A/N: Hello guys :) Alright, first of all I AM SO SORRY, YOU GUYS ARE SPECTACULAR FOR STILL READING THIS PIECE OF SHIT I AM SO, SO, SO SORRY, THIS IS SO LATE! I have reasons, ranging from settling back into university this week and the fact that this chapter did not want to be written but to be honest, that doesn't matter.
What matters is that with the exception of maybe two comments, you guys have been nothing but supportive and enthusiastic and friendly during my hiatus and I am so touched by the attitude, I mean seriously, I don't even know how to thank you.
I apologise once again for the lateness and hope that the ridiculous 19 page length of this chapter makes up for it in some small way.
Shy
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
The first time Leo actually hated pizza, Daisy had attacked him, he'd relived some of his worst memories and he'd nearly had his heart stopped by an enormous bug. Needless to say, Leo Valdez was 100% done with the Windy City.
But before any of that happened, Leo, as Daisy had pointed out, had to explain. This proved harder than it looked, particularly because he was under the influence of bug toxins.
"…and they have kids," Leo added as Coach Hedge tumbled out of the dumpster and moved about collecting up his feet. "With mortals. Which is us."
"Us?" Daisy echoed, her expression blank.
"Demigods. Half-bloods." Leo clarified, the stinging rashes beginning to pick up strength. It made his words slur ever so slightly and Leo began to suspect the poison was doing something to his brain because he felt…strange. Distant. Dreamy. Like he wasn't really there at all. "Kids of gods and mortals."
"You think your mother is a god?" Daisy deadpanned, Michael appearing beside her, tentatively eying the scene.
"Of course not." Leo dismissed.
"Oh-" Daisy sagged a little with relief.
"My dad's a god," he corrected, offhandedly. "Hephaestus, god of machines and fire."
The girl shared a long look with Michael who eventually shook his head back, wary. "You're nuts." She retorted, long-sufferingly. "There's no such thing as gods. This is a trick."
Leo groaned, loudly. "Oh c'mon. You just saw me and a guy with goat-feet kill a giant bee." He complained, angrily. That feeling of distance began to expand, as though he were watching the scene in a movie or dreaming from the safety of his bed at camp. "How can you not believe me?"
Daisy carefully moved backward, putting a few feet between her and Leo. "Because that's insane. There's no such things as gods. It's probably just some kind of radioactive experiment gone wrong." She added, half to herself. "Yeah, nuclear radioactivity can make stuff grow huge all the time. That's all it is."
"Radioactivity?" Leo deadpanned, his tongue growing heavy. Part of him wondered about those bad side effects to mélissa poison but the thought was drowned out by the trippy surge of dizziness suddenly rushing through his veins from head to toe.
"Yes." Daisy struggled with the word, her eyes drawn back to the fading husks of bees on the ground with morbid curiosity. "Radioactivity. It happens all the time."
"A-and the feet, they could be prosthetics…or surgery." Michael chimed in, nervously studying Hedge as he slipped his 'sneakers' back on, muttering under his breath.
Leo rolled his eyes and stepped forward, ignoring the woozy part of him that suggested sitting down for a while. His tongue felt loose and the usual (admittedly thin) mental filter he possessed was suddenly absent entirely. "You're willing to believe in radioactive experiments," he said slowly. "But my story is the crazy one?"
At the sight of him staggering towards them, Daisy twitched in alarm. "Hey!" she snapped, grabbing the fallen crowbar from the alley floor and raising it aloft. "Don't come any closer."
"Leo, just leave us alone, okay?" Michael suggested, his voice as shaky as Daisy's.
The demigod felt as though he wasn't hearing things straight, his balance shaken and sense of reason beginning to fade. The throbbing sting coursing through him began to deepen until it was all he could feel. Well, that and a bizarre sense of severe annoyance. "Look, I can't go home unless you two come too so-" He stepped forward again, irritably.
"You're crazy, we're not going anywhere with you!" Daisy stated, immediately on the offensive. She swung the crowbar once desperately and Leo reared back to avoid it smashing into his arm.
"Hey!" he snapped, his annoyance increasing. "Stop that! Now, listen, kid, you know I'm tellin' the truth. Let me guess. You've only got one parent, am I right? And you don't know what happened to the other one but you've never met him. Or her."
"Shut up!" Daisy argued, waveringly. "If my dad- if he was a god, why didn't he help us?"
"They can't interfere." He replied, bluntly. "It's a sucky policy, I know. Trust me, I know. But they can't help their kids. That's why the camps send out people like Coach Hair Net-"
"Watch your mouth, Valdez." Hedge grunted, inspecting a dent in one of his shoes.
"-and me to find you guys." He finished.
"This is crazy," she repeated in a thin, twitchy voice. "It's not true. You're lying to us."
"You have ADHD." Leo continued, still moving forward. It was as though he weren't directing his feet anymore- he just walked forward without even thinking about it, running his mouth like he wasn't controlling that either. His alarm at losing control was swiftly lost to the stinging overtaking his brain. "And dyslexia but they're not deficiencies like mortals tell you- they're advantages of your demigod side. The ADHD is why you can handle battles like this, they're your reflexes kicking in to keep you alive. And your dyslexia wouldn't be a problem if you were reading Ancient Greek instead of English."
"Shut. Up." But Leo could see he was starting to get to her. Michael too was beginning to look unnerved.
"The monsters that have been chasing you, they can smell you." Leo added, swaying unconsciously. "That's why you can't get away from them, why they know where you are. You and Michael stink and it only got worse when I got here."
"Then go away!" Daisy shouted, swinging the crowbar again with surprising strength. It soared through the air but instead of ducking, a bizarre stupid reflex he'd never really felt before made him raise his hand and grab the metal bar, his fingers suddenly engulfed in fire as if on instinct.
