The Mark of Athena,Heroes of Olympus, Book 3

Leo XII


"Leo. Leo! LEO!"

Leo's eyes popped open, and he realized that curly blonde hair was tickling his face. Annabeth. Sigh. This couldn't be good.

"What is your problem, Annabeth?" exclaimed Leo. "It's like-" Leo turned toward his clock. "-five o'clock!"

"We're addressing the Romans today. Woke Piper and Percy up at four-thirty. They won't roast me. Well, you probably won't either, but better safe than sorry!"

"Now you sound like Octavian!" That earned Leo a slap across the face.

"Piper, Percy, Jason, Hazel, Frank, and Reyna are up and in the main room. You have fifteen minutes to get there, or I will drag you there personally!" Annabeth stormed out of the room, leaving Leo alone with his thoughts.

Annabeth hadn't realized it, but she'd just baited Leo. He wanted to see Hazel again. And not for the reason that you'd think! He just wanted to ask who this Sammy person was. After debating whether or not to listen, he looked at his clock.

He had just wasted ten minutes.

"Crap," hissed Leo, rifling through his dresser, finding a pair of jeans that weren't too bad, and sticking with the t-shirt he wore to bed. He dug through his room to find the shoes, only to find them right by the door where he kicked them off.

Then he looked at the clock again. He was at sixteen minutes.

"Leo, you'd better hurry!" warned Annabeth. Leo bolted out of his room, scared to death by Annabeth. He almost cracked up at the sight that he saw. Percy, Jason, and Frank were half-asleep on the couch. Piper and Reyna were arguing about Leo-thinks-he-knows-what.

"Guys, I'm pretty sure Jason won't want-" Leo began.

"Jason? You think..." Piper stifled a laugh, then cracked up.

"Well... er... um... I'm just... uh... heh, heh," stuttered Leo, his face turning as red as a cherry. He quickly sat down beside Hazel.

"Who's Sammy?" Leo whispered to Hazel.

"Err... A guy you look a lot like?" answered Hazel, although she didn't sound sure.

"Okee-dokey, then?"

"Anyway, Reyna and I have reached an agreement. At ten o' clock, we will address Rome. Brace yourselves!" Piper chirped sounding way happier than she usually did.

"Uh?" Percy grunted, waking up. "What-oh. Sorry." Percy turned about as red as Leo had.

Five Hours Later...

Leo walked out of the boat waving as if he was a king waving to his subjects. He tripped and fell.

Him being at the back of the line of people exiting the boat he had been the last on the gangplank.

"What? That's how I get out of my boat! You don't 'cause you're a loser!" screamed Leo as he struggled to stand up. He managed, and half of Rome was cracking up.

"Oh... Leo!" growled Annabeth.

They reached the podium without anyone dying, and Annabeth began to talk about real boring stuff to the Romans. When she was done, the Romans clapped politely, but Octavian snickered.

"See you in who knows how long! Live long and prosper!" Leo shouted.

Annabeth snarled and reached around Leo's neck, pressing down into the hollow of it.

Leo fell to the ground laughing, because it seriously felt so freaking weird. It tickled.

"Stop! Stop! Please! I beg of you!" screamed Leo.

"Leo?" Percy said. "She isn't touching you."

"Hmm? Oh... uh... yeah. Um, supreme commander out. Heh, heh." Leo walked back onto the ship, into the control room.

"Wait, so we have to stay here?" asked Connor Stoll, his voice muffled by the windows.

"Yeah, pretty much," answered Annabeth. "Leo!"

"What do you want, braniac?" asked Leo.

"Uh... we kind of need to, oh, I don't know, get into the air?" Annabeth said, poking her head in the doorway.

"Oh... oh, oh right! Gotcha!" Leo pulled a lever and felt the familiar vibration of the engine. He flipped a switch labeled "wings." They unfolded with a clanking sound. Many Romans gasped at the sight of them. He turned a knob, and saw that the dragon masthead's eyes were now glowing red. He pressed a button, and the boat rose into the air.

Leo's hands gripped the controls. With a grin, Leo tilted the wheel towards himself and the boat shot up. After a moment of exhilaration, Leo began steering the boat. Steering towards Rome, where it was likely they would all die.

"Here we go," muttered Leo as they shot towards San Francisco Bay, Camp Jupiter getting farther and farther away with each passing moment.

He could only hope that one of them could speak Italian.