Hidden Consequences

by DemigodsAndTurtlesAndASillyLittleTiger

Summary:

In Mark of Athena, when Leo used the fortune cookie to save Hazel, Frank, and himself, it came with a price.

What if that price hadn’t been Annabeth and Percy?

Notes:

Let’s face it guys, Percy and Annabeth falling into Tartarus was a canon event. It couldn’t have been stopped even if Leo hadn’t used the fortune cookie. So I decided to take something else from him. Let’s see if you can guess what it is.

Chapter 1

Leo’s hands shook as he reassembled the sphere.

 

He had to finish this before the eidolons figured out that there was one way they’d get him to cooperate.

 

He pops the last gear in place when wolf man yells,

 

“Valdez! Open this door right now or our third comrade will kill your friends!”

 

Leo fumbles with the sphere, fighting back tears.

 

He didn’t have the access code and the damn eidolon that ruined this whole quest was going to kill his friends.

 

A problem you cannot solve.

 

Dammit Nemesis was right.

 

Wait. Nemesis.

 

Leo sets down the sphere, and pulls the fortune cookie out of his tool belt.

 

He looks up at his friends through the glass, and taser ball sends one more shock into them.

 

Leo makes up his mind right then and there.

 

“I need the access code for this sphere.”

 

Leo cracks open the cookie.

 

…………………………………………………………

….

 

The manikins crumple to the floor and Leo breaks open the door, rushing over to Hazel and Frank.

 

They were huddling under the nearest table, as they’d ducked under there when Leo yelled at them to do so.

 

“You guys okay?” Leo asks breathless, as he offers them a hand.

 

“We are now. What the hell did you do back there?”

 

“In layman’s terms, I sealed them into the wiring and imploded it.”

 

“So they’re gone?”

 

“Yea. No more eidolons.”

 

Frank’s been quiet this whole time, but now he tilts his head as he looks at Leo and asks,

 

“Dude are you okay? You look different.”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

Now that Leo was being honest, he did feel a bit different, but he brushed it off.

 

“But why isn’t Nico here?” Hazel asks, voice reaching slight hysteria.

 

Leo thinks for a second, and his heart drops.

 

“Hazel how were you tracking him? Can you sense him cause he’s your brother or were you tracking his sword with your metal finding abilities?”

 

“I-“ She freezes, her eyes wide, “Wait, how did you know about that?”

 

“Lucky guess. Now which is it.”

 

“I was tracking his sword. Why?”

 

“You better follow me.”

 

He leads them into the little sound booth, and points out the black sword he saw earlier.

 

“That’s his sword isn’t it?”

 

Hazel looks seconds from tears, and Frank wraps an arm around her.

 

“But Percy said it was in the jar with Nico! In his dream!”

 

“Well either the dream was wrong or the giants moved it to trick us. I’m really sorry Hazel.”

 

For once, Leo actually was sorry.

 

Suddenly, the door they walked through slams shut, blocking them off from the rest of the workshop.

 

”Hello little demigods.”

 

The voice snakes its way through the room, wrapping itself around Leo and the others.

 

“Gaea.” Leo says defiantly, looking around himself at the walls.

 

Her face appears in the celestial bronze circle on the workbench, and Leo just wants to punch her.

 

”You walked right into my little trap didn’t you.”

 

“Yeah but Leo defeated your stupid ghosts!” For once it’s Frank on his side, but Leo guesses if the choice were him or Gaea, he was the better option.

 

”Maybe. But the goal wasn’t really to kl you. The goal was to separate you.”

 

Leo’s eyes widen as the realization hits him.

 

”Even now, the daughter of Athena faces death alone, deep underground where no one will find her.”

 

The mirror flashes to a picture of Annabeth, a fierce yet terrified scowl on her face, looking up at something they couldn’t see.

 

“The sons of Jupiter and Poseidon and the daughter of Aphrodite unknowingly walk towards their own demise.”

 

Once again the mirror flashes to a picture, this time it’s Percy leading Jason and Piper down a flight of spiral stairs that seem to never end.

 

”I still require the blood of a female and male demigod to rise, which is why you will be spared for now, daughter of Pluto and son of Mars.”

 

The mirror flashes back to Gaea’s face, which then seems to zero in on Leo.

