A/N: Hey everybody! So here's chapter 3. I finally wrote my first fight scene, and it was actually a lot harder than I expected. Thanks to everyone who reviewed this story, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Also, sorry for the super long wait! I just got caught up with school and exams and stuff, but now I should be able to have a new chapter every one to two weeks. So thanks for bearing with me!

Disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riordan.

At this point, Leo was feeling a bit disappointed by Paris. The guy was about to kill him and Calypso, and he hadn't even gone into a backstory or an evil plan or an ulterior motive or anything, really. Unfortunately for Leo, that meant that he had to do more work to stay alive. But with Calypso at his side, he felt more confident staring at the face of death than ever.

Gaining even more confidence with every passing second, Leo looked around to survey the situation. In all directions, he could see walls of earth enclosing him and Calypso with Paris. He didn't know where they had come from or when they had been formed, but they certainly hadn't been there a few moments ago. Paris, meanwhile, was reaching back into his quiver. Okay, scratch that. Maybe Leo wasn't feeling that confident.

"Wait!" Calypso shouted.

"What?" Paris asked, annoyed, as he notched two arrows on his bow, one pointing at Leo and the other at Calypso. With his suit, the guy looked like someone modeling weaponry in a catalog for insane stalkers.

Before Leo could react, Calypso began talking. "I was just kidding, you know. Helen totally has a message for you. I mean, she was just ecstatic that we would be able to deliver it for her."

Paris paused momentarily and slowly released the tension from his bow. Leo thought Paris had bought it, and, for a moment, he was overjoyed to be given time to make real plan. But then Paris furrowed his eyebrows, and Leo could tell he wasn't convinced. Calypso turned to face Leo with a pleading look, and he instantly understood that he had to play along. "Oh, yeah," Leo said, nodding fervently, fingers already reaching into his tool belt. "Totally. You should have seen her back at the palace. She was so excited."

Paris still looked skeptical, but he had lowered his bow slightly, which Leo took as a good sign. "What type of message?" he asked.

"A love note!" Calypso exclaimed. "Yeah, she wanted to know why you were hiding from her, and why you didn't come over, since she can't go to you. I mean, there has to be a reason you didn't just march into the palace, right?"

Leo nodded to add emphasis, and meanwhile, his fingers were flying. He didn't really have a plan, but his fingers seemed to have a mind of their own.

Paris's eyes brightened. "Really? She did?" he said hopefully, and then he quickly readjusted his expression and smiled cockily instead. "I mean, of course she did. I'm Paris of Troy. Who wouldn't fall madly in love with me?"

Calypso nodded emphatically. "I don't know. But seriously, why didn't you just go over to her if you cared so much?" she asked, a bit of curiosity showing through her acting. Leo was worried; she was starting to blow her already flimsy cover.

Luckily, Paris's smile only grew wider, but now it was more patronizing. "Well, young child," he said, "I don't expect you to know anything about love, but I just didn't want to seem too desperate. Plus, Gaea told me too."

Calypso's expression morphed into one of indignation, probably at being called a small child who didn't know anything about love, but before she could fire some sharp retorts and make him angry, Leo butted in. "Gaea?"

"Yeah, she was the one who brought me back. She told me to hang out here, because I might mess something up if I actually did anything," he scoffed, "but whatever. I know better than to question her; although, to be honest, I haven't heard anything from her since she told me to come here."

"That must really make you mad," Calypso said, coating her words with fake sympathy.

Paris just shrugged. "Nah. I understand that she has bigger battles to fight, and I certainly don't want to be involved in them," he said. While Paris talked, Leo noticed Calypso slowly walking closer to him, so Leo did the same.

"You don't?" Calypso asked, stopping five feet in front of him. It was a risky move, considering they were completely unarmed and now in point-blank shooting range, but Leo could see in her eyes that she had a plan. Behind her back, visible just to Leo from the corner of his eye, she opened her palm and rolled it in a gesture that seemed to say stay here and keep him talking, but Leo wasn't sure. For all he knew, it might have been saying we're so dead LOL.

