I obviously own HoO and PJO.

Rick: Uh, no...

Fine. I don't own HoO or PJO. Rude!

Leo

Leo could finally understand what the others had felt like when he sacrificed himself in order to defeat Gaea. He wanted to punch Jason's face in. And Percy's. But mostly Jason's. Except, you know, Lyssa didn't want him to be able to do that, apparently. And there was also the fact that both of them could probably beat Leo up blindfolded…

Luckily, it seemed like Piper was going to do his punching for him. "What the hell were you thinking, Jason Grace?!" she yelled at Jason, getting in his face.

"Go, Pipes!" Leo cheered, grinning. But a sudden thought struck him. Wait a minute… "Hey, how come you can talk?!" Piper froze, her brow furrowing.

"I—I don't know…" she stammered.

"But that's awesome! Tell me how so that I can use my arms again!" exclaimed Leo, jumping to his feet excitedly.

"I just really wanted to talk, like I needed to, and then… well, I did," she hesitantly explained, scrunching up her face. Leo could actually understand that. It was the power of will. But Piper was so much stronger than he was; Leo doubted it would work for him. And then, another thought suddenly occurred to him.

"What were you thinking, Superman? Kelp Head?" Leo would've crossed his arms if he could, but since he couldn't, he settled for tapping his foot. The other demigods looked bemused (like they'd forgotten all about Percy and Jason, which was not entirely impossible), then they got what Leo called the lightbulb-moment-look on their faces. Leo smirked. More demigods fall prey to ADHD.

Jason hesitated, glancing at Piper's expression. Genuine confusion, concern, anger, frustration, sympathy—Leo could easily read her emotions. He hoped they looked threatening enough for Jason to spill. Meanwhile, Percy was still stubbornly standing rigidly. Annabeth sighed impatiently.

"Look, Seaweed Brain, if you're not going to tell us, we'll make you," she glared. The son of Poseidon remained obstinate. "No kisses for a week, either!" Annabeth added. Percy looked tempted, but still shook his head. Annabeth, Piper, and Hazel shared a glance that seemed to contain a whole conversation. What was up with that? Were they plotting to get Percy and Jason to tell all? Were they just telling each other, Percy is so stupid? Was it some sort of secret girl communication that no males were allowed to access? Actually, that would be kind of cool. And annoying, of course. Anyway… Hazel nodded at Piper, Annabeth jerked her chin, and then Piper steeled herself.

"Jason and Percy! Tell us WHY YOU'VE BEEN ACTING SO WEIRDLY!" Her charmspeak was so powerful, it made Leo want to spill every secret he ever had, and it wasn't even directed at him! Jason and Percy had no chance whatsoever, forget about being sons of two of the most powerful gods in existence.

Jason started babbling about his dreams with Lyssa/Furor, with Percy chiming in occasionally to describe the goddess' forms in more detail. Leo felt like a bad friend for smiling when Percy described Furor. Who smiles when their friends are telling about how they're getting visited by a sadistic goddess in their dreams?! But Furor was humanoid—that meant that Leo could capture her!

And then they started talking about Lyssa's deal. And the oaths sworn on the River Styx. And her ultimate plan to unite her Greek and Roman aspects. Leo tensed up. "Que demonios!" (A/N: "What the hell?" in Spanish) he spat. He wasn't the only one, not by a long shot. Piper was cursing in something that sounded like French, Annabeth was yelling in Greek, Nico muttered something darkly in Italian, and even Hazel joined in, saying something in Latin that made Frank stare, even as he was mouthing the same thing. What the hell were they thinking? Scratch that, they obviously weren't!

"Wait!" the various curses stopped abruptly. "Tell me the exact wording of your oaths!" Piper ordered the two sons of the Big Three.

"I swear to give my form to you—" Leo banged his head on a nearby table—"If my friends will be safe," Percy said, his eyes dulling to a pale green as he fell under the effects of charmspeak. Jason nodded, agreeing with him. Selfless bastards! Why've they got to be so damn loyal and stuff?

"How does that help?" Hazel asked, looking shaken up.

