Leo

"Shoot!" I exclaimed, glaring down at Andrew's hand, which had formed the shape of scissors. "How did you beat me again!?" 

The son of Khione snorted in amusement as he leaned back in his seat. "It's simple. I'm just smarter than you." 

My eye twitched and I jabbed my finger at his face. "No way. Rock paper scissors isn't even a game that involves strategy. It's all about luck!" 

Andrew rolled his eyes and pushed my finger away from his face. "Whatever you say." 

I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest, pouting. Andrew and I had just finished sparring for the day, and since we couldn't think of anything else to do, we had resorted to playing rock-paper-scissors for a good thirty minutes. 

Yes, I know. I know it was pretty pathetic, but hey, what else could we do to kill time? 

Andrew and I sat in silence for a few moments until Malcolm came walking into the room, accompanied by an unfamiliar girl with blond hair and blue eyes.

Where did she come from? Was I seriously so preoccupied in spending time with Andrew that I didn't even notice we had a newcomer?

Malcolm smiled when he caught sight of Andrew and I, and he gave us a friendly wave. "Hi guys." 

"Hey." I waved, and Andrew merely offered a small smile in return. Malcolm seemed to notice how we were eyeing the girl next to him, and he laughed before placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. 

"I didn't even realize you two haven't met her yet! This is Kiara Noel, a daughter of Apollo. I recruited her yesterday when I went on my daily patrol." 

Andrew and I glanced at each other before Andrew said "It's nice to meet you, Kiara. I'm Andrew Snow, the son of Khione. The idiot sitting across from me is Leo Valdez." 

I shot Andrew a nasty glare, and Kiara chuckled at the introduction that the son of Khione had given her. "It's nice to meet you two." 

Malcolm cleared his throat suddenly to gain our attention, and once we were all staring at him, he started to speak. "Andrew, Leo, I have a mission for you." 

I grinned and slammed a hand down onto the top of the table. "Finally! Something to do! I'm tired of beating Andrew in our daily spars!" 

Andrew scowled at me and snapped "What are you talking about? I've beaten you several times!" 

Before I could continue the argument, Malcolm hastily intervened. "You two can fight about this later. I want you both to go take over my patrol for today. I need to show Kiara around and introduce her to several more people." 

I deflated at hearing about the job Malcolm had in store for us. 

Patrol. Really? 

And I had to do it with the infuriating icy bastard? 

I snuck a quick glance at Andrew, and judging from the displeased expression he had on his face, he wasn't thrilled at hearing what we had to do. 

"Can you two do it? I really need to show Kiara around." Malcolm pressed after noticing how Andrew and I hadn't given him a response. 

The son of Khione sighed and said "Yes, we can do it. When do we leave?" 

Malcolm's face brightened and he clapped his hands together. "Great, thanks! And you two can leave right now, I usually start my patrol at around this time anyway." 

Andrew grimaced, and I sighed before pushing my chair back to get to my feet. "Let's get this over with." 

-------------------------------------------------

I groaned and stopped in front of a small, narrow alleyway to take a break. Andrew stood next to me and gave a weary sigh. "We've been walking for more than an hour. Do you think we can start heading back?" 

I leaned my back against the wall of the alleyway and frowned. "Yes. Maybe. We haven't seen anything suspicious, so I think we can go back." 

"What's the point of a patrol?" Andrew questioned as he started to walk towards the crowd in the middle of the street. I shrugged and moved to follow him, the two of us blending into the crowd of people shopping and running errands. "Who knows?"

Andrew opened his mouth to reply when his eyes widened slightly. I turned to see what he was looking at, but he grabbed me by the arm and dragged me over to stand behind a fountain. 

I scowled at him before peering over the side of the fountain to see that the crowd of people had thinned. I blinked in surprise as I spotted two unfamiliar people standing in the middle of the street. 

The two young men were roughly about the same height, and their facial features looked similar. They were both dressed in black t-shirts and jeans, and they were both armed with a sword sheathed at their waists. 

"Shit, who are they?" I muttered as Andrew moved up to crouch beside me. His eyes were narrowed as he stared at the two young men. 

"They're most likely part of Perseus' army." The son of Khione growled. "Normal civilians won't walk around with weapons in broad daylight. And look, some of these people seem scared." 

My gaze drifted to several people who were standing in front of a small shop that sold clothing. They were watching the two men, and I realized that Andrew was right. The civilians seemed to be slightly afraid of seeing two members of Perseus' army.

