The Flaming Dove

Hi! I'm Amberfire3, dauther of Athena! I'm new here... so yeah. Leo is cool. So I made a story about him/Piper.

Chapter 1 -Leo
I was sitting in my room on the Argo II. It was a large, comfy room with a porthole window and lots of beanbags. I had tacked up lots of pictures of Jason, Piper and I on my walls, and the porthole had a clear view of Festus' head. But, even with this epic room, I was miserable. I had taken to locking myself in my room for hours at time, just to think, and (though it's hard to admit) sometimes cry. Since when did Flaming Valdez, supreme commander of the Argo II, become so... angsty?

Well, you see, when Jason's memories came back, so did mine. The Mist that had fogged up my brain for so long had lifted. And now I remember everything.

It was me who had become Piper's best friend at the Wilderness School.

It was me who had set fire to Coach Hedge's pants that memorable day.

And it was me who had gone up onto the dorm roof the night of the meteor shower and summoned the courage to kiss Piper.

When the memories filtered back, I stopped talking for a few days. I went into ultra-fixing mode, and that helped take my mind off of it. But they noticed, and asked me what was wrong. I was stubborn, and said 'Nothing' like it was no big deal. But I was burning inside.

Piper doesn't remember, I don't think. Lucky girl. I think Aphrodite was kind enough to make her stay in Mist-mode. As I pondered this, I summoned some scraps from my tool-belt absent-mindedly, and I was done before I realized what I was doing. I had made a small model of Festus' head.

I missed Festus. He was like a best friend to me. I was no longer a third wheel when he was around. We were in pairs: Piper and Jason, and Festus and I.

Wow. Creepy. I was paired up with an automaton, while Piper- Piper had her Jason.

I sat up on my beanbag at this. It was almost dinner. Dinner on the Argo II... It's pretty boring, though the food is first-class.

I exited my room, walked down the hallway and pushed open the Dining Room door.

Clarisse, Annabeth and Piper were already there, talking about what would happen at Camp Jupiter. Annabeth was twirling a gray strand in her hair, which I noticed she did when she was nervous or exited. Clarisse had her Doc Martens on the table and was picking at her teeth with a carving knife, which was normal. And Piper was chewing her lip. Man, she was cute when she chewed her lip.

"Hey, guys!" I exclaimed as I approached. "What's up?"

"Oh, you know, talking about the Romans..." Annabeth trailed off. "Leo, where have you been all day, anyway? You missed lunch!"

"Er, I was.. in the boiler room," I lied. "The fire was dying."

"So you gave it fire... all day?" Piper asked sceptically.

"Uh.. yeah. And I.. uh.. adjusted the Dubstep soundboard."

"Hmm." Annabeth wasn't buying it.

"So, any screaming men in purple togas yet?" I joked nervously.

"Leo, we're five days away from Camp Jupiter."

"I was kidding! Anyway, where're the others?"

"Well," Clarisse said. "Hedge is sleeping, Jason is sending an Iris-message to Thalia, and Connor, Travis and Grover are finishing their game of Guitar Hero. Pretty much like normal."

"Ah. When's the dinner bell going to-"

I was cut off by, obviously, the dinner bell. Connor, Travis, Grover and Jason wandered in all at different times, but Coach Hedge seemed to still be asleep. Good riddance. The cooks onboard, Mellie and Argus (who knew they were good at cooking?), presented their food, an odd mixture of cheeseburgers and fancy Italian pasta. As we all chomped down on our food, pretty soon the conversation turned to Percy Jackson and Camp Jupiter. I stopped listening.

Jason was doing most of the talking, obviously, but I didn't really care, to be honest. I caught words like 'senate' and 'Terminus' and 'praetor' and 'Reyna'. Wait.. who was Reyna? I hadn't heard her name in the conversations before.

"Reyna is praetor currently, unless she's stepped down, or been... killed. There might be another praetor by now, since I left, but I doubt it. I was praetor with Reyna, and you don't want to get on her bad side. But if you're her... friend, she should be okay."

