This story officially has 100 followers! Ahhh, this is so exciting for me! That, coupled with all of you amazing reviewers, plus the fact that I would feel really mean if I took a long time to write this chapter after the last one's cliffhanger, helped bring about this super fast update. (Less than two weeks!) You guys are awesome!

Enjoy the chapter! (By the way, this officially makes the word count of this story over 100,000. :D)

Disclaimer: I haven't magically turned into Rick Riordan since the last update, in case anyone was wondering.

Part XIX

Oh, really? Gaea sounded unimpressed, almost bored, but Reyna knew the earth goddess was intrigued. She nodded sharply, not quite trusting herself to speak. Then I suppose that . . . changes things.

Reyna exhaled slowly, only then realizing how quickly her heart was pounding, and allowed herself to think about what she had just said. She was in love with Leo Valdez. The logical side of her rebelled against the idea. It seemed impossible. She had only known him—really known him, not just imagined what an evil camp-bomber might be like—for a few weeks, and she had spent a lot of that time helplessly watching him deal with immeasurable pain. And after everything Reyna had endured—Circe's brainwashing, pirates, power struggles, missing best friends, a lonely praetorship, a month of struggling to determine what was right or wrong, and Tartarus, for the gods' sakes—she wasn't entirely sure that she even knew what love was. Still . . . Reyna knew that she had never met a boy quite like Leo Valdez, and she had never been quite so worried for a boy's safety either—not even when Jason had gone missing. Leo had made her laugh, and made her irrational, and made her unbelievably emotional. She had been ready to do pretty much anything to get him out of Tartarus that first night, and screw the consequences. That might not have been love, but it was closer to the emotion than Reyna had ever imagined she might feel. And if she had to call it love in order to save Leo's life, then she would. He deserved that from her, and a hell of a lot more than that too.

Of course, that didn't change that it had been hard as Styx to say those words in front of Gaea and countless monsters. Reyna just thanked the gods that Leo had passed out in pain by the time she said it out loud, or she might not have been able to go through with it.

Gaea sneered at her. Congratulations, Reyna Concessi, she said sarcastically. You managed to buy the godspawn a few extra minutes of his worthless existence. And when it's time for me to rise, you'll be able to die right alongside him.

As soon as Gaea finished speaking, Polybotes grabbed Reyna roughly and flung her next to Leo, where an empousa confiscated her dagger and tied her hands and feet before she could get any ideas about escaping. Reyna refused to let her nervousness show. Annabeth knew what Plan D meant. She would be enacting it any moment. They would be fine. Assuming the plan actually worked . . .

"Reina?" At the sound of her Spanish name, Reyna's heart thumped painfully, despite her silent promise to remain calm. It was the first time she had heard Leo in person since she'd left Tartarus, and his voice sounded so small. Before she could help herself, Reyna twisted around and looked at him, silently cringing at all the pain she'd caused him by leaving Tartarus first.

She fought back tears. "Leo . . ."

If she had expected him to be happy to see her, Reyna had been completely wrong. Instead, Leo cursed in Spanish as soon as he got a look at her face. "I was hoping it wasn't you," he muttered. "I was hoping I'd been imagining . . . Dios mio, I helped you escape this, mi reina! Why'd you let yourself get captured again?"

She arched an eyebrow. "You let yourself get recaptured once," she reminded him, "so I could escape Gaea. I figured it was time to return the favor."

"But—"

"Don't worry! I have a plan. We're both going to get out of this, Leo." Unless everything goes to hell and we both die first.

Leo squinted at her. "How are you so confident?" he complained. "You realize that if you want to get me out of here, you're going to have to drag me, right? I don't think I'm going to be able to move on my own." Reyna heard bitterness and—was that shame?—in his tone.

She ached to hug him, smile at him, comfort him somehow, but there was no time. "It's not your fault," she told him instead. "The things they must have done to you . . ." She took a shuddering breath to steady herself. "I'll drag you, carry you, teleport you out of here, if I have to. Gaea is not going to hurt you any more. That's nonnegotiable."

Leo looked shocked at her conviction. "Reina, I don't—"

It is time, Gaea announced.

