anti hero - percy jackson ²

xii. memories

"everything can be reused."

Cassandra kept looking over her shoulder, half expecting to see the sun dragons appear toting a flying chariot with a screaming evil sorceress, but nothing seemed to be following them.

Leo steered the dragon toward the southwest. Eventually, the smoke from the burning department store faded in the distance, but no one relaxed until the suburbs of Chicago gave way to snowy fields, and the sun began to set.

She was vaguely aware of Leo talking to Festus, and the dragon shuddering slightly, but her mind was spaced out.

It was easier for her to disassociate for a minute, rather than face what she was feeling.

"... not bad for a brainwashed zombie" She heard Leo say. "Thanks for saving us back there, beauty queen. You too, Cassandra."

"Don't worry about it" Piper said.

"Yeah" Cassandra said quietly. "It was nothing."

"Hey, are you okay?" Jason asked her. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Fine" She lied. "I'm fine."

I feel like I'm drowning, were the words stuck on the top of her tongue. I'm stuck in a whirlpool, desperately trying to keep my head above water. But sometimes... I don't even see the point in trying anymore.

"We're going to have to put down soon" Leo warned. "Couple more hours, maybe, to make sure Medea's not following us. I don't think Festus can fly much longer than that."

"Yeah" Piper agreed. "Coach Hedge probably wants to get out of his canary cage, too. Question is—where are we going?"

"The Bay Area" Cassandra assumed. "Right?"

"Yeah" Leo said. "Didn't Medea say something about Oakland?"

Piper was silent for so long, Cassandra thought maybe she had fallen asleep.

"Piper's dad" Jason put in. "Something's happened to you dad, right? He got lured into some kind of trap."

Piper let out a shaky breath. "Look, Medea said you would both die in the Bay Area. And besides... even if we went there, the Bay Area is huge! First we need to find Aeolus and drop off the storm spirits. Boreas said Aeolus was the only one who could tell us exactly where to go."

Leo grunted. "So how do we find Aeolus?"

Jason leaned forward. "You mean you don't see it?" He pointed ahead of them, where a very faint trail of vapor lay ahead of them.

"What?" Leo asked.

"That... whatever it is" Jason said. "In the air."

Leo glanced back at Piper with a confused expression. "Right" He said. "Could you be more specific on the 'whatever-it-is' part?"

"Like a vapor trail" Jason said. "Except it's glowing. Really faint, but it's definitely there. We've been following it since Chicago, so I figured you saw it."

"I can see it too" Cassandra added. She paused for a second. "It's because we're children of the sky."

Leo shrugged. "Maybe Festus can sense it. You think Aeolus made it?"

"Well, it's a magic trail in the wind" Jason said. "Aeolus is the wind god. I think he knows we've got prisoners for him. He's telling us where to fly."

"Or it's another trap" Piper said. Her tone was full of despair. Like she's just signed and delivered their death sentences.

"Pipes, you all right?" Leo asked.