Two updates in two days! I'm on a role, and I updated The Skull and The Flame as well. Anyway, this memory won't be as angsty as the last but it will hold some elements of angst. And I know that Piper is the one who realizes that the line of the prophecy about storm and fire might not be a bad thing, but in this story it is Leo. Thanks to all who have faved or followed and I hope that you enjoy chapter seventeen.
The Golden Sun : I hope that it is worth your excitement.
Kittehx1 : I love it when Leo shows of his smart side in the books.
Pacenya347 : The timing is such a pain. I'm glad you liked it :)
Catsrawesome : Yay, I managed to make it funny!
MakaylaCO : Don't worry, I have at least ten more chapters left.
8839 : You are very welcome, thank you for such a nice review.
Neon Wish : I'm glad I didn't mess it up. And will duct tape fix your soul because I can ask Leo for some.
Our Mismatched Socks : Maybe I'll have a few more Nico cameos later on.
Awesometacos : I'll put that in next chapter ;)
Killua minamoto : You seem like a lovely person to me :) And we may be a little cruel for torturing the characters but at least we aren't doing it to other people. And it is my pleasure to use your idea. The memory was meant to be funny because of how sarcastic they were being (sorry if I didn't make that too clear).
Disclaimer : I can only dream about owning Leo and the Percy Jackson world, the Sims or Elmer Fudd.
Percy's P.O.V
Percy was still amused by Leo's sarcasm. He hadn't noticed until Hera had planned this little bonding excersize, but Leo's sense of humour was actually spookily similar to his own. As there wasn't much to discuss from the last memory so the next started up pretty quickly.
Cowboy Leo was back, and he was once again perched on his horse. Except, this time, the situation seemed a bit more formal. There was no cowboy hat on his head, instead he was wearing a proper riding hat. His riding gear was spotlessley clean and his boots practically sparkled. A panel of judges were staring at the course that Leo's horse was standng in front of.
A tense silence filled the air, and then it was broken by the announcement of Leo's name, the horse he was riding and the studio he was from. Leo trotted ito the ring where a serious of complicated jumps had been set up. Leo was clearly not at the novice section of the competition.
He started, and it was a flawless round. They nailed every jump, made good time and at the end, Leo sat perfectly straight and perfectly still. There was a round of applause as he made his way out of the ring. As soon as he was out of sight of the judges, he dismounted and hugged his horse fiercly.
"Good job, boy." He mumbled, the soft Texan twang still present. The horse whinnied and softly snuffled hs shoulder.
The video skipped forwards to the award ceremony. Leo was standing beside his chestnut stallion in a line of about twelve competitors. He looked relaxed, but his hand was carding through his horse's mane. The third and second place were announced. And the the anouncer was pinning a blue rosettes to the bridle of Leo's horse he had won. The smile on his face was breathtaking as he leant into his horse and whispered :
"I couldn't do it without you."
Percy smiled.
"Your horse said that he loved you." Leo turned to him with wide eyes.
"Really?" Percy nodded, and Leo looked delighted. Jason gave him a smile over Leo's head, thanking him for Leo that. Percy was glad that his power had contributed to the Latino's happiness. Leo had put his pad away for now, and he had started creating what looked to be a catapult pencil topper. Percy shrugged, the boy could create practically anything, why not make a pencil topper that doubles as a weapon? Percy's pen could turn into a sword, after all. The next memory popped up before Percy could ask about how other writing utensils could be turned into weapons.
The video showed ten year old Leo sleeping before it faded into Leo's actual dream.
Leo was sitting beside the door of a small apartment. He was pulling back the door stopper, apparently fascinated with the way it blurred into a double image when released. A voice could be heard, singing sweetly from some unknown room within the apartment.
Percy tensed. That voice... it sounded like... Calypso! But why would Calypso be in one of child Leo's dreams. It was just too much of a coincidence, first Nico, now Calypso. Percy must be hearing wrong. Leo, spotting Percy's strange behaviour, poked him in the forehead.
"What's up, Aqua Man?" Percy shook of his daze, that musn't be Calypso's voice.
"Nothing." He replied, though he was secretly glad when Annabeth's hand slipped into his and Leo leant on him a tiny bit.
The view switched so suddenly that little Leo actually jumped. He looked around, bewildered and a little scared.
"I'm coming little lion boy." The voice of Gaia rang around the cave that Leo was now standing in, but Mother Earth was no where in little demigod shuddered.
"The forge, the dove, the lightning." Gaia murmured.
Jason and Piper looked as surprised as Percy felt. Leo looked even more.
"I'd forgotten about that." He exlained.
"I'll crush them all." The voice said lazily. Blood started running down the walls, and Leo was rooted to the spot as the flood began filling the room. Soon, Leo was chest deep in blood, and the crimson liquid was rising.
"The blood of Olympus will flow, young hero. And the we will see what you're made of." Leo went under. He woke up spluttering and crying faintly.
"I will avenge my mother."
Percy sighed sadly and ran a comforting hand down Leo's back.
"Why is it that Gaia focussed so much on you?" Annabeth was in a deep state of thought. Leo gazed at her warily.
"To storm or fire, the world must fall" She quoted, sneaking a quick glance at Leo.
"You are the only candidate for fire."
"Yeah but isn't the world falling a..." Leo's eyes lit up in excitement.
"Dios mío!"He exclaimed and several small fires sprouted in his charcoal hair.
"Gaia is the world!" When Leo pointed this out, the rest of the demigods also looked hopeful.
"So maybe we aren't destined to destroy everything." Percy felt relieved, and he was sure that Leo and Jason were mirroring the look of relief on his face. The next memory began.
Esperanza was clutching the two year old Leo tightly in her arms. They stood outside of the front door to Rosa's house. Her face was a jumble of nerves.
