DAYLIGHT ↬ leo valdez x reader

20. golden

"This is Buford," Leo announced.
"You name your furniture?" Frank asked.
Leo snorted. "Man, you just wish you had furniture this cool. Buford, are you ready for Operation End Table?"
Buford spewed steam. He stepped to the railing. His mahogany top split into four pie slices, which elongated into wooden blades. The blades spun, and Buford took off.
"A helicopter table," Percy muttered. "Gotta admit, that's cool. What's in the bag?"
"Dirty demigod laundry," Leo said. "I hope you don't mind, Frank."

"Leo!" I said.
Frank choked. "What?"
"It'll throw the eagles off our scent."
"Those were my only extra pants!"
Leo shrugged. "I asked Buford to get them laundered and folded while he's out. Hopefully he will." He rubbed his hands and grinned. "Well! I call that a good day's work. I'm gonna calculate our detour route now. See you all at dinner!"

I had to admit I was annoyed that instead of a girls trip with Annabeth, Hazel and Piper, I was going with Jason, Frank and Leo. Honestly I'd take a day in the sickbay aside Coach Hedge over this.
We didn't even find anything in the Civil War sub or elsewhere in the museum; just a few elderly tourists, a dozing security guard, and—when we tried to inspect the artifacts—a whole battalion of glowing zombie dudes in gray uniforms. The idea that Frank should be able to control the spirits? Yeah...that pretty much failed.
By the time Piper sent her Iris-message warning us about the Roman attack, we were already halfway back to the ship, having been chased through downtown Charleston by a pack of angry dead Confederates.

Then we got to hitch a ride on a giant eagle which had to be the scariest experience of my life. The height wasn't the bad part, it was clutching onto a leg beside Leo who flung around screaming.

A Roman flying chariot had descended from a cloud and was diving straight toward us. Jason and Frank veered out of the way, pulling up to avoid getting trampled by the pegasi. Arrows whistled under Leo's and my feet, which led to more screaming and cursing on his part. Something shot from the Argo and also singed Frank's wings and sent him spiraling out of control. Leo slipped from his grasp (though it oddly looked like Frank just let his left leg go limp). The world was spinning as I yelled questions at Frank like "Are you okay?" and "My gods do you not know how to stop yourself?"

Something slammed into Jason and I watched with my turning vision as he lunged for Leo, caught him, then struggled to gain altitude. He only managed to slow their fall. They started to plummet behind the ramparts of the fort. Frank and I tumbled after them. Fort Sumter hurted to crash into.

Now, as the Argo II raced across the waves, Leo used all his skill just to keep the ship in one piece and I had to rush around, frantically checking everyone for injuries. After I was certain everyone was fine, I decided to look at Leo who looked like his only injury was his self worth after falling in front of everyone.

I walked in on a conversation between Leo and Annabeth. I had to grip onto the railing because we were rocking so hard.
"I can input star charts and order you a smoothie, if you want. Of course I can do latitude and longitude!"Leo yelled, his hair flying around crazily. I gulped back and tried to focus on Annabeth's coordinates instead of the nauseating feeling in my stomach. Leo somehow managed to punch them in while holding the wheel with one hand. A red dot popped up on the bronze display screen.
"That location is in the middle of the Atlantic," he said. "Do the Party Ponies have a yacht?"
Annabeth shrugged helplessly. "Just hold the ship together until we get farther from Charleston. Jason and Percy will keep up the winds!"
"Happy fun time!"
"I think I'm gonna throw up." I yelled over the gusts of air that surrounded us.
"Don't do it on me!" He replied back with a worried glance.

It seemed like forever, but finally the sea calmed and the winds died.
Leo staggered across the deck toward us, looking perplexed. Percy and Jason sat with their backs against the mast, their heads slumped in exhaustion. Annabeth and Piper were trying to get them to drink some water. Hazel and Frank stood just out of earshot from the rest of us, having an argument that involved lots of arm waving and head shaking. I just sipped my glass of water, breathing deeply. The sick feeling was gone now, thank gods. The argument stopped abruptly when Hazel saw Leo.

We all gathered at the mast. Frank scowled like he was trying hard to turn into a bulldog. "No sign of pursuit," he said.
"Or land," Hazel added. I groaned at that.
Leo turned to Annabeth. "Did you find the map you wanted?"
She nodded, though she looked pale. I wondered what she'd seen at Fort Sumter that could have shaken her up so badly. "I'll have to study it," she said, as if that was the end of the subject. "How far are we from those coordinates?"
"At top rowing speed, about an hour," Leo said. "Any idea what we're looking for?"
"No," she admitted. "Percy?"
Percy raised his head. His green eyes were bloodshot and droopy. These were signs of having a stroke which worried me (these were also signs of fatigue, which was probably the issue).

"The Nereid said Chiron's brothers were there, and they'd want to hear about that aquarium in Atlanta. I don't know what she meant, but..." He paused, like he'd used up all his energy saying that much. "She also warned me to be careful. Keto, the goddess at the aquarium: she's the mother of sea monsters. She might be stuck in Atlanta, but she can still send her children after us. The Nereid said we should expect an attack."
"Wonderful," Frank muttered. Jason tried to stand, which wasn't a good idea. Piper grabbed him to keep him from falling over, and he slid back down the mast.
"Can we get the ship aloft?" he asked. "If we could fly—"
"That'd be great," Leo said. "Except Festus tells me the port aerial stabilizer got pulverized when the ship raked against the dock at Fort Sumter."

"We were in a hurry," Annabeth said. "Trying to save you."
"And saving me is a very noble cause," Leo agreed. "I'm just saying, it'll take some time to fix. Until then, we're not flying anywhere."
Percy flexed his shoulders and winced. "Fine with me. The sea is good."
"Speak for yourself." Hazel said. I didn't think I had a tendency of getting seasick but after having been flung around in every kind of way, I agreed with her. She glanced at the evening sun, which was almost to the horizon. "We need to go fast. We've burned another day, and Nico only has three more left."

"We can do it," Leo promised. "We can make it to Rome in three days— assuming, you know, nothing unexpected happens."
Frank grunted. He looked like he was still working on that bulldog transformation. "Is there any good news?"
"Actually, yes," Leo said. "According to Festus, our flying table, Buford, made it back safely while we were in Charleston, so those eagles didn't get him. Unfortunately, he lost the laundry bag with your pants."
"Dang it!" Frank barked.

Percy doubled over and started to groan. "Did the world just turn upside down?" he asked.
Jason pressed his hands to his head. "Yeah, and it's spinning. Everything is yellow. Is it supposed to be yellow?"
Annabeth and Piper exchanged concerned looks. "Summoning that storm really sapped your strength," Piper told the boys.
"It's extreme fatigue. They really should be drinking." I said, standing up to observe more.
Annabeth nodded agreement. "Frank, can you help us get the guys belowdecks?"
Frank glanced at Leo, no doubt reluctant to leave him alone with Hazel.
"It's fine, man," Leo said. "Just try not to drop them on the way down the stairs."

I left on the note of turning back and seeing them stand closely together awkwardly. I didn't know why but I think I understood what Frank was feeling when we left them up there. I had to shake it off, but even then as we walked down the stairs to the sick bay the thought was still in the back of my mind.

➻ AUTHOR's NOTE
Okok this is a long one. im so sorryyy i took so long to update but i mean here it is! hope you like it. will POSSIBLY getting another chapter out to make up for the time i spent not posting
i love oyu all miuamhuhmuhamuamh love amelie