'thoughts or flashback'

"normal speech"

Disclaimer: I own nothing of PJO or HoO

Chapter Fifteen: Leap of Faith

"Are you certain he will come?" Deep and booming, the voice asked a question but any who heard it clearly knew that there was only one acceptable answer.

"Yes milord. I guarantee it." Melodious and calming but sure of the answer a girl responded.

A rumbling growl reverberated around them. "We cannot force him into this. You know this. I will not have our plans fail simply because the boy is reluctant to commit to the plan."

"Of course not milord. He will want to do this." A wicked smirk appeared even in the shadows, "In fact, he will move the earth and the heavens themselves in order to fulfill our plans. Anything is possible with the right incentive."

Screams.

Yelling.

Pain, dull and throbbing.

It sounded like there was a fight going on but muffled, as if occurring on the other side of a wall. Percy wasn't really sure what he was hearing as the blackness of unconsciousness overtook him.

The only thing he was sure of was that he'd succeeded in getting there in time. He'd succeeded in protecting his best friend, the girl that he'd slowly come to realize he loved.

Maybe she wouldn't ever love him back, who could really say, but he would be damned if anyone harmed her when he was around to stop it. Though perhaps jumping in front of a Stygian Iron blade wasn't the way to prove he loved her.

'Next time I think I'll just stick to writing her a poem or some other sort of confession. Maybe even buy her flowers? Nah she'd probably kick my ass for treating her too much like a girl.' Percy inwardly chuckled as he imagined Zoë's reaction to flowers.

If there was one good thing that came out of all this though, it was that he hadn't inadvertently screwed up his deal with Pluto. Well not too badly at least. He had threatened Nico still after all.

Man was his reaction priceless. Then again, that could have been because the kid stabbed a person that fought and lived against a Giant.

Gingerly Percy tried to touch the hole in his chest. 'Man that hurts. Salacia did warn me that nothing can make anyone truly invulnerable. Didn't expect to find that out the hard way though… stupid Stygian Iron.'

All these thoughts and more floated through Percy's mind as he was swept away into the sweet bliss of unconsciousness. Try as he might, he couldn't keep his eyes open. Not after he threatened Nico.

Flashback

Only Zoë's choked whisper of pain and surprise finally pushed everyone into action. "P-Percy!"

Percy looked only vaguely uncomfortable with a blade of iron straight through his ribs. He immediately latched onto Nico's hand grasping the sword's handle and didn't let go. With his other hand Percy grabbed Nico's jacket and pulled him in close.

"I don't care what problems with you have with Zoë. I don't care if she is your sworn enemy and you refuse to work alongside her. She is my friend, the only friend I remember before coming to this camp. If you try and harm her again, deal or no deal with your father, I WILL kill you." He only barely managed to choke those words out in a pained hiss, hurt from the sword but refusing to show how much.

As soon as Percy let go of Nico's hand he stepped away from the child of the underworld. Percy took two steps back, the sword embedded in his lung coming with him.

Nico had let go of the handle, his face paler than death itself. Whether that was from Percy's threat or from stabbing the wrong person no one could tell.

As soon as Percy had moved the handle out of Nico's grasp everyone tried to lunge at him. Yet they couldn't stop Percy from cocking his fist and slugging Nico with everything he had right in the nose.

Zoë jumped at Percy who was already starting to wobble unsteadily on his feet. The pool of blood had only increased in the short amount of time the two male demigods had interacted.

Reyna immediately unsheathed her dagger and charged at the ambassador from the underworld. Any attack on a praetor was an attack on Rome itself.

Frank had to restrain Hazel from doing anything as she too had tried to leap into action. "Let go Frank! There must be something wrong with Nico! There's no way he would do something like this for no reason. Let go! I have to figure out what's wrong."

Frank had to transform into a large silverback gorilla in order to restrain the hysterical daughter of Pluto. His attempts to talk to her and calm her down were rendered useless as they came out in grunts and growls.

Nico could only stare wide eyed as he stumbled back from the force of Percy's punch. He had to duck immediately though in order to avoid a slash from Reyna's dagger aimed at his throat.

