Chapter 1: A King And His Cubs

Annabeth was truly afraid for the first time in her life. Sure, she had been scared many times before this during her seven years alive. The times spiders would attack her during the night. Whenever she could not find food and feared starvation.

However, this was the first time that she knew true terror. The kind of fear that permeates every nerve and cell of your body as you realize that you are going to painfully die alone. The only hope left is that the end is swift and doesn't hurt.

Annabeth had been relatively okay during her time as a runaway. She had gotten enough food to escape malnutrition and made sure to stay in safe warm places at night so she did not freeze or get attacked. This streak of luck unfortunately ran out when she couldn't find her way back to her hideout after it had begun to rain heavily. Since she didn't want to chance getting sick from being doused in cold water, she was slowed down until it stopped pouring.

The primary issue is that it continued into the night and thus resulted in her being out after dark. Upon trying to get back quickly, she unfortunately drew the attention of a pack of hellhounds which had hunted her down. Due to being unfamiliar with this specific portion of the city, she ended up cornered in an alley. Since she had no way to escape and no way to fight back, she was as good as dead.

Just when she began to accept her impending death, she heard a roar tear through the night air. The hellhounds immediately became agitated as they turned around to face a new threat. The ensuing fight between the dogs and the new predator was violent and swift. Their opponent tore through their ranks with ferocity and strength as it ripped each of them to pieces before they dissolved into dust. Annabeth covered her ears and closed her eyes to avoid hearing the dying yelps of the hellhounds or see their bodies annihilated.

After the sounds of fighting slowly died away, she slowly opened her eyes to peek at what happened. What she saw was a massive lion standing in the alley with piles of dispersing dust around his feet. She was able to guess it was a male from the massive mane it was sporting. However, the sight of its luminescent golden eyes gazing through the dark at her made her close hers again and wait for the death she was sure to come.

After one moment trailed into the other and she was still alive, she was about to peek again when she felt something warm, wet, and rough slide up her cheek. When it finished she opened her eyes to see that the lion was right in front of her and licking the side of her head. After seeing her open her eyes, it licked her again before it dropped down onto its side and beginning to purr.

With a giggle working its way out of Annabeth at seeing the massive lion acting like a house cat, she realizes that she might have found her first friend since running away from home.

--

Weeks Later

"Come on, Thals," Luke says. "We need to get out of this rain."

"I hear you," she grumbles. "If you hadn't messed up and attracted a dracanae, we wouldn't still be out here."

"Well, I'm sorry for the actions of some random monster!" Luke exclaims, the exasperation clear in his voice. He sighs in relief as he points out a warehouse with a damaged door. "Looks like a little luck is on our side for once."

They both rush over to the entrance and slip inside. They began to take off their wet outer layers once they escape the constant downpour but are stopped by the sound of a deep guttural growl. They freeze as the sound vibrates through their bones and makes a shiver run down their spines.

Dropping the clothes they were holding, they both pull out their weapons. Thalia activates her silver Aegis shield with the imprint of Medusa's face staring out of its surface while summoning her silver spear which crackles with lightning as she channels her power through it. Luke draws his bronze sword and drops into a ready stance for combat.

Staring out at them from the darkness of the warehouse's interior is a pair of glowing golden eyes. They hear the thumping steps of a large creature advancing as the monster slowly starts to come into the light cascading through one of the windows from a street light outside. First, a furred paw with sharp gleaming claws comes down out of the shadows, the claws digging into the concrete floor and slicing through it like paper. Then, its nose creeps out of the darkness. The light slowly slides up its face to reveal it as a lion larger than nature could possibly create. The dim light plays off its fur to make it appear menacingly sinister. It pulls its lips back to flash ivory white teeth before he unleashes a roar that leaves the two demigods moments away from pissing themselves in primal fear.

They were nowhere near the weakest demigods around with Thalia being the daugnter of Zeus and Luke being a prodigy with a sword. However, they did not feel like they could easily survive this fight, if at all.

They were about to jump into the fight for their lives when they heard a little voice shout, "No! Bad Leo!"

The lion immediately lost its ferocity as it turned around to look at something behind him. Thalia and Luke watched a little girl come running out of the darkness and bop the lion on the nose. "Bad Leo!" she says. "No attacking strangers!"

The lion makes a couple of grunts and chuffing sounds which results in another bop on the nose from the little girl. "I don't care if one of them smells sketchy!" she replies. "You can't just attack them because they showed up!"

Thalia and Luke just glance between themselves in confusion. "Which one of us is sketchy?" Luke asks.

"It's clearly you, Luke," Thalia replies. "I mean, isn't your dad the god of thieves?"

