before I grabbed onto the end of the rope and pulled it out from underneath the debris. The rope looked like it could go to the ceiling and back, so it was perfect for what I had planned.

I climbed one of the highest points of rubble and threw the rope as high as I could, aiming for the pole. I missed. I quickly snatched the rope again and prayed to the gods that it would make it to where I had planned. It didn't. Now, I was getting angry. I grabbed the rope again and flung it as far as I could and it miraculously flew over the pole and fell back downwards to the floor.

I quickly stomped to other end and clenched onto the rope, before tying it to the other pole, before I tugged on the rope, to see if the rope and pipe would hold. It creaked a little bit, but didn't break. Figuring that I didn't have any other options, I started to use my arms and pulled my way upwards, while walking up the wall with my legs. It was a little awkward, considering I was facing to the side of where the rope was, but I didn't have any other choices. As I climbed, I began to sweat, from the physical exertions upon my body. The sweat would pour into my eyes and flow into my wounds, which made my climb very uncomfortably and painful.

I scampered upwards as fast as I could, so that the pipe or rope wouldn't break before I reached the top. When I was halfway up, I saw the rope start to snap, so I climbed even faster, using all of my strength to pull myself upwards. Once I was close enough to the top, I used my right arm to grab onto the pipe, before I swung my left arm over to join my right, before I pulled myself upwards onto the pipe. I wasn't a moment too soon. The rope was so frayed, that if my weight was on it a second longer, it would have snapped, sending me tumbling downwards, where I would either die or become severely injured.

I was lucky. I exhaustedly lied on top of the groaning bar, trying to catch my breath, before the next part of my strenuous climb. Wait… the groaning bar? I stood on top of it and stretched upwards, before I latched onto the ledge and jumped upwards. I kicked the side of the crevice; trying to find a way to help myself upwards, until I finally lifted myself onto the ledge, where I instantly collapsed and started to breath heavily, as sweat poured down my forehead.

I looked downwards and realized it was just a huge hole, which had opened up, because of the massive explosion of Greek fire and explosives. I looked around me and was not surprised to be by the entrance to the Bunker. Upon recovering from my climb, I crawled to my feet and began the long, hurtful walk back to Camp Half-Blood.

THIS LINEBREAK DOESN'T KNOW THE ALPHEBET.

As I continued my long, agonizing journey back to Camp, I ran into a familiar tree nymph, by the name of Juniper. She looked like a green skinned elf. When she saw me, she ran to me, "Leo! I need your help! Some of the evil half-bloods started to burn down the forest and I can't do anything, as the fire quickly travels toward my tree! I might die!" She shouted, before her mood saddened, "Although, it doesn't matter anymore, as long as Grover and I can be together."

"Don't think like that! I will help, just tell me how." I cried.

"I was wondering if you could absorb the fire into your body, so that it can no longer harm anything. It would be the only thing you could do, unless you can manipulate the fire."

"I have never tried, but it is worth a shot." I replied, determined to help one of my friends.

After I spoke those words, Juniper pulled me away and soon, we were sprinting through the woods trying to stop the fire, which would eventually destroy Juniper's tree.

"I can't go any farther; I can't travel very far from my tree. My life force is connected to it. Now go! Just keep going in that direction! " She shouted, before shoving me along and shooing me away with her hands.

Upon her command, I galloped into the woods, dodging screaming nymphs, as they tugged onto my clothes and asked me to save them. I told them what I was doing and they let go of me, but they still looked upset. Upon reaching the fire, I lifted my arms and instead of transferring my energy onto an object or person, I drew it into me. As the fire flowed to me, I was completely submerged in the glowing element.

The fire seemed to awaken my senses and gave me clarity. It made the world so much clearer; I could see each individual feather on the blue jay flying above me and I could see a tiny caterpillar in the grass. As the fire flowed into me, I never felt so alive. It was pure energy and power flooding my body; which in turn evaporated my tiredness and healed my wounds. It was phenomenal.

As the fire died away, I realized that Juniper's idea had worked and I had absorbed a massive portion of the deadly element. After the last of the fire was beat down by the nymphs, they gave me their gratitude, before returning to their trees. Happy, I bounded back to Juniper to tell her the good news.

Upon my arrival, she sprinted up to me and asked, "Did it work?" I quickly nodded my head and before I knew it, I was engulfed in a bone crushing hug. I think I heard my ribs break, because she was squeezing them so hard.

