~The Hephaestus Cabin~

Leo opened ran his hands through his messy hair and snuggled deeper into his pillow.

It was so comfortable. His bed was specially designed for himself by himself. It had everything a fire user, son of Hephaestus would want. It was just so cosy. He did love his little room ...

He sat bolt upright and took in his surroundings. He was still in his room. He hadn't gone poof like the rest. That meant-

'Oh no,' he muttered. 'Holy Hephaestus.'

If he was still here, that meant Annabeth had disappeared. He was so sure that it would be her left over. Leo hadn't contemplated what would happen if it was just him.

Maybe the messenger had done that on purpose. Maybe they left him here because he couldn't do it on his own. If he couldn't interpret a clue, he would fail his friends. The eleven were trapped somewhere, and he wouldn't be able to find them.

Even worse, it was two days from Christmas.

'Leo!' his brother, Jake, called. 'You up, man?'

'Yeah,' Leo yelled back. 'Be out in a sec.'

Leo got dressed at high speed and pressed a button to lift his bed straight up through the floor. He came out facing the rest of the Hephaestus kids, which was really stressing. Have you ever tried to rescue your friends by solving weird riddles while trying to run a cabin of dangerous demigods? I can tell you now, it's most definitely not a picnic.

'Morning, guys and gals,' Leo said, trying to sound bright and happy. If he didn't joke around, his siblings would be able to tell something was wrong. 'So, I've got some work to do this morning. But I'll be back probably around midday. Jake, you're in charge until I get back.'

'You're going again?' Nyssa asked as Leo pulled on his fireproof army jacket, which was a gift from a friend.

Leo bit his lip, 'It's important. If it wasn't, I would stay and help. In the mean time, you guys keep working on the surprise we've got coming for camp.'

His brothers and sisters murmured agreement as Jake herded them out of the cabin for breakfast. Breakfast sounded really good to Leo, but he couldn't stand eating while his friends might have nothing.

A flash of light.

Leo rubbed his eyes, spluttering a few choice words in ancient Greek and Spanish. When the spots faded from his eyes, he found the next note waiting on his bed. The still paper seemed to taunt him, mocking his uselessness. He snatched it up and read it out loud.

'"On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, eleven soaring stars, ten bouncing baubles, nine fairy fires, eight snowy messes, seven dancing canes, six Christmas goblets, five wooden sleighs, four working craftsmen, three volar reindeer, two wrapped up presents, and mistletoe up a pine tree."'

He folded up the paper, 'Great. Just great. Soaring stars. Does that mean shooting stars? I'm not waiting until night time.'

He gazed around the room and sighed before heading to breakfast.

~The Mess Hall~

Leo ate a sausage reverently.

He hated not knowing what to do, he hated feeling stupid, and he hated the messenger. If Leo ever found out who was behind it all, he was going to give them to Festus as a snack.

It all started with that first note hidden inside that stupid star on top of the-

Leo's head snapped up like his thoughts had run headlong into a wall. The star on top of the tree. Soaring stars. It wasn't shooting stars at all. It meant stars on top of Christmas trees.

He looked up at the silver ornament, glittering as it gazed down over everyone in the Mess Hall. It wouldn't be that one. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew it wouldn't be that one.

So where would the eleven keys be?

Something caught his eye, a shimmer of gold, sparkling high atop a tree in the woods.

Leo sighed.

Wonderful. Now he had to waste his day in the treetops. It wasn't that he disliked climbing, because he didn't. That just wasn't how he wanted to spend a day that could've been spend in the forges preparing for the Christmas surprise the Hephaestus cabin was working on.

But he didn't exactly have the luxury of choice.

Leo got up from the table and headed to the woods.

'Where you going?' Nyssa asked. 'You barely ate. One sausage is not breakfast, Leo.'

'I know that,' he snapped, weariness turning his tone sharp. 'I just, have things I need to do.'

Nyssa tried to mask the hurt in her eyes. Leo was often busy these days, hanging out with the seven and the other major kids. She supposed it was the pressure of being expected so much of. The daughter of Hephaestus continued to eat, dismissing her brother's sharpness as stress.