"Maybe we can find a loophole," Annabeth answered. Suddenly, she brightened. "What if…" The demigods all leaned closer, with the exception of Jason and Percy, who both fell asleep as soon as Piper stopped charmspeaking. Leo felt a flicker of hope as she finished explaining. Maybe they could be saved, after all.

THE NEXT DAY: Leo woke up when he couldn't breathe anymore. A paper was on his face. Who put a freaking paper over my head? Sitting up, he blew the paper off and tried to make out the words written in elegant cursive, which was murder to his eyes. Repair to the area slash training rock? What's a training rock? Oh, wait… Report to the arena slash training room, right now. From Lyssa…

Leo took his time getting dressed (which was pretty hard, considering his situation with his arms), before slowly ambling out of the engine room and to the training room (but not before he grabbed some microwaveable chicken nuggets from the dining room). What are the chances of me getting picked again? I've already been in three, and so has Annabeth. Piper and Hazel went twice, but everyone else has only gone once. The thought stopped Leo in his tracks. I've been in three. Do they hate me that much? Leo forced himself to push open the door to the training room. Everyone was in there already. Nobody had bothered to wake Leo up, apparently. Leo noted that bitterly, before scolding himself. Then he saw Frank, standing alone in the middle of the room. The others were lined up along the walls already. They were waiting. For him.

"What are you playing at?!" Leo yelled. The room was silent. "I've been in THREE of these torture sessions! Is that not enough?!" Then his hands started tingling strangely. Then his forearms and elbow joints. Then his shoulders. And they could move. They could move!

"Say thank you, Leo Valdez!" Lyssa said silkily. Leo tried to hide his excitement by smirking slightly.

"Thank you, Leo 'Supreme Commander' Valdez!" he crossed his arms. It felt so good to be able to do that again. Then he saw Frank's transformation. The Chinese-Canadian brought his hands to his ears, gingerly touching them like he was afraid they might break.

"I can hear again!" he exclaimed in disbelief.

"Gifts come with a price," Lyssa giggled. And with that cryptic warning, the Furores attacked.

The anger—yes, Leo had anger, lots of it—came pouring out of him. He tried to stop—tried to sing—tried everything, even bribing the Furores with Happy Meals—but nothing would work. Maybe it was because deep down, a savage part of him wanted to fight Frank. To attack him. To inflict pain. To get revenge.

He ran straight at the smoky-eyed son of Mars, despite the fact that Frank was way stronger. At the last possible moment, he rolled and swept his clenched fists at the back of Frank's knees. Frank collapsed involuntarily, falling, but somehow changed into a giant eagle while in midair.

Sharp talons raked across Leo's face, and grabbed him by his injured wrist. Leo cried out and shot white-hot fire at the eagle's feathers, and they caught into flames. With a screech, the eagle dropped the fire-user. Frank changed back to a human, frantically rolling on the floor to extinguish the flames. Avenge yourself! The Furores whispered to Leo. Take out all your anger, frustration, and fury out on him! He hates you, why shouldn't you hate him? Leo would like to say later that he resisted to spirits, and that he pulled back. But that would be lying.

The world became snatches of voices, and brief visual glimpses. Frank's face, bruised and bloody. Leo's newly twisted ankle. Burnt feathers forming a desolate pile on the group. Jagged incisions along his arm, blood pooling out slowly. A shriek of terror—from him or Frank, Leo didn't know. A nasty thump, the sound of metal on metal, the sound of blunt objects waging a battle royal.

And then, for one moment, the world became clear again. But it wasn't just one single moment. It was several, played out by the Furores. A Furor laughing at Frank. Another one, suspiciously squinting at Leo. Yet one more, splitting into two, arguing over something. And then two series of images, moving by so quickly, Leo doubted anyone could understand but him and Frank. The images in front of Frank, Leo couldn't make out. There seemed to be a burned mansion, an old lady, a medal, and some other pictures. But the images in front of Leo, he could definitely recognize. His mother's workshop in flames. His aunt Rosa, who called him a devil. His abusive caretaker, Teresa. A bleak orphanage, where Leo spent several months living. His half-sister back at camp, Nyssa, telling him that fire-users appeared right before something bad. His hand prints burned into the picnic table. Fire.

Leo screamed in rage, and charged at Frank.

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