Leo managed a crooked grin. "Time to fly, boys and girls," he said. "Uncle Leo's still got a few tricks up his sleeves!"
"Never say that again."
"You know you love it."
Of course when we wanted just one (ONLY ONE) cruisy sail on the Argo II, hungry harpies attacked the ship. When the commotion began I had been downstairs, restocking everything for my medkit. Inside my book from Apollo bookmarked at the more important pages, the ambrosia filling up plastic bags and bottles of nectar lined in little clear grabbers along the case of the medkit. Fresh bandages and washcloths were folded ready to be used. My best guess was that we'd be getting lots of concussions and bleeding, so that's what I was ready for. It's always good to expect the unexpected though, especially as a demigod, so I had a couple of spare secrets to help me.
The Greek landscape below was just as inhospitable as the freaky harpies. I stomped up the stairs, dust flying off of each step that I stood on. I tried not to leap off the edge of the Argo II to observe below.
The hills were strewn with boulders and stunted cedars, all shimmering in the hazy air. The sun beat down as if trying to hammer the countryside into a Celestial bronze shield.
"Hot and steamy!" Leo grinned at the helm. "Makes me homesick for Houston! What do you say, Hazel? All we need now are some giant mosquitoes, and it'll feel just like the Gulf Coast!"
"Thanks a lot, Leo," Hazel grumbled. "We'll probably get attacked by Ancient Greek mosquito monsters now."
"There!" As usual, di Angelo was perched atop the foremast. He pointed toward a glittering green river snaking through the hills a kilometer away. "Maneuver us that way. We're close to the temple. Very close." As if to prove his point, black lightning ripped through the sky.
Jason strapped on his sword belt. "Everyone, arm yourself. Leo, get us close, but don't land—no more contact with the ground than necessary. Piper, Hazel, Y/N, get the mooring ropes."
"On it!" Piper said. Hazel gave Frank a peck on the cheek and ran to help.
"Frank," Jason called, "get below and find Coach Hedge."
"Yep!"
After we grabbed the mooring ropes and slumped them into a pile in the vicinity of Leo, my stomach lurched forward signifying our descent.
"Y/N, come here real quick." Leo beckoned me over. I approached him with a confused frown.
"Yes Valdez?"
"Do you know about Frank's lifeline being tied to a piece of wood–?"
"Oh, I–"
"Because I was thinking we should use some of that magical material that you and Calypso invented to keep it safe."
"We didn't invent it, Leo, and I–"
"Great! They'll be glad. Could you go fast the aerial moorings with the others now please? We don't want to float away mid battle."
As we secured the aerial moorings, Piper pointed over the landscape. She had found the source of the freaky dark lightning. A few hundred meters away at the top of the nearest hill stood a cluster of ruins. They didn't look like much— just some crumbling walls encircling the limestone shells of a few buildings— but from somewhere within the ruins, tendrils of black ether curled into the sky, like a smoky squid peeking from its cave.
"Hey, guys!" Piper called to the trio of Hazel, Leo and Frank. "Better get over here. You need to see this."
"The Necromanteion," Nico said. "The House of Hades."
Piper hugged her arms. "I feel vulnerable floating up here like this. Couldn't we set down in the river?"
w"I wouldn't," Hazel said. "That's the River Acheron."
Jason squinted in the sunlight. "I thought the Acheron was in the Underworld."
"It is," Hazel said. "But its headwaters are in the mortal world. That river below us? Eventually it flows underground, straight into the realm of Pluto—er, Hades. Landing a demigod ship on those waters—"
"Yeah, let's stay up here," Leo decided. "I don't want any zombie water on my hull."
Half a kilometer downstream, some fishing boats were puttering along. Next to Frank, Nico di Angelo raised the scepter of Diocletian. Its orb glowed with purple light, as if in sympathy with the dark storm.
"So, uh, Nico..." Frank gestured at the scepter. "Have you learned to use that thing?"
"We'll find out." Nico stared at the tendrils of darkness undulating from the ruins. "I don't intend to try until I have to. The Doors of Death are already working overtime bringing in Gaea's monsters. Any more activity raising the dead, and the Doors might shatter permanently, leaving a rip in the mortal world that can't be closed."
Coach Hedge grunted. "I hate rips in the world. Let's go bust some monster heads."
"Real." I murmured.
"Coach, you should stay on board, cover us with the ballistae."
Hedge frowned. "Stay behind? Me? I'm your best soldier!"
"We might need air support," Frank said. "Like we did in Rome. You saved our braccae."
"Well..." he grumbled, "I suppose somebody's got to save your braccae."
Jason clapped the coach on the shoulder. "Y/N, do you have everything we need?"
"Yes, I'll be on the sidelines ready to help if you're badly injured."
"Which I will be." Leo assured me.
Jason nodded appreciatively. "So that's settled. Everybody else—let's get to the ruins. Time to crash Gaea's party."
Despite the midday heat and the raging storm of death energy, a group of tourists was climbing over the ruins. I had to give prompts to them because even though I had unstoppable tourist tendencies, I knew when to stop and give myself a break. Fortunately there weren't many, and they didn't give us demigods a second look.
Nico led the way.
At the top of the hill, we climbed over an old retaining wall and down into an excavated trench. Finally we arrived at a stone doorway leading straight into the side of the hill.
The death storm seemed to originate right above our heads. Nico faced the group.
"From here, it gets tough."
"Sweet," Leo said. "'Cause so far I've totally been pulling my punches."
Nico glared at him. "We'll see how long you keep your sense of humor. Remember, this is where pilgrims came to commune with dead ancestors. Underground, you may see things that are hard to look at, or hear voices trying to lead you astray in the tunnels. Frank, do you have the barley cakes?"
"What?"
"I've got the cakes," Hazel said.
"Eat up," Nico advised.
"Yum," Piper said. Even the daughter of Aphrodite couldn't avoid making a face. I resisted the extremely strong urge to gag.
"Okay." Nico choked down the last of his barley. "That should protect us from the poison."
"Poison?" I asked.
"Did I miss the poison? 'Cause I love poison." Leo jittered.
"Soon enough," Nico promised. "Just stick close together, and maybe we can avoid getting lost or going insane."
On that happy note, Nico led us underground.
YOU ARE READING
YOU ARE IN LOVE ↬ leo valdez x reader, book 2
Fanfiction"pauses, then says 'youre my best friend'; and you knew what it was, he is in love" [Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall. An oath to keep with a final breath, And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. A heal...
