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Chapter Text

The walls ablaze with violent, raging flames that made his eyes ache with their brightness quickly faded from Leo's vision as he woke with a start. A burning smell entered his nose, searing his senses and briefly bringing tears to his eyes. He looked around slowly while patting his hands against his shorts, gradually recognizing the familiar surroundings of the engine room where he'd fallen asleep again. 

He could barely remember his nightmare now that he was awake—something about fire, heat, and screams.  The more he tried to catch the images, the faster they seemed to run out of his reach. 

Giving a frustrated sigh, he ran his hands through his greasy curls and shook them out again, confirming with himself that they were no longer flaming. The spot of the floorboards that he had smoldered a bit was smoking. It made his eyes sting and water.

Which, he thought, was totally lame. He had built-in fire resistance (courtesy of his father) but smoke still stung his eyes. 

Waking up in the middle of the night was not an uncommon occurrence on this ship.

Hell, ever since they got back from the House of Hades, Leo had been hearing frantic running footsteps every night. He assumed that it was Percy or Annabeth, unable to stand being so cramped in cabins, even with the magical expansions he'd installed in them. 

He had heard them mumble something about stars and Bob. But he didn't want to ask. 

No one did. 

But Leo, who usually didn't have too much trouble falling asleep and staying asleep himself, checked himself for whatever might have woken up. 

He found nothing in sight, but there was a sinking feeling in his gut that had been growing more and more persistent since he'd woken up. He slipped his toolbelt on and rested a hand idly in a pocket. Just in case. 

His nerves made him jittery for something to do. He still couldn't pinpoint what had made him so jumpy. 

He thought about just blaming the feeling on his ADHD acting up and trying to go back to sleep, but decided against it. 

He'd learned that it was never just "a coincidence." Demigods didn't have coincidences.

Something was going on. 

He stood up, checking that he was wearing something not too embarrassing (he would never forget the time he and the rest of the seven had to fight a battle only half dressed--seriously, Percy was ripped), and reached a hand out to the doorknob. 

Before he got there though, four urgent knocks sounded on the door. 

Leo's hand snapped back and he took three steps backward. He took a hammer out of his toolbelt and waited. 

The door flew open and Leo swung without seeing. 

"Woah!" 

His swing was stopped abruptly in mid-air, slightly startling him. It was a pretty aggressive attack.

He peered underneath the weapon and glimpsed the slightly surprised face of Percy Jackson. Leo dropped his hands where he finally saw that his fingers were about half an inch from getting sliced off by Percy's deadly blade. 

"Percy?"

Looking closer, Leo saw the dark circles under his eyes, his unnaturally pale complexion that could (worryingly) rival Nico's, and the unkempt, tangled mess of black hair on his head. 

"Whoa, dude. You look like death," he said without thinking. 

Percy did not smile. In fact. He looked about as nervous as Leo felt. 

Suddenly, without warning, Leo was roughly shoved against the wall of the engine room. A very sharp tip of celestial bronze was inching closer and closer to his throat. 

Percy leaned in close. His face was scarily stoic. "What monster pulled Annabeth and me into Tartarus?"

Leo couldn't say anything. His throat wouldn't form the words his brain was screaming at him. What was going on? Was this what his instincts were trying to warn him of? A sudden pop quiz by the demigod Leo both looked up to and feared the most? 

Pop quizzes were scary in their own right, but this wasn't like Percy. 

Or was it? 

The two hadn't really gotten to know each other that well... 

Hey, focus, Leo. There is a deadly demigod threatening your throat with his very pointy, very deadly blade. 

"Uhm--"

Percy shoved him harder, bringing his blade closer. 

"Arachne!" Leo shouted out. 

Percy let him go all at once and Leo slid to the floor breathing heavily. 

"What the hell--"

Percy ran a hand through his hair, looking much more like his regular self. Though still with intense anxiety and apprehension on his face. 

"Sorry, Leo. Had to check. We gotta go."

Leo was up in a second. 

"What's going on? Are we fighting?"

Percy hesitated. Something dark flashed behind his eyes. 

"I... I don't know."

His nerves spiked. "What's going on?"

There was a clang from upstairs. Leo jumped and Percy snapped his head up to the floorboards above him as if they'd immediately become transparent at his glare. 

