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Chapter Text

Piper didn't know why her dad called her down. She had ran down the stairs, concerned why he sounded so worried about what he saw. Piper went down and she went over to the front door.

"What is-?"
Piper froze when she saw a huge golden dragon, laying down and being caressed by the short latino male, who Piper hadn't seen ever since...

Piper felt the tears well up in her eyes and she had ran out of the house, running towards Leo. Leo didn't notice her and so he stumbled back when Piper tackled him into a hug.
"Woah!"
Piper had knocked Leo off his feet as her arms wrapped around his waist, both of them falling onto the ground, Leo broke Piper's fall while Leo groaned as he hit the hard ground.

"You-!" Piper started to scowl but cut herself off with a sob.
Leo smiled and laughed softly, bringing his hands to Piper's messily chopped off hair, feeling his own eyes well up. Leo looked down at Piper and continued to smile.
"Hey Pipes, been a while..." Leo said softly, running his fingers through Piper's hair.

Piper continued to cry out into Leo's shirt and Leo held her close, letting Piper cry as much as she wanted before they'd actually begin to talk.

Before they'd... talk about Jason.

Chapter Text

Piper had told her dad that she'd be fine and that she would be outside for a while with Leo, talking to him and catching up since it'd been a while since they saw each other.

So, here they were. Festus continued to lay there, Piper and Leo were cuddled up together, a blanket wrapped over their shoulders as they leaned back against Festus and looked out into the horizon.

Leo glanced at Piper's appearance. Her hair was quite choppy and short, Leo wondered if it was a way to cope with Jason's passing. Leo swallowed as he looked back towards the sunset.

"Your hair looks nice."
Piper looked at Leo, taking in his side profile as Leo kept looking at the sky, watching as the sun set.
"Thanks." Piper said, bringing a hand up to her short and messy hair, tugging at the ends of it. "I... I wanted a new look."
"Mmh, it suits you." Leo looked at Piper, smiling at her.
Piper smiled back at Leo.

"Your hair still looks greasy and gross." Piper said, reaching her hand up towards Leo's hair and running her fingers through his curls.
Leo grinned and he gently pushed Piper's hand away.
"Hey! I clean my hair regularly, thank you very much!" Leo exclaimed.
Piper laughed out softly before she and Leo looked into the sky again.

"... How are you coping?" Piper asked softly.
Leo frowned. He knew this was coming, but it still hurt.
"Better than when I first found out." Leo shrugged slightly. "I mean, at least you got to see him one last time. He knew that I was alive but... we didn't get the chance to reunite."

Leo fiddled with his hands, keeping his gaze on his fingers and seeing how dirty they were from some work he did earlier before he came over here to see Piper.

"How about you?" Leo asked.
"... Eh." Piper shrugged. "I mean, I miss him. I desperately miss him. But... I guess I'm just... moving on?"
"Oh?" Leo raised an eyebrow.

Piper smiled slightly to herself.
"Yeah... Uhm, I have a girlfriend now." Piper said, looking at Leo.
Leo blinked.
"Ah! So you've joined the bi club-!" Leo began, grinning at Piper.
"I'm not-!" Piper took a deep breath, cutting herself off.

"... I- ugh, I don't have a label, Leo. I'm... Hera really messed with our memories, so... I don't know if I ever truly liked boys like that." Piper admitted, looking away from Leo.
Leo looked at Piper, studying her facial expressions. Leo reached over and gently took Piper's hand into his, rubbing his thumb back and forth her knuckles.

"Mmh... Well, thank you for sharing that with me, Pipes." Leo smiled at Piper.
Piper let out a soft sigh, smiling back at Leo and squeezing his hand.
"Of course, Valdez, you're my bro. I can't keep stuff like this from ya." Piper said, gently nudging Leo in the arm with her elbow.
Leo felt his eyes well up but he laughed, quickly wiping away the tears before they even rolled down his face.

"Uh, so! A girlfriend? What's her name? What is she like-?!"
"Pfft, cool it, Leo! Uh, her name is Shel, and-"

*****

Leo and Piper caught each other up on everything.

Piper talked about Shel, how Shel knew she was a demi-god, knew about... Jason, and how she was so sweet and understanding about everything.

Leo talked about how he and Calypso seperated. Calypso began to drift away, she was more interested in the mortal side of things rather than Leo. The break-up with Calypso didn't hurt as much as when Leo found out about Jason's death. Leo also mentioned his foster family, how he had two moms and technically a sister now.

They were still cuddled up with a blanket around them, Piper stole most of it though, and they continued to rest against Festus. The dragon didn't mind.

"We never really did anything for Jason, did we?" Leo questioned.
"What do you mean?" Piper asked, looking at Leo curiously.
"Funeral-wise." Leo clarified. "I mean, I know that Apollo took him back to Camp Jupiter for a proper, stupid, Roman burial, but..."
Piper swallowed.

"... Do you have something in mind to... fix that?" Piper asked, her voice much quieter now.
"What if we went to Camp Half-Blood? You and I, for a week. First night we get there, we build him a shroud and burn it." Leo suggested, bringing a finger up and causing a flame to appear at his fingertip before blowing it out.

Piper hummed.
"I'm sure I could convince my dad. Well, I mean, I can charm-speak him, so, yeah, I can definitely convince him." Piper smiled at Leo.

"We could maybe get Nico to join us."
"... Nico?"
"Yeah, he and Jason were close. Jason was there when Nico got... outed by Cupid. They had a stronger bond since then."
"Oh."

"Uh, I mean... Sure, I guess the Lord of Darkness can do that with us!" Leo said.
"He'll be thrilled." Piper smiled. "Well, not thrilled, but- you know-!"
"Pfft, I know what you mean, Pipes." Leo smiled.

"So... When do you want to go?" Piper asked.
"Well, I already told Jo that I'd be away for a little while, so...tomorrow?" Leo questioned. "You can let your dad know. And Shel, I'm sure she would love to know you'll be safe at camp and not ghosting her for about a week or so!"
Piper hummed.

"Alright, Valdez. I guess we're going to Camp Half-Blood tomorrow."

Chapter Text

"Don't you think it's sort of quiet?" Leo questioned as he and Piper were making their way towards the campfire area at camp with Festus following behind.

Piper glanced around, not seeing any campers nearby.
"Maybe everyone's busy?" Piper shrugged.
Leo hummed, not trusting how silent it was.

"I'm gonna get Festus to hang around Bunker 9." Leo said, patting Festus on the side to tell him to follow just him now.
"I'm gonna head to the Big House, try to find Chiron...or Mr. D." Piper told Leo.
"Cool, I'll try to get back as soon as I can." Leo said. "See ya in a bit, Pipes."
"Mmhm, later Valdez." Piper said.

Leo and Piper turned to head their separate ways. Leo went to the woods to find Bunker 9 and Piper made her way towards the Big House.

Leo whistled to himself as he and Festus were walking through the woods together. It was eerily quiet.

"Hmm, d'you have any idea why it's so quiet here, Festus?" Leo turned to look at Festus.
As Leo turned, he didn't realise he left himself defenceless. All of a sudden, Leo got tackled to the ground and Festus made a creaky noise as an attempt of a growl.

Leo looked up, seeing he was pinned to the ground by none other than, Nico di Angelo. Nico pressed his sword towards Leo's throat, but he blinked.
"... Valdez?" Nico questioned, scoffing slightly. "Of course you would stumble into camp while we're in the middle of a game."
Leo felt himself grin.

"Heya Lord of Darkness, think ya can get off of me now?" Leo asked. "I mean... I can't tell if I'm into this or not and...if you keep me pinned to the ground with your sword against my throat then... I may get into this."
Leo winked at Nico and Nico scowled.
"You-!" Nico began, about to press his sword deeper into Leo's neck.

"Neeks, I don't want to waste our time healing Valdez if you cut him."
Leo looked over Nico's shoulder, seeing Will appearing out from behind a tree and he had his arms crossed.
"Hey Solace!" Leo smiled.
"Hi Leo." Will smiled back. "Quit flirting with my boyfriend, or I will get him to stab you."

"... Hey, your boyfriend pounced on me." Leo stated.
"Can I please slit his throat?" Nico glanced at Will.
"Oho~ what a flirt-!" Leo began.
"I'm tempted to allow you." Will directed this to Nico.
Leo frowned.

Nico got up from Leo, taking his sword away from Leo's throat. Nico offered his hand to help Leo up and Leo took it. Nico pulled Leo up onto his two feet while Will went over to stand next to Nico.

"In all seriousness, good to see you, Valdez." Will smiled.
"Yeah, and since our team found you first, what do you say to you and Festus being our secret weapon to steal the other team's flag?" Nico questioned.
Leo blinked and he stared at Nico and Will.

"... I don't have a choice, do I?"
"Nope! Think of it as a way to make up flirting with my boyfriend!"

Leo smiled and he looked at Festus, who was confused on what was happening.
"C'mon boy. Let's go and play Capture The Flag."

*****

Leo had successfully managed to capture the other team's flag with Festus and successfully brought it back to where he was supposed to.

At the moment, everyone was at the Dining Pavilion, feasting on their food and drinking a shit ton of sugar to regain their energy after such a long game.

Leo caught up with his half-siblings and they lightly criticised Leo for helping the other team, but it was just some playful banter, nothing too serious.

Piper was at the Aphrodite table. Her half-siblings were either criticising or complimenting her new haircut. Piper felt a little uncomfortable, especially when one of her siblings brought up the fact that Jason died and how that must've been heartbreaking for Piper.

Piper didn't say anything in response to that.

Well, Piper and Leo were back at camp. They were back to a place they would consider their second home.

Chapter Text

"How come you organised this and you're the one who's late for it?" Nico questioned as Leo finally arrived outside of the Zeus cabin.
"I was doing something special! Something that Jason would like! Did you guys make the shroud?" Leo asked, tilting his head at Nico and Piper.

The three of them were directly at the front of  the Zeus cabin while Will was sort of hanging nearby. Leo suspected that Will and Nico would sneak off to the Hades cabin for some 'boyfriend time' after this. I mean, this was going to be a little emotional.

"Yep." Piper held out a shroud that had half-dead flowers tied to it.
"Uh, what happened to it?" Leo furrowed his eyebrows.
Nico fiddled with his hands. "... I got nervous and when my emotions get too much, I kill any sort of plants nearby."

"... Wow, the Demeter cabin must not like you."
"They really don't."

Leo looked at the shroud. It had some lovely purple and orange flowers and it was beautiful. The sheet itself was a light blue colour, and it had both Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood's logos drawn on it.

Leo went over and he brought out this golden lightning bolt pin he had created. He pinned it to the sheet. Nico and Piper watched as Leo did this and Leo brought out three more pins.

"I, uh... I thought we should all have... a pin to keep him in our memory." Leo said, holding out the pins in his hand.
Piper was the first to take one of the pins and Nico reluctantly took another one from Leo's palm. Leo bit his lower lip, watching as Piper instantly put the pin on while Nico stared at it, grazing his thumb over the golden metal.

"... This is... really nice." Nico mumbled, bringing the pin to his jacket and pinning it underneath this gay pin that he had.
"Yeah, it's really cute too." Piper smiled, looking at how the moonlight shined on the pin once she placed it on her own jacket.
Leo brought the last pin to his shirt, looking down at it.
"... Yeah, well, you're welcome." Leo said quietly.

Leo went over and he sat down nearby the front of the cabin. Piper and Nico copied Leo's actions, also sitting down. Leo created a flame from his finger, Piper set down the shroud. Leo reluctantly brought his lit finger to the sheet and let it caught on fire.

Nico was sat in the middle of Leo and Piper. They stared at the fire, watching as it slowly spread.
"... Jason was the first one to know of my sexuality." Nico whispered. "And he didn't judge me. He... helped me, in a way, sort of come to terms with myself."
Leo watched the flame as Piper glanced at Nico.

"I never got the chance to tell Jason I'm into girls." Piper whispered now. "I mean, I think we both just... sort of knew that we weren't compatible not only because Hera fucked with our memories that badly, but... because we knew that we didn't like... the opposite gender. Even if Jason never realised that about himself..."

"Jason didn't deserve to die." Leo spoke out, still staring at the fire. "Maybe I should've just accepted my fate. Died. Jason would still be alive. And... yeah, I wouldn't have been able to fulfil my promise to the River Styx about saving Calypso, but..." Leo trailed off.

Piper reached over, gently taking Leo's hand into hers.
"Don't say that." Piper sniffled.
Leo looked at Piper, seeing how her eyes glistened with unshed tears.
"You both deserved to live." Piper looked at Leo. "The Fates are just too cruel."
Leo managed to give Piper a small smile as he squeezed her hand.

Nico swallowed as he stared at the fire.
"... Sorry, I-I don't think I can handle this." Nico whispered, getting up.
Will instantly looked over and stepped a little closer when he saw Nico stood up.

Leo looked up at Nico, seeing the guilty expression on his face for wanting to leave.
"Hey man, it's all good." Leo said. "We get it if it's too tough for you."
"Yeah, Neeks, don't push yourself." Piper smiled comfortingly at Nico. "Jason would appreciate that you did this much for him anyway."

Nico nodded at the two of them.
"Thanks... Uhm, see you guys around camp." Nico said softly.
Nico turned around and he went over to Will. Will wrapped his arm around Nico's shoulder as Nico seemed to lean against Will, needing his comfort and warmth.

Leo glanced over, watching as the two boys seemed to head to Cabin 13, Will didn't seem to stop to go to his own cabin. Leo felt a strange pang in his heart and he looked back at the burning shroud.

Piper shuffled closer to Leo and they snuggled together. They stared at the burning fabric quietly, mumbling a couple of stuff to each other.

Piper seemed to get sleepy, her eyes fluttering shut and Leo urged for her to just go to the Aphrodite cabin to get some rest. Piper tried to refuse but Leo was stern. Piper gave Leo a kiss on the forehead before she left him there.

Leo fiddled with his fingers as he watched the last of the shroud burn. He glanced back at Zeus' cabin and he felt a strange urge to just go in there. Leo patted the fire away from the shroud before it completely burnt and he stood up, grabbing the last little bit of fabric from the ground and he turned around, heading into the Zeus cabin.

Leo instantly felt as though Zeus was shouting at him from Mount Olympus for entering his cabin that was made in honour of him and his children.  Leo shook off the feeling and he gently shut the door.

He glanced around the place and he saw a few things scattered on the desk in the cabin. Everything else was clean and organised, which was so typical of Jason.

Leo went over to the desk and he sat down in the seat. He set down the fabric onto the desk and he glanced around on the desk. It didn't seem like Jason had many interesting things here. Leo found out from Piper that Jason was working on making cabins for minor Gods but... he never had the chance to actually build any.

Leo wondered where Jason's ideas could be...

Leo glanced around again and he looked at the bed in the cabin. It was neatly made and it looked way more comfortable than the beds in the Hephaestus cabin. Leo got up and he went over to the bed. He sat down on the edge of it first before he brought his feet up onto the bed and he laid back.

Leo stared up at the ceiling before he shut his eyes and he took a deep breath. As Leo inhaled, he smelled a very faint scent of how Jason used to smell. Leo's heart ached and he rolled onto his side, burying his nose into the pillow, inhaling the faint scent that lingered there.

This... This was weird. Leo knew this was weird but...

Leo's hand grasped the bedsheets and he felt his eyes well up. He kept his eyes shut tight as he breathed in the remains of Jason's scent.

Leo couldn't get up. He wouldn't get up. He... missed Jason so much. This was the last thing he had left of Jason. And this was all Leo could ask for since he and Jason never reunited. Leo at least got to smell Jason's signature scent one last time.

Chapter Text

Leo fell asleep in Zeus' cabin.

