Leo Valdez and the Queen of Ogygia

Chapter 5: Leo accidentally summons the goddess

There was a vast silence spread across the camp as if someone had died and the whole camp was mourning them. The only sounds they could hear were the crickets' chirpings and the occasional neighing of the unicorns. After Leo explained to them what had happened in the past few days, it took some time for everyone to respond. And then everyone spoke at once.

'Oh Leo,' Hazel cried as she stepped forward to hug him

"I'm so sorry, Leo." Piper hugged him from another side.

"I know, I should never trust that.." Annabeth was furious and hugged Leo fiercely, probably cursing Calypso in her mind.

"That really sucks man." Frank patted his back. Percy just saw Leo with his intense green eyes and sighed. Tyson started getting emotional on Leo's behalf, and he patted him hard.

"We're here for you brother, we'll take proper care of you," Tyson said solemnly.

Leo was really overwhelmed by the response he got. He started tearing up. He didn't imagine making friends of this sort. He always thought he'd be the oddball in his friends' group, who are with him, only for his mechanic skills and sometimes his poor comedy timing. But he never really thought they'd actually think of him as a friend.

Piper spoke to him in a fierce voice, saying, "Oh no, you are not crying mister, not today" "Let's enjoy this wonderful reunion and pray for a better future for all of us" Piper exclaimed with newfound enthusiasm, trying to cheer up Leo. Leo smiled a tiny bit, not wanting to disturb his friends' happy moods.

"Okay, Piper, what do you have in mind?"

-----X-----

No matter how many chances he took, he would have never guessed right about what Piper had in mind.

"Today is a Full moon, as it is the first full moon after the summer solstice, it is also called a full buck moon, whatever that is" Piper was about to rant more but was interrupted.

"I know what that is" Annabeth continued excitedly

"of course, you know" Percy scoffed jokingly

"The full moon in July is called the Buck Moon because the antlers of male deer A.KA. bucks are in full-growth mode at this time. Ella knows what it is" Ella announced proudly and started flapping her eyelids at Tyson who became shy at once.

"Ella is intelligent," Tyson replied shyly.

"Anyway, before I am interrupted again," Piper pointedly declared, "We Native Americans believe that the moon is a guide, a protector, a guardian spirit, a timekeeper, and is associated with transformation."

"So?" Leo asked, bewildered by the circle they made around a couple of candles that are lit in the middle of the field of Mars. For anyone outside of the circle, they'll assume this silly little group is summoning Satan. Now that he thinks about it, it does look like a satanic summoning ritual. 'Oh, gods!' Leo thought worriedly 'I hope Hades doesn't come through these candles.'

"So? So, my dear Leo, I read about a cleansing ritual in a magazine about writing down your feelings and burning a scented candle to get over your ex. I think it said it'll cleanse your aura and set you in peace."

As soon as Piper finished those words, everyone looked at her incredulously.

"No, we're not going to do that." Annabeth was the first to refuse this silly game. Leo was happy he didn't have to refuse Piper first.

Frank said with worry, "We may anger the gods by doing this nonsense in the middle of my father's field."

"Oh please, the gods don't care about our love lives or silly lives in general. "They just need us to be there when they're in trouble" Piper's voice was bitter, but she continued with a charming smile. "I'm sure you all want to find peace and write something for your ex, don't you?" she looked pointedly at Percy, Annabeth, and Hazel. "Besides, do you have anything better to do? I'm all ears." Piper finished with a really persuasive voice, and everybody looked awkwardly at one another and started nodding.