Guys...not even kidding...I'm crying. I have 1,018 reviews, all thanks to you guys. I love you all so much, and you will never have any idea how much all your support and compliments mean to me...so, so much.

I have plans tonight, so unfortunately, I do not have time to respond to reviews, but I'll be doing it tomorrow (my birthday, yay!) I promise. Hopefully it won't take too long.

I'll respond to a few things, but just in general. After this, even if it only ends up being 100 chapters, I'm planning on continuing with more fanfics. I'll do an after the giant war one, immediately after, when they're back and trying to recover and get on with their lives, and one a bit later, where they're getting married, and then probably yet another where they have kids. In between, here and then, I'll probably do a few shorter stories about Percy Jackson, but for now, this is it.

Another Great Prophecy isn't coming for some time, and it may end up being in one of my next fanfics, not this one. But there will be one.

I know you don't want to wait for the next Frank chapter, but after this, we're going back to Nico and Reyna...I just really love keeping you waiting, don't I? Anyway, the pace of this story is going to speed up soon, for those of you getting impatient...

The monster is NOT a drakon-good guess though-it's actually been used before. In the first book of the Percy Jackson series...

Those of you that were upset at me for causing them angst and making them cry, I apologize. Well, no, not really. Anyway, here's another angst-ridden chapter for you-I hope you like it. *evil grin*

Those that protested where I ended-as Persasseus would say, DEAL with it! ;)

Glad Randomo got an account! Yay for you!

I don't hate Jason, but Percy will always be awesomer.

Enjoy!

Chapter LXVII

Leo

Leo misses the bloodthirsty goat. Especially since he would've been able to watch the ship while Leo finally got some rest.

He sighs, staring blearily at the computer screen, watching to make sure no red dots appear on the scanner-red dots equals mean monsters. Hopefully, none would attack until Jason, Percy, and Frank got back from their mini quest-or at least until the girls were back on their feet. Leo sucks at close combat. And no way can he ward off a serious monster attack by himself, even with all of his special additions to the ship's defense system.

Right now, though, he's not doing a very good job of watching anything. All he wants to do is sleep. His eyes are prickly from staring so long at the monitor, and his whole body feels like it's made of lead. The fact that he hasn't actually gotten any sleep in the past three days can't be helping either.

His head starts drooping to his chest, and his eyes start to drift shut. Sleep... Such a magical, wonderful word. Leo has no idea why he's never appreciated it properly before. I could just...close my eyes for a second...That couldn't hurt, could it? He thinks blearily.

His eyes close all the way, and he can feel himself slipping off to sleep, wonderful, beautiful sleep, when he realizes what he's doing and suddenly jerks his head back up, shaking himself in an attempt to wake up a little. It doesn't help, and he sags again immediately after.

Bad Leo. He scolds himself. No sleeping until someone else can be here to watch the ship. Bad Leo.

He shakes his head wearily and goes back to staring at the screen, watching the sonar ping out every few seconds, sending ripples out across the screen.

Like when you drop a rock in a pond...or something...He thinks. The warmth of the sun on his back is only serving to make him drowsier. It's like there's a voice in his head going: Sleep, Leo. Sleep is a good thing. It won't hurt, just sleep. Close your eyes, Leo. Sleep. It croons, and he tries to push it away, but it persists stubbornly on trying to convince him to be stupid and sleep on guard duty.

But surely it wouldn't hurt if he just closed his eyes for a second? Maybe a minute or two? Part of him says.

Bad Leo. Another argues.

Great. The most awake, sane part of him thinks. I'm having a mental argument with myself. That can't be a good sign.

Festus creaks quietly to his right, occasionally snorting puffs of smoke. He manages to occupy himself with thoughts of the new control disk he's been working on, at least for a bit.

The circuitry will have to be perfect...and I'll have to do the whole anti-rust, anti-freeze thing...Ha, anti-freeze. Antifreeze. That's funny. He laughs quietly, a small huff of amusement that's hardly louder than a breath. Then he gets worried. Oh, man, I really am tired. I'm losing my great sense of humor.

Suddenly, Calypso comes to the forefront of his mind, and his sense automatically sharpen, as if he'd just drank a gallon of double espresso coffee. In her, he somehow finds the energy to keep from crashing, like he always does when he's up all night working on blueprints for Festus and trying to find the way back to her island.

"I'm coming back for you, Calypso." He murmurs. "But I have to go punch Mother Nature in the face first. And to get there, I need to stay awake until someone else can take over."

He starts mumbling continuously to himself, although he's not even sure what he's saying. Even thinking about Calypso can't stave off his exhaustion forever.

Festus suddenly starts whirring and creaking at Leo, and he turns tiredly to face the dragon figurehead. "What is it, Festus?" He asks.

I feel like I'm in the movie Lassie. He thinks.

Festus turns his glowing red eyes on Leo's face, and Leo swears he can see something far beyond automaton intelligence there-he looks truly alive. And ever since Piper had used charmspeak to reactivate him...that's what he'd seemed to be. But then again, maybe Leo's just getting way too tired.

In machine language, Festus says five words that make Leo want to hug him. I will watch the ship.

As much as Leo would like to take the offer, though, he's skeptical. "Are you sure, buddy? Can you?"

Festus snorts offendedly, and Leo raises his hands in the air apologetically. "Sorry, sorry. I'm just making sure."

I can. He says. Go sleep.

"You'll sound the alarm if anything gets close, right? I don't want anything else happening after those stupid man-eating deer..." He mutters.

Of course. Sleep. Festus orders, and Leo waves his hand at the figurehead as he turns away.

