You're cute when you get flustered

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Ivy wasn't sure about what had happened, but she knew it hadn't been Leo.

What worried her was: if it hadn't been him, then who?

They were all on the ship, which was now in shambles. Leo was slumped against the mast while she, Annabeth, Hedge and Frank tried to understand his point of view of the attack.

"One more time," the blonde started. "Exactly what happened?"

He choked back a sob. "I don't know. It's fuzzy."

Annabeth crossed her arms. "You mean you don't remember?"

"I...I remember, but it's like I was watching myself do things. I couldn't control it."

Coach Hedge tapped his bat against the deck. "Look, kid. You blew up some stuff. You attacked some Romans. Awesome! Excellent! But did you have to knock out the satellite channels? I was right in the middle of watching a cage match."

"Coach," Annabeth called, "why don't you make sure all the fires are out?"

"But I already did that."

"Do it again."

The satyr trudged off, muttering under his breath. Even Hedge wasn't crazy enough to defy Annabeth.

She knelt next to the boy. "Leo," she said calmly, "did Octavian trick you somehow? Did he frame you, or—"

"No," Leo cut her off. "The guy was a jerk, but he didn't fire on the camp. I did."

Frank scowled. "On purpose?"

"No!" Leo squeezed his eyes shut. "Well, yes. . .I mean, I didn't want to. But at the same time, I felt like I wanted to. Something was making me do it. There was this cold feeling inside me— "

"A cold feeling." Annabeth's tone changed, making Ivy frown. She sounded almost... scared.

Ivy wasn't that surprised, though. Ever since they'd gotten on the Argo II, she has started to feel it even more, too. And it certainly didn't ease her mind.

"Yeah," Leo replied. "Why?"

From belowdecks, Percy called up, "Annabeth, Ivy, we need you."

Ivy's eyes shifted to the stairs. She wanted to go check if Jason was okay, but she didn't want to leave Leo either.

"He'll be fine," Annabeth assured as her expression softened, knowing what the injured boy's friends were worried about. "Frank, we'll be back. Just. . . watch Leo. Please."

Ivy saw how Leo's face fell at her words. She crouched down in front of the boy and ruffled his hair, earning a surprised glance from him. "Don't worry, Lion boy, we'll figure out what really happened. I trust you."

The words resonated in his head. His confusion turned into gratitude. He felt his eyes burn for a second before he gave the girl the best smile he could muster, which wasn't much, but was enough.

She returned it and left with Annabeth below deck, trying not to give any more thought to the attack for now. They would figure it out. But meanwhile, they had to make sure Junior wouldn't die.

∆ ~•••••••••••••••••••••••~ ∆

Thankfully, Jason wasn't going to die. At worst he would only get a pretty nasty concussion. Or more like another pretty nasty concussion.

Ivy, Annabeth and Percy climbed up the stairs and were immediately met with a worried Leo.

"Is Jason—?"

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