The Blood of Olympus

Chapter Eighty-Three: Leo

Hello *sheepish smile* sorry for the super late chapter

This chapter is dedicated to @Eternal_PheonixGirl for commenting and stuff! Thank you!

Okay this is kinda filler chapter I think but I hope you enjoy nevertheless XD 

Leo

They arrived at Camp Half-Blood four days later.

Leo had woken up a day after they left Athens. He had opened his eyes to the bright glare of the white walls of the infirmary, with Hazel, Frank and Piper at his bedside.

They had told him that after he had killed Gaia, the Acropolis had begun to collapse under their feet. It was only then that the gods arrived, sending the demigods safely back to the Argo2.

The bodies of Jason and Percy had not been recovered, Piper had said. They had fallen with the rest of the Acropolis, in what the mortals had called a "freak earthquake".

Leo looked over the Celestial bronze rails and down at the camp below, his chest tightening with nostalgia. The glittering ocean lapped at the white sand of the beach where Leo, Piper and Jason had watched the fireworks on the fourth of July, laughing and joking together like it was as easy as breathing.

But instead of fireworks, there were tents placed in orderly rows all along the perimeter of the beach.

Leo grabbed a pair of binoculars and looked through them to see the all too familiar symbol of an eagle and the letters, SPQR, printed on the dark canvas.

"Romans." Annabeth went to stand by his side. Leo couldn't help but notice how awful she looked; dark smudges hung under her eyes, which were red-rimmed, and her hair wasn't even pulled up into her usual neat ponytail, but hung like a lank curtain around her face. She had noticeably lost weight, her cheekbones more prominent in her face and her clothes seemed to be a little looser on her figure.

Leo forced his eyes away from her and glanced back at the camp. "Well, it hasn't all been burnt to the ground, so that's a plus. Your statue worked." He pointed at a glowing figure of the Athena Parthenos on the hill.

Annabeth smiled for the first time since they left Athens, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Well it's nice to know I didn't fall into Tartarus in vain."

The mood instantly darkened. Leo cursed himself for even bringing up the statue. "I'll alert the others."

He headed up to the bow of the ship. Festus creaked and turned his head towards him, his ruby eyes puzzled.

Leo patted him on the head, feeling the all too familiar crushing weight in his chest. "I'm okay, man." Festus creaked again, sounding uncertain. "I just—" –miss Jason. He finished in his head.

Pushing the thoughts away, he shouted something into the microphone, alerting the others that they'd be landing in Camp Half-Blood soon.

A soft hand slipped into his. "Hey." Calypso said, her lips curving up into a hesitant smile. She wore an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt and ripped jeans, no doubt borrowed from Piper. It was a simple attire and yet the shirt seemed to bring out the small flecks of amber in her dark almond coloured eyes and the jeans seemed to cling to her legs in all the right places.

"Uhh..." Leo swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. "Hi."

If Calypso noticed, she gave no indication. Instead she braced both hands on the Celestial bronze railing, looking down at the camp with a troubled expression.