Hello there! Happy Friday! As promised, it's time to see what's up with our quest team. Short chapter, but an important one. Thanks to those of you that reviewed for me! Enjoy!

XIX
LEO

He never thought he'd say it, but Leo was sick of fire.

He'd had enough. You'd think it would've happened sooner, given the fact that he'd been able to summon fire at will all his life. But before, it was different. Fire was a tool—an ally, even. He'd grown used to it, like it was just an extension of himself. But now, there was just something about being burned alive every time he closed his eyes that sort of negated that feeling of security, funnily enough. And the feeling that replaced it wasn't one that could be easily forgotten or ignored.

Fear. That's what fire was to him now, fear. He could use it if the situation was dire enough, as he'd had to in their brief fight against Moros and his ghost dogs, but it wasn't the same. His reflexes were slower, his instincts clouded. It made him more angry and frustrated than he would've thought humanly possible, and he would give just about anything to return things to the way they used to be. But first, he'd have to somehow conquer the dream—and seeing as it barely gave him time to think, that was a task much easier said than done.

The morning after their encounter with Moros was no exception. Leo didn't remember falling asleep, or what happened beforehand for that matter. The dream surfaced like it had been there all along—like it was the truth and what he'd thought had been reality was the real dream the whole time. Evil black fire—consuming the air and blocking his vision so all he could see through it were those two white-gold pinpricks of light that were the eyes of the Queen of Night. They seemed to illuminate her face with a pale, ghostly glow, framed by midnight-blue hair and adorned with a cruel smile.

Her lips began to move, forming words that echoed in Leo's mind, "You will not escape this prison of flame, little hero. All you can do is burn."

Leo wanted to scream and charge at her, but the fire gnawing at his skin refused to allow it. The pain and lack of oxygen were making him dizzy and light-headed. He had to be seconds away from death—from the end of the dream. Every time, Nyx's voice seemed to trigger a reaction in the flames, like they were calling out to her, and the blaze was the final burst that mercifully succeeded in waking him up.

But this time was different. The goddess raised her arms and the fire responded obediently—rising and roaring as if cheering its master. Now on his knees with no memory of having gotten there, Leo squeezed his watering eyes shut and willed himself to wake—but he didn't. The fire burned on, and the agony didn't stop.

And then somehow, through the haze of pain, Leo heard a voice—a voice that spoke in his mind, like Nyx's, but was otherwise so different from hers in every way. Deep, gruff, and harsh—far-off like someone was yelling at him from half a mile away. He only understood fragments: "…air…flame…tect…them…"

Who was talking, and what were they trying to say? For some reason, it seemed more important than anything that Leo hear the stranger's message. He ducked his head low and tried to block out the sound and feel of the burning black fire, retreating inside his own mind and praying to anything and everything for help. And this time when the voice called out to him, he heard every word:

"You're the heir of fire! My flames will protect you! Use them! NOW!"

Leo knew that voice. He could count the number of times he'd heard it on one hand, but he knew it. And he trusted it despite everything. My flames will protect you. Use them. So that was what he had to do.

It took all of Leo's dwindled willpower and concentration to call the fire that had always come so easy to him. He opened his eyes and peered through the dark flames at Nyx, who was watching him with an amused expression. With a spurt of defiance, he imagined her trapped like he was in a swarm of alien flames, and miraculously the intense burning sensation vanished as bright orange and gold fire swelled to life around him, consuming every tongue of its black and blue brother.

The smirk wiped itself clean from Nyx's face in an instant, replaced with a furious snarl. She spread her hands and let out a hideous shriek as dark fire ignited all around her and she rose from the ground, charging toward Leo with her fingers outstretched—

With a surprised yell, Leo sat bolt upright, coughing and choking as liquid tried to fill his throat. He spit out a mouthful of what looked and tasted like ordinary water as the last fleeting vision of the Queen of Night, cloaked in dark flames, flashed and faded from his mind. His head ached and his skin still tingled like he was being poked with pins and needles, but he was alive.

Alive, and soaking wet.

Raising his head and shaking his dripping hair out of his eyes, Leo realized that he was sitting on a forest floor, surrounded by broken trees and torn up dirt. A few yards behind him sat the unmoving, damaged form of Festus the dragon, and right in front of him stood Nico and Reyna. Gaze moving from the alarmed looks on their faces to the empty water jugs by their feet to the dark and crisped patch of grass around him, Leo groaned in understanding.

"Let me guess," he said dully, leaning forward and pressing the heels of his hands against his forehead, "preventing forest fires? Smokey the Bear would be proud of you guys."

"Is catching fire in your sleep normal for you?" Nico said dryly, eyeing Leo suspiciously as though expecting him to spontaneously combust again.

"No," Leo admitted. "I think it was the dream… Don't worry, though, it shouldn't happen again. Although, maybe just to be safe I'll stay awake for a while."

"What kind of dream?" Reyna asked, a slight edge to her voice.

"Nothing to worry about," Leo assured her with a smile. "No real-life demigod dream or anything. Just your run-of-the-mill nightmare." He kept his voice light, but Reyna frowned in response as though she wasn't entirely convinced. Grasping for a change of subject, Leo asked them, "What happened with Moros?"

They exchanged a glance. "What's the last thing you remember?" Nico replied.

Scratching his head, Leo answered, "Um… we led him to that graveyard. And then… I don't know, it gets sort of fuzzy."

"Well, we beat him," Reyna reported. "He won't be bothering us again."

"How's your head?" Nico asked. "You've been out for hours."

"A bit sore still, but better. I'll be fine." More importantly, the news that he'd been asleep for that long was hardly welcome. They didn't exactly have all the time in the world to complete their quest. "Guess I'd better get started on Festus," Leo decided, climbing to his feet. He shook the loose water from his arms and realized that his clothes were now dotted with ashy holes. "Hmm… Maybe a change of wardrobe first. I was never one for the grunge look."

"Anything we can do to help?" Reyna asked, still looking sideways at Leo like she knew he was hiding something.

"I appreciate the offer, but letting you two near the control panel for a sixteen-foot automaton has 'bad idea' written all over it." With a smirk at their twin scowls, Leo said, "Think I'd better take this one alone. That is, if you want it done sometime today."

"Whatever you say," Nico said with a shrug. He bent down to pick up two of the empty water jugs, which must have come from their supplies. "We should get these refilled at that stream back there. Let me know if you need to go into town for anything."

"Sure thing."

As Nico disappeared into the trees, Reyna cast one last thoughtful look at Leo before following with the remainder of the jugs, leaving Leo alone to repair their ride and wonder what it meant that his father's voice had suddenly entered his dream and helped him overcome Nyx's evil fire.

Hark, a new development! Whatever could this mean? Could this finally be the end of Leo's nightmares? Find out next time on another episode of "WTF Is oMM Doing?" right here on ff-net!

Update should be Tuesday. I'm making really good progress - just finished writing chapter 27 about an hour ago! 25-27 is a really good narration set, in my opinion, heh heh. Can't wait 'til you get to read it!

Later days, gang!

-oMM