Honestly, Leo wouldn't be all that surprised if they did become transparent when faced with that countenance. It was enough to send terror through his anxiety-riddled brain, and Percy wasn't even directing the fierce expression at him. It made him want to drop to the ground and beg forgiveness for whatever he'd done. 

"No time," Percy said, sheathing Riptide (seriously, that pen was so cool. Leo had to get his hands on it at some point.) "I'll explain while we run."

Leo had no choice but to follow the older hero as he dashed up the stairs with speed that could put Arion to shame (not really, but you get the point.)

"Do you remember the eidolons?" Percy asked as Leo struggled to keep up.

He nodded, involuntarily giving a shiver. 

"The ones that possessed you, me, and Jason to try and kill each other? Rings a bell..." Leo said, focussing on not tripping over his own shoes. 

Percy grimaced. "Yeah, those guys. I think they're back."

Leo's heart jumped. Those guys were one of the scariest things he'd had to face. Just hearing about Percy and Jason nearly killing each other in a wheat field in Kansas sent chills up and down his spine. 

"But I thought Piper..."

Percy shrugged. "Don't really know what their loyalty contract is on promises."

"Who have they gotten?"

Percy closed his eyes. Leo was worried he was going to trip, but his (freakishly fast) pace remained steady. 

"Everyone."

Everyone.

He was silent for a few seconds. 

Gods, everyone on this ship. Everyone.

He swallowed, his throat suddenly thick. 

"I assume they're not making them clean the deck?"

Percy shook his head, a strained expression on his face. "I don't know what to do. About ten minutes ago, Annabeth was pounding at my door. I freaked out, jumped up, and opened the door. Was not prepared for the sword that would have taken my head off had I not--Uhm..."

Leo waited but nothing more was shared. 

"And the others?" he asked, without pressuring Percy to continue, for which the older boy was visually grateful. 

"I thought the worst, of course. But somehow I managed to get out of my cabin. Got cornered in the hallway by five very angry, very possessed crewmembers."

"How did you get out?"

"Fought," he said casually. "Shut the door, behind me and ran. Then I found you."

Leo nodded. They had reached the final door to the deck where the sounds of a battle were loud and jarring. Usually, they wouldn't bother him, but now? Now that he knew those fighting one another were his friends, he was more terrified than ever. 

What if someone got hurt? What if someone died? 

"What are we going to do?" Leo whispered to Percy who seemed to be asking himself the exact same question. "We don't have charmspeak on our side this time."

Percy grimaced, but the expression left his face so quickly that Leo wasn't sure if he had imagined it or not in the dark setting. (Seriously, he ought to install some lights in this hallway when all this was over.)

Percy opened his mouth, presumably to fire off one of his ridiculously stupid ideas that always somehow worked when the door burst open and Jason was staring the two of them down with such an angry expression on his face, imperial gold blade drawn and ready.

Percy drew riptide and parried the offending stab faster than Leo could blink. 

"We improvise until we can think of a plan," Percy yelled back to him as he struggled to fight in the cramped space. 

So fight the usual demigod style, Leo thought. That works. 

The two of them charged into the fight with little more than a signal word. Leo had pulled his hammer out of his toolbelt again and wasn't doing too terribly. But this time it wasn't a faceless enemy he fought. He was painfully aware that every strike he landed was a strike against one of his friends, his family. 

Percy seemed to be having similar struggles. He was easily the best swordsman in three centuries, leagues better than any of the seven. His technique, Leo had observed while watching him train (hey, he was bored, sue him. And watching Percy fight was weirdly fascinating. Like something he could dissect and solve. But he hadn't solved it yet, probably because the technique wasn't really a technique. It was just Percy's natural talent) was random and didn't let you think about his next move. 

And he was fast. With every hit he took, he'd already given about five more in retaliation, darting around the battlefield with quick, nimble steps. He almost looked like he was dancing. But this time, he was more frazzled. He still fought with the skill of an ancient hero (better than them, if Leo was being honest) but he was being extra careful. 

He made sure to only strike with the flat end of his blade, intending to daze and slow down his attackers, not maim, and certainly not kill. 

Leo cursed himself. He'd stepped out of the battle for a bit, caught up in watching Percy. But, it seemed, that everyone was solely after him anyway. 