"Okay, okay. I'm going." He mumbles, and then he stumbles down the stairs. He pauses by the infirmary, peeking in to check on Piper, Annabeth, and Hazel.

They're all sound asleep, and Piper is even snoring softly into her pillow. She has an annoyed look on her face, though, like her dreams are irritating her.

Leo smiles and walks back out into the hallway, heading for his own room-then he changes his mind and starts down to the engine room. He always sleeps better with the soothing hum of machinery around him.

He stares intently at the floor when he gets into the room, concentrating fiercely on not tripping over any of the various cords, tubing, and pipes snaking over the floor. Usually, he can navigate the room without looking-it's second nature to him, and it's normally pretty easy for him to sense where everything is-but as tired as he is, he doesn't want to take any chances. So he focuses as hard as he can on getting to his table without falling.

And, of course, it doesn't help one bit. He falls anyway, with a loud crash that he can hear above the hum of the engine-and that's definitely saying something.

"Ow." He mutters under his breath, and then proceeds to verbally abuse the cord he tripped over, cursing at it in Greek. It's funny, really, how naturally the curses come to him-usually he's not very good with Greek, even with the whole being a son of a Greek god thing he has going.

He trips two more times in the remaining three yards to his table-quite an accomplishment, if you ask him-and finally drops into his chair, rubbing his face and staring at the wall, where he has a small mirror hanging. He rarely ever looks into it; it's more for his inventions-it's really surprising how useful a mirror can be to inventors. But now, he takes the oppurtunity to study himself.

He has dark purple bags under his eyes-no surprise there. But his face is also thinner, more angular-older. His eyes are darker than they've ever been, without that normal cheerful spark, and the fact that he's so tired he's about to collapse. Add to that the new scrape on his chin from falling and the smudge of black machine oil on his forehead, and he looks more like 16 than 14. (A/N I have no idea how old he really is, so I guessed...)

He blows out a frustrated sigh and runs his fingers through his hair, looking down at the mess on his table. Surprise, surprise, the first thing he sees is-you guessed it-his drawing of Calypso. He stares at it, at her, and all of his emotions bubble up and tangle themselves around each other, filling him with a wordless feeling that makes him want to cry, punch something, and laugh all at the same time.

He stands up abruptly, knocking his chair over backwards.

"I can't sleep here." He mutters, before turning and walking briskly out of the room, trying to push away the bittersweet memories filling his mind. He only partially succeeds, locking away thoughts of Calypso, but calling up numerous others he'd really rather not think about.

He goes to his room, and lays back on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He only manages to stay there for about thirty seconds before he's up and pacing around the room, his thoughts driving him crazy.

"One, two..." He counts his steps under his breath, tapping his fingers against his leg. Images flash into his head with every step.

"Three, four..." Flash, a memory of him and his mom laughing at the machine shop, a few days before she died.

"Five, six..." Flash, pounding on the locked door to the shop, screaming and scared.

"Seven, eight..." His steps increase speed with his thoughts.

"Nine, ten, eleven..." Flash, sending a blast of flames at Gaea as she advances towards him.

Flash, the sparks from the fire when Tia Callida had placed him in the fireplace.

Flash, using fire to drop the engine on Ma Gasket.

Flash, his cabinmates' reactions when they'd found out he was a fire user.

Flash, Frank's face whenever Leo uses his powers.

Flash, the explosion of Greek fire when Leo used it against the Skolopendra.

Flash, his mom's funeral.

Flash, his aunt's words when the social workers tried to get her to take him, calling him diablo, devil.

Flash, his dreams of Calypso's island burning, filling the air with black smoke and ash.

Flash, flames, fire, swirling through his head, filling his vision, driving him mad.

Leo digs the heels of his hands into his temples, screaming in frustration. Why won't his memories just leave him alone?

He punches his wall in sheer frustration, splitting his knuckles open and barely even denting the bronze. His hands start bleeding, but he leaves it, glad to have a different kind of pain to focus on.

"I can't stay here." He mutters. "I'm going mad."

He starts pacing again, forcing himself not to think of anything except the feeling of his feet hitting the floor.

Then he stops suddenly, and holds out his hand, palm facing up. He concentrates, and a small flame flickers to life, hovering over his hand.

A rush of anger burns through him, and he crushes his hand into a fist, extinguishing the flame.

Then he walks quickly out of his room, desperate for what might be the only thing that can calm him.

He pauses outside, wondering if they heard his scream, but then he just shrugs it uncomfortably away and tiptoes in, trying not to wake them up.

Hazel, Annabeth, and Piper are all still sound asleep, and Leo feels a rush of relief and affection at seeing their faces. He has friends. He's not alone.

His eyes focus on Annabeth. Not even with his secret-because he's no longer the only one that knows.

They have their beds shoved close together, and Leo grabs a fourth one to move closer to them, choosing to sleep between Piper and Annabeth. He curls up on it, pulling the thin sheet over himself, and lets himself relax, feeling the warmth from the two friends on either side of him. Focusing on that, and only that, he slips easily into peaceful sleep-for once untroubled by nightmares of the fire he's supposed to control.

Hmmmm...you know, when I wrote this, I actually wasn't planning the whole madness/tortured by memories thing. It just sort of happened. But I think it works, don't you?

I love you-so, SO much-je t'aime, muchos gracias, merci, THANK YOU! So, so, so, so, so, so, so much, everyone, for helping me reach 1000 reviews. The next goal is 2000 in two weeks-just to keep you all motivated. :) Blue cookies and cake and rainbows of happiness for EVERYONE!