My Leyna fanfiction

A Leyna Fanfic

A/N: This is set after all the messy business of the Prophecy of Seven. All the giants are dead, the gods' Schizophrenic attitudes from the war are gone, Gaea's taking a dirt nap, pun totally intended, and there is peace between the two camps... except there's just one little thing...

Chapter One: The Trial.

"We must hold the graecus responsible!" Octavian squealed. gods, how Reyna hated how Octavian was able to get on her nerves. At least it was apparent that she wasn't the only one. "Whatever do you mean, Octavian," she asked, sitting stiffly from her Praetor's chair. In the other chair sat her colleague, Jason Grace. The Son of Jupiter had accepted the position once again after Jackson had ceded the seat, after much insistence from Octavian that they follow the traditional rules of there only being two Praetors. It had gotten so annoying, even Reyna had considered stepping down, and letting the boys handle it. And yet, Percy didn't seem to want the position. The first time Octavian brought it up, the Greek was more than willing to give up the position of power. "I'll step aside for Jason," he had said. "It's no biggie." This had only fueled Octavian's anger... right along with... oh. that's what he was making a big deal about. "You know full well," Octavian boomed. "That Greek Valdez needs to be punished for firing upon Rome from that Warship! For breaking Truce! For-" Jason slapped the seat of his chair, cutting off the augur. "Octavian," he said, doing his best to keep his voice level, "Leo was possessed by an eidolon. He had as much control over his actions as a wooden puppet." "And yet," Octavian countered,"Rome was half destroyed by that flaming buffoon! Justice needs to be done! and since your girlfriend has already disposed of the Eidolon, we are forced to bring the justice down upon the boy." He turned to Reyna, and gave a sly smirk that she recognized and hated. "Am, I not correct?" unfortunately, he was. Whenever someone commited a crime in Rome, they were brought before a court, tried, tested, convicted, and usually, executed. Terminus was especially quick to report trespassers. She gave Jason a look, and her expression softened, as though to say "I'm really, really sorry about this." She then sighed, turning her attention back to Octavian. "Yes... You are correct. Feel free to issue an edict for the arrest of Leo Valdez, son of Vulcan." Without thinking, Jason butt in. "Hephaestus," he said. A look of irritation flashed acros the face of the daughter of Bellona. "Right," she said. Of course it was Hephaestus. Forgive her if she still thought of the god in his Roman form."An edict for the arrest of Leo, son of Hephaestus." Octavian, having gotten his way, triumphantly went out of the Praetor's tent. "gods, Reyna," Jason asked. "Do we really need to put him on trial? He's a hero of Rome! He helped us defeat the Giants! To put Gaea to sleep! He's saved my butt so many times, I can't even-" "I know!" Reyna cut in, "but what can we do? Octavian will rile up the camp, and if we don't do this, he'll form a lynch mob instead! And for the sake of a continued peace, I'll have Valdez tried first." Jason looked crestfallen at that. "right..." he said. "If you'll excuse me, I better be there at his arrest, make sure he doesn't do anything rash." nodding her approval, Reyna watched as her fellow Praetor left the tent.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Leo shouted as, from nowhere in particular, a bunch of Romans and purple ghosts -Lares, he remembered,- suddenly filled the Roman forges. What did he do wrong? all the guy was trying to do was chat it up with his Roman bros! "Geez, what is this, the Team Leo Fan Club? You don't need to be pointing those spears at me! Sweet mother of-" he was interrupted by the sudden presence of Octavian walking into the forges. Not that the legacy of Apollo was a presence. Far from it. The boy was hardly tough looking. In fact, there had been a few times where even Leo thought he could take him on, and he fought with a magic tool belt that produced breath mints. Except there was some kind of look in the kid's eyes. kinda freaky. Always reminded Leo of that Freddy Kreuger character, as though the guy had something to prove, and fully intended to prove it. What was worse, the kid had a large grin on his face. For Leo, this meant absolutely nothing, as the child of Hephaestus was always grinning, but whenever Octavian smiled, it seriously creeped Leo out. He always thought that Artemis Fowl would wear a smile like that, whenever he had been hatching something evil for the past month, and it was just now starting to bear fruit to his liking. "Leo Valdez," the Roman proclaimed, making sure everyone within earshot was able to hear. "I have here an issue for your arrest for attacking New Rome in your Warship, the Argo II, under the false pretense of Truce." Leo's face fell. Holy Hephaestus, the guy STILL held that against him. Like it was his fault that he got possessed by Killer Casper. "You will come with us," Octavian continued, the grin never growing less. if anything, it seemed to actually get bigger as he saw Leo's face. "To the Principia. There you will be tried for your crime, and punished justly." and executed for it. No point in him saying it. That would destroy any pretense of Justice. And judging from Octavian's expression, the Augur hoped Leo would try to fight, to escape. No point running here, Leo realized. Shame. running was usually his best trick. Leo had managed at that strategy for years. He dipped a hand in his tool belt, and the Romans surged forward. "Hey, hey!" he shouted, holding up a thing of tic-tacs. "Kill a guy over breath mints. Seriously." His smile popping back on his face, he raised his hands, and was escorted out. Octavian siezed the Greek's tool belt. "Spoils of war," he said, claiming the belt as his own. Seriously. What was he going to do, get an endless supply of teddy bears from the thing? The thought made him chuckle, even as he was being led away to his death.