”And you, Leo Valdez. I’m afraid I don’t need you. When my servants come to pick up the sacrifices, you will be eliminated. Pity you had to make that deal with Nemesis, as all it did was buy you a few more minutes. Now I have to go. Enjoy watching your friends die.”

 

Leo absolutely hated the fact that Gaea had called the others by their parentage, but had used his actual name. Getting called useless by a murderous goddess wasn’t that surprising, but that didn’t mean it didn’t sting a bit.

 

He’s not sure why he does this, but he grabs the mirror, reflection still swapping between Annabeth and the three on the staircase.

 

He pulls it off the table, turns, and chucks it at the nearest piece of glass.

 

The heavy celestial bronze sails straight through the window.

 

Leo balls his fists, and takes deep breaths to calm himself down. He couldn’t afford to get worked up right now. They needed to get out of here.

 

“Leo?” Hazel asks, uncertainty in her voice.

 

“I’m good now. Let’s get out of here.”

 

He climbs through the hole in the glass, sweeping any big pieces out of the way so Hazel and Frank wouldn’t hit them.

 

“Alright you guys can come through.”

 

They stand in the larger part of the lab once again.

 

“Okay, I’ve got a plan to get us out of here, but I’ll need both of you guys help. Deal?”

 

They nod and he starts explaining.

 

…………………………………………………………

….

 

Leo stares down at the gaping hole in the floor, the hole that had stolen Percy and Annabeth from them and led to the most horrifying place imaginable.

 

It was his fault.

 

All his fault.

 

If he hadn’t used that damn cookie, then Percy and Annabeth wouldn’t have fallen.

 

Leo shivers in the breeze as the Argo II rises out of the rubble. He stands at the helm, hands tightly wrapped around his controllers, and stares straight ahead, not planning on striking up a conversation for at least the next week.

 

Oh gods why had he opened that cookie?

 

…………………………………………………………

….

 

The other six demigods on deck all stood silently, waiting for someone to break the silence and the growing tension.

 

When nobody steps up, Piper looks to Leo, knowing that he would be the most likely to do so.

 

But, when she turns to ask him, she’s surprised at how unapproachable he seems to be.

 

Leo stood, staring out towards the horizon, hands wound tightly around his controllers, and he emanated an aura that said, “Step within three feet of me and I will not hesitate to yell at you.”

 

His shoulders were tensed and he looked more stressed than Piper had ever seen him. He almost looked guilty too, but he hadn’t done anything wrong recently.

 

She wants to say something to him, she really does, but Jason puts a hand on her shoulder and slowly shakes his head, conveying that they should give Leo some space.

 

So Piper reluctantly heads below deck, leaving her best friend to face his inner demons alone.

Chapter 2: The Beginning of The End

Summary:

Leo’s going through it. Let’s check in on him shall we?

Notes:

Welcome back to Hidden Consequences, I hope you enjoy, because the actual story starts now. I’ll try my best not to reveal the details this chapter but it’ll be hard.

Proofread by my wonderful partner.

Thunder rumbled in the distance as Leo stood hunched over the control panel.

 

All the others had gone below deck, which Leo was fine with. He didn’t need anyone - cough cough Piper or Jason cough cough - trying to strike up conversation with him.

 

It was night three of them heading to that stupid temple, and Leo was already tired of the crew without Percy or Annabeth taking charge.

 

The dream he’d had last night didn’t help calm his nerves either.

 

He still remembered Gaea’s voice as the giant wrapped in shadow stood over him.

 

“He is the cold that consumes all fire. The silence that takes all voice. The void that eats all magic. Fighting him is futile little hero.”

 

The woman at the cliff who’d given him the impossible choice - of jumping to his death or continuing to the House of Hades - and then had taken that chance from him, but telling him he had to jump. Honestly, he was glad Jason had woken him up before that giant had reached them.

 

It starts drizzling, pulling Leo out of his thoughts. He looks up at the night sky and its beautiful stars, and he can’t help but think how different his life would’ve been if he’d successfully convinced his mom to leave the shop earlier all those years ago.

 

A chill settles itself into his bones, which was odd for the fire user, but he brushes it off.

 

He shakes his head and starts fidgeting with some of the controls. This is why he was constantly moving, if he didn’t then his mind wandered to the past and got lost in it.

 

A lantern sat beside him on the deck, as he was far too tired to light his own fire and really just wanted to space out and not think about anything.