He clumsily caught the bar in his grip, the fire melting the metal immediately until it was a clumpy, molten stump. The whole rod turned so fiercely hot that Daisy yelped and dropped it, her hands flushed from the heat. Leo watched himself holding the bar with a confused but curious expression for a long moment before he dropped it. His hand should hurt from the blow. No, his hand should be shattered from taking the swinging crowbar full force like that. Instead it felt strangely…numb…?
"Oh boy," Hedge muttered from behind him. Suddenly Leo was looking up at him as though he were lying down- which, he began to realise, he was, on the bottom of the dirty alley with both kids and the satyrs leaning over him. He'd fallen over? But how? He'd been on his feet just a second ago-?
Oooooh. The blood suddenly rushed straight to his head, forcing him to lie back down.
"What's goin' on?" Leo mumbled, the throbbing sting filling him from head to toe. It was unlike anything he'd ever felt except maybe Medea's magic. The witch's curse had filled him with a sense of distortion, which hadn't been exactly unpleasant but it, too, had consumed his panic before he had time to feel it. Of course, he'd also tried to kill his best friend at the time so maybe it was more of a problem than he first suspected…but the moment the thought crossed his mind, it was swept away like ashes.
"You got stung didn't you?" Hedge accused from somewhere above him and he managed to nod, still nauseous. "What did I say, punk? Don't get stung."
"Is he gonna die?" Michael asked, nervously.
The satyr rubbed his forehead, tiredly. "I left the last of my ambrosia up in the staff office, cupcake. It might help. You think you can hold on until I get back?"
He was about to nod again but suddenly the world tipped over and he gagged onto the pavement, his gut twisting into shapes he didn't know existed. "What's wrong with him?" he could hear Daisy ask but when rough hands flipped him back over, he could barely make out the side of her face.
"Mélisses poison affects demigods differently to mortals. It makes you stupid." Hedge grunted in response.
"Who're you callin' stupid, stupid?" Leo slurred.
"What do you mean?" Michael asked, fearfully.
"The poison removes the self-preservation instinct from you pipsqueaks." Hedge sighed as though deeply pained. "Makes them do stupid things like try to stop damn crowbars with their bare hands or pick on attacking midgets instead of shutting up."
"I didn't attack!" Daisy defended herself, immediately. "He was being weird!"
"Is he gonna be alright?" Michael asked instead, half curious, half fearful.
"Well if the lack of common sense doesn't kill you- which Valdez here doesn't have much of anyway-" Hedge snorted.
"Say that to my face, coward!" Leo drawled from the ground, his eyes unfocused. His hands clenched into fists and sputtered with fire for a second but it was weak and the moment it raised, his fist careened back to the ground and he groaned as another surge of dizziness made lying down and being still seem like a very good idea.
"-it incapacitates them pretty quick." The satyr looked partially exasperated by Leo's prone form and rolled his eyes before turning to the kids. "You didn't get stung, did you?"
"I don't think so." Michael muttered. "Was his hand actually on-?" but he couldn't finish the sentence.
"Kid?" Leo could see Hedge's ugly mug getting closer to his and he grimaced. "Kid, you need ambrosia-" he repeated. The shrieking of sirens began to fill the air suddenly and Hedge's expression grew dark.
Michael peeked out into the main street for a moment and frowned. "Cops." He confirmed, nerves laced in his voice. "What do we do?"
"We get outta here." Hedge decided, gripping Leo with one hand on each shoulder and yanking him to his feet.
"Heeeeeeey, easy on the merchandise…" Leo crowed, irritably as Hedge tugged him forward.
"C'mon cupcakes." Coach snapped and the kids looked to each other immediately, expressions hinged between nerves and slow realisation.
"His hand was on fire." Michael stated with a shrug.
"And that man has hooves." Daisy bit her lip, glancing toward the coach. "Maybe they're not crazy?"
"Maybe." Michael allowed, shakily. "Do we go?"
As he spoke, Leo began weakly shoving at the Coach's arm, mumbling insults and promises to attack when the world wasn't upside down again while the satyr glared at him and bleated angrily. Not exactly the picture of capability, Daisy admitted.
But there was something in the way Leo had told them to stay put and charged into the war-zone that had become of the mess hall. Something about how he'd come to the stout, cranky coach's aid without a shred of hesitation. Something about all the things he'd guessed about them, like her ADHD and single mother.
It made her believe wholeheartedly that this was not the first time Leo had faced down odds bigger than himself. And the thought of having someone like that leading the way- well, it wasn't a bad idea.
"C'mon Mickey," she told him, nudging his pack with her foot where it lay beside him. "Let's go."
"I don't wanna walk anymore." Leo whined, his feet stomping clumsily beside the group. Hedge kept a vice-like grip on his arm to keep him from stumbling to the ground (mainly because he could barely feel his knees anymore) and his brain felt more liquid than solid- like it was sloshing around his skull.
"Tough luck, princess." The coach grunted as they continued, down the street and a hasty pace, ducking their heads to avoid the police cars still gathering at the Bearmont Shelter.
"Why is he acting weird?" Michael asked, breathing hard as they picked up the pace once more towards a local stretch of park.
"Weird? Weird!" Leo snapped, glaring at the kid. "I saved your butt! I am not-"
"He can't help himself. The poison makes him stupider than usual." Hedge grimaced, yanking Leo along. "I'm all for picking fights when the situation calls for it but mélissa poison makes demigods pick fights while basically drunk so they're easier, dumber targets."
"-weird!" he was still complaining.
Daisy glanced into his face. "His pupils are dilated. Is that normal?"
"Is he gonna die?" Michael asked, warily.
"Would you cut it out with the damn questions?" Hedge ordered as they entered the park and staggered to a lone bench covered in frost.
Both kids ignored him. "Why are we in the park?" Daisy demanded, looking unnerved as Leo began to attack the bench with his feet, kicking at the dented metal with vehemence and a scowl.
Hedge's expression looked nearly purple as he growled at the girl. "I'm gonna try to call a ride." He snapped. "If I'm lucky they'll forget about Genius Hothead over there."
"Die!" Leo snarled at the bench, angrily.
