The Heroes Of Olympus & The Surrounding Darkness

I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I love writing through Leo's point of view so it was pretty fun. I'm trying to capture their individual personalities better. It's a bit hard for me though. I am really enjoying myself writing these fanfictions and I just wanted to say a quick thank-you to all of my followers and really anyone who enjoys reading and keeping up with my story(:

Leo Valdez P.O.V.

Everything is fuzzy. I'm trying so hard to stay awake. Hazel is sitting next to me, waiting for our friends to show up so we can get out of here.

"Leo, are you still with me?" Hazels asks. She kneels by my side.

"Yeah." I whisper, trying not to use too much of my strength.

"Frank is on his way. He'll take us out of here. Leo?"

I don't reply, mostly because I'm almost asleep and somewhat because I don't feel like talking.

"Keep your eyes open, Leo." Hazel says while shaking my shoulder.

"I'm just resting them." I say, still whispering my words.

"No. I want to see your eyes open. Focus them on me."

I open my eyes and see Hazel's beautiful face staring down at me. Frank is very lucky to have her.

"How are you feeling?" She asks.

"Tired." I reply. "When can I sleep?"

"You are sleeping." Hazel jokes.

"Very funny." I say with a small smile.

Frank swoops down next to Hazel and turns back into his human form. He surveys the area, then kneels by Hazel. "Hey, Leo. How are you holding up?"

I look him in the eyes. "I'm just peachy. How about yourself?" I say sarcastically.

"Wait, Frank, where is Jason?" Hazel interrupts. "I thought you were going to pick up the others?"

"Oh yeah." Frank realizes. "When Jason and I got across the swamp, Percy sorta turned into a werewolf. He attacked Nico, but Nico got him down and Piper made him go unconsious. Then, this weird guy in purple robes showed up and gave us a jar, but there was nothing in it. And after that, this missile hit somewhere nearby, and Jason got knocked out. That's when they sent me to come get you guys and take you away from here as soon as possible."

Hazel and I sit with our mouths gaping.

"So, we should get going then." He says.

"Uh, yeah." Hazel confirms. "Let's go."

Frank helps me sit up and everything turns different colors. I almost fall over again. "Jeez, Leo." Frank says. "You really don't look too good. You've lost a lot of blood."

"I know." I reply. I can't wait to get out of here.

Frank helps me to my feet and I extend my arm over his shoulder.

"Hazel," Frank says, "are you ready to-"

"Guys, look out!" Hazel screams from a distance. I could've sworn she was right behind us.

Suddenly, a force so strong pushes from behind us and sends us sailing through the air. I land on my side and almost black out. I know I'm still awake because I can hear someone talking. A woman. Her voice sounds familiar, but I can't put my finger on it.

"You aren't leaving that easily." She says.

I hear fighting. The ground is shaking. After a minute of this, my vision clears and what I see horrifies me.

It's Lamia. She has Hazel in a headlock. Frank stands there with his eyes wide. "Don't move or the girl gets it!" Lamia shouts at him.

"Please," Frank begs. "Don't hurt her."

"You will do as I say and nobody will get hurt." Lamia replies. "Just don't move. I won't think twice about killing her."

Lucky she didn't say anything to me. I focus on Lamia's feet and a burst of flames erupt around them. She shrieks and releases Hazel. Hazel stumbles out of the way and looks at me. She mouths the words "Thank you."

I give her a thumbs-up.

The next thing I know, I'm being dragged away from my friends by my arm really fast. I look up and see Lamia pulling me. I was about to light this freak on fire when I suddenly fly through the air and my arm feels numb. With a splash, I land in the swamp head first.

I'm so disoriented, I can't tell which way is up and which is down. I open my eyes but the water is so mucky and gross, I'm forced to close them because of the stinging.

Something slinks past my arm. It's big, scaly, and slimy.

Oh, gods. Now what? I wonder. Why can't we ever just have an easy day without any freaking monsters?

The creature slides past my other arm.

My lungs feel like they're about to burst. I need air now.

I stop moving completely and open my eyes. I can't see any light anywhere so I turn to my left and swim that way. I hit my head on a rock and accidentally inhale water.

I choke as I try to find any source of air. Adrenaline is the only thing that's been keeping me going this long, and I'm not sure how much longer I can make it.

Then I see it. I see light coming from the surface. I swim towards it as my vision begins to blur. My lungs have been invaded by water and I can feel my consiousness fading.

I reach forward and my hand breaks the surface, but just before I can get my head above water, I finally lose consiousness.

Jason Grace P.O.V.

I was relieved to see Hazel wake, and she says Frank and Leo should any minute.

But we're still waiting.

"Hazel, where were they when you disconnected the dreams?" I ask.

"Well, Lamia showed up and started attacking." Hazel begins to explain with tears in her eyes. "Leo saved me but she grabbed him and threw him into the swamp. He couldn't even stand before she did that so I don't know if he was able to swim. I'm honestly not sure if he will wake."

