The Harvest Trials

Chapter VII

Leo

There was a ringing in my head. My throat was hoarse and sore, but I didn't know why. I tried moving my fingers, but they were numb. I saw them moving, but they felt heavy. I tried to sit up, but restraints stopped me from going far. I frowned,  more than a little bit confused.

The last thing I remember was holding Calypso's hand, and then guards escorting Piper, being dragged away...

And then nothing. I struggled weakly against the restraints, not really feeling any immediate danger. Then Everette was there, sticking something cold and hard in my ear.

Hi Leo, I heard him say.

"Hi," I answered. Hearing his voice in my head killed all the other thoughts in my head. It was just me and him. This feeling in the back of my skull pulled me to him, and I was hanging onto every word he said.

"You see Leo," he said, "I need you to do something for me. You like building things, right?"

I nodded vigorously. I loved building things.

"Well why don't you take a look at these blueprints Annabeth made."

I did, marveling at the design. I could build these no problem. It'd take me thirty minutes at most on the first one, I assumed, and then less and less as I went on. I brushed past Annabeth, sitting in a chair and staring into space.

A small part of me knew something was wrong, but the majority of my brain told me to focus on the blueprints in front of me.

I ran my finger down the paper, frowned, and turned back to look at Annabeth. I opened my mouth to ask a question when I felt a shock in my left ear, going through my brain and Everette's voice whispering, focus Leo, in my head.

So I did. I made a list of all the materials I would need.

"This...this Celestial Bronze. What is this?" He asked me.

"A rare metal that comes from Hephaestus's forges. It's mined from Mt. Olympus. If this is going to work, I need a lot of it," I was slightly surprised by how flat my voice sounded. I'm not usually this boring, am I?

"Ok. We can get some I'm sure."

"I can start the caging right away, but I need the bronze for the base," I said, plotting it out in my head.

"Well let's get to it then," Everette said, leading me away.

I worked on the cage for awhile. It was a clear plexiglass type contraction, the window/door opened by a key card that only high ranking agents possessed.

The glass was coated with a refined substance. It was like a dust form of Greek Fire, ensuring that the cage was unbreakable. I always kept some in my tool belt. Everette came with the Celestial Bronze and I fitted it into the vase and applied some other elements to make extracting godly essence a reality rather than a fantasy.

As I worked, I found myself inputting a failsafe. I didn't realize I was doing it until I was done, and even then I brushed it off. I couldn't explain why I felt I needed it. Maybe it was just habit. I always put in a failsafe. Or maybe it was the small, buried part of my consciousness that knew something was wrong. Maybe I was doing it for a reason. I don't know.

I finished the first one and Everette asked me to make seven more. He wanted eight total. For starters, he said.

So I made him his machines. He called them 'Harvesters'. When I finished building the Harvesters, I was escorted to my cell.

The agent opened the door for me and I walked myself in. "Leo?" Someone asked. By the look on her face, she seemed almost scared of what I would say. She was really pretty with her caramel colored hair braided over one shoulder.