LEO

~•♡•~

Aruna crashed into Leo. He grunted as he was knocked flat onto his back, with Aruna on top of him. Her smile was manic and her eyes were wide, her hand on either side of Leo's head. He felt his heart racing as Aruna panted.

"Leo, you are not gonna fucking believe this."

"Being pinned is kind of hot, but maybe not when I'm trying to land our ship?"

"Oops. I forgot you were doing that."

Aruna stood and yanked Leo up quickly. His head rushed and he stumbled a bit as Aruna caught him again, her eyes eager as she bounced a little bit, clearly excited. Leo was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Aruna had pulled him up the way Frank could pick up cannonballs- like they were nothing. He quickly manned the helm and steered the ship carefully as Aruna appeared by his side, cupping her hand over his ear.

"Remember coach's cloud nymph girlfriend, Mellie?"

Leo nodded.

"She's pregnant."

Leo nearly crashed the ship. He swerved, making several of his comrades take a tumble. Leo heard Aruna snickering as everyone rolled around like marbles dropped from the pouch. Leo managed to right his path just before he drove the ship into a cliff face.

"LEO!" Jason howled.

"Sorry man! She bited my dick!"

"NO!" Piper shrieked.

Aruna snickered as Leo turned to her, his eyes wide with shock. Aruna bit her lip and bounced nervously and Leo just shook his head.

"Like... like it's his?"

"Mm-hmm!"

"And..." Leo almost gagged, but then grinned and nodded. "Damn, coach. I didn't know he had it in him."

"Technically, he had it in her."

"Okay, I'm never getting that image out of my head." Leo shook his head violently, as if trying to shake the image free from his mind.

He glanced at Aruna. She was walking around aimlessly, looking out at the bleak scenery. Everything seemed so dead and cold, yet so hot and lively. Leo faced forward, and saw the ruins of the House of Hades.

He felt sick suddenly. He didn't want to go in. Not at all. He didn't want Aruna to go in, either. He couldn't have things go wrong, he couldn't have failure, or gods know what else. He couldn't have Aruna getting thrown into more danger.

But he also knew he couldn't talk her out of it. Aruna felt like it was her fault that Percy and Annabeth had fallen into Tartarus. Quite literally, they'd slipped right out of her grasp. It would only make sense that she felt the most obligated to march straight to the Doors of Death and bring her friends back.

"Hey, moon child?"

"Yes, wrench spawn?"

Leo huffed in amusement. It dissipated however, as he began parking the ship midair. Aruna froze suddenly, then marched towards Leo, her eyebrows knit in concern.

"Don't do anything stupid," Leo pleaded. "Please?"

Aruna scoffed. "Leo, I-"

"Aruna."

She stared at him. Leo didn't usually use her full name. Something about it felt more serious when he said it, more meaningful. Aruna stared at him sadly and nodded. She took his hand in her own, giving it a tight squeeze. As Leo traced his thumb over her hand, he could feel the dozens of tiny scars she had. They were barely visible with the eye, but they practically screamed a thousand curses with a single touch.

"Okay." She nodded. "You can't, either."

Leo smiled at her and nodded. "Promise."

He kissed her. He hadn't done it in the open before, in front of all their friends. Something about it felt nice; it felt like he was gloating, proving that this wasn't a lie. He had witnesses, almost. people who could see that Leo had set out for a mission in December, and he had accomplished it.

He wooed her.

~•♡•~

They'd found the source of the dark lightning. The Argo II hovered directly above the river. 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. As Leo watched, a bolt of dark energy ripped through the air, rocking the ship and sending a cold shockwave across the landscape. Next to him, aruna glowered at the ruins.

"The Necromanteion," Nico said. "The House of Hades."

Frank steadied himself at the rail. Leo stole a glance, seeing his nervous and guarded expression. Leo glanced at Aruna, and she looked similar.

Leo stared at the ruins. He knew it was too late to turn back. So many times during the quest, he'd considered just straight up turning around and not telling anyone. This was ridiculous! He was sixteen! Most sixteen-year-olds have a nice party for their birthday, get a new car, eat a shit ton of junk food, and hang out with their friends.

Leo was praying his girlfriend didn't die in an hour.

Leo almost wanted to cry, but he also wanted to laugh. Everything about this quest was ridiculous, in every possible capacity. On Leo's fifteenth birthday, he was running away from a foster home, and sleeping under the Houston bridge. He thought that was a crazy way to celebrate a birthday.

Only one year, and so much crazy stuff had happened. He found out he was demigod. He found out one of his best friends wasn't actually his best friend for several months, but some random other demigod with amnesia. He built a warship. He met a cute girl (and she liked him back???). He got caught up in a New York riot. He met a dude that disliked him hugely and could turn into a dung beetle. He met a girl that could steal the crown jewels if she really wanted to. He met a girl who could judo flip him into the Han dynasty. He met a guy that dove into the Charleston harbor just for the hell of it. He had a dwarf call him short. He found an Archimedes sphere. He met a child-eating demon with some serious neurological issues.

