plague bringer - a heroes of olympus insert

𝗑𝗑𝗑𝗂𝗂. 𝗅𝖾𝗈 𝖿𝗅𝗂𝖾𝗌 𝖺 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀

The sun was going down as they flew north over the Richmond Bridge, and Aria couldn't believe the day had gone so quickly. Nothing like a good fight to the death to make time fly.

Leo was piloting the chopper, automatically flipping the right switches, checking the altimeter, easing back on the stick, and flying straight. If he allowed himself to consider what he was doing, however, he started freaking out.

"Going okay?" Piper asked from the copilot's seat.

Aria watched Leo put on a brave face.

"Aces," he said. "So what's the Wolf House?"

Aria and Jason knelt between their seats. "An abandoned mansion in the Sonoma Valley. A demigod built it—Jack London."

Leo couldn't place the name. "He an actor?"

"Writer," Piper said. "Adventure stuff, right? Call of the Wild? White Fang?"

"Yeah," Jason said. "He was a son of Mercury—I mean, Hermes. He was an adventurer, traveled the world. He was even a hobo for a while. Then he made a fortune writing. He bought a big ranch in the country and decided to build this huge mansion—the Wolf House."

"Named that 'cause he wrote about wolves?" Aria guessed.

"Partially," Jason said. "But the site, and the reason he wrote about wolves—he was dropping hints about his personal experience. There're a lot of holes in his life story—how he was born, who his dad was, why he wandered around so much—stuff you can only explain if you know he was a demigod."

The bay slipped behind them, and the helicopter continued north. Ahead of them, yellow hills rolled out as far as Aria could see.

"So Jack London went to Camp Half-Blood," Leo guessed.

"No," Jason said. "No, he didn't."

"Bro, you're freaking me out with the mysterious talk. Are you remembering your past or not?"

"Pieces," Jason said. "Only pieces. None of it good. The Wolf House is on sacred ground. It's where London started his journey as a child—where he found out he was a demigod. That's why he returned there. He thought he could live there, claim that land, but it wasn't meant for him. The Wolf House was cursed. It burned in a fire a week before he and his wife were supposed to move in. A few years later, London died, and his ashes were buried on the site."

"So," Piper said, "how do you know all this?"

A shadow crossed Jason's face. Probably just a cloud, but Aria could swear the shape looked like an eagle. Dang. Aria really needed to take a nap after this all was said and done.

"I started my journey there too," Jason said. "It's a powerful place for demigods, a dangerous place. If Gaea can claim it, use its power to entomb Hera on the solstice and raise Porphyrion—that might be enough to awaken the earth goddess fully."

Aria could see some weather ahead—a spot of darkness like a cloudbank or a storm, right where they were going.

Piper's dad had called them all heroes earlier. And Aria couldn't believe some of the things she'd done—shooting at a giant, running at it with a sword to save her friend, healing a famous movie star with magic powers. They seemed like they had happened to another person. She was just Aria Foster, a delinquent kid from Sacramento. She'd lived a normal life, and now it felt like the chance of having one again was gone.

Aria had changed throughout the course of this quest. She's no longer the girl scared of what her mysterious powers could do. She was now a fierce warrior who would do whatever she could to protect her friends.

Aria felt Leo level out the chopper. "Thirty minutes out," he told his friends, though he wasn't sure how he knew. "If you want to get some rest, now's a good time."

Jason strapped himself into the back of the helicopter and passed out almost immediately. Aria, Piper, and Leo stayed wide-awake.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Leo said, "Your dad'll be fine, you know. Nobody's gonna mess with him with that crazy goat around."

Piper glanced over, and Aria was struck by how much she'd changed. Not just physically. Her presence was stronger. She seemed more... here. At Wilderness School she'd spent the semester trying not to be seen, hiding out in the back row of the classroom, the back of the bus, the corner of the lunchroom as far as possible from the loud kids. Now she would be impossible to miss. It didn't matter what she was wearing —you'd have to look at her. Aria noticed Leo had changed a lot too. He had more confidence in himself and his abilities, which made her very happy to see.

"My dad," Piper said thoughtfully. "Yeah, I know. I sas thinking about Jason. I'm worried about him."

Leo nodded. "He's starting to remember. That's got to make him a little edgy."

"But what if... what if he's a different person?" Piper asked

Aria had had the same thought. If the Mist could affect their memories, could Jason's whole personality be an illusion, too? If their friend wasn't their friend, and they were heading into a cursed mansion—a dangerous place for demigods—what would happen if Jason's full memory came back in the middle of a battle? Aria shook it off, not wanting to think about it.

"Nah," Leo decided. "After all we've been through? I can't see it."

"Exactly," Aria agreed. "We're a team. Jason can handle it."

Piper smoothed her blue dress, which was tattered and burned from their fight on Mount Diablo. "I hope you're right. I need him..." She cleared her throat. "I mean I need to trust him..."

"I know," Aria said, bumping her with her shoulder. Piper sent her a weak, but genuine smile. After seeing her dad break down, Aria understood Piper couldn't afford to lose Jason as well. She'd just watched Tristan McLean, her cool movie star dad, reduced to near insanity. Aria could barely stand to watch that, but for Piper—Wow, Aria couldn't even imagine. She figured that would make her insecure about herself, too. If weakness was inherited, she'd be wondering, could she break down the same way her dad did?

"Hey, don't worry," Leo said. "Piper, you're the strongest, most powerful beauty queen I've ever met. You can trust yourself. For what it's worth, you can trust me too."

"Same here, Pipes. We know you can handle yourself, but we've got your back," Aria smiled.

The helicopter dipped in a wind shear, and Aria almost jumped out of her skin. Leo cursed and righted the chopper.

Piper laughed nervously. "Trust you, huh?"

Aria erupted with giggles.

"Ah, shut up, already." But Leo grinned at her, and for a second, it felt like they were just relaxing comfortably with friends.

Then they hit the storm clouds.