"Just stay here and make sure he doesn't get himself killed." Hedge looked thoroughly sick of the sight of all three demigods as he trudged off further into the park, disappearing down a neatly lined path into the trees.
"Thanks for sharing." Daisy muttered to his back, glancing over her shoulder to where Michael was watching Leo's clumsy attacks with unabashed curiosity.
"This is so weird." He told her under his breath while Leo groaned and collapsed onto the bench, his head clamped between his hands and his face screwed with pain. "Where do you think the coach is going?"
"He's gonna call sparky." Leo moaned, apparently still listening.
"Sparky who?"
"Sparky you!" he snapped, rolling over as much as he could on the bench. His words were slurred- Daisy suspected that one side of his mouth was slightly drooped as well.
"That's very helpful." Daisy scorned, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms into her jacket against the cold.
"No one in this damn place ever helps." Leo snapped. The woods were muffled by the bench and tainted with a loud groan at the end. "You have to go home to get help."
"What's he talking about?" Michael asked under his breath but Daisy shushed him, slowly kneeling beside Leo's prone figure, his curly dark hair tossed slightly by the wind.
The fire starter's eyes were boring into the thick curling grey clouds above him but they seemed glossy, like he was feverish. "You hafta go home to get help." Leo repeated, his voice weakening. "No one here can help. You hafta be caught to be helped. You hafta let them catch you. Don't let 'em catch you…"
"I don't think he can hear us anymore." Daisy observed, shakily as his dilated pupils grew even larger.
"Where's home, Leo?" Michael suddenly asked, his voice surprisingly patient as he craned his neck over Daisy's shoulder to peer into their guide's blank stare.
"Home…" Leo repeated, mindlessly and his twitching toes slowed. "Home is Calypso…"
"Who's Calypso?" Michael prodded.
Leo continued to mumble. "Home is camp…and Jason…and Piperrrr…"
"Er, is he meant to do that?" Daisy asked, worriedly when his feet drooped off the edge of the bench, completely motionless.
"I don't think so. Have you ever seen him still?" Michael replied, sceptically. "Should we try getting the goat guy?"
"I don't know where he went." Daisy shook her head, helplessly. "Leo? Leo, where did that other guy go? Who's sparky?"
But the mélisses poison had finally reached its target and flowing through his veins, it sank its hooks into his whole body, ever muscle tensed but immovable as paralysis set in. The voices above his head sounded like they were being screamed at him underwater and made half as much sense. His annoyance faded almost entirely, replaced by a lethargy that made every breath into a chore.
He thought maybe there was someone else around him but Daisy's voice was circling inside his head, rotating alongside words like home and caught and help and he didn't want to think about it but with all this weird gushing pain splashing inside his chest, Leo's thoughts spun on an axis and came to a halt at a memory he'd actively ignored for years.
He was hurt. Badly. Not as bad as he would be hurt in the years to come but it was worse than he could remember ever feeling. Leo remembered every backhand and punch and barbed word. They were ingrained into the bone of his skull but this felt worse.
He'd managed to stagger upright, clutching the brick wall beside him and gagging as his stomach rolled in protest. The blood he spat out was practically glowing against the lumpy snow gathering on the sidewalk.
Leo's fingers dragged along the freezing bricks like they were the only thing keeping him awake (which they practically were) and his free hand dug through his pockets, already knowing everything he had was gone. The only thing that remained were crumbs from the bread he'd pinched from the corner store a few hours ago. The gurgling protest of his gut reminded him just how much of that stupid loaf he'd managed to cram into his mouth before it was ripped away too.
He could feel the gash on his chin bleeding freely, staining his coat and shirt with blood but there was nothing to fix it with. Leo was entirely without tools- his resourcefulness was floundering without so much as a screwdriver in his grip.
"A mechanic is only as good as his tools." His teeth chattered, hands shaking with the same frozen rhythm. His mother used to say that. What would she think of him now, entirely without? What would she think if he just sat down in the snow and let his aches and pains go numb? The cold hadn't bothered him with his high temperature. It had been the one thing he didn't have to worry about in this damn city: hypothermia was not a problem for the kid with fire in his blood. But with the shattering bruises exploding against his sides, Leo suddenly doubted how long he'd last on his own. If he sat down in the snow, maybe he wouldn't get back up.
The thought, for a second, didn't seem as scary as it had a week ago when he'd arrived in the back of a grey, greasy sedan.
"Out of the way, bastard." Someone suddenly spat, shoving him aside hard as the crowds pushed past, jostling against him. His head bounced against the building he leaned into from the movement and he flinched, the harsh contact snapping some sense back into him.
He gritted his teeth and shuffled forward, wincing and folding in on himself as much as possible. None of the shelters would take him, he thought, grimacing. "Be smart Valdez." He mumbled, his voice dull but his eyes suddenly alight with a nearly manic energy. Be smart mijo, Esperanza used to say. You are too clever to be living the vida canalla. Well, Leo couldn't see how things could get much more rotten.
No shelters, no chance of being able to steal something to help (dripping with blood wasn't exactly conducive to stealth, after all), no way in hell could he afford a hospital. He could try going to a free clinic but hell only knew when they would open and he had no clue what direction to try.
There was an answer, lingering on the edges of his mind but he hated it and directed every ounce of his rage and stubbornness at it with a vicious dedication. He refused to consider it.
But his options had dwindled to just two. Behind door number one? Lay down in the dirty snow of Chicago's streets until he melted away. Not possible. He refused to just sit down and die. Leo was not going to die as an ice sculpture. Behind door number two? The horrible possibility he hated to even think of? Let himself be caught and brought back into the cage he'd snuck out of which, despite its faults, at least had some kind of medical access.
Both options sucked and if he had more time or more strength or more tools or anything, Leo would've made himself a new option. But his mom's words were suddenly all he could think about and dying now, skinny and beat up and alone at thirteen, was not smart.
"Valdez? Valdez, can you hear me? Gods damn it, I leave for a second-!"