"I trusted you ambassador. I spoke for you in the senate whenever you were brought up and had suspicion cast on you. I don't care if you weren't trying to attack my fellow praetor, no one, and I mean NO ONE commits murder while in Rome. Surrender yourself and I promise you your punishment won't be so severe." Reyna's voice denoting how angry she was at Nico's actions.

He didn't surrender though. Instead as he ducked another slash of Reyna's dagger he ducked under the arm and tripped her from behind. Before anyone could stop him he took off at a run.

He ran straight at a pillar in the garden. Just as it looked like he would crash and fall, the shadows around the pillar darkened and grew thicker before they engulfed him completely and he disappeared.

Reyna's dagger just barely missed his back as he vanished and was buried deep into the pillar.

None of this was noticed by Zoë and Percy however.

One was too busy trying to stop the blood flow from the gaping wound made by the sword.

The other was too busy trying to stay alive from having a huge hole in his chest.

He only vaguely felt someone help lower him to the ground. Only the faintest of sensations overcame the cold creeping up in his body as pressure was applied to his chest.

Dimly aware of his surroundings, he felt what he could only describe as raindrops on his face. Percy attributed the weird sensation to the blood loss, especially since he clearly remembered the rain had already stopped.

'What is going on? Why's it raining? Man I forgot or maybe never realized how awesome it was not being able to be cut. This sucks. I'm starting to hallucinate. My vision's going all blurry. Everyone sounds a lot like the adults on Charlie Brown. So tired though. A nap sounds like a great idea right about now…'

Flashback End

All around Percy everyone had erupted into action as soon as Nico disappeared. Not that they were standing still to begin with.

"Medic! Get a medic or healer or something here! Percy's been stabbed. He's dying!" Zoë screamed as she cradled his head in her lap.

She was trying so hard to ignore the blood that kept seeping into the ground around her. Already a large puddle had escaped from his body.

Reyna immediately took action and darted off towards the camp to find the nearest medic. She'd be damned if she lost her fellow praetor already, so soon after getting him in.

Hazel only watched in horror as Zoë tried to put pressure on the wound, careful not to drive the sword in any deeper. Frank had gone off to warn Terminus of Nico and tell him to keep an eye out for the now rogue demigod.

Salty tears ran down Zoë's cheeks and dripped onto Percy's face as she tried her best to wake him up. "Please wake up Percy. Wake up! You can't fall asleep. It's not good for you. Wake up already you idiotic foolish boy!"

Hazel couldn't do anything as Zoë's hysteria grew. The golden eyed daughter of Pluto was still having a hard time processing the fact that it was her own brother that stabbed Percy.

"Hazel!" Hearing her name caused the young girl to snap her head in Zoë's direction. "Do you have ambrosia or nectar on you? Anything to help him heal? Well?!"

Curly hair bounced around her as Hazel frantically searched her pockets for the elusive but powerful food of the gods. She'd already resigned herself to having to fight Jason, but now that Nico had declared himself an enemy of Rome she didn't know if she could fight her own brother as well.

In the distance the screech of eagles could be heard. The flap of their wings grew louder and indicated they were getting closer to the fallen demigod.

Desperate and wild eyed Reyna ran back into the garden of Cleopatra, a breathless Sam with her. Both immediately ran to Percy's side, careful not to injure him further.

None noticed nor would they have cared how the light drizzles of earlier, the almost nonexistent rain that had almost dried up, came back full force. It seemed even the heavens were weeping at the possibility of losing Perseus Jackson.

Many were desperately hoping that he wouldn't be the latest Roman to join the others as their souls crossed the River Styx and entered the afterlife.

"You idiot boy. You stupid idiotic boy. Why?! Why would you take the blade for me?" Zoë questioned fervently, doing anything to try and get Percy to answer.

All around her the legion had been whipped into frenzy. When Reyna had grabbed Sam the closest and best healer available to drag back to Percy she had grabbed the attention of everyone that was around her. Frank on his return explained the situation to the gathered legionnaires that had come running at the heels of their praetor and centurion.

Most of them had already split off and formed search parties, intent on catching Nico. Some of them had stayed behind in case they were needed for anything that Sam or Reyna might request.

"Argh! Gods above why isn't it working!" Sam cried out angrily punching the ground. No matter what she tried she just couldn't get the blood to clot and quit flowing. "Hey you! Go and grab me a roll of bandages, an IV and some water."