Leo felt like such a fool. His head pounded as he woke up and Leo had a suspicion that Zeus had a part to play in his terrible headache, but Leo didn't dare to swear at the King of the Gods.

Leo managed to get himself out of the bed and he snuck out of the cabin, making sure no one spotted him exiting the cabin which he wasn't supposed to be in.

Leo made his way to Bunker 9, deciding to check on Festus since he was just relaxing outside of there. Leo spotted Festus sleeping and he blinked as he saw a redhead nearby the golden dragon.

"Red! Hey!" Leo grinned.
Rachel seemed to sigh as Leo called her 'Red', referring to her initials and also the colour of her hair, Leo liked the nickname as it had two practical uses.
"Leo Valdez." Rachel smiled at Leo as she turned around and faced him. "I was just checking out your dragon."

Leo grinned as he ran his fingers through his messy curly locks.
"Festus is a real beaut, ain't he? But I'm much more handsome-" Leo began.
"Alright, cool it." Rachel rolled her eyes. "You should go get some breakfast."

Leo pouted slightly.
"Ah, but I wanted to-" Leo began.
"Sustenance is important." Rachel smiled at Leo. "Especially since there are many activities going on during the day. You'll need the energy."
Leo groaned.

"Ugh, and here I thought we could catch up!" Leo held his hand over his heart.
Rachel rolled her eyes.
"Mmhm." Rachel hummed, beginning to walk off.

Leo blinked.
"And where are you off to?!" Leo called after her.
"To paint!" Rachel shouted back at Leo as she continued to walk.
Leo tilted his head, but he didn't question it. Maybe Rachel needed to get out some weird prophecy on canvas with some oil paints.

Leo shrugged it off. Even if there was a prophecy, he wouldn't be a part of it. He just prayed that whichever demigods had to go on a quest that they would have the Gods favour in their hands.

Right now though, Leo had to get some food in his belly and annoy Piper and try to distract her from her siblings! Maybe he'd even bother Nico from afar.

*****

"I hate this." Piper grumbled.
"Hah~ no, you don't!" Leo exclaimed, looking down over his shoulder at Piper below him.

They were climbing the wall that was supposed to pour lava if they didn't climb it in time. Leo wasn't worried, since he was sort of immune to fire. Well, maybe he was worried about his clothes being burned, but oh well!

Piper was a little behind Leo. They were both going as fast as they could, but it was still nerve-wracking.

"C'mon Pipes! We're nearly at the top! And you don't wanna die by lava, do ya?"
"I hate you, Valdez!"
"Awh, love you too!!"

*****

In the end, Piper's shirt got caught on fire a little, but she and Leo made it up to the top.

Right now? They were at the camp's forge. Piper was sitting nearby, watching as Leo worked. Leo was in his natural habitat, creating some weaponry along with his half-siblings.

Piper felt at peace, just sitting and doing nothing while she watched Leo. Piper's attention was brought to Nico though as the male seemed to have made his way over to where she sat.

"Having a fun day so far?" Nico asked.
"I nearly got burnt to a crisp." Piper smiled mockingly. "The Climbing Wall is such great fun!"
Nico snickered. Piper's smile became genuine and she sighed softly.
"It's been a fun day. I've missed hanging out with Leo, and the rest of you dorks." Piper said quietly.

"Uh, I am not a dork, thanks." Nico raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, of course not. You're the Lord of Darkness." Piper grinned at Nico.
Nico rolled his eyes, smiling at Piper. "Oh shut up, it's bad enough that Leo calls me that."
Piper laughed softly.

"Mmh, so what's up, di Angelo? Why aren't you with your boyfriend?" Piper asked.
Nico sighed as he sat down next to Piper.
"He is overworking himself in the Infirmary." Nico said. "Well, he's at the start of his shift andd... that means he's gonna be working for 8 hours straight? I'll have to remind him to take breaks every now and then."

"Oh, and we're having a camp sing-along by the fire tonight, aren't we?" Piper asked. "Will will need to take as much breaks as he can before then, assuming he's playing the guitar."
"Yep." Nico sighed. Nico then groaned, "ugh, I hate the sing-along's..."

Piper smiled at Nico. "Saying that you hate snuggling close to your boyfriend? Wow, Nico~"
Nico rolled his eyes.
"Oh hush, that's the only part I like about it. And hearing Will's voice..." Nico mumbled, feeling his cheeks flush a little as he thought of Will.

"Oh, hey! Lord of Darkness, when did you get here?" 
Nico and Piper looked over at Leo, who finally noticed Nico's arrival.
"Just a few moments ago, Valdez." Nico answered.
"Annd what are you two chatting about?" Leo smiled as he went over to stand in front of the two.

"How adorable you look when you're working." Piper cooed.
"Awh, even Nico was saying that? You need to be careful, di Angelo~ I may start gaining feelings!" Leo exclaimed dramatically.
Nico scowled. "I hate you both so much."
Leo grinned as did Piper. Piper ruffled Nico's messy hair.
"Agh, sure you do!"
"Mmhm! We love you too, Nico~!"

*****

Leo and Piper were sitting next to each other. Piper was using Leo as a personal source of fire to be able to roast her marshmallow, as long as she shared some with Leo as payment.

The campers were just chatting as Will was tuning his guitar, Nico, next to the son of Apollo, was watching him carefully and admiring his boyfriend.

“Ugh, I miss Shel.” Piper rolled her eyes at Nico ogling Will.
“At least you have a partner to miss.” Leo mumbled.
Piper looked at Leo.
“Hey… uh…you’ll find someone soon, Leo-” Piper tried to comfort the male.

Leo took the roasted marshmallow from Piper and stuffed it into his mouth.
“You don’t have to try and comfort me, Pipes.” Leo spoke as he chewed the warm marshmallow.
Piper’s face scrunched up in disgust. “Euughh! Dude, gross! Don’t speak while you’re eating something!”
Leo swallowed the marshmallow and he stuck his tongue out at Piper, grinning at her. Piper laughed and she playfully shoved Leo in the shoulder.

A loud strum from the guitar quietened the camper’s discussions and Leo made the flame from his finger disappear as everyone looked at Will. Will smiled.

“Right! Who’s ready to sing some songs?”

Some campers groaned while others cheered. Leo didn’t mind this, he was mostly excited for this since he could sing as horribly as he wanted to try and embarrass Piper for being friends with him.

As Will played the first song, the campers all began to sing along with Will and the other children of Apollo. Leo leaned against Piper, nudging her and singing in the most annoying, high-pitched voice ever. Piper just smiled at Leo and shoved him back. She was actually singing normally, but she did find Leo’s display quite amusing.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying their time. They sang a few more songs and just finished their third one now. Will cleared his throat.

“Alright, one more and then you’re all free from this hell!” Will grinned at everyone.
People cheered louder at Will’s announcement of the campfire sing-along ending soon. Will slightly frowned and Nico snickered at his boyfriend’s reaction.

“Okay, what song should we end this off with-?” Will began to ask.
Will looked over as Rachel seemed to stand up suddenly. All the campers looked at Rachel. Leo raised an eyebrow at Rachel and Piper blinked, also a bit concerned about her. Will instantly stood up and he went over to Rachel, Nico joining him.

Green smoke began to pour out of Rachel’s mouth and everyone let out a quiet gasp.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me.” Leo grumbled.
“Hey, it’s unlikely that we’re gonna-” Piper began to whisper to Leo.
Piper instantly shut up as Rachel began to speak. Everyone stayed silent, Will held onto her shoulders, ready for her to be unstable for when she got out of the prophetic daze. Nico stood nearby, ready to help however he could too.

“For fire has risen, storm will rise again.”

Leo instantly tensed up. It reminded him of a very familiar line that haunted him for months; ‘To storm or fire, the world must fall.’

“Blood of forge must unite with Love and Death.”

Piper blinked and her hand found Leo’s, intertwining their fingers and squeezing his hand tightly. Leo swallowed. This prophecy was not about him.

“Through darkness they must head.”

Nico bit his inner cheek. Was this his father’s doing, or someone else’s?

“To find the paradise where Heroes lay.”

Leo hung his head low, bringing his free hand to his face and pinching the bridge of his nose. This wasn’t a quest for him.

“Storm and fire reunite.”

Leo’s breath hitched.

“Storm shall rise and fall another night.”

The smoke had stopped flowing out of Rachel’s mouth and disappeared in the night’s air. Rachel blinked and she stumbled, nearly falling into Will’s arms. Will held her up and Nico placed a hand on her back.

Everyone began whispering. Leo stayed silent, feeling his ears ringing, his chest heaving and he began to breathe heavily.
“Leo? Hey, Leo.” Piper tried to catch Leo’s attention, but Piper’s voice wasn’t getting through to him.

“Leo Valdez!”
Everyone’s heads snapped towards Leo’s direction. Leo snapped out of his daze and he looked over to see Chiron making his way over.
“It appears the Gods have sent you a quest.”

Leo was about to speak, but nothing came out. Another second passed and Leo seemed to have fainted. Piper quickly held him up and her own breathing was shaky.

Leo had to go on a quest.

And it had something to do with Jason.

Chapter Text

Leo groaned as he regained consciousness. He sat up and felt a hand rubbing his shoulder.
“Easy does it.” Will said, standing nearby, crossing his arms as he looked down at Leo.
Leo rubbed his eyes and he looked over at Piper, who was sitting next to him and rubbing his shoulder.

“You okay?” Piper asked softly.
Leo recalled what happened before he passed out and he frowned.
“Not really.” Leo mumbled, running his fingers through his messy curly locks. “What do you MEAN I have to go on a quest?!”

“We don’t know for sure-” Piper attempted to comfort Leo.
“Nope, Chiron confirmed it.” Nico said. Leo looked over, seeing Nico in the corner of the room. “And… Piper and I are going to accompany you on this quest.”

‘Blood of forge must unite with Love and Death.’

Leo was the blood of the forge God, Piper was the blood of the Goddess of Love, and… Nico was the blood of the God of the Dead and not Death itself, but…Leo doubted the Fates cared too much about that minor detail.

“Did…did anyone write down what Rachel said?” Leo asked, rubbing his temples.
“I managed to do that.” Nico said as he walked over, handing Leo a piece of paper with the entire prophecy Rachel spewed out.

‘For fire has risen, storm will rise again

Blood of forge must unite with Love and Death

Through darkness they must head

To find the paradise where Heroes lay

Storm and fire reunite

Storm shall rise and fall another night’

Leo looked at each word very carefully.

“The third and fourth line, we’ll need to head to the Underworld, to Elysium. Though, I’m not sure if my dad will allow living demi-gods into heroes paradise.” Nico mumbled, rubbing his neck.

Piper looked at the paper, scanning the lines too. She tapped the last two lines.
“Does…does that mean you’ll have to find Jason yourself?” Piper asked.
It just hit Leo. He would see Jason again.

He would see Jason again.

“It does say ‘storm and fire reunite’.” Nico nodded, finding Piper’s words reasonable.
“But why do I have to face it alone?” Leo frowned at Nico and Piper.
Nico and Piper glanced at each other. Will seemed to be deep in thought about the prophecy too.

“Leo, you did technically die, didn’t you?” Will piped up.
Leo blinked and Nico snapped his fingers.
“Ah! Yes! I felt Leo die.” Nico said. “If he stayed dead, he would’ve been considered as a Hero and would’ve gotten into Elysium! Since you died for a moment, you can enter Elysium!”
Leo felt a little overwhelmed by this.

“I have to face Jason alone?!” Leo wailed.
“You say that as if he’s the last level boss in a video-game.” Piper raised an eyebrow. “He’s your best friend, Leo.”
Leo felt his cheeks warm up.
“R-right, but…I haven’t seen him ever since…I…exploded.” Leo said.

Piper was about to say something, but they heard the clopping of hooves reaching the room where Leo was resting in the infirmary.
“Ah, Leo. You’re awake.” Chiron smiled at the boy in the bed. “Shall we discuss your prophecy and who your companions shall be?”
Leo forced a smile.
“...Yeah. Sure, let’s discuss my super awesome prophecy.”

Chapter Text

Leo made sure he had everything packed in his bags before he headed out to Camp Half-Blood Hill, where Piper and Nico would be waiting. Leo assumed Chiron would be there too, just to send them off, and that Will would be there, berating his boyfriend to take care of himself, a thing Nico didn't seem to do often.

Leo was walking out of Bunker 9, and Festus seemed to rise from his resting spot when Leo exited Bunker 9. Festus trailed behind Leo as Leo headed to the entrance of the camp. Festus creaked in confusion when he saw Leo's bags. Leo swallowed. He wasn't even sure if Festus would be able to join him. He'd have to ask Chiron about this, then break the news to Festus if he won't be allowed to join.

Leo saw Piper talking to Chiron by the entrance, and Will was making a fuss over Nico. Nico had a big bag of things while Piper also had quite a bulky bag, but Nico's bag seemed more full out of everyone's there.

Leo went over and he told Festus to stay a few steps back before he went over to Chiron. As he approached Chiron and Piper, he heard a snippet of Will and Nico's conversation.
"Neeks, you have to take care of yourself, I won't be there to-"
"To nag me?"
"...To ensure you are staying healthy."
"Potato, potahto."
"Nico-"

Leo looked at Chiron and Piper, seeing how they seemed to have noticed him there.
"Uh... So, quick question. Am I able to take Festus with me...or does he have to stay behind?" Leo asked, looking primarily at Chiron.
Chiron seemed to think about it.
"Well, I don't think so." Chiron answered.
Leo seemed to frown and Piper noticed this.

"Don't you have that whistle that you can blow on that'll summon Festus?" Piper reminded Leo.
Leo blinked. "Oh! Right!" But Leo still frowned. "Awh, he'll be heartbroken..."

Chiron patted Leo on the shoulder.
"The camp will take care of Festus, do not worry, Leo." Chiron said.
"I only will allow the children of Hephaestus, plus Will, to take care of him!" Leo exclaimed, holding an index finger up to Chiron to make his point and to seem all stern.
Chiron nodded. "Of course."

Leo then turned and saw Festus staring at him. Leo went over to his metal dragon and caressed Festus' face.
"Hey boy, unfortunately ya can't come along with us. BUT! I am counting on you to behave and that when I blow that whistle, you will come as fast as you can to us. Okay?" Leo said softly to his companion.
Festus creaked sadly and Leo frowned.
"Don't worry, Will will take care of ya, as well as my half-siblings. I'll be back as soon as I can. I promise."

"So, are we good to go?"
Leo sighed as he turned over and saw Nico looking over at him expectantly.
"I'm having a moment here!" Leo exclaimed.
"And I'm ending it." Nico smiled at Leo.
"Unfair, you had a moment with your boyfriend!!" Leo stuck his tongue out.
"Yeah, well-!" Nico began.

Will wrapped his arms around Nico's waist from behind and kissed his cheek.
"C'mon, Neeks... don't be like that." Will said softly, nuzzling his nose against Nico's cheek.
Nico's cheeks turned red and he grumbled under his breath, biting his tongue to stop himself from being rude to Leo. Nico glanced away from Leo.
"...Sorry, take all the time you need." Nico mumbled towards Leo, leaning into Will's affections.

Leo blinked as Nico seemed to be all nice. Wow, it really seemed like the Lord of Darkness had a heart and was actually capable of being nice!!

"Will, why couldn't you have been the third person to join me on my quest-?"
"Wha- hey!" Piper glared at Leo.
"Pipes, I love ya! I really do!! But, look at how nice Nico is to me when Will is cuddling him!!" Leo pointed at the two boys with his hand.

"Would you really want to be a third-wheel if Will was able to join us on the quest?" Nico raised an eyebrow at Leo.
Leo's nose scrunched up at the thought of constantly being surrounded by Nico and Will canoodling.
"Yeah...nooo... I've already been a seventh-wheel once before and that was even more hell since there were three couples rather than just one." Leo said.

