Haunted || Leo Valdez

10 - A-Questing We Will Go

Rebecca woke up and realized she was leaning against Leo. He'd finished the first wing and was nearly done with the second. Festus was happily snorting and clacking.

"Have a nice rest?" Leo asked. He didn't sound like he was teasing. On the contrary, he sounded slightly shaken up.

"Um, yeah," Rebecca said very eloquently. "Did something happen?"

"No," Leo said a little too quickly.

"Bullshit, Valdez." Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

Leo stared at her for a second, then told her about the dream he'd had and how Beckendorf's ghost had appeared to him.

"He said that you were going to heal me?" Rebecca asked. Leo nodded.

Rebecca couldn't believe the irony. She'd started being plagued by all of these ghosts since Bianca died. Hera had told her one of the Seven of the Prophecy would bring her peace, but she hadn't expected a son of Hephaestus, much less freaking Leo Valdez of all people.

But despite the disbelief swirling around, she also saw a glimmer of hope. Maybe this meant she and Hephaestus could make amends, now that they were on the same side and Leo, his son, was going to help her get rid of all the spirits. Maybe he'd even be willing to take her back to his junkyard so Rebecca could recover Bianca's body, if it was still there.

"So?" Leo said.

"So what?"

"Don't you have anything to say about it?"

"What the Hades am I supposed to say to something like that?" Rebecca asked. "Someone says their dead brother told them that they're going to heal you. What am I supposed to say, 'Oh, that's nice?' "

Leo snorted. "Fair enough." He finished hooking up the second wing and grinned at his work. "Done. What do you say we get some supplies and head back to the camp?"

"Okay," Rebecca said. She looked down at her messy clothes and frowned. "I'll pick up some stuff from my cabin and be right back."

Leo nodded and slid off the dragon, heading off to look for anything they could use. Rebecca shadow traveled straight into Cabin 13.

She'd expected to be alone, so she didn't bother trying to be very quiet. She stumbled into her closet and changed into some clean clothes: jeans, hiking boots, a T-shirt, and a green jacket. She considered bringing Bianca's cap but decided against it, since she didn't want anything happening to it.

She left her closet and grabbed some ambrosia as nectar she'd smuggled from Cabin 7 and stuffed it into a bag, along with an extra change of clothes and the Mythomagic Hades figurine from Hephaestus' junkyard. Nico hadn't wanted it, but Rebecca was determined to keep everything of Bianca's that she could find. It was indestructible (Hephaestus had made it, after all), and despite what it represented, it was Rebecca's good luck charm.

"What are you doing?" Nico's voice made her jump.

"Nico, what the Hades?" Rebecca said, a hand over her heart like she was going to say the Pledge of Allegiance.

Nico was standing beside his bed in his pajamas, looking utterly baffled.

"When did you get here?" Rebecca asked.

"Just after the campfire. I heard we got some new campers."

"Yeah, the kids from Wilderness, Leo and Piper, and Jason. Did you see Jason?"

"Jason?" Nico's eyes widened. "Jason Grace? He's here?"

"With absolutely no memories. He has no idea who he is. I told Chiron about Camp Jupiter, and we both think Percy is there."