Leo drew his fists into himself as he started walking, off-balance, clumsy but determined. His route was already planned- he was always insanely conscious of that place considering he'd been rigorously avoiding it for a week.
It was a long work but he took the time to catalogue the potentially wicked battle scars he was going to have when this was all over, trying to keep his mind off what he was about to do. By the time he hit 92nd Street, he'd come to the conclusion that it was mostly internal pain, his thick jacket having protected his skin at least from the blows of three fully grown adults who'd decided to play Beat The Skinny Kid For His Food.
"What happened to your face?"
"Is that a handprint?"
"Damn cloud nymphs."
The station was dimly lit but for Leo, it might as well have had fireworks exploding from the roof. He toyed with the idea of trying to find a clinic or even heading to the hospital and begging someone to help him. But he knew how stories like that ended- hospital staff in stiff scrubs asking you to stay still while they call the police. And then the police who ask you to wait for a truancy officer or someone from CPS or a child representative or anyone from a long list of people who they'd rather have to deal with you than themselves.
By going straight to the cops, Leo could cut out the middle man and maybe get his hands on some aspirin sooner rather than later. That's what he convinced himself at least.
He could hardly remember how he found his way inside but all too soon Leo was standing just steps away from a counter that seemed a hundred feet taller than him, a uniformed officer staring him down from behind it, unfazed by the bloody appearance of his clothes.
Leo took a deep breath that made his whole chest shake with pain-
"He won't wake up. We tried- wait, what are you-?"
-walked forward-
"Wait a second-!"
-and- smack!
His eyes shot open before he realised he'd closed them, his brain caught in half between Hedge's ugly mug leaning over him and his half-dazed memories.
"What're you doin'…?" he slurred, bewildered by the awakening. Like all other sensation except the stinging poison, his senses registered the slap for half a second before it washed away.
"What in Hades is wrong with you, Valdez?" Hedge ranted, nostrils flared wildly. "I say don't get stung and you get stung. I say, stay awake, you fall asleep. I tell these two to keep you alive and I come back to find you nearly dead!"
"Hey, that's not our fault!" Michael defended, peeking out from behind Hedge's shoulder.
"We're not goin' home any time soon." Hedge continued, grimly. "So I have to try to find ambrosia or your heart's gonna stop from the stress."
Leo didn't feel stressed- apart from the stinging, he could hardly feel the inhale of his breaths or the pumping of his heart. But he wondered if it was very fast, like the distant boomboomboom he could hear racing in the back of his head.
Hedge looked expectantly at Leo as though waiting for an apology for all the trouble but all Leo could come out with was: "Not home?" he mumbled, confused. The word stirred up thoughts of his bed at camp and the feeling of flying across oceans with Festus, of laughing with his friends and stuffing his face with food at the Dining Pavilion every night. But mostly it brought up fleeting pictures of Calypso rolling her eyes at him or laughing or smiling and he felt sick to his stomach for ever having decided to leave her on the whim of Drunky McSmashed of all people.
Unimpressed, Coach Hedge bleated with exasperation as he began to rip through his pack. "I can't believe I signed on for babysitting duty." He grimaced but it was tinged with worry. "No Valdez, not home. You need ambrosia, you numbskull."
The word suddenly brought a memory of a much gentler face leaning over him to his mind. Calypso. He couldn't have been at camp, he realised foggily. If he were, Calypso would be tending to him, like she had on Ogygia. She would've already taken away the stinging and she might even be kissing him, after giving him a suitably long lecture as to how stupid he'd been to let a bug get to him. The flood of memories relating to her that washed through him were so powerful, Leo swore he could nearly feel her beside him, watching him with those dark, persistent eyes, lips curved with a small smirk and something wrapped in paper being pressed into his grip even as she kissed him.
The ambrosia. Calypso's ambrosia.
The memory lit him up from the inside out and with whatever strength he had, he fought to keep it at the forefront of his mind alongside with the feeling of Calypso's fingers in his. He had to get to that package.
Leo was no expert on poison but with the way the stinging suddenly increased rapidly, he assumed he didn't have much more time to spend in the land of the living. "Coach…" he tried to call, wanting to point to his tool belt. But he could no longer feel his fingertips- were they pointing or just lying there uselessly?
"Hold on punk," Coach tore through his pack with a grimly determined expression as though the heavenly food would appear out of sheer force of will. "Just stay still…"
"Side…pocket…" he choked out, growing aware that even if he couldn't feel it, the effects of his thrumming heart were beginning to catch up to him. His chest began to feel tight like it was a second away from exploding and he could suddenly see that he was trembling slightly, his vision vibrating with the movement. He couldn't panic with his body all stiff and immovable but part of him was freaking out- the poison seemed to be speeding up and he couldn't tell anyone about his cure.
Despite the lethargy flooding him, Leo tried to think of ways to get to the belt around his waist but his thoughts were foggy and tangled and utterly useless. He was trying to figure out if his message had made any sense for them when a small, pale face appeared at his side.
"Let me." Michael muttered, reaching into the side pouch for him. "Whoa, how much stuff have you got in here?" he wondered aloud, distractedly.
"Michael, focus." Daisy prompted, strangely unnerved by the situation.
Yes Michael, Leo silently shouted. FOCUS ON THE DYING DEMIGOD.
"Right," he said, biting his lip and frowning in concentration as he pulled something out. "Is this ambrossi?" he checked in an unsure tone.
"Ambrosi-a." Hedge corrected, absently as he paused in his own unpacking to grab the small paper wrapped package the kid had retrieved. The moment he unwrapped it, his nose twitched and Hedge's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. "Where in Hades did you find this, Valdez?" he demanded, shocked.
"Is it ambrosia?" Daisy repeated Michael's question, forcefully.
"Oh it's ambrosia alright." Hedge muttered, breaking off a piece and prying Leo's jaw open. The demigod was beginning to shake violently, his breaths constricted through his tightly clenched jaw, which resisted Hedge's attempts to shove food down his throat.
