When Leaneira awakened, she felt incredibly refreshed. The birds were singing and the sun was shining. The sickness of the Tree wasn't even clinging to her like a crazy ex. Her hair fanned around her. When she glanced upwards, drawn by the flash of different lights; she noticed that she was crowned by different crystals that Lou Ellen had brought her like her own personal halo.
Lea decided that it was going to be a good day even if she was going to go on a seemingly life-threatening quest.
Did Olympos have life insurance, she wondered.
And then her day flipped on its head when she sat up and noticed both of her brother's bunks empty — like they had been empty for hours.
The sheer anger that overcame her in seconds should have been a case of study as she threw her sheets off the bed and stormed out of her cabin.
If she could see how she looked to others, she would notice the way her hair was blowing through the air without any wind… she would see how her eyes were gleaming a sickly green and her bare feet left craters in the ground as she moved across the earth.
The startled exclaim from the few campers awake sounded like background music as she stomped towards the Big House. Her mark was burning and shining through her shirt, but its namesake didn't show his face so she ignored it as usual.
The chattering grew louder as kids began pouring out the cabins as her mageia set around the atmosphere settled around like dark clouds. Maybe she could understand what Alabaster meant about untapped potential and control exercises.
The doors were thrown open, but it was hard to tell if it was from her power attempting to pull them off the hinges or Tántalos yanking them open. "What is the meani–aughhh." A tendril of translucent emerald smoke held the creep in the air. His hands grappled desperately for relief as it crushed his windpipe.
"Where is my brother," Leaneira snarled, voice echoing in a way that was not quite human. That was something to look at later or never; Lea was fine with never.
"I don't know where he is," Tántalos choked.
"Lleva."
"He should be in his cabin," the camp director croaked as the tendril tightened around his throat.
"Annabeth is missing too," one of the children of "Athena" proclaimed. Lea turned in their direction, magic setting the starving king back on the ground.
"What?"
"The two of them are gone. They must have snuck off for the quest."
"Oh, so that's what the harpies were wailing about last night," someone else said.
"Well then," Tántalos proclaimed, rubbing his throat. Lea turned back to look at him as Mr. Dick climbed down the stairs in a pair of grape-stained pajamas. "If they want to leave camp, then they can stay away! They're expelled from eternity."
"Mm, yeah. What he said," Dionysos stated as he pushed the zombie out of his way. He smelled like whisky as he walked past them for breakfast. "Any of them show their faces again then I'll turn them into… uh, squirrels? Yeah, squirrels and run them over with the truck."
Lea snarled, mageia flooding out of her in waves before a hand clamped down on her shoulder and the mark burned brighter and the power settled down into a low simmer under her skin. "Do you know who we're even talking about?"
"No. Not really," Mr. Dickhead said.
Lea growled, eyes still glowing eerily as she turned away. Drew, Alabaster, and Ethan flanked her as her gaze landed onto the campers scattered around them. She could still feel Twinkle Toes' hand on her shoulder as she stood there.
"I'm sure he is fine," Drew murmured, placing a soothing hand on her arm. "Maybe this is some type of misunderstanding."
"No, this is exactly the dumb shit Percy would pull." Lea snorted, shaking her head. Her eyes were still glowing even if she didn't know it. "I just wish he would let me know when he does things like this." It was not a fun summer last year. At all.
"Do you think that he could find the fleece," Ethan asked with furrowed brows. Lea shrugged, dislodging the hands on her body as she walked away. "He had better or I'm going to the Underworld to personally kick his ass."
"Come on," Drew soothed, changing directions to lead her to the Tenth Cabin. "Let's get you dressed for your quest."
A scowl appeared on her face when she remembered that. She wished she knew where her soulmate was so she could flip him off for doing this to her,
"Figures," someone behind them said. "She's just as bad as her brother. Always trying to steal the spotlight."
Lea turned with a raised brow. One of the kids from Cabin Five. Wasn't that a surprise, Lea didn't even do anything to them. Heck, she barely even talked to anyone at the camp. Drew and the others had been the ones forcing their presences on her.
"Excuse me," Lea snarled. "What did you just say?"
"You heard me," the boy scowled back at her. "If the shoe fits, wear it."