"It is probably you," Luke fires back. "With your punk clothing and your dad being even sketchier than mine, I think you win the sketchy prize."

They get temporarily distracted with the argument until they hear a chuffing sound from the side along with some giggles. "You are right, Leo," the little girl says. "They can't be too dangerous since they are both dummies."

"Umm, I think we forgot to ask, but what are you doing with that giant lion?" Luke asks, remembering that they are not alone in the warehouse.

"He's my friend," the little girl answers. "I'm Annabeth and this is Leonidas, but I call him Leo." She pats the lion on the side and the lion seems to preen from the attention, tilting his head to the side to strike a more impressive angle.

"So, it's just you two here?" Thalia asks.

"Yep," Annabeth says before realizing something. "Hey, do you want to be friends and live with us?"

They are both caught off guard but the out of nowhere request. However, upon seeing the little girl's heart wrenching puppy dog eyes and considering the idea of being friends with such a powerful monster, they make their decision quickly.

"Sure, that sounds awesome," Luke replies. "I'm Luke and this is Thalia. I hope you don't mind us sticking around for a while."

"Yay, friends!" Annabeth exclaims before running and jumping at them in a hug. Leo just huffs in obvious amusement at the diminutive blond's antics.

--

Months Later

"We are almost there," Grover says. He was panting hard from the exhaustion of having been running for so long and from the cut in his side from one of the monsters chasing them down. He held one hand against it to keep pressure on the wound and slow the bleeding, but he was more focused on getting everyone to safety. The pouring rain wasn't helping at all because it weighed down everyone's clothes while chilling them all to the bone.

The others in the group were not doing much better. Luke was pale from blood loss and covered in small cuts. Thalia was bruised and barely able to keep the tip of her spear from falling to the ground. Annabeth was unconscious and lying on Leo's back after she smacked her head from getting hit by a hellhound before Leo could kill it.

Leo himself was the worst off. His fur was coated in so much blood from his injuries that the rain couldn't wash it all off. He had numerous cuts, gashes, bites, and stab wounds from all of the attacks that he had taken in the course of protecting the others. One of his eyes was shut after it got caught by a lucky harpy's talons. He got her back moments later, but it left him with a limited field of view. It was a miracle that he could even still move after all of the punishment that he had taken. However, he pushed through it and continued to carry their smallest as the reached the border of camp.

They heard screeches from behind them followed by a loud bellowing call. From the sound of it, they were going to be pulling out their big guns in the hopes to stop them from reaching camp alive.

With a snarl, Leo stops running and ambles to a stop. Thalia and Luke are confused for a moment before Grover says, "Leo, don't be stupid. We can still make it."

Leo just responds with another snarl at the satyr. Grover tries to stand his ground, but the blend of fear, exhaustion, and pain causes him to concede with Leo's demand. He walked over to Leo's side and lifted Annabeth's unconscious form from his back.

"What's going on guys?" Thalia asks. "What's the plan?" Despite her injuries, the daughter of Zeus was trying her best to pretend she still retained her confidence.

"Leo's going to slow down the monsters until we can get across the border into camp," Grover explains. "After we cross the line, Hades' pawns won't be able to chase us unless they want to face the wrath of the other Olympians."

"Will Leo be able to hold them off on his own?" Luke asks. Even though Leo was easily the strongest one in the group, he was also the most injured.

"Yeah," Grover replies. "He said that he has enough left in the tank to buy us some time and get across himself. All we need to do is make the most of our head start."

Thalia and Luke nod, their tired brains accepting the situation without realizing the truth behind what was happening like Grover. Leo was not just delaying the enemy, he was sacrificing himself. None of them would make it if they all tried to go together. So instead, Leo was going to make a last stand to delay the pursuers until they were safe. It was their last best hope of escaping alive.

Grover just looks back one last time before leaving. "Goodbye, Leo," he whispers loud enough for only the lion to hear through the pounding rain. After that, he led the two demigods forward as fast as his goat legs could carry him.

Leo just turned back in the direction of the attackers. The sounds of them tearing through the forest and toppling trees was growing closer by the second. All too soon, they enter the lion's view.

The force was comprised of a powerful motley of monsters. Hellhounds, dracaena, harpies and cyclopses made up the main force while their was a couple of individuals that stood out. One was the massive form of the Minotaur. It stood above even the tallest cyclops by a full head, its body covered in black hair and its horns glistening even in the low light. The other notable addition was the three Furies. They flew through the air on black leathery wings and cracked fiery whips that blazed through the air.