Frank, turned into a bear, got a lucky swipe and clawed Percy's side, tearing his shirt and causing the other boy to grit his teeth in pain. Percy hit him hard on the head with the hilt of his blade and Frank the bear backed off. 

But Percy had left himself too open, caught up in surprise and pain.

Jason swiped at him with his blade and Percy dodged too late. The sharp edge left a nasty cut scarily close to his left eye and slicing down his cheek, level with the tip of his nose. 

Percy squeezed his eyes shut for a single second. It was just one second. 

Annabeth slashed at him. 

Percy recognized her. He faltered. 

Leo stepped forward uselessly. He was too far. 

"Stop!"

The charmspeak was so strong that Leo was frozen in his tracks. But it wasn't Piper's. Piper's was sweet, coy, coaxing. This was sharp, demanding, aggressive, and so, so terrifying.

Annabeth stopped. 

Everyone stopped. 

They turned to look at him. Their heads tilted to the side like confused dogs.

Leo looked at Percy, but the son of Poseidon didn't look surprised, he looked absolutely miserable. 

"Stop," he demanded again. 

Hazel and Piper, who'd been raising their weapons again, froze when the charmspeak was directed at them. 

"Listen to me," Percy's voice left no question in it. It was cold and hard. "Show yourself," he ordered. 

The cuts on his face and side were bleeding heavily. 

Leo couldn't move. He was overcome with the overwhelming urge to rip his soul out of his body and present it to Percy. 

The eidolons no doubt had the same feelings. They looked dazed and some tried to walk out of their hosts, but the other two (Annabeth and Jason) glared at them and the effort was abandoned. 

"Percccccy Jacksssssson..." Piper hissed out. "We have heard much about youuuu."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "You wanna kill me? Get in line and take a number, please. I think you're somewhere behind Nyx, Ahklys, or Tartarus himself."

Leo blinked. 

What now? 

He knew Tartarus must have been hell (no pun intended) but he'd never imagined anything even close to that. 

Neither had the eidolon apparently. Piper's eyes grew wide and she hesitated. 

Percy smirked, though his face said everything besides amusement.

"Show yourself," he demanded again, forcing more power into his voice than Piper had ever even come close to.

The eidolons didn't stand a chance. They walked out of Leo's friends who collapsed to the ground. The monsters stood in front of Percy, for the first time looking scared of the offending boy.

"Get out."    

Those two simple words and Leo wanted to leap off of the ship's railing. 

"Jump off this ship and get as far away from it as you possibly can. You hate this ship. You never want to come back here."

Leo felt a sudden burning hatred for the ship he'd spent months building. He wanted to light his hands on fire and set the floorboards ablaze. He wanted to destroy this ship. And then leave it, never to think about it again.

The eidolons jumped off the ship, acting how Leo had just wanted to seconds ago. 

There was still something wrong though.

Only four monsters had fled. 

Five had been attacking. 

One must have been stronger than the rest. The leader, perhaps. 

And it was still possessing one of them. 

Annabeth. 

She stood up as soon as Percy let his guard down. She brought her sword slashing through the air, aiming straight for the head. Percy wasn't ready. Riptide hung loosely at his side. 

Leo inhaled sharply, sure he was about to witness the worst thing in the world.

Love killed by love. 

Percy brought a sudden hand up, palm facing Annabeth. Her motion stopped and her sword clattered to the floor. 

Leo looked at Percy, eyes wide and confused. 

Percy looked much worse. His face was pale and horrified. He looked at his hand, mouth slightly open. 

"This is my last warning. Leave my friends, leave this ship, jump overboard and never come back again."

He poured more charmspeak into his shaking voice than Leo had ever heard at once. He had no control over his actions when he ran and leaped over the side of the ship at his command. 

The icy water was a shock at first, washing away any effect the charmspeak had on him. Leo panicked and thrashed around wildly in the surf. A current caught him and he nearly had a heart attack. But the swift water brought him back on deck. 

He was about to thank Percy when he caught sight of him. 

He was shaking like a leaf in a tornado. His hands, which he waved to dry Leo, trembled so bad Leo wasn't able to count the fingers on them if he tried. His face was even paler, at a concerning level. He looked more like the ghosts Nico talked to than Nico himself now. 