Man, these talks were always boring. Or depressing, like yesterday, when Jason had told us about Camp Jupiter's feelings for Greeks. About how they would probably kill us without explanation.

But as I watched Jason, I saw how his face sort of.. lit up whenever he mentioned this Reyna girl.

Hmm... this could be fun. I had never seen Piper jealous before. And, maybe, just maybe, she'd come to me instead of him. I had a lot of grudges against Jason. He stole Piper from me, he was Roman, so he got all the attention, even though he is kind of... dim. And he's always so... perfect. He'd sacrifice anything for his friends...? Psh, yeah right. I can tell when something's just an act. He's the son of the King of the Gods, for goodness sake! They'd be talking about him for years, and I'd just be his trusty sidekick, Flaming Valdez, the dangerous fire guy who had a magic tool belt.

As I watched the others natter away, I thought to myself, when am I gonna get some glory over here?

Chapter 2- Piper
"And Reyna is a daughter of Bellona, the war godess, so she's good in a fight. But she might be persuaded to kill us. Piper, maybe you should use charmspeak," Jason was saying, "and persuade them to hear us out."

"Huh?" I was so distracted by how hot Jason looked that I barely heard what he'd said. I saw Leo rolling his eyes on the far side of the table. I focused on the task.

"So, you want me to charmspeak the Romans?" I asked.

"Um, yeah. We should have Leo make a bullhorn again, and you can tell them to drop their weapons and that we want to talk."

"Okay, let me try," I said eagerly. When they nodded, I cooed in my most charm-speaky voice, "Drop your weapons. We come in peace. We want to talk with you."

Clarisse dropped her carving knife on the table. I winced. I had forgotten how weak Clarisse was when it came to charm-speaking.

"Hey, Clarisse, snap out of it," I whispered. She jerked and looked around wildly.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Clarisse exclaimed. She picked up her knife and smiled sheepishly.

"Okay.. maybe I should practice in my room," I said. "I'm done with my food anyway." I walked out of the Dining Room. I avoided my room, though, and went to the front of the ship and stared down at the states of America that were whizzing past. I felt so at peace when I stood there, like I was meditating or something.

"Hey Piper!"

I jumped. Then I realized it was only Leo. I grinned and faced him.

"What do you want, Valdez?"

"Nothing. I like coming up here to be with Festus. Sometimes, I swear, he talks to me!"

I was surprised and stared him in the eye. "Really?

"Nah, I'm just messing with ya. Breath mint?" he asked, pulling a packet from his toolbelt. I laughed. Breath mints seemed to be his signature object.

"No thanks. I'd better get back to my room, and practice my charm-speaking," I answered. Leo looked disappointed, somehow.

"Hey, Leo, are you OK?"

"Huh? Um, yeah, I'm.. fine."

I could tell he was lying. He fiddled with some gears and wrenches, like he did when he was nervous.

"What's wrong, Leo?" I wondered out loud.

"Er.. nothing, Piper. Nothing.." he replied. I wasn't convinced.

"Seriously. What's-"

Then he kissed me.

His lips were so warm, like I was kissing a fire. Fireworks exploded in my brain, bringing back memories that weren't there before. Leo, setting fire to Hedge's pants. Leo, laughing with me about some stupid joke. Leo, kissing me on the dorm roof... For one blissful moment, everything was perfect.

But what about Jason? I thought. Sweet, kind Jason...

I came to my senses and pushed Leo away. His dark, laughing eyes were serious and sad.

"Piper- I'm so.."

"Leave me alone, please. Just.. go away," I pleaded. His gaze hardened.

"Is this about Jason?" Leo spat the name with contempt. I didn't answer and stormed off. Then I paused. Jason himself was standing off to the side with a stony face, glaring at Leo. He had obviously seen the whole thing.

He didn't see me, so I ran off to my room, and slammed the door. Then I started crying. Luckily, Leo had made the room soundproof, like all the rooms on the ship. I looked at every photo plastered on my wall. Most of them were of the three of us- Leo, Jason and I- but I had a few photos of just Jason, and one of Leo and I.