The trial was held in the Principia at high noon. Lovely. Very wild west of them. Plenty of Romans filed in, though it was technically supposed to just be between the accused and all officers, including Centurians, Praetors, and the Augur. Leo was standing at a podium right in the dead middle colisseum, and every eye from every degree in the Principia was trained on him. All of a sudden, Leo felt like he was in one of those arenas that the ancient Romans would release lions into to devour the less fortunate fighters. That made him feel very small. in fact, it scared him, which was bad. when he was scared, he put on Humor as a defense, and the last thing he needed at his death-by-trial was a happy-go-lucky look on his face. The boy popped a tic-tac. Why, he had no idea. He was just nervous, ok? "Leo Valdez," a female voice proclaimed. Looking up, he saw his executioner. Dark, black hair, plaited into a braid, she had dark eyes that surveyed Leo as though he was something dangerous, which was nuts, considering his current position. She had on a white toga, and the purple cloak of the Praetor pinned on, both over some regular clothes. Even Praetors of modern Romans didn't find togas comfortable. Leo didn't get the whole signifigance of wearing your bedsheets to important meetings, but hey, Ancient Greek Olympic Games were done with guys competing au natural, so Leo wouldn't judge. "Leo Valdez," the praetor said again. "present!" Leo squeaked, then regretted it immediately. joking around at his death trial wasn't exactly showing remorse. "Leo Valdez," she said a third time, "You stand here accused of firing upon New Rome under Truce. The penalty for this has always been death." Instantly, a group of demigods stood and protested. Leo didn't even need to look over there to recognize that his friends were standing up for him. Jason, though, at the opposite praetor's chair, remained silent. maybe he wasn't able to take sides in this, Leo thought. Pity. The boy could have used a blonde, Roman Superman right about now. The other praetor, Reyna, stamped the butt of her spear to the ground, repeating the gesture until the group subsided. Leo glanced over, showing that he appreciated the support. Beauty Queen looked agitated, scared even, that this was going on. Percy and Nico just sat there, sulking. That couldn't be good. Two of the "Big Three God" kids were not in a good mood. and that usually meant trouble. Percy was a son of Poseidon, and a former Praetor, but Neptune wasn't respected all that much here, and even his rank of former leader would do no good here. Nico, the son of Hades, was feared more than he was respected, by both the living and the dead. Annabeth was obviously scheming, trying to figure out a way to get him out of this. The guy could almost see the child of Wisdom's gears turning. Frank had a blank expression, but it was still obvious that the Centurion was not pleased by this. Then there was Hazel. gods, she seemed almost as scared as Piper was. Jason, at the Praetor's seats, obviously did not approve of what was going on, but he seemed to have no other choice. Leo cursed. Then, a pair of gates opened, and Leo's first thought was Lions. it was not, thankfully. The doors just opened to Aurum and Argentum, Reyna's automaton dogs. "These dogs can sense the truth," Reyna declared openly. "Lie to me, and they will tear you apart. I highly recommend that you tell the truth." and so the questioning began.

