DAYLIGHT ↬ leo valdez x reader

26. burning red

"They can't fit down the hole," Leo said.
"Right," Frank said. "Underground is sounding really good." He turned into a snake and slithered over the edge. I gulped and followed in pursuit, my stomach dropping as I fell.
I didn't even look back when I heard the spirits begin to wail above, "Valdez! Kill Valdez!"

The hatch above us closed automatically, cutting off the pursuers. It also cut off all light, but we could deal with that.

"What now?" Frank asked.
"Okay, don't freak," Leo said. "I'm going to summon a little fire, just so we can see."
"Thanks for the warning."
Leo's index finger blazed like a birthday candle. It still made me nervous, but it was kind of lit now (bad joke, I'm sorry).
In front of us stretched a stone tunnel with a low ceiling. Just as Hazel had predicted, it slanted down, then leveled out and went south.
"Well," Leo said. "It only goes in one direction."
"Let's find Hazel," Frank said. We made our way down the corridor, Leo going first with the fire. Frank stood behind me and I traveled in the middle. It was unarguably the best place to be in any situation – Leo leading, warning me of any danger; and Frank protecting me from sneak attacks. I didn't want to feel vulnerable but it was still comforting to be in my position.

After a hundred feet or so, we turned a corner and found Hazel. In the light of her golden cavalry sword, she was examining a door.
She was so engrossed, she didn't notice us until Leo said, "Hi."
Hazel whirled, trying to swing her spatha. Fortunately for Leo's face, the blade was too long to wield in the corridor.
"What are you doing here?" Hazel demanded.
Leo gulped. "Sorry. We ran into some angry tourists." He told her what had happened.
She hissed in frustration. "I hate eidolons. I thought Piper made them promise to stay away."
"Oh..." Frank said. "Piper made them promise to stay off the ship and not possess any of us. But if they followed us, and used other bodies to attack us, then they're not technically breaking their vow...."
"Great," Leo muttered. "Eidolons who are also lawyers. Now I really want to kill them."
"Okay, forget them for now," Hazel said. "This door is giving me fits. Leo, can you try your skill with the lock?"

Leo cracked his knuckles. "Stand aside for the master, please." How did we put up with him?
The entire door was coated in Imperial gold. A mechanical sphere about the size of a bowling ball was embedded in the center.
"These letters are Greek," Leo said in surprise.

"Well, lots of Romans spoke Greek," I said.
"I guess," Leo said. "But this workmanship...no offense to you Camp Jupiter types, but this is too complicated to be Roman."
Frank snorted. "Whereas you Greeks just love making things complicated."
"Hey," Leo protested. "All I'm saying is this machinery is delicate, sophisticated. It reminds me of..." Leo stared at the sphere. "It's a more advanced sort of lock," he decided. "You line up the symbols on the different rings in the right order, and that opens the door."

"But what's the right order?" Hazel asked.
"Good question. Greek spheres...astronomy, geometry..." Leo got a warm feeling inside. "Oh, no way. I wonder...What's the value of pi?"
Frank frowned. "What kind of pie?"
"He means the number," Hazel guessed. "I learned that in math class once, but—"
"It's used to measure circles," Leo said. "This sphere, if it's made by the guy I'm thinking of..."

We all stared at him blankly.
"Never mind," Leo said.
"I'm pretty sure pi is, uh, 3.1415 something." I assisted. He nodded.
"The number goes on forever, but the sphere has only five rings, so that should be enough, if I'm right."
"And if you're not?" Frank asked.
"Well, then, Leo fall down, go boom. Let's find out!" He turned the rings, starting on the outside and moving in. Nothing happened. "I'm stupid," Leo mumbled. "Pi would expand outward, because it's infinite." When he aligned the last ring, something inside the sphere clicked. The door swung open. Leo beamed at his friends. "That, good people, is how we do things in Leo World. Come on in!"
"I hate Leo World," Frank muttered.
"You and I both." I grinned. Hazel laughed.