It took a few seconds and Leo began to idly wonder what his heart exploding would feel like when he could hardly feel a thing. But with a grimace, he choked the ambrosia down and the moment it hit his stomach, the weird taste flooded him, very unlike the usual flavour. It was like a mix of his mom's quesadillas, the homemade fries the nymphs at camp made and the faint sensation of stew on Ogygia which made him think of Calypso all over again and how she was totally going to kill him if he came home dead-
Cold.
He could suddenly feel the cold bench beneath his head. And the pounding of his heart as it gradually began to fill his head with its slowing pace. With every new feeling, some of the fog lifted, slowly peeling back the fuzziness that had kept his thoughts buried. Without it, it was like all his brilliance came back at once…alongside all his panic.
He yelped, sucking down deep breaths as his heartbeat began to even out into a less breakneck speed and jack-knifing into a seated position for a moment like a resurrected zombie. He slammed his head back into the bench a second later, eyes wide when he realised how close he'd been to just collapsing entirely. Just like three years before, he'd nearly buckled into Chicago's streets and let it eat him alive.
His ADHD fully kicked in after being suppressed by the poison; Leo saw Daisy and Michael at once, their eyes wide and astonished at his miraculous recovery and the park around him, covered in murky snow drifts and-
Coach Hedge, breathing through flared nostrils with a face of mixed anger and relief, leaning right above him. "Hey Coach…" he mumbled with a dry mouth, studying the radically ticked off expression on his face. "What's up?"
"Where in Zeus' name did you get this from?" Hedge snapped, accusingly as he held up the package of ambrosia Calypso had slipped into his pocket.
"It's good to see you too. I'm glad I'm alive as well." Leo muttered, sarcastically as his feet twitched with adrenaline from the close call.
Hedge did not look amused. "I asked you a question, punk." He demanded, holding the parcel in Leo's face.
"Why do you wanna know?" Leo asked, evading the question while the numbness began to fade from his fingers. Immediately, he sought out his tool belt and ran his fingertips over the lining, stitches and tools, silently praising the gods for it yet again. Calypso and his friends could tease him all they liked but this baby was his life vest.
"Because this isn't just ambrosia, there's dog-brush and Cretan ash flowers and- gods, is that python blood too?" he added with another incredulous sniff.
"Python blood huh?" Leo echoed, mildly impressed as he tried to sit up unsuccessfully. Calypso had obviously brought more stuff from Ogygia than he'd realised. The thought made him grin a little, weak with relief when he realised he'd be alive to thank her in person.
Hedge narrowed his eyes. "It's not funny, Valdez. This is Titan magic and it's banned. Too much of this stuff would kill you."
"Too much…ambrosia would kill you too." Leo pointed out slowly as he tried sitting up again. He couldn't deny Hedge's point though- it clearly wasn't regularly ambrosia. No, Calypso's mix worked like ambrosia on crack. One bite had cured him of the poison running rabid through his veins and replaced it with a weird afterglow.
"Not like this stuff." Hedge bleated, disapprovingly. "One more bite and mélissa poison would be the least of your damn troubles."
"The important thing," He stated when he finally managed to sit up and study the hand he'd caught the blow of the crowbar in. Practically every bone had been shattered- Leo could still feel the residual ache- but before his eyes, the swollen, bruises flesh twitched and flexed back into place, slowly but surely. "Is that I'm alive."
"Goodie." Hedge grunted, wrapping the parcel up again but he thumped Leo hard on the back as he did, his expression trying its hardest to hide his relief.
"Hey!" Leo whined, eying the parcel. "Possession is…nine-tenths of the law! Give it back…"
"It's not safe." He insisted. "I'm confiscating it for now and tell your girlfriend not to go around making up this kind of contraband."
"How about you…trying telling Calypso…what to do and see what…happens, hey…Coach?" Leo let out a bark of weak laughter, deciding immediately that he'd have to get Calypso to show him how to make her Super-Ambrosia mix when he saw her again. The thought made his heart pound but in a good way, not a 'ten-seconds-from-exploding-like-an-extra-from-a-slasher-flick' kind of way.
"B-b-but he was sick." Daisy's eyes were glued to Leo and wide like saucers. "And now he's…better?"
Leo rocked to his feet experimentally and landed straight back on the bench, dizzy. "Not quite." He complained, glaring at his knees like they'd personally betrayed him by not supporting his weight like normal.
"Well since Clunzinctup! hasn't gotten over her last brush with your delightful personality," Hedge rolled his eyes and Leo suddenly noticed the red handprint smeared across the satyr's face. "I'm stuck figuring out some other way out of this damn city."
"It was a joke." Leo groaned yet again beneath his breath. Honestly, he thought nymphs had a better sense of humour than this. "So what's the plan?"
"Looks like we're going mortal for this trip." Hedge looked displeased by the thought. "There's an evening train out of Union Station for New York."
"Train? Eh, I guess I've had worse. At least you won't be driving." Leo said, offhandedly.
Hedge's right eye twitched. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He couldn't control his grin. "It means I'd rather be on a train with a bunch of mortals than have you driving that goddamn bus at the Wilderness School again."
"My driving was fine you little-"
"Fine? You could barely see over the steering wheel!" Leo snickered.
"How are you laughing right now?" Michael suddenly shouted, watching the satyr and demigod as though they'd just peeled off their clothes and decided to do jazz ballet in the snow.
Leo paused. "Michael-"
"No, I'm serious!" the boy exclaimed, his face pale. "You nearly died and now you're just- I mean- how are you breathing? Can all demigods do that? What was that thing? What's going on?"
"Mickey, calm down." Daisy demanded when Michael's breaths grew uneven from the stress in his tone.
"I thought I covered the god already. Didn't I cover it? I distinctly remember explaining it at some point!" Leo threw up his hands, confused with a glance to Hedge who shrugged.
Daisy locked eyes with the older demigod, her face unsettlingly grave. "Can that stuff- that ambrosia stuff- can it heal all…demigods?" she asked, gripping Michael's hand at her side.