Percy mumbled an apology and fled to the stairs, leaving the five demigods still unconscious on the ground, closing the door with a snap.

Leo stood where he was, dry and (was it his imagination?) slightly warmer. The shock hadn't yet worn off. 

When had Percy learnt charmspeak?

But it wasn't charmpeak, was it? 

It didn't bank on sweet persuasion to convince someone to follow orders. It demanded so fiercely even the toughest of war sergeants would crumble under its power. And Percy had put a lot of power into it. 

How?

Charmpseak was a child of Aphrodite thing. Maybe Hecate, but definitely not Poseidon. 

And what had stopped Annabeth from shish kebab-ing him? 

She just sort of froze...

Slowly, the shock wore off and Leo knew he had to find Percy. To talk to him, to ask him what the hell happened. 

He found him in the stables looking much worse than before. 

His face, somehow even paler, was sticky with sweat and blood as the cut steadily dripped the warm liquid. His black hair was a tangled mess in his fingers. His knees were pulled up to his chest. His breathing was labored and frantic. And his eyes that swirled with dark power and intensity stared blanky straight ahead. 

"Percy?"

Leo had never seen him like this and it scared him. 

Percy was supposed to be the strong one. He was the one who coaxed people out of panic attacks, he didn't have them himself. He was the one people used as a rock, solid and grounding. 

What a stupid mindset, Leo realized. 

Percy was evidently not fine despite what he'd told everyone. Leo should have seen it. Was he not the master of putting on a smile, hiding behind jokes, and waiting until no one can see to crumble to pieces? 

Well if he was the master before, Percy could give him a pretty good run for his money now. 

"L--Leo?" Percy asked, voice still shaky. 

Leo nodded, crouching down to meet him eye to eye. 

"Yep, Leo here. The supreme master of the Argo II, badass fire user, and... and... uhh. One of the seven?" He finished lamely, cursing his ADHD's need to fill the silence with unnecessary words. 

Mentioning the seven had been the wrong thing to do. 

Percy curled in on himself more, gripping his hair tighter. 

"Oh gods," he muttered under his breath. Leo barely caught it. "Gods, I did that, didn't I?"

No jokes. No smiles. Percy wasn't hiding anymore. Not now, at least. 

Was this what it was like for him when they finally dispersed into their own cabins for the night? 

Leo supposed it probably was. He'd noticed that when they were traveling over the sea, the waves did get rougher at night, but he just thought it was a weird routine thing with nature. But maybe not. 

"Yeah, you did," Leo confirmed gently. 

Percy squeezed his eyes shut and slammed his head against the wall. Leo jumped. 

"Shit, I don't--"

"Hey," Leo said, trying to stop him from doing any more harm to himself. But he glimpsed Percy's wrists tangled in his hair, and his words died in his throat. 

Scars. 

Perfectly straight, slit scars. Two were still healing. 

This was why Percy'd taken to wearing a jacket more often. 

It was worse than Leo had thought. 

Than anyone had thought. 

But that didn't matter right now. 

"What--uh," he hesitated, unsure if this would make everything worse or not. Only for a second before plowing on. "What were you--um..."

Percy gave a grim smile. It didn't light up his face as his normal ones did. It seemed to dull it out even. It pronounced the tiredness in his eyes, the sleepless circles on his too-pale face. 

Abruptly, any expression he'd had on his face, including panic, had dropped. He pondered something and his face once again turned absolutely miserable. 

"Charmspeak, I guess you could call it," he said reluctantly. 

Leo's thoughts had been confirmed. it still didn't answer the question of how.

"But...how--"

"The Sirens," Percy interrupted, sensing Leo's question and probably figuring out himself that he'd have to tell him at one point or another. "The monsters that sing songs and show you exactly what you want. I met them in the Sea of Monsters when I was thirteen."

"Right," Leo said. 

He was familiar with the Sirens, just a bit numb to the fact that Percy had seemingly met every monster in the world. 

And then it clicked. 

"Oh."

Percy nodded. "They're children of the sea."

Leo furrowed his eyebrows. "But that doesn't explain how--"

Percy stopped him by resting his head on his knees, seemingly steeling himself to say something. 