"Well, it's good that Will isn't joining you for your quest then! Now, you three really must get a move on! Quick, quick, last goodbyes!" Chiron clapped his hands.

Will kissed Nico on the cheek one last time before he slipped his arms away from Nico's waist and backed away. Nico turned and placed a gentle kiss on Will's cheek.
"I'll stay safe, and I'll be thinking of you whenever I have time to relax." Nico whispered softly.
"Mmh... I'll be thinking of you constantly and praying to my father to keep you safe and well." Will whispered back.

"Looks like Will doesn't care about our safety." Piper raised an eyebrow at the blonde male.
Will rolled his eyes and smiled as he faced Piper and Leo.
"I will also ask him to look over you two too, don't worry." Will reassured them.
Leo smiled. "Thanks, Will."
"Of course." Will nodded.

Leo stroked Festus' face again and he looked at Will.
"Make sure to feed him motor oil and Tabasco sauce." Leo said, keeping his gaze on Will's as he continued to stroke Festus' golden face.
Will nodded again. "I will keep that in mind, Valdez."

Piper went over and patted Will on the shoulder.
"I don't really have anything to ask of you. Just, if we need to Iris message someone, I hope we can count on you." Piper said.
"Of course, yes, yes." Will nodded again. "I will do everything I can from camp to try and benefit you three. I swear."

Will stepped back, with Chiron, and towards Festus. Leo stepped away from Festus and went over to where Nico and Piper were. Festus attempted to follow Leo but Will placed his hand in front of Festus, causing Festus to stay.

Leo, Piper and Nico looked at each other.
"Ready for this quest?" Nico asked.
"Nope." Leo sighed out. "But... I'll be able to see Jason again, and I'm...also not ready for that!"
Piper snickered and she took a deep breath. "I'm definitely ready to face whatever trouble comes our way."

"Great, let's go." Nico instantly walked off.
Piper followed after Nico and gave Leo a comforting smile. Leo took a deep breath and he grabbed the piece of paper with the prophecy out, glancing over the words once more. His gaze lingered on the last line.

'Storm shall rise and fall another night'

Jason would come back to life. He shall 'rise'. But 'fall another night'? Did that mean Jason would live for long once he was brought back to life, or would he fall weeks later and return back to where he belongs?

There was only one way to find out.

Leo stuffed the paper into his pocket and he quickly caught up to Nico and Piper. Leo could do this. He could totally handle this!

Chapter Text

It had been a couple of days.

Leo, Nico and Piper were just wandering some sort of forest. Nico had decided to shadow travel them, in an attempt to get closer to the Underworld as two of the lines claimed:

'Through darkness they must head

To find the paradise where Heroes lay'

Through the darkness, it must've meant they had to go down the dark depths of the Underworld in order to get to Elysium. Unfortunately, Nico had shadow travelled them to a random forest! No idea where they were!

"I'm tired." Leo mumbled as he lagged behind Piper and Nico.
"We're all tired!!" Nico snapped, looking back at Leo to glare at him.
Nico stumbled a little, feeling faint. Piper instantly went over and wrapped her arms around Nico, letting Nico lean most of his body weight against her.
"Alright, we're taking a break." Piper stated sternly.

Leo wanted to lie and say he wasn't worried that Nico seemed to feel faint, but he was. Leo didn't want Nico to black out, not this early in their quest. Leo knew how much Jason meant to Nico, this quest was important for all of them.

Piper led Nico to one of the trees and set him down onto the ground, letting him lean back against the tree trunk. Piper knelt down in front of him and began to search one of Nico's bags, looking for a KitKat or something that Will packed as an 'emergency kit' for Nico's weariness after the use of his abilities.

Leo sat down next to Nico and Nico rested his head against Leo's shoulder. Leo decided to not tease Nico. Nico appreciated that Leo didn't crack a terrible joke while he was in this state.

Piper managed to find some sort of carton of juice and a KitKat. Piper handed Nico the chocolate, to which he opened and began to eat. Piper opened the juice carton and handed it to Nico too.

"... Do we have any snacks?" Leo asked.
"Uh, sandwiches?" Piper looked to Leo, wondering if that was good enough.
Leo nodded. Piper grabbed a wrapped sandwich and chucked it at Leo. Leo caught it and he unwrapped it. He looked into the bread and saw it was ham and cheese. He scrunched up his face. Plain, but it'd have to do. Leo began to eat it as Piper began to eat her own sandwich.

"So, where are we actually heading first?" Leo asked as he had a mouthful of his sandwich in his mouth.
Nico scrunched up his nose and sipped his juice. "Please have some manners, Leo..."
Piper sighed, ignoring the fact Leo spoke with his mouth full. "Well, we can't directly shadow travel to the Underworld. I doubt we could get the three sisters to drive us there either."

"We should find a place to sleep." Nico claimed. "We haven't slept in a proper bed in ages."
"Right... Because we'll find a hotel in the middle of this forest." Leo said, gesturing a hand to the endless rows of trees surrounding them.

"I can shadow travel-" Nico began.
"No!" Leo and Piper both exclaimed.
Nico huffed. "... You make one mistake..." Nico mumbled to himself.

"Maybe we could Iris Message someone?" Piper suggested.
"Eh... We should save our drachmas, shouldn't we?" Leo said, looking at Piper.
"For once, you make a good point." Piper sighed.

They spent a while, sitting there and trying to discuss what the next step of their plan was. Night fell pretty quickly. Nico was already asleep on Leo's shoulder. Leo and Piper were still awake. Leo had created a small fire to keep them warm.

Piper held her palms near the fire, warming herself up. Leo didn't really need the fire too much, he was like a human version of a heat-pack, which was probably why Nico seemed to be so peacefully asleep on his shoulder.

Piper looked at Leo.
"You should sleep too." Piper said softly. "I'll stay up, keep watch for any monsters."
Leo scrunched up his nose. "Pipes, I can't do that to you-"
"Sleep." Piper said, her tone more sternly now. "Or else I will charm-speak you into doing so."
"... Charming." Leo mumbled as he crossed his arms and he got comfortable with Nico resting against him.

Piper smiled and she saw how Leo looked at her with concern. "I'll be fine. Being sleep-deprived never killed anyone."
"Whatever you say, Pipes." Leo mumbled, shutting his eyes. "Night. Wake me up if you want to sleep..."
"Mmhm, get some rest, Valdez."
Leo fell asleep quickly.

So far, the quest wasn't going too well, but it could've been going worse. But Leo had faith that they would succeed. They had to succeed. Even if they were unsure where they were going with this quest right now.

Chapter Text

Storm and fire reunite.

Leo glanced around the area he was in. He blinked. He didn't recognise it. But...it looked beautiful...almost like paradise.

Leo walked through the blooming flowers, being careful to not step and crush any of the flowers. He took a deep breath and it smelled wonderful. Like a barbecue.

Leo glanced around, he didn't see anyone else around. Where was he? What was this place?

Leo blinked as he heard rustling nearby. He looked over and he stared right ahead at the person who stood a few steps away. Leo froze into place as he just stared.

"Jason?" Leo whispered.
Leo took in his appearance. He had his blonde hair, his muscular form, and he wore a golden wreath on his head. Jason also had glasses. Leo wanted to snort at the sight, but he was too surprised to see the male that he couldn't even crack a joke at how nerdy Jason looked.

Jason seemed to stare right back at Leo. Leo could finally move his limbs again, so he took a shaky step towards Jason. He stood in front of the taller male and he looked up at him.

"Jase...?"
Leo reached a hand up to gently touch Jason's cheek.

"You shouldn't be here."

"What?"  Leo furrowed his eyebrows at Jason. "What... What do you mean?" Leo asked, a frown appearing on his face.
"You're supposed to live on, Leo.  I  was the one who was supposed to die, ever since the start.  You  shouldn't be here." Jason spoke, his tone harsh.

Leo blinked. "Jason, we're coming to save you-" Leo began.
"Yes, because clearly I am suffering in what is known to be a 'Hero's Paradise'." Jason snapped at Leo.
Leo didn't know what to say. Jason began to turn and Leo huffed, reaching out and grabbing Jason's arm.

"Nico, Piper and I are bringing you home.  Why  don't you understand that?" Leo's tone became desperate, slightly whiny.
" This  is my home now, Leo."  Jason stated sternly, not facing Leo.
Leo swallowed and he felt his chest get heavier.
"Jason-" Leo began, attempting to knock some sense into him.

"Wake up."

Leo's eyes shot open and he looked up to see Piper slashing her dagger at some monsters, Nico helping by raising skeletons from the ground and using his sword.

"Get up and help us now, Valdez!" Nico scowled.
Somehow, after that horrible dream, Leo scrambled to his feet and tried to summon some flames from his palm.

Nothing.

Leo scowled at his hand and yelped when a monster came right at him. Leo managed to dodge the attack and tried to summon the flames again.

What in Hades was happening to him? Why couldn't he control his powers?

Chapter Text

"Any day now, Leo!" Piper shouted as she lunged forward towards a monster.
"I... I can't!" Leo shouted back, the panic clear in his voice.
"What do you mean 'you can't'?!" Nico scowled.
"Oh, sorry, English isn't your first language! It means... I CAN'T!" Leo scowled back at Nico.

"Use your toolbelt then!" Piper exclaimed.
Leo's hands reached for his toolbelt before he blinked and realised it was packed away in one of the bags.
"Can't do that either!" Leo yelped as he dodged a monster.
"Oh my Gods!" Nico shook his head.

Nico grabbed their bags, shoving them towards Piper and Leo who instinctively held the bags. Nico then grabbed Leo and Piper by their arms, pulling them closer.
"Nico, you're gonna faint if you-!" Piper began.
Nico didn't listen and he summoned all his strength to shadow travel them away, anywhere that was safer.

Leo and Piper shuddered as they appeared in the middle of a busy street. They thankfully seemed to still be somewhere in America.

Before Leo and Piper could take in their surroundings, Nico nearly fell forward. Piper quickly caught Nico in her arms and Leo would've helped out too, but Piper's reflexes were faster.

"And he fainted." Piper mumbled. "Alright, let's go... We should find a bench or something so that we don't have to drag Nico around."
Piper lifted Nico in her arms.

Leo whistled. "Damn girl, you are strong." Leo praised with a grin.
Piper couldn't help but smile at Leo. "My mother is also the Goddess of War. Of course I'm strong." Piper said as she began to walk off, Leo trailing next to her. "Also, Nico doesn't weigh much, he's sort of light."
"Ah..."

Leo glanced around the busy streets, trying to figure out where they were as Piper looked for a place to let Nico rest and regain consciousness.

That's when Leo recognised where they were. New York City.

Chapter Text

Piper and Leo found a park and laid Nico out on a bench. Piper was sitting by Nico, making sure he was okay and just waiting for him to wake up. Leo was digging through his bag for his toolbelt.

"And... found it!" Leo smiled triumphantly as he got out his trusty, magical toolbelt. He put it on around his waist, deciding that from now on he would keep it on his body at all times.

Piper looked at Leo as Leo slung his bag over his shoulder.
"... Why couldn't you use your powers?" Piper asked.
Leo tensed up at the question. Leo bit his inner cheek.

"... I had a dream." Leo said quietly.
Piper tilted her head slightly as she kept her gaze on Leo. "Mmhm?"
Leo rubbed the back of his neck.
"And... I was in Elysium, I think, and Jason was there... and... he was... rude." Leo said quietly. "He didn't want us to bring him back."

Leo looked down at his palm.
"And then... all of a sudden, couldn't summon any sort of flame." Leo mumbled. "I think... it sort of got to me. Because... what if Jason is happy there? What if... what if he'll feel like his sacrifice was useless if we bring him back?"

Piper frowned. "Leo..."
Leo looked at his hands and he tried to snap his fingers, to get a flame to appear, even if it were small. Piper didn't know what to say. She swallowed.

"... The prophecy says that 'Storm will rise again'." Piper said. "That means we succeed, doesn't it?"
"Yes, but do we take Jason out of there by force or out of his own will?" Leo questioned. Piper wanted to respond with the latter but...

A silence overcame them.

Leo's ears, all of a sudden, perked up when he heard a familiar voice.
"You're just the cutest, aren't ya, Estelle?" Percy cooed as he leaned in to look at his giggling and smiling baby sister.

Piper and Leo both looked over and they saw Percy. As Percy looked up, he met Piper and Leo's gazes. He blinked and smiled as he pushed the stroller towards the bench where they were hanging around.
"Hey." Percy said. "I didn't expect to see you guys here!"

Percy then spotted Nico laying unconscious on the bench. "Oh. What happened with Nico?"
Leo stared at the baby in the stroller as Piper sighed before she began to explain.
"Nico overused his abilities while we were fighting monsters when he shadow travelled us away from there." Piper said. "We're on a quest."

Percy visibly tensed up when he heard the word 'quest'. Piper smiled slightly.
"Yeah... We've gotten nowhere so far."

Leo then spoke up. "Dude, I didn't know you and Annie got a kid."
Percy blinked and his cheeks flushed.
"We didn't! This is my baby sister, Estelle. She's bonding with her big brother right now!" Percy scowled at Leo.
Leo hummed. Piper snickered.

"Well, it's good practice for-" Piper began.
"Shshsh!" Percy shushed Piper, his face as red as a tomato.
Before Piper or Leo could tease Percy any further, Nico seemed to stir on the bench, mumbling something to himself. Percy looked over at Nico.

"... Come on." Percy sighed. "My mom's apartment isn't too far from here. I'd rather Nico lay on a couch rather than a park bench."
Piper and Leo seemed surprised by Percy's offer.
"Really? We wouldn't be imposing?" Leo asked.
"Or putting you in danger of monsters?" Piper questioned.
"It's fine, c'mon." Percy said, waiting for them to carry Nico and to start following him.

Piper lifted Nico in her arms while Leo carried their bags. They followed the greatest Greek hero from Camp Half-Blood as he pushed his baby sister in the stroller on the path ahead.

*****

"Are you sure it's no bother, Sally?" Piper asked as she gently laid Nico on the couch and Leo set their bags down.
Sally smiled and waved her hand in dismissal before she went over to pick up Estelle from the stroller.
"No bother at all." Sally said. "Any of Percy's friends are welcomed here for a visit."

Percy rested a hand on the armrest of the couch and he leaned against it, glancing at Nico as he seemed to shuffle in his sleep.
"Yeah, and it's not as if our lives don't get bombarded with demi-god stuff every now and then." Percy said, smiling at Piper and Leo. "And my mom is too sweet of a person to not help anyone who needs it."

"Yeah, well, still. Thanks." Leo said, looking at Sally. "I mean, we have a ton of stuff to figure out, and we'll probably get even less time to just sit about-"
Leo was about to panic and ramble. Sally went over and she held Estelle up with one arm as she placed a hand on Leo's shoulder.

"Sweetheart, don't worry so much." Sally said softly, rubbing Leo's shoulder in a comforting, motherly way. "I do not understand the full extent of your quest, but I know that worrying about it will not help at all. Just take a deep breath, you three can stay here for tonight, okay?"

Leo felt warm on the inside when Sally was acting so kind, so motherly to him. He took a deep breath and smiled at Sally.
"... Thank you, Sally." Leo nodded.
Sally nodded and withdrew her hand, holding Estelle with both her arms now. "Of course."

"So, what is this quest anyway?" Percy asked as Sally stepped back and was bouncing Estelle a little on her arms, making Estelle giggle.
"Uh..." Leo went over to one of their bags and dug out a piece of paper. Leo then handed it to Percy and Percy took it in his hand, reading the words on the page.

