American Royalty

Part 16: Past Memories

"One more time," she said. "Exactly what happened?"Leo slumped against the mast. His head still throbbed from hitting the deck. All around him, his beautiful new ship was in shambles. The aft 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. Their bronze dragon figurehead, Festus, was coughing up smoke like he had a hairball, and Leo could tell from the groaningsounds 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."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. In his gym clothes, with his cap pulled over his horns, he looked just like he used to at the Wilderness School, where he'd spent a year undercover as Jason, Piper, and Leo's P.E. teacher. The way the old satyr was glowering, Leo almost wondered if the coach 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.""Do it again."The satyr trudged off, muttering under his breath. Even Hedge wasn't crazy enough to defy Annabeth. She knelt next to Leo. Her gray eyes were as steely as ball bearings. Her blond hair fell loose around her shoulders, but Leo didn't find that attractive. He had no idea where the stereotype of dumb giggly blondes came from. Ever since he'd met Annabeth at the Grand Canyon last winter, when she'd marched toward him with that Give me Percy Jackson or I'll kill you expression, Leo thought of blondes as much too smart and much too dangerous."Leo," she said calmly, "did Octavian trick you somehow? Did he frame you, or—""No." Leo could have lied and blamed that stupid Roman, but he didn't want to make a bad situation worse. "The guy was a jerk, but he didn't fire on the camp. I did."The new kid, Frank, scowled. "On purpose?""No!" Leo squeezed his eyes shut. "Well, yes...I mean, I didn't want to. But at the same time, I felt like I wanted to.Something was making me do it. There was this cold feeling inside me—""A cold feeling." Annabeth's tone changed. She sounded almost...scared."Yeah," Leo said. "Why?"From belowdecks, Percy called up, "Annabeth, we need you."Oh, gods, Leo thought. Please let Jason be okay.As soon as they'd gotten on board, Piper had taken Jason below. The cut on his head had looked pretty bad. Leo had known Jason longer than anyone at Camp Half-Blood. They were best friends. If Jason didn't make it..."He'll be fine." Annabeth's expression softened. "Frank, I'll be back. Just...watch Leo. Please."Frank nodded. If it was possible for Leo to feel worse, he did. Annabeth now trusted a Roman demigod she'd known for like, three seconds, more than she trusted Leo. After an awkward few minutes with Frank the stairs creaked. Percy, Kit, and Annabeth climbed up, their faces grim.

Leo's heart stumbled. "Is Jason—?"

Percy and Annabeth turned to Kit. "He'll be fine, he's resting at the moment, Piper's with him, and Valerie should be up in a few minutes. He likely has a concussion but I don't think it's too serious."

"Aren't you a daughter of Poisedon?" Kit nodded "So how come you know all of this?" Leo questioned

Kit rolled her eyes like she was constantly getting asked this question, "I'll sum it up for you," Annabeth said noticing Kit's irritation, "Basically when your life is constantly at risk it becomes useful to have a field medic who knows what to do in a life or death situation."

Percy and Kit gave him a hard look. "Annabeth says you did fire the ballista?" Percy said

"Man, I—I don't understand how it happened. I'm so sorry—""Sorry?" Percy and Kit growled. Annabeth put a hand on her boyfriend's chest and the other hand on Kit's shoulder. "We'll figure it out later. Right now, we have to regroup and make a plan. What's the situation with the ship?"Leo's legs trembled. The way Percy and Kit had looked at him made him feel the same as when Jason or Valerie summoned lightning. Leo's skin tingled, and every instinct in his body screamed Duck! Leo knew that if he angered the twins anymore it would be extremely bad for his health.