The Lost Heroine (Heroes of Olympus/Kane Chronicles crossover) [2016]

Chapter 10: Sadie

"The same thing happened to me, except with your name," I said. "Look, Carter. I've got a sword."

He stared at me. "What?"

Leo grinned. "Straight to the point."

I showed Carter my bracelet and how it changed into a sword. He seemed pretty surprised. "Hey, now I can duel you, too!" I suggested. "Maybe--"

"Will someone explain what is going on?" Nico interrupted. Carter and I glanced at each other and laughed.

"I'm Carter Kane, combat magician, former Eye of Horus, leader of the Twenty-First Nome, and Pharaoh of the House of Life," Carter said, striking a ridiculous pose. I laughed at my brother's long list of titles.

"You want me to give all my titles?" Leo asked hopefully, stepping forward. "I'm Leo Valdez, Bad Boy Supreme, Supersized McShizzle, Commander Tool Belt, and Supreme Commander of the Argo II. Oh, and Piper calls me Repair Boy. Commander is fine, though."

I grinned. "Whatever you say, Repair Boy."

"You're so mean," he grumbled as Piper gave me a high five.

"I'm Piper McLean," Piper told Carter. "Daughter of Aphrodite, goddess of love. Leo's a son of Hephaestus, god of fire... not that you could have guessed or anything."

"THIS GUY IS ON FIRE!" Leo crowed, lighting his hands up and running in a circle.

I snickered. "Isn't it 'this girl is on fire?'"

"Oh, you wanna be on fire instead?" he challenged, brandishing his flaming hands.

"NO!" I yelled, running away from him. He chased me, his hands a fiery blur behind me. We went in circles around the group. 

In the middle of the third circle, Piper caught him by the shoulders, careful to avoid his fiery hands, and held him still. He struggled. "You're ruining it, Pipes!" he complained. 

Piper held on. "Stop chasing Sadie," she said, a rich tone in her voice washing over me. 

Leo stopped struggling and made a pouty face at Piper. "You're no fun, Beauty Queen."

"And do not call me Beauty Queen!" she ordered. Leo rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm Jason Grace, son of Zeus, god of the sky," Jason said.

Once everyone had finished introducing themselves, Percy said, "We need to get to Brooklyn."

"How?" Carter asked.

"Fly," he said simply.

Carter snorted. "How are you planning to accomplish that?"

Percy counted on his fingers. "We can use Arion, Blackjack, Tempest, Festus, and Frank."

"Excuse me?" Frank and Carter protested.

"We have..." Percy counted us quickly. "...eleven people. I'll take one other person on Blackjack-- that's two-- and Tempest can also take two-- that's four. Festus can take three, so that's seven. Frank, you can take one other person, that's eight..."

"Nine, actually," said Leo. "Frank's a person, if we count Frank as a person when he's an animal."

Percy ignored his second comment. "Okay, nine. And Arion can take two, so that's eleven. Perfect!"

Nico stared at Percy in mock awe. "I didn't know you could do math," he said.

Percy widened his eyes at Nico. "Oh," he said with exaggerated surprise. "Is that why I'm..."

"Oh, gods," Nico groaned.

"...not your type?" Percy finished, making air quotes with his fingers.

Nico facepalmed. I guessed that there was some unspoken history between Nico and Percy, but I decided not to ask. It seemed like now that Percy knew Annabeth was safe, he had a sense of humor, too. 

"I'll ride Festus," Leo volunteered. "I could take Calypso and one other person."

"What's Festus?" Carter asked.

"My dragon," he replied. 

I instantly raised my hand. "ME! ME! I want to ride the dragon!" I yelled.

Leo smirked. "Okay, Sadie, you're on Festus."

I punched the air in victory. "YES!"

"Carter, you can ride with me, on Blackjack the pegasus," Percy offered.

Carter nodded. "I've seen a pegasus before, from my room window."

"I knew I went too close to Brooklyn," Percy mumbled. Carter laughed.

"I'd carry Hazel, but she's riding Arion," Frank said glumly. "Anyone else want to ride a giant eagle?"

Will volunteered to ride the giant eagle. Jason and Piper decided to go together on Tempest, Jason's equine storm spirit. Hazel and Nico rode on Arion, a super fast horse who could run across any surface, including water and air.

"You ready to meet a super-freaking-awesome bronze dragon?" Leo asked.

"You bet!" I yelled.

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The Festus drawing is also mine with a reference pic from Viria. This was a fun chapter to write!