At those three words, Reyna forgot how to breathe. It couldn't be time already! Annabeth hadn't enacted the plan yet! She craned her neck and looked skyward. The Argo II was in position, but it was too high up to see what was happening onboard. All Reyna knew was that no one was shooting at the giants, giving her time to pull Leo out of danger and call Scipio without drawing their attention. What in Bellona's name? Had they given up on Reyna and Leo already? Were they hiding from Gaea? Reyna's whole body froze up. This was not part of Plan D. . . .

"Reyna," Leo breathed, warily eyeing Porphyrion, who was walking towards them. "Reina, now would be a really good time to start that plan."

I wish, Leo. Reyna swallowed hard and balled her fists. If it came down to it, she would attack Gaea's army while completely tied up, without Annabeth's help, with barely any weapons to use—

A hand clamped over her nose and mouth, cutting off her oxygen supply. For a moment, she struggled, but then something kicked her side, and something else struck her head, and then the lack of air got to her, and Reyna crumpled.

So much for her plan.

Leo watched helplessly, his arm burning with pain that matched his shattered heart, as an unidentifiable monster came from nowhere and knocked Reyna out. No one did the same to Leo, though. He supposed Gaea knew he was too battered to fight back.

Gods, he was a failure. He was supposed to be one of the seven, the fire user, the repair boy, the clever one, the one who could escape from anything . . . but with Reyna unconscious, and the rest of his friends hiding out on the Argo II, and his body racked with pain, Leo was too exhausted to summon even a spark of fire. He thought he saw a smirk on Gaea's face as Porphyrion scooped up Leo with one hand and Reyna with the other, and why shouldn't she feel triumphant? He was useless, and Reyna couldn't fight if she wasn't awake, and no one was coming to their aid. They would be sacrificed, and Gaea would rise, and Western civilization would crumble. Leo's heart clenched. He felt his lack of hope in his aching body, tasted its bitterness in his mouth. That had been Gaea's plan all along, hadn't it? To rise on the Feast of Spes, to destroy all hope? Well, consider your life goal complete, Dirt Face, Leo thought grimly.

All too soon, Porphyrion stopped in the middle of the Acropolis, at a stone altar that looked like it had risen straight out of the earth. Considering who was about to sacrifice them, Leo figured it actually had.

Porphyrion set them down in front of the altar and moved back to start preparing the ceremony. Leo felt his hopelessness close in around him, threatening to drown what was left of the flames burning inside him . . . and then he glanced at Reyna, and all his fiery resolve came raging back. She was here because she had wanted to save him. She would have been fine, if she had just let Gaea kill him after he attacked her. He could not watch her die because of him.

Suddenly, to Leo's surprise, a spark caught inside him and quickly built into an inferno as his determination grew. With the return of his abilities, Leo recalled what he'd learned about strategy from Frank and formed a plan. It was a suicide mission. He'd probably be slaughtered, but that would happen either way, wouldn't it? At least now Reyna would survive.

Oh, and the gods and Western civilization would probably make it too.

"Reina," he whispered urgently. "Reina, wake up." She opened her eyes. Leo saw anxiety on her face that intensified when she looked at him, but he pushed the thought aside. Of course she was worried about him. He was a wreck. It didn't mean anything, no matter what she had told Gaea. "Listen, reina. You have to be ready to make a run for it if you get the chance. Reina, you have to forget about me and just go. Gaea can't win if she doesn't sacrifice two demigods. We can still stop this." Reyna opened her mouth to protest, but Leo stopped her. "Reina, don't argue with me." He hesitated. "Please don't argue with me. You know I'm in no shape to escape. You're the gods' only chance. If you try to take me, I'll just slow you down."

Reyna's dark eyes blazed in the sunlight. "You're an idiot if you think I'm going to leave you here," she said. "You're not dying on my watch, Leo."

Leo glared at her in frustration. "Oh, yeah? And how do you think I would feel if Gaea decides to sacrifice you first, and I have to watch you die? No way in Hades, reina. You're getting out of here."

Reyna looked startled, but before she could say a word, Porphyrion's voice boomed in the silence. "Today," he intoned, "we awaken a powerful goddess. Our mother, Gaea!" He started chanting in Ancient Greek, and the other giants quickly joined in.

