Bunker 9 didn't look so bad at first glance.
It didn't.
At least, that's what Piper thinks. On the outside, it's a normal bunker. Inside, it's much the same, except that it's filled with the unfinished inventions of Cabin 9.
Unless, of course, you go through it part by part.
For starters, no one has cleaned up the blood from any of Leo's suicide attempts, giving the place a rather strange smell. Then, there are still the weapons (the knife and the gun) lying around. And finally, the drawers.
Yes, the drawers. At first glance, they don't look murky at all. Just normal drawers. Until you open them and see what's in there.
The first to find something is Jason.
"Aww, that's Leo as a little boy with his mom." He says, smiling a little. She and Frank walk over to look, and sure enough, it's a picture of Leo with his mom. The Latino boy was no older than 7, while his mother looked to be in her mid-twenties. They were smiling at each other as they sat in a garage.
Out of curiosity, Piper keeps rummaging through the drawer, and comes across multiple newspapers. The first one contains the name of Leo's mother, Esperanza Valdez, but the rest are from later events. Of all the headlines, these are the ones that stand out the most to them.
"One dead in Houston, Texas fire."
"11-year-old girl brutally run over by a car in Atlanta, Georgia".
"Woman arrested for child abuse in the state of Colorado after the murder of two of her adopted children."
"Um, guys...?" Piper points to the newspapers, and both Jason and Frank are left confused.
Frank grabs the first note, and reads it aloud. "On August 3rd of this year, there was a large scale fire in a small home in a town in the city of Houston, in the state of Texas. According to firefighters, the fire had been caused by a gas leak coming from the kitchen, which had not been detected in time. However, according to Rosa Valdez, sister of the deceased Esperanza Valdez, the fire had been set by Esperanza's only son, eight-year-old Leo Valdez. The police..."
Frank continues reading another bit, but the three fall silent. Jason and Piper look at each other for a few moments, confused. Leo had told them that his mother died in a building collapse, not a fire, much less one that was possibly set by himself.
Jason reads the first paragraph of the following note. "This March 4, the orphan Charlotte Bermejo was found dead in front of the Atlanta, Georgia Aquarium. Witnesses claim Charlotte was hit by a car while trying to escape with food stolen from the Aquarium."
Piper grabs the third note, and examines it for a few seconds before reading it. "Yesterday, Teresa Perkins was arrested in the state of Colorado two weeks after the murder of two of her adopted children. Neighbors claim that her other two adopted sons, whose names they declined to give, had fled days before the murder and that both bore marks of beatings all over their bodies."
The three look at each other, and the first questions begin to come out.
"Why did Leo have these papers?" Piper asks. "I mean, I guess I can understand the first one, but the other two? What would that have to do with anything?"
Jason and Frank don't know what to answer, but the Canadian seems to have another question on his mind.
"The girl who was run over, Charlotte... it was in front of the Atlanta Aquarium. That's where Forcis and Keto are." Frank points out. "Wouldn't it be possible that the girl was a wild demigoddess of some important god?"
Jason shakes his head. "If she was, it wouldn't have been Forcis and Keto who killed her. According to Percy, Forcis and Keto were banished to the aquarium after the second war against the Titans." He explains. (A/N: I'm not sure about this last one, but that's what the Rick Riordan fandom Wiki says, so I'll assume so)
"What worries me most is the reason he kept these. Maybe these people would have something to do with him?" Piper questions, and none of them want to assume the worst.
"We'd better finish examining the place and take anything that would be dangerous to Leo instead of calling on his ghosts." Frank suggests and all three nod.
They stow the gun and knife in nylon bags, but leave the newspapers in the drawers despite the strangeness of Leo keeping them.
They leave Bunker 9 in silence, not wanting to have to think of any more questions than they already have.
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A/N: I meant to update in the wee hours of the morning, but my house alarm went off because of a frog at 3am and I forgot. So, here it is!