We all stop to look at Leo's body. He appears to be drenched in water. That must be from his swim in the swamp. He's so pale too, probably because he's lost so much blood. And -call me crazy- I think I can smell his blood. It smells sweet, almost like a rose.

"Can you keep going?" Chiron asks Hazel.

She nods. "After Lamia threw him into the swamp, she just left. Frank and I were in the sky by then and he didn't give me a choice but to leave the dream immediately. He flew me far away from there and dropped me off past the woods. I kept running and he turned back to save Leo. Then I woke up here."

"Hmm.. this is troubling." Chiron firmly states.

Suddenly, Frank jumps out of his bed.

"Frank! You're okay!" Hazel says with a smile on her face.

Frank ignores her and runs to Leo's bed. He starts pushing on Leo's chest.

"Frank, what are you doing?" Nico asks.

"Leo was drowning when I got to him." He answers. "He has water in his lungs. Please, I need help!"

Everyone stands back to give him some room besides Hazel. She runs to the bed.

After about a minute, we were all ready to give up. We thought Leo was gone, but Frank didn't give up so easily. Thanks to Frank, Leo started coughing and spitting the water out. We're all so relieved.

Leo looks at Frank and says, "You didn't kiss me, did you?"

"Oh, gods! No, that's disgusting!" Frank replies.

Everyone laughs briefly.

"Thanks, man." Leo says to Frank.

Frank smiles back.

Chiron steps forward. "I'm glad to see that everyone's alright. You should all get some rest now. You must be tired."

Everyone exchanges looks. "I'm not tired at all." Leo breaks in. "I'm just hungry. What time is it?"

"Six-thirty at night." Chiron replies.

"So dinner is just starting. Perfect!" Leo says with a big grin.

Now that I think about it, I'm hungry too. Really hungry.

Leo gets out of bed but clutches his stomache. "I'm going to the mess hall. Anyone who wants to can join me."

All of us agree to go, exept for Chiron. He says he has some work to get done.

Once we get there, the eight of us sit at my table so we can talk.

Frank explains everything that happened after he made Hazel leave the dream. "I went back to save Leo and spotted him drowning in that disgusting water. I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out. We landed by the woods and I tried to expell the water from his lungs but it wasn't working. Then, the dream just disconnected. I didn't have to get as far away as possible or anything. It was like the hosts ended it themselves."

"That's weird." I say, while picking at my plate of food. For some reason, I just can't eat any of it. "Couldn't they have easily just captured you and Leo?"

"That's what I thought." Frank says. "But, I'm confused about what happened with Percy?"

Percy looked suprised by his words. "I'm not really sure what you mean. I just remember pain. So much pain. After that, everything went black. Then, I woke up in the infirmary. Did anything else happen?" He asks Annabeth.

"Uh..." She thinks momentarily. "Can I explain everything later? Maybe a walk down the beach? Piper and Jason should join us."

Annabeth looks to Piper and I can tell they've been talking about something that Percy and I don't know about. Unless it's just the fact that Percy's been bitten by a werewolf and Annabeth doesn't want to be alone with him.

"Sounds good." Piper replies. She grabs my hand but pulls away quickly. "You're so cold, Jason."

"You are looking pretty pale." Nico says. "I heard you were bitten by-"

"It's nothing, Nico!" Piper snaps at him. "Let's just drop it."

"No, what is it, guys?" I ask them.

"I can explain everything later, Jason. It's okay." Piper says.

"Just tell me. He was saying something about me being bitten by Lamia. What more is there to it?"

"I want to know too." Percy says to Annabeth. "I want to know what else happened in the dream."

"Okay." Piper answers. "You were both bitten tonight. Percy was bitten by Lycaon and Jason was bitten by Lamia."

"Percy," Annabeth continues for Piper. "Because you were bitten by Lycaon, you... you've become a werewolf."

"And Jason," Piper takes over. "You've become a vampire."

Those words struck me hard... but not as hard as I'm about to strike Leo.

I jump over the table and grab his shoulders, throwing him out of his seat and onto the floor.

"Jason! What are you doing?" Leo shouts at me. I don't care though. I can smell the blood. His blood. He's still wearing the same shirt and it still has some blood on it. I can't help myself. I need some of my best friend's blood.

The whole caferteria is going mad. With kids screaming, trying to get away from me, a food fight breaks out.

"Jason, please stop!" Leo pleads.

I open my mouth, ready to strike my best friend down. I will be Leo Valdez's end. The last face he ever sees.

A/N So, I'm sorry that this chapter is a bit slow. I'll try to make the next chapter better, promise! Spoiler alert: CAPTURE THE FLAG! That's what they'll be doing in the next chapter and I'm excited to start writing it! REVIEW PLEASE!