Bookmark (New and Improved)

Annabeth XVIII

So I had this whole chapter written out, posted it, then looked at it and said 'I hate the beginning' and deleted it. Here's the final edit of this chapter, hope you guys like it.

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Leo straggled behind the others far enough that he was able to duck into the nearest room without them noticing.

Inside was the most extravagant game room he'd ever seen. In the back, there was a sectional sofa facing a plasma-screen TV and shelves of different kinds of consoles and video games. Lined around the walls were old-school arcade games like Dragon's Lair, Pac-Man, and a few other titles Leo remembered the foster kids at Teresa's home talk about. In the center of the room, there were a ping-pong, fuse ball, and air hockey table lined side-by-side.

Seeing this room, Leo couldn't help but wonder why the gods would choose to take them to the boring dining room and not here. Sure the dining room was a good place to unwind and just talk, but if he could pick where to go for a break, this would've been his choice.

Then again, once Mr. D starts playing Pac-Man, he won't want to quit to read a book. Leo thought, recalling Percy mention the god's habit of playing the game.

Leo walked around the room, taking in the bright colors and noises.

He could imagine the demigods being reluctant to leave as well. He could almost see the Stolls playing against each other at fuse ball, trying to cheat, and somehow Katie would get roped in as the referee. The TV still had a Wii connected to it, maybe the Aphrodite Cabin would be playing Just Dance or Mario Party? That'd be crazy, the siblings would be yelling and shrieking the moment someone... Wait. Was that a Mythomagic arcade game? He wondered how a younger Nico DiAngelo would react to that. If he was anything like Percy and Thalia described, he would've probably went insa-

You're getting distracted. Leo reminded himself, snapping out of his thoughts. You don't have much time left before the others notice you're missing. He frowned. If they hadn't noticed already.

With this in mind, Leo pulled out the book from his toolbelt and flipped to the page he was reading in the morning. He painstakingly skimmed through the reading, until his eyes landed on the information he was looking for:

The Physician's Cure is a potion that can bring the dead back to life only if administered quickly. Leo grimaced. That's going to be hard to do. Deciding to think about it later, he continued reading. With the three ingredients, Pylosian mint, the chained god's heartbeat, and the Curse of Delos, Asclepius was the only known person to successfully cure death...

Leo paused and immediately dog-eared the page and rested the book on the ping-pong table. Taking out his notepad and pen, he wrote down the items, heart racing a mile a minute.

This is it. He found it. He actually did it! And to think, all he had to do was open a book and read! Leo couldn't help but smile at the simplicity of it. No finding cryptic immortals, no fighting monsters, no walking into traps! Just look for the answers in a book. It was a nice change of pace from his usual 'wing-it' method.

But how will I find this stuff? Leo slowly frowned, leaning over the table. What even are these things? The first one is easy, it's obviously some kind of plant, but the chained god's heartbeat? The Curse of Delos? Don't tell me the Curse of Delos is another potion with more ingredients I have to find...

Leo made a face at the thought.

Delos... Delos... He's sworn he heard that name before... Something about Apollo and Artemis?