The camper she pointed at immediately shot off towards camp to get the things she asked for.

Meanwhile Zoë was still cradling Percy's head in her lap. She desperately wanted answers and was afraid she'd never get them. The only thing that kept her going at the moment was the fact that Percy's chest kept rising and falling, indicating that he lived for another second, for another moment.

While everyone had been ignoring her though, in order to make sure Percy kept breathing, she kept stroking his hair and making sure she wasn't in the way of Sam or any other healer. Her voice was low and pained so that no one could hear or did not mind her talking to Percy. Pleading him to wake up and answer her, asking him why he did something so reckless for her.

"I'm not even meant to be here Percy. So why did you do it? Sooner or later I'll have to go back to the underworld so why did you care if Nico stabbed me?" She whispered so that no one could hear.

It wasn't until the boy came back with a roll of bandages, a blood transfusion pack and a gallon of water that Zoë snapped out of her funk. While Sam tried to clean and wrap Percy up for transportation Zoë jumped up and dumped the water directly on the wound.

She ignored everyone's protests as the blood flow slowed down to a trickle. Sam gave her a brief grateful nod and ordered a stretcher to transport Percy to the medic bay.

Reyna immediately stepped into command as he was led away. "Ambassador Zoë. What happened here… it was tragic. I won't let it happen again. But there is a war we must fight, we simply can't ignore that."

Zoë understood and so didn't say anything to contradict the praetor.

The daughter of Bellona took her silence as a signal to keep talking. "Because of Nico's treachery, I refuse to allow him to help us in the war effort. No matter what excuse he has for trying to attack you."

Zoë eyed the praetor in confusion, wondering why she would take her side and to such an extreme.

Reading the look correctly Reyna continued with her explanation. "You fought alongside us yesterday Zoë. I trust you. I do not trust Nico however. So when Percy is ready to travel, even if he isn't in his fighting best we will set off for camp. Sam will accompany you to wherever it is you and Percy were to go. I will take Frank and Hazel with me."

The daughter of Atlas was grateful for Reyna taking charge and keeping a level head. So she wearily nodded that she would do as Reyna asked and walked off to the medic bay. She wouldn't be allowed to see Percy immediately but she would at least be at his side when he woke up.

Olympus, Temple of Diana

"I'll kill him! Unhand me. I must show that boy exactly how much he'll regret attempting to stab a girl under my protection!" Diana snarled as she tried to free herself from Merope's grip.

If she was truly trying to free herself she could, but she had the presence of mind to know that if she used her full strength she would without a doubt hurt Merope. And she didn't want that on her conscious right now.

"No Lady Diana. You mustn't do anything rash. Lord Pluto will surely take action against his son." Merope pleaded.

Diana only grew more agitated. "It won't be enough. Pluto would defy my own father and has in the past to protect his children. It won't be enough!"

Even as she yelled that, Diana did calm down from her rage of earlier. Making sure that the goddess wouldn't fly off to hunt down Nico at the first opportunity; Merope released her hold on Diana.

"Perhaps not in the past, but Pluto made a deal with Percy that he must keep. A deal that Nico was at risk of breaking. Not even Pluto would dare break his deal with Percy, especially since he swore it on the River Styx to show Percy how serious he was." Merope explained to the still agitated goddess.

Knuckles clenched white in anger, Diana nevertheless saw reason to the words. She took a moment to calm herself and took in several deep breaths.

"So what do you suggest we do?" Diana asked tightly. Even if she was calmer she was still upset at not going after Nico.

"We must have faith in Zoë and Percy milady. The ancient laws affect you just as much as they affect everyone else. Even if you don't like it, there is very little you can do beyond what's already been allowed. Trust my sister and her bodyguard to set things right." Merope giggled lightly at Percy's famed fake position over Zoë.

Diana barely withheld the snort of laughter. She knew how much it must have annoyed Zoë to have to call Percy her bodyguard. Just imagining her friend having to go through the motions that obviously annoyed her brought a smile to Diana's face.

"Fine. But I will still send some things that may help them on their quest." Diana told her as if daring her to deny that.

Merope was gracious in victory, albeit a small and forced one. "That will be fine Lady Diana. I will make sure it arrives at camp on time for their departure."

