XXVI

Leo

(A/N: Just a couple of words. As always, thanks for the support and 'UPDATE!'s. I really hope you'll enjoy this chapter. I know, I know, the last few chapters (and this one) are probably a little more fast-paced than usual. That's because I want to get to the awesome stuff. And by the way, Staff of Serapis didn't happen. Hope you enjoy and please leave feedback. Peace!)

Leo was feeling slightly down. Just slightly.

It had been a pretty great day up to that point. Percy wasn't dead, they had visited Camp Half-Blood, and he was not suffering from jetlag. Then he had to get a warning about choices. Then Percy. Then Jason. Then… Leo was pretty sure that everyone had to make a choice.

But his seemed pretty bad. Bad enough that his choice involved Calypso, but a choice? He had pretty much sworn on the River Styx, and unfortunately, he was probably going to have to break that promise or something. And that would be horrible.

For most of their time on the now destroyed Argo II, Leo had spent his nights trying to get the Archimedes Sphere to work. The result? A lot of smoke, fire and rainbow unicorn poop. It definitely wasn't just bad luck that the ship had blown up on the day right after he had managed to get the tracking device to work with the astrolabe.

He trudged on. For now, he didn't want to listen to the old ghost dude, but he didn't really have a choice. He would have to make a choice, and he would have to make the right one.

Or could he? He could make the other choice. The other one could be so much better- world saved, Calypso saved, etc., etc.. He had a feeling that Percy knew about Calypso, but he decided to just push it to the back of his mind.

He was still thinking (which was probably the weirdest thing he had ever done) when they went back into the Labyrinth.

He was lost in his thoughts for who knows how long when Percy nudged him. "Hey, dude. You okay?"

Leo gave his best attempt at a laugh and a worse attempt at a smile. "Yeah, it's fine. What are you talking about?" he said, in a horrible attempt at a light voice.

"Hey, it's okay." Percy replied. He then leaned in closer.

Oh god, here it comes… Leo thought.

"So, um… how do I put this…" Percy started. "Do you happen to know the name Calypso?" he asked, after a bit of thought.

"Yes, and please don't ask further." Leo replied.

Percy winked at him, patted him on the back and left to join Annabeth.

Carter came up to him. "What did he say to you?"

Leo replied honestly, "Something private. So please don't butt in."

"Okay." Carter went up to Percy, urgently asking him a question. Percy shook his head, and Carter's shoulders relaxed.

Rachel stopped in front of a dirt wall. "So, here we are."

"It's just a wall." Annabeth said.

"No, it just needs a demigod's touch." Rachel replied. Annabeth walked up and touched the wall, and the dirt fell away.

Mount Olympus was pretty tall.

Leo had seen tall mountains, but Mount Olympus was ridiculously tall. It towered in the sky looked like it was almost touching the clouds. They were completely made of stone. Behind them was another slope.

"Well, guys." Annabeth said. "Time to get climbing!"

And that was the story of how Leo found himself walking up a cliff face, with no harness, rope, or any sort of safety gear. The going was tough. Jason swooped around in the air, helping anyone who was about to fall.

"I thought getting to the top of this mountain was going to be easy." Hazel complained. "I didn't think it would be like this." Leo totally agreed. His hands were raw from climbing on rocks, his face hurt because of the sun, his back was drenched in sweat, and his face was most likely completely red.

"Why couldn't we just take the hiking trails?" Percy complained. "I saw some on the way here."

"Because then it would take way too long, and all the mortals would see us." Annabeth yelled back.

But nonetheless, they finally made it to the top.

The view from there was pretty amazing, You could see all the way to the nearest town, and in the distance he could see a city, barely visible through the fogginess on the horizon.

Suddenly, everyone started to stare at the sky, oohing and ahhing. Leo looked up and saw what they meant. The sky was shining brightly with swirling patterns of light- red, blue, yellow, green. It glowed bright orange, like they were standing inside of a… well, orange. But it was dusk, and the sky had been dark blue only a few seconds ago.