That was strange. When I had first arrived here with Aether, most of the people that I had seen seemed like they supported Perseus. 

Well, I suppose that not everyone would like how Perseus was ruling. 

I certainly don't. 

"What are they doing here?" I asked, and Andrew grunted in annoyance. "I'm not sure. Let's just be glad that we weren't seen." 

"But how could they possibly know that we're demigods?" I demanded. "I mean, Percy thinks I'm dead, and he doesn't even know that Khione has a son. Even if he did know she has a son, he would assume that you would fight with your mother, not against her." 

Andrew hesitated before he sighed and shook his head. "You're right, but we still need to be cautious. Percy has eyes and ears everywhere, and I frankly don't want to be captured and executed." 

I scoffed and said "Please. We'll be fine. They can't possibly know that we're the enemy." 

"Well, now we do." 

I froze, and Andrew stiffened as an unfamiliar voice spoke out from directly behind us. I reached for the dagger that I had stuck into my belt, but the unidentified person said "I will kill you before you can even touch that weapon of yours. Put your hands up and turn around." 

I cursed under my breath before Andrew and I did what we were told to do. Standing in front of us was a girl with black hair and red eyes. She held a spear that was currently being pointed at us. 

The girl's lips curved up into a smirk before she shouted "Alex, Jake, I found some very interesting people!" 

I turned my head slightly to the side to see the two young men walk towards where Andrew and I were, and I swallowed nervously. 

This was not good. 

Why did I have to jinx it!? 

Alex and Jake stopped to stand beside the girl with red eyes, and they frowned when they saw Andrew and I. "Ruby, who are they?" One of them asked in confusion. 

The girl, Ruby, rolled her eyes and said "They're demigods, Alex, and threats to our King. I caught them spying on you two from behind the fountain."

Alex's eyes narrowed and his hand went to the sword sheathed at his waist. "Is that so? Who are you two?" 

I glanced at Andrew, and the son of Khione gritted his teeth in frustration. He clearly didn't want to answer, but I knew that if we didn't say anything, they would kill us.

"I'm Le-" "I'm Sky, and this is Leon." Andrew interrupted me before I could give my actual name.  He shot me a quick glare before returning his attention to the three members of Perseus' army. 

I bit my lip as I realized that if Andrew didn't say anything, then these people would give this information to Percy. 

Then he would know that I'm alive. 

Andrew, my dude, I owe you one. 

Jake raised an eyebrow before he crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright. Sky and Leon, what are you two doing here?" 

I thought about how I was going to answer that, but then I saw Andrew suddenly bring his arm down to thrust his hand out at Ruby. Ice left the son of Khione's fingertips to hit the red-eyed girl in the face. 

Ruby shrieked and stumbled back, dropping her spear as she brought her hands to her face. I quickly pulled the dagger out of my belt and threw it at Jake, who was staring at Andrew in disbelief. 

Alex threw his arm out and my eyes widened as a burst of orange flames emerged from his palm to intercept the course of the dagger that I had thrown. 

Seriously? Another fire user like me?

Percy, what kind of people have you recruited into your army?! 

"MOVE IT!" Andrew's voice cut through my thoughts, and I felt a cold hand wrap around my wrist before I was being dragged away from the three members of Perseus' army. 

Andrew led me down an alleyway, and from the alleyway we emerged into a street full of small shops. There was barely anyone around, and Andrew let go of my wrist as he slumped against the wall to catch his breath. 

I sat down next to him, and the two of us remained where we were for a good minute, breathing hard. 

After the minute of silence passed, Andrew jabbed a finger into my ribs. I yelped in pain and shock and swatted his finger away. "Ow! What was that for?!" 

The son of Khione glared at me and snapped "You just had to say that! "Please, we'll be fine, they can't possibly know that we're the enemy." Why would you say that in public, and in such an open area?!" 

I rubbed at the spot where Andrew had jabbed and scowled. "Look, that may not have been one of my brightest moments, okay? I'm sorry." 

Andrew huffed and looked away to stare at his shoes. "Whatever. I'm never doing a stupid patrol again, especially not with you."

I snorted at that before I got to my feet and stretched a hand out. Andrew glanced up at me and I smirked before saying "I agree with that, my friend. But let's get out of here first." 

The son of Khione pursed his lips before reaching up to grasp my hand. 

"Agreed."

Word count: 1817

i wrote this instead of doing my biology homework >:) 

also i'm curious about something. do you guys want Leo to have a love interest? and do you guys want Percy to have one as well, after he had lost Zoe?

just asking :)