Leo turned to Reyna. "Come here," he said. "Give me your hands." Reyna scooted over, and Leo reached out and burned through her ropes before concentrating and incinerating his own. The giants were too focused on their chanting to notice. When he was finished, Reyna whirled around to face him, and Leo almost flinched at the pain in her eyes. "Reina," he began, "make sure you're ready to run when I start using my fire to distract Porph—"

Reyna threw her arms around him, pressing her face into his tattered shirt, and Leo forgot how to speak. It had been so long since he'd touched another human being, and clutching Reyna against him, feeling her hair tickling his chin . . . Well, suddenly all of his problems seemed petty and unimportant in comparison. His dislocated shoulder flared with pain where she touched it, but he didn't even notice. "Mi reina . . ." he croaked uncertainly. Mi reina, why would you ever touch someone as bloody, dirty, and broken as I am?

A moment after the thought crossed his mind, Reyna drew back—but not because she was disgusted by the filth covering his body. Instead the concerned look was back on her face as she searched his eyes with her own. "Make the distraction," she said finally, surprising him, "but don't stick around to watch. The fire will still burn if you're not there. Are your legs broken?" Leo shook his head numbly. "Then you can escape with me. I'll support you, all right? You just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and we'll get out of this mess together." She paused. "You don't happen to have another helicopter hiding in a tree somewhere, do you?" Leo couldn't believe Reyna was joking now, of all times. Despite their situation, the corner of his mouth twitched as he shook his head again. "Shame," Reyna replied. "That could have been useful."

Leo opened his mouth to ask when she had started trying to be funny, but then the giants stopped chanting. Reyna cursed beside him, eyeing them nervously. "Something's about to happen, Leo," she said. "You might want to start on that distraction—"

Before she could finish, a fireball shot into Polybotes's hair, and he shrieked like an empousa who had messed up her makeup. "Nice shot," Reyna said appreciatively, already half on her feet. "I didn't even see it leave your hand."

"That wasn't me," Leo said in confusion. Instantly, Reyna whipped her head around to look for the source, and Leo did the same (even though it sent shooting pains running down his spine). It didn't take long to locate the warship flying over their heads. After all, Festus had just breathed fire on another giant.

Leo grinned. "Guess they decided to come help after al—"

Something yanked his hair, and Leo flew backwards, reigniting the pain he felt. His vision blurred, but he could still see Reyna narrow her eyes furiously and reach for her boots—was she going to use her shoe as a weapon?—before he passed out.

By the time Leo woke up again, Reyna was standing next to him and taking down two monsters at once. But she wasn't using her dagger . . . "Dios mio!" Leo said in surprise. "Is that my screwdriver?"

Reyna flashed him a grin. "They didn't check my shoes for weapons, Leo," she said, "and your screwdriver was skinny enough to slip right in. It kills monsters nicely too." As if to prove her point, she flipped the tool around and slammed it into the chest of a monster, which promptly dissolved. The gold dust rained into her braid, and Leo thought she had never looked more beautiful. "You," she continued, "have no idea how much good this thing has done."

"Really? Like what?"

She stabbed another monster in the shoulder, swept its legs out with a kick, and dispatched it with another strike before answering. "I never would have gotten to New York without it," she told him. "I used it to threaten Charon into taking me to Orpheus's passage from the Underworld. Oh, and then I—"

"Wait." Leo gaped at her. "You threatened the guy who ferries dead souls with a screwdriver? And it worked?"

Reyna's lips twitched into a smile. "It worked," she said. "Mostly. Just . . . if I die during this battle, make sure someone burns me with eight denarii instead of two, okay? Charon may or may not be expecting higher payment from me, now that I . . . now that we've gotten so close."

Leo didn't find that very funny. "You're not going to die, mi reina," he said automatically. "And . . . why are you telling me this anyway?"

"Because," she said, the smile vanishing, "no matter what happens today—whether the gods win or lose, whether I die or not, whether all of Western civilization survives or falls apart—you are going to live. I'm going to make sure of it. So I figure you're the best person to tell about my funeral requirements."

Leo frowned at her, but she was focused on fighting a harpy—a snarling yellow one, not a nice one like Ella—and didn't see. "If Western civilization falls apart and all my friends die," he said slowly, "I don't think I'd want to live in the twisted world that would come next."

Reyna just grinned again, but this time, it reminded Leo of the wolfish smile Percy sometimes wore during a monster fight. The smile—no, snarl—that said, You wanna mess with me? Bad choice. "In that case," she responded, "we'd better make sure Gaea doesn't win, then. Right?"