Finally, the last question. "Have you answered truthfully?" Gee, trick question! Leo hadn't lied, or else he'd be dead!. "No, I haven't lied to you," he said. Throughout the entire questioning he had, somehow, managed to keep from making smart aleck remarks. So he was able to take things seriously. Take that, Beauty Queen. "Objection!" Octavian shouted at the top of his lungs. "The boy has lied about his intentions about Rome!" Reyna frowned, and looked towards the augur. "How? How do you substantiate this claim?" Leo wanted to smile. Good question. Jason spoke up. "The dogs would hav killed him if he said so much as the slightest lie. How could he have fibbed?" "Simple!" Octavian declared. "The child of Hephaestus has tinkered with the dogs!" Leo's jaw dropped, and his hands fell to his side. Dear gods, this couldn't have come back to bite him in the butt, could it? "I have here," Octavian said smugly," a reciept from the dresser of our esteemed Praetor, Reyna." Reyna shot a murderous look at the legacy. "You did what?" Octavian ignored her completely. "A reciept where the son of Hephaestus, not three days ago, had tinkered on the dogs to give them a, as he put it, "tune up," and while he did this, he broke the lie detector on the dogs, making them unfit for the Service of Rome!" At this, the dogs ignored Leo, and turned on Octavian like lightning, growling. The air was still, save for that deathly, unearthly growl. Leo managed a nervous laugh. "Looks like the lie detector still works," he managed. considering the dogs ignored him for that remark... "A... a Trick!" Octavian squeaked, still trying to be a presence, though with to automaton dogs glaring at him like he was still a nice snack, it was difficult. "The graecus has programmed the mutts to attack Romans, and yet ignore his lies!" The dogs inched closer. If they attacked while he had this claim, Leo was dead. Time to think up a lie, and think it quick. "I, um, own a Narcissus brand t-shirt!" The dogs turned to him, glaring, but confusedly, as though to say, "who should we eat first?" Then, Annabeth sprang up. "Hold everything!" The entire Principia went silent as she bounded down the steps, and stood next to Leo. "Allow the dogs to correct me if I'm wrong," she began, which Leo knew meant she wasn't, "But aren't there two methods of trial for romans? you have the Trial we have going on here, and then you have a duel." Oh, gods, no. Straight up fighting just wasn't Leo's thing. The Praetors suddenly got an evil smile on their faces, but for some reason, Leo wasn't scared from that. "Yes," Reyna said. "The accused and the accuser most aggrieved by the crime go into a duel to the death, and we allow Mars Ultar to decide justice. Octavian? What say you?" Octavian nodded most fiercely. "Oh, yes. This will be much simpler. We won't have to worry about trickery from that Greek." Reyna smiled like the matter was settled. "Good. Seeing as, after all Valdez has done for Rome in the war against the Giants, and you are still aggrieved, you won't object to dueling Valdez after dinner today, will you?" The augur went as pale as his toga. "but, but..." Leo felt some confidence coming in. The Praetors were on his side all along. They just couldn't think of anything before hand. "Come on, scarecrow," Leo said. "If I really am guilty, Ares will deliver me into your hand! What do you have to lose, man?" That did it. Octavian couldn't back down without looking like a coward, no matter how he tried to slice it. "F... Fine!" the legacy shouted. "After dinner, I'll gut you." Leo actually laughed. "Wow. I can't beleive you think of me as cuddly as those teddy bears you gut for your auguries! I accept both the challenge, and your compliment." Leo bowed as the Principia roared in approval, both at the joke, and because nobody didn't enjoy a good deathmatch.