 

He didn’t realize time had passed until a loud noise snapped him out of his focus.

 

His hands stop above the wires of the control panel as he looks up at the horizon.

 

The sun was rising, casting light over the Argo II. His lantern had blown out sometime ago, and the last remains of night were being chased away.

 

Movement in the distance catches his eye, and he realizes a bird was flying towards his ship.

Wait, not just a bird. A flock of birds. A large flock of birds.

 

As the birds draw nearer to the ship, Leo realizes that they might be a problem.

 

They weren’t big, in fact they were normal pigeon size. The problem was that they were shiny . Pigeons weren’t shiny, and Leo knew that for a fact.

 

He drops the wires of the control panel and jumps back as the first few birds dive bomb the ship.

 

A few hit the main mast, filling the air with a loud cracking sound.

 

Even more set their beady, almost evil looking, eyes on Leo. He takes a deep breath and summons his fire, and points a finger gun up at one of the birds.

 

He waits for the fire to release and strike the bird out the air.

 

But nothing happens.

 

He waits as more birds swarm the ship, tearing apart his handiwork, but he’s frozen in place.

 

His fire is gone.

 

And then the birds collide with him.

 

…………………………………………………………….

 

Jason rubs the bleariness out of his eyes as he walks into the dining room. Piper, Hazel, and Nico were in the room, all looking as equally tired as him.

 

“Morning Jason.” Piper says through a yawn.

 

“Morning. Where’s Leo and Frank?”

 

“Frank’s still asleep.” Hazel answered, “Haven’t seen Leo yet today.”

 

Jason’s about to open his mouth to respond when a loud cracking sound fills the air.

 

All four demigods in the room freeze, and Frank is in the room with them in an instant.

 

Jason begins running up towards the deck, and he senses his friends hot on his heels.

 

He bursts through the doors onto the top deck, morning light illuminating the scene.

 

Hundreds of birds had descended upon the ship, pecking and throwing feathers all over. Sections of the deck were destroyed, and the main mast looked close to breaking.

 

“Get off my ship ! ” A loud voice exclaims off to Jason’s left, and he finds Leo. His friend is swinging a hammer at the birds, but they kept flying out of his reach.

 

He looks tired, and he’s bleeding from several places where the birds had gotten to him.

 

Jason’s friends scatter behind him, because there were just so many birds. They all take off to their own sections of the deck, and start hacking away at the flying nuisances.

 

Subconsciously as they’re fighting, Jason realizes that he recognizes these birds. He remembers a story Annabeth had told him once at the campfire, about how a few years back they were having a chariot race that was interrupted by birds with metal beaks and feathers.

 

“Stymphalian birds!” He exclaims out loud. “They’re Stymphalian birds!”

 

Frank, Hazel, and Nico shoot him curious looks, but Leo and Piper have realization dawn on them as they understand what’s he talking about in a second. They had been there when Annabeth told the story.

 

Leo reaches into his tool belt and pulls out a screwdriver, he turns and chucks it at the emergency alarm, but his turn allows for some of the birds feathers to hit him in the back.

 

The emergency alarm blares through the air, and the birds flock as one and rise off the boat.

 

Riding the winds, Jason flies up and begins slicing the birds down one by one with the herding help of the alarm.

 

Soon enough, the survivors flee off into the distance and Jason slowly slinks back down to the deck of the Argo II.

 

The rest of the demigods are gathered in a circle of the deck, far from the damaged portions, as Leo turns off the emergency alarm.

 

Leo is first to speak, and he kicks a stray piece of wood across the deck as he does.

 

“Those damn birds! This damage is gonna take me days to fix!”

 

All six demigods on the deck were injured, but Leo the most heavily, as he’d been up on deck longer.

 

As Jason’s feet hit the deck, he takes a deep breath and lets some of the battle adrenaline fade.

 

“Okay, report. Leo, what happened before they attacked?”

 

“I was up on deck messing with the control panel when the birds appeared. Came so suddenly I didn’t have time to react.”

 

Leo crossed his arms over his chest, and looks annoyed. However Jason thinks there might be more to it than that.

 

“Alright, I say we all get some ambrosia and food in our systems, then we can start working on the deck. Fair?”

 

Jason is talking to the whole group, but he looks at Leo as he says it, knowing his best friend was likely to jump straight into the work rather than look after himself.

