───── 𝐕𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 to look in the back of the chariot every two minutes since Annabeth slapped the back of his head everytime he did it.
He was just afraid it was all a dream. That he would wake up in the Ares cabin and realize Leo was still gone.
He didn't want to take his eyes off the boy for a second longer than he needed to. Still, he focused on his task. He handled the reins while Annabeth configured the navigation device.
They rose over the Grand Canyon and headed east, icy wind making Vincent shiver violently. Behind them, more storm clouds were gathering.
The chariot lurched and bumped. Vincent really hoped Leo wouldn't like fly off or something. That would be a stupid way to lose him again.
Apart from all that, Vincent was freaking the fuck out. Leo was here, okay. But after all these years why now? Where had he been for so long? Had he tried to search for Vincent like Vincent had tried to search for him? What if he had a new best friend now? He seemed chummy with that Jason guy. What if Leo had forgotten about him? What if Leo didn't want to talk to him again? What if Leo had changed? What if—
"This is so cool!" Leo spat a pegasus feather out of his mouth. "Where are we going?"
"A safe place," Annabeth said. "The only safe place for kids like us. Camp Half-Blood."
"Half-Blood?" Piper— the new girl— sounded on guard. "Is that some kind of bad joke?"
"She means we're demigods," Jason said. "Half god, half mortal."
Annabeth looked back. "You seem to know a lot, Jason. But, yes, demigods. My mom is Athena, goddess of wisdom. Butch here is the son of Iris, the rainbow goddess." Annabeth was right. It was eerie how much Jason seemed to know. And he called the monsters by their Latin names? What the fuck?
Leo choked. "Your mom is a rainbow goddess?"
"Got a problem with that?" Butch said.
"No, no," Leo said. "Rainbows. Very macho."
"Butch is our best equestrian," Annabeth said. "He gets along great with the pegasi."
"Rainbows, ponies," Leo muttered.
Vincent laughed so hard he almost let go of the reins. As scared as he was about meeting Leo again after so long, not a lot seemed to have changed with him after all. If Vincent had eyes in the back of his head, he would have seen the way Leo smiled softly, hearing him laugh.
"I'm gonna toss you off this chariot," Butch warned.
"And you, Vince?" Leo asked. Vince. It wasn't that clever of a nickname. Vincent— Vince. But Leo had been the first to call him that after his dad. Vince. He said it so naturally, like no time had passed at all, like they hadn't left each other, like they were still crouching in some alley, huddling for warmth. "Who's your mom?"
"Ah— dad, actually," Vincent called back. "Apparently, I have another dad— a not dead one."
If Leo was weirded out by that, and Vincent sincerely hoped he wasn't, he didn't say anything.
"Phobos." Annabeth filled in when Vincent didn't say anything, "God of personal panic and fear."
"Remember the time you made Andrew piss his pants?" Leo wondered out loud, "I always wondered how you did that."
Vincent felt something tightening and loosening in his chest at the same time. He wasn't sure what that meant, "Ugh the Demaury's, it's never good when you're thinking of them. And yeah, he just looked at me and pissed himself— OW! Annabeth stop hitting the charioteer, I'm sorry, I'll concentrate on flying."
"Demigods," Piper said after a while. "You mean you think you're... you think we're—"
Lightning flashed. The chariot shuddered, and Jason yelled, "Left wheel's on fire!"
Vincent managed a look, sure enough, the wheel was burning, white flames lapping up the side of the chariot.
Shit, shit, shit. Why couldn't something just go their way for once?
He struggled to keep a good hold on the reins, even when the pegasi tried to get out of his control.
"Why are they—"
Vincent didn't have time for whatever Piper was asking. Thankfully, that's why Annabeth and Butch were there.
"Anemoi come in different shapes," Butch said. "Sometimes human, sometimes stallions, depending on how chaotic they are. Hold on. This is going to get rough."
Vincent flicked the reins. The pegasi put on a burst of speed, and the chariot blurred. His stomach crawled into his throat. His vision went black, and when it came back to normal, they were in a familiar place.
A cold gray ocean stretched out to the left. Snow-covered fields, roads, and forests spread to the right. Directly below them was the valley, like an island of springtime, rimmed with snowy hills on three sides and water to the north. Vincent always loved the view of Camp Halfblood from the top. It was truly a magical place and even from that high up, he could make out all the different cabins, the Big House, ball courts, a lake, and the climbing wall. He remembered his first day at camp, how magical it all seemed. He wondered what Leo thought about it. But before he could turn and see the boy's expression, their wheels came off and the chariot dropped out of the sky.
