***Happy Friday the 13th! Fun fact, when I typed this chapter up, it was 13 pages long—weird coincidence. Anyway, here's Chapter 30, which features Leo and is also one of the longest chapters of the story. Hope you enjoy! Chapter 31, featuring Frank's POV, will be up by Wednesday, June 18.***
XXX. LEO
Leo was feeling fantastic—not! Actually, he felt like someone had used him as a punching bag. That was probably because Gaea—the dirt-face queen of potty sludge—had dropped several tons of rocks on top of him. If it hadn't been for Frank turning into an elephant and slowing the cave-in, they would have both been crushed. And just to make this day even better, it turned out that Percy and Annabeth, acting on Neptune's stupid advice, had actually awakened Gaea, the very thing they had all been trying so hard to avoid.
Now, back on the Argo II, Leo set course for Mount Olympus while the rest of the crew gathered around the helm to figure out what the heck they were supposed to do next.
"How fast can we get to Olympus, Leo?" Piper asked.
Leo glanced at the controls. "At top speed, about two hours."
Percy turned pale. "Seriously?"
Leo punched a button on the Archimedes sphere and brought up a map of Greece. The blinking dot indicating the Argo II's position hovered over Athens. Leo pointed to the triangle that marked Mount Olympus, near the northeastern coast of Greece. "Seriously. Mount Olympus is about two hundred miles away from Athens, up here in, well, the mountains. We're not going to cover that distance in ten minutes."
"Fine. That gives us time to come up with a plan," Annabeth said. "But first, we need to figure out—"
She stopped speaking as the air near the main mast suddenly shimmered.
"Is that an Iris-message?" Hazel asked.
"This better not be another giant," Leo muttered.
It wasn't.
"Rachel!" Annabeth gasped.
The Oracle of Delphi breathed a sigh of relief. "Annabeth, Percy, you're alive! Oh, thank the gods! Listen, we have a problem."
Rachel moved back so they could see the other head counselors at Camp Half-Blood gathered around the Ping-Pong table in the Big House rec room. Leo recognized Clarisse from the Ares cabin, Katie from Demeter, Butch from the Iris cabin, Lou Ellen from Hecate, Travis and Conner Stoll from Hermes, Pollux from Dionysus, Will Solace from Apollo, and even Clovis from the Hypnos cabin, though he was slumped over and snoring. Near the doorway stood Chiron, in full centaur mode, frowning with his arms crossed.
"The Romans are preparing to attack," Rachel continued. "But we're at an impasse." She gestured around at the assembled counselors. "Half of the counselors vote for striking first, attacking the Romans before they attack us. The other half say we should just defend ourselves—keep the Romans out of the camp, but don't go on the offensive."
"The best defense is a strong offense," Clarisse said. She was already dressed in full armor, her spear in her hand.
Will Solace's hand clenched on his bow as he glared at Clarisse. "That's stupid. We have the ability to hold them off from a distance, so we should do that. We don't need another battle like the Labyrinth or Manhattan. We don't need the casualties. Or did you forget about those?"
Clarisse shot to her feet. "I've forgotten nothing, Solace."
Chiron stamped his hoof against the ground. "That's enough." He looked toward the Iris message and said dryly, "As you can see, there's a bit of a disagreement."
"There's no tie if Travis and I vote separately," Conner Stoll said.
"It's one vote per cabin," Chiron said wearily. "We've been over this."
"Um, guys," Percy said, "no offense, but we're kind of dealing with a situation over here, too. Why did you contact us?"
"You have almost half the head counselors on your ship," Rachel pointed out. "Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Zeus, Poseidon, Athena. We need your votes."
Leo exchanged glances with Jason, Piper, Percy, and Annabeth, but it was clear they were all thinking the same thing. "No."
Clarisse sneered. "What a surprise. Of course, you're all chummy with the Romans now, right? Wouldn't want us to hurt your new friends."
"It's not that," Annabeth said. Quickly, she explained about Gaea and what they were trying to do now. "But if there's bloodshed between demigods at Camp Half-Blood, she'll wake up fully and we'll never be able to put her back to sleep. You have to hold off the Romans, defend the camp, but it can't come to full combat."
Some of the counselors nodded, others looked put out, but after a moment, even Clarisse grudgingly muttered, "Fine."
Chiron nodded. "Thank you. Now, we'll plan our strategy here, while the rest of you focus on what you need to do in Greece."
"Good luck," Rachel said as she raised a hand and swiped through the Iris message.
There was silence on the deck as the message faded.
"Well, that was fun," Leo said.
"Good thing they didn't try to contact us when we were on the Acropolis," Percy said.
