CHAPTER SIX:
GOD OF BORING
■ ■ ■ ■ ■
LIKE MOST PEOPLE, THE sons of Boreas were quick to get on Kit’s nerves. Maybe even more than Leo himself did, and that was saying a lot. From the moment their paths crossed, Kit had them figured out. Cal wasn’t much to think twice about. A bit on the dumber side, he was all brawn and no brain. Perhaps he could’ve been decent enough company, if he didn’t spend so much time giggling about hockey and pizza like they were the Gods’ greatest gifts to the world. As for Zethes, he was far more put together, maybe a little too much. Kit didn’t trust it for a second, even if all he seemed to care about was vanity and the attention of women, good or bad.
And for the first time since they set out on this quest, Jason also agreed with him. Kit found himself exchanging a wary glance with the blonde boy as the two demon angels made themselves known, soaring through the frosty air with wings growing from their backs, half human-half monster.
“Heads up, guys,” Jason muttered to Piper and Leo, who were too busy marvelling at the snow-dusted city below them to notice the new arrivals. “We’ve got company.”
Beneath them, Festus started to shudder uneasily. He stopped suddenly, almost sending the four demigods overboard as he prepared a column of fire to blow at the brothers. Had it not been for Leo murmuring frantically into his ear, Kit was sure he’d have met a slow death plummeting into the cement below.
“I don’t like this,” Jason spoke again. “They look like storm spirits.”
Kit took a second to really analyse them. The brawny one, who he would soon learn to be Cal, wore a bright red hockey jersey over his beefy shoulders, baggy sweatpants and black leather cleats clinging to his legs. Both of his eyes were circled by black bruises and several of his front teeth were missing when he smiled, an empty look in his eyes. As for the skinnier of the two, Zethes, he reminded Kit of a wanna-be rockstar from the 1980s. His ice-white hair was slicked back with way too much gel. His shoes were leather and pointy, like an elf’s, his matching leather pants practically popping at the seams. To top it off, he’d chosen to wear a neon orange silk shirt with the top three buttons left undone to reveal a patch of pale skin. Kit Dempsey wouldn’t have been caught dead in such a horrific outfit. He couldn’t comprehend how Zethes had allowed himself to be.
“Do we run for it?” Leo murmured to Kit.
“No,” the other boy sneered. “They’ll be easy to take down if we need to.”
Before Leo could give an uncertain retort, the demon angels pulled up in front of Festus, drawing matching bronze swords from sheaths at their hips.
“No clearance,” Cal grunted, causing Leo to scoff, “‘Scuse me?”
“You have no flight plan on file,” Zethes elaborated for his brother. Kit smothered a snicker at his over-exaggerated French accent. He doubted that Zethes had spent a day of his life in France. “This is restricted airspace.”
“Destroy them?” Cal questioned, head tilted like a curious puppy.
Jason didn’t think before summoning his sword, the golden glint prompting Festus to shudder again and hiss steam from his mouth. Leo chuckled anxiously, “Now hold on. Let’s have some manners here, boys. Can I at least find out who has the honour of destroying me?”
“I am Cal,” the brawny brother grunted. The other rolled his eyes at him, “That’s short for Calais,” he explained. “Sadly, my brother cannot say words with more than two syllables--”
“Pizza, hockey, destroy,” Cal listed with a proud grin.
“--which includes his own name.”
“I am Cal,” the boy repeated much to Kit’s growing impatience. “And this is Zethes, my brother.”
“Wow,” Leo gasped. Kit couldn’t tell if he was genuinely amazed by what Cal had just said or simply mocking him. “That’s almost three sentences, man. Way to go.”
Definitely mocking.
Nevertheless, Cal grunted again, obviously pleased with any form of praise. Zethes shook his head at him, face flushed with second-hand embarrassment. “Stupid buffoon. They’re making fun of you. But no matter. I am Zethes, which is short for Zethes, and the lady there--” He winked animatedly at Piper, causing the girl’s face to scrunch up in poorly disguised disgust. “Well, she can call me anything she likes. Perhaps she would like to have dinner with a famous demigod before we must destroy you?”
“That’s a… truly horrifying offer.”
This time, Kit was unable to hide his laughter. “Jesus, Piper. At least try and sound genuine.”
Fortunately, Zethes paid him no attention, just winking at the only girl again. “It is no problem. We are very romantic people, we Boreads.”
“Boreads?” Jason repeated with a sense of relief, his sword slowly lowering. “Do you mean, like, the sons of Boreas?”
“Ah, so you’ve heard of us,” Zethes beamed.
