Hurricane ~ L. Valdez

2.3- Percy Needs A Dam Chill Pill

The tour was going great... until it all went to shit.

We had shown Octavian around for a while, and things were going as great as they could be, considering Octavian was there.

Everything was going nice and cheery, and Leo and I were walking hand and hand. And then his grip tightened— dramatically.

"Everything okay?" I asked, turning to look at my boyfriend questioningly. My eyes met Leo's... except they weren't Leo's.

They were cold, not the usual warm soft brown eyes that I was completely in love with. Leo's hand moved up to my arm, and the other one reached up to cup my face, like he was going to kiss me... except he didn't.

Before I could even register it, his grip on my arm tightened and his hand on my face began to heat up. "Leo-" I protested, struggling to get out of his grip. "You're hurting me!"

I could feel my face begin to burn, and could hear my skin sizzling against the heat as I cried out in pain, throwing myself back. Fake-Leo let go of me, causing me to fall and hit my head against the side of the ship.

And then I passed out, my vision blackening as my face burned and my boyfriend repeatedly said, "Destroy. Destroy."

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Λέων
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Leo
———

Leo wished he could invent a time machine, go back two hours, and undo what had happened. Either that, or he could invent a Slap-Leo-in-the-Face machine to punish himself, though he doubted it would hurt as badly as the look Annabeth was giving him and the feeling in his chest as he remembered the look on Elara's face as he burned her.

"One more time," Annabeth said. "Exactly what happened?" Leo slumped against the mast, his head still throbbing from where Percy tackled him to the deck. So much for making a good impression with your girlfriend's brother.

All around him, his beautiful new ship was in shambles. The crossbows were piles of kindling. The foresail was tattered. The satellite array that powered the onboard Internet and TV was blown to bits, which had really made Coach Hedge mad. Festus was coughing up smoke like he had a hairball, and Leo could tell from the groaning sounds on the port side that some of the aerial oars had been knocked out of alignment or broken off completely, which explained why the ship was listing and shuddering as it flew, the engine wheezing like an asthmatic steam train.

He choked back a sob. "I don't know. It's fuzzy."

Too many people were looking at him, and it was making him feel worse than he already did. All he wanted was to run below deck to see if his girlfriend was alright, although seeing as her brother was attending to her, that might not be a good idea.

Annabeth crossed her arms. "You mean you don't remember?"

"I..." Leo felt like he was trying to swallow a marble. "I remember, but it's like I was watching myself do things. I couldn't control it."

Coach Hedge tapped his bat against the deck, glowering like he was going to order him to do push-ups. "Look, kid," Hedge said, "you blew up some stuff. You attacked some Romans. Awesome! Excellent! But did you have to knock out the satellite channels? I was right in the middle of watching a cage match."

"Coach," Annabeth said, "why don't you make sure all the fires are out?"

"But I already did that."