"Turn around, bend over." Lea's eyes flashed, "I'll show you where my shoe fits."
"Lea," Ethan groaned.
She shook her head. No because, "Assholes like him like to run their mouths, but I'm the type to run the fade so wassup? You can keep talking wild or we can go shoot the fair real quick. It don't matter to me."
"Only people who don't even know Percy got stuff to say about him," Drew agreed, turning her nose up at the boy. "So, be a good boy, and be quiet, Sherman."
Sherman's mouth snapped shut.
"Word to," Lea nodded. Her eyes started sparking off, but she didn't really care about that. She stalked right up to Sherman, balled her fists back and knocked puberty out of him.
"The next person to talk shit about my brother," she started ominously. She looked towards Tántalos as he was walking back over towards them with that same sleazy look in his eyes. "I'm going to knock the sonic rings out of you, crystal?"
"Clear," the familiar sound of Travis Stoll stated as he and his brother flanked them. Lea inwardly rolled her eyes and fought to keep the grimace off her face. She was not playing stepmommy duties today or anytime soon. No way!
"You can join him," the walking dead pointed out. "Or you can stay with me."
Lea was sure that she turned as green as her eyes. "There's a tree somewhere around here working hard to replace the oxygen that you're wasting," she croaked, one hand moving up to cover her nose. "I have a blessing already and he's ten times the man you never were, never will be again, or ever could be."
Lea hoped that green-eyed freak wasn't around to hear that, but the point still remained.
"Let's go, Lea," Drew stated, pulling on her arm. She was glowering at Tántalos. "You need to get dressed and you still need to eat."
"So what's your deal," Leaneira asked as she stood beside Cap'n Clarisse. The girl was checking over her weapon's stache. And honestly, Lea wasn't sure if they were going to beat up Cyclops or fight Dracula. Celestial bronze tipped stakes and garlic bombs. Was that a fucking nuke? Why did a pirate ship need a nuke?
The elder girl looked at her with a raised brow. "What?"
"What's your deal," she repeated, pouting when she slapped her hand away from the flamethrowing chainsaw machete thingamajig. "You walk around like the world owes you something but you've been the most vocal about protecting the camp. A chip on your shoulder the size of the pacific ocean yet you're the one that made out the routine schedule and the counter routine for protection. So what's your deal?"
"What's it to you?"
Lea shrugged. "I'm bored and you won't let me play with your toys. I'm trying to avoid the work that Alabaster gave me because it's summer vacation and I don't even do schoolwork during school hours. When Drew and her gang ... I mean sisters jumped me to dress me up like a barbie doll, Silena stated that she was worried about the two of us being together since I have a khaos-mate and you're so heartbroken over yours that it's made some of their siblings physically sick."
"First off, these are not toys," Clarisse stated, slamming the trunk close. "And secondly, tell the Bratz squad to stop gossiping about me. I'm not heartbroken."
Ignoring that, Lea stepped away rolling her eyes. "Soulmates. Khaos-mates. Whatever you want to call it are overrated anyway."
"You would say that," the girl muttered. "You have a mark that most would kill for and you just spit in its face. You don't get how lucky you are."
"Lucky," Lea laughed. "I'm supposed to be thankful for this? To be matched with one of your gods? Are the King and Queen not soulmates? Is my so-called Father not matched with his wife? Hell, isn't my so-called soulmate married? And yet, here I am and there you are. There's a camp filled with children! But oh, I'm lucky because I'm matched with a god that's going to end up cheating on me and give birth to a bunch of other little bastards like myself!" Her laugh turned loud and mocking and bitter. "Gee, remind me to make a toast to Lady Tyche. I could use a lot more luck than this."
If Lea was being honest, that was another reason that she was so disappointed with her parents and her fuckass soulmark. Lea held absolutely no respect for anyone that stepped out of their marriages or slept with married people. At least wait until you're divorced or legally separated if you want to be with another person. Fucking assholes and she hated the implication that her soulmark meant that she would essentially be doing the same thing because she highly doubted that asshole wanted a platonic mark with her!
Clarisse was quiet for a moment and Lea scoffed, turning on her heel. She made her way to the gunnery deck, eyes settling onto the open sea around them. The Dead Confederates scowled at her, but Lea ignored them. It wasn't her fault that they lost the war. They should have won if they didn't want to be losers. Losers.
