Texas, the land of Tex-Mex cooking and big hats, Mason had taken several buses and a train to get to the state. The moment he crossed over the state line, he felt it, a rush of power. The air was thick with it, like a perfume, only warm and powerful. He frowned, then shivered as he realized how close the demigod in question had to be for him to sense their presence. Or how utterly, devastatingly powerful they had to be.
'What a curious thing...'
The dry air and intense heat, even in April, left him feeling uncomfortable. Still, he had to find the demigod. Reaching into himself, he breathed out a simple spell, tapping into his essence but also that which filled the air.
"Ducimus, nascetur, nascetur natoque." He intoned, and soon a magnetic pull grabbed onto his chest. He followed it, feeling his essence quickening as he found himself by a grocery outlet, a Walmart actually. Confused when he did not go inside, but was pulled to the back, he saw why. A boy, tiny and tan, was digging in a dumpster with panicked strokes. "Kid, I can help you." The words startled the boy, who jumped and bolted, or well tried to. "Sistit." But could not as Mason's spell held him fast in place. Walking over, he saw the boy's terrified face. "Kid, I am not going to hurt you. I am here to help you. I was sent to find you."
The boy managed to squeak out. "How are you doing this?"
"I'm a witch... and you're a demigod. You have active powers, right? Something with heat, I can feel that magic in you. I can summon fire with spells, it feels the same."
The boy, a cute kid with clear latino features blending with Elvish looking qualities, nodded with teary eyes. "Yes."
"Listen, I swear by Styx you can trust me." The world thundered. "That oath, it means that if broken, I die. You should be able to feel it's power."
"I can..."
Mason smiled. "Give me an hour, to feed you, explain my purpose and your powers. Kay?"
I... okay, I'll go with you... if only to understand my powers." He stumbled as the spell broke. "What's your name?"
"Mason... now, what's yours?"
"Leo Valdez..." he said, brushing off his clothes of dust and dirt, showing them to be torn and damaged. Bruises covered his upper arms, an adults grip clearly.
And just like that, the pitiful boy owned Mason's heart. The Big Brother in him wanted to kill whoever dared to put their hands on this kid.
Mason reached out, brushing the bruises. "Leni et restituet." And purple magic sank into the wounds, making Leo hiss before they soothed away into nothing. Leo looked on with warm, loving eyes.
"You're like Glinda in Wizard of Oz!" he shivered. "My mom used to watch that movie."
Mason pulled the kid into a hug. "I am so sorry... but I am here for you for as long as you need it." And he knew that to be true, he would care for the boy, always and forever. He could not let another go through what he had, not when he had the power to stop it. Within about twenty minutes they were in a sub shop, having used magic to not only get free food but to mask their conversation. Spell bags were fun that way.
Leo, diving into his food with a fervent terror, asked. "So... what do you need to know?"
"Tell me about yourself, your life. I need to know before I can keep you safe. I was asked to deliver you to a place where people like you live. Demigods, children of the Greek gods. I think I know who your dad is, but I need more details."
Leo shivered again, before holding out his hand and causing a ring of fire to burst into existence. "I have been able to do this since I was a baby. My Mom, she used to tell me to not use my powers until I met my father. But I didn't listen, and a woman that looked a lot like my old Baby sister, Tia Callida, only made of dirt... she sort of forced me..." He started to cry, his tiny body shaking.
Mason started shushing him. "It's okay, I can look at your memories, so you don't have to tell me." He gulped, knowing the spell but having never cast it for it took a lot of power. Can I?"
And Leo nodded.
Moving to sit next to Leo, he grabbed his hands and muttered the spell. "Contritum corde ad memoriam ostende."
And in instant, the memories of Leo's darkest day flooded his mind.
One night, they stayed late because his mom was finishing a drill bit design she hoped to patent. If she could sell the prototype, it might change their lives. She'd finally get a break.
As she worked, Leo passed her supplies and told her corny jokes, trying to keep her spirits up. He loved it when he could make her laugh. She'd smile and say, "Your father would be proud of you, mijo. You'll meet him soon, I'm sure."
Mom's workspace was at the very back of the shop. It was kind of creepy at night, because they were the only ones there. Every sound echoed through the dark warehouse, but Leo didn't mind as long as he was with his mom. If he did wander the shop, they could always keep in touch with Morse code taps. Whenever they were ready to leave, they had to walk through the entire shop, through the break room, and out to the parking lot, locking the doors behind them.
That night after finishing up, they'd just gotten to the break room when his mom realized she didn't have her keys.
"That's funny." She frowned. "I know I had them. Wait here, mijo. I'll only be a minute."
She gave him one more smile—the last one he'd ever get —and she went back into the warehouse.
She'd only been gone a few heartbeats when the interior door slammed shut. Then the exterior door locked itself.
"Mom?" Leo's heart pounded. Something heavy crashed inside the warehouse. He ran to the door, but no matter how hard he pulled or kicked, it wouldn't open. "Mom!" Frantically, he tapped a message on the wall: You okay?
"She can't hear you," a voice said.
Leo turned and found himself facing a strange woman. At first he thought it was Tía Callida. She was wrapped in black robes, with a veil covering her face.
"Tía?" he said.
The woman chuckled, a slow gentle sound, as if she were half asleep. "I am not your guardian. Merely a family resemblance."
"What—what do you want? Where's my mom?"
"Ah … loyal to your mother. How nice. But you see, I have children too … and I understand you will fight them someday. When they try to wake me, you will prevent them. I cannot allow that."
"I don't know you. I don't want to fight anybody."
She muttered like a sleepwalker in a trance, "A wise choice."