"Down in Tartarus," his voice cracked, "It... well it makes you desperate. I did things I could never have even dreamed of thinking I could do here on the surface. Something in my power was unlocked down there. And it hasn't been sealed up since."

Leo looked down. "So the charmspeak..."

Percy nodded. 

Leo knew he was holding something back but didn't want to push the fragile boy too hard. 

He had one more question, though. 

"Is that what stopped Annabeth from killing you?"

"That wasn't Annabeth," Percy snapped, and Leo jumped, but then he took a deep breath. "Sorry, sorry." 

Leo waved him off. He'd gone back to looking concerningly miserable again. 

Percy bit his lip, staring at his quivering hands. "No," he whispered. "It wasn't charmspeak that stopped it."

"Then..."

But Percy didn't offer any more information. He sat there, slumped against the stable door that belonged to (when he was here) his pegasus. 

He muttered to himself and Leo only caught a few words: blood... Annabeth... forgive... control.

He'd discect that later. Now, he heard the signs from the above deck that the previously possessed demigods had woken up. 

Percy seemed to hear it too. The visual change he stepped into was almost painful now that Leo knew it was fake. 

The misery on his face seemed to melt into a relaxed, relieved expression. He turned up the corners of his mouth into a neutral, lopsided smile. He smoothed down his hair and wiped the sweat off his face, stuffing his still shaking hands into his pockets, also covering his wrists. (Leo should figure that out too at some point.)

It almost hurt him to know that even Percy's "neutral" resting face around them was also completely fake. 

"Why do you do that," he asked suddenly. 

Percy looked at him, face painfully relaxed. His eyes were the only thing out of place. Still dark and brooding, swirling with whatever other powers might have been "unlocked" from his time in The Pit.

He seemed to know exactly what Leo was talking about too. 

"I think you know," was all he said before taking a deep breath and walking out the stable doors.

And Leo asked no more questions. 

Because he did know.

Chapter Text

Leo lingered in the stables for longer than he should have, considering. He realized he probably should have followed Percy as soon as he'd left. They had to talk to the crew after all. 

But he found that he wanted to do nothing less. He couldn't face them knowing that he'd only just fought them, not twenty minutes ago. He didn't want to go up there and see the injuries and bruises they sported, knowing he'd been a part of causing them. 

Though nowhere near as many as Percy, Leo had still hurt them. 

And speaking of Percy...

Leo once mentioned that he didn't know who Percy Jackson really was. Now? Now he almost wished he'd gone back to only believing he was this living legend, a god amongst the gods. A god higher than the gods even. 

He knew too much. He'd seen too much. 

The siren-speak, or whatever that was, the dark swirling hurricanes in his eyes, and his wrists– gods, his wrists. 

Heavily decorated with a maze of slit marks and scars. And that was all that Leo saw . How many more lie under the concealing sleeves of his jackets? 

Was he sure he even wanted to know?

Yes, he decided immediately. 

He finally realized how stupid it was to see Percy as a legend instead of the boy underneath. Percy was a hero, yes, no matter how much he shied away from the title. But he was also still a kid . Only a couple of years older than Leo himself. 

And hell, Leo hadn’t even heard all of the stories. He’d heard too many to count, and yet everyone told him there were still many more to tell. 

It seemed impossible, almost. 

The Minotaur, Furies, Medusa, Echidna and her Chimera ( the mother of monsters for gods’ sakes), Ares, literal fucking Hades, and a pit scorpion.

All within the first fucking month. 

No, it didn’t seem real. 

But it was. 

Could anyone blame Leo for thinking of Percy as a legend? Could anyone tell him that with a straight face? 

Was there anyone who didn’t think of Percy Jackson as a legend? 

The answer, Leo was sure, was no. 

Even Annabeth had some form of awe in her voice every time she talked about what Percy had done. Even though she knew Percy inside and out, and was there for most of his quests. 

Hell, Thalia was vocally impressed with him. And Thalia wasn’t impressed with anybody . 

From what Leo had heard as well, Percy had insane powers. He would never forget the story of the personal hurricane Percy had summoned to fight Hyperion. Or the fact that it was the same Percy Jackosn whom he was literally questing with who blew up Mount Saint Helens.

Gods, how shallow had he been? Had everyone been? 

Percy was more than what he’d done… much more than what he’d done. He was more than his weapons and powers. 