Gasping, I lightly shoved her, but when she didn't move, I shoved harder until she got the memo. She clambered off of me, while saying, "Sorry." I smiled at her, to tell her that it was okay and she smiled back, before saying, "Now go; you have work to do."

After she commanded me to leave, I obliged and quickly resumed my lumbering sprint through the forest. As I broke through the forest and into the valley, which is Camp Half-Blood, I saw the once lush grass burned to ash and kicked up by the vicious hooves of the centaurs. Somebody had taken my home and destroyed it. I was going to have my revenge.

I dashed to our headquarters and upon closer examination; I saw the senior councilors standing in a circle, with their heads bowed downwards. They looked so stupid.

As I ran closer, I slowed down, so that I could hear their conversation. "…Was the best friend I could ask for. He was brave, determined, sacrificial, amazing cook and the most joking person I have ever known. He would always lighten the mood, by telling a really, really bad joke, but the joke would always take our mind off of our current circumstances."

"I couldn't ask for a better friend. Without him, Piper and I would have died on our first quest. I can almost picture the time he single handedly destroyed three Cyclops, with nothing but a tool belt and fire. I can't wait to meet him in Elysium. Farewell, my friend." Jason reminisced.

As the group closed their eyes, I walked up behind them and silently peered over their shoulders, trying to see what they were looking at, before I asked, "What are you guys doing? I don't see anything in there…"

Instantly, all of their heads whipped to me, all of them had massive grins on their faces and red eyes from crying. Did I miss something? I was about to ask why they were crying, but they tackled me to the ground, before clambered on top of me. Have you ever been dog piled by a herd of filthy demigods? It's not fun. I slipped out of underneath them all and waited at the side, as they slowly realized that I was missing from their group. I saw Jason's head flail around wildly, before his blue, bloodshot eyes landed on me.

Immediately, he dashed forward and engulfed me in a bone crushing hug. Once he let go, I took deep breaths to recover from the assault on my body.

"LEO! WHERE WERE YOU! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD! YOU SCARED ME SO MUCH! DON'T YOU EVER DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN OR BY THE GODS I SWEAR-" An enraged Piper shrieked in my ear, causing me to lose all hearing in my right ear, which in turn muted the rest of her sentence.

"OW! Not in the ear Pipes; it hurts! Talk about an overprotective mama bear…" I mumbled under my breath.

She raised her eye brows at me, before she lifted her hand, so I thought she was going to slap me, but instead she hugged me fiercely. "I thought I lost you…" She mumbled in my ear. "You can't lose me, Pipes! I am invincible!" I joked. After I pried her off of me, I turned to the eager demigods, who were anxiously waiting to hear how I survived the massive explosions. Even though I didn't know that yet.

"So… What were you guys doing in that circle? It looked pretty stupid, just saying."

"We thought you were dead! Wasn't it obvious!? You didn't expect us to be mourning? How stupid can you get? Wait… How LONG where you standing there?" Piper asked incredulously.

"…"

"That's what I thought! The nerve of you! Ugh! I can't believe…" Piper raged/mumbled.
Jason took off from where she ended by demanding, "Now before I kill you, tell us about what happened."

Upon his insistence, I told the group of half-bloods how I caught the one demigod on fire and sidestepped his charge, before he ran into several canisters of Greek fire. I left out my dream part, because all it showed me was my memories. (That's what you think Leo. HAHAHA!) I told them how I climbed out of the Bunker with a robe and pipes and how I stopped a forest fire, so that the nymphs would not be consumed.

"And that is how I ended up here." I concluded.

The demigods were about to start yapping again, but the clip clop of hooves shut them up, as Chiron trotted up onto the executioner's platform. Upon seeing me, Chiron trotted over and engulfed me in another hug.

"Leo, my boy! I am delighted to see that you didn't die. Although, I did train you… So no wonder you're still alive. I didn't bet against you for a second. However, as much as I would love to hear your story, we have other important matters to discuss. We have work to do. It is high time, my friends, that we attack their base of operations, The Big House."

Sorry guys, but there is another flashback! And maybe another… I don't know.

After the flashbacks are over, I will get to Frank, because I haven't wrote in his POV for a while… and he is about to die.

Thanks for reading my story and I will update again as soon as I can.

Yours in demigodishness, MakaidosTheFirst