Haunted || Leo Valdez

50 - Buford is Back in Business

Leo had just been trying to eat lunch with Piper and Jason when Frank burst into the mess hall.

"Leo," Frank gasped. "Take off! Take off!"

All three of them shot to their feet.

"Where's Hedge?" Piper demanded. "And Percy? And did you find Rebecca?

Frank grabbed his knees like he was trying to breathe. "Yeah. On deck. They're fine. We're being followed!"

Jason pushed past him and took the stairs three at a time, Piper and Leo right behind him and Frank trailing, still gasping for air.

"What? What?" Leo cried when they emerged above deck, holding his half-eaten grilled cheese sandwich. "Can't a guy even take a lunch break? What's —"

Percy and Hedge lay on the deck, looking exhausted. Hedge was missing his shoes. He grinned at the sky, muttering, "Awesome. Awesome." Percy was covered with nicks and scratches, like he'd jumped through a window, which he technically had. He didn't say anything, but he grasped Annabeth's hand weakly as if to say, Be right with you, as soon as the world stops spinning.

He caught sight of Rebecca lying on the deck, facedown and motionless except for signs of breathing. He dropped the remains of his sandwich and bolted over to Rebecca, sliding the last two feet on his knees.

Anne was kneeling next to Rebecca. "Wait, Leo—"

Leo ignored her.

"Rebecca?" He asked softly. "Querida, can you hear me?"

Her eyes were all black. She needed to purge the Chaos energy before something bad happened.

Anne stood over him. "Are you willing to listen to me now? I was going to tell you she needed to be Purged."

"Can you do it?" Leo asked.

"Yes," Anne said. "I'll take care of Rebecca. You listen to Frank."

Leo turned to Frank. "What's going on?"

"Followed!" Frank yelled again.

"Followed by what?" Jason asked.

"I don't know!" Frank panted. "Whales? Sea monsters? Maybe Kate and Porky!"

Leo wasn't sure how to respond. Annabeth looked like she wanted to strangle the guy but figured her hands wouldn't fit around his thick neck. "That makes absolutely no sense. Leo, you'd better get us out of here."

Leo glanced back at Rebecca. Anne was still attending to her, chanting under her breath like Chiron had months ago. He ran for the helm.

"Jason, ready your spear," said a voice somewhere above.

Rebecca felt the Chaos magic surging out of her. It left an icy-hot feeling, like she'd just been power-washed with lava. There was the sound of a sword being unsheathed, and, following that, a demonic screech.

She sat up as the Argo II was rising into the sky.

Anne hugged her so tight, Rebecca thought her lungs would explode.

"I'm excited to see you too," Rebecca wheezed, "But could you give me some air?"

"Don't you ever do that to me again!" Anne ordered. She let go of Rebecca and crossed her arms. "Do you have any idea how hard it was to have a discussion about finding you when I kept hiccupping all the time?"

Rebecca smiled weakly. "Okay, I promise."

As soon as she stood up, Piper, Jason, Percy, and Annabeth all slammed into her, all four of them demanding that she never did something that stupid again.