Haunted || Leo Valdez

97 - We're Kidnapped By the Gladiator and My Sort-of Stepsister

If there hadn't been so many distracting things going on, and if he hadn't been so busy trying to rebuild Festus, Leo was certain he would've lost his mind.

He was forced to take a break from being cooped up halfway inside the hull when Percy spotted a giant red sea serpent swimming off the port side and called for a meeting on the foredeck.

"That thing is really red," Percy muttered, keeping an eye on the monster. "I wonder if it's cherry-flavored."

"Why don't you swim over and find out?" Annabeth asked.

"How about no."

A week ago, Leo would've exchanged an amused look with Rebecca. Since then, he'd managed to break the habit. Well, mostly. His gaze drifted to the two empty seats between himself and Hazel where Nico and Rebecca had usually sat during crew meetings.

"Anyway," Frank said, "according to my Pylos cousins, the chained god we're looking for in Sparta is my dad... uh, I mean Ares, not Mars. Apparently the Spartans kept a statue of him chained up in their city so the spirit of war would never leave them."

"Oo-kay," Leo said. "The Spartans were freaks. Of course, we've got Victory tied up downstairs, so I guess we can't talk."

Jason leaned against the forward ballista. "On to Sparta, then. But how does a chained god's heartbeat help us find a cure for dying?"

A thoughtful silence went around the table. Then Hazel spoke up: "Piper, what about the visions in your dagger blade?"

But Piper only frowned down at the table, lost in thought.

"Piper?" Hazel asked.

Piper stirred. "Sorry, what?"

"I was asking you about the visions," Hazel prompted. "You told me you'd seen some stuff in your dagger blade?"

"Uh... right." Piper reluctantly unsheathed Katoptris. "I, um..." She started to drift off again, but managed to clear her thoughts. "I don't see anything right now. But one vision kept popping up. Annabeth and I are exploring some ruins –"

"Ruins!" Leo rubbed his hands. "Now we're talking. How many ruins can there be in Greece?"

"Quiet, Leo," Annabeth scolded (since Rebecca wasn't there to do it herself). "Piper, do you think it was Sparta?"

"Maybe," Piper said. "Anyway ... suddenly we're in this dark place like a cave. We're staring at this bronze warrior statue. In the vision I touch the statue's face and flames start swirling around us. That's all I saw."

"Flames." Frank scowled. "I don't like that vision."

"Me neither." Percy kept one eye on the red sea serpent, which was still slithering through the waves about a hundred yards to port. "If the statue engulfs people in fire, we should send Leo."

"I love you too, man." Leo smirked, knowing full well that Percy meant no malice but wanting to give him a hard time anyway. 

"You know what I mean. You're immune. Or, heck, give me some of those nice water grenades and I'll go. Ares and I have tangled before."

Annabeth stared at the coastline of Pylos, now retreating in the distance. "If Piper saw the two of us going after the statue, then that's who should go. We'll be all right. There's always a way to survive."

"Not always," Hazel warned.

Since she was the only one in the group who had actually died and come back to life, her observation sort of killed the mood.

Frank held out the vial of Pylosian mint. "What about this stuff? After the House of Hades, I kind of hoped we were done drinking poison."

Great, another reminder of the House of Hades. Leo totally wanted to think about Rebecca almost being corrupted by the Malignant Spirit thanks to Clytius and Pasiphae.