LEO

~•♡•~

percy and annabeth had fallen into a firey pit of death. now, aruna and leo were falling into a freezing...

well, he didn't really know where the hades they were headed.

aruna had managed to pull leo into a hug.

"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?!" leo screamed as they fell.

"MAYBE I AM! YOU SHOULD JUST BE GLAD I DIDN'T LEAVE YOU ON YOUR OWN!"

"I WOULD HAVE RATHERED THAT THAN BOTH OF OUR BRAINS APPEAR ON A BUNCH OF CONCRETE IN A FEW SECONDS!" leo shouted back.

the clouds disappeared. leo looked down, seeing the aquamarine and deep blue hues of a shallow sea right below. there was a large beach, and several boats on it. a city loomed behind the beach, on a reddish-brown mountain. even from here, leo could see ruins littered around.

he looked down. they were heading straight for the water.

"ARUNAAAAAA!" he screamed as he clutched his archimedes sphere.

"HANG ON! I GOTS IT!"

leo screamed all the way down. two seconds before they hit the water, they abruptly stopped. leo opened his eyes, after not realizing they'd been closed, and pulled away from aruna's neck. they were hovering three feet above the water, midair, like it was completely natural.

until aruna let go, and they dropped.

the water soaked leo entirely. he opened his eyes, ignoring the sting of the salty water, just to see aruna with her foot caught between two rocks. for the most part, she just looked annoyed, and leo swam over. quickly, he lifted her foot out, and swam to the surface with her.

he looked around, panting heavily. he could barely see with the water dripping into his eyes, and his soaked, curly hair that was now plastered to his forehead. when aruna emerged, he turned to her, watching as her hair was plastered back rather than pasted to her face. she looked around. in one direction, the city and mountain was gleaming. in the other, endless sea stretched on and on. next to them, rocks formed a horseshoe shape like some sort of harbor.

"where the shit are we?" she said with a disgusted expression.

"i dunno." leo shrugged as he brushed his hair away. his feet kicked below him. the water was only about six feet deep, and the tides were calm, serene, almost unmoving. the water looked strikingly clear.

"we're not in kansas anymore."

"we haven't been in kansas for two weeks-" leo finally got the joke and rolled his eyes.

"i guess we should swim to shore." leo sat as he pointed to the city.

"no, not the busy one." aruna shook her head. she pointed to the left. "let's go there."

leo stared at the back of her head like she was crazy. when aruna turned back to him, she looked at him like she was shocked he could be looking at her like that.

"but the city is so much closer!" leo replied as he swam closer to her.

"but if we get picked up by the cops, we may never get out." aruna replied. "nobody will be able to bail us out, and because we aren't citizens of whatever country that this is, we'll be detained indefinitely." she spit back as she swam closer.

"okay, but maybe someone could help us." leo replied. "y'know, tell us where we are and how to get where we need."

"yes, because people have always been helpful." aruna replied.

leo stared at her. she wiped water off her nose and stared right back at him, her silver eyes glinting coldly.

"why did you follow me?" leo shook his head. "you should've stayed behind and fought, like you need to."

"i'm not just gonna let you get tossed into the clouds by a stupid snow goddess." aruna replied. her expression softened and she looked to the side. "i love you too much to do something stupid like that."

leo paused. he stared at her a minute. part of him was glad she'd joined him. he didn't know what might have happened had he been thrown by himself. he didn't know if he'd land somewhere else, or even survive.

but, part of him was also mad that she was here. he felt like she was in even more danger. leo had nothing- just a toolbelt and an archimedes sphere, as well as his big mouth and criminal tendencies. he knew he wouldn't be able to protect her properly here. at least on their ship, he had all sorts of weapons and gadgets and controls.

he kissed her instead, holding the back of her neck. aruna seemed a little taken back, but she kissed him back, her lips soft and slightly salty. when leo pulled away, aruna's lips were bright red.

"we stick together." leo vowed. "we can't split up- not here."

aruna nodded. she took one of his hands under the water, and gave it a gentle squeeze. "no splitting up."

they swam to the shore.

~•♡•~

land had been a lot farther than leo thought, and the tides were somehow much harsher there. they were at the edge of a rocky cliff now- they hadn't realized there was no beach like the middle of the island-  and leo's scrawny, short frame was not made for swimming that far.

he panted as he clung to a rock. aruna emerged from under the water, her breathing somewhat heavy, but not terribly affected. leo stared at her in shock as she gazed straight up the cliff face.

