The Veiled Legacy | PJO - Book Two

thirteen

FAILED RELATIONSHIPS

"A bargain." Ariana watched as Leo's fingers twitched. "Yeah. Absolutely!"

His hands went to work. He started pulling things out of the pockets of his magic tool belt - copper wire, some bolts, a brass funnel.

"So the thing is," Leo said as his hands twisted wire, "Zeus is already P.O. ed at you, right? If you help us defeat Gaia, you could make it up to him."

Apollo wrinkled his nose. "I suppose that's possible. But it would be easier to smite you!"

"What kind of ballad would that make?" Leo's hands worked furiously, attaching levers, fastening the metal funnel to an old gear shaft. "You're the god of music, right? Would you listen to a song called "Apollo Smites a Runty Little Demigod"? I wouldn't. But "Apollo Defeats the Earth Mother and Saves the Freaking Universe" ... that sounds like a
Billboard chart-topper."

Apollo gazed into the air, as if envisioning his name on a marquee. "What do you want exactly? And what do I get out of it?"

"First thing I need: advice." Leo strung some wires across the mouth of the funnel. "I want to know if a plan of mine will work."

Leo explained what he had in mind.

Instead, the god nodded thoughtfully. "I will give you this advice for free. You might be able to defeat Gaia in the way you describe, similar to the way Ouranos was defeated aeons ago. However, any mortal close by would be utterly ..."
Apollo's voice faltered. "What is that you have made?"

Ariana looked down at the contraption in his hands. Layers of copper wires, like multiple sets of guitar strings, crisscrossed inside the funnel.

Rows of striking pins were controlled by levers on the outside of the cone, which was fixed to a square metal base with a bunch of crank handles.

"Oh, this ...?" Leo's mind raced furiously. The thing looked like a music box fused with an old-fashioned phonograph, but what was it?

A bargaining chip, Ariana realised.

Artemis had told them to make a deal with Apollo.

Ariana remembered a story the kids in Cabin Eleven used to brag about: how their father, Hermes, had avoided punishment for stealing Apollo's sacred cows.

When Hermes got caught, he made a musical instrument - the first lyre - and traded it to Apollo, who immediately forgave him.

He had built a musical instrument, which kind of surprised her, since Leo knew nothing about music.

"Um, well," Leo said, "this is quite simply the most amazing instrument ever!"

"How does it work?" asked the god.

Leo turned the crank handles, face. A few clear tones rang out - metallic yet warm. Leo manipulated the levers and gears.

But, through the strings of the brass cone, the tune sounded even sadder, like a machine with a broken heart - the way Festus might sound if he could sing.

Ariana forgot Apollo was there. Leo played the song all the way through. When he was done,
Apollo stared in awe at the instrument.

"I must have it. What is it called? What do you want for it?"

"This is the Valdezinator, of course!" He puffed out his chest. "It works by, um, translating your feelings into music as you manipulate the gears.
It's really meant for me, a child of Hephaestus, to use, though. I don't know if you could -"

"I am the god of music!" Apollo cried. "I can certainly master the Valdezinator. I must! It is my duty!"

"So let's wheel and deal, Music Man." Ariana said. "We give you this; you give us the physician's cure!"