Leo frowned, bewildered. "Sure. Ambrosia is godly food, one bite cures all wounds for half-bloods."
"What about…other people?" Michael blurted out, his bright green eyes honed in on the package in Hedge's hand.
"You mean mortals?" Leo clarified, a bad feeling settling in the pit of his stomach. When they nodded, he sighed. "No. Just half-bloods."
The moment the word came out, Michael's face dropped and Daisy averted her eyes, both of them looking crushed, as though someone had told them that not only did Santa not really exist but he was also responsible for killing baby seals and setting Disneyland on fire.
"Doesn't work on satyrs either. Like we need that stuff, pfft!" Hedge bleated, oblivious to the kids' crestfallen expressions. "And this chat has given every monster in a dozen blocks time to find us so moving on-"
"About that," Leo said, changing the subject swiftly. "I can't walk. What do you suggest we do, oh wise hooved one?"
"Don't get cute with me, Valdez." Hedge warned with a jabbing finger in Leo's direction. "You'll walk when I say you'll walk."
Before he could reply, Leo's stomach let out an almighty grumble that sounded like someone had dropped Camp Jupiter's elephant into the park beside them. "You know what would really make things easier though…" he began slowly, his eyes flickering between Hedge and the kids who were quietly murmuring between them.
"No side stops. Forget it." Hedge growled, unrelenting but one look at the unearthly sound his gut was making and the despondent expressions of the kids beside him and Leo decided something had to be done.
"Valdez…" Hedge grunted, warningly as Leo limped alongside him, making use of the satyr's stout low centre of gravity to make sure he didn't tip face first into the pavement.
Leo held up a hand to the wind, as though wafting the smell of cheese and tomato and baking dough into his face. "Come on Coach," he said, his mood lifted by the promise of extra cheesy crust. "Celebratory pizza stop, my treat."
"You don't have any money." Hedge bleated, irritably.
"For that heavenly smell? I'd sell my body for a taste." Leo shrugged, staring jealously after a hoodie-clad man exited with a half-eaten slice in hand. They stood outside the pizzeria with its flashing red sign that looked to Leo to say Cheaters Pit Dazes through his dyslexia.
"What did I say about pit stops?" the satyr said through gritted teeth, shrugging Leo off his shoulder.
"I'll be silent as the grave the whole way back to New York." Leo promised as his eyes glanced towards the kids who hadn't really raised their heads since the park.
Hedge snorted. "You don't know the meaning of silence."
"I won't pull the emergency stop on the train. No matter how tempting the big red button is." Leo counter-bargained, drooling at the thought of sweet meaty pizza.
Hedge looked sufferingly at the three demigods. "Fine. Maybe the stench of meaty murder will mask some of that demigod stink." He grunted, jerking his head towards the doors.
"Oh, cheer up Coach." Leo said, using Daisy's shoulder as a crutch to usher the kids in quickly before the satyr could change his mind. "You can eat the box."
"Eat the box…?" Michael echoed for the first time since the park, mystified while Hedge's fists clenched as though in preparation to strangle the fire-starting demigod.
"Satyrs get grouchy when they're hungry." Leo waved his hand absently. Inside, the pizzeria was cosy and warm, if a little sparse. It was decorated with plain speckled black linoleum floors and the booths were upholstered with cracked red fake leather, age spots on an otherwise decent building. Someone had decided to put some kind of green plants around the perimeter to give it a classier look but to Leo, they looked cheap and fake. There was a fine layer of dust covering much of the space and tables but the kitchens seemed to be full blaze, the pimpled teenager at the front counter bearing a suitably dull expression.
"Welcome to Porcheria's Pizzeria, how may I help you?" he sighed, wearily.
"Which one has the most meat?" Leo asked immediately and Hedge snorted through flared nostrils.
"What part of no meat isn't getting through that thick head of yours Valdez?" the satyr snapped.
"The no-meat part." He repeated immediately, never taking his eyes off the illuminated menu posted behind the counter. "Seriously coach, that is not a Leo-approved diet."
"That would be the Chicago Classic Meat Supreme." The kid across the counter replied, apathetically.
"I'll take six." Leo told him abruptly although after a particularly painful elbow to the ribs from Daisy, he winced and shook his head. "Fine, I'll take one and what do you two munchkins want?"
"I'm not hungry." Michael muttered although Daisy carefully pointed to a margherita-style choice from the menu. While Hedge reluctantly forked out the cash and waited for the food at the counter, Leo let Daisy guide him to a booth near the windows, nearly crashing into the seat when his knees decided to give out.
"Are you sure you should be walking?" she asked him, sceptically. "Maybe you need a hospital."
"What I need is an Apollo kid." Leo grunted as he sat up against the booth seat. "And an enormous bug zapper so I can fry the next one."
"Apollo is sun god, right?" Daisy asked, unable to withhold her curiosity although Michael retained his grim expression.
"Sure is." Leo replied, eying both kids carefully. The way they sat reminded him of the first time he'd met either of them, just a few days earlier- them on one side, Leo on the other except now they were the ones with questions. Had it only been three days? It felt much longer.
"So he could be…I mean, since I have- had- a mom…" she continued, awkwardly.
He snorted trying to stifle his snickers. "Kid, there's no way in hell Apollo's your dad. He's too cheery."
As if to emphasize his point, the girl's face split into a sullen scowl but she, very maturely, refused to take the bait. "But he could be?" she pressed. "That's how it works right?"
"Once you get to camp, you'll be claimed by your dad." Leo explained, omitting the fact that he already had a strong suspicion who Daisy's godly parent was. Gods tends to like to claim their kids rather than the other way round and with this particular god, well, Leo figured it was better to be safe than sorry. "But yeah, that's how it works."
"Do you ever get to meet them?" she asked in a small voice, as though shamed by the question.
Before Leo could answer, Michael spoke in a nearly acidic tone he'd never heard from the boy before. "I never want to meet my mom." He spat. "Ever."