"I'll send word to Pluto as well. We cannot afford to have his son put our plans in jeopardy over a petty grudge. Don't worry though; I won't make any demands of him for punishment. As you said, we must have faith in Percy and Zoë to take care of things themselves." Diana said as she made to walk out of her temple and down to the underworld.

Merope sighed in relief. Yet there was one thing that she was very curious about. "Before you go milady. I was hoping you could answer a question for me?"

Turning, the Roman goddess wondered what Merope would ask. She was generally one of the quieter of her hand maidens, never bothering too much with the business of others. "Yes? What do you want to know?"

She bit her lip nervously and debated on whether to ask or not before her curiosity won out. "How did your talk with Percy go? What did he want to ask you that Lord Pluto said he would?"

Ah, it seemed that the demigod had also caught the attention of Merope.

Diana could understand, Percy was of the unpredictable sort so it was easy to find him interesting. "He wants Zoë back in the hunt." Merope's eyes widened slightly at that. "Well to be more specific he wanted to know if I would even allow her entry back in. And if there was anything he could do to help as he believes that's what would make her truly happy again should she live."

Merope found herself reevaluating the son of Poseidon once again. Oh she'd always known that Percy would want Zoë to live again, to escape the Underworld permanently, but she'd assumed it was so he could have a chance to woo her. A chance to try and make Zoë like him.

To find out that he instead would do anything, and would go on a dangerous quest that benefits Zoë as much as it does Pluto, all for the sake of having her rejoin that which made her happy in the past, it was mind boggling. It also raised her respect for him several notches.

The youngest daughter of Pleione focused her attention back on Diana as she let out a deep sigh. "He also asked me something else. Something I couldn't answer as it isn't my story alone because it includes you too."

Merope frowned. "What did he ask milady? Surely it can't be so bad that you react this way?"

Diana shifted back into her Greek aspect of Artemis as she looked deep into Merope's eyes. "Orion. He asked me how Orion truly died."

Once again Percy found himself in the edges of consciousness as he drifted in and out of awareness. He knew he wasn't in another demigod dream but he couldn't recall everything very well just yet either.

He knew that he hadn't fallen asleep after meeting the Greeks but anything after that was fuzzy. It was maddening to have his dreams swirl and materialize randomly around him.

The most random thoughts and dreams popped up in his head. Like dreaming of taking long swims in the ocean, or fighting mythical dragons while wearing armor, even driving fast cars while evading the police. It was like lucid dreaming as he knew he wasn't awake but he couldn't quite control his dreams.

Soon enough he found himself recalling his walk to the garden of Cleopatra with Zoë. Percy smiled as he looked forward to what would happen next.

He and Zoë walked side by side in the rain - he could tell she was growing annoyed with his ability to keep dry - and then she started to fall as she tripped over a stone in the road. Percy remembered that he had instinctively reached out to grab her and prevent her from falling in the puddle in the road.

Very clearly he remembered how they had looked into each other's eyes. All too well he remembered how mesmerized he was by her beauty up close. Imprinted in his memory were the actions each took next, each leaning towards the other to finally kiss.

It had been agonizing. Everything had seemed to be taking too long but the moment was so fragile that they couldn't rush it either. The very atmosphere seemed to demand they kiss but couldn't rush them.

The rain from earlier had in moments gone from a steady downpour to a light drizzle, almost willing the moment to be as perfect as possible for the two. And the two had been all too willing to comply.

Neither wanted to admit it out loud but both obviously held deep feelings for the other. Both were scared though that admitting it first would ruin their friendship for whatever trivial reason.

Percy was too afraid she would hate him like she hated all men. Zoë was scared he saw her as nothing more than a friend based on how he reacted to other girls that threw themselves at him.

Then the magic happened. Even as he held her in his arms, held tightly to his chest, eyes lost in the others whirling orbs of emotion, it seemed so right that they couldn't and wouldn't stop the meeting of their lips.

They kissed.

No. It was more than a kiss.

It was like finally sharing and admitting their love in that single act.

Her lips felt so soft and supple against his, Percy reveled in the contact. He loved the way she leaned upwards and pressed herself further into the kiss, trying to get as much physical contact between the two as possible.