She wondered how weird it would be for her to jump aboard and take a swim in the ocean. Probably no weirder than the soulmate that she was lucky to have. Her Father was the God-King of the Sea after all.
But she didn't. There was something weird within that water.
Something dangerous. It was calling to her, but she could sense the malicious intent within it. She turned away from it also, instead breathing in the salty wind, letting it rejuvenate her. It brought forth old memories that she had long since ignored, but now— now in a world where so-called gods walked the earth, she wondered how true those memories were. The golden glow that appeared shone over her in her bassinet when she was much too young for memories to hold. That one-eyed stalker that she only now realized was a cyclops. The women used to wave and giggle and play with her and Percy when they were children at Montauk.
A part of her wondered if that's why Mother insisted on those trips, so that their so-called Dad could see them. He'd be able to watch over them while also luckily keeping them from the view of the other "gods".
Lucky. She had been lucky to repress those memories, but she supposed she could no longer do so.
It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. She hadn't asked for any of this.
And yet, here she was.
Suddenly, she tensed.
A haunting laugh teased at her psyche. A part of her wondered if it was that asshole that she was supposed to be calling her Grandfather now, but no. No, this sounded as if the wind around her was laughing.
She looked around and wondered. Something told her that they were much further than the Long Island Sound. In fact, they somehow managed to travel about five hundred and thirty nautical miles.
Heads were going to roll if they turned her into some off-brand GPS system. She was not going to be any more of a freak of nature than she already was because of this stupid live-action DnD game.
Her mark started to burn just a bit before a pair of hands settled on her shoulders. She turned her head, but the hands tightened just a bit. "I'm not supposed to be here," the familiar voice of her soulmate murmured. "But I just wanted to stop by and remind you of the favor. Please, my love. Save my son. You'll find that your companion more than anyone would agree with you."
He pulled her up from her seat, turning her around. Lea could only just barely make out a ship nearing them. "The Princess Andromeda," Hermes murmured. "I cannot get near it. In fact, it seems to almost disappear whenever I get close."
Lea wanted to pay attention to his words. She really did, but she could feel the heat of his body pressing against hers and her face was a shade of red not even on the spectrum.
"I must leave you now," he whispered. "But please, mi amor. I beg of you, please."
The things she did for people.
"Fine, but you can tell Clarisse that I'm stepping out for a bit," Lea grumbled as she stormed down to the hammocks to get that stupid book. It was only a few moments later that the sizzling of her mark disappeared indicating that he left.
Back above deck, Clarisse was standing at the helm, knuckles white as she stared out into the abyss.
"La Rue?"
"Barbie told you about my khaos-mate," she said after a long bout of silence. "She told you how I was 'heartbroken' over it." Clarisse snorted softly. "Did she tell you that my soulmate was on the enemy side?"
"What?"
"Chris," she murmured. "Chris Rodriguez. Lord Hermes' son. He's my blessing." There was something painful in her voice. "I always liked him and when I got his name, I had been so excited. In fact, Barbie was the only one I had ever told and then... then he ran off to join the opposing side and I'm left wondering if this mark really is a blessing or a curse."
Lea didnt know what to say to that. She had made her thoughts clear on what she felt about the marks.
"I suppose I owe you an apology," the girl continued. "I was too busy wallowing in my own problems that I didn't pay attention to yours." Her voice then hardened. "Don't think this changes anything between us though." She turned to look at Lea, and there was a stubbornness in her eyes that confused the latter. "But I could be convinced to change my mind if you could help him. Help him see sense."
"If he truly believes this is the right path, then there isn't much I can do."
"But you're still willing to try," Clarisse stressed. "Much more than anyone else at camp."
Lea didn't know about that. Ethan told her about how Annabeth was writing letters to her siblings and the kids in the Eleventh Cabin defending Luke's honor just a bit. If she's willing to do that for the fuckface that tried to kill Percy, then Lea was willing to bet there were more people on Chris' side.
"I'll do my best."
"That's all I ask."
Lea nodded her head sharply, climbing over the rail holding the book close to her. She gazed at it, feeling something dark beckoning her to it. She thought about Percy's words from his dip into the pacific ocean during the quest last year and could really only hope for the same.
