Disclaimer: I do not own PJO. *starts crying*

LEO

I

He was standing in the throne room, with twelve angry gods glaring down at him. Okay, maybe he was imagining the glaring. It was hard not to feel small and insignificant when a dozen immortal deities were staring down at you.

Leo shuffled uncomfortably, resisting the urge to set himself on fire, even though he would have felt more comfortable, standing in the centre of a flame. He glanced back at his friends, who were all just waiting for him to proclaim his wish: Annabeth, whose blonde hair was tangled and messy, but her stormy grey Athenian eyes were shining as she stood next to Percy, no doubt proud of how he had helped bring down two of the giants. Percy himself looked a little exhausted, but determined, and was holding the gods in his steady green gaze.

Next to him stood Jason, Leo's blond, superman-like best friend, with his arm around his girlfriend, Piper. The daughter of Aphrodite looked tense, her multi-colored eyes flicking from side to side, as if still expecting another venti attack on her boyfriend.

Leo turned his attention to Frank and nearly did a double take. He still wasn't used to just how much his outside appearance had changed since his adventure in Venice. Instead of the stumbling, self-conscious 'Chinese Canadian Baby-Man' as Leo liked to think of him – all the credit to Arion, of course – the son of Mars towered above him. His face was serious and his stance was strong and confident, and Leo had no doubt that this Frank would probably kill or at least seriously wound anybody who tried to make a move on his girlfriend, Hazel, who was currently holding his arm.

Hazel… Leo had liked the daughter of Pluto the moment he set his eye on her, and not just because she looked good with her dark, cocoa skin and her luminous golden eyes. He liked how she was quiet and thoughtful, and always knew what to say – the exact opposite of him, Leo, who was just a flash-bang grenade waiting to explode. Also, there was the small matter of crushing on every hot girl that came along, as long as she was totally out of his league.

But he had let her go. Sure, he was Sammy's virtual mirror image, but Hazel was happy with Frank. And also, Leo had a new crush now, and that crush might just be the one.

Which was why he was standing here, reluctant to ask for his gift in front of the others. He trusted them, of course, but…

Leo took a deep breath. "Um, mine's kind of private. Is it okay if you guys…"

His friends understood, thank the gods. They nodded and turned around as one, leaving the throne room, most likely heading towards the Argo II, where they could eat dinner and go to bed. Leo, as the supreme commander of the ship would, of course, steer them home. But right now, he had to ask a question without making a couple of super-powerful, super-annoyed-that-they-had-to-ask-demigods-for-help gods incinerate him on the spot. No pressure. At all.

Leo stepped forward nervously and knelt. "Uh, Lords and Ladies…"

Zeus interrupted. "I think I know what he wants. He wants us to fix up that bronze dragon of his – what was his name again? Happy?"

Leo cleared his throat. "Actually, I called him Festus."

Apollo chuckled. "Same difference."

"Quiet, all of you," snapped Hephaestus. The god of forges leaned forwards. "Tell us what you would like, my son."

Leo cleared his throat, which was suddenly very dry. Time to see if he could actually pull this through. "Well, my friend Percy said that, after the Titan war, he made you promise to claim all the half-bloods. Of all the gods." The gods in question nodded.

"Well, I heard he also made you make another promise." The atmosphere in the room tightened profusely as the deities shifted uncomfortably. Some looked guilty. Some glared at him. Some tried to look innocent.

Leo couldn't stand it anymore. "I would like… I would like you to… to set free Calypso." He let loose a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

The throne room sank into chaos. "Well, we could probably…," Zeus argued, looking at Hera, who glared at him. "Uh, we could make the barriers to her island stronger than before so that she will never get out?" Hera smiled warmly and snarled at Leo.

Hephaestus sank back into his chair. "My son wants to be with an organic life form. My son wants to be with an organic life form."

"Oh, be quiet please," Dionysus grunted. "Laurence can go and accept nun-hood, for all I would care." The god twirled a grapevine between his fingers. It wriggled comfortably, like an extremely alcoholic snake.

"Hmm, yes, this is a great topic," Apollo mused. "All the possibilities! I have officially recovered from writer's block!" He cleared his throat.

"No!" everybody shouted, but it was too late.

"Make your dream come true,

Get off the island right now,

Listen to Apollo!"

Artemis groaned. "The last line her six syllables." Apollo frowned and began counting on his fingers, muttering. His sister snapped at him. "And this is not relevant! We must let this maiden out of her prison! The boy made us promise, and she would be a good addition to my hunt…"

Leo wanted to point out that he wanted to get Calypso off the island and say something cool, like Don't you dare make a move on my girlfriend! But Aphrodite interrupted him, blinking her eyes. "Oh dear, Artemis. You really don't see it, do you? He LIKES her, and he wants to BE WITH HER. Those two are in LOVE!"

She smiled brightly at Leo, who turned red. "I really never thought that a son of Hephaestus could, well… realize the truth!"

"Hey!" Hephaestus snapped. "You are still my wife, you know!"

Aphrodite smiled at him with perfectly straight teeth. "Oh, come on. I haven't done anything wrong and you know it, so you can sit right back down." Hephaestus sat back down. Every other god in the room sat back further in their seats and smiled at Aphrodite. Leo almost fell on his behind.

Athena took earplugs out from her ears. "Why, thank you, Miss Pretty. Sadly, we aren't all convinced." Aphrodite pouted. "Cheater!"

Athena nodded. "Think what you will." She turned to Leo, scrutinizing him with grey eyes and a very pro poker face. He resisted the urge to stand up straight and salute. "It would not be the best solution, for Calypso to be let out." Leo bit back a sharp retort. "She could endanger us. But then, we did promise on the River Styx. We should not have disregarded him so blatantly." Zeus scratched his head, probably trying to figure out what the word 'blatantly' meant. "In any case, we need to let the girl go. It is a truth that cannot be ignored for much longer. I trust all of us have felt our strength waning every time we try to push Calypso's release to a later date."

The gods freaked out again.

"We can't let that traitor go!"

"She'll destroy us! And torture us! And kill us!"

"Oh, come on, she isn't so bad! Then again, neither is destroying and killing…"

"Be quiet, tank man. Some of us have legit reasons for entering this debate."

"Oh, God of Thieves. This would totally fall in your category, wouldn't it?"

"Can't we get this over with? I have an appointment with a bottle of Merlot!"

"Yes, the wine dude can't stay away from the bottle now, can he?"

"Oh, you're one to talk, cereal freak!"

"SHUT UP!" yelled Leo. The torches exploded in their sconces with a great WHOOM. The throne room was silent as the gods turned to glare at the son of Hephaestus who had dared to interrupt them when they were just about to rip themselves apart.

Suddenly, Leo found that he didn't care. "Okay, I know you guys just want to fight and fight and fight, but I need you to set Calypso free. You are bound by your promise on the River Styx – by two promises now, actually – and this is the one thing I stand for. This is the one thing I believe is right. And if you won't grant my wish, by the way, you will probably end up scattered through Tartarus in a million pieces. Percy and Annabeth could tell you first-hand how painful that is!"

There was a small pause in which Poseidon and Athena winced. Then, Zeus sighed and sat up on his throne. "All in favor?"

Everybody except Hera raised their hands. Leo grinned at the Queen of Olympus. "Oh, if only Kronos and Queen Dirt Face could see you now. They'd be so proud. Peace out!" And with that, he ran out of the throne room before anybody could pulverize him or turn him into a barnyard animal.

Finally, I've got the Glitch in the first Chapter resolved! Thanks for pointing it out to me!

So, do you like Leo's character? And the gods?

READ & REVIEW!