"it's about twenty feet." she said. "i can get us up there-"

she turned to leo. "you good?"

"yEah- fine." leo cleared his throat. aruna smiled softly and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. her face was gentle and leo felt his chest clear and breathing slow down.

"what do we do when we get up there?" leo asked as aruna swam closer to him, and wrapped an arm around his waist.

"let's figure that out once we get up there." aruna said.

"cool. so, why are you holding my slutty little waist like this?"

"because you're my bitch." aruna replied without missing a beat. "c'mon. we can walk up it like it's a normal surface."

leo ignored his blush as he started walking up the cliff like it was an average floor. even after doing it several times, leo couldn't get used to the feeling of literally having a different gravitational pull. the sea was now sideways, churning up and slapping the rocks a few feet behind leo, the sight making him almost want to gag. it was trippy, and he quickly focused on his feet.

as soon as they were on a flat, proper-gravity level, leo flopped down. his archimedes sphere rolled to the side slightly, tapping aruna's ankle, and she just blankly stared at it.

she looked down at him, her hair dripping onto leo's body. leo grinned and gave her a thumbs up, but aruna's face remained blank as she studied him.

"hm. i guess you're kind of cute."

leo glared. "kind of cute? baby, i am the bad-boy mcshizzle, alright? i am the hottest bastard that ever walked the earth."

on the word earth, leo shot up and stared at the dirt. aruna did too, as if suddenly remembered that being on solid ground wasn't a very good idea. however, the dirt did nothing. it didn't move in the slightest, no creepy woman appeared, no insects even scattered the place.

"that's odd." aruna remarked as she looked around. brown trees with green-brown leaves lined the cliff face. "this is super nature-y, but i can't feel gaea anywhere."

leo flopped down again and closed his eyes. "cool. that means i can take a break."

"leo, we have to find our way back to everyone." aruna said as she knelt next to leo. he opened his eyes and rolled his head to face her. she poked at his cheek, squishing it in slightly and twisting her finger. "and we need water and food."

"what's our plan?" leo asked as aruna sat down fully.

"well," aruna began. "i have like- like 15% of a plan-"

leo groaned loudly. "this is just like the fight with enceladus! you don't have a plan!"

"i do, but it requires a lot more winging it than enceladus did." aruna explained. "we need to get some supplies, get a boat, and sail to epirus."

leo deadpanned. "you want to sail to epirus on a fucking leisure boat?"

aruna nodded. "yes. or perhaps if we can catch a flight, that'd be great. if there's even an airport here..."

"that would mean we have to steal some money." leo said. "and have a passport. and not get arrested along the way."

"we can make it." aruna assured. she looked at leo again and sighed. "so, do we go into the city soaking wet, or buck-naked?"

"well, both would elicit a lot of stares." leo remarked. "but only one would get us arrested. i guess we go- WAIT! I CAN SET MYSELF ON FIRE!"

"huh-" leo shoved aruna aside and lit himself ablaze. aruna sat up from the dirt she'd been shoved into, and watched as leo completely dried himself off with fire.

from the flames, leo smiled at ither "do a twirl!"

like the day at the river in camp half-blood, aruna was dried off by leo valdez and his hotness. leo and aruna stood up completely, gave each other a high five and a kiss, and began making their way to the city.

"i think we should try to figure out where we are, first." aruna said. "it would make more sense. and, we should try to get a map."

"of what?" leo asked as he walked next to her, still tinkering with his archimedes sphere. "the city, the island, the nation, or the mediterranean?"

"yes."

leo rolled his eyes as he slipped another screwdriver from his belt. "always so helpful."

"i'm only helpful when you don't ask stupid ass questions."

"it wasn't a stupid ass question." leo retorted. "the map of the city will be exact for the city. the map of the island will give us a wider scope but less exactness. the nation will give us an even wider scope but less exactness, and the mediterranean will help us get to epirus altogether, but we'll get lost easier."

"we'll get a map of the city, and the island, and the nation, and the mediterranean." aruna scoffed like it was obvious.

"okay, well you didn't specify that."

"oh, i'm sorry. do you need clear-cut instructions to understand basic things that adhere to our fucking plan?"