If you're really watching, old man, I hope you're a better Dad than Gabe was.
And she jumped into the sea.
The first thing Lea thought as the ocean embraced her was that it felt a lot like coming home. Just being there gave her a sense of peace that she didn't even know she was missing. In a way, she felt as if she was being cradled in a pair of arms and a part of her imagined that it was her so-called Father, catching her like the TV Dads after a long day of work and going home to the sight of his children.
Gods, there weren't even enough words to describe how it felt. It was as soft as the wind and she felt as if she was flying instead of floating.
She twirled about the water as if she was Melody from the sequel to The Little Mermaid.
(Lea was a little disturbed to now realize that King Triton from the movie was now actually her half-brother. Huh. Ariel, girl, you should have stayed in the sea.)
Lea focused on the cruise ship and she tried to focus on what Percy said when he controlled the boat of love. It was a little hard to remember, but she got the gist of it. It worked better if she pretended that she was playing tug-of-war then it was much easier even if she was on the losing side.
The cruise ship was huge. About the same size as their apartment building. Was the owner compensating for something, geesh?
The white hull was at least ten stories tall, topped with another dozen levels of decks with brightly lit balconies and portholes. The ship's name was painted just above the bow line in black letters, lit with a spotlight. It took her a few seconds to decipher it: PRINCESS ANDROMEDA
Attached to the bow was a huge masthead-a three-story-tall woman wearing a white Greek chiton, sculpted to look as if she were chained to the front of the ship. She was young and beautiful, with flowing black hair, but her expression was one of absolute terror.
Lea found it distasteful.
She floated around the ship a bit trying to find a way on before catching sight of a service ladder riveted to the side of the hull. However, when she placed her hand on it, she was overcome with a vision of Percy, Chase, and Tyson doing the exact same thing. She snatched her hand away quickly wondering what the hell was that about.
Lea gritted her teeth. She was just going to have to work through it. The quicker she drops off the book then the quicker she could leave. Heck, she could probably leave with Chris if she got that binding spell that Lou Ellen had been showing her right though she doubted she'd be able to.
With a lot of cursing, especially the ones she heard from the various gangs that littered the streets, Lea climbed into what looked like a maintenance deck stacked with yellow lifeboats. She had to slump down on the ground behind them after getting another vision of Percy and the others prying open the doors.
She was going to wring his neck. It was one thing to be getting her sleep hijacked by the wanna-be Sandman. It was an entirely different thing to be getting her alertness stolen by her Brother who abandoned her! especially with pedophile zombie.
Lea could hear people moving around and despite how cute she looked, she was so not dressed to be on a fucking yacht. Seriously, she was sure that this ship cost more than their rent and Drew's tuition added on to her own.
She was kind of regretting not doing Alabaster's stupid homework because she could really use some advice right now.
But—
But when it's all said and done, the Power of Three will set you free and Lea tried to remember some of their spells. She knows there was an invisibility spell somewhere in there.
"I, uh, I call upon the Ancient Powers, no. No, that won't work." Lea shook her head, pacing in a small circle. "Okay, um, I call upon thee, her Lady Eurybiê, to mask me now and in future hours. Hide me well and thoroughly, but not from those I call family?"
Lea waited a moment but she didn't feel any different. Arcas didn't react either so she figured that it was a bust. Lea really wanted to go now.
"Fuck it," she murmured, eyes slipping closed as she took a deep breath. What did Lou Ellen say about her source of power? She used the mageia of the ocean. And the ocean cleanses, refreshes, and opens energy centers. The ocean is vast and unassuming. "Who I was. I am now another," she murmured, slivers of green peeking through her eyelids. "I take the face of Chris' brother."
She could feel it swirling around her, She could taste the sea on her tongue. It covered her like a well worn coat in the dead of the winter. A friend long lost now found.
When she looked down at herself, she was no longer dressed in the clothes that Drew picked out for her, but instead she wore a button-down shirt, khaki pants, and leather loafers. Okay, she could do this.
Walking out the doors which were still unlocked from Annabeth's knife, she strolled out as if she was exactly whoever she was supposed to be — Luke, the asshole when she caught sight of a mirror — and as if she was where she was supposed to be.
