Heroes of Olympus - The Blood of Olympus (Discontinued)

Chapter 32 - Leo and Jason

Chapter 32 - Leo

Leo studied the blueprints before him, his pencil tapping his forehead frequently, his brow turned down in deep thought. He opened the windows of the cargo hold, letting the sea breeze cool him off, allowing the fresh air to revive his troubled mind. His thoughts kept drifting to what was in store for him and his friends when the final battle kicked off when Gaea awakened - if she awakened. He knew it would have to take much more than seven demigods with low class godly abilities to slow her up.

Gaea was earth right? So to be at full strength, she would have to be connected with the earth. This gave Leo a couple of options for a possible counter offense: either invent a giant crane to pluck her from the earth and then use her as a giant dirt-filled piñata... Or he could possibly re-build Festus before the Feast of Spes and snatch her from the ground. He thought about it for a second.

Nah, too cheesy.

Leo tried to think of any attacks he could wield if the option of separating Gaea from the earth was unusable. Earth's greatest health source was water. 90% of the earth was water. They could try to drown her with it... but then again, if they used water against her, she'd probably double in strength.

Sooooo, probably not a good idea to sick Percy on her. That would just make things worse. Then again - everything Percy did only made matters worse; except this time they would be dealing with the earth's coming destruction or preservation, so... yeah.

Fire was never a good natural resource for anything really, except to keep warm and start up machinery. Fire burned everything it encountered, whether light parched shrubbery, or pure thickened iron. Fire could work. It would at best weaken her. That was better than nothing.

Leo thought that through. If he could use some kind of fire source to wound her enough to let one of his friends jump in and strike - with the help of their godly parents of course - they may just have a chance of taking her down. But how would he use it against her without weakening himself? He could only wield his fire user abilities for a certain amount of time before collapsing from sheer exhaustion. He looked over his blueprints once more, searching through his designs from earlier.

They looked like garbage now when before they looked golden.

In disgust, he crumbled up the papers and burned them in his hands. If he was going to discard them, might as well be sure they don't fall into the wrong hands by mistake.

Sighing, he went to his desk and sat down, plumping his arms onto the wood and burying his face in his hands. Why did everything in life have to be so difficult? Especially the 'love' part of life?

Leo's mind slowly drifted back to the image of Calypso. Beautiful, talented, strong-hearted Calypso. She was everything a boy like him could ask for when trying to find love. She was gifted at weaving and building things from scrap and the resources around her. She wasn't some fairy tale princess that desperately needed a 'Prince Charming' to always look after her. She was strong. She was just. And of course she was also like... drop-dead gorgeous.

Leo grimaced, moaning into his shirt sleeve, his fingers gripping his hair. Stop thinking about her, he told himself. It'll just drive you madder. Then a new thought crossed his mind. No... think about her. It actually kinda helps. He then imagined her voice speaking to him. It'll build your inspiration. It'll strengthen your motivation to craft your project. Keep going Leo Valdez. I await your return.

Leo's head rose. He gripped the edge of his desk. Remember Capture the Flag, he told himself. You played that game for your friends... but you also played it for her. And you won it for her. Nobody lights oranges on fire and hurls them at Nereids just to win a game. They do it because it's the only way for them to find the one thing they truly desire.