'For fire has risen, storm will rise again

Blood of forge must unite with Love and Death

Through darkness they must head

To find the paradise where Heroes lay

Storm and fire reunite

Storm shall rise and fall another night'

Percy blinked.
"... Storm and fire... Meaning...you and Jason?" Percy questioned, looking at Leo.
Leo nodded. "... Uh, yeah, the quest is basically wanting us to bring Jason back from the Underworld."
Percy let out a low whistle.

"Woah... Like... For a limited time or...?" Percy looked at the last line, tapping his finger at it. Leo also glanced at the line he was tapping at.
"... No idea." Leo shrugged. "Guess we'll see, won't we?"

Percy hummed.
"... Right, I think I'll Iris Message Annabeth, she could come over and help you guys figure this out too." Percy said, handing Leo the piece of paper back. "I'll be back."
Leo slipped the paper away and he looked over to see Piper by Sally, cooing over how adorable Estelle was.

Leo sighed as he sat down on the armrest of the couch, looking down at Nico who looked sort of peaceful when he was unconscious.

"Well, I guess I should go make some sort of meal if Annabeth will also come over." Sally said, smiling as Piper gently took Estelle from her arms. "Is there anything in particular either of you want?"
Piper cradled Estelle gently and smiled at Sally. "I'm fine with whatever."
Sally looked at Leo. Leo shifted a little.
"Oh, uh... I'm fine with whatever too." Leo said. "Thanks, Sally."

*****

Annabeth came over to the apartment and when she arrived, dinner was served by Sally. Percy, Annabeth, Leo, Piper, and Nico (who was now awake) were in the living room while Sally and Paul were in the dining room, having their own dinner there with Estelle. They wanted to give Percy and the others space to figure out this quest that Leo, Piper and Nico were on.

Nico was happily eating the food Sally made, as was Percy. Piper and Annabeth were taking bites of their plates of food while talking about the prophecy and what Leo, Nico and Piper should do. Leo stared at his plate and he picked at the food with his fork.

"I mean, the prophecy seems simple enough." Annabeth said. "You three go to the Underworld, to Elysium, and Leo gets Jason and back they go to the Overworld."
"Yeah, but the thing we need to figure out is how to get to the Underworld. Nico can't shadow travel over there, it'll take too much of his energy and the last time he tried that, well... he took us somewhere random." Piper said.

Leo glanced down at his hands. He quietly snapped his fingers to try and get a flame to appear. A little spark happened but no flame burst. He frowned.

"Maybe you'll have to do what we did when we were twelve." Percy said. "Go to the DOA Recording Studio, go through that way. Get a ride with Charon."
"Oh Gods, no..." Nico groaned. "Every time I see Charon, he demands I try and get my dad to raise his pay."

"Do you have another way?" Percy asked.
Nico frowned. "... There was the Door of Orpheus, but... Will sung for it to get it open. And I doubt it'll work for any of us if we tried to sing, Will is a son of Apollo, his ability in singing is more powerful."
"So... DOA it is then." Percy said.

"You'll have to deal with Cerberus." Annabeth said.
"Cerberus loves me, it's fine." Nico said.
"I could always use my charm-speak ability too." Piper pointed out. Piper then added, "Or Leo could conjure up a dog ball for Cerberus to play with, using his belt."

The four demigods turned to look at Leo who was quiet and barely eating.

"... Hellloo? Anyone in there?" Percy said, gently tapping Leo on his temple with his finger.
Leo scrunched up his face as he leaned away from Percy touch.
"Dude, back off..." Leo mumbled.
Percy tilted his head.

Piper frowned slightly and reached out to rub Leo's shoulder, to comfort him. Leo got up and he forced a smile at the group.
"I just need some fresh air. I'll be back." Leo said before he walked over to where the balcony was.
The group watched as Leo slipped onto the balcony and he leaned against the railings.

"I'll go-" Piper began, about to get up.
"No, let me." Annabeth said, getting up and gently pushing Piper back down onto the couch.
Piper, Percy and Nico watched as Annabeth went over to the balcony.

"... Is Leo okay?" Percy looked at Piper and Nico.
"Just... some weird stuff is happening." Piper said. "... He's fine."
"Even if he isn't, he'll just pretend everything is okay, so there's no reason to worry." Nico tried to lighten the mood.
Piper and Percy looked at Nico, Nico saw the worry in their eyes.
"... Sheesh, can't a guy joke? This is Leo, he'll be fine..." Nico mumbled.

Annabeth stepped over next to Leo as Leo looked out at the horizon, watching as the sun was beginning to set, the sky was a mix of soft, warm colours. Leo barely paid attention to the loud noises of the cars below in the road. He didn't even glance at Annabeth when she stepped next to him.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth asked.
Leo stayed silent, glancing at his hands and fiddling with his fingers.
"... Things are already falling apart." Leo mumbled.
Annabeth let out a soft laugh. "It's only the start of the quest, Leo. And plus, have any of our quests ever not fallen apart?"
A small smile tugged at Leo's lips.
"... I guess you have a point." Leo said.

A small silence overcame them.

"So, what's up?" Annabeth gently nudged Leo in the arm with her elbow.
Leo sighed softly. He looked at his fingers.
"... This is technically my quest. I'm the one who's gonna see Jason in Elysium. I'm the one who's gonna have to convince him to come back with me. With us." Leo said. "... I had this dream as well. Uhm... Jason was there. And..." Leo trailed off.
Annabeth frowned slightly.

"... He didn't wanna come with you?" Annabeth asked.
Leo shook his head. "Claimed that he didn't need saving since he was in Heroes Paradise already." Leo mumbled.
"When I woke up... My abilities..." Leo tried to snap his fingers, to prove to Annabeth he wasn't lying. "... They're not working." Leo kept trying to summon a flame, even a small one.

Leo stopped and he looked at Annabeth. His eyes were filled with hopelessness and despair.
"Am I ever gonna be able to burst into flames again or did I just lose my abilities because of a dream?" Leo asked.
Annabeth looked at his hands before she met his gaze.
"... Your abilities stopped working after that dream with Jason?" Annabeth questioned.
Leo nodded. Annabeth hummed, tapping her chin.

"Perhaps your abilities will come back when you reconnect with Jason." Annabeth suggested. "The dream... Jason didn't want to come back with you. So, you're feeling a lot of doubt that this quest will be worth it all. Maybe your abilities just sort of... went dormant since you feel this way."
"Oh, so in a way, I'm like a volcano, got it." Leo mumbled. "Leo Valdez, predicted to burst into flames when he sees his dead friend again, but until then, his powers need to rest!"

Annabeth frowned slightly. "Leo..."
Leo sighed and he gave Annabeth a small smile. "Sorry."
"... Don't be sorry." Annabeth shook her head. "You're going through something. And... I mean, you're going to see Jason again. I can't imagine all the weird feelings you're experiencing right now."
Leo brought a hand up and ran his fingers through his curly locks. "Mmhm..."

"I mean, especially since he and Piper aren't a thing, you and Calypso broke up... I mean, any feelings you had for him before must be-"
"What?" Leo nearly snapped his neck from how quickly he turned his head to face Annabeth. "What are you on about?"

Annabeth blinked. "Oh... Well, you know. Everyone always knew you sort of had a thing for Jason-"
"A thing? For Jason? Me? Since, uh, when?" Leo questioned.
"Since, uh, forever?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow, mocking Leo.

Leo just stared at Annabeth.
"I'm not, nor was I ever, into Jason like that." Leo said.
"That's bullshit." Annabeth stated.
Leo scrunched up his nose. "It is not-"

"Guys?"
Leo and Annabeth looked over, seeing Percy poke his head out.
"C'mon, we should help you guys figure out where you should go next. Nico and Piper are already brainstorming." Percy said.
Percy then backed away, to let Annabeth and Leo finish up their conversation.

"... You know what?" Annabeth said, looking at Leo. "Stay in denial. That's fine. You'll realise the truth soon."
"What truth?" Leo scoffed.
Annabeth sighed and she stepped closer to Leo.

"Leo, you and Jason are clearly tied together in some way by the Fates, whether you see it or not, whether you feel it or not. I mean 'Storm or Fire', you and Jason both sacrificed yourselves, the storm fell and yet the fire has to help the storm rise again and the storm is likely to help the fire ignite." Annabeth said, glancing at Leo's hands.

Leo swallowed as he fiddled with his fingers. He subtly snapped his fingers to try and create a fire. Nothing.

"... Come on. It's gonna be a long evening, and I have a feeling that tonight will be the last night you'll sleep in a place where you don't have to worry about monsters." Annabeth said, turning away and going back inside the apartment.

Leo hesitated. He glanced back outside and he let out a soft sigh. Maybe he and Jason were connected in some way, but romantically? No... no, they were never... they never had chemistry like that.

Leo shook his head slightly as he turned to enter into the apartment and join the rest of the demigods to further discuss what the plan for this quest would be.

Chapter Text

“Man, Percy has the best mom ever.” Leo sighed out as he, Piper and Nico had just left the apartment building.
“Sally really is the best.” Nico agreed, nodding.

Leo, Piper and Nico had spent the night in the Jackson/Blofis apartment. Before they left, Sally made the three of them extra food in a separate small bag which Piper was just packing away in her bag.

“Right, so now our plan is to…wander aimlessly!” Leo exclaimed, clapping his hands together as the three of them began to walk through the streets.
“Not…aimlessly.” Piper said. “Just…until we feel where we’re going is right.”
“...Nothing ever feels right on these quests. Even when it does feel like we’re on the right track, everything suddenly goes wrong!” Leo retorted.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but…Valdez does have a point.” Nico said. “We need a clearer plan.”
Piper sighed. “We tried to think of something all evening yesterday! We have nothing, this is the best plan we have so far.”
“It’s stupid.” Leo mumbled.
“Think of something better then, Leo.” Piper slightly snapped at him.
Leo stayed silent and stuffed his hands into his pockets as he did try to think of a better plan.

They wandered around for a few moments longer before Nico stopped in front of a shop. Leo and Piper also stopped once they realised Nico wasn’t walking anymore. Leo looked at the sign shop.

‘Euterpe’s CDs & Records’

"... I think we should go in here." Nico said.
“Uh…why?” Leo asked, furrowing his eyebrows at why Nico wanted to enter a music shop.
“I just have a gut feeling.” Nico mumbled, going over to the door, pulling it open and entering the shop.
Piper quickly caught the door before it shut and followed behind Nico. Leo sighed as he followed behind Piper and Nico into the store.

Leo glanced around, seeing the record and CD section. He was tempted to look for some artists, but he decided to follow Piper and Nico before he lost them. Nico stopped by the metal/rock section of the CDs. Nico glanced around, not specifically at the CDs, but just the area. Leo rolled his eyes as he went over and picked up a CD from an artist.

“Nico, we don’t have time for your angsty gothic self to look for a CD to blast back in your cabin when the quest is over.” Leo said, looking at the song list on the back of the CD he was holding.
Nico’s cheeks flushed a little pink and he grumbled as he turned to glare at Leo.
“That’s not what I’m doing! I genuinely felt like there was something in here that would help!” Nico scowled at Leo.

“You sure about that? Why would you feel the urge to come into a music store and come over to this specific section? I think you just had the urge to rock out, dude.” Leo grinned as he held up a punk symbol with his hand towards Nico.
“Oh my Hades, you are so frustrating!” Nico groaned, burying his face in his palms from embarrassment.

“Guys.” Piper cut their bickering off.
Nico and Leo looked at Piper who was staring at what appeared to be a mortal guy, browsing some CDs nearby. Leo blinked as he recognised this man.
“Nah, it can’t be.” Leo said.
“...You mean I’m not staring at my boyfriend’s dad in the form of the mortal he was punished to look like a while ago?” Nico mumbled.

Piper was the first to go over to the person who was quietly mumbling about how terrible this section was that he couldn’t even find the artist he was looking for.
“Apollo?” Piper spoke out as Nico and Leo went over next to Piper.
The man, who looked to be a bit older than he previously looked when they last saw Apollo in the form of Lester Papadopoulos, looked over and he smiled.
“Ah! I was wondering if I’d see you three!” Apollo exclaimed.

“...Uh, whatcha doing in that form, buddy?” Leo asked.
“...You did not just call a God ‘buddy’.” Nico mumbled, shaking his head slightly.
Apollo didn’t seem to take offense to it.
“Well, I just wanted to wander the mortal world. And what better way to roam than in the form I had grown accustomed to previously?” Apollo said, gesturing a hand to his appearance.

Apollo then looked at the CD in Leo’s hand.
“Ah! I’ve been looking for that!” Apollo exclaimed, pointing at the CD in Leo’s hand. “May I?”
Leo blinked as he glanced down at the CD in his hand. “Oh.” Leo nearly forgot he was holding this. He held it up for Apollo to take.
“Thank you, Leo!” Apollo smiled as he took the CD.

“And, Nico! How is my son? Is he treating you well? Are you treating him well?” Apollo turned to face Nico.
“Oh, uh… Will’s fine.” Nico smiled. “Sometimes overworks himself, but he's fine. We’re treating each other well.” Nico nodded at Apollo.
Apollo nodded. “Good! I’m glad that your relationship with my son is still strong!”

“Sorry, Apollo, we couldn’t have possibly bumped into you by accident.” Piper said, capturing the God’s attention. “Do…do you know that we’re on a quest to get Jason back?”
Apollo’s smile faded slightly.
“Ah…yes, I’m aware of your quest.” Apollo said, looking at the floor, suddenly finding it interesting.
Leo tilted his head slightly as Apollo seemed to look ashamed.

Apollo cleared his throat. “I told myself I would not intervene unless we met by chance.” Apollo said, looking at the three demigods before him. “I could provide some help, but you would have to come along to ride in my chariot with me to get to where I can provide you help.”

“Uh, is that safe?” Leo asked.
“Since when is Leo Valdez worried about safety?” Piper teased, nudging Leo in the arm with her elbow.
Leo rolled his eyes. “Shut up.”

“Perfectly safe! Once I drove Percy Jackson, even little Nico, along with his satyr friend, Thalia and my sister’s hunters! Though…Thalia crashed it when I let her drive…” Apollo mumbled the last bit under his breath.
Nico shifted a little when Apollo called him ‘little’. He knew Apollo was referring to his younger self but Leo snorted quietly when Apollo called Nico ‘little’.

“Well, we have no idea what to do next, so…” Leo glanced at Piper and Nico. They both gave Leo a little nod. “So, we’ll take it! Lead the way!”
“Wonderful!” Apollo smiled.
Apollo instantly turned to leave the shop.

“Uh, Apollo, shouldn’t you pay for-?” Nico pointed at the CD in Apollo’s hand as they were about to walk out.
“Huh? Oh! Right!” Apollo smiled sheepishly as he quickly turned to go to the counter to pay.
Nico sighed softly and shook his head slightly.

Leo, Nico and Piper stood by the exit of the shop, watching as Apollo clumsily paid the cashier.
“...Are we sure we aren’t going to die?” Piper asked.
“Uh…let’s just hope that since his son’s boyfriend is with us, he’ll take extra care otherwise he’d have to tell Will he killed his boyfriend.” Leo said.
“You guys have no faith.” Nico rolled his eyes, but in reality his chest was heavy with anxiety too.

Chapter Text

"So, uh... Where are we heading?" Leo asked as he and Piper got comfortable in the back of the sun chariot.
Nico was sitting at the front since it seemed like Apollo wanted his son's boyfriend up next to him, Nico had a strange feeling Apollo may try to get him to drive the chariot at one point as a 'learning experience'.

"Oh! Well, I am busy today and won't have the time to tend to my cows!" Apollo exclaimed.
"...Your what now?" Piper blinked.
"My cows!" Apollo smiled, glancing back at Piper.