He was a boy still, not even eighteen yet. 

He was raised to be a hero and lived only to continue being a hero. With the numerous accomplishments over his head, Percy could not be seen by anyone as just another half-blood. 

And Leo was guilty of that. 

Everyone was. 

But right now, Percy needed someone who knew. 

Someone who could see. 

And Leo was the only person that could be. 

Shit. 

He’d let his ADHD get the better of him. He really hated when his thoughts wandered so severely. Though this time was significantly more useful. But even so, Leo didn’t know if he wished he’d never found this out, or if he preferred it the way it was now. 

All he knew is that now, he knew. And he had to step up. 

He let his legs carry him to the stable door and up the stairs. 

He pushed the door to the main deck open and walked out. The seven were there all looking disoriented and horrified. 

Frank and Jason eyed the injuries Percy had acquired with a pained expression. The cuts on his side were still bleeding heavily and the slash on his face had dripped onto his neck now. 

Leo noted that, behind the easy expression, Percy’s face was still too pale to be normal. His hands remained firmly in his jean pockets, though Leo knew they still very likely shook too much to be dismissed. 

He didn’t miss the way that Percy flinched away when Annabeth made sudden eye contact with him. There was something like horror and shame in Percy’s expression before he quickly schooled his features. 

Annabeth kept glancing at Percy with concern in her eyes. But she made him repeatedly recount the tale of what had happened, despite his very obvious discomfort at telling the story. 

Leo noticed that he’d conveniently left out the part about Siren-speak and—whatever he’d done to Annabeth. 

Percy glanced at Leo so fast that he was startled. He didn’t think anyone had noticed him coming on board. 

Percy’s expression was clear: don’t tell them. 

Leo gave a quick, almost imperceptible nod with a look in his eyes that read: you’re not escaping me though.

Percy squeezed his eyes shut and his face scrunched up while he took a breath before turning back to Annabeth with the same relaxed expression on his face. 

Leo released his own breath, remorse filling him. 

Was this how Percy always was? Was he really so miserable inside, but so charming that nobody noticed? 

Or maybe they just didn’t want to notice. 

Maybe they just wanted to keep thinking of him as the invincible hero he was thought to be. 

“Leo!” someone shouted, startling him out of his (admittedly depressing) thoughts. 

“Oh my gods, Leo!” Hazel ran towards him. “Are you hurt at all?”

Leo shook his head. “No, no, not at all. Can’t really say the same about some of you, though. My hammer got you pretty good in the head there, Frank!”

Frank looked too guilty to snap back at him. He kept glancing at the scratches he’d given Percy as a bear. 

Piper glanced at him and gave him a quick grin. Her expression was a bit nervous. She was tentative. 

Leo almost scoffed. If any of them thought he was mad at them for getting possessed, they could dismiss those feelings immediately. 

Really, all he wanted was for this to end so he could talk to Percy. 

Luckily, he had an outlet. 

“Perce,” he called out. 

Percy turned around, scowling slightly at the nickname. 

Leo grimaced at the expression, knowing that death usually followed soon after a true glare. But Percy was mostly joking here, for which Leo sighed in relief. 

“What?” Percy asked. Leo was sure he was the only one who noticed the slight tremor in his voice. 

“You should probably go to the med-bay.”

Percy looked as though he’d only just remembered his injuries and shrugged. 

“I’m fine,” he said. 

Leo shook his head. “Yeah, no, that’s not gonna fly, Aquaman. I was told by more than twelve people, and counting, that if Percy Jackson says ‘I’m fine,’ he needs to be dragged to the infirmary ASAP. So I’ve got no choice, man.”

Percy looked offended. “I am perfectly capable of–” 

His knees buckled. 

Annabeth grabbed his shoulders before he could fall. She lowered him slowly to the ground where he leaned against the rail. 

Leo smirked. “Yeah, fine now, dude?”

Percy glared at him and Leo suddenly had the overwhelming desire to melt into the floorboards. But he held his ground (barely).

“Mhm, bloodloss does tend to make the sufferer dizzy. Come on, man, don’t be a hero.”

Leo was aware fo the irony in his last statement but it was too late to take it back. Besides, he was a little proud of himself for that one. 

