𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 ²

Chapter 6

V I - Six
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Leo

"HOW DID HE DIE?" LEO ASKED. "I mean Beckendorf."

  Will Solace trudged ahead. "Explosion. Beckendorf, (y/n) (l/n) and Percy Jackson blew up a cruise ship full of monsters. Beckendorf didn't make it out."

  There was that name again–(y/n) (l/n). Annabeth's missing boyfriend. That guy must've been into everything around here, Leo thought. Though despite all that, Leo was sure he had heard that name way before, in an old memory he couldn't access, or something. But he didn't know for sure.

  "So Beckendorf was pretty popular?" Leo asked. "I mean– before he blew up?"

  "He was awesome," Will agreed. "It was hard on the whole camp when he died. Jake–he became head counselor in the middle of the war. Same as I did, actually. Jake did his best, but he never wanted to be leader. He just likes building stuff. Then after the war, things started to go wrong. Cabin Nine's chariots blew up. Their automatons went haywire. Their inventions started to malfunction. It was like a curse, and eventually people started calling it that–the Curse of Cabin Nine. Then Jake had his accident–"

  "Which had something to do with the problem he mentioned," Leo guessed.

  "They're working on it," Will said without enthusiasm. "And here we are."

  The forge looked like a steam-powered locomotive had smashed into the Greek Parthenon and they had fused together. White marble columns lined the soot-stained walls. Chimneys pumped smoke over an elaborate gable carved with a bunch of gods and monsters. The building sat at the edge of a stream, with several waterwheels turning a series of bronze gears. Leo heard machinery grinding inside, fires roaring, and hammers ringing on anvils.

  They stepped through the doorway, and a dozen guys and girls who'd been working on various projects all froze. The noise died down to the roar of the forge and the click-click-click of gears and levers.

  "'Sup, guys," Will said. "This is your new brother, Leo–um, what's your last name?"

  "Valdez." Leo looked around at the other campers. Was he really related to all of them? His cousins came from some big families, but he'd always just had his mom–until she died.

  Kids came up and started shaking hands and introducing themselves. Their names blurred together: Shane, Christopher, Nyssa, Harley (yeah, like the DC Comics character). Leo knew he'd never keep everybody straight. Too many of them. Too overwhelming.

  None of them looked like the others–all different face types, skin tone, hair color, height. You'd never think, Hey, look, it's the Hephaestus Bunch! But they all had powerful hands, rough with calluses and stained with engine grease. Even little Harley, who couldn't have been more than eight, looked like he could go six rounds with Chuck Norris without breaking a sweat.

  And all the kids shared a sad kind of seriousness. Their shoulders slumped like life had beaten them down pretty hard. Several looked like they'd been physically beaten up, too. Leo counted two arm slings, one pair of crutches, an eye patch, six Ace bandages, and about seven thousand Band-Aids.

  "Well, all right!" Leo said. "I hear this is the party cabin!"

  Nobody laughed. They all just stared at him.

  Will Solace patted Leo's shoulder. "I'll leave you guys to get acquainted. Somebody show Leo to dinner when it's time?"

  "I got it," one of the girls said. Nyssa, Leo remembered. She wore camo pants, a tank top that showed off her buffarms, and a red bandanna over a mop of dark hair. Except for the smiley-face Band-Aid on her chin, she looked like one of those female action heroes, like any second she was going to grab a machine gun and start mowing down evil aliens.