“More like we’ve heard of your father,” Kit mumbled.
Again, it was fortunate for them that Zethes was far too up his own ass to hear him. “We are our father’s personal gatekeepers. So you understand, we cannot have unauthorized people flying in his airspace on creaky dragons, scaring the silly mortal peoples.”
Kit spared a glance at the scenery below. In the rising dawn, the few people out for a stroll were beginning to notice the strange figure hovering in the air above. Kit hoped and prayed they saw nothing more than a helicopter struggling with directions. The Mist could only hold out for so long before mere mortal brains caught onto something being wrong.
“Which is sadly why, unless this is an emergency landing, we will have to destroy you painfully.”
“Wait,” Piper exclaimed. “This is an emergency landing!”
Both Kit and Leo wore frowns of disbelief as they glanced behind them at the sheepishly smiling girl. In front of them, Cal made a noise of disappointment, like he’d been hoping for an excuse to get into another fight. Kit rolled his eyes. He wasn’t sure how far his patience could stretch with a boy like him.
Meanwhile, Zethes was studying Piper curiously. “How does the pretty girl decide this is an emergency, then?”
“Well, we have to see Boreas,” she insisted, a familiar soothing song accompanying the sound of her voice. Kit felt it washing over him softly, to the point where even he believed they were genuinely in trouble. He managed to pull himself out of it, though, unlike Zethes and Cal, thinking back to the night before when she won over Camp Half-Blood against Drew. Piper McLean would make for one powerful demigod when she managed to figure out how to control her charmspeak. “It’s totally urgent! Please?”
“Well… I hate to disappoint a lovely lady,” Zethes hummed, clearly hesitating. “But you see, my sister, she would have an avalanche if we allowed you--”
“And our dragon is malfunctioning,” she cut in frantically. “It could crash any minute.”
Even Festus was in on the act now. He shuddered once more, turning his head to spill oil down below. A moment later, the group heard the outraged cry of a Mercedes owner as he left a nearby coffee shop to see his destroyed vehicle waiting in the parking lot. Zethes and Cal pondered the scene with matching frowns, though Cal’s was still more out of disappointment than anything.
“No destroy?” he whimpered.
“I’m about to destroy him in a minute,” Kit grumbled into Leo’s ear.
The younger boy snorted, though quickly covered it up with an awkward smile and a thumbs up when Zethes turned his glare on him. He waited a minute before replying, barely moving his mouth to get the words out in fear of ruining Piper’s little plan. “Why? Cal seems like a cool dude.”
“He’s annoying,” Kit shrugged, like that was all the reason he needed. “Reminds me of you.”
Leo shot him an indignant frown, but didn’t risk responding as Zethes finally replied to Piper. “Well, you are pretty -- I mean, you’re right. A malfunctioning dragon… this could be an emergency.”
Kit had the feeling he just wanted to take Piper back to his house, but whatever worked.
“Destroy them later?” Cal asked.
Zethes simply ignored him. “It will take some explaining,” he told the group of demigods with more certainty. “Father has not been kind to visitors lately. But, yes. Come, faulty dragon people, follow us.”
With that, the demon angels sheathed their swords and pulled two orange flashlights from their belts, switching them on to guide the way towards the hotel-like castle Boreas had chosen for his home. For a moment, Festus didn’t move, waiting for the order from Leo. The boy in question turned to his friends with a grin, saying, “I love these guys! Follow them?”
Again, Kit and Jason came to a silent agreement that they’d rather do anything but spend another minute stuck with the sons of Boreas. But they didn’t exactly have a choice here.
“I guess,” Jason sighed. “I mean, we’re here now. But I wonder why Boreas hasn’t been kind to visitors.”
“He just hasn’t met us,” Leo scoffed as he urged Festus forward. “Come on, boy, after those flashlights!”
As they got closer to one of the hotel’s towers, Kit spied Cal swooping through the air like an over-sized bird. He sniffed in disdain, declaring, “Just making this clear up front, if Cal doesn’t stop talking about how he wants to destroy us, I will put a sword through his stupid chest.”
“At least let us talk to Boreas first,” Piper chuckled.
“What’s your problem with him anyway?” Leo frowned. “You said he was like me earlier.”
Piper laughed again. “I noticed it, too.”
Leo’s frown morphed into a glare as Kit smirked and fist-bumped the girl. “I’m not sure if I should be offended or not.”
“You should be,” Kit deadpanned.