"Octavian's going to launch a full-on attack," Hazel said. "How long can Camp Half-Blood hold out?"
"As long as they need to," Annabeth said, though Leo thought he saw a flicker of doubt in her eyes. But it was gone the next second as she took a deep breath and said, "But we can't worry about that yet. We have to focus on what we need to do here. We have to stop Gaea."
"Right," Piper agreed. "So, now we need a new plan. Any thoughts?"
Frank was staring into space, obviously thinking hard. Leo was about to ask him if it hurt, when Frank unexpectedly grinned. "What's the second line of the prophecy again?"
"To storm or fire the world must fall," Jason recited with a frown on his face. "What about it?"
"Why does it have to be 'or'?" Frank said. "I say, we give them both—storm and fire."
"You have a plan?" Hazel asked.
Frank nodded. "It's either brilliant or insane."
"The best plans are usually a mix of both," Annabeth said.
"Better be something we can put together quick, though," Leo said, glancing at the ship's computer screen. "We're now officially only ninety minutes out from Mount Olympus."
An hour later, Leo watched, stomach churning, as Mount Olympus rose up against the sky ahead of them. Even from this distance, Leo could see the massive hydraulic drill that was burrowing into the heart of the mountain and, nearby, the smaller shapes of Gaea, Porphyrion, and Enceladus. Monsters, an army's worth of them, swarmed the sides of the mountain. Leo swallowed hard. Frank's plan, which had seemed genius an hour ago as they'd sailed over the Greek countryside, now seemed completely suicidal. But it was too late to change anything.
Of course, it never hurt to have a backup plan. Leo hesitated, then typed in a couple of commands to Festus, just in case. Then, he joined the others at the railing.
They'd dropped off Piper and Annabeth a few miles back with the Eleusinian torches and Arion. Between Hazel and Percy, they'd been able to convey the plan to the horse and he'd agreed to help. While the other five caused one epic distraction, Piper and Annabeth were going to try to sneak around and light Gaea up like a bonfire. Leo hoped it would work. There had been a debate about whether he should go instead of one of the girls since he was, as Jason put it "the fire guy," but in the end they'd gone with Annabeth and Piper. Demeter had given the torches specifically to the two of them and the whole crew agreed that might mean they were supposed to be the ones to use them. Leo was fine with this—the last time he'd tried to use the torches, several tons of rock had collapsed on his head.
Jason, Hazel, Frank, and Percy were all grim-faced as they watched the mountain looming closer but, to their credit, no one said, "Oh gods, we're going to die."
"Autopilot is set," Leo said as he joined his friends. "Ship will stop and hover over the summit, hopefully just out of reach of those stupid rock gods."
"Numina montanum," Hazel clarified, her eyes fixed on a group of them stacking boulders a few hundred yards away.
"Yeah, those," Leo said.
Percy gripped the railing. "And you're sure that's a hydraulic drill? Like, it's going to have water?"
Leo nodded. "When I saw it in Calypso's mirror, it looked like a standard hydraulic drill, which means it should be using water as a coolant. With any luck, you'll be able to blow it up."
"But not until after we're finished with the 'fire' part of things," Frank said. "Since, you know, water puts out fire and all."
Percy cracked a smile. "Yeah, so I've heard."
Hazel glanced at Frank. "And you're sure you can do the transformation?"
"I think so." Frank concentrated, then turned into a massive grizzly bear. Leo had gotten so used to Frank's shape-changing that he only flinched a little bit. The grizzly closed its eyes, then suddenly shrank into a lion. A second later, the lion turned back into Frank, who said, "Yep, animal to animal without having to go back to human in between."
Hazel smiled. "That's amazing."
"Why a bear and a lion?" Leo asked.
Frank shrugged. "First things that popped into my head."
The Argo II was now only a hundred yards from the summit of Mount Olympus and drawing the attention of the monster army below. Hundreds of monsters began yelling and shaking their fists at the ship. A few arrows whistled past the railing.
"Oh good, we have fans," Leo said.
"Everyone ready?" Jason asked.
The others nodded, then flinched as what looked like a bronze dodgeball blew up near the ship.
"I hate Laistrygonians," Frank muttered. He gave Hazel a swift kiss, then changed into a giant eagle.
Jason clapped Leo on the shoulder before summoning the winds and rising over the side of the ship. Together, he and Frank flew down to the summit. Leo had to admit, it looked pretty impressive.
Apparently, Gaea didn't think so. The earth goddess looked massively ticked off as Frank and Jason hovered a few feet away from where she was standing between Porphyrion and Enceladus. "You! How are you not dead?"