Leo hardly had touched his meal, which he supposed was a good thing. No sense puking it back up if he got gutshot. He wasn't armed with much. just his toolbelt, which didn't have much weapon capabilities. Octavian got dressed for battle, wearing full Roman regalia. He didn't look threatening, but that pilum sure did. Reaching in his tool belt, Leo pulled out some breath mints, and put them back in, nervous. embarrasing how the belt would do that.He pulled out a pair of ball peen hammers. they were tipped with silver, and had been quite useful when he was fighting the wolves of Lycaon. He hadn't pulled them out since the fight with Khione, the snow goddess. Leo himself wore no armor, following Percy's advice. "Octavian will be dressed for defense, which will make him tired real quick if he plays offense. just avoid him for a bit, and then strike when he's worn out." Seemed like a strategy Annabeth approved of, and since her mom was a goddess of battle, it must have been good. Leo settled into a steady pose, and willed fire. for a brief moment, his hammers were burning. They weren't being consumed by the fire, though, which was a handy trick. no sense burning your weapons if they would turn to ash. Octavian shouted, and charged, Leo waited till the last moment, and then sidestepped, a trick Percy said he learned fighting some bull headed guy called Mina. huh. As Octavian barreled past, Leo hit him in the head with a hammer, dinging the hammer. good trick. the hammer blow reverberated around the Augur's skull, making a ringing noise that almost hurt Leo's ears. Octavian did the totally normal reaction. He dropped his spear and grabbed his helmet over where the ears would be. Leo didn't stop. He hammered the helmet again, this time, into the top of the skull. however, he didn't hit hard enough to bend the metal (which, as a weapons and armor smith who had built an entire warship, he could have done quite easily), just enough to concuss. Octavian fell to the ground, and Leo dropped his hammers, grabbing the Roman's Pilum, and pointing it to the guy's neck. Silence. then, the crowds started chanting. "go! go! go!" they repeated this, demanding he finish this. He looked at the praetors, who remained emotionless. He held up a hand for the attention, and silence, of the audience. After they silenced, the child of the Forges and Fire spoke. "Sorry. I'm not the kind of guy who kills a downed enemy." holding the pilum in his hands, he brought out a knee, and swung the pilum over his knee as though he intended to break it.

It didn't. sheepishly, he looked at the crowd and, balancing it against the ground and his knee, brought out a small sledgehammer, and broke the spear. most of the crowd laughed, but they cheered with the rest as they did it. Leo put away his hammers, and walked away from the dazed Roman, who even now, was starting to get up, and had just realized that he had lost. Somehow, living with this would be even worse than being killed, by a GREEK REPAIR BOY, no less. He drew his sword, and yelled. "Valdez!" charging. "STOP!" the praetors shouted in unison. Only then, the augur stumbled to a stop. "The match is concluded," Jason said, his voice one of those deadly whispers that was able to carry across a field. "Mars has given him the battle, and Valdez has proved himself. If you strike him down, you will have commited murder of a friend of one of the Praetors. And let me put it to you this way. If that happens, you will be challenged to one on one combat, and I will not be as merciful." Octavian was, for once, at a loss for words. He dropped his sword, and backed away. "What would happen if you were to lose your augur?" the boy asked, terrified. "Oh, that's simple," Rachel popped up. she had been observing this quietly from the stands, but was now walking barefoot down the arena. "The camp does have access to an Oracle. They could consult me, and no more of your teddy bears would need to be gutted." She walked towards Octavian, and Leo was suddenly scared for the guy. He had seen Rachel in Prophecy Mode before, and it seriously creeped him out. plus, that time Piper told him of the time Hera hijacked Rachel's body also freaked him out. If she started channeling Tia Callida, he'd probably freak. Rachel then said something that only Leo and Octavian could hear. "See? you aren't quite that indisposable. Accept the fact that you've been beaten. I don't need to be able to see the future to see that it's good for your health." Leo almost laughed, and Rachel walked out.


((So ends Part One. Yes, I'm totally aware that this little bit had absolutely no interaction between Leyna that wasn't really legal, but heck, I wanted to get some things out of the way, like the fact that Leo blew up New Rome.Couldn't start a relationship with that able to come between them.))