DAYLIGHT ↬ leo valdez x reader

26. burning red

The room was about the size of the forge back at Camp Half-Blood, with bronze-topped worktables along the walls, and baskets full of ancient metalworking tools. Dozens of bronze and gold spheres like steampunk basketballs sat around in various stages of disassembly. Loose gears and wiring littered the floor. Thick metal cables ran from each table toward the back of the room, where there was an enclosed loft like a theater's sound booth. Stairs led up to the booth on either side. All the cables seemed to run into it. Next to the stairs on the left, a row of cubbyholes was filled with leather cylinders—probably ancient scroll cases. Flanking the doorway were two armored manikins—like skeletal scarecrows made from bronze pipes, outfitted with full suits of Roman armor, shield and sword.

"Dude." Leo walked up to one. "These would be awesome if they worked."
Frank edged away from the manikins. "Those things are going to come alive and attack us, aren't they?"
Leo laughed. "Not a chance. They aren't complete." He tapped the nearest manikin's neck, where loose copper wires sprouted from underneath its breastplate. "Look, the head's wiring has been disconnected. And here, at the elbow, the pulley system for this joint is out of alignment. My guess? The Romans were trying to duplicate a Greek design, but they didn't have the skill."

Hazel arched her eyebrows. "The Romans weren't good enough at being complicated, I suppose."
"Or delicate," Frank added.
"Or sophisticated."
"Hey, I just call it like I see it."
"We Greeks did come first." I admitted.
Leo jiggled the manikin's head, making it nod like it was agreeing with us.

"Still...a pretty impressive try. I've heard legends that the Romans confiscated the writings of Archimedes, but—"
"Archimedes?" Hazel looked baffled. "Wasn't he an ancient mathematician or something?"
Leo laughed. "He was a lot more than that. He was only the most famous son of Hephaestus who ever lived."

Frank scratched his ear. "I've heard his name before, but how can you be sure this manikin is his design?"
"It has to be!" Leo said. "Look, I've read all about Archimedes. He's a hero to Cabin Nine. The dude was Greek, right? He lived in one of the Greek colonies in southern Italy, back before Rome got all huge and took over. Finally the Romans moved in and destroyed his city. The Roman general wanted to spare Archimedes, because he was so valuable—sort of like the Einstein of the ancient world—but some stupid Roman soldier killed him."

"There you go again," Hazel muttered.
"Stupid and Roman don't always go together, Leo." Frank grunted agreement. "How do you know all this, anyway?" he demanded. "Is there a Spanish tour guide around here?"
"No, man," Leo said. "You can't be a demigod who's into building stuff and not know about Archimedes. The guy was seriously elite. He calculated the value of pi. He did all this math stuff we still use for engineering. He invented a hydraulic screw that could move water through pipes."

Hazel scowled. "A hydraulic screw. Excuse me for not knowing about that awesome achievement."
"He also built a death ray made of mirrors that could burn enemy ships," Leo said. "Is that awesome enough for you?"
"I saw something about that on TV," Frank admitted. "They proved it didn't work."
"Ah, that's just because modern mortals don't know how to use Celestial bronze," Leo said. "That's the key. Archimedes also invented a massive claw that could swing on a crane and pluck enemy ships out of the water."
"Okay, that's cool," Frank admitted. "I love grabber-arm games."

"Well, there you go," Leo said. "Anyway, all his inventions weren't enough. The Romans destroyed his city. Archimedes was killed. According to legends, the Roman general was a big fan of his work, so he raided Archimedes's workshop and carted a bunch of souvenirs back to Rome. They disappeared from history, except..." Leo waved his hands at the stuff on the tables. "Here they are."
"Metal basketballs?" Hazel asked. I nodded in understanding, though I'm not sure I really did.

"Guys, Archimedes constructed spheres. The Romans couldn't figure them out. They thought they were just for telling time or following constellations, because they were covered with pictures of stars and planets. But that's like finding a rifle and thinking it's a walking stick."
"Leo, the Romans were top-notch engineers," Hazel reminded him. "They built aqueducts, roads—"
"Siege weapons," Frank added.
"Public sanitation."
"Yeah, fine," Leo said. "But Archimedes was in a class by himself. His spheres could do all sorts of things, only nobody is sure..." Leo's whole head perked up and his nose burst into flames. I didn't have time to question it as he ran to the row of cubbyholes and examined the markings on the scroll cases. "Oh, gods. This is it!" He gingerly lifted out one of the scrolls. He quickly shoved it at me and I quickly read part of the inscription out loud, presumably because he didn't understand it.

"Building Spheres?"
"Guys, this is the lost book!" His hands were shaking. "Archimedes wrote this, describing his construction methods, but all the copies were lost in ancient times. If Y/N can translate this..." Was this my power? My discovery of a secret weapon? My natural fluency in Ancient Greek was really going to change the world of engineering. Great. "The secrets of Archimedes," he murmured. "Guys, this is bigger than Daedalus's laptop. If there's a Roman attack on Camp Half-Blood, these secrets could save the camp. They might even give us an edge over Gaea and the giants!"

Hazel and Frank glanced at each other skeptically. "Okay," Hazel said. "We didn't come here for a scroll, but I guess we can take it with us."
"Assuming," Frank added, "that you don't mind sharing its secrets with us stupid uncomplicated Romans."
"What?" Leo stared at him blankly. "No. Look, I didn't mean to insult— Ah, never mind. The point is this is good news!"

On the table next to Hazel and Frank, one of the orbs clicked and whirred. A row of spindly legs extended from its equator. The orb stood, and two bronze cables shot out of the top, hitting Hazel and Frank like Taser wires. Frank's body tumbled at me knocking me onto them as well.
"Frank!" I exhaled. We were crumpled on the floor. Leo lunged to help us but the two armored manikins that couldn't possibly move did move. They drew their swords and stepped toward Leo. The one on the left turned its crooked helmet, which was shaped like a wolf's head. Despite the fact that it had no face or mouth, a familiar hollow voice spoke from behind its visor.

"You cannot escape us, Leo Valdez," it said. "We do not like possessing machines, but they are better than tourists. You will not leave here alive."
"Are you kidding me?" I seethed.

➻ AUTHOR's NOTE
 this chapter will possibly be extended with the next thing i write but i wanted to know how big of a chapter is too big? during my editing im going to compile the beginning chapters (that are barely more than 1000 words) together but this chapter was meant to go in the last part (making it over 4000 words) i just want enough space to fit each of the lyrics as titles. love u all