"I'm not really into fighting other people's battles," Paris said. Beside Leo, Calypso began creeping around Paris. "Or even my battles, for that matter. Actually, I'm just not into fighting."

"Really?" Leo said, doing his best to sound fascinated. Beneath him, his fingers paused, and he could tell that he had done all he could without a plan. He peeked down to see a sphere awaiting programming and hoped that Calypso had something in mind.

Paris just shrugged again. "I don't know. Fighting's just not my thing. Know what I mean? I'm more of a stay-back-and-help-from-behind kind of guy."

Leo thought that this guy was starting to sound a lot like him, which worried him, because Leo had no intention of ending up stalking hot immortal monarchs after death. But he also felt something like empathy. He nodded. "I totally know that feeling. I don't even have, like, a proper weapon."

"I know. Back in my day, everybody thought the bow was a 'cowardly' weapon. People thought I was such a loser. I swear, I could hear them snickering every time I passed by. But in the end, we're the ones that do the serious damage. Am I right, bro?" Paris reached out and patted Leo across his back. Leo yelped in surprise. He didn't like this at all. He was getting way too chummy with Mr. Insane-Stalker-Dude for anybody's own good.

Leo nodded his head rapidly. Behind Paris, Calypso was edging to the rock Paris had been sitting on, careful not to make a sound. "Yeah."

"I mean, seriously," Paris continued, lost in thought. "Everybody carried weapons back then. I don't even know; maybe they all felt the apocalypse would just happen at any minute. Even Helen carried a weapon, her precious Katoptris." He reached into his coat and drew a dagger that looked identical to Piper's. Leo barely suppressed a smile. He had reached the jackpot. "And people were so quick to fight, too. Like, I just took one woman from her home after being promised said woman by a goddess, and a ten-year war began…"

Leo nodded, but he had stopped paying attention. Calypso had finally reached the rock Paris had originally been seated on, and she bent down and picked up the mirror Paris had been using. She turned around to face Leo and put a fist to her ear, then slowly and dramatically pulled it back, opening her palm the further her fist went from her ear, all the while mouthing a single word: Loud.

Leo instantly understood. Calypso wanted loud? Oh, he could definitely do loud.

In front of him, Paris continued to talk. "… And that's the story of my birth. I know; I'm a fascinating guy. I should really write a book. Nah, too much work. Hey, what was that message from Helen you came here with?"

Instantly, Leo set to work. He fiddled with the wires in the sphere in his hands. Hopefully, he would soon have a device capable of emitting a sonic boom so loud it could be heard from America. For now, he needed to stall for time. "Well, you see, Paris, Helen wanted you to hear her message exactly. So she sent a digital message for you. Give me a sec, though, I just need to set it up."

Paris smoothed the front of his pressed suit and patted down his already-perfect dark brown hair. Leo shook his head. "No… bro," he said, although calling Paris 'bro' left a bad taste in his mouth. "It's one way, pre-recorded. She won't be able to see you, but you should be able to see a hologram of her. If I can just get this dang thing to work…"

Paris frowned. "That seems awfully complicated for Helen."

Leo shook his head in mock scorn. "These kids and their new-fangled technologies. Just can't get enough of the new age, when a scroll and ink would've worked twice as well."

Paris nodded as if what Leo had just said made perfect sense to him. Behind him, Calypso tapped her foot impatiently.

Leo just had to move that wire and attach it and then… "Aha!" Leo exclaimed, brandishing his sphere, which now had an almost completely smooth gold surface, apart from a small red button. "Your message."

Paris rolled his hand in an impatient gesture. "Just get on with it. Gods, you get way too sidetracked."

Leo felt a strong urge to smack the guy upside the head with his sphere. "Yes, well." Leo smiled tightly, his right eye twitching. "Here goes nothing." Without a second's hesitation, he jammed his finger on the sphere's red button.

The result was instantaneous. A resounding BOOM! shook the hill, and probably all the hills within a ten-mile radius. It was so loud, Leo felt as if a thousand lightning bolts had just blasted near his face, releasing thunder Zeus himself would've been proud of.