"Er, wasn't Helios the one who owned cows?" Nico questioned.
"Well...yes, but I also own my own cows." Apollo answered. "They're quite friendly. Too friendly. Hermes once stole them from me. He thought it was hilarious! I'm still holding a grudge towards him for that silly prank."
"Oh." Nico nodded.

"It's a shame my son isn't here with you! If he was, I'm sure his Texan roots would be useful in herding my cows! They'd probably even like him since they'd be able to tell he's of my blood!"

"Maybe they'll like Nico then, assuming Will and him have shoved each other's tongues down the other's throat." Leo mumbled.
Nico's cheeks flushed and he glanced at Leo, glaring at him.
"You are so gross." Nico scowled.
Leo grinned at Nico.

"Actually, they may like Nico!" Apollo exclaimed.
Nico totally forgot for a second that Leo made that comment in front of his boyfriend's dad.
"Oh, because of my theory-?" Leo began.
"Well...your theory is interesting, but it's not exactly like that!" Apollo smiled.
"Oh?" Leo was actually curious.

Nico wanted to curl up in a ball and die.
"Nico! You and my dear Will spend time together often, correct?" Apollo glanced over at Nico.
"...Yes..." Nico mumbled, not wanting to share any further information.
"And you are close, yes?" Apollo asked.

"This is making me really uncomfortable!" Nico exclaimed.
"Yeah...Apollo, do you really wanna hear about your son's love life from his boyfriend?" Piper slightly scrunched up her nose.
"Ah, forgive me!" Apollo exclaimed. Leo swore that Apollo was blushing faintly. "I forget myself sometimes."

An awkward silence overcame the chariot.

Apollo cleared his throat.
"Nico! You seemed to want to drive my chariot when you first rode on it!" Apollo smiled at Nico. "I think you are old enough now, switch places with me!"
Nico's eyes widened. "Oh, nono-"

"Hey, if you aren't gonna take him up on his offer, I'm more than happy to-" Leo began, leaning forward and resting his arms against the back of Nico's seat.
"That's not happening!" Nico scowled at Leo.
"Great! Switch with me then, quick, quick!" Apollo smiled.

So, after Apollo and Nico switched their seating arrangement, Nico was at the wheel, confused on how to work this out and anxious for his life. Nico really wished Will was nearby to help him relax a little. Nico tried to do some breathing exercises, that Will taught him, subtly.

Nico felt a warmth spread through his body and he looked over to see Apollo patting his shoulder.
"Relax, it's easy." Apollo said. "Look, keep your eyes forward, I'll guide you through it."
Nico seemed less tense now.

Piper and Leo watched from the back how Apollo was bonding with his future son-in-law.
"...Kinda wish I could be driving it." Leo frowned slightly.
"Uh, sorry Leo, but I think you'd crash us." Piper said.
"What? Pipes, I've rode a dragon, steered a flying ship! How is a chariot different from a flying ship?" Leo asked.

"Well, first of all, the ship was bigger than this chariot, doesn't that have a part to play in steering?" Piper raised an eyebrow.
"Well-" Leo attempted.
"And dragons are totally different. Festus listens to you when you're riding him." Piper pointed out.
"I-" Leo wanted to make a witty remark but his brain blanked. "...Shut up."
Piper grinned at Leo's defeat.

*****

So, Nico's driving skills weren't so bad! Then again, Apollo was helping Nico a lot. Apollo helped Nico land and park the chariot on the field where his herd of cows were nearby. Once they landed, Apollo got out of his chariot and smiled as he went over to his cows.

"Awh, and how are my girls?" Apollo asked as he used two of his hands to stroke his cows faces.
The cows mooed and made noises at Apollo to which Apollo listened intently too.
"Ah! I'm glad!" Apollo smiled at his cattle.

Leo, Piper and Nico quietly, and quite awkwardly, exited the chariot as Apollo was talking to his cows.
"...Man, he's so wild." Leo sighed.
Nico slapped Leo in his arm. "Hey, that's my boyfriend's dad, stop it."
"And he's also a God." Piper added. "Watch you get severely blinded by the sun."
Leo rolled his eyes at Nico and Piper's remarks.

Apollo turned and he faced the three demigods behind him.
"Well! It seems my girls have been taken care of by someone else!" Apollo exclaimed.
"Ah... so, we should just head back, right-?" Leo said, turning to get into the chariot.
Leo blinked as Apollo suddenly was back in the chariot, ready to head off.
"Ah! No! Your help for the next step of your quest is still here! Farewell, good luck, and Nico? Keep taking care of my son!" Apollo winked at Nico.
Nico felt his cheeks flush from embarrassment.
"Wait-?" Piper attempted to speak.

And like that, the Sun God (as well as the God of many other things) rode off in his chariot, abandoning the three demigods in this field with his sacred cows.

"...I physically cannot stand being here any longer." Leo said, turning to face his friends, pinching his nose from the terrible smell. "For some sacred animals, they still smell quite-"
"You dare to insult such distinguished creatures?"
Leo blinked at the sudden voice and he noticed how Nico and Piper tensed up when they saw the figure behind him. Leo slowly turned around and a sheepish grin grew on his face when he saw who it was.

Chapter Text

"...I physically cannot stand being here any longer." Leo said, turning to face his friends, pinching his nose from the terrible smell. "For some sacred animals, they still smell quite-"
"You dare to insult such distinguished creatures?"
Leo blinked at the sudden voice and he noticed how Nico and Piper tensed up when they saw the figure behind him. Leo slowly turned around and a sheepish grin grew on his face when he saw who it was.

"Ah...ahem, I was just-" Leo attempted to redeem himself.
"Going to comment on these poor creature's hygiene?" Hera raised an eyebrow at Leo.
Leo puckered his lips, sucking in his cheeks before he popped them, nodding and clicking his tongue. "I mean, we're surrounded by their...feces." Leo grimaced slightly, trying to not offend the Goddess further.
Nico and Piper both wanted to smack Leo to get him to stop talking.

Hera stayed silent, staring at Leo. That only made things worse.
"I-I don't mean to be disrespectful, but it's fact that they sorta stink-" Leo continued.
"Okay, please shut up before we die at the hands of a Goddess." Nico scowled as Piper slapped her hand over Leo's mouth.

Piper cleared her throat and stepped forward after taking her hand away from Leo's mouth, capturing Hera's attention.
"Are you going to help us?" Piper asked. "With our quest?"
Hera looked at Piper. "Well, seeing as Apollo said that you'd have help here and I am in his field with his sacred cattle, what do you think?"
Piper felt slightly annoyed by her snark.

"And...why would you help us?" Leo asked.
Hera looked at the three demigods before she looked away.
"Jason was my hero, my son." Hera said.
Leo furrowed his eyebrows and was about to open his mouth before he saw Nico shooting him a glare. Leo kept his mouth shut.

"Your son?" Nico questioned.
"Well, obviously not mine technically, but in a sense, he was mine. Zeus, or Jupiter, may have conceived the boy with that wretched mortal woman, but the boy was ultimately my own. Even Zeus didn't grieve over the poor hero." Hera explained.

"And...in a way, Leo, I feel the need to provide help for you too, seeing as I did try and train you as one of my hero's when you were a child." Hera faced Leo.
Leo blinked. He sometimes forgot that Hera was his babysitter as a child. Could you blame him though? The life of a demi-god is full of weird stuff like that, it's hard to remember every weird thing that happens and is always subconsciously locked somewhere in the back of your mind.

"And...what a great babysitter you were." Leo grinned nervously.
"Your flattery is obviously not genuine, Leo Valdez." Hera raised an eyebrow at Leo.
"...Right, yep, sorry." Leo mumbled, looking away sheepishly.

Piper spoke up. "And what sort of help will you provide us?"
"Do you three understand why Jason needs to be brought back?" Hera questioned.
Nico, Piper and Leo glanced at each other before shaking their heads.
"The prophecy only mentioned us bringing him back. Nothing else." Nico said.
"Well, Leo bringing Jason back, technically, we're just here for support." Piper added.

Hera sighed, shaking her head.
"Well, do any of you recall what he was working on before he died?" Hera asked.
"He was working on building new cabins for the minor Gods." Piper said.
"And he never had a chance to put these cabins into place." Hera added. "The boy has unfinished business, and the minor Gods were disappointed when they found out the hero who promised them their new cabins had died."

"So...bringing back Jason after he sacrificed himself for Apollo and Piper is all because the gods want...more for themselves?" Leo questioned.
Hera looked at Leo. "And here I thought you would be thrilled to bring your friend back to life and be able to reunite."
Leo's mind flashed back to his dream with Jason.

" You're  supposed to live on, Leo.  I  was the one who was supposed to die, ever since the start. You shouldn't be here."

"What if he doesn't want to come back?" Leo asked, avoiding digging deeper into Hera's comment.

Hera furrowed her eyebrows.
"Then you force him back. His fate has changed. As did yours." Hera scowled.
"Jason can be stubborn though." Leo said. "And would Hades really let go of an unwilling soul?"

Leo saw Hera's frustration grow from the look in her eyes.

"Leo Valdez, you are bringing back my hero, Jason Grace, whether you like it or not, whether he proves to be stubborn or not. He is coming back to finish his business, and you must convince him to do so. Otherwise, you shall face the wrath of many Gods, including me."

Leo couldn't argue with that. He may be foolish sometimes, but he wasn't foolish enough to provoke the Gods.

Piper and Nico glanced at each other as a silence overcame the four of them, some cows mooing in the background.

"That information is part of my help, another part of it is to give you a place to rest until you pick back up onto your quest." Hera said, looking at the three of them.

"... Don't tell me we're sleeping in this field overnight." Leo said, slightly pleading.

"I'm tempted to leave you here, but unfortunately you'll have no way out if I do." Hera stated. "Come now, you can't be late for checking in."

*****

So, Hera told the three of them to keep their eyes shut as she brought them to the place where they could rest. 

"Right, we're here." Hera said, indicating that Leo, Piper and Nico could now open their eyes and look.
The three demigods opened their eyes. Leo and Piper seemed amazed by the hotel they were standing before while Nico froze and tensed up.

"Is this some sort of sick joke?!" Nico snapped, turning to face Hera.
Hera maintained an innocent smile while Leo and Piper seemed surprised by Nico snapping.
"What do you mean? This place looks sick!" Leo exclaimed.
"Yeah, this place seems top-notch quality." Piper added.

Nico kept glaring at Hera.
"Oh, don't look at me like that." Hera said. "You know the rules of this place, Nico di Angelo."
Nico drew his sword and went to lunge at the Goddess before she disappeared into thin air and Nico sliced nothing.

Nico scowled as he sheathed his sword again.
"Uh... So what was that about?" Leo asked.
Nico huffed and he stood in front of Leo and Piper, turning around to face them.

"Welcome to the place that kept me so young since the 1940s, the Lotus Hotel."

Chapter Text

Nico led Piper and Leo into the hotel.
"Uh, what do you mean 'since the 1940s'?" Leo asked as he and Piper were trailing behind Nico to the reception desk.
"My dad put Bianca and I here to keep us safe because of that oath between the Big Three." Nico explained. "I was ten years old for decades in this place, time works differently here."

"Oh, so if I stay, I'll forever keep my good looks?" Leo smirked, flexing his arm a little.
Piper rolled her eyes, trying to stifle a laugh. Nico turned around and shot a glare at Leo.
"You don't get it. This place is dangerous. I grew up in a time period where technology wasn't as advanced as it is now, then I came back to a different century where things were so different." Nico scowled.

Leo glanced into the main lobby.
"Uh, there's some nifty advanced stuff in there though." Leo pointed out.
Nico hesitated.
"... Still," Nico mumbled, "things are still different out there than in here."
Nico turned around and continued to head to the front desk. Leo and Piper shared a glance before they continued following Nico.

As Nico made it to the front desk, the receptionist seemed to smile.
"Ah! A familiar face! You've been to the hotel before." She said.
Nico tensed up when she said that.
"Uh... yes. One shared room for 3 people please." Nico said.
"Name?" The receptionist questioned.
"Nico di Angelo." Nico replied.
The receptionist's smile grew.

"Wonderful! We hope you enjoy your stay! Would you like a piece of candy?" She gestured to a bowl of pink candies.
"Ooh~ don't mind if I do-" Leo began, reaching over.
Nico slapped Leo's hand away.

"Nope! All good, just the card key for the room please." Nico said.
The receptionist's lips twitched but she remained smiling. "Of course... Mr. di Angelo." She said, sliding the card key over.
Nico took the key and grabbed both Piper and Leo by their wrists, pulling them away.

"Uh, so why couldn't I have a bit of candy?" Leo asked. "Am I getting fat?"
"If anything, you need to eat more." Piper stated, glancing at Leo's skinny body. "Same to you, Nico. I mean you're still a growing boy, you could outgrow Leo."
Leo frowned at Piper's comment as Nico sighed, pulling them aside.

"Look, the only reason why I was stuck in the Lotus Hotel for so long is because of the food and beverages they offer here." Nico explained.
"Damn, the food is really that good?" Leo questioned, letting out a whistle.
"No! Well... yeah, it tasted good, last I remember, but it's bad. Really bad." Nico said.

"They lace the food and drinks with lotus. It messes with your head, makes you forget, you think you're happy, but in reality? You're wasting away, forever stuck the age you were when you entered."

Nico glanced between Piper and Leo.
"Whatever you do, don't eat anything, don't drink anything, anyone offers you. We'll forget the purpose of our quest and how we came here." Nico said sternly. "Do we understand?"

Piper nodded. "Yep, only eat food that isn't laced with lotus."
Nico then faced Leo.
"Yeesh, is this some sort of test? If so, the rules are easy! I'm totally gonna ace this-!" Leo began to joke. Leo then stopped as he looked at Nico's expression. He'd never seen Nico look so... afraid about something.

"... Don't take any free food or drinks. Got it." Leo nodded.
"Good." Nico said. "Let's try to survive our stay here then and hope nothing goes wrong."

Chapter Text

Nico, Piper and Leo were in the hotel room. Piper and Nico were trying to tire themselves by playing some card games while Leo laid back on the bed.

"This is boring." Leo stated.
"We can't risk getting drugged." Nico said.
"Leo, you sure you don't want to play with us?" Piper asked.
"Ugh, cards is such an old person game." Leo groaned. Leo then sat up and grinned at Nico. "No offense."
"Ha-ha, funny..." Nico mumbled, clearly unamused.

"Okay, but can I at least walk around? I promise I'll behave." Leo pouted, trying to guilt Nico and Piper with his puppy dog eyes.
"No." Both Nico and Piper said at the same time.

"Conspiring against me, I see how it is." Leo mumbled, still trying to guilt them.
"Suffer." Nico said plainly.
"Sorry babe, Nico's at least playing cards with me out of his own will." Piper said, shrugging.
Leo sighed as he flopped back on the bed.

He needed to get out of this room before he died of boredom.

*****

Some time had passed. Piper and Nico fell asleep. So, Leo did what he had to. He found a black pen, drew a moustache on Nico and Piper's faces and left the hotel room to check out the fun stuff in the casino.

Leo gaped at all the different machines in the casino. It was all so colourful, so loud because of the noises from the games and the joyous cheers of people as they played these games. This was Leo's scene and, boy, he loved it.

Leo hopped on some games, he spoke to other teens there, and yeah, he had to admit some of them seemed a little funky, but he didn't mind them, they were quite nice.

A worker of the hotel was walking around, carrying a platter of some sort if drunk that shimmered pink. The worker approached Leo and smiled.
"A beverage, young man?" The worker offered.
Leo hesitated. He looked at the worker then back at the drink. The way the drink looked made his mouth after.