Percy seemed to ponder this. It was clear to Leo that he didn’t want to be here on deck, but he also amended that Percy probably didn’t want to be alone with the one person who knew his secrets now. 

“Go, Percy,” Piper said, eyeing his cuts and bruises with a sympathetic wince. 

“Yeah, man, go. We can’t have our best fighter out of commission for his own stupidity,” Jason nudged him in the side. Percy imperceptibly flinched away, but Leo still noticed, and it still tore into his heart. 

“I hardly think that I’m the best—” Percy started to say before being interrupted with several scoffs and cries of objection. 

“Come on, dude,” Leo urged. 

Percy thought for a few more seconds before ultimately deciding that going with Leo was the better option. He pushed himself off of Annabeth, taking a couple of shaky steps before settling into a quick-paced stride towards the door. 

Leo, unprepared for the sudden speed, tripped after him. He threw up a quick peace sign at the group and slipped through the door that Percy had left through. 

He hurried down the steps, wondering more than once how Percy had managed to get so far ahead of him with his injuries. 

A quick peek into the infirmary confirmed that Percy had indeed not gone there. Leo had been sure he wouldn’t. But he grabbed an ambrosia square and some nectar and hurried along.

He found him, surprisingly, in the engine room. 

He was leaned against a wall, eyes downcast and tired. His face seemed to have dropped. 

He gave no response to Leo coming in, though Leo knew he knew he was in here. 

He silently sat down next to him, handing him the ambrosia and nectar. Percy stared at it for a moment before slowly reaching out and nibbling on the corner of the square and taking a sip of nectar. 

“Thanks,” he muttered quietly. 

“Anytime,” Leo replied just as softly. 

He was out of his element here. Emotion and heartfelt talks were not a half-blood’s forte. Mostly because they died before they reached a situation where they’d need one. 

Leo especially didn’t like them. He’d only had a few and he could live without having another ever again. But this time was different. 

He wanted this conversation. 

He just didn’t know how to start. 

“So,” he paused. 

“So,” Percy repeated, not looking at him. 

Leo bit his lip. This was either going to make everything better or worse. He decided to go all in. It wasn’t going to be easy no matter what but it would be worse beating around the bush. 

“Does it not heal your wrists?” he asked, nodding at the (wisely) unfinished square on the floor. 

Percy closed his eyes and for a second, Leo wasn’t sure if he’d get an answer. 

“No,” Percy said. 

Leo nodded once then, remembering Percy couldn’t see him, he hummed in understanding. 

“Has it ever?”

A pause. 

“Yes.”

“Why did it stop?”

There was a deeper answer than Leo could even fathom. It was much more than any surface answer he could have gotten. 

Percy seemed to have a battle with himself. His eyes, now open, were conflicted. 

“Can I trust you?”

Leo was taken aback by the question. He was about to say that, yes, of course, he could be trusted. But, like this whole conversation, there was more to it. 

So he asked himself: if this changed everything in the world for him, could he trust himself to keep it quiet for Percy? Could he really? Could he neglect to tell Jason? Piper? The crew? His family?

Could he?

Leo mulled this over longer than he should have. But ultimately:

“Yes.”

Percy looked satisfied with the time it took for him to come up with an answer. He said so:

“If you had said yes as soon as I asked, I wouldn’t have told you,” he admitted. Leo gave himself a mental pat on the back for that one. “But I trust you, Leo.”

“Foster kids,” Leo blurted out. 

“What?”

“I’ve been in homes with other kids who did the same thing, Percy. It’s not something to be handled alone.”

He regretted his words the second they came out. 

Percy’s eyes flashed with anger. 

“Alone?” he repeated dangerously calm. “I handle everything alone, Leo. I always have. Don’t forget, before this prophecy of seven , there was a prophecy of one. A single half-blood of the eldest gods. Me.”

Leo nodded. He knew about the stories. It still seemd almost unreal that it had even happened in the first place. 

“Or, I wish I could handle everything alone.”

As quickly as he’d filled with anger, all the fight drained out of him like water in a tub. 

“If I did everything alone, there would only be one person alone to be hurt. I relied on people too much. I hurt other people. My stupid ideas? They work, but they get people hurt. Or killed. This fucking struggle? This was a long time coming. I told you they healed before.”

Leo nodded, only listening. 

