Hurricane ~ L. Valdez

2.18 - Leo and Frank Bonding Time !

~Λέω~
~Leo~

"El." Leo breathed out as he slowly woke up. His memory quickly caught him up, and he shot up, confused as to how he was possibly alive.

"About time." Leo jumped, surprised to see Frank beside him. Something was wrong with Frank's voice. It was like he was speaking through a fan. Leo sat up...or rather he drifted upright. He was underwater, in a cave about the size of a two-car garage. There was a glow on the ceiling, created by phosphorescent moss, and the floor was a carpet of sea urchins, which made Leo was glad he was floating.

His brain tried to comprehend how he could be breathing underwater; however, he quickly gave up. Frank levitated next to him in meditation position, as if he was trying especially hard to stay calm in Leo's presence.

The only exit to the cave was blocked by a massive abalone shell—its surface glistening in pearl and rose and turquoise. If this cave was a prison, at least it had an awesome door.

"Where are we?" Leo asked. "Where is everyone else? Have you seen Elara?"

"Everyone?" Frank grumbled. "I don't know. As far as I can tell, it's just you, me, Hazel, and Elara down here. The fish-horse guys took Hazel about an hour ago, and they mentioned Elara when they left, leaving me with you."

Frank's tone made it obvious he was not thrilled with these arrangements. He didn't look injured, but Leo realized that he no longer had his bow or quiver. In a panic, Leo patted his waist. His tool belt was gone. He loved his tool belt.

"They searched us," Frank said, obviously noting Leo's panicked expression. "Took anything that could be a weapon."

"Who?" Leo demanded. "Who are these fish-horse—?"

"Fish-horse guys," Frank clarified, which wasn't very clear for something that couldn't be an actual name. "They must have grabbed us when we fell in the ocean and dragged us...wherever this is."

Leo remembered the last thing he'd seen before he passed out—the lima-bean-colored face of a bearded man with a dagger. "The shrimp monster. The Argo II—is the ship okay?"

"I don't know," Frank said darkly. "The others might be in trouble or hurt, or—or worse. But I guess you care more about your ship than your friends."

Leo felt like his face had just hit the water again. "What kind of stupid thing—?" Then he realized why Frank was so angry: the flashback. Things had happened so fast with the monster attack, Leo had almost forgotten. Coach Hedge had made that stupid comment about Elara, Leo, and Hazel alone together. Leo knew that if El had been having secret meetings and he wasn't told about them, he wouldn't be too pleased either. Leo's mind drifted to the fight he and El had a few days prior, and he found it hard to meet Frank's gaze.

"Look, man...I'm sorry I got us into this mess. I totally jacked things up." He took a deep breath, which he was surprised to see felt normal, despite the fact that he was underwater. "Me and Hazel...it's not what you think. El was in there with us. Hazel was showing us this flashback from her past, trying to figure out my connection with Sammy."

Frank's angry expression was replaced with one of curiosity. "Did she...did you figure it out?"

"Yeah," Leo said. "Well, sort of. We didn't get a chance to talk about it afterward because of Shrimpzilla, but Sammy was my great-grandfather." He told Frank what they'd seen. The weirdness hadn't fully registered, but now, trying to explain it aloud, Leo could hardly believe it. Hazel had been sweet on his bisabuelo, a guy who had died when Leo was a baby. Leo hadn't made the connection before, but he had a vague memory of older family members calling his grandfather Sam Junior. Which meant Sam Senior was Sammy, Leo's bisabuelo. At some point, Tía Callida—Hera herself—had talked with Sammy, consoling him and giving him a glimpse into the future, which meant that Hera had been shaping Leo's life generations before he was even born. If Hazel had stayed in the 1940s, if she'd married Sammy, Leo might've been her great-grandson.