"you mean your plan which you barely even fucking have!" leo shouted as they emerged from the brush.

aruna and leo froze. a family turned to stare at them, clearly confused. aruna and leo looked to each other, then to the family. they had rather dark skin, and extremely curly hair. the eldest daughter had a nose piercing. the middle son wore a survival bracelet, and the toddler girl was gnawing on the table.

"um, hi." leo waved awkwardly as he hid his archimedes sphere behind his back with one hand. "um... where are we?"

the father of the family said something in a language leo couldn't even begin to understand.

"um, hotel?" aruna asked nervously. the man continued to speak. leo frowned at a few familiar words he heard, but even then, they didn't make sense in the context. the must have been false cognates or something.

oh.

"they're speaking portuguese." leo concluded. aruna looked like that made sense, and she frowned.

"then, we can't talk to them."

"um, hi?"

the eldest daughter stood up. aruna and leo trained their eyes on her. her skin was very dark, darker than anyone leo had ever seen, with a warm tone. she wore a yellow tube top and white pants, and her curly hair had been styled in a cinnamon-colored afro with a little blue bow. her eyes were a stunning hazel, her smile true and kind. "i can speak some english." she said in a thick portuguese accent.

her father said something to her, and she held her hand out to him. he paused, looked angry, and turned back to leo and aruna.

"where are we?" aruna asked slowly, trying to keep her voice clear for the girl.

"a place called rhodes." the girl said. "in greece. do you know where that is?"

leo felt his entire mood sour. "yup." he huffed. next to him, aruna looked like she wanted to kill the girl, or khione, or herself.

"is there a hotel nearby?" leo asked slowly. the girl nodded.

"do you have any euros- eh, erm, greek money?"

leo turned to aruna. "like, a drachma or two." she muttered.

"that's not modern currency." leo hissed. he turned back to the girl and shook his head.

"do you have regular money?" she asked. "so we can exchange it?"

leo turned to aruna and she shook her head. leo turned back to the girl, also shook his head, and the girl frowned. she turned to her family, and began speaking in hushed portuguese like leo and aruna would be able to understand her if she spoke at a normal volume.

"let's just take off." aruna muttered to leo, as that girl could understand them. "we can go rob a convenience store or something and run away."

"okay, cool." leo said. "what about the boat?!"

the girl cleared her throat and turned back to leo and aruna. her mother looked sympathetic, with the toddler now in her arms. the father looked a little bit mad, but he didn't seem like he would be saying much else.

"i can lead you to the police... to help you?"

"NO!" leo and aruna shouted. the girl flinched as they hurriedly waved their hands around. leo froze mid-action, realizing how suspicious that looked, and he cleared his throat as he went rigid.

"no, thank you." leo coughed as he shot a pointed glare to aruna. she forced a smile, but her eyes still looked deadly. leo smacked the small of her back and she shot her deadly eyes to leo instead, sending a chill up his spine. whether he liked it or not, he would have to decide later.

"you don't need to help us." aruna said slowly again. "we'll be on our way." she forcefully grabbed the back of leo's neck, and started to march off.

the girl hurriedly said something to her father in portuguese, followed by a yell of protest, and the girl yelling, "wait!"

aruna turned to look over her shoulder. leo was stooped from the force of aruna's hand pushing him down, so he bent awkwardly to look under his armpit at the girl running forward, a little blue purse in her hands.

"i will help you." she said as she stopped right before them.

aruna and leo looked at each other. aruna let go of leo, and he sat upright, his back popping like he was 73 years old. aruna raised an eyebrow and leo pulled her into a little mini-huddle, facing away from the girl.

he chose to speak in spanish. "we can't ask her to spend her money. she's being too nice."

"she offered." aruna countered.

"i never said she was smart."

"leo, we have to get back to everyone." aruna replied softly. "we won't ask her to do much- just what she offers. we can figure it out from there."

leo decided he was satisfied with that. he nodded, and he and aruna turned back to the girl.

"what's your name?" leo asked.

"helena." the girl said. "who are you?"

"i'm leo." he smacked aruna's back again, and she kicked the back of his knee, knocking him down to a kneel like he was proposing.

he glared at her. "and this is my girlfriend." he grinned, and slapped a hand on her butt. she slowly turned her head down to him, her face seemingly indifferent. leo blew her a kiss as he turned back to helena.

"aruna."

~•♡•~

omfg yall i am SO sorry for not updating but if you read my Finnick Odair fic im like rapidly updating that one bc im hyperfocused...?

once again, SO sorry