Average experiences in your sophomore year, right?

Piper hugged her arms. "I feel vulnerable floating up here like this. Couldn't we just set down in the river?"

"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 answered, "but its headwaters are in the mortal world. That river below us? Eventually it flows 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 mile downstream, some fishing boats were puttering along. Leo guessed they didn't know or care about the history of the river. It must be wonderful to be a regular mortal.

Next to frank, Nico di Angelo raised the scepter of Diocletian. Its orb glowed with purple light, as if in sympathy of the dark storm. As cool looking as it was, Leo had terrible vibes from it. If it really had the power to summon a legion of the dead...

Leo almost found it useless. He'd heard that children of the war god, Mres (or mars, if you will) could summon dead soldiers of a losing side to obey their will. Annabeth said that Clarisse had done so on a quest they had in 2006. He figured if they had a son of Mars with them, and he could summon dead soldiers to obey him, why the scepter? Then, he remembered the incident in the museum, and he suddenly wished they had nine of those scepters.

"So, uh, Nico..." Frank gestured at the scepter. "Have you learned how to use that thing?"

"We'll find out."

Leo saw Aruna hold her head in her hands and take deep breaths.

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."

Hedge grunted. "i hate rips in the world. Let's go bust some monster heads."

Aruna stared at the coach along with Frank. Leo specifically kept his eyes away- he had a feeling he was not supposed to know- and Aruna sighed heavily. Aactually, coach, I think you should stay here. Cover us with the ballistae again."

Hedge frowned. "Stay behind? Me? I'm your best soldier!"

"We might need air support," Frank said, "like you did in Rome. You saved our braccae."

Hedge seemed to understand. His scowl relaxed. Relief seemed to show in his eyes as he gave Aruna and Frank a grateful look.

"Well..." He grumbled. "I suppose somebody's gotta save your braccae."

Jason clapped coach on the shoulder. Then he gave Frank an appreciative nod, followed by one to Aruna. "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 imminent death, a group of tourists was climbing over the ruins. Fortunately there weren't that many, and they didn't give the demigods a second look.

Leo had given up on being noticed a long time ago. When people glanced at them, he could usually smile and they'd be warded off. It was like a superpower. His grin was simply so unnerving, he could ward off anybody he didn't want to see.

Nico led the way. At the top of the hill, they climbed over an old retaining wall and down into an excavated trench. Finally they arrived at a stone doorway leading straight into the side of the hill. The death storm seemed to originate right above their heads. Looking up at the swirling tentacles of darkness, Leo felt like he was trapped at the bottom of a flushing toilet bowl. That really didn't calm his nerves.

Nico turned to face the group. "From here, it gets tough."

"Sweet." Leo nodded. "'Cause so far, I've been really pulling my punches."

"I need to pee," Aruna announced.

Nico switched from glaring at Leo to glaring at Aruna. "Why wouldn't you have gone before we left?"

"I didn't need to go then."

Nico curled his lip at her, his eyes rimmed with black. Leo looked at Aruna, who was just standing straight with her arms crossed. He turned back to Nico, but the boy's death gaze at now turned to him. Leo looked behind him to make sure it was truly trained on him, but when he turned back around, Nico was looking away. 

"We'll see how long you two keep your sense of humor," he said. "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 those barley cakes?"

"What?" Frank choked.

Leo felt his throat go dry. Voices in the tunnels? He might see things. He felt panic rising in his throat. If this was a place to commune with ancestors and the dead, would he see his mom?

Aruna must have been having similar thoughts. Her gaze was set to her feet.

"I've got the cakes," Hazel said. She pulled out the magical barley crackers they'd made from the grain trip where they met that god. Trypo... Leo couldn't say it. He sympathized with the stupid dwarfs.

"Eat up," Nico advised.

Leo chewed through his cracker and ended up gagging several times through. It tasted like sawdust mixed with walnuts and sprinkled with a little bit of misery. He looked over, but Aruna had already eaten hers whole.

"How?!" Frank gaped as he chewed.

Aruna licked pieces off her fingers. "It wasn't too bad. If I'd had some hot sauce, I'd enjoy it."

Leo raised an eyebrow at her. "What the hell and fuck?"

"Stomach of steel."

"But you don't even eat green beans," Piper said through the horrible face she was making.

Aruna shot her a dirty look. Piper went back to eating.

"Okay." Nico choked down the last of his barely. "That should protect us from the poison."

"Poison?" Leo asked. "Did I miss poison? 'Cause I love poison."

"Can we make Leo throw up the barley cake?" Frank pleaded.

"Soon enough," Nico said.

Leo frowned. "Make me throw up, or make me drink poison?"

Nico ignored him. "Just stick close together, and maybe we can avoid getting lost or going insane."

"Can I go pee first?"

"NO."

~•♡•~

hi guys i posted some art of aruna and one of my other ocs in my art book if you wanna check it out idc if you do tho

ik im not a great artist but like oh well