At her words, Leo found the strength to shoot fire at a dracaena, roasting it into dust. "Sounds like a plan," he said, and struggled to his feet, hefting a hammer in his left hand (since his right arm was still broken). How convenient that Gaea had returned his tool belt that morning, convinced that he was too defeated to use it. He always enjoyed proving Queen Dirt Face wrong.

"Leo!" Reyna said, her voice reproving. "What are you doing? You look like you're about to collapse!"

"And let you have all the fun?" Leo said. "Not a chance."

Just then, a wave of water crashed into the army, dissolving ten monsters on the spot and disorienting dozens more. A second later, lightning arched in and electrified many of the soaked beasts. Percy and Jason swooped down on Blackjack and Tempest, giving each other high fives as they crossed paths. "That's how you beat up an army!" Percy yelled approvingly. A second later, more lightning came down, striking ten monsters at once, but it wasn't from a storm cloud.

Jason looked at Percy questioningly. "Was that the legion's eagle?"

Percy just smirked. "Good job, Dakota!" he shouted to the sky. Leo thought he heard an answering laugh, but he was too busy being shocked to pay close attention to their conversation. He wasn't all that surprised to see that Reyna had come to Greece to find him, but she hadn't mentioned that she didn't come alone. Dozens of pegasi and countless eagles were streaking to the ground, purple-and-orange-shirted demigods landing in the fray together, fighting in groups, watching each other's backs. Meanwhile, the pegasi and eagles flew back up to the warship and carried more demigods down to the battle. All sorts of unusual missiles fired from machines onboard the Argo II, meaning Annabeth had understood his notes even better than Leo had hoped. Hazel charged into battle on Arion, Frank—well, a lion that Leo presumed was Frank—at her side. They veered for the nearest giant they could find. Leo saw Percy and Jason split off and do the same.

Slowly, a wild grin spread across Leo's face. "You didn't tell me you brought both camps here, mi reina."

Reyna shrugged. "You were the one who wouldn't let me give away my plans."

The sentence brought a flood of memories crashing unwanted into Leo's brain—getting tortured, begging Reyna not to reveal anything worth Gaea's knowledge, worrying about becoming a traitor, getting tortured some more, and always pain coating all of his emotions—but he beat them back forcefully. Now was not the time. He was in the middle of a war, for gods' sakes! "You're amazing," he proclaimed, mostly to block out his pain by watching Reyna blush at his compliment. "How did you transport hundreds of demigods over here?"

Reyna's eyes sparkled. "Tell you later," she said. Leo was grateful for her implication that there would be a later. "In the meantime . . ." She whistled. "Scipio!"

A light brown pegasus dive-bombed toward them, whinnying and kicking a couple monsters in the head before he landed in front of them. "Good boy," she said proudly. "Take Leo up to the Argo II."

"What? I'm not leaving you!" Leo protested. To his surprise, Scipio whinnied angrily at almost the same moment.

Reyna whirled and faced Leo, trusting her pegasus to protect them. Thank the gods, he did. "And I'm not letting you fight until you drop dead from pain and exhaustion," she said. "Let Scipio take you to your ship. Get some ambrosia and nectar. Let an Apollo medic patch you up. Then—if you feel well enough—you can get back in this battle." Her eyes were boring into him like a power drill. "Do this for me, Leo. I . . . I can't be worrying about you during all of this. It'd be too distracting." Despite everything, her lips quirked. "You'd be too distracting."

Leo tried to smile, but he was too terrified. He knew Reyna could fight incredibly well, but in a war like this . . . he was scared for everyone. "Me? Distracting? Why?"

Reyna raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it obvious?" she asked. "Porque tu eres mi chico de fuego." She closed off her expression before Leo could ask what exactly she meant by that. "Just get on Scipio, all right? Let him take care of you."

Leo threw his hammer at a Cyclops, hitting him in the eye (now that was a gross way to kill one of those things), and glanced back at Reyna. "You were doing a pretty good job of that before he got here. And I can take care of myself too, you know."

"LEO!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going," he grumbled. Then, on impulse, he pulled another screwdriver out of his tool belt and pressed it into her hand, smiling crookedly at her as he did. "At least take this. Two weapons are better than one, right?"

