𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 》 JASON GRACE ¹

ᶜʰᵃᵖᵗᵉʳ ˢᵉᵛᵉⁿᵗᵉᵉⁿ

''Where are we?''

''Pikes Peak,'' Jason said. ''Colorado.''

''But that's what - five hundred miles from Omaha?''

''Something like that,'' Jason agreed. ''I harnessed the storm spirits to bring us this far. They didn't like it - went a little faster than I wanted, almost crashed us into the mountainside before I could get them back in the bag. I'm not going to be trying that one again.''

''Why are we here?''

Leo sniffed, rubbing his nose. ''That's what I asked him.''

Jason gazed into the storm as if watching for something. ''That glittery wind trail we saw yesterday? It was still in the sky, though it had faded a lot. I followed it until I couldn't see it anymore. Then - honestly, I'm not sure. I just felt like this was the right place to stop.''

'''Course it is,'' Coach Hedge spat out some cudgel splinters. ''Aeolus's floating palace should be anchored above us, right at the peak. This is one of his favourite spots to dock.''

''Maybe that was it,'' Jason knit his eyebrows. ''I don't know. Something else, too...''

''The Hunters were heading west,'' Piper remembered. ''Do you think they're around here?''

Jason rubbed his forearm as if the tattoos were bothering him. ''I don't see how anyone could survive out on mountain right now. The storm's pretty bad. It's already the evening before the solstice, but we didn't have much choice except to wait out the storm here. We had to give you some time to rest before we tried moving again.''

Jason didn't need to convince her. The wind howling above the cave scared Piper, and she couldn't stop shivering.

''We have to get you warm,'' Noelani said with  worried expression. She held her arms open a little. ''Fancy a hug?''

''I suppose,'' Piper said with a smile, opening up her burrito blanket to allow Noelani to join her.

Noelani happily scooted closer, happy for the warmth too. Piper hummed, ''Warm'' and wrapped her legs and arms around Noelani like a koala bear and Noelani laughed, happily hugging her back.

Jason tucked the blanket underneath Noelani, creating another, slightly bigger, burrito again in order to keep the warmth contained. Noelani looked back and smiled at him.

Leo broke out some cooking supplies and started frying burger patties on an iron skillet. ''So, guys, long as you're cuddled up fro story time... Something I've been meaning to tell you. On the way to Omaha, I had this dream. Kinda hard to understand with the static and the Wheel of Fortune breaking in-''

''Wheel of Fortune?'' Jason figured Leo was joking, but when he looked up from his burgers, his expression was deadly serious.

''The thing is,'' he said. ''My dad, Hephaestus, talked to me.''

Leo told them about his dream. In the firelight, with the wind howling, the story was even creepier. Noelani could imagine the static-filled voice of the god warning about giants who were the sons of Tartarus, and about Leo losing some friends along the way.

She tried to concentrate on something good: Piper's warm embrace, Jason's leg pressed against her back, Leo;s burgers that smelled amazing, but she was still scared. She seemed to be feeling like that a lot more often then she'd like to admit recently.

''I don't understand. If demigods and gods have to work together to kill the giants, why would the gods stay silent? If they need us-'' Piper was interrupted.

''Ha,'' said Coach Hedge. ''The gods hate needing humans. They like to be needed by humans, but not the other way around. Things will have to get a whole lot worse before Zeus admits he made a mistake closing Olympus.''