Chapter 5 (Leo)
The ship was badly damaged. Leo wished he could create a time machine to go back two hours and undo what had happened. What he had done. When explaining what had happened to Annabeth, he tells her that he couldn't control whatever had possessed him. It just felt like he was watching himself do things. Annabeth asked him if Octavian had tricked him, but Leo knew he clearly had done everything. As much as Octavian was a jerk, he wasn't the cause of it. He told Annabeth that he had felt a cold feeling, and with that, Annabeth almost seemed scared.
Annabeth was called down belowdecks from Percy, who was with Piper and caring for Jason. He had gotten a cut on the head which looked pretty bad, he just hoped his friend was okay. Annabeth asks Frank to watch over Leo, and Leo decides to let him meet Festus. They reached the bow of the ship, and the figurehead turned to greet them. Festus was once a full bronze electronic dragon, but due to some accidents, Leo had revived him as a figurehead. Festus tells Leo that in order to fix the ship, we need to get celestial bronze, tar, and lime.
They decide on using the buddy system so that they don't attract any more monsters. Percy, Annabeth, and Frank go to buy the tar, while Hazel and Leo find celestial bronze and lime. If they don't get the needed supplies and fix the ship, the Romans will surely catch up with them and everyone knows what would happen then.
Chapter 6 (Leo)
Hazel and Leo travel on Arion, which was Hazel's magical horse. They luckily found a whole beach of lime and collected it. Leo put the bag of lime safely into his tool belt, which could store anything as long as it fits into the pockets. She then suddenly asks if he knew who Sammy was. Leo wanted to know who this Sammy guy was, and why she would think that. Putting that off to the side, Hazel has the power to sense precious metals being the daughter of Pluto, so she leads the way.
They then find a woman who is dressed up like a punk with a motorcycle. She was breaking fortune cookies and seeing the fortunes. Some she tossed back into the basket, others she would swipe her finger and change the fortune all the while resealing it. Out of curiosity, Leo asks what she is doing but stopped dead in his tracks. For him, he saw Aunt Rosa, the person who rejected and blamed him for his mother's death in a fire. She turned his whole family against him and was left at the orphanage at the age of eight. For Hazel, she saw Mrs. Leer, her third-grade teacher who called her mother a witch and blamed her for things she hadn't done.
Leo then realized from the wheels of the motorcycle that it was the same symbol as the goddess of revenge, Nemesis. She explains that when a war brews between the Romans and Greeks, the Olympians are torn between their two natures. She, on the other hand, is the same in both forms, so she isn't struggling and some of the few gods able to help them. She offers her help for a price. She tells them that true success comes with a sacrifice.
She warns Hazel that her brother Nico doesn't have much time, and he will die in six days along with Rome. To Leo, she says he is the seventh wheel and he won't find a place among the other six demigods. He will soon face a problem he cannot solve, and she hands him a fortune cookie. If he needs an answer, he can break the cookie to find out along with a price.
She tells them to visit the reflecting pool before it gets too dark, where a cursed boy stays, and with that disappears into a black cloud of smoke.
Chapter 7 (Leo)
They kept going and Leo mentions that the sun was going to start setting soon. Hazel questions, "And who is the cursed boy she mentioned?", and with that, a voice repeated the words "Cursed boy she mentioned." Leo saw no one around them. Then his eyes were able to adjust. He saw a young woman that almost seemed invisible, he had trouble focusing on her. Hazel calls out to her, "Who are you?", but she only replies back with "Who are you?". Leo then remembers a myth about a girl who was cursed to repeat the last part of everything she heard and her name being Echo. Echo should be someone only known from the myths, but since the Doors of Death are open, mortals and monsters that were once dead were all coming back. Echo seems to be in need of help and leads them down a slope.
They found there was a mob of girls gathered around the water's edge. They were all screaming and trying to get closer to whatever they had surrounded. They made their way into the crowd and found a young man kneeling and staring intensely at the pond in front of him. He was very good looking, but his face seemed unusually golden. Leo realizes that from the sunset, the light was bouncing off metal, the metal they were looking for (celestial bronze). The girls, who were actually nymphs, were all wearing T-shirts that Narcissus printed onto them. Narcissus was cursed by Nemesis for breaking so many hearts and was punished to fall in love with his own reflection. He sadly died staring at his own reflection, but now he has a second chance to get on with his life. This is what Echo needed help with.
They couldn't easily convince him so Leo came up with a plan. By taking away the bronze, it could give Narcissus a chance to snap out of it and be saved by Echo. To get the metal, Hazel needs to use her powers to draw the metal closer to obtain it. While she tries to summon it towards her, he and Echo will create a distraction so Narcissus won't notice the metal disappearing.
Chapter 8 (Leo)
Leo gives himself an extreme makeover. He greases back his hair and has Hazel draw fake tattoos saying things like, "TEAM LEO" or "HOT STUFF". He shouts things to get the nymphs' attention and calls Narcisuss ugly. He says a lot of other rude remarks, and to this, Narcisuss finally focuses on something other than himself. Narcisuss tries to fire back at him but struggles to find the right words. It must have been a long time since he talked about something other than himself. It turns out he wasn't completely dumb, as realization dawned onto his face.
"The bronze mirror is gone! My reflection! Give it back to me!", and one of the nymphs pointed to Hazel, who was now running as fast as she could while holding a large sheet of bronze. Leo ran away from them and eventually caught up with Hazel, now helping her hold the bronze. Echo was doing everything she could in the crowd of nymphs to slow them down, but they were catching up extremely fast. Hazel had called Arion to come and give them a ride, but still nowhere to be seen.
They made it to the edge of the beach, where they could see the Argo II but it was way too far out of reach. Echo can't do anything, so she gets in front of them to try and shield them from the madness that was coming towards them. Just then, Arion raced out of nowhere and quickly created a sandstorm, showering the nymphs all over the place with lime in their eyes. Leo and Hazel swiftly mounted the horse with Echo, but Echo refused. She tells them she is determined to save Narcissus because they had both been given a second chance at life. Arion took off across the water and Leo told himself to never forget Echo's face because she deserved at least someone to remember her who saw the good in her.
Thoughts
I enjoyed the sarcasm and excitement these few chapters had. After what had happened at Camp Jupiter, I think everyone was in the blues. By having these chapters being narrated by Leo, it incorporated humor and made me laugh while reading them. I want to know why Hazel thinks Leo could be related to some person named Sammy, and I want to see how their relationship (friendship) grows within the book.
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