 

All his friends nod and the group of six head below deck after another annoying battle.

Notes:

Remember how I said I wasn’t gonna reveal too much this chapter? Yeah I lied. To all those people who guessed right I’m the comments, I commend you! Well done! I’m getting back into Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus so hopefully there will be many more updates after this one.

Chapter 3: The Secret Loss

Summary:

Secrets are kept and shared.

Notes:

Welcome back to Hidden Consequences! I’m starting this chapter sort of at the beginning of house of hades, so think of the last chapter as sort of in between the two. I hope you enjoy!

Proof read by my partner.

Leo stands in front of the control panel as he waits for Hazel to come back from that storm she’d taken off into with Arion.

 

He stares down at his hands, still not believing his powers were really gone. It’d been almost thirty six hours since that attack and he still hadn’t told anyone else.

 

He keeps snapping his fingers silently, almost numbly, wishing for his powers back.

 

Suddenly, Nico appears next to him and says,

 

“Hazel told me you had fire powers.”

 

“Geez! What the hell man!”

 

Out of the corner of Leo’s eye, he could’ve sworn the son of Hades smirked at his reaction.

 

Leo takes a deep breath and then turns to face him.

 

“What’d you say?”

 

“Hazel told me you have fire powers. So did you lie to her?”

 

As Nico’s words sink in, the heavy feeling in Leo’s chest grows.

 

“No.” Leo says, his eyes drifting down to his feet. “I didn’t lie to her.”

 

Nico eyes him up and down, then shrugs.

 

“Whatever. It’s just why would you try to hit birds with a hammer? I feel like even you aren’t that stupid, and I barely know you.”

 

Ah so that’s why Jason wanted to know if everything was alright after the battle.

 

“You want the truth Nico?”

 

“I mean not really but I feel like you’re going to tell me anyway so go ahead.”

 

“I didn’t lie to Hazel, I used   to have fire powers, but I made a crappy deal with Nemesis to save Frank and Hazel that cost me them.”

 

Nico regards him with a head tilt at the mention of Hazel and then shrugs again.

 

“I guess you’re alright in my book Valdez. I’ll keep your little secret.”

 

Leo breathes a sigh of relief, and gives a little chuckle.

 

“Thanks Nico.”

 

The son of Hades rolls his eyes and then walks away to the other end of the deck, staring off into the swirling clouds Hazel had ridden into.

 

Leo’s secret was safe for a little longer.

 

…………………………………………………………

….

 

Leo’s at the meeting Hazel had called when she’d returned, sitting in his chair, when he hears a familiar name enter the conversation.

 

“Clytius.” Nico says, and Leo’s head shoots up.

 

“Dark dude?” Leo guessed. “Wrapped in shadows?”

 

Hazel’s eyes widen and she looks at him surprised.

 

“How did you know that?”

 

Leo shrugs, “Kind of had a dream.”

 

No one speaks, they wait for him to explain.

 

After he’s finished, they all nod, and Nico adds on.

 

“The ghost I talked to explained that the way to defeat Clytius is lighting him on fire. That was how Hecate defeated him in the First Titan War.”

 

Nico doesn’t mean his eyes, but everyone else in the room turns to look at Leo.

 

Leo feels his insides turn to ice, but on the outside he just says,

 

“Oh. Okay.”

 

Jason nods at him encouragingly, and Leo feels like he should really   tell his friends.

 

But he can’t. He already doesn’t have much to bring to the team, and without his fire powers, what good is he to them at all ?

 

If they thought he was still useful then they couldn’t get rid of him. He knew that they were gonna find out sooner or later, but he wanted to feel needed just for a little while longer.

 

Leo excuses himself quietly once the formal meeting ends, and as he walks out of the room, he feels Nico’s eyes on him, the only person in the room that knew he wasn’t able to defeat Clytius.

 

…………………………………………………………

….

 

When the first gryphon dive bombs the ship, all it does is make Hazel remember Alaska, with Percy and Frank by her side. Then she remembers the way Percy had let go off the ledge and fallen into that bottomless pit.

 

Then she focuses on the battle on hand, but not before hitting the emergency alarm.

 

The alarm blares through the ship as she draws her spatha.

 

Hazel, Jason, and Nico were all above deck, as they were entering the Ancient Lands, and the monster attacks were getting more and more frequent.

