Hi everyone! I'm back!
I might not be able to update every single day but I'll just make up for it in advance just in case.
I do not own PJO because Rick Riordan does and if I took over writing PJO, I'd have writer's block and there would've never been a sequel to The Lightning Thief.
The Adventures of a Lovesick Idiot: The Oddballs
If Leo was feeling fine right now, he'd push past all the pedestrians, rush down the stairs, roll over a few picnic tables to make it look cool, barrel past his friends, climb aboard the ship and deeply embrace the masthead of his wondrous creation. And after some quality time with the Argo II, he'd gracefully stumble onto the harbour to greet his friends.
Fortunately for all those picnic tables out there, Leo wasn't feeling normal in the slightest. YAY for outdoor furniture!
The thing was, he really didn't even notice his friends as they walked off the Argo II and looked around. His mind was still on Calypso. Leo really couldn't think straight. She was so pretty and smart and strong and best of all, she didn't mind getting her hands dirty, and did he mention she was pretty?
He sighed. It was useless. By the time he found her again, she would have probably forgetten all about him. It was a sad life. 'Wait,' he thought. 'If nobody else visits Ogygia, she'll never forget me! I'm the hero that wasn't actually a hero. I'm one of a kind.'
Leo hated the fact that he was beginning to lose faith in himself. So much faith that he had gone into Guidance Counsellor Mode. He shook it off and once again thought, 'What have I become?!'
The six of his remaining friends that hadn't fallen into Tartarus walked up the stone steps and walked up to him. Leo looked up at them from the table.
"Man! Now I going to need a bigger table," he whined.
Piper nearly knocked him out of his chair with a hug. "Leo! Gods, where have you been?"
"Valdez!" Coach Hedge grinned. Then he seemed to remember he had a reputation to protect and he forced a scowl. "You ever disappear like that again, you little punk, I'll knock you into next month!"
Frank patted Leo on the back so hard it made him wince. Even Nico shook his hand.
Hazel kissed Leo on the cheek. "We thought you were dead!"
Leo mustered a faint smile. "Hey, guys. Nah, nah, I'm good." But even though he said he was fine, he really didn't feel that well. His hands weren't twitching or fidgeting with the bits of metal in his pocket as usual. He felt like now he had a reason to live.
He had sworn on the River Styx to find his way back to her and now he wasn't so focused on the prophecy that dictated the end of the world anymore. He was relieved and worried at the same time.
Leo started poking his head into the clouds when Coach Hedge recounted Piper's mad jujitsu and kung fu skills. Then he dropped straight back down when Piper mentioned something about Festus. He raised his eyebrows suspiciously,
"But Festus was deactivated."
"Um, about that, I sort of woke him up," Piper explained.
"How?" Leo questioned. It seemed as if he was challenging her.
Piper didn't respond to the challenge but she explained how she used her charmspeak to reboot the metal machinery of the dragon.
Leo murmured a few words that included 'Shouldn't be possible,' 'vocal recognition,' 'navigational method' and 'crystal.'
"Crystal?"
"Um… nothing." Leo wanted to avoid the conversational topic of Calypso as long as he could. Well, at least until he felt like he was ready to share.
A waitress came over to offer them menus. In no time they were chowing down sandwiches and sodas, enjoying the sunny day almost like a group of regular teenagers being chaperoned by a short but intimidating looking man. Well as normal as these people - five ADHD and dyslexic kids, one lactose-intolerant kid and a goat man with anger issues - could get.
Frank grabbed a tourist brochure stuck under the napkin dispenser and began to read it. Piper couldn't believe that Leo was actually there so she took it out on his poor arm by patting it every few moments. Nico was alert the whole time eyeing all the passing pedestrians as if they could attack at any moment using the everyday objects that they were carrying. Coach hedge munched on the salt and pepper shakers.
Leo and Piper couldn't help put glare at Coach Hedge's everyday habits. Coach seemed to notice.
"What?" he asked guiltily.
Then he said in his own defence, "Monsters could come by and use them as dangerous weapons! I'm doing you a favour!"
The entire group gave shaky laughs.
BRING ON THE FLAMES, COS UNCLE LEO'S HERE!
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