“I poured nectar on them, water, anything I could to hide them. But then they’d stop hurting. Stop bleeding. I didn’t want that. The pain was only a reminder that I was alive, that I’d caused this to my own people. The blood was a reminder that I was still mortal. My powers that grew beyond the comprehension of gods’ didn’t turn my blood to gold.”

Leo felt his spine tingle with apprehension. The unfiltered words of truth spilling out of Percy’s mouth seemed to turn the room ice cold. 

“I hid them, healed them, crying when the pain stopped, when I stopped receiving what I deserved.”

Percy roughly shoved his hands back into his pockets, trying his best to disguise the trembling. It didn’t work. 

“And then I stopped letting them heal.”

“How—” Leo snapped his mouth shut at the look on Percy’s face. It spoke more than his words ever could. More than anyone’s words ever could. 

There was despair, regret, pain, aggression, and a deep, deep sorrow that no one should ever wear. 

But most of all there was age. 

Percy may be seventeen on the outside, but inside? He was older than the Titan Lord himself. 

Leo cleared his throat, shaking himself out of the shock. “How?”

Percy bit his lip. He closed his eyes and took a breath. 

“Tartarus changes people,” he began. “It unlocks things that you never even thought could be real enough to be locked away. I told you this before.”

Leo nodded. 

“It didn’t only unlock Siren speak.”

Percy did not continue. 

“What–”

“I am the Son of Poseidon. Poseidon, god of the sea, bringer of storms, father of horses, and the Earthshaker. Poseidon, with the control of water at his fingertips. With liquid ready to bow to his command, eager even, to perform his wishes.”

He stayed silent. Percy waited for him to work it out, but when he didn’t, he sighed. 

“Blood.”

Leo felt his face go slack. His eyes widened and his mouth fell open. Blood. 

Control. 

Forgive. 

Annabeth. 

Leo understood now. 

He understood everything. 

“So you… stop the nectar…”

Percy laughed. A sound so unexpected that even he seemed surprised. 

It was a strained, disbelieving laugh. 

“You’re worried about that? And not the fact that I can control blood?”

Leo looked offended. “Yes, I’m worried about you stopping the nectar from healing your– uh. Cuts.”

Percy’s eyes were as wide as his. 

“ That was your first thought when I told you—”

Leo was hopelessly confused. 

“Yeah, dude! I care about you– stop looking at me like that.”

Percy didn’t. 

“Look, man. I care a lot about you, okay? You’re my family, everyone on this ship is. And if you can do this, then no one can say anything about it, because it’s yours . We have no right to dictate what you have to feel about your own powers. Hell, it may be the most dangerous power on this ship–”

“In the world,” Percy muttered bitterly. 

“--but it’s not the only dangerous power here either. Piper can charm speak you to kill someone–”

“So can I–” Percy interjected. 

“--Jason can drop someone from the sky–”

“So can I with water vapor–”

“--Frank can claw you to death–”

“My sword does that fine–”

“--Hazel can put a sword through your heart without even trying–”

“As can I–”

“--Annabeth is a wicked killer herself–” 

Percy said nothing to that. 

“And I could burn this ship down right now if I wanted.”

“And I could sink it! Leo this doesn’t tell me anything! You all are crazy powerful. You all are crazy talented. I have no doubts in your skills to survive or fight or innovate. The problem is I can kill people in more ways than you have fingers and toes. All with my mind.”

“And there’s no reason to be scared of that! It’s just another thing that would keep you alive.”

“And kill someone else. Leo, there are times when I can’t control it. ”

Annabeth. 

“You can,” Leo insisted. “You just don’t like to. So when you use it, you hate to think that you wanted to use it, needed to use it. You can control it, Percy. You’re just scared to do it.”

Percy blinked. He sighed heavily. 

“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I am. I’m terrified. It’s unnatural. I may control it, I may be able to use it for good . But they won’t see that. No one will. Anna– they’ll just get scared.”

Annabeth got scared. 

Annabeth was scared. 

Leo knew her. She was the smartest of them on the ship by far. But this was stupid. She should know her boyfriend. She’d known him for years. She should know he’d never snap. He’d never lose control. He’d use it when he needed to, to keep him alive, to keep her alive. 

“They’ll learn,” Leo said, and he was sure of it.