Reyna's fingers curled around the tool. Her eyes shone. "Leo, I—"

"Watch out!" he warned. Reyna turned just in time to throw a screwdriver at an approaching hellhound, spearing it in the leg. It whimpered and hesitated, and in that instant, Reyna was slashing across its chest, sending it back to Tartarus. Tartarus . . .

Leo pushed the memories away again. "See you soon, mi reina!" he called, clambering onto Scipio. Reyna looked over and waved at him with one of her screwdrivers before whirling around and beating back a Laistrygonian. With a lump in his throat—oh gods, what if she got hurt?—he let Scipio take off. In less than a minute, he was sliding onto the Argo II's deck, disbelief racing through him as he crumpled to his knees. After so much time in Tartarus, he'd thought he'd never see his beloved warship once again, much less stand on it. He hadn't expected to see any of his friends again either. But now he had, thanks to Reyna.

Leo looked up at Scipio. Now that the adrenaline of being directly in battle was wearing off, he felt woozy, with rivers of pain rushing through his body, but he fought back his exhaustion. "Go back to Reyna," he instructed firmly. "I'm safe now. Keep her safe too."

It might have been his imagination, but Scipio seemed to nod at him before taking off. Leo hoped the pegasus followed orders well, but then again, he was a Roman pegasus. He probably followed directions better than most Greek demigods.

"Leo? LEO!" Leo turned just in time to see Piper barreling towards him from where she'd been manning the ballistae. He didn't even have time to brace himself before she tackled him. "I'm so sorry we couldn't rescue you sooner," she breathed. "We wanted to, but there was no way into Tartarus, and this was our only shot, and then a horde of monsters attacked the ship—and all the flying eagles and pegasi too—just after Percy jumped on Blackjack, and we were so busy fighting them off that we couldn't see what was going on down below, and by the time we'd killed them all, you guys were tied up in front of that awful altar, and then we couldn't get to you directly because there were so many monsters and giants around you . . ." She leaned back, studied Leo's face like she couldn't believe it was real, and then hugged him again. "I was so worried," she said. "We were so worried. You're my best friend, Leo, and if anything happened to you . . ." She shook her head, then beamed at him. "Hazel might go a little crazy when she sees you," she warned. "She's been freaking out as much as I have. She might hug you too tight, act super overprotective, apologize a lot . . ."

"Like . . . you're doing . . . now?" Leo gasped.

Immediately, Piper released him, anxiety fighting with relief in her eyes. "Oh gods," she said, "did I hurt . . . ?" The words died away when she examined Leo for the first time, only now noticing the blood-soaked bandages, countless bruises, twisted arm, and the way he couldn't quite look at her. After Reyna had visited him in her dreams and seen how broken he was firsthand, Leo hadn't bothered to hide his pain from her today. She would've just seen right through him. But Piper . . . Well, he'd spare her that if he could. "Styx, Leo," Piper whispered. "Reyna told us you were in bad shape, but I had no idea . . ."

Leo forced himself to smile at her, hoping he was concealing the way his body ached all over, disguising the acute pain in his arm, hiding how he still only felt half-sane. "I'm fine, Pipes," he said. "Just glad to see you guys managed to fix the ship and—"

"Fine, my ass," Piper interrupted fiercely. "Sit down. I'm getting Will over here."

"What? No! He's probably busy with the wounded—"

"You're the wounded, Leo Valdez. Stay. Still." And with that, she rushed across the deck, presumably to find Will Solace.

As soon as she was gone, Annabeth turned from her place at the helm and smiled at him. Leo was surprised to recognize her expression. It was the same one she'd worn when she'd laid her eyes on Percy in New Rome over a month ago—like she'd been hurting for ages, and hiding it, and she could finally release her anxiety. She looked . . . grateful. Relieved. Ecstatic. Leo had known the Seven were his friends, but . . . gods, he'd believed Gaea like an idiot. He was ashamed to admit it, but there had been times he was sure they'd abandoned him. Part of him felt guilty for causing them so much pain, but the rest of him was glad to see they had been worried. They cared about him. He mattered to them.