"The Northern Lights!" Hazel yelped.

Annabeth suddenly launched into a long speech about the Northern Lights. Leo only heard bits of it, like "…Magnetic field… Solar Wind…" This was perfectly normal while listening to Annabeth talk.

Luckily, Hazel broke in halfway through her lecture. "But isn't it supposed to happen, like… at the Poles?"

Everyone stayed silent.

"Right…" Annabeth said. "Did not think of that."

Suddenly, they heard a loud bang, and a giant ring of blue light raced across the clouds. It seemed to be coming from… the top of Mount Olympus.

"That does not look good." Percy muttered. "Guys, we need to get up the hill. ASAP."

They made a mad dash up the slope, Jason flying above like Peter Pan them while the others panted and ran below. But their run was cut short when a giant column of flame erupted in front of them.

"Whoa!" everyone screeched to a halt except Leo. He kept running, then realized there was a column of flame in front of him, and braked. But it was too late and he was absorbed into the flame.

He felt weightless, almost like he was bouncing off the fire. But then, a giant clearing opened up in the middle of the column, and then the flames disappeared. And so did everything around him.

He was in a forest glade, the orange sky gone. The Northern Lights were nowhere to be found. He heard a crunching noise, and whirled around.

Behind him, a woman wearing a Greek Chiton walked across the dry leaves, making tiny little crunching sounds. Leo stood up; ready to fight if this was an attack.

But the woman just yawned. She couldn't have been any older than 20. Her hair was tied back in a tight bun.

"Hello, Leo Valdez." She said.

"So, erm, hi?" he replied back. "Who exactly would you be?"

"I am Eusebeia, goddess of Piety, Loyalty, Duty and Filial Respect." Her eyes glowed a bit. "And I believe my friend has told you that I would come visit."

Periclymenus. Right. He'd said something about "a friend coming to visit you later" which meant now. "So… what are you here to tell me?"

"What do you think?" Eusebeia leaned in closer.

Leo swallowed. "Erm… about Calypso? If so, why haven't the gods released her yet?"

Eusebeia's eyes glowed even brighter. "Do you think I know? I want that girl freed as well. Not that I have any compassion, but it is the Gods' duty! They swore on the River Styx!"

"So I take it that you're here to tell me that I'm going to have to choose the world, instead of save Calypso? All I can say is: good luck. I swore on the River Styx, just like the Gods did. So I am going to get her back."

"Well, does that mean you must be the one to save her?" Eusebeia asked.

Thinking back on it, Leo really only had swore to save her, not to do so himself. But yes, of course he wanted to be the one to save her.

"Well, duh!" he lied.

Eusebeia frowned disapprovingly. "You have a duty to the world, Leo. 7 billion people is more important than one. Just remember that, when your choice comes."

And with that, Eusebeia disappeared, and so did the glade. The orange sky, colored lights, and his friends all reappeared.

"Hey, Leo." Percy said. "You okay?"

"How long was I gone?" Leo asked.

"Gone? What do you mean? You just braked too slowly and jumped back out." Annabeth replied, concern creeping into her voice.

"Never mind." Leo said. He stood up (he'd been sitting on the ground the entire time) and brushed himself off. "Come on, guys. We need to hurry!" he started to sprint up the hill, and the others followed suit.

As they went higher, the air got thinner and harder to breathe. Leo was gasping for air, but he forced himself to keep going. Finally, after what seemed like forever, they reached the summit just as the world was not plunged into darkness.

Okay, just to back up. The orange sky never really did disappear. The sun did, which did make the sky look less orange, but it just looked like it was still day. Which did not make any sense.

Annabeth motioned with her hand, and they crept forward slowly. The mountaintop slowly came into view, and at his first look, Leo's heart dropped like a stone, tumbled all the way down the mountain, and into the Marina Trench.

This is going to be impossible.

(A/N: So, yes. They are at Mount Olympus already. And yes, the battle is coming up. But don't worry, the story doesn't end there! I'm going to have a bit of a surprise after it. Heh heh...)