Chapter 7:Prophecies of Doom

Leo's POV

When Piper said Jason was her boyfriend, everything made sense. Anneira must have thought that there was something between me and beauty queen. I had been so stupid, talking about Piper like that. Of course, Anneira would be able to sense my feelings about Piper, which were all caring and loving, because she was one of my best friends! I wanted to pause the world for a moment and explain that there was nothing between us. Unfortunately, the world had different ideas.

The minute Rachel saw Anneira, her eyes glowed emerald and she recited in a raspy voice:

Five shall go north to the icy land

The cold, the fire, the magicians hand

The earth and dove together unite

One mistake shall freeze the flame

A final breath to save the lost

Raising chaos darkness falls

Everything went completely silent. Rachel collapsed, but Annabeth caught her. Suddenly, everything seemed to explode. People talked and screamed. Someone fainted, thought it wasn't Anneira. She was leaning into me slightly, and I resisted the urge to wrap my arms around her. Autumn, Sasha, and Dylan pushed through the crowd and stood next to Anneira protectively.

Finally, Chiron called for silence. "Obviously, this is the quest Lady Artemis and Lady Aphrodite spoke of yesterday. Anneira, chose your companions wisely." Anneira looked shocked to be put on the spot. Suddenly, a voice called out from the crowd, "Well, they've already been chosen for her in a way. " Kelly and Alyson stepped out of the crowd. I felt Anneira stiffed slightly. "The fire, thats obviously Leo, and then the earth would be a child of Demeter, and the dove is obviously Aphrodite, so we would be the best choice for that job." Kelly flashed me a dazzling smile that made me want to reach into my tool belt for my hammer.

"No!" Anneira said forcefully, "I choose my own companions. Yes, I agree Leo should come," She looked up at me and I nodded. I couldn't let her go on a quest by herself. "Ok, and I want Autumn and Sasha too." "We're in!" Sasha confirmed. "Alright, that leaves the magician." She turned to Dylan, "You in?" "Totally." I noticed Dylan take Sasha's hand and she smiled.

"It's decided then," Chiron said, "You leave tomorrow." I looked down at Anneira and she smiled at me nervously, "I want to talk to you after dinner." She whispered. I nodded, "Listen, about Piper. I figured out why you were so upset about her." I said. "And why is that?" she said innocently. "Well, you thought we were dating, and I'm sorry if it seemed like that. Its a long story actually, but I'll tell you some other time, okay?" I said hurriedly. She stopped and looked at me. "See you at dinner Leo." She ran of to the Poseidon cabin.

I decided to go back to my cabin and pack. I put some extra clothes, water, ambrosia, and nectar in backpack. I also picked up the slim cellphone I'd made that didn't attract monsters and put it in the pack. I thought about making a trip to bunker nine, but decided I had all the mechanical stuff I needed in my tool belt. I went outside to see if I could find Anneira before dinner.

Anneira's POV:

After Leo gave his very heart wrenching speech about Piper, I needed some time to think. Eventually, I couldn't stand it anymore, and went looking for him. I saw him walking over to his cabin, but my way was blocked by the form of the Hermes kid, Andy. He had short brown hair and green eyes. I suppose he was fairly good looking, but he was really pushy and had tried to flirt with me like, six times. I rolled my eyes, "Umm, I'm kinda busy, Andy." "Oh, Well I was wondering if you wanted to meet me by the lake tonight and we could talk about us." I growled in frustration. "Look, Andy there is no us. I'm not interested in you. Actually, I like someone else, so just leave me alone!" I pushed past him and stalked off to the arena.

After I slashed a few dummies, I decided to go looking for Leo again. When I knocked on his cabin door, it was answered by and unfamiliar boy who said he went to the forge. I cut behind the guys cabins to get there faster.

When I was walking past the Hermes cabin, I saw Andy come around the corner. He smiled at me again, "I see your spending a lot of time with that Leo idiot." "Go away, Andy" I snapped. "Oo, looks like someones a little emotional," he said trailing, his finger down my arm. "Umm, I have to go do something." I desperately tried to get away but Andy blocked me. "Oh, come one, I just wanna have a little fun." he smiled innocently but his eyes were full of a creepy desire.

I tried to back up, but I was already backed into the wall. He pushed me against the wall, and I tried to shove him away, but he grabbed my wrists and pinned them to the wall with one hand. I started to panic, fear making my heart beat faster. His other hand grabbed my face and he smashed his lips to mine. I let out a muffled scream, desperately trying to push him off, but he was too strong. His hand traveled down my side to my back and he pulled me in tighter. I continued to make muffled noises in the back of my throat, but I couldn't do much more than struggle helplessly. He pushed me harder against the wall, force his tongue into my mouth. Tears were streaming down my face and all I could do was stand there as this boy kissed my.

Suddenly, he was shoved off me by none other that Leo. He punched Andy so hard, he knocked him down. Andy got back up, blood pouring from his nose, "What are you doing Valdez?" Leo's hands were balls of fire, and waves of absolute fury rolled off his body. "Don't ever touch her again!" He snapped. Andy backed up and then turned around and ran.

I sank to the ground, my heart pounding, tears streaming down my face. Leo was at my side in an instant. He wrapped his arms around me and comforted me as I cried. I was mostly crying out of relief, but I was also completely terrified and shocked at what had just happened. Then it hit me, Leo had rescued me. He'd seen what had happened and had saved me. "Thank you." I whispered. He took my face in his hands, "Anytime ice queen," He murmured back. Then he kissed me. It was soft and only lasted for a few seconds, but his lips were hot and felt like fire against my own.

We separated and he just looked at me. Then, perfect timing as always, the dinner bell rang. I sighed, "We should go." He helped me up, his hands lingered in my own longer than necessary. He smiled and walked away calling over his shoulder "See you after dinner."