The door eased open with a creak. I got up hastily, all ready to slam the door in the face of Leo- or Jason- when I found myself staring into the calculating gray eyes of Annabeth.

"Hey," she murmured. "I saw what happened. Can I... come in?"

I was stunned. "Um, sure, I guess. Though I don't really want to talk about it."

"Talking about things helps you get over them. Well, it works for me, anyway."

She entered the room and sat on one of my hot-pink chairs.

"So, how did it happen?"

"Well.. um... we were just joking around and then I said that I'd better get back to my room to practice charm-speaking, and he didn't seem very happy. So I asked him what was wrong and... he just.. kissed me."

"Hmmm. But did you want to kiss him?"

"I- I- I don't know. You remember the story about Jason kissing me on the dorm roof and how it was just the Mist messing with me?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, it happened, but not with Jason. It was Leo."

"Ah. I see."

"So I'm not sure if I should like Jason, or Leo, or neither..."

"Maybe it's just your mom messing up your life," Annabeth mused.

"I don't think she would.."

"My mom didn't want me to date Percy, maybe your mom doesn't like Jason so much."

"Oh yeah?" I wasn't entirely convinced. But the thought of the fireworks with Leo made up my mind. He was cute after all, he was funny and sweet...

"Um, I think I'll call it a night."

"Okay. Just remember, if you want to talk about it, I'm always here." And with that, Annabeth left my room.

I collapsed onto my rose-colored water bed.

Mom, why do you make everything so complicated?

Chapter 3- Leo
I blew it. I am such an idiot! Why did I have to kiss her? And if I did, why didn't I check to see if Jason was watching?

I cursed myself while I lounged on a beanbag in my room. I had locked the door and the windows- just to make sure. I didn't realize I was crying until a tear fell off my nose and onto my hand.

Piper had held onto the kiss for a second there... Who am I kidding? I thought. She probably never wants to see me again. I sighed loudly and hoped Piper would hear me so she would see how sorry I felt. Then I remembered that I had made the room soundproof.

What had my father said in that dream many months ago, when we were still on our quest? Something about not working well with organic life forms?

Great, I thought. That gene is hereditary.

I checked the clock on my bedside table, which read 7:05. It was way too early to go to sleep, but I didn't want to be forced to go back to the Dining Room and plan what to do at Camp Jupiter, so I sunk into my foam matress and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

I dreamed I was back at the front of the Argo II. Piper was right there, but whenever I talked to her or touched her she turned to smoke. I called for help but the winds picked up and were so intense I couldn't say or do anything for fear of being carried overboard. I spotted Jason manipulating the winds nearby, so I summoned fire and blasted it at him, and he just blew it away with the winds, and Piper was yelling at us both to stop and then- the dream changed.

I was in a cave. It wasn't, like, a regular cave that was covered with moss and bones and stuff, but it was a luxury cave, if that exists. The walls were clean and moss-free, and the floor was covered in mismatched carpets. There was a door with curtains that had snakes on them. And there was a girl sitting on a white couch in the middle of the room.

The girl was about my age, maybe a little older, with a shock of bright red, curly hair and green eyes. Her face was covered in freckles and she was tall and slim. She was wearing a bright green t-shirt with the words 'Art is Life' on it and there were marker doodles all over her jeans. She smiled at me and said, "Hello, Leo, my name is Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Er, I sort of hijacked your dream, is that okay?"

I nodded dumbly. I had seen her before, at a couple of campfires, and I knew who she was. I mean, she had recited the prophecy that made me go on the quest with Piper and Jason! She looked different in daylight, though.

"Uh, hi. Why am I here, exactly, Rachel?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. Um, yesterday I made a prophecy."

"And...?"

"It went like this:

Son of fire, beware the sky,

The dove will fall by lightning's eye

And only magic will heal a heart

So for the dove, the flame departs

The eagle sinks in his despair

While fire and dove sail the ship in the air."

"Oh. Wow. Did you say something about the dove.. falling?" I asked. A terrible thought ran through me: Piper was the dove.