Meanwhile, Leo bolted for the Athena cabin. When he reached it, he was met with a very concerned, very depressed looking Malcolm, cleaning the cabin for inspection.

'Hi, Malcolm,' he said warily. 'I was just ... looking for Annabeth.'

If it was possible, Malcolm's face fell even further.

'Not here,' he mumbled tiredly. 'Haven't seen her since last night. Can't find her.'

He looked up at Leo suspiciously, 'She said you might come here.'

Leo blinked, 'She did?'

'Yeah,' he reached behind him. 'And she said that if you did, I had to give you this.'

A slow smile spread across Leo's face as Malcolm held out exactly what Leo had come to retrieve; Annabeth's silver, magic pouch containing the keys.

'Yes!' Leo cheered, accepting the bag from a stunned Malcolm. 'Thank you. This is exactly what I need.'

Without another word, he whisked from the cabin and left Malcolm staring sadly at the bunk of his missing sister.

Leo, though, had no time to worry about where his lost friends were. He now shouldered the responsibility of finding the rest of the keys on his own. He suspected that this was what holding the weight of the sky felt like, though Percy did say it was impossible to imagine.

Leo ran for ran for the woods. In the first tree he came to he spotted the glittering object at the very top.

He grit his teeth, 'Nymphs better not kill me for this.'

He gripped the trunk with both hands and leapt for the lowest branch. He barely managed to hold on with one hand and haul himself up. He clutched the branch like a lifeline. He wonder if that's what Frank felt like; relying on a stick to not get him killed.

Leo finally shuffled closer to the trunk and reached for a higher branch. He began pulling himself up, inch by agonising inch. He was never a strong boy, and carrying his own weight was tough.

Under normal circumstances, he would've loved the climb. But there were never 'normal circumstances' at camp. This tree belonged to a nymph, so anything could go wrong.

He managed to reach the top relatively unscathed aside from a few scrapes and scratches here and there, but those didn't matter. What lay atop the tree was what he prized and what held his attention.

The star was roughly the size of his hand, covering in sparkling, golden glitter that flashed in the beaming sunlight.

Leo shielded his eyes from the blinding sun and quickly spotted the next star in a nearby oak tree. It caught the light and shone it directly into his eyes, making it impossible to miss.

Leo removed the first star, watching as a few leaves fluttered to the ground. It shrunk in his hand to a size that he could fit in the pouch now strung around his neck. He tipped the star in and swiftly began the descent down.

That was his day.

He would climb a tree, grab the star on top and shove it into the magic pouch where it shimmered silver before dying down. He would search for the next star and climb down again. Occasionally he would climb the wrong tree, or a dryad would pelt him with acorns. But majority of the time he worked quickly and methodically.

Soon enough, he had collected all eleven stars. Leo sighed in relief.

As he walked back to his cabin, the sun setting behind him and his stomach roaring in hunger, Leo thought about his friends.

He was the last one left. If one person disappeared each day, he would be gone tomorrow morning. Who would be left to find the next note and retrieve the days keys. It was day twelve tomorrow, and there would be twelve objects to find.

What would happen then?

Leo didn't know. He wasn't like Annabeth, but he still hated not knowing what would happen. He only hoped that he would be with his friends. Unless it was a trap and he would disappear forever, or reappear in an enemies lair.

He shuddered.

No thinking, he scold himself. Thinking leads to bad.

So Leo trudged back to the Hephaestus cabin, trying desperately to thing of anything-rainbows, bunnies, unicorns-anything but what would happen in the morning.

His cabin was still empty, the rest of his siblings probably at dinner. Despite his rumbling stomach, Leo didn't want to eat-an unusual sensation. He was too tried, too scared. He didn't want to wake up.

Leo called up his bed, and crawled under the sheets. Then he pressed the button and sank into his chamber, sank into a deep sleep from which he wished never to wake.

But demigods hardly ever get what they wished for, do they?