As the small army took sight of the defiant lion in their path, they halted for a moment before the Minotaur let out a bellow and the Furies screeched in unison. With that, the enemy charged.

In response, Leo roared with all of the fury of a true monster. He raced forward despite his previous damage and slaughtered opponent after opponent. Cyclopses were torn in half. Hellhounds were slashed with a flick of his claws. Harpies were crushed in an instant by his jaws. Dracaena were crushed under every footfall as he slaughtered his way through the attackers.

The Furies made use of openings to slash across his body with their whips. The burning weapons left scorched cuts across his flanks as he refused to relent in his one-cat massacre. One of the whips was a hair to slow in being pulled back because Leo grabbed it in his mouth and yanked the Fury holding it to the ground. He crushed her to dust in the muddy ground like any other monster.

Her sisters increased their attacks, but allowed themselves to become sloppy in their rage. One after another, they were caught and killed just as easily as the first.

The Minotaur finally closed the distance with a charge that sent Leo flying along with a new stab wound from where the Minotaur struck him in the side with his horns. The half-bull monster follows up by trying to beat the lion to death with his fists, but Leo retaliated with a slash that cut the monster across the face. It bellowed in pain before striking back with increased anger.

The two continue their violent duel until the Minotaur slips in the mud and provides Leo with an opportunity to finish the fight. He leaps forward with a snarl and bites down on the Minotaur's neck, tearing into the flesh. The bull responds by sending his fist into the lion's side over and over before finally succumbing to the fatal strike and dissolving into dust.

The lion drops back down into all fours and looks around through blurry eyes to see that the rest of the attacking force had waited until the Minotaur fell to make a move. Taking advantage of the lion's weakened state after defeating their elites, they circled him and prepared to attack him from all sides.

Refusing to give up even with his strength fading by the second after the devastating attacks by the Minotaur, Leo held his ground. Wave after wave of monsters surged forward and he fought all of them with every ounce of ferocity he still had left in his dying body.

Eventually, the enemies stopped appearing. Leo wasn't sure if they were holding back to make a plan, but he couldn't afford to falter now. He stood even after his eyesight went black. After he lost feeling in his limbs. Even after he lost consciousness himself.

Finally, as the rain stopped falling and the clouds parted, the moon's light shown down on the pummeled lion. The gentle light illuminated the battlefield cleared of all opposition by the strength and power of the valiant lion. Slowly, a form began to move out of the woods.

It was a woman dressed in a soft white gown and straight dirty blond hair that cascaded down her shoulders. She slowly began to walk towards the lion still resolutely standing in the path to Camp Halfblood. Still guarding his cubs from all that would seek to harm them.

Upon reaching Leo, she slowly reached out and stroked his whiskered cheek. "You did such a good job, Leo," she said. "You protected them all the way until the end. They are safe."

With the confirmation, Leo's body collapsed from the accumulated wounds and strain of having fought for so long. The woman gently stroked his head as his breaths grew ever more shallow and raspy.

"They are all going to be okay," she whispered into his ear. He was unconscious, but she knew he could hear her. "Thalia will grow up strong and become one of the most powerful children of Zeus that history has ever known. Grover will become a seeker and bring nature back to this world. Luke will become a wily swordsman, a great fighter, and a better leader. Finally, Annabeth will become the greatest inventor in the world. She will surpass Daedalus, Athena, and Hephaestus. Her buildings will endure for millennia and her designs will inspire generations. They will all safe and sound, I promise."

It might have been her imagination and a trick of the light, but she could have sworn that she saw the side of his mouth twitch in the shape of a feline smile.

Slowly, Leo's body began to dissolve into golden flecks of light. They slowly swirled through thee air and rose into the night sky. It continued until it looked as though stars were rising to fill the heavens. But all too soon, the sky became dark once more.

The woman arose from her place on the ground with a melancholy look on her face. She was about to walk away when a spark of inspiration struck her. With a wave of her hand, a tree began sprouting from the ground where Leo's body had dissolved. It grew rapidly, pushing the soil away until a massive oak tree with widespread branches stretched above the rest of the forest and filled the small clearing with shade. With another flick of the wrist, something else emerged from the ground. A large likeness of Leo formed from marble and gold crawled from the earth and froze in front of the oak's trunk with a roar that echoed throughout the forest.

In the tree behind the statue, she carved words into its bark with her power:

The final battlefield of the greatest of beasts, Leonidas, the first of his name, the guardian of his midgets, and the bestest of boys.

She gave a small smile at her final message for the lion that stood against an army sent by Hades himself and emerged victorious. She felt it fit him quite well from what she had seen of him.

If only his story did not have to end.

Or, does it?