"Yeah. Um, I don't know what it means either, but I'm pretty sure fire represents Hephaestus, the dove represents Aphrodite and lightning and eagles are symbols of Zeus. I know you're ADHD, Leo, so I've written it down for you, in case you forget it. And I know you're terrified of the prophecy, and I am too. I don't want anyone to fall, or sink, or whatever. So make sure you-"

But I heard a horrifying, disturbing scream and Rachel vanished. I knew it was Piper. I was back in my room and Piper was in trouble.

The prophecy, written in clear printing, was in my hand. I pocketed it and sneaked a look at my clock as I hurriedly rushed out the door, still putting on my tool-belt. It was 4:32 am. I rushed out to the main deck and kept myself hidden, just in case. Then I saw them.

Jason was holding her down at her neck with his new sword. She was still in her white nightgown and her hair was a mess. Her eyes looked around wildly.

"Don't move or even think about screaming again. And don't charmspeak me either, or I swear I'll do it!" he whispered. I was stunned. Why would Jason want to kill Piper?

I pulled out a gigantic hammer from my tool-belt and readied myself for charging at him. Then I realized that it would be a stupid thing to do. Jason would see me and instantly kill Piper. No, the best thing to do would be to go to Annabeth and Argus. They would do something.

But I really just wanted to go over there and defend her. She would probably be killed soon anyway. So, I did the stupidest thing I have ever done in my entire life. I charged.

I was lucky Jason didn't see me at first, or else I'd have died straight away. Piper gave me away when I was right next to him. She looked at me with wide eyes and Jason looked where she was staring. His eyes found mine. I had the advantage of surprise, so I knocked him on the head with full force. The blow should have made him pass out, but he stayed standing with his sword to Piper's throat.

"Ha," he said, his ice-blue eyes flashing. "You think your stupid hammer is going to knock me out? Please, Leo, will you ever learn?"

"Let go of Piper," I hissed. "What has she ever done to you?"

"Oh, the usual stuff. Like betraying me and running of with Flaming Valdez."

"Hey, she didn't 'run off' with me. If you actually asked her, she would tell you that I kissed her, and she ran away from me because she didn't want to betray you. Let her go, do whatever you like with me!" I pleaded.

"Nice try, Valdez. I can tell she likes you. Only the Mist tied her to me."

Then he shot a gust of freezing wind at me. I don't know how, but I was suddenly paralyzed by the wind, and I couldn't move when Jason lifted Piper up and tossed her over the edge of the ship. I could see her falling down, her screams lost to the wind.

No! I wanted to scream. I couldn't believe my eyes. Piper, oh Piper...

It was all my fault. Why did I have to kiss her?

I found I could move again, and Jason didn't stop me when I ran to the edge of the ship and jumped.

Chapter 4- Piper
I was such an idiot. I couldn't sleep with the guilt, so I had slipped a note under Jason's door at 4:25, bearing the words: 'Meet me at the main deck in five minutes. I'm sorry. There's something important that I have to tell you.'

He came at 4:30 exactly, but he looked different. He was holding his sword, and there was a steely glint in his blue eyes.

"Jason, what's wrong?" I had asked him.

"Oh, nothing," he had replied non-chalantly. "Just my heart breaking into two-million pieces."

That's when he had pinned me down with his sword. I had screamed so loudly I was sure someone would hear it. But no one came. I was so sure I was about to die when I spotted Leo sneaking towards Jason, a gigantic hammer in his hands. I tried not to stare at him or give him away, but it was like someone had said, "You have to not look at that guy". So, of course, I looked straight at him.

I was such a fool. And now I was plummeting towards the Earth from a height of about 10,000 feet. I screamed and screamed but no one heard. The winds had taken my voice.

Now I realized how evil Jason was. Was he going to go back to his room and pretend he didn't know anything? Was he going to stay there and say Leo had jumped off the Argo II with me in his arms and there was nothing he could do to save her?

He had pretty much killed the girl he loved as payback for loving someone else. Normal boys would have cried or given her the cold shoulder, but no, Jason just had to go all out and try to murder her.