 

Nico was up in the crow’s nest as usual in the brand new mast, and Jason was on the other end of the deck.

 

Hazel dives to the left as the first gryphon hits the deck, and Jason is quickly by her side.

 

Their other three friends come up from below deck, weapons drawn.

 

Well, except for Leo, who only wielded a wrench.

 

Hazel slices off one of the gryphons wings, which causes it to go off balance. Jason takes the opportunity to put his gladius through it, and it scatters into dust.

 

However, by the time even one had been defeated, an entire drift of gryphons had descended on the ship.

 

Each demigod fought hard, knocking down gryphon after gryphon, but only more took their place, and the demigods were starting to slow.

 

The first cry of pain that goes up is Piper’s, as a gryphon claw swipes across her leg and cause her to fall to one knee.

 

Jason abandons his post from near Hazel and races across the deck towards Piper, slicing down any gryphons in his path.

 

Hazel brandishes her spatha in a wide arch, pushing any nearer gryphons back.

 

Leo’s right beside her, a large hammer clutched in his hands as he swings at the gryphons.

 

He hits one upside the head hard enough to make it stumble, and Hazel finishes it off.

 

Suddenly, pain flares in her lower leg as one of the gryphons strikes from behind.

 

Her leg gives out and she falls to the deck, Leo standing over her with his hammer. His eyes are defiant, yet his arms are shaky, and once again Hazel is struck by how similar this boy is to Sammy.

 

He keeps whacking the gryphons with his hammer, but without something more lethal, the animals keep shaking out of the pain and advancing.

 

Jason, Frank, and Nico were still all too swamped with gryphons to help, which left Leo as Hazel’s last defense.

 

He grips his hammer tighter, and his eyes drift down to Hazel, who was clutching her leg with an immense amount of pain on her face.

 

“Leo!” Jason yells, “Kill them!”

 

Leo drops his hammer and takes one step forward, half extending one of his arms, when he just freezes .

 

No movement, no words, just stillness, something so unusual for the fidgety boy. Then, almost if something came over him, like an eidolon or something of that sort, he starts taking steps backwards.

 

First it’s a singular shaky step, back towards where his hammer is, as the gryphons continue to get closer.

 

Hazel reaches for her spatha from the ground, but the blade had fell out of her hands and slid across the deck when her leg gave out.

 

Leo’s steps backwards again, which Hazel isn’t worried about, until the steps turn into him looking behind him, turning, and bolting to the lower deck.

 

For a moment, silence descends upon the demigods, until the gryphons’s screeching grows loud again.

 

The ones by Hazel are only a mere foot or two away, and she still can’t reach her sword, when Nico shadow travels in front of her and swipes at the gryphons with his Stygian iron sword.

 

“Stay away from my sister .” He growls, and continues to hack away at the flying monsters.

 

Finally, after what seems like hours, the last gryphon scatters into dust.

 

Nico helps Hazel to her feet, and Jason does the same with Piper. Frank sheathes his bow and walks over to them.

 

None of them mention Leo’s run off, but through gritted teeth Jason says,

 

“You guys go down to the infirmary. I have to talk to Leo.”

 

They all nod and Frank takes Pipers arm off Jason. The four head below deck, and Jason follows them.

 

The group turns into the infirmary; but Jason storms down the hall towards the engine room.

 

He throws open the door and yells,

 

“Leo! What the hell-“

 

But he freezes mid sentence, because the room is destroyed.

 

Leo’s makeshift bed on the engine room floor was torn apart and thrown all over the room, and tools were scattered left and right.

 

Nothing was burnt, but many things looked like they had been destroyed by other means.

 

In the center of the room, Leo sits. His back is to the door with his arms wrapped around himself and his head tucked down.

 

Once Jason quiets down, all he hears is a soft,

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Coming from Leo.

 

And that’s when Jason knows something is very wrong.

Notes:

Welp looks like the cat’s out of the bag. I really tried to play into Leo’s insecurities, and that’s why he kept it a secret. He feels like that if they found out then they’d get rid of him, because he’s not good for anything else. He might feel a little OOC in the gryphon scene but I digress. I hope you enjoyed.

Notes:

Here ya go, I felt I needed to set the scene before we actually jumped into the story, so that’s what this was. I dropped like two hints in this whole chapter about what I took so take a guess.