Leo

The blonde and I appeared in the middle of an empty park. I blinked, stunned at what I had just done. 

I had somehow managed to teleport us away from the people that were chasing the blonde. 

I let go of the blonde's arm and he stepped away from me, his eyes narrowing. "What the Hades did you just do?" 

I rubbed at the back of my neck awkwardly and said "Honestly, I'm not exactly sure. I teleported us here, somehow."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "I know you're a fire user, Leo. Since when could you teleport?" 

I raised my hands in a timeout gesture. "Hold up. You seem to know who I am, but I have no idea who you are. You do look familiar though, and you do look like Annabeth." 

The blonde flinched when I mentioned Annabeth's name. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm Malcolm, Annabeth's half brother. But how are you here? Everyone said you died when you sacrificed yourself to defeat Gaea." 

Now it was my turn to flinch when he mentioned how I had died. "Yeah, you're right. I did die, I was in Elysium. And that makes sense, I knew you looked familiar." 

Malcolm's eyes widened slightly. "H-How are you-" 

"You know how half of the Primordial council blessed Percy?" I asked, interrupting him. He nodded slowly, and I took a deep breath before continuing.

"Well, I was taken from Elysium by a Primordial. To be exact, it was Eros, the Primordial of Love. He took me to meet four other Primordials: Aether, the Primordial of Light, Thalassa, the Primordial of the Seas, Ananke, the Primordial of Fate, and Hemera, the Primordial of Day."

I stopped and saw that Malcolm was staring at me like I was an alien. "Hey! This can't be too surprising! Percy's been visited by Primordials too!" 

The son of Athena simply gestured at me to finish my story, and I glared at him before obliging. 

"So basically, they told me that they had brought me back from the dead and that they had made me immortal. They did that because they needed someone to fight Percy after Nico had failed to defeat him." 

Malcolm lowered his gaze, a scowl appearing on his face. "I was part of Nico's army. We simply weren't able to win. Percy's army was too strong. I left the battlefield the instant I got the chance to because I didn't want to die, and while I fled, Nico and some others went to fight Percy. I'm a coward."  

I bit my lip before walking up to him and patting his shoulder. "Listen, you aren't a coward. I'm sure Nico knew that he probably wasn't going to be able to defeat Percy. But he still tried, and you tried to fight as well. That's what matters." 

Malcolm didn't say anything for a few seconds before he suddenly pulled me into a hug. "Thank you, Leo. That means a lot to me." 

I smiled and hugged him back. "No problem." 

I felt a little awkward, due to the fact that I didn't really know Malcolm too well. I remembered seeing him lead the Athena cabin during the war with Gaea since Annabeth was fighting with us, the Seven. But I don't think I had spoken to him at all back then. 

As we broke apart, Malcolm grinned at me. "So, you said the Primordials bought you back to life because they needed someone to fight against Percy. I'm assuming they gave you their blessings?" 

I nodded in confirmation. "You got it. But, I have a massive problem. I only get a week to figure out how to use the abilities I had gotten from the Primordials blessings. That isn't enough time at all!"

Malcolm's lips curved up into a smirk. "It isn't, you're right. But think about it this way. You managed to teleport both of us here." 

I hesitated at that. He was right, I had already used one of the new abilities I had gotten from the Primordials. I didn't even know I could teleport until I grabbed Malcolm's arm.

"Yes, I did. But I don't know what other abilities I had received." I said. 

Malcolm rolled his eyes. "It shouldn't be hard to figure that out. Thalassa, she's the Primordial of the Seas. Now really, what kind of abilities should you have gotten from her?" 

 I flushed as I realized what Malcolm was saying. It was true, I should've been able to figure out what abilities I could have due to the Primordial's domains. 

"Okay. So I'm going to have some sort of power over water, and then some power over light from Aether and Hemera. I'm not sure about Eros and Ananke, though." 

Malcolm looked up at the sky. "Maybe some sort of charmspeak from Eros, since Aphrodite has that power and she's the Goddess of Love. Eros is the Primordial version of that."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that would make sense. I'm assuming you're not sure about Ananke as well." 

