Where there's smoke // L.Valdez

Chapter nineteen

Persephone watched as Leo stood there, remote clutched in his hands.

"Leo-"

"My son... You... You..."

Sump lumbered back into the firelight holding a case of salsa. "Ma, I got the extra-spicy-"

He never finished his sentence because with a flick of his remote, Leo sent a second robotic arm flying into Sump's chest. The salsa case exploded, and the Cyclops flew backwards, into the base of a third Machine, and the third crane arm slammed him against the floor so hard he exploded into a dust cloud.

Persephone stood there, in shock. So did Ma Gasket. She turned her evil red eye onto the boy and ripped the nearest crane arm of its pedestal.

"You busted my boys! Only I get to bust my boys!" She roared. This sprung the two standing demigods into action. Two crane arms swinging at her. The Cyclops caught the first one, ripping it in half. The second one succeeded in smacking her upside the head. However, that seemed to only anger her as she ripped it free and swung it like a baseball bat. It barely missed Piper and Jason, and Persephone could feel her heart in her throat and the Cyclops spun it at Leo, who yelped and jumped to one side.

Without thinking, she ran forwards and slashed at the Cyclops, trying to slow down her advance on Leo. The Cyclops roared at her and grabbed her, squeezing her with force. She yelled in pain, feeling her ribs creak. She tried to swing at the Cyclops' eye, but the weapon clattered uselessly to the ground as the Cyclops squeezed tighter.

"Persephone!" She faintly heard Piper yell, but the blood was rushing in her ears, muffling most sounds. She let out a pained cry when the Cyclops dropped her on the ground, like a useless bag of flour. She watched as Ma Gasket cornered Leo, seeing his eyes flick to her.

"Any more tricks, demigod?" Ma Gasket demanded. Persephone watched as his eyes flittered everywhere.

"Heck, yeah, I've got tricks!" Leo raised his remote control. "Take one more step and I'll destroy you with fire!"

Persephone's heart fell. Didn't he know Cyclopes were immune?

The Cyclops in question laughed at him. "Would you? Cyclopes are immune to fire, you idiot. But if you wish to play with flames, let me help!" Before Persephone could react, the Cyclops scooped a handful of red-hot coals up in her bare hand and threw them at Leo. The landed, scattered around his feet.

"You missed." he said in disbelief, would have been amused, if not for the situation.

Persephone watched in horror as the Cyclops grinned and picked a barrel up; KEROSENE labelled on the side.

"Leo, run!" She cried, but it was too late. The barrel was thrown at him, spilling onto the floor in front of him. The coals sparked.

A wall of fire surrounded Leo, as high as the Cyclops herself.

"Leo! No!" Persephone cried out. Hearing Piper's own cry. Tears streamed down her cheeks, forcing herself up and grabbing her sword.

She charged the Cyclops, but her blurred vision didn't let her see the giant hand making a swipe at her. She flew into a piece of machinery scrap, curling into herself, watching numbly as the flames died down. The Cyclops' laughter died down as the fire revealed Leo. Perfectly unscathed.

"Leo?" Piper gasped.

"You live?" Ma Gasket took one step forward, "What are you?"

"The son of Hephaestus," He said. "And I warned you I'd destroy you with fire." He pointed one finger in the air and a bolt of white-hot flames shot from him. The flames licked at a chain above the Cyclops head, holding an engine block. The flames died down. The Cyclops laughed.

"An impressive try, son of Hephaestus. It's been many centuries since I saw a fire user. You'll make a spicy appetizer!"

The chain snapped and the engine fell.

"I don't think so." Leo said.

The Cyclops didn't even have time to look up as the engine smashed directly on top of her head, turning her into a cloud of gold dust.

"Not immune to engines, huh?" He said. "Boo-yah!"

He fell to his knees. Persephone screamed his name, pushing herself up, but not having to strength to take one step forward.

"Leo! Are you alright? Can you move?" Piper called out to him.

He stumbled to his feet, nodding. Piper shifted her attention.

"Persephone? Are you okay?" The girl barely had enough energy to move her head, let alone speak. Leo rushed to her, turning her onto her back.

"Hey, Persephone, hey." She looked up at him, he have her a small smile. "You're okay. I'll go get you some ambrosia." He made a move to stand but she grabbed his sleeve, shaking her head.

"Get Jason and Piper down." He hesitated, but she pushed him towards them. Well, to Leo it felt like nothing, but he understood her intentions. He scrambled to his feet and over to where Jason and Piper hanged, tied up. It took him a long time to get Piper free from her chains, checking on Persephone whenever he could.

Piper and Leo then helped Jason down, laying him on his back. Piper managed to grab their packs and trickle some nectar into his mouth, while Leo made his way to Persephone.

How he managed to scoop her up, she'll never know. He was clearly drained from the whole ordeal, especially the fire he'd summoned, and yet he carried her over to Jason and Piper like it was no big deal.

The welt on Jason's head started to grow smaller, colour returning to his face. Leo helped Persephone sit up and take her own sip of nectar.

"Yeah, he's got a nice thick skull," Leo said, allowing Persephone to lean against him. "I think he's gonna be fine."

"Thank god." Piper sighed. She turned her gaze to Leo. "How did you- the fire- have you always...?"

Leo hung his head. "Always." He said. "I'm a freaking menace. Sorry. I should've told you guys sooner but-"

"Sorry? Valdez why the heck are you sorry?" He looked at Persephone, who started to look healthier and like she wasn't just crushed and tossed around by a Cyclops. "You saved all of us. What you did was incredible."

He blinked. Then his cheeks flushed with colour, a smile taking over his face. The relief flooded his system for only a moment, as he noticed the dust moving next to Piper's foot. Persephone followed his gaze, seeing the dust being forced together, forming.

"They're forming again." He told them. "Look."

"That's not- They can't. Once you kill a monster they go to Tartarus. They don't form this quickly again."

"Well, nobody told the dust that." Leo watched as it collected into a pile, then slowly spready out, forming a shape with arms and legs.

"Oh, god." Piper choked. "Boreas said something about this- the earth yielding up horrors. 'When monsters no longer stay in Tartarus, and souls are no longer confined to Hades'. How long do you think we have?"

"I don't know. But we have to get out of here." He told them.