Leo dropped his sphere and fell to the floor, clutching his ears in pain. The sound was loud, but he had made sure it wasn't loud enough to make him lose his hearing. From the ground, he could see Calypso cringing as she shattered the mirror in her hands against the rock beneath her, soundlessly in the cataclysmic blast. He couldn't help but think of that old urban legend, the one that said that breaking a mirror would cause seven years of bad luck. However, Calypso seemed okay as she picked up a large glass shard and stalked over to Paris. But that was probably because the blast hadn't been directed at her.

Only a few feet in front of him, Leo could see Paris fall to the ground, writhing in agony and screaming uselessly. His hands covered his ears, but it was useless as the full force of Leo's sonic blast barreled directly at him. He probably would've been bleeding from ruptured eardrums, but instead, sand poured out of Paris's ears and hands, mixing with the dirt below.

After a few seemingly infinite seconds, the noise shut off, leaving a silence that seemed almost as loud. With an inhuman roar of rage, Paris broke the silence. He rose up from the ground, and he was covered in so much of his sand-blood that to Leo he looked like that old Spiderman villain Sandman. Still bleeding, Paris reached behind him for his bow and stepped forward. But quicker than Leo could process, Calypso, who had managed to creep up to right behind Paris, jutted a foot out and tripped the guy.

All of this had happened in about five seconds, and if Leo hadn't been as severely ADHD as he was, he never would've been able to catch up with what was happening.

Calypso stepped over Paris and crouched down, ready to kill him. She positioned the shard she had been holding over his throat and started to bring it down. But halfway, she stopped. The shard hovered only a foot above Paris's heart. Calypso began to tremble. Her eyes widened as if she couldn't believe what she was doing.

The moment of hesitation was all that Paris needed. Quietly, he reached out for Katoptris, which had landed just a few feet away. His fingers closed around the dagger, and he started to bring the weapon up to Calypso's chest.

Before Paris could go through with his plan, Leo shouted and pointed at Paris's weapon-holding hand. With all the concentration he could muster, Leo shot a tiny, white-hot fireball. It made contact with Paris's hand, and Paris dropped the dagger with a wince. Leo lunged for the dagger, and with it, he stabbed Paris in the chest, causing him to disintegrate instantly.

Feeling exhausted, Leo stepped back, putting the dagger in his tool belt. The sky above was a dark purple as the last of the daylight drained out. Leo wondered if his friends were waking up right now, all the way in another hemisphere, but he pushed that thought out of his head. He couldn't start to get depressed now. He looked around again, and saw that the earthen walls that had enclosed them had disintegrated with Paris. Now he had a good view of the terrain, and it was beautiful. In the distance, on a huge hill, he could see Helen's estate lighting up in the night. He wondered how many nights Paris had spent watching it, waiting for some sort of news, and then he mentally slapped himself. He could have asked the guy what year it was!

Beside him, Leo heard a strangled sob. He turned around and saw Calypso, who had a tear streaming down her face. ''I'm s-so sorry, Leo," she choked out. "I c-couldn't do it. He didn't d-deserve to be killed."

Leo felt his heart break a little. He sat down with her, and she reached her arms out and hugged him, burying her face in his shoulder. She smelled like cinnamon. "It's okay, Calypso," he said, trying his best to sound gentle. "We all get the first-quest jitters."

"He was a human, Leo. I didn't want to be a murderer."

"No, he wasn't. He was a spirit, Calypso. Humans don't bleed sand, and they definitely don't disintegrate when they die. That guy was just a ghost who managed to stick around because of his creepy obsession. It's like if I stuck around after death to stalk you."

Calypso lifted her head and cracked a smile. "Didn't you kind of do just that?"

Leo flashed her a crazy grin. "Yeah, but you know you like it."

Calypso laughed, and then she got serious again. "Leo… What if I'm not meant to be a hero? I don't think I'm cut out for it."

"No, Calypso," Leo said. "Everybody makes mistakes and falls down, but it isn't about that. It's about getting up again, to do what's right. If you can do that, you're already a pretty big hero in my book."

Calypso smiled again, so brightly that she seemed to light up the dusk, and together, hand in hand, they got up and began walking to back to the palace.