Vincent and Butch tried to maintain control. The pegasi labored to hold the chariot in a flight pattern, but they seemed exhausted from their burst of speed, and bearing the chariot and the weight of six people was just too much.
"The lake!" Annabeth yelled. "Aim for the lake!"
As terrible as that idea was, Vincent really wished her boyfriend was still at Camp so he could have controlled the water and helped slow their fall. Unfortunately, Percy was still gone.
Vincent remembered something his dad— the mortal one— had once told him, about hitting water from up high being as bad as hitting cement.
And then— BOOM!
The biggest shock was the cold. He was underwater, so disoriented that he didn't know which way was up.
If he was a normal person, there's no way he would survive that. As the icy cold water embraced him, he was glad he was a demigod.
For a moment, everything turned black and Vincent gave into the darkness. He wasn't a very proficient swimmer anyway, maybe one of the naiads would help him. Or not. Maybe he would die here and that would be for the best.
Vincent gasped and sputtered as he was thrown onto land. His shoulder hurt, no doubt the naiads weren't gentle with him. Most people weren't.
Why had he even gone on this stupid extraction mission anyway?
Was it because of the prophecy? Because Vincent was tired of sitting around waiting for it to take place? Was it because he was scared?
Fuck.
He didn't know what to think.
Vincent struggled to his feet on the shore of the lake. Nearby, Butch stood in the lake, cutting the wrecked harnesses off the pegasi. Fortunately, the horses looked okay, but they were flapping their wings and splashing water everywhere.
Vincent winced when he saw the state their chariot was in. Gods, Will was going to be mad. Jason, Leo, Piper and Annabeth were already on shore, surrounded by kids giving them blankets and asking questions.
The campers ran up to him with a big bronze leaf blower–looking thing ( Vincent thanked Harley from the Hephaestus cabin for thinking of this ) and blasted him with hot air; and in about two seconds his clothes were dry.
When he looked back at the water, he saw those strange girls just below the surface, their hair floating in the current. They waved like, toodle-oo, and disappeared into the depths.
"Vince!" Will Solace pushed through the crowd, fixing Vincent with his famous doctor stare. "I said you could borrow the chariot, not destroy it!"
"Will, I'm so sorry" Vincent said, before adding─ "Is now a good time to say, I need some vitamin U in my life."
It was, again, a very terrible attempt at flirting which caused Will to frown further. "Vitamin U is used for treating stomach ulcers."
Everyone groaned.
"Wow, sorry I didn't know that," Vincent hung his head, "I'll get the chariot fixed, never mind the pick up line."
Will scowled at his broken chariot. Then he sized up Piper, Leo, and Jason. "You found Demigods? Way older than thirteen. Why haven't they been claimed already?"
"Claimed?" Leo asked.
Before anyone could explain, Will said, "Any sign of Percy?"
"No," Annabeth admitted.
The campers muttered. Vincent could feel their fear brimming.
A demigod going missing in the middle of camp was bad enough, but for it to happen to the hero of the Battle of Manhattan?
Vincent didn't know what to think. Lately, he didn't know a lot of things.
He could feel the campers' fear as he tried to take it away from them. They were so close to bursting. And at a camp with deadly weapons, that was terrible idea. If the Ares Cabin panicked too much, Vincent knew the destruction they could cause.
The next person that stepped forward, glanced at Leo, fixed her eyes on Jason like he might be worthy of her attention, then curled her lip at Piper as if she were a week-old burrito that had just been pulled out of a Dumpster. She was tall, Asian, dark hair in ringlets, plenty of jewelry, and perfect makeup. Somehow she managed to make jeans and an orange T-shirt look glamorous. Drew Tanaka. The Aphrodite headcounsellor.
"Well," She said, "I hope they're worth the trouble."
Leo snorted. "Gee, thanks. What are we, your new pets?"
Everytime Vincent so much as heard Leo talking, he was transported back to years ago. He thought he had left that life behind, but now that he was looking at the boy, things were different. Leo snorted and Vincent could remember telling him jokes as they huddled for warmth in cold winter nights on the street, Leo drew his eyebrows and Vincent could remember sneaking out of their foster homes, just the two of them, holding hands and slinging backpacks on as they ran into the night with no clue of where they were going.
Leo existed and he pulled Vincent's heart in a million different directions.