"Turns out your boy Alcyoneus couldn't get the job done," Jason said. "And you're about to go the same way he did. But we're here to offer you a deal."
"A deal?" Porphyrion's blank white eyes narrowed.
"Yeah, a deal." Jason drew his sword. "Pack all this up and crawl back into whatever hole you came from. Otherwise, we're going to send you to Tartarus the hard way."
"He's pretty good at that acting confident stuff," Leo muttered.
Hazel hushed him.
Gaea stared incredulously at Jason for a long minute, then her upper lip curled in a snarl. "Arrogant demigod. You are no match for us." She looked toward the army of monsters, waiting for instructions. "Kill them!"
"And she says we're the predictable ones?" Percy grumbled.
Before the monsters had time to react, Frank changed forms. Suddenly, a massive, fire-breathing dragon materialized above the mountainside. Frank spread his wings, unhinged his jaw, and deep-fried the monsters' front line. Meanwhile, Jason summoned the winds, which began to blow hard and fast around the summit.
"That's our cue," Percy said.
"Showtime," Leo agreed.
Hazel reached out and grasped their hands. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Darkness enveloped them, but the next second Leo blinked and they were standing on the mountain, right behind Jason, who had landed near the drill. Leo fought down the wave of dizziness and nausea from shadow-traveling or Mist-traveling or whatever it was; no time to be sick now. Frank was still swooping over Gaea's troops, breathing fire and wreaking havoc, which was awesome, while the Dirt Queen herself was shrieking orders at her troops, orders the monsters were completely ignoring. Leo grinned, but he couldn't concentrate on that. He had another part to play.
Jason's tornado was growing, gathering dust and loose stones into its vortex, and making Porphyrion and Enceladus stumble as they ran into its sides. The giants growled in frustration. Leo focused on them, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the monsters who weren't on fire, most of them Cyclopes, were now charging up the slope, toward the demigods at the summit.
"Hazel, Percy, now would be good!" Leo shouted.
"I'm still not sure about this," Percy shouted over the wind. "The last time I tried this, I sort of blew up a volcano. And we're trying to, you know, not destroy this mountain."
"Man, this is a really bad time to mention that!" Leo dodged out of the way as Porphyrion made a grab for him, then shot a fireball that caught the giant king right in the nose. Porphyrion stumbled toward the drill, frantically batting at the flames.
"It'll be fine, I'll help you," Hazel said. "But it has to be now!"
Percy grimaced, but he drew his sword. "Here goes nothing."
Two dozen Cyclopes were less than fifty feet away when Hazel raised her hands and the ground trembled. Jewels, silver, Imperial gold, and Celestial bronze shot into the air. Some pierced monsters like bullets and they dissolved on the spot. The rest rained down or got swept into the windstorm Jason had created.
But the monsters were still coming. Leo felt a tremor run through the ground. He turned just as Percy yelled and sank Riptide to the hilt into the mountainside. A crack rippled out from where the sword touched and water spouted into the air. The ground rumbled and suddenly a massive chunk of stone broke away from the side of the mountain, starting an avalanche that swept a hundred monsters down the mountain and over the edge of a cliff.
Before they could enjoy their momentary victory, there was a crackle of electricity. Leo, Percy, and Hazel whipped around as Porphyrion raised his spear and a bolt of dark lightning shot from the end of the weapon, straight at Jason's chest. Jason didn't have time to move. The bolt hit him directly in the chest and he flew backward, slamming into the drill and falling to the ground where he lay, motionless.
"No!" Leo yelled. He felt his temperature rising and looked to see flames dancing along his arms. He locked eyes with Porphyrion. "You're going down."
Porphyrion sneered. "You'll never defeat me, son of Hephaestus. Not without a god on your side. And the Olympians will soon be destroyed!"
As he spoke, the entire mountain shook, throwing Leo, Percy, Hazel, and half of the monsters off their feet.
Gaea laughed. The sound chilled Leo's blood. She looked at the demigods, eyes gleaming. "We've reached the center of the mountain. Once we drill through the heart of Olympus, we will break the power of those wretched gods." She turned to Porphyrion and Enceladus. "What are you waiting for? Get to the drill!"
"Yes, Mother!"
"Of course, Mother!"
Porphyrion kicked Jason's limp body aside as he bent to work the controls while Enceladus repositioned the drill. Gaea watched in delight, completely ignoring the demigods. Leo realized the only reason they weren't already dead was because Gaea and the giants were distracted, while Frank was still holding back most of the monster army; he'd transformed from a dragon into what looked like a war elephant, crushing monsters under his feet and sweeping them aside with his tusks. Leo glanced at Percy and Hazel.