"Tu Tía Rosa quiere conocerte (Your Aunt Rosa wants to meet you)." She plastered as smile on her face, but only after adding a quiet "finally" under her breath. She rapped on the door, and Leo's intelligent eyes seemed to observe his mother's discomfort. His face crinkled, but Esperanza kissed him on the head gently. He giggled, and a tear crisis was averted. The door opened ominously.
Aunt Rosa looked only a tiny bit younger, apparently bitterness had made her ugly early. Her hideous nose wrinkled in disgust as she eyed up the toddler.
"Welcome, hermana (sister)." Her tone belied her words, Esperanza sounded anything but welcome in this house. Nevertheless, she strode in, baby Leo in her arms. As soon as Esperanza's back was turned, Rosa made a motion as if to bless herself.
"Did she think your head was going to spin one hundred and eighty degrees or something?" Percy was sniggering at the thought of little Leo doing a full demonic head twist.
"Something like that." Leo's mouth half quirked up.
"Unclean devil child, born out of wedlock." She spoke quietly so that her sister didn't hurt her.
Percy's face fell.
"I don't think my dad would appreciate being called a devil." Leo was still smiling as he shot a tiny chunk of carrot that he had retrieved from his belt at Frank. Percy couldn't help but laugh as Frank glared.
The sisters were now sitting opposite each other around a dining table. Leo had a pile of lego blocks and was absorbed in building a rocket ship.
"I still can't believe that you kept him." Leo's mom almost spat out her tea at this.
"The child is a freak, you aren't doing him any favours by keeping him." She said this in such a matter of fact way. Fury crossed Esperanza's face.
"I would thank you not to call my son a freak." She spoke curtly. Leo had completed the rocket ship already and pulled out some paper and felt tips.
"No child should be able to build something like that at his age, he's going to be a freak show attraction or a science experiment one day." She sniffed haughtily.
"WHAT!" Percy shouted.
"I know, imagine the poor scientist. What did you discover about the subject today? Well I discovered that he can control fire and that he seems to be related to the Greek Gods. How's your experiment going. I learnt how to cook toast on both sides. Nice." Leo did this spiel with two different accents for the scientists, playing on his natural ability to try and diffuse the tension. It didn't calm Percy's ire.
"She suggested that you be used as a science experiment!"
"I'm sure that I would make a fascinating experiment." Was Leo's flippant response.
"That's not the point."
"The point is that I haven't seen her in years and hopefully will never see her again. She can't hurt me anymore, Percy." Finally Leo's words calmed the storm of rage within Percy.
"I'd like to see her try." Percy cracked his knuckles for emphasis.
Esperanza looked about as amused as Percy had. That is to say, not at all.
"You dare to call my son, tu sobrino (your nephew) an experiment!" Her raised voice caught the attention of Leo, who wandered over with his picture. He scarmbled onto his mothers lap, and proudly placed the picture on the table top for all to see. The picture was of Rosa as a witch. The likeness was uncanny considering a two year old had drawn it.
Rosa turned an interestng shade of puce, and Esperanza stood up, grabbing Leo and the picture in one fell swoop.
"Adios, mi hermana (goodbye, my sister)" She blurted out before leaving the house with utmost haste. Once outside, she burst into laughter.
"That was a very naughty thing to do, mijo." Leo looked straight into her eyes.
"Pero, Tía Rosa es una bruja (but Aunt Rosa is a witch)."
"It doesn't mean that you can say that." Leo had the two year old equivalent of his usual cheeky smirk.
"Es verdad (it is true)." Esperanza eventually muttered. They both started sniggering.
"Yeah, she is a brewcah." Leo winced at Percy's mangled Spanish.
"It's bruja." He corrected.
"That too." Now everyone was laughing, but Annabeth did swat his arm playfully.
"How much money do you reckon I would get for being a science experiment anyway. I mean, on the Sims you get a fairly crappy wage, plus I'd actually be exciting to experiment on so I think I'd be worth a little more."
"You're incorrigble." Annabeth stated.
"Hey, I thought I was incorrigble!" Percy exclaimed (winking at Leo to paly along).
"You're both incorrigble." Annabeth gave Percy evil eye.
"We can't both be the same thing." Leo pouted.
"But you're both demigods." Frank interjected.
"Zip it Zhang or I'll fetch Elmer Fudd." Percy and Leo both burst into a fit of giggles over this. Luckily, they calmed down in time to watch the next memory.
A very rumpled looking Leo sat in the same clothes as the most recent gang video. His skin was pasty and his eyes were slightly bloodshot, but he was working through the test like a trouper. Everytime someone's chair scarped on the floor, Leo would flinch and mutter death threats in Spanish under his breath.
He worked methodically, his pen rapidly moving across the page despite the look of nausea on his face.
And depite the fact that he was evidently hungover, he was still the first to finish. He sauntered up to the teacher's desk and dropped his paper in front of him.
"You may go, Valdez." He informed the boy, and Leo left the room at a normal speed. Once he made it to he corridor, however, he broke into a sprint. He made it to he toilet just in tim to retch and vomit.
Percy shuddered in sympathy, and he saw Hazel do the same (she was the most sick onboard the Argo due to her seasickness).
It again skipped a few days to a much healthier looking Leo, though his knuckles looked bruised like he'd been throwing a few punches.
The teacher was handing tests back. Leo's was palced in front of him. 100%.
"Told you I aced it." Leo said smugly.
So a few more happy memories and a few more angsty memories. And I'd just like to say that I'm not planning to go over thirty chapters for this fanfiction but I am planning a one shot sequel and a multi chaptered sequel as well as a few other stories so I am going to keep writing Leo stories. Feel free to leave a review and I'll see you next time.