~The Beginning of Life~

~ Chapter 18 ; Fire and Water ~

The object stands up and the flame dies out, revealing a grinning Leo. He was grinning at something beyond the entrance of the arena; Travis, who was heading in his direction.

"That was great!" exclaims Leo.

Nico angrily gets up to his feet. "Where'd you come from? Didn't you get hurt?" Nico asks incredulously.

"Nope. Landed on my feet," Leo says simply.
I think that was what Nico meant... how did he?

Nico rolls his eyes. "Nevermind." He then slouches off. Good riddance.

Travis hits Leo on the back in extreme excitement, consequently knocking him facedown.

"My turn now!" he shouts unnecessarily loud.

Leo gets up. "Fine. But then it's me again!" he then pulls off his shoes. They have thick rubber on the bottom. They must have absorbed the impact of Leo's landing.

"Whatever." Travis grabs them eagerly.

"What are you doing?" I ask curiously.

"Launching ourselves through catapults," Leo answers excitedly.

"Wanna join?" Travis asks.

Anna runs over. "I want to, I want to!"

Ash comes over as well. Asuka just stands nearby, looking at Leo. Leo brushes past her, a bit hard, and it seemed slightly intentionally. Anna runs after him.

Asuka winces, like she saw that coming. Yep, she picked the red button too.

I pretend not to notice and I follow Anna.

The Hermes and Hephaestus kids had "combined forces" and made a huge catapult for some fun. It was placed in the Amphitheatre.

Anna dances around it. "It's huge!"

"Yep," says Travis. He bounds up to it and sits at the armchair set at one end. "Let 'er rip, Leo!"

Leo pulls a lever and the arm swings. Travis goes flying from the armchair, upside down, in the direction of the lake. His scream fades away.

Anna starts jumping. "Me next, me next!" She promptly sits on the chair.

"Shouldn't someone check on Travis?"

"Nah, let him die. I'll get more turns that way," answers Leo.

I frown at him.

"I'll go," says Connor and he runs off.

Leo brings over a small pair of thick shoes for Anna and she wears them.

"Okay, you ready?" asks Leo.

"Yes, yes, yes!" shouts Anna.

Leo pulls the lever and Anna launches. She's not scared at all. I watch her spin over the walls of the Amphitheatre, heading to the lake too. I run after her.

I reach the lake just as there's a huge splash in front of me. I shield my face, but I still get drenched. That must have been Anna, since Travis has just run up to me with Connor.

"Where'd she go?" Connor asks after a few seconds.

I shrug. "She should be up soon."

We wait for a few more seconds when I suddenly hear a quiet muffled shout come from the water. It starts glowing in one place.

Before I can jump in, Anna resurfaces with a Trident floating over her head.

"Holy Poseidon! I could breath! And glow! Holy Poseidon!" she shouts, oblivious to the Trident.

"You mean Holy Dad..." I correct her.

Anna looks above her and gasps. "Holy Dad, Holy Dad, Holy Dad!"

"I think that's enough cursing for now," says Travis. "Well, looks like you're moving out."

"To where?" Anna asks, confused.

"To Percy's cabin. The blue one," answers Connor.

"Oh, right, the Poseidon cabin! Let's go!" Anna swims up to us and bolts off.

"I think she'll be fine on her own..." Connor says as he heads back to the Amphitheatre.

Travis nods and follows suit.