When they entered the throne room, the first thing Leo and Calypso saw was Helen reading. The curtains were drawn, and only torches and candles lit up the throne room. Leo wasn't sure if she was aiming for a creepy mood or an enigmatic mood or if she just liked gloomy lighting. He felt the impulse to ask her if the book she was reading was the same book as before, but he ignored it. She was lying across the throne, surrounded by pillows and covered in a blanket. After a moment, she looked up. "So," she said. "Did you guys get the knife?"

"Yep," Leo said, bringing Katoptris II out of his tool belt. "One knife, just like you asked."

Instantly, Helen set down her book, pushed off her blanket, and ran over to the couple. Leo noticed she was wearing pajamas, a change from earlier. She snatched the dagger from Leo and did a little twirl.

"Yay!" she exclaimed, and then she enfolded Leo and Calypso in a hug. Leo noticed she smelled kind of like ozone and vanilla. She sent a tiny shock through them, and then she stepped back, smiling.

"Sorry about that," Helen said. "I kind of spark when I'm excited. It's just, I've been missing my knife for so long, and it's my most valued possession – "

"Wait a second," Leo interrupted. "How long have you been missing the knife?"

Helen's smile dimmed, and her face took an exhausted expression. "Look, Leo, Calypso. I know we made a deal, and I'll keep my end, but you have to understand, the situation isn't really great. It's too late today to explain, but tomorrow, at breakfast, I'll explain everything. You have my word. Right now, the automaton will take you to your rooms."

Helen whistled, and one of her invisible servants came whirring into her room, stopping right in front of Leo and Calypso. The air shimmered, and the chameleon device cloaking the servant switched off, revealing a golden, humanoid automaton that was just a bit shorter than Helen and taller than Leo and Calypso.

Leo was mad. "That's not how it works, lady," he said. "We kept our end of the deal when you asked us to, and now you have to keep yours."

But Helen had already gone.

"Be patient," Calypso scolded. "She's giving us a place to stay, and we don't want to ruin that with you being any more annoying than usual."

Leo smiled. "Can't make any promises about that, Calypso." He turned to face the golden robot. "Lead the way, C-3PO."

Calypso gave him a confused look, and the golden robot just looked offended, if it was possible for the thing to look offended. "My name is CAS, short for Chameleon Automaton Servant," it said, in a completely emotionless voice.

"Well, then, CAS. Lead the way."

CAS began walking out the door, and Leo and Calypso followed. Leo couldn't help but marvel at the size of Helen's estate. In the night, it seemed like some sort of ghost town, or maybe the set of a horror movie set in Victorian England. The only source of light was torches, and the flickering shadows they produced only enhanced the illusion. The silence that covered the entire place was so thick that Leo could have cut it with a knife, but neither he nor Calypso made an attempt to speak.

Even though he was a bit ticked off at Helen for making him wait, he still couldn't quite believe his luck. Leo had found shelter, food, info, and a repair stop all for a knife. That wasn't a bad deal by anyone's standards.

Soon enough, the trio reached a set of marble stairs. On the top landing, CAS stopped in front of two mahogany doors. The robot stepped aside, backed up against a wall, and stopped.

"Your suites," CAS said, still speaking in the same monotonous tone. "My lady has given me orders to make sure you don't 'get down to any funny business.'"

Leo wasn't sure who blushed harder at that.

"My lady also recommends that you go directly to sleep," CAS continued. "All electronics in the room have been turned off, and access to the balcony or roof, both monitored areas, has been sealed off for tonight. If you need to use the restroom, there is one in your room. Breakfast will be served tomorrow morning."

Leo and Calypso nodded. "Well, good night," Leo told Calypso, awkwardly, not wanting to do anything more with CAS watching.

Leo turned to enter his room, but before he could, Calypso grabbed him and kissed him. Leo felt fireworks go off in his head, and when the kiss broke off, he had a big, goofy smile on his face.

Calypso just looked at him with those milk chocolate eyes that made him feel as if he was melting, and, quietly, she said, "Thank you," and ran into her room.