"Can you blow up the drill?" he asked Percy.
Percy shook his head. "Not without killing Jason. He's too close."
Leo gritted his teeth. Before he could suggest a plan (not that he had one—his mind was blank), he heard the defiant whinnying of a horse. A black and tan blur zipped across the mountainside and suddenly Arion materialized in front of Leo and the others. Gaea and the giants didn't even look over—all of their focus was on the drill and the imminent destruction of the Olympians.
Piper and Annabeth slid down from the horse. The Eleusinian torches were still cold and dark.
"What in Hades is going on?" Percy asked. "You were supposed to light those!"
"We tried everything," Piper said. "The stupid things wouldn't light."
"And then Demeter appeared," Annabeth said. "She said she couldn't help us here on Olympus, but if we proved ourselves maybe some other gods would stop by, her exact words. She also said that the torches could only be lit with the fire of life, whatever that means."
Hazel gasped and Percy turned pale. The two of them exchanged a look.
"What is it?" Annabeth asked.
"Frank," Hazel whispered and Leo's stomach dropped. Frank's stick—the fire of life.
"Let me try," Leo blurted out. Piper held out her torch and Leo's hand ignited, but when he held his hand against the torch, nothing happened. The corncob torch wouldn't catch fire. Leo cursed.
Hazel swung herself up onto Arion. Her chin was trembling but her voice was steady as she told Annabeth and Piper, "You have to get to Frank. Tell him the torches can only be lit with the fire of life. He'll understand what that means."
"What are you doing?" Leo asked.
"Somebody needs to hold the monsters back once Frank," Hazel's voice caught, "if Frank is helping with the torches."
Percy nodded. "I'll help you." He gave Annabeth a quick kiss, then climbed up behind Hazel, who spurred Arion and they shot away towards Frank and the monster army.
Leo didn't think it was possible to feel worse until Piper asked, "Leo, where's Jason?"
"Um, he took a hit." Leo glanced towards where Jason was still crumpled on the ground.
Piper followed his eyes. "Oh gods."
"The best way we can help him is to stop this," Leo said.
Annabeth seemed to be measuring the distance to Frank and back to Gaea. "We'll never make it before she notices what's going on. I hate to say this, but we need another distraction. Something seriously chaotic."
"Chaos." Leo looked up at Festus and the Argo II floating above them. "I can do chaos."
Leo had one last trick up his sleeve. Not only would it create a distraction, it was an almost foolproof way to take out a lot of monsters. He only hoped it wouldn't also get his friends killed. "Get ready to run," he told Piper and Annabeth.
Piper's brow furrowed. "Leo, what—?"
Leo managed a grin. "Just trust me, Beauty Queen. It's about to get interesting." He looked again at the bronze dragon figurehead fifty feet above him. "FESTUS!"
Festus's neck creaked as he turned to look at Leo. "Execute Plan Omega!"
Festus breathed fire to show he'd understood. There was the rush and whir of machinery gearing up. The ballistae and crossbows swung around and took aim at the ground. The middle row of aerial oars retracted, to be replaced by a row of weapons that looked like a cross between a cannon and a machine gun, which Leo had named simply "big mother blasters." They fired Celestial bronze orbs the size of oranges that exploded like grenades upon contact. This was Plan Omega—the Argo II's last resort feature, which fired every weapon the ship had at once. And it had to work, because the problem with Plan Omega was that after it was over, the ship would be defenseless.
"DOWN!" Leo hoped his friends knew him well enough by now to take cover. Apparently they did, because Annabeth, Piper, Hazel, Percy, and Frank (now back in human form), hit the ground, while the horde of monsters looked up, confused. Leo glanced toward Jason, who was still down, but was partially shielded by the drill, which Porphyrion was still focusing on. However, when Leo yelled, Gaea and Enceladus frowned and turned to look at him.
"What now?" Gaea started to say, but she was interrupted by a shrill wheeeeee as the blasters fired. There was a deep boom from the ballistae and a roar from Festus. Leo ducked and covered his ears as explosions rocked the hillside. A wave of heat rolled over him and he coughed as dust clouds billowed up around the summit.
As the dust settled, Leo blinked. He looked around, wanting to see if the monsters were dead and his friends were still alive, but the only thing he saw looming out of the gloom was the big, ugly face of Enceladus.
"Die, demigod scum," the giant hissed.
His massive hand shot out, smacking Leo in the chest so hard he was sure he felt his ribs break. The punch sent him flying through the air. The last thing Leo saw was the side of the mountain coming at him. He slammed against the stone and the world went black.