Percy Jackson-Leo's Return.

Poseidon's Pearls

I didn't see how it could get any more awkward, looking for a stupid Annabeth with a buff Leo and all, but it did.  We ran into Jason and Piper, literally, and almost knocked each other to the floor.  Leo immediately recognized them and turned away from them, using his hood to shield his face  from them.  Piper, even though she didn't know who he was, was curious about the person standing next to me trying not to be seen.  
   "Turn around."  She charmspoke lightly at Leo, so as to not make everyone around us turn around.  Leo did as he was told, but it's not like he had much of a choice.
   "Take off your hood."  She charmspoke to him again, and he seemed to be resisting well.  He finally removed his hood and tried to avoid making eye contact with either of them.
   "Leo?"  Jason asked sounding unsure of himself.  Leo and I both nodded lightly.  Jason seemed intimidated by the six-four pyromancer.  I would be, too, given that a pyromancer is someone who uses fire magic.  You can call it that, right?
   Piper swallowed and Leo pulled his hood back on.  Piper kept staring at him.
   "Don't look at me like that.  I'm not a monster."  Leo said, like it was painful to get out.
   "Sorry..."  Piper choked out.  Leo pushed past both of them and continued walking.  He was about as tall as Jason, and Jason was tall.
   It got even worse when we found Annabeth laying down in the grass by the Big House with Frank and Hazel looking down at her.  Leo saw them and turned around, but I spun him back to face them.
   "Hey guys!"  I yelled at them to get their attention.
   "I hate you."  Leo sneered at me.  I was afraid he would set me of fire, so I let go while Hazel motioned for us to come over.  When we were looking at Annabeth as well, I flicked Leo's hood off.  His hair lit on fire along with his hands as soon as I did.  I figured now was when he would kill me.
   "Leo?"  Frank and Hazel both asked in unison.
   "Yes."  I answered, and the fire on the tips of his hair burned brighter.  I took a step away.  He looked like he could overpower Frank with one hand, and Frank could overpower Jason with one hand, and Jason could overpower me with both hands if I was one-handed.  In short, I didn't like my odds against Leo.  Hazel fanned her face in that oldie way she likes to do, and Frank looked like he was trying to decide between being mad, jealous, or his 'aww, she's so cute when she does that' reaction.  He chose none of the above.
   "Anyone know what's wrong with Annabeth?"  All eyes shot over to me, but I was too busy looking at Annabeth squinting at clouds and saying what she thought she looked like to herself.  It was scary, but adorable.  This must be what it's like to have a dumb-blonde stereotypical girlfriend, I thought.  I could see why guys were attracted to this, but I wanted my Wise Girl back.
   I explained what had happened absentmindedly while looking at Annabeth.  When I finished, all I got was silence.  I bent down to talk to Annabeth.
   "Hey, Annabeth."  I said carefully.  I didn't want to hurt her brain.
   "Hello."  She said, sounding like what a puppy would say to everyone if it could talk.  I sighed.
   "Want to go to your bed?  Lots of fluffy pillows, like clouds.  You can play with them."  I tempted her.  She jumped up and took my hand.
   "Onward, to the fluffy pillows, my might steed!"  She shouted then jumped on my back.  I almost fell over, but luckily caught myself.  I rolled my eyes and began to walk to the Athena cabin.
   "Faster!  Faster!"  She yelled and giggled.  Not the kind of giggle that you do at something funny, but the kind you hear when the space in your skull where the brain should be echoes, then comes out of your mouth all high-pitched and screamy.  It was scarier then any battle cry I'd ever heard, so I went faster until I had galloped her all the way to the Athena cabin.
   I dropped her off in her bed and she grabbed a pillow and started playing with it.  Some of the other Athena kids looked at her really weirdly, so I pulled them aside and explained.  They agreed to give her a crash course in, well, everything tonight, and I hoped she would be better by the morning.
   I walked out of the cabin to find Piper, Jason, Hazel, Frank, and Leo all standing there waiting for me.
   "Ditz."  I muttered.  I knew it wasn't her fault, but it was weird.  Joker doesn't mean brain-dead, but maybe it was meant to be an extra challenge for us to not have her brains on our side.
   "Is she okay?"  Piper asked.  I just shrugged and stood by Leo.  I looked up and saw that the sun was somehow already right above me.  What happened to the day?
   "Do you want to get lunch, or are you okay to starve?"  Jason asked, eyeing Leo suspiciously, even though the question was directed at all of us.
   "I don't feel like starving, thank you."  Frank answered for all of us, so we headed to the tables where I sat alone with no sign of Annabeth.  My head was spinning with everything that had happened lately.  When were we even supposed to go on this quest anyway?  Rachel might tell us, or Chiron, or maybe that occasional sign from the gods.  I needed to clear my head.
   I slipped out of the mass of tables and campers and jogged over to the canoeing lake.  I stood by the shore and took my shoes off, putting my feet in the water that was washing up on the shore.  The salt water made me feel better, more energized.  I hadn't realized how tired I was until now, when I actually felt awake.  I sat down with my legs outstretched into the water.  I took a deep breath and sighed out as I let my head fall back as I closed my eyes.
   "Beautiful day isn't it?"  I voice snapped me out of  my peace.  I was about to get mad, then I saw who was next to me.
   "Yeah."  I breathed, and Poseidon moved from his spot next to me to sit down.  He was wearing Bermuda shorts and a button up Hawaiian shirt.  It seemed a little strange to me that most of the gods wore things like that all the time.
   Poseidon splashed water in my face with the flick of his finger, and we both smiled.  I hit him back with a squirt of water, potentially accepting his request to engage in battle.  We both stood up at lightning speed and started dropping water bombs on each other.  Soon, he had a trident made completely of water in his hand, and I a spear of the same likeness. (Why'd I think it like that?)  We were fighting with waves and small water tornadoes around us, having the best time.  Poseidon caught the tip of my spear between two of the three prongs of his trident and flung it out into the lake where it turned back into water.  I laughed, then hit him in the face with a wave, causing him to drop his trident as it turned back into water.
   He smiled at me as we settled back into our spots sitting by the lake.
   "I wish..."  I let my voice trail off.  I wished we could do things like that all the time, even though I knew it was impossible.  
   "Me too."  He answered, and we sat there for a while.  I was using my finger to make shaped out of water for Poseidon to knock down.  After a while, I let me shape drop on its own.
   "Why'd you come?"  I asked, but when I turned around, he was gone.  I hated when gods did that, but in his place were three pearls.  I recognized them as Poseidon's Pearls, and I knew what I was supposed to do with them.  We had to go to Salt Lake City, so maybe these pearls could bring us to the Salt Lake even if it wasn't the ocean.
   I scooped them up and put my shoes on and ran back up to the cabins.  We had to leave tomorrow.