Leo pumped his fist in the air and walked across the landing to put an elbow on CAS's shoulder. "What can I say, man? All the ladies love Leo. Am I right?" He raised his other fist to receive a fist bump.

"No comment," CAS said, and Leo could've sworn the robot said it in a mocking tone. Okay, one thing Leo hadn't signed up for: robot bullies. Grumbling, Leo went to his room.

When Leo entered his room, he gasped. It was huge and beautiful. Leo had expected it to have a weird Greco-Victorian sort of theme, like the rest of the palace, but it definitely wasn't. He was in what looked like the living room of a huge apartment. The room was decorated with fancy-looking furniture, and the floors were polished hardwood. On one wall, there was a huge flat-screen TV. Another wall had huge floor-to-ceiling windows and a door leading to a balcony. When he tried to open it, it didn't work.

Leo found a light switch, and turned it on, grateful for some electric light. The TV, however, didn't work. Leo guessed CAS hadn't been lying. Leo could've easily rewired the thing to turn it off, but all of a sudden, he felt tremendously exhausted. His eyelids felt like lead weights, and all the stress of the past twenty-four hours finally caught up with him. As he stumbled around the suite for the bedroom, he found a kitchen, a bathroom, and what looked like a study, all as luxurious and full of commodities as the living room. Leo saw several other electronic devices, like laptops and computers. He might've tried to get those to work, but he just felt so dang tired.

Finally, at the end of a hallway, he found a bedroom, furnished as lavishly as the rest of the place. He also found some pajamas laid out for him, which he hurriedly put on, and then he slipped into the huge bed. It had tons of pillows and blankets, and it smelled fresh and clean. This is the life, he thought, as he drifted off to sleep. That night, he had no dreams.

Leo awoke to a sound that he felt like he hadn't heard in a lifetime: an alarm clock. He'd forgotten how much he hated them, but now the old resentment came back at full force.

Mumbling "Five more minutes," Leo reached out to smack the clock back to silence. Instead, his hand smacked a pillow. He adjusted his hand's position several times, but still, nothing. Leo groaned and sat up to go find that gosh dang clock and throw it across the room. He opened his eyes, and that was when he realized all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours.

Instantly, Leo shot out of bed. He almost felt like a little kid on his birthday again, except instead of getting presents, he could finally start being productive and getting information. As soon as Leo stood up, the alarm stopped. If Leo had to guess, he would say the alarm monitored his vitals or something like that to see if he was fully awake. He really hoped the thing was only a one-time deal.

Leo hurriedly put on his clothes from the fully stocked closet in his room, went to the bathroom to freshen up, and hurried out of the suite. As he passed the study, Leo contemplated getting one of the laptops to work, to find out all the information he needed, but he shook his head and walked away. Looking at the laptop would just make him feel worse, if Helen's concern was any indication. Leo wanted to feel happy for as long as possible.

Right before he reached the door, he looked out the living room windows. The day was just starting to break, and the rosy light made the fields of flowers look like something out of a painting.

Leo stepped out onto the landing and shut the door behind him, practically bouncing from anticipation of all that he would learn today. Truth be told, he wasn't expecting anything good. He had been too lucky so far not to learn something terrible today. Sure, he had ended up in China, which, admittedly, wasn't the best circumstance, but it still felt like all his good fortune so far was just some cushion to soften the inevitable blow the Fates were about to deliver. But he also couldn't wait to finally know what was happening, to be able to form a plan.

On the landing, he saw Calypso stepping out of her own door. She was wearing just a shirt and some jeans, and her hair was damp, probably from a shower. To Leo, she looked adorable. She gave him a smile.

"Good morning, demigods," CAS said, in his usual monotone, and Leo noticed he hadn't moved one inch since last night. Being ADHD, Leo couldn't help but feel amazed that anything could stay still so long. "My lady has instructed me to take you to breakfast." With a whir, he swiveled his head to look at Leo. "You look like you could use it."

Leo felt insulted by this jerk of an automaton. "I can shut you down," he growled, trying to seem intimidating. Seriously, his dad had made this robot. The thing should be bowing down to him and throwing roses in his wake.