"Thank you," Annabeth said, "for saving Percy and me. I don't think we'll ever be able to repay you. I wish I had gotten a chance to tell you that, before . . ." She shook her head and turned back to the helm to shoot at some more monsters. Leo could hardly believe it, but she might have been using the chance to compose herself. He was pretty sure her eyes were glistening brighter than normal. Oh, gods. If Annabeth—scary, genius, blonde Annabeth—started crying, Leo wouldn't know what to do.

Luckily, when she looked back at him, her eyes had hardened some, and he didn't see any tears. "Anyway," she said more brusquely, "if you had died in Tartarus, and it had been our fault . . . well, I never would have forgiven myself, and I doubt Percy would have either. So . . . thank you for not dying."

Leo grinned, in spite of the battle waging below them, in spite of the pain he felt, in spite of the fact that Reyna was in danger, in spite of the memories pressing against his eyelids. "Don't thank me for that," he said. "I didn't do it for you."

Unexpectedly, Annabeth laughed. "Gods, Leo," she said, "I'd forgotten how much we need you on this ship. Welcome back. I'd give you a hug too, but I'm a little busy at the moment." She gestured behind her at the helm.

Her words jolted Leo. What the Hades was he doing, sitting around while there was a fight going on? He couldn't do that. He had friends to protect. He had an earth mother to take on.

Shaking his head, Leo stood back up. Screw it if he was wounded. Gaea wasn't keeping him out of the war that easily. "No, you're not," he said, walking—only a little unsteadily—toward her. "Let me do that."

Annabeth glared at him, and Leo remembered why he'd found her so scary when they'd first met. "Not a chance," she said shortly. "You've gone through enough, Leo. Let Will come and heal you."

"He can do that if I'm standing at the helm as well as if I'm sitting down," Leo said dismissively. "And if someone would just give me some nectar, I probably wouldn't even need a healer. Besides, don't tell me you'd rather be fighting up here than at Percy's side."

He saw the hesitation in her eyes. "Leo, I can't let you—"

"You can't keep me out of this either, Annabeth," Leo interrupted. "I've got to do something. And I'll be safe up here." He stumbled a little, secretly grateful that he wasn't showing the pain in other ways—like passing out, for example. "And I was serious about the nectar."

Finally, Annabeth sighed, left her place, and steadied him with one arm, holding up a bottle of nectar with the other. "If you're sure . . ." she said uncertainly.

Leo took a couple swigs of nectar, hiding his disappointment when his arm stayed broken and the pain from his injuries didn't immediately recede. He knew he was too beat up for a drink to fix him that simply, even if it was godly. "I'm sure, Annabeth," he said with a wry smile. "Now go be with your boyfriend before he does something stupid."

Annabeth snorted and whistled, probably for one of the pegasi who were currently riderless and striking out at monsters with their hooves. "I bet it's too late for that," she said.

"Then before he does something more stupid," Leo grinned. "And Annabeth?"

The daughter of Athena was already scanning the crowd of monsters, looking for signs that a pegasus had heard her call, but she managed a "Hmm?"

"You did a great job with the ship. I can't believe you got the exploding teddy bear rocket to work."

Annabeth laughed. "It was top-priority," she said. "I thought Octavian would appreciate it." She sobered and appraised him worriedly, even as a pegasus arrived and she climbed on. "Are you sure you can handle this ship on your own, Leo? You . . . well, no offense, but you look like Styx. Maybe worse."

He forced a reassuring smile. "Most of the blood's from old injuries," he lied, "and the bruises aren't as bad as they look." Another lie. Leo didn't mention that the worst bruises were the ones on his torso that hid his fractured ribs. "I can't even feel the broken arm anymore." Whoops, a third lie. "I'm fine." Thank gods he wasn't Pinocchio.

Annabeth glared at him, and Leo knew she didn't believe him. But he also knew she was smart enough to realize she couldn't stop him. "Just try not to get beat up any worse, Leo," she said. "Stay safe." Then she was gone, before Leo even had a chance to say it back.

He sighed, but it was quickly forgotten when he saw the controls on his helm. His fingers twitched just imagining all the pain he could dole out. A little payback for what the monsters—and their mother—had done to him in Tartarus.

To storm or fire, the world must fall.

Leo pulled the first lever, watching in satisfaction as a teddy bear exploded into Enceladus's face. "Here we go, Gaea," he muttered to himself. "You won't just fall. I'm going to make sure you crumble."