In the back of his mind, he couldn't faintly hear Nico saying, "Whatever you do, don't eat anything, don't drink anything, anyone offers you."

But, Nico's voice was drowned by the sound of Leo's thoughts, wondering how the drink tasted, how it looked so delicious and how he practically didn't care of the effects if it was laced with lotus.

Leo reached over and took one of the glasses.
"Thanks man." Leo said, smiling at the worker.
The worker smiled back and walked away.

Leo looked at the drink in his hand. He had a gut feeling that he shouldn't drink it, but it looked so good...  Leo brought the drink to his mouth and took a large sip of it. Oh, Gods, it tasted absolutely heavenly.

Leo couldn't resist. He downed the whole glass and he managed to find the worker with the platter of drinks, taking another glass.

It's just two little glasses! What harm could this cause? Nico was probably overreacting earlier!

*****

"I swear to Hades, I am killing Valdez!!" Nico shouted, causing Piper to jump awake.
"Huh? Wha-?" Piper blinked groggily, sitting up.

Nico pointed to Leo's bed in the hotel room.
"He left!" Nico exclaimed.
Piper's eyes widened.
"What?!" She quickly got up from the bed.

"We gave to find him!" Piper exclaimed.
"Yeah, duh!" Nico huffed. "Grab your stuff, and Leo's bags. Once we find him, we're out of here."
Piper nodded and she went to grab her bag as well as Leo's while Nico grabbed his own.

Piper then blinked and looked at Nico again. She snickered and Nico furrowed his eyebrows.
"What?" Nico questioned.
"Uhm... I think puberty hit you." Piper smiled.

Nico blinked. He then saw the moustache on Piper's face.
"... Yeah, and you're hairy for a daughter of Aphrodite." Nico retorted.
Piper blinked.

