Leo Valdez One-Shot Book

Hypothermic

   everything was good on the argo II, no fighting, no monsters, just relaxing. that was until fighting and monsters came.

   Leo was the first to see, being on the deck steering slightly starboard since venti attacks can blow a ship off course with ease.

   the sea was calm so it was quite easy, no real help was needed on deck. maybe that was the blessing of having a son of Posidon on the ship, or perhaps it was because of Jason's promise to Kymopoleia but whatever it was Leo was glad.

   though he should have known you should never breathe a sigh of relief as a demigod, the Fates always love a sort of challenge to screw something up. don't tell them he said that.

   then he saw them. three maybe four monsters heading their way. "guys!" he yelled downstairs, "monsters!!!" Percy and Annabeth were the first ones up, followed by Jason, then Frank and Hazel and finally Piper.

   "stymphalian birds" Annabeth explained. "the stymphalian Birds are man-eating birds with beaks made of bronze, sharp metallic feathers they could launch at whoever they'd like, and poisonous ...dung. though I don't know why you would want that information."

   as they flew closer everyone got into position, Annabeth gripped her dagger, her drakon bone sword glinting at her side. Percy and Jason both drew their swords, Piper following them, the sword she earned from Zethes held up high. Hazel grabbed her spatha and waited, her eyes darting around and assessing the enemy. Frank stood in a sort of stance, good for whatever strong animal he could turn into. then there was Leo. he felt so stupid when he accidentally grabbed a Ziploc of cheddar cheese instead of a hammer. though the dairy product quickly turned into a half-metre-long hammer, the end being about as long as a step stool.

   the birds were soon close enough to see clearly. you could easily dismiss them as regular birds, except for the fact they looked about double the size and wingspan of a harpy eagle. the heads were replaced as human women but with bronze beaks as Annabeth had said previously. their razor-sharp claws were about as menacing as their matching feathers, and Leo for one didn't want to be on the receiving end of their attacks. too bad he didn't have that chicken nugget smoke screen.

   the first one went for Percy and Piper. both of them could be deadly in their own situation so Leo decided to focus on his own situation. there turned out to be about four of them, so there was one odd man out, and as always... that was Leo. the second had gone for Annabeth and Frank, the big guy could hold out long with the proper plan, making Annabeth his perfect partner. Jason and Hazel shot barrages of attacks at the bird, though their tough feathers were most likely not going to cave in soon

   Leo wasn't doing as well as the others. he tried whacking it with a hammer, but the same problem with Jason and Hazel arose for him. unlike the others he had little to no close-up combat experience, his best qualities were his witty thinking and ability to annoy the living shit out of anyone and everyone.

   he found fire worked well, but the more he used it (which was a lot to at the bare least stay alive) the worse he felt.

   it dug at his torso, creating minor bloody cuts. Then he heard a yelp. Piper was lying on the deck, seemingly injured. Percy yelled, "Piper!" but couldn't do anything in his current situation. "Annabeth! get her downstairs!" he instructed. without a second thought, she scooped Piper up and ran downstairs.

   now Jason and Hazel were the only ones who had a partner. Leo grunted, assessing his options. they could keep fighting as they could now, which would inevitably lead to death. without Piper's charmspeak there was no way to convince them to leave, even if they did understand English. if it worked on the giant turtle it might have worked on vicious bronze-beaked birds.