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Leo VI

"Leo VI," Lacy read.

Riding Arion was the best thing that had happened to Leo all day

"Consider yourself lucky, Arion doesn't let just anyone ride him." Demeter told him. She then muttered to herself. "I wonder what he saw in Hazel..." The goddess supposed it could be because she was a daughter of Pluto, but then again, Arion didn't care for fancy titles.

—which wasn't saying much, since his day had sucked.

"Join the club..." Annabeth said. Pretty sure Future Annabeth's day is not going so well either.

The daughter of Athena frowned. Hope nothing bad happens when we're getting that tar.

The horse's hooves turned the surface of the lake to salty mist...For the first time, he understood why car engines were measured in horsepower. Arion was a four-legged Maserati.

Poseidon and Demeter were beaming with pride.

"A Maserati doesn't compare to how fast Arion can really be." Demeter boasted.

...Leo sat behind Hazel, one arm around her waist.

Aphrodite could barely contain herself as she burst out giggling. "I can see why Frank was nervous!"

"I had to do that if I didn't want to fall off the horse." Leo pointed out. "He was going so fast, I wasn't sure if I was going to fall off or fly forward."

"He is called 'The Fastest Being on Land' for a reason." Poseidon said with a smile.

The close contact made him a little uncomfortable, but it was the only way he could stay on board (or whatever you called it with a horse).

"It's called 'mounting'." Poseidon corrected.

Before they left, Percy had pulled him aside to tell him Hazel's story. Percy made it sound like he was just doing Leo a favor, but there'd been an undertone like If you mess with my friend, I will personally feed you to a great white shark.

Percy's jaw dropped as some of the other demigods winced.

"I would never do that to you!" he vehemently swore.

"I know that now," Leo assured him. "But you really acted like you were going to stick my head in a shark's mouth, when you went into your 'Black Manta' mode."

He named it after a super villain?  Percy cringed. "Look, I know we started off on the wrong foot, but I promise things will be better this time. You're a pretty cool guy, and I know we'll make a great team."

"Of course we will! We're fire and water, the best combination for taking down baddies." Leo snapped his fingers. "I know! We should come up with a team name! How about Sharkboy and Lava...boy..."

Leo and Percy both made a face.

"How about we just say we're a team, but don't give it a name." the son of Poseidon finally said.

According to Percy, Hazel was a daughter of Pluto. She'd died in the 1940s and been brought back to life only a few months.

Leo found that hard to believe. Hazel seemed warm and very alive, not like the ghosts or the other reborn mortals Leo had tangled with. She seemed good with people, too, unlike Leo, who was much more comfortable with machines. Living stuff, like horses and girls? He had no idea what made them work.