"Mickey, just-" Daisy began but cut herself off mid-sentence and frowned, helplessly. "Maybe she couldn't help. Gods can't help their kids right?" she looked to Leo, pointedly.
"Rarely." The fire-starter admitted, trying to piece together the puzzle that was these two orphan kids from Minnesota.
"I don't care. She should've helped." Michael snapped at Daisy for the first time Leo could remember. Daisy looked slightly affronted by the tone but said nothing.
Leo's dark eyes flitted between the two. "So…you guys gonna tell me what's going on?" he asked in a low voice.
"Nothing." They chimed in together, as if out of reflex.
"Sure." He rolled his eyes and cast a furtive glance towards Hedge who was picking a fight with the teenage server about their inclusion of meat and lack of extensive vegetarian options. "Come on guys, how about a little honesty? I have kind of been spilling my guts."
"Not about everything." Daisy countered immediately, on the offense yet again. "You said you'd been in Chicago for ages."
"I never said that, you just assumed." He replied, stubbornly.
"That's practically lying." She stated flatly, eyes narrowed. "You said yourself you lived in New York now."
"I do now." Leo shuffled, trapped by her piercing blue gaze. When did kids get so damn sceptical? "And I was in Chicago. Just not for ages."
"Oh yeah? So why'd you leave?" she challenged.
His thoughts whizzed back to where he'd left them on that bench in the park, the memory of a stony-eyed uniformed officer and being passed through the system until he somehow reached a hospital. The vague quip about how Chicago wasn't ready for his brilliance died on his tongue around these stupid kids though. "About a week after I got here, I got beat up pretty bad." He admitted, slowly.
"How bad?" Daisy asked, surprise in her face. She hadn't been expecting the truth, obviously.
"Bad. The kind of bad that needs a hospital." He explained, making sure to keep his tone even.
"Like the kind of bad where you can't walk properly…?" she said, pointedly but Leo ignored her glances towards his own weakened legs.
"The kind of bad that comes with medical bills I couldn't have afforded." He told her, his voice suddenly stiff. "I didn't have a lot of options at that point so I-I turned myself in to the cops. It was just under a week since I disappeared so they were still looking, kind of. Much longer and they wouldn't have cared."
"What happened then?" Daisy asked, quietly.
"I got shuffled like an unlucky card," Leo quipped with a slight smirk, trying to regain some kind of control of the conversation. He really had to learn how to lie to these kids. "They assigned me a social worker to get me back to Texas and eventually I got sent off to a clinic. Three fractured ribs and I pretty much snapped my wrist." All for a damn loaf of bread, he added privately.
Daisy was quiet for a while but her eyes studied Leo, furtively. When she spoke, it was in a small voice he was unused to hearing from the hostile little munchkin. "My mom died when I was ten."
Leo winced. "I'm sorry. Mine too. I was eight." He added, as if in consolation and strangely, Daisy nodded gratefully, as though accepting the thought.
"Mickey's dad kept me with him 'cause we were neighbours and my mom didn't have any other relatives." She explained, the boy in question a statue by her side. "And then a couple of weeks ago, something came to the house-"
"It was huge." Michael interrupted, quietly. "And it kept sniffing around for us and using my dad's voice."
"Cyclops." Leo deducted immediately, thinking to his first meeting with Ma Gasket and her revolting brood, the way her voice had sounded precisely like Piper's, something beautiful coming from something so ugly.
"My dad saved us." Michael said, solemnly. "And now I find out my mom- she's a goddess, like- shouldn't she have- couldn't she save him? Didn't she love him at all?" the last question came out almost on accident.
"Raising demigods is dangerous," Leo said, frowning. He knew that better than anyone. "It shouldn't be but it is. But Camp Half Blood- look, you guys haven't been there yet so you don't understand but it's safe and the people there are just like us. It's different to everywhere else." The words weren't coming out right but he suspected there was a glimmer of hope in Daisy's eyes but Michael looked sceptical.
He wanted to tell them about Jason and Piper and the cabins and Chiron. He wanted to tell them about the stables and the forge and the games of Capture the Flag. He wanted them to meet Calypso because he swore she and Daisy would get along like a house on fire (pun intended) and if they just knew what it was like, maybe it might help.
The smell of burning began to creep up his nostril before he could say anything. With a frown, he turned toward the kitchens, hoping to the gods that the burnt pizza wasn't his but the conspicuous lack of muttering caught his notice. Both Hedge and the teenager had disappeared and Leo couldn't even hear angry bleating coming from the back kitchen.
"Hey Coach?" he called out, his hackles beginning to rise. He reached for his hammer but retrieving Calypso's ambrosia had taken a lot of the belt's strength and the only thing that appeared was a series of small bent nails. "Helpful." He grunted, sarcastically as he wriggled out of the booth and stood shakily, one hand clutching the red seat fabric.
"Where's the goat guy?" Daisy wondered aloud, her own face clouded with suspicion. The kitchens were suddenly very quiet, no sign of movement except for the burning smell and a faint gurgling sound coming from the very back of the kitchen, like a clogged drain.
"I don't know…but let's wait outside for the pizza." Leo said, paranoia surging to the front of his mind yet again. Daisy and Michael wiggled out of the booth immediately and they made it to the door before the gurgling cut off abruptly.
Leo froze, turning slowly on his unsteady legs, one hand on either of the kids' shoulders. "Coach?" he began, warily. "You still in here?"
"…'Fraid not, little godling…" the sound oozed into his ear, a gargled, slurred voice that made him want to take several dozen showers in bleach.
"Hey Daisy, you still got that crowbar?" he asked under his breath, putting himself between the kids and the kitchen.
"I-I lost it in the alley." she breathed. "What was that voice?"
"Three little half bloods, all on their own. Ain't you three just delicious?" the voice gurgled unpleasantly again, this time echoing against the tiles of the kitchen.
"Where do you guys learn to be so creepy?" Leo snapped, checking every one of his pockets on the off chance that something was still surviving. "Ultimate Villainy 101 at Monster Academy?"