"I'm so scared," CAS said, and even though he hadn't switched tone, Leo could feel the sarcasm behind the words. With that, the robot turned around and began walking, and Calypso and Leo followed, Leo fuming.

On the way to the dining room, Calypso walked next to Leo. "Good morning," she greeted.

"Morning, Sunshine," Leo replied, smiling.

"Sleep well last night?"

"Yeah," Leo said. "Didn't have any dreams, which is so weird, but I actually slept better than I have in a long time. Well, up until that stupid alarm clock woke me up."

Calypso nodded in assent. "Same. By the way, is that a regular thing? The weird alarms? Because they're really annoying." She smiled. "Almost as much as you."

"Hey!" Leo said, laughing. "I'm delightful. Alarm clocks, however, are not, but you should probably get used to them. Everybody uses alarm clocks when they need to wake up at a specific time. The thing is, you can usually put it on snooze to get five extra minutes. Also, you can usually set it at the time you want. That doesn't make it any less of a pain, though."

"Ugh," Calypso said. "That sounds exhausting."

"The real world usually is."

"I was kind of looking forward to the dreams, though."

Leo gave her a sharp look. "Are you serious?"

"Yes. As far as I can remember, I've never had a dream."

Leo shook his head. "You can't even begin to understand how lucky you are. Most times, dreams are like the equivalent of getting hit by an emotional monster truck, and why would you ever want that?"

Calypso just sighed. "Whatever." She stopped talking for a few minutes, and then she looked down to Leo's hands, which were currently working on his latest device. "What are you building?"

Leo grinned. "Revenge."

"I'm going to pretend to ignore the completely creepy way you said that."

Leo laughed. "Don't worry. You'll love it, Sunshine."

"I'm sure," she said drily.

Leo fiddled a bit more with the device, which was actually pretty much just paper clips, water, rubber bands, straws, and paper, and then he winked at Calypso. "Watch and learn."

He threw the device he'd been working on in the air, and it instantly flew ahead to CAS. The device proceeded to shoot spitballs in the robot's face for about a minute, and then it dropped to the floor. Leo broke out laughing.

Calypso snorted. "Leo Valdez, just when I think you can't get any more immature, you go and do this."

"I'll have you know, my immaturity is one of my most attractive qualities."

Ahead of the pair, CAS abruptly stopped and swiveled his head around to face them, like some sort of creepy owl. His face was covered in spitballs, and Leo was pretty sure that if he were capable of glaring, he would be.

"Your acts of aggression are not appreciated," CAS said, and then he swiveled his head back to the front and resumed walking.

Leo shuddered. That thing knew how to be creepy when it wanted to be.

"A son of Hephaestus, scared of a robot?" Calypso teased.

Before Leo could reply, CAS stopped abruptly for a second time, but this time, he froze beneath a huge oak archway that Leo recognized from yesterday. Beyond CAS, Leo could already see the marble support columns and the high windows of the dining room. Golden light that seemed almost tangible flowed down from above, making the scene seem angelic. Once again, he was struck by how beautiful the entire place was. If Leo were going to turn into a hermit and shut himself up in a remote location for several millennia, he'd totally want a crib as sweet as this one.

CAS stepped aside and froze right next to the doorframe, allowing Leo and Calypso to step inside the room and enter. The table was set up exactly as it had been yesterday, and Helen was already seated, eating a plate of fried eggs and bacon. The scent instantly made Leo's mouth water.

Helen was looking at something on a tablet computer. She turned it off and placed it on the table to smile at the pair as they entered. She was dressed in a sundress similar to the one from the day before, and even at this hour of the morning, she looked ridiculously perfect, which Leo found really intimidating.

"Good morning," she said, and Leo noticed something like pity coating her words. "I hope you slept well, because today, we'll have to discuss something rather unpleasant: your current situation."

A/N: Well, sorry this took me so long! The fight scene took ridiculously long to write, especially since I was trying to follow Rick's writing style as much as possible. Also, I had a lot going on at school, since it was midterm season. But now, I should be able to update quicker. Next chapter, I should finally be able to start setting up the plot. For anybody who's interested, I'm looking for a beta, so if you'd be interested, please PM me! Thanks!