There was a swimming pool level. There were rows of empty deck chairs and a bar closed off with a chain curtain. The water in the pool glowed eerily, sloshing back and forth from the motion of the ship. She could see a climbing wall, a putt-putt golf course, a revolving restaurant, and a bunch of old naked white men heading towards the pool. Gross.
And yet... something lingered in the air. A feeling of malicious intent that she had gotten from the ocean.
It made her uneasy and she quickened her steps to find her stepson. Ugh.
It became obvious though that she wouldn't be able to find him on such big of a ship and she ducked off into a small room to think over other spells that she could utilize.
"How about this, buddy," Lea looked down to where she knew Arcas was even if she couldn't see him. "Show me the path that I cannot find, to save Chris and restore my peace of mind." Because she was so close to losing it and if she couldn't find him, the only person he was going to need saving from was her when she got her hands on him.
Nothing happened.
Of course, it couldn't be that easy.
Lea peaked her head out when she heard people coming by only to see it was a bunch of crew members in crisp white uniforms strolling the deck, tipping their hats to the passengers. She grimaced, feeling tainted mageia on them.
"Good morning," a crew member told Lea, his eyes glazed. "We are all enjoying ourselves aboard the Princess Andromeda. Have a nice day." He drifted away.
The fuck?
A reptilian voice came from down the corridor, "Ssssix more joined yesssterday."
Talking snakes? Lea did not sign up for King of the Jungle!
"Yesss," a second reptilian voice said. "He drawssss them. Ssssoon we will be sssstrong."
Lea wondered if Luke's form was keeping away those visions of Percy or she just so happened to go a different direction than her elusive twin. She was going to give him a massive wedge.
She needed to hurry up and find Chris and she knew whatever meager luck that she had to not get caught yet was going to run out soon. Somebody was going to come looking for the supervillain boss.
"The Captain's mad," Lea heard from around one corner. "That blonde girl really got under his skin."
Were they talking about Luke? They had to be and the blonde girl must have been Annabeth. Well, that made things easier. If they wanted to see anger, then Lea would give them an unforgettable wrath especially after she plucked Luke's eyes out of his skull for what he did to her brother.
She stepped out from behind the wall, standing behind them with a scowl that could make Kronos want to stay right where he was. "Ladies," Lea said cooly at the little weird snake women. The two of them eeped, turned and took one look at her face before sprinting away as fast they could slither.
Maybe she should try magic again?
"Ancient wise ones link to my will," she murmured bitterly. "To the boy I promise not to kill."
"Well," a familiar voice stated from behind her. "It seems to be a big family reunion today."
Lea turned slowly, coming face to face with Luke who raised a brow at her. One of those snake ladies was behind him, sneering. "Look at that handsome bastard," Luke laughed. "It's like looking in a mirror."
Honestly, no one could blame her for what she did next.
She punched him in the throat.
Word Count: 4253
Notes:
Lleva (short for llevate in Spanish): The word "llevate" is used in many different ways in Spanish. When Dominicans say "llevate," it's telling someone to be leery of going in that direction, doing that specific thing or actually believing what they are saying. You can also say it when you feel someone is lying.
"Shoot the fair" : this term meant LET'S GO FIGHT, JUST ME AND YOU. Allegedly, the roots of this word can be tracked to the late 1950s, when "shoot the fair one" meant to fight one on one without help from others or weapons.
"Word to" : A consistent New York classic, word has always been used to show agreement. The phrase "word to" developed as a shorthand for another popular NYC slang phrase, word to God, as in I swear to God.
I have not looked at this doc in months. I am so sorry. The good thing is that everything is outlined so writing isn't that much of a problem, but I am still so sorry for disappearing like that.
This is slow burn, obviously, but it's also written by an impatient person.
The spells brought to you today are from an ancient CHARMED! The original and better and classic Charmed.
Percy and Lea are dominicans also. They were born and raised in Inwood. And the city blocks stretching from 145th Street in Washington Heights to 220th Street in Inwood have always been a Little Dominican Republic. It's not a prominent to the story, but I do want that to be known.
I look at a bunch of Sam Yang's digital art on twitter and I just see Lea just about every time. Very talented artist! I'm going to have to see about a commission.
