Halcyon [Leo Valdez x Reader]

The Blood of Olympus

Leo spotted the secret entrance to Asclepius's bunker immediately.

  “Oh, that’s beautiful.” He maneuvered the ship over the ruins of Epidaurus.

  The Argo II really wasn’t in good shape to fly, but Leo had got her airborne after only one night of work. With the world ending tomorrow morning, he was highly motivated.

  Now, at last, we hovered over the ancient temple complex of the healing god Asclepius, where we could hopefully find the physician’s cure and maybe also some ambrosia, nectar and Fonzies, because Leo’s supplies were running low and he wouldn't stop complaining

  Next to him on the quarterdeck, Percy peered over the railing.

  "Looks like more rubble," he noted.

  Annabeth pointed to the disc-shaped structure about fifty yards off our port side. “There.”

  Leo smiled. “Exactly. See, the architect knows her stuff.”

  The rest of the crew gathered around.

  “What are we looking at?” Frank asked.

  “Ah, Señor Zhang,” Leo said, “you know how you’re always saying, ‘Leo, you are the only true genius among demigods’?”

   “I’m pretty sure I never said that.”

  “Well, turns out there are other true geniuses! Because one of them must have made that work of art down there.”

  “It’s a stone circle,” Frank said. “Probably the foundation of an old shrine.”

  I shook my head. “No, it’s more than that. Look at the ridges and grooves carved around the rim.”

  “Like the teeth of a gear,” Jason offered.

  “And those concentric rings.” Hazel pointed to the center of the structure, where curved stones formed a sort of bull’s-eye. “The pattern reminds me of Pasiphaë’s pendant: the symbol of the Labyrinth.”

  “Huh.” Leo scowled. “Well, I hadn’t thought of that. But think mechanical. Frank, Hazel … Water Girl, where did we see concentric circles like that before?”

  “The laboratory under Rome,” I said, a bit surprised Leo was actually talking to me.

  “The Archimedes lock on the door,” Hazel recalled. “It had rings within rings.”

  Percy snorted. “You’re telling me that’s a massive stone lock? It’s, like, fifty feet in diameter.”

  “Leo might be right,” Annabeth said. “In ancient times, the temple of Asclepius was like the General Hospital of Greece. Everybody came here for the best healing. Aboveground, it was the size of a major city, but supposedly the real action happened belowground. That’s where the high priests had their intensive-care super-magical-type compound, accessed by a secret passage.”

  Percy scratched his ear. “So, if that big round thing is the lock, how do we get the key?”

  “Way ahead of you, Aquaman,” Leo said.

  “Okay, do not call me Aquaman. That’s even worse than water boy.”

  Leo turned to Jason, Piper, and me. “You guys remember the giant Archimedes grabber arm I told you I was building?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were kidding.”

  “Oh, my friend, I never kid about giant grabber arms!” Leo rubbed his hands in anticipation. “It’s time to go fishing for prizes!”