NOT FRIENDS ━━━━━ p. mclean²

009.

He began cleaning off the control disk. While he worked, snow collected on the cooling dragon. Leo had to stop from time to time to summon fire and melt it away, but mostly he went into autopilot mode, his hands working by themselves as his thoughts wandered.

Leo couldn't believe how stupid he'd acted back at Boreas' palace. He should've figured a family of winter Gods would hate him on sight. Son of the fire God flying a fire-breathing dragon into an ice penthouse ─ yeah, maybe not the best move. Still, he hated feeling like a reject. Jason, Isa, and Piper got to visit the throne room. Leo got to wait in the lobby with Cal, the Demigod of hockey and major head injuries.

Fire is bad, Cal had told him.

That pretty much summed it up. Leo knew he couldn't keep the truth from his friends much longer. Ever since Camp Half-Blood, one line of that Great Prophecy kept coming back to him: A final decision determines if to storm or fire, the world must fall.

And Leo was the fire guy, the first one since 1666 when London had burned down. If he told his friends what he could really do ─ Hey, guess what, guys? I might destroy the world. ─ why would anyone welcome him back at Camp? Leo would have to go on the run again. Even though he knew that drill, the idea depressed him. And the decision thing: who was making the decision? Was it him? Because if it was, he would choose neither.

Then there was Khione. Dang, that girl was fine. Leo knew he'd acted like a total fool, but he couldn't help himself. He'd had his clothes cleaned with the one-hour valet service ─ which had been totally sweet, by the way. He'd combed his hair — never an easy job — and even discovered the tool bag could make breath mints, all in hopes that he could get close to her. Naturally, no such luck.

Getting frozen out ─ story of his life ─ by his relatives, foster homes, you name it. Even at Wilderness School, Leo had spent the last few weeks feeling like a third wheel as Jason and Piper, his only friends, became a couple. He was happy for them and all, but still it made him feel like they didn't need him anymore.

When he'd found out that Jason's whole time at school had been an illusion ─ a kind of a memory burp ─ Leo had been secretly excited. It was a chance for a reset. Now instead of Jason,  Piper and Isa looked like they were heading toward being a couple ─ that was obvious from the way they'd acted since the beginning of the quest. Daughter of Iris was nice, she seemed to get along with everyone and it felt like she belonged in their friend group from the start. At least, if Isa and Piper do become a couple, Leo will have Jason to forth wheel with them?

"Enough, Valdez," he scolded himself, "Nobody's going to play any violins for you just because you're not important. Fix the stupid dragon."

He got so involved with his work, he wasn't sure how much time had passed before he heard the voice.

You're wrong, Leo, it said.

He fumbled his brush and dropped it into the dragon's head. He stood, but he couldn't see who'd spoken. Then he looked at the ground. Snow and chemical sludge from the toilets, even the asphalt itself was shifting like it was turning to liquid. A ten-foot-wide area formed eyes, a nose, and a mouth ─ the giant face of a sleeping woman.

She didn't exactly speak. Her lips didn't move. But Leo could hear her voice in his head, as if the vibrations were coming through the ground, straight into his feet and resonating up his skeleton.

They need you desperately, she said. In some ways, you are one of the most important ones of the nine ─ like the control disk in the dragon's brain. Without you, the power of the others means nothing. And without Vivienne Wu, they will never do it together; she's the glue that keeps everyone together. They will never reach me, never stop me. And I will fully wake.