Malcolm's brows furrowed at that. "She's the Primordial of Fate.  You could have gotten the ability to see into the future or something. I'm not sure on that one." 

I smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder again. "That's fine. You helped a lot." 

Malcolm shrugged. "I'm glad to hear that, but you should've been able to figure that out by yourself." 

I glared at him, annoyed. The son of Athena gave me a cheeky smirk in response. 

"Okay, whatever. I don't even know where we are." I said, turning to take in our surroundings. I had teleported us to a park, but I could see buildings in the distance. 

"We're pretty close to Manhattan, New York." Malcolm mused as he eyed the buildings. "You didn't teleport us that far." 

"No shit. Where am I supposed to go train?" I demanded. Malcolm didn't say anything for a few seconds before he sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "I guess I'll need to take you there, then." 

"Where?" I asked, confused. Malcolm smiled thinly and said "We needed a place to stay while hiding from Percy. We created an underground base, and we lived there until we launched our attack on Olympus." 

I stared at him in surprise. "Really? That's cool!" 

Malcolm nodded slowly, a frown appearing on his face. "It is. We built it as close as we could to the Empire State building, so it should be around here somewhere." 

The son of Athena turned and walked away, his eyes fixed on the grass. I followed him as we ventured further and further away from the middle of the park. 

After about five more minutes of walking, Malcolm held his hand out for me to stop. He dropped to a knee in the grass and wiped away some dirt to reveal a trapdoor. He glanced up at me before reaching out and opening it. 

I looked to see a ladder that led to a hallway, and Malcolm grinned before gripping the top rung of the ladder, using it to climb down. 

I waited until I heard Malcolm yell "You can come down now!" 

Swallowing, I turned and grabbed the top rung of the ladder like Malcolm had done. I moved down, my feet touching the ladder rung underneath me. 

I reached up and pulled down the trapdoor before continuing on making my way down. Once I reached the bottom of the ladder, I glanced down the hallway to see Malcolm waiting in front of a door. 

I hurried over to join him, and he pushed open the door to reveal a large room that had a long, wooden table stationed in the centre of it. Malcolm walked over to it and took a seat at the head of the table. 

I closed the door behind me before joining Malcolm at the table. He spread his arms wide and said "Welcome to the headquarters of what's left of the rebel army." 

I blinked at him, confused. "Wait. Are there more demigods out there besides you?" 

Malcolm sighed and placed his elbows on top of the table. "Really Leo, you think that I'm the only one who survived? Of course there are more demigods out there. We hide from Percy here."

I glanced around the room and asked "Then where are they?" 

"Who knows. Most of them are in the city, where you found me. I don't know where the rest of them went." 

"What exactly were you doing in the city? Shouldn't you know that it isn't safe to be out in public like that? Percy's bound to have some of his army patrolling the streets." I said. 

Malcolm's face reddened and he laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, I know it isn't safe. But I was trying to find out how Nico and the other slaves are doing. We're also trying to think of a way to save them." 

I stared down at my hands. I knew I was the best option Malcolm and the other surviving demigods had to fight Percy. 

But first, I need to effectively use the week I have to train. 

"I see." I said. "Do you guys have a training arena or something that I can use?" 

Malcolm rose from his chair and gestured for me to follow him. I stood up as well, and the two of us entered another room that was slightly larger than the one we were just in. 

Weapon racks lined the walls, and the floor was covered in deep gashes as well as something that looked suspiciously like burn marks. Malcolm noticed my questioning look and he smiled sadly. 

"Clarisse was part of Nico's army as well. She would train here using her electric spear."

"Right. That makes sense." I said, shuddering as I remembered the violent daughter of Ares. 

Malcolm leaned against the wall, crossing his arms against his chest. "Yes. You can use this area to train yourself. Just don't accidentally blast a hole through the ceiling or something" 

I raised my hands and said "No promises. I don't know what I'm doing." 

"Oh joy. We're all going to die." 

"Yeah, sounds about right." 

Word count: 1704

Turns out I can actually bake something without burning the house down