"No kidding," Jason said, snapping Vincent out of it. "How about some answers before you start judging us—like, what is this place, why are we here, how long do we have to stay?"
"Jason," Annabeth said, "I promise we'll answer your questions. And Drew"—she frowned at her—"all demigods are worth saving. But I'll admit, the trip didn't accomplish what I hoped."
"Hey," Piper said, "we didn't ask to be brought here."
Drew sniffed. "And nobody wants you, hon. Does your hair always look like a dead badger?"
"Drew." Vincent stepped forward before Piper could. He held out his hand, his eyes flashing. Most people at camp had been assembled when the Great Prophecy was told and when he was claimed. By now, everyone at camp knew who his godly parent was, including Drew. And even if a lot of them were scared of him for some reason, he had to admit the power felt good.
By just saying her name, he could make Drew's fear boil. He could tell what she feared the most, he knew what secrets she tried to hide behind her perfect persona. As a daughter of Aphrodite, she craved attention. She needed it. So Vincent simply chose not to give her any.
"We need to make our new arrivals feel welcome," Annabeth said, with another pointed look at Drew. "We'll assign them each a guide, give them a tour of camp. Hopefully by the campfire tonight, they'll be claimed."
"Would somebody tell me what claimed means?" Piper asked, Vincent could feel the fear radiating off her like a heater cranked up to full power.
The poor girl was terrified, and Vincent didn't blame her. He remembered his first day at camp. Everything and everyone was new. He didn't know anyone and he knew how scary that was. He tried to ease her panic
Suddenly there was a collective gasp. The campers backed away. At first Vincent wondered what he'd done wrong. Then he realized their faces were bathed in a strange red light, as if someone had lit a torch behind him. He turned and almost forgot how to breathe. Leo tended to have that effect on him.
Floating over Leo's head was a blazing holographic image— a fiery hammer.
"That," Annabeth said, which wasn't much of an explanation, "is claiming."
"What'd I do?" Leo backed toward the lake. Then he glanced up and yelped. "Is my hair on fire?" He ducked, but the symbol followed him, bobbing and weaving so it looked like he was trying to write something in flames with his head.
"This can't be good," Butch muttered. "The curse—"
"Butch, shut up," Annabeth said. "Leo, you've just been claimed—"
"By a god," Jason interrupted. "That's the symbol of Vulcan, isn't it?"
Vincent whipped his head around. What the fuck is a Vulcan? This new blonde guy was starting to freak him out.
"Jason," Annabeth said carefully, "how did you know that?"
"I'm not sure."
"Vulcan?" Leo demanded. "I don't even LIKE Star Trek. What are you talking about?"
He likes Star Wars . A stupid, useless part of Vincent's brain provided.
"Vulcan is the Roman name for Hephaestus," Annabeth said, "the god of blacksmiths and fire."
The fiery hammer faded, but Leo kept swatting the air like he was afraid it was following him. Vincent wasn't sure why, but Leo was looking at him, like he wanted something familiar, like he found some solace in the fact that he knew Vincent. "The god of what? Who?"
Annabeth turned to the guy with the bow. "Will, would you take Leo, give him a tour? Introduce him to his bunk-mates in Cabin Nine."
"Sure, Annabeth."
"No," Vincent found himself saying. Gods, he was going to regret this. But he missed his friend so fucking much, and his brain was all weird and all he wanted to do was hug Leo. So he held up his hand and slung off the shield on his back. It was a wonder he hadn't drowned with that thing on. "I'll handle him."
"Handle me?" Leo cried out mock offended, "Vince you freaked out when you touched an earthworm, I don't trust you to 'handle me'."
A warm, stupid feeling rose in Vincent's chest, like the sun itself was rising inside his ribs. He remembered. Leo remembered. So Vincent wasn't the only one who remembered their history.
He snorted instead and flipped Leo off. It wasn't familiar. This was new and weird and it made Vincent want to throw up. But it was Leo. His Leo.
"I'll take him to Cabin Nine." He assured Annabeth.
"What's Cabin Nine?" Leo asked. "And I'm not a Vulcan!"
"Come on, Mr. Spock, I'll explain everything." As strange as it felt, Vincent put a hand on Leo's shoulder and steered him off toward the cabins.
Strange isn't exactly the word for it. It was familiar and he hated that Leo was so familiar even after years. Vincent could see the mole on his neck, the curve of his smile, the same way Leo stuck his tongue out when he was focused on something.
Everything was the same, but nothing was.
Vincent hadn't lost a friend, but it felt like he had.