With a chill, Leo realized the woman was, in fact, asleep. Behind the veil, her eyes were closed. But even stranger: her clothes were not made of cloth. They were made of earth—dry black dirt, churning and shifting around her. Her pale, sleeping face was barely visible behind a curtain of dust, and he had the horrible sense that she'd had just risen from the grave. If the woman was asleep, Leo wanted her to stay that way. He knew that fully awake, she would be even more terrible.
"I cannot destroy you yet," the woman murmured. "The Fates will not allow it. But they not do protect your mother, and they cannot stop me from breaking your spirit. Remember this night, little hero, when they ask you to oppose me."
"Leave my mother alone!" Fear rose in his throat as the woman shuffled forward. She moved more like an avalanche than a person, a dark wall of earth shifting toward him.
"How will you stop me?" she whispered.
She walked straight through a table, the particles of her body reassembling on the other side.
She loomed over Leo, and he knew she would pass right through him, too. He was the only thing between her and his mother.
His hands caught fire.
A sleepy smile spread across the woman's face, as if she'd already won. Leo screamed with desperation. His vision turned red. Flames washed over the earthen woman, the walls, the locked doors. And Leo lost consciousness.
When he woke, he was in an ambulance.
The paramedic tried to be kind. She told him the warehouse had burned down. His mother hadn't made it out. The paramedic said she was sorry, but Leo felt hollow. He'd lost control, just like his mother had warned. Her death was his fault.
Soon the police came to get him, and they weren't as nice. The fire had started in the break room, they said, right where Leo was standing. He'd survived by some miracle, but what kind of child locked the doors of his mother's workplace, knowing she was inside, and started a fire?
Later, his neighbors at the apartment complex told the police what a strange boy he was. They talked about the burned handprints on the picnic table. They'd always known something was wrong with Esperanza Valdez's son.
His relatives wouldn't take him in. His Aunt Rosa called him a diablo and shouted at the social workers to take him away.
The memories faded and Mason pulled Leo into the tightest, warmest hug. "You are my kid now, you understand? I will not let Gaea hurt you, or the gods or anyone. You are my kid, my brother. From this day until the world dies."
And Leo, shocked, nodded with more tears. "I could feel you goodness, in your magic. It was weird... but I think I would love to be your brother. Can you show me how to use my power?"
"Yes, all of them." He kissed Leo's forehead. "Now, let's get you some clothes. Our little coven needs to be properly prepared and you need to know of my Patron and my mission." 'And someone needs to know what Gaea did...'
"""
Ganymede hugged Leo the moment he was summoned. "I Saw the memories through Mason. My name is Ganymede, kiddo. I am so sorry, I am not very powerful so I never knew of what Gaea did. But I promise to help keep you both safe. Mason's my friend, and you are my little brother, too."
Leo beamed, his tiny face bright with appreciation before he asked. "I like to make things, to build things. Can you help with that?"
"Yes, we can." They all jumped at the booming voice of a man behind Ganymede. Hepheastus, in all his powerful glory, was there in a full mechanics outfit. "Ganymede, thank you for taking care of my boy." He turned to Leo, and Ganymede saw his nervousness. "I, Uh... I am sorry, boy. I am Hephaestus, your father." He pulled out a toolbelt, one that was clearly enchanted. "I made this, for you. It allows you to pull tools for crafting on it."
Leo went red, anger in his eyes, but Mason's hand stopped it when he grabbed Leo's. "Thank you... and Leo, the gods are forbidden from helping too much. And Gaea, the one to kill your Mom, is way too powerful for even a god to stop. Let him make amends, I can feel his love for you."
Hephaestus, turned to Mason, warmth in his eyes. "Thank you too, boy. Zeus would never allow me to give you anything too potent, he hates witches, but I can give you a spell... and I can do this." He snapped his fingers, and Mason's sword, kept hidden by a spell shimmered into a bracelet around his wrist. "Even Zeus cannot argue if I help you this way. The blade holds a basic blessing. Basically I magnified it's power, allowing it to be more lasting. Use fire to recharge it, should it wane. The spell I added to your grimoire will allow it to be remade. Leo can help, he is my most powerful child... ever, actually."
Mason smiled. "Sir, I cannot appreciate this more. Thank you. I do have one request, you'll love it actually." The God of Fire raised a brow. "Give me some Celestial bronze for Leo and I to make him a weapon?"
"Oh, of course. Can't have him without that, consider it a freebie. It will be delivered to your next campsite."
"Oh and we need to discuss Gaea attacking Leo. Are the gods aware of that?"
Hepheastus nodded, sighing low. "They are ignoring it. Some of us care more than others, boy, my father refuses to do a thing about it but he was warned. Now I cannot stay here any longer, but know you both have my blessing and my protection." He turned to Leo, reaching out and putting a hand on his head. "I am sorry, I failed you, but this boy won't. I noticed him when he started enchanting weapons, he has a powerful spirit. He will protect you, where I have failed to do so."
Leo nodded. "I... want to hate you, but if Mason says you deserve a chance... then okay. Only one."
The man nodded. "Ganymede, I owe you... it seems."
Mason laughed. "Can you make him a sword? He was a Trojan prince, I want to spar with him."
Ganymede, who could barely believe what he had just seen, giggled. "I will kick you ass."
The god of fire cackled. "I would pay to see that. Very well..."
And so he vanished in a swirl of heat, leaving Ganymede to turned to the two boys. "I will be watching... and Leo, I claim you as my Brother. That means I can help you more, if you accept it."
Leo nodded. "Yes!"
"Then so be it. I must go... be safe, my loves."
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was a joy to write.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.