First off, thanks for the reviews, I'm feeling quite like a boss right now. Second, to Ummiono011, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult you. Forgive me… DX

Chris pov

I woke up slowly, feeling particularly well rested. My first thought was that this bed was far more comfortable than my usual bunk bed; my second thought was who the hell had their arms around me, and whose chest was I snuggled into. Not that I was complaining, it was actually quite comfortable.

Soon, everything came back to me; the tears, the heart-to-heart conversation, the hugs. I shot up onto my elbows as fast as I could as the realization hit me, I had slept with Leo Valdez (gods, get your mind out of the gutter people, not in that way). I still couldn't get up though, Leo's arms were wrapped too firmly around my back. He was breathing slowly, his curly hair sticking up at all angles, and his eyes were shut tight. In short, he was probably the most adorable thing I'd ever seen.

"Leo, wake up." I said, as I gently shook his shoulder.

"Five more minutes." he murmured sleepily, as his head burrowed further into my stomach.

"Leo, wake up now!" I half screamed into his ear. "Its nine o'clock, we're meant to be in the arena, giving the plant back. Now wake up." I said, losing my temper and pushing him onto the floor.

For a few seconds there was silence in the room until his head shot up into view. "What the hell did you do that for?" he asked, glaring at me. "And what the Hades are you doing in my room…Oh!" he said, before his memory returned, and his face flushed slightly red. My face, on the other hand was already as red as my hair, if the heat emanating from it was any indication.

"Hurry up." I hissed back, trying to forget my embarrassment "and be quiet. If any of my family catch us they'll kill you, and I'll be on night patrol for a week." I instinctively shuddered at the thought of having to patrol the dark corridors at night, and I suppose watching Leo be brutally murdered wouldn't be that pleasant either.

I dragged my partner by the hand through the door, still refusing to meet his eyes. We sprinted down the corridors, the plant squealing in the sack Leo carried, we dashed past corridors, narrowly avoiding the traps set up all the way along the corridors, before I came to a halt in front of a flight of dusty stairs. Almost instantly Leo ran into me, causing me to stumble forwards.

Helping me to my feet he asked curiously "Where are we?"

"Entrance 11H." I replied, unhelpfully. "Direct passageway into the Hermes cabin. It's normally kept tightly locked, imagine the chaos those idiots could cause if they discovered these passages, but I think I should be able to crack the lock."

I poked at the massive padlock on the trapdoor we had climbed up to with my finger, examining it from every angle. Hmm, should have a hairclip in here somewhere, I thought as my left hand combed through my red mop of a hairstyle. With a triumphant "Ahah!", I pulled one from its mass, and began to pick the lock. Hey, I hadn't grown up on the streets for nothing.

Using my limited strength I undid the padlock, and lifted the huge, rusty chain from its handle. Very slowly, so as not to make a noise, I lifted the hatch. Thankfully the cabin was deserted, except for one snoring Stoll brother (couldn't make out which one it was). We heaved ourselves out and onto the wood floor, then sprinted through the cabin entrance, the shrub, thankfully, was silent.

We sprinted to the arena in record time, with only a few scraped knees and twisted ankles to show for our efforts. Thankfully, all my fears about people piecing together the fact that both Leo and I were disheveled and wearing the same clothes as yesterday and coming up with a not so far off answer, were quieted when we saw the other contestants. Many of them were in far worse condition than us. Annabeth and Percy were completely covered in welts, probably from a good lashing by the demon plant, who was definitely the best looking shrub of the group. Three of the pairs had no plant at all, holding instead hacked off branches or a few leaves.

Demeter looked like she was about ready to commit mass genocide at the sight of so many obviously non-happy plants. I'm fairly sure that I could see tears swimming in her eyes when she came up to the podium to speak.

"I am repulsed at this display of gross ignorance and plant-cruelty." The agriculture goddess screamed "You people plainly do not have enough cereal in your diets, I shall have to talk to Dionysus about that." A collective shudder ran through the crowd at this last remark. "Now all of you without plants get out of my sight, you are disqualified." She hissed through gritted teeth. "Now" she continued, smoothing her hemp dress "as Hephaestus has no inclination to speak to you, I shall announce his task. He says that you must navigate your way through a maze that will be built on camp. In the center of the maze is something which should help you in your next task. A maximum of nine pairs will make it through the maze and into the center."

Why do I have a feeling I am really not going to enjoy this task?

By my estimation, we are about half-way through this fic; I still have to write tasks for Dionysus, Apollo, Hades, Hermes, Zeus, Hera and I think someone else, but I can't remember who.

Also, I would like to start a poll now, who should be the final pair? Should it be Jason & Piper, Percy & Annabeth, Leo & Chris, another random couple of your choosing? Vote now! (via review or pm)