"... I'm killing Valdez too!"

~~~~~

Leo was walking about, exploring the hotel, sipping on a pink beverage from a straw. His head felt foggy. He remembered coming here with someone, maybe a few people, but... he couldn't quite remember who or how many people.

Leo was about to turn away but from the corner of his eye, he noticed a beautiful woman sitting by herself at a table. Leo felt a strong urge to approach her, so that's what he did. He turned around and approached the table, sitting across from the pretty woman.

"Ah, Leo Valdez, I was wondering where you ran off to."

Chapter Text

"Huh?" Leo tilted his head at the woman's words.
She looked quite beautiful. Her hair was a caramel colour, her skin was quite fair and her hair was over her shoulder. Her eyes were dark and almond-shaped.

"Oh, you poor thing. You drank something from this place, didn't you?" The woman sighed softly.
"W-well, the drink was really good. And it was pink!" Leo exclaimed. "Come on, a pink drink! I couldn't resist!"
The woman smiled and laughed softly.

Her appearance changed, Leo assumed that before it may have been the lighting before, but now her hair shifted more blonde, her eyes seemed blue and she seemed to have some sort of mark by the corner of her lips.

"Oh, of course. Pink foods or drinks are quite appetising." The woman smiled, sighing softly. "But you should have listened to your friend."
Leo blinked. "My... friend?" He furrowed his eyebrows, trying to think of who this pretty lady was talking about.
"Nico di Angelo." The woman clarified.
Leo blinked, still looking clueless. The woman frowned slightly.

"Ah! Perhaps this will jog your memory, Leo Valdez!" The woman exclaimed. "You are a demigod, the son of Hephaestus, and are on a quest to find your true love!"
Leo looked more clueless than before.
"And I, Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, decided to help! This is my scene, and young love is especially sweet! Ah, I recall helping Percy Jackson with his crush on Annabeth Chase... How adorable!" Aphrodite sighed out swooningly.

"... Percy... Chase? What?" Leo's eyebrows furrowed.
"Ah, right, you're still woozy in the head." Aphrodite frowned. "Do you really not recall, Leo Valdez? You are on a quest with my daughter, Piper, and with the son of Hades, Nico. Your purpose is to go to the Underworld and find Jason Grace, the man who owns your heart."

Leo tried to think.
"Erm..."
Aphrodite furrowed an eyebrow, starting to get irritated now.
"Why can't you be more like Perseus Jackson? He remembered his love even after Hera wiped all of his memories!" Aphrodite complained.

Aphrodite sighed as she snapped her fingers and a worker came over with a plate of fries. The worker placed the plate down and Leo was about to reach for one of the fries but Aphrodite smacked his hand away.
"Ow!" Leo huffed, rubbing the back of his hand.
"Patience, child." Aphrodite scowled as she reached into her pocket and held a pouch of something up.

Leo watches curiously as Aphrodite dipped her hand into the small pouch before she sprinkled some of the powder on top of the plate of fries.
"... Not enough salt?" Leo questioned.
Aphrodite took a moment to respond. "... No."

Aphrodite then slid the plate towards Leo. "Have a bite."
Leo didn't question it. He took a handful of fries and stuffed it into his mouth. Aphrodite sighed at his lack of manners. Leo felt less woozy and he blinked. He ate more fries from the plate.

"Leo Valdez, you are on a quest to find the love of your life." Aphrodite stated. "To help him return back to the Overworld."
"Hah, the love of my life?" Leo rolled his eyes. "Jason isn't-"
Leo blinked and he froze for a moment.

"Oh, Gods, Jason!" Leo yelled as he stood up abruptly from his seat. "I need to find Nico and Piper-!"
"Relax, sit down. Eat more of those fries." Aphrodite said. "My daughter and Nico will find you shortly."
Leo hesitated but he sat back down.

"... Jason isn't the love of my life." Leo said.
Aphrodite raised an eyebrow.
"You do realise you are telling the Goddess of Love that?" Aphrodite questioned.
Leo smiled at Aphrodite. "He isn't! Jason and I are... best friends!" Leo exclaimed.
Aphrodite sighed.

"Boys are hopeless with love. Even the queer ones." Aphrodite sighed.
Leo scowled. "What? I am not hopeless-!"
"I mean, honestly, you are single! He's single! You both had moments together when you were alive! Storm and Fire! What a pair!" Aphrodite said in a slight swooningly tone.
Leo's cheeks kept heating up. He groaned quietly as he buried his face in his hands.

"Look, I really should go. If I stay any longer, it takes longer for me to find Jason and bring him back-"
"Oh! Piper! My dear!!"
Leo looked over and saw Piper and Nico wandering about frantically. Piper froze when she heard a familiar voice and looked over to see her mother there.

Piper slightly hated that her mother resembled Shel. Nico looked over once Piper tugged on his sleeve and dragged him over to where Leo and Aphrodite sat.
"Mother." Piper said.
"Leo." Nico glared at the male.
Leo smiled nervously as Nico and Piper stood by where he sat.
"All reunited at last!" Aphrodite smiled. "Well, except from Jason. But he'll be back soon."

"And what are you doing here, mom?" Piper asked.
"Oh, I was helping your friend realise he needs to find the love of his life!" Aphrodite smiled.
"The love of his life?" Piper furrowed her eyebrows.
"Jason!" Aphrodite exclaimed.
"Nobody!" Leo scowled.

Piper blinked. She glanced between Leo and her mother. Nico cleared his throat.

"Uh, Lady Aphrodite, is there any other help you can provide us with or can we leave?" Nico questioned.
Aphrodite smiled at Nico.
“Ah, I just had a feeling I had to help your friend here!” Aphrodite exclaimed. “And I’m glad, your friend could have gotten lost if I hadn’t shown up.”

Nico glanced at Leo.
“What did I say about eating anything from here-?” Nico began to scold.
“I actually drank something.” Leo grinned sheepishly.
“I also said to not drink anything here!!” Nico snapped.
“Hey, hey, hey, I was left unsupervised-!” Leo began.

“We fell asleep!” Piper exclaimed. “You could have gotten some rest too, but no! You left and drew on our faces-!”
“...Okay, but that was funny. You would’ve done the same thing-” Leo attempted to make his case.
“That’s not the point, Leo-!!” Piper snapped back.

“Alright, calm down!” Aphrodite shouted over the demigods. “Leo made a mistake, you two shouldn’t waste any more time bickering here, especially since you still need to find a way to the Underworld.”

Nico, Piper and Leo quietened down. Piper and Nico slightly glared at Leo as Leo looked at the ground, clearly ashamed of his actions.
“...My mother is right.” Piper said. “We need to go. No more dilly-dallying.”
“Right, well, we still need a way to get to DOA Records.” Nico said.

“Lady Aphrodite, is there any chance you can help us?” Nico faced Aphrodite.
Aphrodite hummed softly, thinking about it as she twirled a strand of her hair around her finger.
“Well, I’d do anything for love.” Aphrodite smiled, looking at Leo.
Leo didn’t even try to tell the Goddess that he wasn’t in love with Jason.
“So, you’ll help?” Piper questioned.
“Of course!” Aphrodite exclaimed.

Aphrodite snapped her fingers and suddenly a flower appeared on the table, in front of Leo.
“...A flower?” Leo questioned.
“The camellia flower.” Aphrodite clarified. “The camellia flower represents a spirit of depth, self-reflection and inner strength. They also symbolise love, loyalty and humility. And you, Leo Valdez, are to eat this flower.”

Leo didn’t question the weird request, weirder things have happened. Leo looked at the pink flower.
“...This won’t drug me like the lotus?” Leo questioned.
“I assure you, it won’t. The flower will help you find your way to Jason.” Aphrodite said.
Piper looked at the flower, Nico glanced between Leo and Aphrodite.
“Only Leo has to eat it?” Nico questioned.
“Leo is the one to find Jason.” Aphrodite smiled at Nico.

“So he is the one to eat it. And I hear his abilities are a bit…out of order.”
Leo huffed. “Oh, so the Olympians somehow know of my inability to create fire? Awesome…” Leo mumbled under his breath.
“The Gods somehow know every little detail, it’s not that surprising.” Piper added.

“Okay, well, how does Leo eating the flower help us find Jason, or find DOA Records?” Nico questioned.
“Can’t you just trust the Goddess of Love?” Aphrodite frowned slightly.
“Better to ask questions than blindly follow.” Nico retorted.

Aphrodite sighed.
“The flower is enchanted by me, of course, and once Leo eats it, he will feel a pull towards a specific direction. He has to follow his heart.” Aphrodite explained. “Is that good enough of an explanation for you, Nico di Angelo?”
Nico shrugged slightly. “I guess.”

“Follow my heart?” Leo blinked. “I’m better with my head.” Leo said, bringing his hand up and tapping his temple.
Piper snorted. “You chase your heart when a pretty girl is involved.”
Leo huffed. “Oh, so not true!”
“Oh, it so is true?” Piper said. “I mean, when the seven of us went on a quest, you were totally distracted by the pretty girls. I mean, you died for a split second for Calypso!”
“Hey, the quest stated either Jason or I had to die, I thought I found a loophole and would have been able to save Calypso too! She was trapped! She deserved her freedom!”

“Children.” Aphrodite scowled.
Piper and Leo shut up and looked back at Aphrodite. Aphrodite stood up, carefully picked up the flower and placed it into Leo’s palm.
“You may not have a time limit on this quest, but the minor Gods are getting impatient. Eat the flower and find your way to Jason. Follow your heart, Leo Valdez.”

“And… will Leo following his heart magically get us to get to LA faster? We’re like five hours away, if we could drive there. But we don’t have any sort of car or-” Nico began.
“I could probably charmspeak someone to drive us away.” Piper suggested.
Nico’s eyes then lit up.
“Or, we could get the Gray Sisters to drive us there!” Nico exclaimed.

“...The who?” Leo questioned.
“You shush and eat your flower.” Nico said, waving his hand in dismissal at Leo.
Leo grumbled to himself and he brought the camellia flower to his mouth as Nico and Piper quickly figured out the next step of their quest on finding Jason.

Leo looked down at the flower. He took a deep breath and he just took the entire flower into his mouth, eating it. It tasted…strange. But in a good way. Leo expected it to taste terrible, but it tasted quite sweet. He felt warm inside when he swallowed it.

Leo looked up and saw Aphrodite smiling at him.
“Well, it seems you’re all set.” Aphrodite said, glancing between the three demigods. “This is where I leave you. Good luck on your quest.”
Leo stared at Aphrodite and the realisation just settled in once she snapped her fingers and disappeared into thin air.

The Goddess of Love resembled Jason.

Chapter Text

The three demigods stood outside of the Lotus Hotel as Nico searched his bag for a drachma to be able to summon the Gray Sisters. Leo shifted on his feet, feeling a very strong pull towards a specific direction to which Leo assumed was towards DOA Records in order to get to the Underworld. Piper kept glancing at Leo.

"...When you saw my mother, how did she look?" Piper asked quietly.
"What?" Leo furrowed his eyebrows as he lifted his head to face Piper.
"My mother is supposed to resemble the love of your life. She resembled Shel when I saw her, and I'm sure she resembled Will when Nico saw her." Piper said.

"She did resemble Will! It was weird, to be honest. Didn't know he'd look like that if he was feminine." Nico mumbled to himself as he still searched his bag. Nico was clearly excited to call the Gray Sisters and ride with them.

"Well? Who did she resemble?" Piper asked again, looking at Leo.
Leo hesitated. "She first sort of looked like Calypso..." Leo mumbled.
"First?" Piper raised an eyebrow.
Leo cleared his throat.

"I don't know what you want me to say." Leo said.
"You know what I'm asking. Did my mother resemble Jason to you?" Piper slightly snapped.
Leo huffed.
"If you mean she looked blonde and had blue eyes, sure, yeah! But what if she resembled Will to me too?" Leo questioned.

"Excuse me?" Nico's head perked up.
"I don't like your boyfriend, di Angelo, relax!" Leo exclaimed, raising a hand, his palm facing towards Nico.
"But you like my ex-boyfriend-?" Piper began.

Before Leo could answer,  Nico grabbed a drachma out and he chucked it into the air, calling out, "Stêthi 'Ô hárma diabolês!"
It took seconds for the taxi to arrive in front of them. Nico grinned and he looked at Piper and Leo.
"Come on!" Nico exclaimed, instantly entering the back of the taxi. Leo shuffled in and Piper sighed as he followed after Leo.

...Yep, Leo made the mistake of being squished in the middle. Piper was giving him the cold shoulder slightly as Nico instantly began to talk to the bickering sisters.

"... I mean, look, I'm not saying you can't like Jason-" Piper began.
"I don't like Jason." Leo reiterated.
"It's just... It's weird." Piper said, looking at Leo. "I mean, Jason is my ex-boyfriend. And if you two ever got together... That would trip me out. I mean, cause I love you both, platonically now, but you know?"

Leo looked at Piper. He saw her point of view. If he liked Jason, Piper would obviously have to take time to get used to that idea, since Jason was her ex, even if they never truly loved each other romantically, they still dated.

"Then it's a good thing I don't like Jason romantically." Leo said. "I don't know why your mom looked like him, but I don't like him romantically! Maybe she looked like him to symbolise our bromantic love!"
Piper looked at Leo. She didn't looked convinced.
"Leo-"

The car came to a screeching halt.

"Thanks!" Nico exclaimed to the Gray Sisters, throwing them a spare drachma.
Nico left the taxi first. Leo glanced at Piper before he followed Nico out, grabbing their stuff. Piper sighed softly as she grabbed her own bag and slipped it over her shoulder.

Maybe she was overreacting. She did move on from Jason. And... Leo never had much luck in his love life. But... Piper couldn't help but feel a little strange about this.

As Leo, Nico and Piper got out of the taxi, they all blinked at where they were.
"Uh... I'm no expert to a place I've never been before, but shouldn't DOA Records be a...building?" Leo said.
Before Nico could turn to talk to the Gray Sisters, their taxi had already driven off.

"... Maybe the Gray Sisters knew something we didn't?" Nico said, staring at the ocean nearby where they stood.
"Or maybe you told them the wrong location." Leo said.
"Or maybe the Gray Sisters are too old to be driving and can't even get us to the right place." Piper mumbled.

Leo felt a strong tug towards the water though. He furrowed his eyebrows. Jason definitely wasn't under the water, and, as far as Leo was aware, there wasn't an entrance to the Underworld in an ocean...

So what was their purpose here?

Chapter Text

"... Are we supposed to like...have a water fight?" Leo asked as the three of them went over to the ocean, getting closer.
"Maybe." Nico said.
"Alright, so we should-" Leo began.

Leo then yelped as Nico shoved him into the ocean. Leo fell face flat into the sand and salty water. Leo coughed and he laid in defeat as Piper and Nico both snickered.

"I'm dead!!" Leo exclaimed dramatically, turning and laying on his back in the shallow water.
"Sure you are." Nico rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "Just get up and-"

Leo then yelped as it felt the water gripped around his legs and dragged him deeper into the ocean.
"Gah! Help!" Leo exclaimed, clawing at the wet sand to try and not get sucked in.
Nico and Piper blinked, quickly going over and grabbing Leo, pulling him out of the ocean. Leo scrambled onto his feet and looked at the ocean.

"... Do you guys think Poseidon wants to talk?" Leo asked.
"I don't think Poseidon particularly cares about us." Piper said.
"Yeah, the only relation we have with Poseidon is that we're friends with Percy and Percy is his son..." Nico said, looking at the ocean warily.

The water seemed to shift and reached out, grabbing Leo in again.
"Gah! Why am I being targeted-?!" Leo tried to grab Piper or Nico's arms.
Piper and Nico reached out to try and hold onto Leo but Leo was dragged into the ocean. Leo held his breath and shut his eyes tight.

Welp, some ocean god hated him.

Leo didn't feel dead or as if he was about to drown, so he reluctantly opened an eye. He saw a bubble around his head and he looked to see some goddess staring at him. Leo blinked.

"Where is my shrine?"
Leo felt super clueless.
"Uh... Who are you?" Leo smiled innocently.
The goddess furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms.
"The Goddess your fellow demigod promised a Roman and Greek shrine, a custom banner, a cabin and an action figure of." She said as if Leo would have any clue. She noticed his clueless face and a scowl appeared on hers.

"Kymopoleia."
"Ohhh!" Leo pretended to snap his fingers, grinning as though he knew who Kymopoleia was.
The goddess scrunched up her face.

"Jason Grace promised me a shrine and cabin." Kymopoleia said.
Leo smiled nervously. "He was working on it before he died."
"And did he get far?"

"Er... He made blueprints?"
The goddess didn't look satisfied.
"Where are these blueprints?"
"Uhm..."

Leo had no clue.

The goddess glared at Leo.
"I will provide you a side quest, you weird elf-ish demigod." She stated plainly.
"... Great." Leo said, nodding.

"You are to find those blueprints and keep them safe for when Jason Grace comes back to life and let him continue his work as though he never died." Kymopoleia said. "And if you fail, the next time you are near water,  I will ensure a violent storm will sweep you back into the water to me so that I may kill you myself."

And like that, without Leo even agreeing to it, the water seemed to drag him back out and onto the shore. Leo coughed and held the sandy ground as Nico and Piper rushed over.

"Leo!" Piper quickly checked if he was okay. "Oh my Gods, what happened?"
Leo patted his chest and let out one more cough.
"Ugh, uh... Looks like we need to do one more thing before we get to the Underworld." Leo said, looking at Piper and Nico.
Piper and Nico looked at Leo confused.

"... Any idea where Jason kept those blueprints about making cabins and shrines for the lesser known Gods?" Leo smiled nervously at Piper and Nico.
Nico furrowed his eyebrows and Piper sighed.

"Last time I saw him working on them was at his boarding school in his dorm room." Piper said. "But I doubt any of his stuff is still there, considering how long it's been too since his death."
Leo grimaced slightly. "Great..."

Nico thought about it.
"... Maybe it's at the Junkyard of the Gods?" Nico suggested, looking at Leo. "I know it's more for broken or defective devices, but...maybe your dad kept whatever Jason was working on and chucked it there since that domain is sort of his?"

Leo looked at Nico.
"I... I don't know if my dad even cares that much." Leo said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"... Isn't it worth a shot?" Nico questioned.
Leo looked at Piper. Piper shrugged.
"We could go there and maybe if you call on your dad,  he'll come?" Piper suggested.
Leo sighed softly.

"... Guess it's time to try and contact with father dearest."

*****

So, they made it to the Junkyard of the Gods. Leo's eyes widened as he looked around and all of the devices that were just abandoned.

"This is my paradise." Leo whispered, his mind already rattling with ideas of how to fix some of these objects.
"Well, we're supposed to go to the paradise where Jason is." Nico said, pinching Leo's cheek gently to catch his attention.
"Ow! Hey!" Leo groaned, rubbing his cheek and glaring at Nico.

"Boys, focus." Piper said. "Why don't we have a look around to see if we can find Jason's ideas and designs for the temples?"
Piper already started to walk around and look through all the junk. Nico sighed and he also went ahead to do that.

Leo looked around too. He then spotted something. An interesting looking device. He picked it up and tilted his head at it. What was wrong with this device...?

Leo reached for his tool belt, ready to fix whatever was broken about this device. It looked like a music box of some sort, but Leo had to fix it to find out what it was.

Nico glanced over to see Leo was fiddling with some sort of device.
"Valdez, we don't have time for this-"
"Just give me a minute!"
Nico sighed and shook his head, muttering something to himself.

Leo fixed the device and he smiled, watching in fascination as the device began to glow and pop open, a light shining brightly as a lullaby began to play. Leo's eyes widened slightly as he recognised this lullaby. It was the one that Hera (Tia Callida) sang to him in Greek. The light began to dim as the lullaby slowly became quieter and came to an end. The box snapped shut again.

"... What was that?"
Leo flinched, not realising that Piper and Nico came right behind him to see what he fixed. Leo looked at the shut box and he shrugged.
"Dunno."

"It was supposed to be a gift."
The three of them froze for a moment. Leo turned around and saw it was his father. Piper and Nico stepped away to let Leo step closer to Hephaestus. Hephaestus took the box from Leo.
"It's useless now."

Leo watched as his father carefully held the box and looked down at it.
"... Uhm..." Leo cleared his throat softly. "So, dad, any chance you could do me a favour?"
Hephaestus looked at Leo.
"You want Jason Grace's designs." Hephaestus smiled slightly.
Leo nodded. "Do you know where they are...or have them?"

Hephaestus swished his hand and suddenly a bag appeared in Leo's hands. He opened the bag and peeked inside. Sketchbooks, blueprints...

Leo smiled and carefully slipped the bag over his shoulder once he zipped it shut again. He looked up at his dad.
"Thanks." Leo nodded.
"You should get going." Hephaestus said. "The Gods grow restless, and that friend of yours still needs to complete creating these temples for the lesser known Gods."
Leo nodded again. Hephaestus seemed a little hesitant but he gave Leo another small smile before he disappeared from where he stood.

Leo grinned as he turned to face Piper and Nico. "Well, I think I know what sort of transportation we should take now to get to the Underworld as quickly as possible."
Nico had his arms crossed as Piper rested a hand on her hip, both of them looking at Leo curiously. Leo pulled out a whistle from his tool belt.

Of course Festus would be the quickest way for them to get to where they need to go. And the poor dragon probably missed Leo and has a lot of pent up energy to spend flying, assuming he'd been laying around back at Camp Half-Blood all day.

'Through darkness they must head

To find the paradise where Heroes lay'

Chapter Text

Nico and Piper waited in the lobby as Leo was feeding Festus extra hot sauce for being a good dragon and getting them to DOA Records.

Nico crossed his arms as he saw Leo come in.
"All set?" Nico asked.
"Yeah! He's just resting outside." Leo shrugged.
"Right, so...what do we do now?" Piper asked, looking around.

Nico held his hand towards where the elevator was. "We're going down."
"...An elevator?" Leo questioned.
"Yes. Charon will be there." Nico nodded.
"... Isn't he on a boat?" Leo furrowed his eyebrows.
"Have you forgotten that the mist covers up things to not appear as they seem?" Nico raised his eyebrows at Leo.

Leo didn't have a response as Nico went over and pressed the down button. The elevator came up and the doors opened. The cloaked figure appeared and looked at the three demigods.

"Hey Charon." Nico smiled.
Charon looked at Nico.
"Ah, Nico! Have you spoken to your father yet about raising my pay?" Charon questioned.
Nico grimaced slightly. "Haven't had the chance, dad and I haven't seen each other in a while."
Charon seemed to frown.

"Uh, so can we go down?" Nico asked. "I have some drachmas."
Nico grabbed the bag of golden coins and held it up. Charon's eyes seemed to sparkle when he saw the coins.
"Ah...uhm... For the Son of Hades, you may get on and give me...two drachmas!" Charon exclaimed.

Leo grinned. "Sweet, we get a discount."
Nico rolled his eyes at Leo's statement and he handed Charon the two golden drachmas before Charon stepped aside to let the three demigods in.