What could only be described as the sound of a garbage disposal chuckling spilled out into the restaurant. "The mouthy ones always taste better." It said, gleefully.
Leo removed his hands from Daisy and Michael's shoulder and forced every ounce of strength he had into his fists, forcing them to ignite. "Back off buddy, this is three against one." He called out, raising his hands while he scanned what he could see of the kitchen for any sign of what was coming.
There was no reply for a long time- not even a hint of a gurgle. Leo wondered if his bravado had actually worked (for the first time in recorded history ever), edging forward to the counter. Daisy practically clawed at his elbow, trying to yank him back but Leo stumbled forward, taking a deep breath as the burning smell grew more acrid, like three-month-old trash mixed with mozzarella.
"Where are you…?" he wondered under his breath, gritting his teeth as he poked his head further over the counter. His eyes scanned the walls, the ovens and the ceiling and the floor-
Leo had seen a lot of weird things but he thought, maybe, this took the cake.
The floor was covered by a huge blanket of what appeared to be melted cheese with thick red-black scabs appearing on the surface and releasing that gods-awful stench. It bubbled in places and pulsed beneath the great yellow surface.
"What in all of Hades-?" Leo began, astonished when suddenly a pair of thick ropes of- of- of cheese exploded from the depth of the gooey puddle and shot towards him, each one looping around his forearm and yanking him over the counter with insane force.
Leo barely had a second to look before the creature swallowed him whole.
A/N: I PROMISE I DIDN'T KILL HIM!
PROMISE!
By the way, be nice please, I finished this at like one in the morning and I am stressing because GAH it was so hard to write and I HATE parts of it and oh my gods, just don't read it please, I can't take all the little problems I have with it but I feel terrible because you guys have been waiting a week so GAH HERE IT IS! *sighs*
Replies to reviews might take a little while but I'm hoping to get to everyone tomorrow so *fingers crossed*
Once again, thankyou guys, the support this week has been absolutely phenomenal, particularly while I'm re-learning how to juggle classes. I hope you all have a fantastic week and the next chapter will be updated as soon as I'm done with it (I am HOPING that will be before Friday) so thankyou very much and enjoy the new chapter :D
Shy
Review Time!
Sarcastic Narwal: Naw I'm so glad you're enjoying it and that it's realistic to the cannon :) As for Nico…well, I have plans for him but they don't appear until much later so maybe I could sneak him in earlier? I think he'll make an appearance in my Christmas fic Traditional in the next few chapters (when I get around to finishing them) if that helps ;) Enjoy the new chapter!
Guest: Thankyou, I am glad to impress and that you enjoyed Leo's backstory. I added a bit more this chapter, what do you think? As for WD-40, damn, I made the mistake of asking my mechanical engineering friend what a good aerosol weapon would be from a workshop and I got a private lecture into practically every one of the 2000s uses of WD-40 spray *sighs* Anyway, enjoy the new chapter and thanks for reading!
Guest: I DID NOT LIKE HIM EITHER IN THAT CHAPTER BUT I LIKE HIM BETTER IN LATER CHAPTERS PROMISE
StormBringer9001: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it ;)
Hannah: No Caleo yet but soon, I hope. This chapter was REALLY tough to write so I'm hoping the rest will be easier until I can get these two dorks back together again.
Starry: I'm glad you like the bee-monster, I've always been a little creeped out by them to be honest. I'm also slipping a new monster before they leave Chicago (too much?) so I hope you like this one too. As for Daisy…she's coming around in this chapter, I think. I thankyou very much for the Valentine's Day heart (I will treasure it always ;) and for reading and reviewing with such lovely comments :)
Guest: I did mention at the end of the last chapter that there are two separate myths relating to Mélissa and bees and I'm choosing to adapt the second one but I'm still glad you enjoyed it.
Hope Vandarez: NAW THANKYOU SO MUCH XD As for my username, I have heard that song and it has occurred to me but to be honest, it's because I was really super shy as a kid and sometimes my parents would tell people 'she's a shy one, sorry if she's a bit quiet' and stuff like that. I grew out of it but the words always stuck. It has been brought to my attention that it's also similar to 'You're a Mean One, Mr Grinch' from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas but that was coincidental ;) Now, as for more Caleo and Nico representation, well, Caleo will have to wait a little while (I'm plotting for another monster or two in Chicago before they leave) and I have plans for Nico, though he might make an appearance in my Christmas fic Traditional (if I ever FINISH the next chapter). I will definitely consider bringing him early though :) Now as for quests, hmm, I don't know, see, I've recently become attached to the idea of one or two little Caleo quests and I can't seem to let go of them. Rest assured however, that even if they do go off on prophesized quests, the fluff and feels will certainly remain central to their relationship, I promise. Now, Calypso's reason for carrying the ichor is that it's blood of a goddess-turned-mortal and pretty damn rare (and potentially powerful) so she's keeping a close eye on it. Just to be certain. And Leo's mom, well, she's coming. I cannot wait for that conversation though, I've already started drafting it in my head. Anyway, this has gotten way too long but thankyou for reading and enjoy the new chapter!
Red: hello! Sorry for the lateness, I hope this chapter cheers you up ;) I will enjoy the blue cookies and thankyou VERY VERY VERY much for reviewing and reading and all that jazz :D
Guest: I KNOW RIGHT? I've always been really curious about the boundaries and limitations of the Styx and I'm glad I've developed them in this fic in a way which is…well, understandable at least, you know? Anyway, thankyou for reviewing with such lovely comments and thanks for reading :)
Zaffre Blue: Aw, thankyou! I'm really glad you're enjoying it so far and that it's written well and everything makes sense. As for me, all is well here, I've just been adjusting to university which started this week and all the tedious preparations involved in getting a damn degree. But thankyou for your concern and for reading and for generally being wonderful :)
Guest: I'm thrilled you liked the Percy-Calypso reunion! I tried really hard to make sure they were both appropriate to their characters and that everything flowed and I'm so SO glad that you enjoyed it :D Thankyou very much for reading!
Shy