safe || leo valdez x oc

ninety-three: a picnic right above the funeral home

LEO

~•♡•~

Percy was staring at the Athena Parthenos like he was waiting for it to strike him down.

Leo's new mechanical hoist system had lowered the statue onto the hillside with surprising ease, though Leo felt like he could tweak it a little bit to make it smoother. Now, the forty-foot-tall goddess gazed serenely over the River Acheron, her gold dress like molten metal in the sun.

"Incredible," Reyna admitted.

She was still red-eyed from crying. Soon after she'd landed on the ship, her pegasus Scipio had collapsed, overwhelmed by poisonous claw marks from a gryphon attack the night before. Reyna had put the creature out of his misery with her knife, turning the pegasus into dust that scattered into the sweet-smelling Greek air. Even Leo could tell she was brokenhearted.

She circled the Athena Parthenos warily. "It looks newly made."

"Yeah." Leo shrugged as he tapped the pedestal. "We brushed off the cobwebs, used a little Windex. It wasn't hard."

He walked away from her, joining everyone else. They'd decided to have a picnic on the Greek hilltop while they discussed the next move. Festus was on search for threats, able to warn them if need be.

Right now, Leo felt like he could relax.

Aruna was safe and sound now, having had a shower and some medical treatment. For once, her injuries didn't seem so terrible. She had a few scrapes and bruises on her, and her legs were horribly sore, but she said she actually felt okay. And Leo knew she wasn't lying- physically, she was okay.

She sat next to Nico, which Leo found a bit odd. She was saying something to him, her voice low as she held a piece of honeydew melon in her hand. Nico had his arms crossed and muttered something, but reluctantly took the fruit and began eating it.

"Hey."

Aruna looked up at Leo and smiled. He sat down on her other side, as close as he could without being completely on top of her. Aruna offered him a piece of melon, and Leo gladly accepted it.

"Hey, Reyna," Annabeth called. "Have some food. Join us."

Aruna grabbed a strawberry, her face mostly content aside from the swirling pain in her eyes. Leo wanted to pull her aside and ask what had happened in the House of Hades. Clearly, she had gone through something. And the news of her grandma...

"All right." Reyna walked over, and everyone scooted to make room for her in the circle. She sat cross-legged next to Annabeth, picked up a cheese sandwich, and nibbled at the edge.

"So," Reyna said as Aruna poked Leo's cheek with a cracker. "Frank Zhang... praetor."

Frank shifted, wiping crumbs from his chin. "Well, yeah. Field promotion."

"To lead a different legion," Reyna noted. "A legion of ghosts."

Hazel put her arm protectively through Frank's. After an hour in sick bay, they both looked a lot better, though they still had evidence of the battle.

"Reyna, you should've seen him," Jason said.

"He was amazing," Piper agreed.