She ran her hands through his hair and pulled him tighter to her.

For her part, Zoë could safely say that she would never regret kissing Percy. She loved how safe and secure she felt in his arms. How he smelled faintly of the sea, like being near the ocean on a nice summer day. The way he had his hands wrapped around her waist and back, making sure she wouldn't fall.

In short, the kiss was perfect. For them at least.

Only the need for oxygen forced them to pull away.

A soft, "Wow," escaped into the air.

Neither one was sure who said it but they both agreed.

Again they looked deep into the others eyes, looking for the slightest hint of regret or anger, or anything that might ruin the moment. No such emotion was present, in either of them.

They gazed longingly at the other and slowly leaned in to kiss again when they were interrupted.

"Hey Percy do you know where Zoë is…" Hazel trailed off as she saw the compromising position the two were in. Her face was comical in that it expressed the ultimate shock at what she saw.

Quickly her cheeks darkened in embarrassment as she tried to retreat. "Eek! I'm sorry. Sorry I didn't mean to interrupt anything." She hurriedly squeaked out before turning on her heel and rushing away.

Percy only stared at her retreating form, mouth agape in shock at being caught. It was only when he turned back to look at Zoë and caught her annoyed look that he reacted.

Of course he reacted in the completely wrong way, having misinterpreted what she was annoyed at. As soon as he saw the small scowl on her face he immediately feared the worst. Already imagining the beating he would receive for kissing her, his fear overriding his common sense and forgetting how much they both enjoyed the kiss.

In a panic Percy did something that normally would have been perfectly acceptable to do. Something that she would probably have demanded of him for holding on to her for too long.

He let go.

Straight into the puddle he had just saved her from falling into.

A muddy splash and rather high pitched shriek later and Percy slowly back away from the rising form of the daughter of Atlas. He distractedly noticed how pretty she still looked even furious while he waved his hands in front of him in panic.

"H-hey now Zoë. Let's not do anything rash. That was an accident after all." He backpedaled and put more distance between the two.

Seeing her stormy expression and registering what had just happened Percy had only one thought running through his mind. 'Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit. I'm so gonna die.'

Without giving it a second thought Percy bolted and ran away from the angry ambassador.

'In hind sight that probably wasn't the best reaction.' Percy mused as the memory of that event came to an end.

Slowly the memory of their kiss started to fade away too. Wondering if some other event would be replayed Percy waited patiently for the colors around him to settle down.

Because he was so focused on the next dream or memory he ignored at first the soft soprano calling his name over and over again. Gradually he focused more on the soothing voice that sounded all too familiar and pulled him from unconsciousness.

Little by little his awareness started to come back to him as he woke up. The first thing that he noticed of his surroundings was that he was in an all wooden room, different in all ways from the Camp medic bay.

Next he realized that the world or maybe just his bed was rocking a bit side to side, but not unpleasantly. More like in a soothing manner that he liked.

Last as he started to rustle about and make noise he recognized that there was someone with him, at his side saying his name softly trying to get his attention. He would know those onyx black eyes anywhere, the beauty of the girl in front of him seemed only to increase the more he stared.

Smiling softly and head still a little fuzzy he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Hey Zoë," she returned his small smile, "I'm glad I woke up to something so beautiful. Kind of like those cliché waking up to an angel moments right?"

A light dusting of pink appeared on her cheeks and otherwise she didn't react to the compliment.

At least, she didn't react in the violent way that he was half-expecting her to react to. A way that would be to her advantage as he felt he wasn't really up to fighting a rowdy puppy right now let alone a warrior as skilled as she.

Instead her smile grew a little wider and her eyes sparkled. She leaned forward and stood over him before slowly inching closer to his face. "I'm glad you're ok. I'm also glad I can do this again."

Maybe he exaggerated; the first kiss couldn't have been perfect. Definitely not, since it didn't compare in any way to the kiss they shared now.

Now this was a perfect kiss.

A/N. Many thanks once again to my awesome beta Anaklusmos14. Not much else to say except that I hope you liked the chapter. Read a few of my other fics if you're interested and well it's not like you don't know how awesome a writer Anaklusmos14 is but read all his great stories anyways if you want to thank anyone for helping me out with this chapter.

As always, leave all comments, questions, and concerns on your way out.