As the elevator went down, in the blink of an eye, they were on the boat sailing across the River Styx.

Leo blinked at the sudden change. Nico seemed comfortable in the boat and Piper seemed nervous, fiddling with a bracelet around her wrist.

The journey went smoothly. Once they made it across, Nico hopped off and smiled at Charon.
"I'll try to convince my dad to pay you more!" Nico exclaimed as Piper got out and lent Leo a hand, pulling him out of the boat. Charon gave Nico a simple nod before sailing off again.
Leo shivered slightly as he looked around the Underworld. Gods, he wished that this place looked or smelled better than it did.

"So... Now where?" Piper asked.
Nico shut his eyes for a moment, taking in the smell of his second home.
"Now, we go see Cerberus and enter the proper Underworld." Nico said.
"Sorry, is the smell going to get worse?" Leo frowned.
Nico felt annoyed by Leo's comment but ignored it, walking on. Piper glanced at Leo before she followed alongside Nico.

Leo sighed and he followed behind the two. He tugged at his bag strap and felt that tug in his heart, it was hinting for him to keep walking. He swore he could hear his heart beat gradually getting louder with every step he took. Which must've been a good sign. He was probably getting closer to Elysium Fields, to Jason.

Chapter Text

Nico led them closer to where Cerberus was guarding the entrance to the actual Underworld. Leo tensed up slightly when he heard some whining and barking getting louder as they reached closer to the entrance.

"Er... Are we sure we aren't going to get mauled alive?" Leo asked.
"Cerberus knows me." Nico shrugged. "Cerberus would never hurt me."
"And what about us?" Piper asked.
Nico seemed to pause for a moment.
"... You two will probably be fine with me." Nico said, but he didn't sound so convinced himself.

And soon, they made it right before the large three-headed dog who guarded the entrance. The dog seemed to wag its tail when it saw Nico but barked and growled at Leo and Piper, clearly disliking these two random mortals.

Nico slowly approached Cerberus.
"Hey, it's okay, look, it's me." Nico smiled at the large dog, holding a hand to Cerberus. "Leo and Piper won't hurt you..."
One of the heads nuzzled into Nico's small palm while the other two growled or whined at Leo and Piper. The one growling was looking at Leo while the whining one looked at Piper.
"Of course I get growled at..." Leo mumbled under his breath.

Nico glanced back at Leo and Piper.
"Guys, just hold your hand out." Nico said.
Piper did what Nico said first, stepping closer to the head whining at her. She held her hand out and smiled at the dog.
"Who's a good boy?" Piper cooed softly.
The head leaned in and sniffed her hand. The big dog head then licked her palm happily. Piper couldn't help but giggle softly.

Nico and Piper kept stroking the two heads of the three-headed dog, glancing at Leo. Leo swallowed as he stepped closer. The only reason they were not getting mauled by this dog is because Cerberus knows Nico and trusts him.

Leo held his hand out and he felt nervous. As the dog's head came closer, sniffing and looking at Leo. Leo swallowed and he felt a sudden warmth in his palm. The dog head barked loudly and freaked out, backing away and a spark came from Leo's palm. Leo blinked and quickly withdrew his hand.

Were his powers returning?

"What in Hades are you doing?" Nico scowled slightly at Leo.
"I-I don't know. Something sparked!" Leo exclaimed, looking down at his palm. "Er..."
Leo's hands fumbled and he reached into his tool belt. A treat could fix this, right? Leo's brain felt like it was going wild. If his hands sparked a little there, did that mean that he was actually getting closer to Jason?

Leo brought out something from his tool belt and he brought it up to the dog head. The dog head tilted it's head, clearly confused. Leo looked at what was in his palm.
"... Ah crud." Leo mumbled, noticing it was a tin of breath mints.

"You did not just tell Cerberus that his breath stinks by providing one of his heads with a tin of breath mints." Piper said, looking at Leo, clearly disappointed.
"Oh, Valdez..." Nico tsked at Leo, shaking his head slightly.
"I got distracted!" Leo huffed, putting the breath mints out.

Leo reached back in and he brought out a large bone for Cerberus.
"Here." Leo brought it to the dog head that stared at him blankly. "Can you be a good boy and let us pass now?"
The dog snatched the bone from Leo's hand eagerly. The other dog heads went to try and bite it too.

Nico sighed and ruffled Cerberus behind one of his ears.
"Alright, the bone seems to have won your favour, Valdez. Good thinking." Nico said before walking past Cerberus and to the entrance of the underworld.
"Gonna forever tease you about giving Cerberus breath mints." Piper grinned at Leo before she followed behind Nico.

Leo sighed softly and he followed behind Nico and Piper through the entrance into the underworld.

His heart was racing and the pull inside the Underworld just got stronger. Leo grasped at his shirt, his hand over where his heart rested.

They were so close.

'To find the paradise where Heroes lay'

Chapter Text

'Through darkness they must head

To find the paradise where Heroes lay'

The walk to find Elysium was quite quiet. The three of them were simply nervous, Leo especially. He felt like his heart was about to burst from his chest.

Piper kept thinking about what her mother said earlier, how Jason was the love of Leo's life. She still felt a little strange about it, but she felt like she was starting to accept it more, if Leo decided to stop being in denial about his own feelings.

Nico just felt nervous about the chance of seeing his friend again, Jason was the first to know that Nico was gay and he was accepting of Nico. Nico managed to become quite close with Jason, but they could have been closer if he hadn't died. 

And now...the three of them were going to see the beloved son of Jupiter.

Well, Leo would face Jason before the other two since it seemed he was the only one out of the three of them that would technically be able to enter Elysium since he did die for a moment. Piper and Nico would only see Jason if Leo succeeded in guiding Jason out.

Leo couldn't help but thinking about that dream he had with Jason, how Jason refused to come with him.

"You're supposed to live on, Leo.  I  was the one who was supposed to die, ever since the start.  You  shouldn't be here."

"Nico, Piper and I are bringing you home.  Why  don't you understand that?"
" This  is my home now, Leo."

Leo swallowed. His heart now was pounding in a bad way.

Piper glanced over at Leo and saw his expression. She stayed back with him as Nico kept going forward towards the entrance of Elysium. Piper's hand slid into Leo's. Leo tensed up slightly and looked at Piper, who gave him a soft smile.

"Nervous?" She asked.
Leo gave Piper a smile, but it was not full of his cocky mischief as it usually was. 
"Me? Nervous? Never." Leo said. His voice slightly trembled though.
Piper held onto Leo's hand tighter.

"...You'll do fine." She said softly. "I mean, Jason will listen to you."
Leo let out a humourless laugh.
"Hah! We'll see." Leo mumbled, clearly not so confident, especially with the reminder of his terrible dream with Jason.
Piper sighed softly and was about to let go of Leo's hand but he squeezed her hand tight, not wanting to let go for now. She didn't take her hand away.

They walked for a little longer until Nico stopped before the gated community, Elysium. The three of them stood before the gates that led inside of this paradise.

Nico faced Leo, as did Piper. She squeezed his hand reassuringly.
"... Ready?" Nico asked softly.
Leo sucked in a breath and let out a sigh. "Don't really have a choice." Leo forced a smile on his face.
"That's the spirit!" Nico tried to lighten the mood. A small genuine smile crossed Leo's face from that.
"Yeah, you'd know, wouldn't you, 'Ghost King'?" Leo teased slightly.
Nico rolled his eyes.

"Well, time for you to go off yourself." Piper said.
Leo looked at her and squeezed her hand one last time before his hand slipped away from Piper's grasp.
"... At least there won't be any lotus to distract me." Leo smiled at Piper.
"Yeah, seriously, don't get distracted." Nico said. "Aphrodite fed that flower to you for a reason. Follow your heart, as cheesy as that sounds."

Nico and Piper stepped back as Leo took a deep breath and he stepped closer to the gates that led inside Elysium. He glanced back at Nico and Piper. They both smiled at him reassuringly. Leo's gaze flickered to the lightning bolt pin he had given them when they burned that shroud for Jason. The golden pins sparkled, and that gave Leo a bit more reassurance too.

He faced the gates and stepped closer. The gates automatically opened up for him and...the smell of smoked meat filled Leo's nostrils. He hesitantly stepped inside and the gates shut behind him.

Leo took in his surroundings. There were plenty of beautiful flowers around the place. It had a mixture of different time periods within the neighbourhoods. There were many demigods, mortals, souls, just laughing and talking as if they were living the life, as if they weren't...dead.

Leo swallowed as he shut his eyes, taking a deep breath, trying to trust in his heart and guide him with where to go next.

Leo suddenly had a faint whiff of some scents clashed together. One scent he hasn't smelled since he was a child and another which he recognised from when he slept in the Zeus cabin the first night he came back to Camp Half-Blood.

His eyes opened and he felt a tug at his heart, directing him to go towards where a Roman villa was. His legs moved and his heart beat was getting louder with each step, his heart felt much fuller in his chest with each step he took.

He made it to the Roman villa his heart guided him to and he glanced around, seeing some residents around. He froze when he heard a familiar laugh.

It couldn't be...

Leo spun around and spotted a forgery in this little villa. He saw two figures. A female and a male. Leo's eyes welled up slowly. He took a shaky step forward.

"Mami?"

The female figure seemed to freeze and she turned around. Leo stared at the woman. There was that glint in her eyes that made Leo recognise her as his mother. She stared at Leo for a moment, taking in his appearance.

"Mijo?"

Her own eyes welled up and when Leo was about to break down crying, she rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him. Leo broke down in her arms and he barely even registered the male that was watching this scene nearby. Esperanza held Leo tight, kissing the top of his head and whispering in Spanish to him. Leo's eyes shut as he buried his face in her shoulder.

"... Leo?"
Leo tensed up and he pulled away from his mother slightly. Esperanza stepped aside, revealing the male who was there. Leo's heart felt like bursting when he saw Jason.

Leo's whole body was trembling. He tried to take a step forward but nearly stumbled. His mother gently held onto his shoulder, ensuring he was okay as Jason stepped closer.

Jason tilted his head at Leo, as if he couldn't believe he was here. His hands reached over and one hand cupped Leo's cheek. Leo's eyes shut involuntarily, he leaned into Jason's palm, forgetting how his heart raced with every little touch Jason provided him with.

Jason swallowed.
"What are... Did you-?" Jason began.
"No, I'm... I'm still alive." Leo managed to say, opening his eyes to meet Jason's gaze.
Their eyes stayed on the others. Jason cleared his throat softly and took his hand away as he nearly forgot Esperanza was standing nearby.

Leo glanced at his mother as she squeezed his shoulder gently. Leo smiled at her and glanced at Jason.
"... So, why are you with my mom?" Leo questioned.
Jason laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. Esperanza glanced at Jason before she looked back at her son.

"... Come, mijo, we should catch up." Esperanza smiled at Leo, gently cupping his face and kissing his forehead.
Leo leaned into his mother's affection.
"Sí, mamá." He whispered softly.

*****

So, it seemed when Jason arrived in Elysium, he stumbled upon Esperanza in the forgery as he was staying in this Roman villa. And that meant Jason got to find out a lot of stories about Leo from when he was a child.

Jason let Leo and Esperanza have some time to themselves before Leo would talk to Jason and explain why he was here. So, Leo was able to talk to his mother and it felt...rewarding in a way, to be able to just...see her again, to talk to her, and Esperanza couldn't believe how much Leo had grown.

Leo had finished talking to his mother, had some closure really, and he stepped out to where Jason was waiting for him. Jason gave Leo a smile.

"All good?" Jason asked.
Leo's heart skipped a beat. He smiled at Jason and nodded.
"Yeah... I just...really didn't expect that." Leo said, rubbing the back of his neck. "To see my mom, I mean...the only reason I'm here is for you. So, that was a nice surprise."

Jason tilted his head.
"You're...here for me?" Jason questioned.
Leo blinked and he struggled with how to explain.
"Well...I mean, not really out of my own will, though, I mean, if I knew I could see you earlier, then yeah, I'd probably do this out of my own will, but well... Piper and I went to Camp Half Blood and uh...we got a prophecy, well, really I did, but Piper and Nico were included in it and-" Leo began to ramble.

Jason furrowed his eyebrows.
"Valdez, you're rambling." Jason said, stepping closer.
Jason was about to reach over to take Leo's hand into his when Leo suddenly burst into flames. Leo laughed nervously and he tried to quickly extinguish himself.
"Gah! Haha! Sorry! Of course now is the time my powers decided to just erupt all of a sudden after being dormant for a while!" Leo exclaimed.
Jason watched in confusion and concern as Leo was patting himself out.

Yep, this was going smoothly.

Leo felt embarrassed. His cheeks were flushed as he managed to get the fire out. He cleared his throat and he looked at Jason. Jason raised an eyebrow.

"... So, uh, you're alive and a prophecy sent you, Piper and Nico here?" Jason asked.
Leo nodded. "Yeah. But uh, since I did technically die for a second, then I was the only one able to enter Elysium at the gates." Leo explained. "So, Piper and Nico are outside Elysium right now, waiting for us."

"Waiting for us?" Jason questioned.
Leo nodded again. "Yeah! Uh, the prophecy is...well, yeah, it told us that I was supposed to bring ya back to the overworld." Leo said, making some unnecessary hand gestures. "Annndd....sooo, pack your bags, let's go!"

Leo really shouldn't have expected for Jason to just agree and follow him out, but he was hoping for that. Instead, Jason just stared at Leo blankly.

"... But I'm dead." Jason said. "And...why should I go back up there? I'm in paradise. Why would the Fates want me to just...become alive again?"
Leo shrugged. "I-I dunno! The Fates are weird! But we're pretty sure it has something to do with you completing the cabins for the minor gods for everyone to give them some sort of worship. And... I guess since it was your promise, then it's you who has to see it be... done?"

Jason stared at Leo. Gods, Leo could get lost in those blue eyes-
What? No, Leo didn't think that. He did not just think that his best buddy's eyes were absolutely beautiful.

Leo snapped out of his thoughts and he saw the hesitation on Jason's face. Leo swallowed as he thought back to his dream with Jason, how he refused to come.
"... Come home with me." Leo whispered, holding his hand for Jason to take. "Please, Jason."

Jason's gaze flickered between Leo's face and his hand. Leo could see that Jason was thinking of what to do. Jason seemed to take a deep breath and he took Leo's hand.

"... Let's go." Jason smiled at Leo.
Leo's grip tightened around Jason's hand.
"Good choice, Grace." Leo grinned.

"And now watch me get lost as I try to get us back to the gates so we can get to Piper and Nico..."
"Pfft... Gods, don't even, you're a good navigator, Leo."

So, off they went. Hand in hand, back to the gates of Elysium to leave.

'Storm and fire reunite'

Chapter Text

So, once Leo led Jason out of the gates of Elysium, Nico instantly tackled the blonde male into a hug. Jason stumbled back a bit but he smiled, his arms wrapping around Nico and holding him tight.
"Hey, Neeks." Jason mumbled, rubbing Nico's back.
"Shut up and let me hug you." Nico mumbled, his face buried in Jason's shoulder.
Jason stayed quiet as he and Nico hugged for a few moments longer before Nico pulled away and stepped back.

Jason looked over and saw Piper staring at him. Jason smiled softly at Piper as he stepped closer.
"Hey." He said quietly, holding his arms out.
Piper didn't say anything. She stepped closer and hugged Jason, her face burying in his shoulder. Jason held her close. Piper pulled away after a few moments and smiled up at Jason.

Jason looked down at her, raising his hand to her face and his thumb brushing across her lip, by her scar.
"Look at that, we're matching." Jason smiled.
Piper laughed softly. "Pfft... yeah, I guess we are."

Nico quietly cleared his throat.
"Right, well, we should just go then before-" Nico began.
"Before what? You have to say hello to your step-mother and explain to your father why you're trying to take your friend back up into the Overworld?"
Nico froze while Piper, Jason and Leo looked behind Nico, seeing the ethereal Persephone standing behind him. Nico slowly turned around and forced a smile at Persephone.
"...Yes?" Nico answered.

Persephone smiled slightly. "You know that's not how this works." Persephone said. "Come, your father won't be cruel. I recall I managed to convince him to let Orpheus lead Eurydice back up to the Overworld." Persephone began to lead the four away, towards Hades' palace.
"Uh, didn't Orpheus fail that?" Leo questioned.
Nico shot a glare at Leo, Piper sighed softly and Jason tensed up slightly next to Leo.

Persephone hesitated.
"Well...did he fail his test of proving how much he loved Eurydice? No." Persephone smiled back at Leo. "Hades had to provide Orpheus a test that Hades himself knew that he wouldn't be able to do if it were me and him."
Leo stayed quiet. He glanced at Jason as they continued to walk on. Yeah, Leo knew that he wouldn't be able to not look back at Jason if they had to do that.

"So, you think my dad will give us a challenge then?" Nico asked, walking next to Persephone.
Persephone looked at Nico. "Yes, but I doubt it'll be too hard. Your father wouldn't want to annoy the minor Gods but he can't exactly let you walk away with Jason." Persephone smiled.
Nico nodded. "Okay..."

Persephone kept chatting to the four demi-gods, mainly to Nico, as they walked to Hades' palace. It didn't take too long. When they arrived, Hades did not seem surprised by Persephone being there with Nico and the other three demigods. Persephone went over, smiling as she stood by her husband. Nico stood in front of his father, Piper, Leo and Jason all hung back a little.

"...Father." Nico nodded at his dad as a way to greet him.
"Nico, I see you and your friends have succeeded this far into your quest." Hades said, glancing back at Leo, Piper and Jason.
"And... Persephone said that you can't let us go without a test." Nico smiled slightly. "So, what's the test, dad?"

Hades glanced at Jason before he looked at Persephone. Persephone seemed to nod and she smiled at Jason.
"Come, Jason. Let's leave these four alone. I'll show you my garden!" Persephone exclaimed, going over and gently holding Jason by his shoulders.
"Oh, uhm... Okay?" Jason furrowed his eyebrows, glancing back at Leo as Persephone led him way.

Once Jason was away, Leo, Nico and Piper looked at Hades.
"Uh... Why can't we just take Jason back without any terms or tests or whatever?" Leo asked. "I mean... I suck at tests."
Hades sighed and glanced at Nico. Nico looked at Leo.
"... My dad can't just let any soul back into the Overworld because someone came back for them. Otherwise other people will think they can do that and then my dad will have lost control of the Underworld and the purpose of it." Nico explained.

Leo stared at Nico for a moment.
"... Right, but...we saved the world, so-" Leo began.
"That's no excuse." Hades shrugged.
Leo frowned. "What's the point of being a hero if we can't even get some sort of shit outta it?" Leo looked at Piper.
Piper shrugged at Leo. "The Gods are cruel, Leo, I think we learned this a while ago." She said, patting Leo's back.
Leo sighed softly.

"... Alright, Lord Hades... What do we have to do to get Jason outta here?"

Chapter Text

"So, what was the term?" Jason asked as he saw Nico, Piper and Leo come over to where he was, with Charon and his boat.
Nico seemed to look at Charon while Piper looked at her nails, picking at them. Jason furrowed his eyebrows as he looked over at Leo. Leo met his gaze for a moment before he glanced away. Jason tilted his head.

"... Guys?" He called out.
Nico got into the boat and helped Piper on. Charon watched as Leo followed after Nico and Piper. Jason had no idea what was going on but he got into the boat, sitting next to Leo. Charon began to sail along the river.

Jason shifted in the boat and looked at Piper and Nico. Sure, he could see why Nico would be quiet, he knew Nico wasn't super social and maybe his social battery was running low. Piper...well, he could also see why she'd stay quiet, they were exes. Jason looked at Leo who was finding his shoes very interesting at the moment.

Jason glanced between the three of them, wondering why in Hades they were not speaking to him and barely even registering his presence.

Jason watched as Charon seemed to poke at Nico and try to talk to him about some sort of raise and Nico looked annoyed, trying to not snap or say anything. Piper seemed to not be struggling much, she had pulled out her dagger, fiddling with it and staring at it.

Jason then looked at Leo. Leo always was talkative. So, seeing him so quiet was weird. Jason stared at Leo, taking in the male's features. It had been so long since he saw Leo. Jason noticed how Leo was biting his inner cheek, pinching at his wrist, as if he was purposefully preventing himself from speaking.

Leo desperately just wanted to talk, say anything, crack some jokes, talk to Jason more about the prophecy they got. But the term Hades provided them was clear. To not say a word until they were out of the Underworld with Jason.

The ride down to the Underworld felt so quick, so why was the ride back up taking so much longer?

Leo was trying to avoid Jason's gaze because he knew if he looked at Jason, he'd crack. But Leo could feel Jason's eyes on him. As if Jason was waiting for Leo to start randomly talking about something random or complicated.

Leo looked at Nico and saw how annoyed Nico looked at Charon, how his face was scrunched up and he looked like he wished he was currently dead and didn't have to deal with this.

"... No one is gonna say a thing?" Jason questioned. "I mean, you guys can still acknowledge me, right? I'm guessing Hades just told you guys you can't talk to me until we're out of the Underworld."
Nico looked at Jason and he opened his mouth, about to speak before he remembered he couldn't and he simply shrugged at Jason. Jason raised an eyebrow.

"... Right, acknowledging me will make you guys want to speak to me and then ruin any chance of me coming back to life." Jason said.
Nico gave Jason a nod and Jason smiled.
"... Got it. I guess I'll stay quiet too then, to not tempt any of you guys to talk back."

Leo shifted in his seat next to Jason. Jason looked at Leo and saw how Leo was still quite annoyed by staying quiet. Jason glanced down at Leo's hand and he hesitated before he rested his hand by Leo's, gently interlocking their pinkies together.

Leo blinked and he glanced at his pinky intertwined with Jason's. Leo's cheeks heated up and his free hand seemed to burst into flames. Leo quickly discarded the flame before Nico or Piper noticed.

Leo glanced at Jason and saw a small smirk tug a Jason's lips. Leo felt his cheeks flush even more and he scrunched up his face slightly. Jason totally saw Leo's hand burst into flames and definitely knew that meant Leo was flustered. Leo tightened his pinky around Jason's and Jason felt a tug at his own heart.

Maybe this journey wouldn't be so bad now...