Book Cult (New and Improved)

Leo LIV

A/N: I just want to clear up a couple things for everyone!
1. Due to plot reasons, I will not bring any more characters from the future. Leo will be the only character from the future.
2. I'm not planning on doing BoO or SoN (due to plot). I'm going to be doing MoA and HoH.
3. Leo's from the timeline in between HoH and BoO.

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"Leo LIV," Demeter read.

Leo unfolded the paper and smoothed it out as best as he could.

It took a few minutes for that to settle in. Then the other Hephaestus campers started asking questions all at once. Who were the other four demigods? How long would it take to build the boat? Why didn't everyone get to go to Greece?

"That's what we've been saying." Chris grumbled. "Things would be a lot easier if we could all just come..."

"Heroes!" Chiron struck his hoof on the floor. "All the details are not clear yet, but Leo is correct. He will need your help to build the Argo II. It is perhaps the greatest project Cabin Nine has even undertaken, even greater than the bronze dragon."

"We got this!" Jake said, not bothering to hide his excitement.

"This'll be the greatest war ship the Hephaestus Cabin ever created!" Nyssa said.

"You know it!" Leo agreed, barely able to contain himself in his chair. "I wish I could just show you guys what it looks like now! You'd be so impressed! It's this 200 foot long ship with a half-ton shaft Celestial bronze battering ram, crossbows, and ballistae!" 

"Sounds intimidating." Katie said, humoring him.

"Only for the monsters." Leo reassured her. "But that's not even half of what it can do! Even with Festus as a masthead, he's still pretty awesome! For starters, he could still breathe fire-you have no idea how long that took to make- and he could control navigation, activate the radar, tell me of any problems onboard or threats surrounding the ship..." he stopped to take a deep breath. 

Hephaestus watched on with amusement as Leo rattled on a few more impressive features. The other readers zoned out after the his detailed description of the Engine Room, but the god of fire and his children were paying close attention. They occasionally asked a question or praise, much to Leo's delight.

"-Yeah," he said, patting out a few flames in his hair. "My description doesn't give it much justice. But it's amazing, trust me!"

He gave the others a toothy smile.

"Can't wait to see it." Nyssa smiled.

Demeter took that as a cue to keep reading.

"It'll take a year at least," Nyssa guessed. "Do we have that much time?"

Hera shook her head. "That would take too long."

"You have six months at most," Chiron said.

"Six months?!" Nyssa exclaimed, she turned to Leo. "We had six months to make all of what you just described?!"

"Yeah, by the time we finished, we were cutting it close to the deadline but we made it." With only a few mishaps. Leo tried not to grimace as he remembered the Maenads.

"But how were we able to do it? A project this big can't be done that quick without complications." Jake insisted.

"It wasn't a big deal, I just had to pull a few all-nighters." Leo admitted with a shrug. He went back to folding his paper.

Hephaestus worriedly frowned. How much is a 'few'? 

"You should sail by summer solstice, when the gods' power is strongest. Besides, we evidently cannot trust the wind gods,

"They're all probably working for Gaea now." Chris said with a frown.

and the summer winds are the least powerful and easiest to navigate. You dare not sail any later, or you may be too late to stop the giants. You must avoid ground travel, using only air and sea, so this vehicle is perfect. Jason being the son of the sky god ..."

His voice trailed off, but Leo figured Chiron was thinking about his missing student, Percy Jackson, the son of Poseidon. He would've been good on this voyage, too.

Percy frowned.

"Don't worry, you'll get a chance to ride the Argo II when we come and get you." Leo reassured him with a grin.

"Gee, thanks." he said, smiling back as he playfully rolled his eyes.

Jake Mason turned to Leo. "Well, one thing's for sure. You are now senior counselor. This is the biggest honor the cabin has ever had. Anyone object?"

"I don't." Nyssa said. "I think it's a great idea."

"You deserve it." Jake told Leo. "This is the biggest quest a child of Hephaestus has ever went on and I'm sure you'll do a much better job than me."

"If you say so, man. I can't believe you guys are crazy enough to chose me as senior counselor for the second time around." Leo joked.

Nobody his cabin mates smiled at him, and Leo could almost feel their cabin's curse breaking, their sense of hopelessness melting away.

"Making a spankin' hot war machine does that to a guy." Jake joked.

Leo laughed with him.

"It's official, then," Jake said. "You're the man."

For once, Leo was speechless. Ever since his mom died, he'd spent his life on the run. Now he'd found a home and a family. He'd found a job to do. And as scary as it was, Leo wasn't tempted to run—not even a little.

"Well," he said at last, "if you guys elect me leader, you must be even crazier than I am. So let's build a spankin' hot war machine!"

"Finished." Demeter said.

Leo blinked. "That quick?" He couldn't believe those words were actually coming out of his mouth. Didn't he want to burn the books a while ago? Sure he would still prefer if they didn't read his thoughts, but somehow it became more tolerable. Weird. 

"That quick." the goddess said simply. "Since it's so short, I'll just read another chapter."

"Jason LV,"