I couldn't look down, so I looked up instead. Instead of seeing a warship grow farther and farther away from me, I saw Leo. Leo?

He was about 100 feet above me, screaming wildly, and he was holding something in his arms. It was a couple of brightly colored pieces of fabric with strings attached. Then I realized they were parachutes.

We were almost at the ground. There was no point in passing me the parachute.

But he did, and I miraculously caught it. I fumbled with the straps 200 feet above the ground, then I released the parachute. I floated down easily and landed- well, I didn't know where we were. It was the middle of a forest, and it was getting light. An owl hooted in his tree.

Leo was almost at the ground, but then he crash-landed and sat in a crumpled heap.

"Leo!" I shouted. "Oh gods, oh gods, oh gods..."

I ran towards him, and I saw that he had landed on a mangled tree stump. I hauled him off of it, but he was bleeding. A lot. Apparently an extremely sharp twig had pierced him right in his chest. Right at his heart.

I knew that no tree would actually have a twig incidentally in that exact spot. This was the work of some god.

The body in my hands moaned. Leo was still alive!

'Ambrosia and nectar," I murmured. He was thankfully still wearing his toolbelt. I asked it for amrosia and nectar, but nothing came out. I repeated the order. Still nothing. Maybe the belt was still cooling down from the parachutes, or maybe it just couldn't produce magical items.

"A bandage, then," I whispered. I reached into the belt and pulled it out. I wrapped it around the wound as best I could, but I wasn't Apollo's daughter. I couldn't do anything.

His heart was still beating, though it was uneven. That wasn't a good sign.

Then I saw something sticking out of Leo's jeans. A piece of paper, written on in clear printing. A prophecy. I read it hurriedly. I gasped.

Son of fire, beware the sky,

The dove will fall by lightning's eye

That came true, didn't it? I thought, intrigued. I'm the dove, Leo's the son of fire, Jason's the eagle, it all fits...

I was interrupted when someone coughed. I looked up.

It was a woman in dark robes, with a dog and a polecat beside her. She had an exotic face, dark yet beautiful. She was holding two torches in her hands. I remembered something from my Greek mythology reseach with my father.

"Hecate. Goddess of Magic, and Crossroads. Mother of Circe."

"Yes, child," Hecate said. Her voice was honey smooth. "Your friend, the son of Hephaestus, he's hurt."

Duh! I wanted to shout. But it was a goddess, so I stayed calm.

"Yes, ma'am. He landed on a branch and it scratched his heart, I think. I don't have nectar or ambrosia, and I'm not sure even that will work.."

"No, child, it won't work. That branched was cursed by.. ah yes.. Zeus himself. Only very powerful magic will heal that wound."

Leo moaned again. "You mean to say," I said, my voice shaking, "that he will die?"

"No, no, you don't understand. I am the goddess of magic. Only I can heal that wound. But why should I?" Hecate slyly looked me over. Her dog barked loudly.

I had nothing with me except the clothes on my back and Leo's toolbelt. I had even been stupid enough not to bring my sword! There wasn't anything I could give the goddess. Unless..

"I- I'll give you my power.. to charm-speak."

"Really? Now, what would I do with that? I'm sorry dear, but if there is nothing you can give me..."

I sobbed. Hecate turned.

"Actually, there is something you can give me..."

She walked back to me and a bottle appeared in her hands. She bent over and collected a couple of tears in the bottle.

"Demigod tears. All I needed to complete my newest potion!"

I was confused. "Why couldn't you just go up to a demigod and ask them for their tears yourself? I mean, you're a goddess, you can do anything.."

"Ah, but Piper, the cause of the tears has to be for love. Real, true love."

And with a snap of her fingers, the wound in Leo's chest closed. He jolted awake, mumbling about falling.

"Goodbye now, dear child. I must remind you not to go looking for Jason. With your luck, he will find you."

With one twirl of her torches, the goddess dissolved into gold sparks, her dog and polecat growling one last time before bursting into flame.

Leo stared at me.

"Pipes, what happened?"

Chapter 5- Leo
coming soon