Soon enough, they were entering through an open section of the hotel’s green-gabled slanted roof. Kit felt literal chills run down his spine, but it took him a second to figure out why. Up above them, dozens of tiny icicles lined the roof and the entrance like jagged teeth biting down on them. The sight made him uneasy. Just how difficult would it be to make a quick escape if needed? Would they accidentally impale themselves on icy spikes first? He didn’t have much chance to dwell on it, though, as Leo spurred Festus down towards the waiting Boreads.
“This cannot be good,” Jason mumbled under his breath, just loud enough for his friends to hear him.
Miraculously, Kit found himself agreeing for a third time.
They hesitantly climbed down from the dragon’s back, silent as they observed their surroundings. The first thing Kit noticed was the staircase at the back. Beneath a layer of smooth ice, he could just make out the marble slats covered in a blue carpet that the rest of the floor was also made out of. Snow crunched beneath his feet in a rather unsatisfying sound, like tracking through a field of mud. Even the curtains weren’t spared from the icy decorations, hanging stiffly to block out the watery light that seeped in through cracks the Boreads called windows.
Kit despised it, but Leo disagreed. “Guys, fix the thermostat in here and I would totally move in.”
“Not me,” Jason shook his head. “Something feels wrong. Something up there…”
Before he could get the right words out, Festus hissed and snorted flames, several nearby icicles melting into puddles of water. Zethes gave an outraged shout and marched over, his sword drawn again.
“The dragon must be deactivated,” he demanded. “We can’t have fire in here. The heat ruins my hair.”
“Yeah, because that’s your biggest problem,” Kit grumbled as he accidentally stepped into one of Festus’ puddles.
Meanwhile, Leo was doing his best to sooth a growling Festus. “‘S’okay, boy,” he cooed before wheeling around to glower at Zethes. “The dragon’s a little touchy about the whole deactivation concept. But I’ve got a better solution.”
“Destroy?” Cal suggested.
On instinct, Kit sent an expectant stare at the others. Piper and Jason immediately shook their heads much to his chagrin, Leo just huffing out a laugh before telling Cal, “You’ve gotta stop with the ‘destroy’ talk, man. Just wait.”
“Uh, Leo,” Piper chuckled nervously. “What are you…”
But she needn’t have worried in the end. Leo stepped up to Festus with such confidence that even Kit was impressed, hooking his fingers beneath the dragon’s left foreleg as he called out, “Watch and learn, Beauty Queen! When I was repairing Festus last night, I found all kinds of buttons. Some, you do not want to know what they do.” Kit could definitely confirm that. “But others -- ah, here we go!”
In the blink of an eye, Festus the sixty-foot dragon had somehow folded down into a bronze rectangle no larger than a suitcase, a metal handle popping up from the top. Kit gaped it, then at Leo, in disbelief. He’d seen many unexplainable things in his time as a demigod, but this took the cake. It wasn’t logical, and yet there it was, right in front of his eyes. Formerly Festus the Dragon, now Festus the Suitcase.
“Ta-da,” Leo cried victoriously. “The world’s heaviest carry-on bag!”
“You’re a genius, Valdez,” Kit breathed out, unable to stop himself. His awe was quick to fade, though, as Leo smiled at him in surprise. “Annoying, but a genius.”
“This is impossible,” Jason murmured. “Something that big couldn’t…”
“Stop,” Zethes roared suddenly, Cal also drawing his sword so they both could be pointed at Leo’s chest.
The curly-haired boy quickly raised his hands in a panic. “Okay, what’d I do? Stay calm, guys, if it bothers you that much, I don’t have to take the dragon as a carry-on--”
“Who are you?” Zethes sneered, the tip of his weapon now touching Leo’s shirt. “A child of the South Wind spying on us?”
“What? No!” Leo cried. “Son of Hephaestus. You know, the friendly blacksmith? No harm to anyone!”
“Smell fire,” Cal growled as he put his nose up to Leo’s. “Fire is bad.”
Kit’s face fell along with his. Subtly, he slipped his bracelet off his wrist and pressed a button hidden in one of the grooves, slowly inching closer with his own sword raised. If it came to it, he’d kill Cal first, then Zethes. Partly for the satisfaction of finally shutting the stupid hockey boy up, partly because he knew Zethes would be no match against him.
“We can smell fire, demigod,” Zethes cut off whatever explanation Leo was trying to give. “We assumed it was the creaky dragon, but now the dragon is a suitcase. And I still smell fire… on you.”
“Hey, look -- I don’t know…” He looked at Kit desperately, then towards a shocked Jason and Piper. “Guys, a little help?”
Finally, Kit surged forward, the tip of his sword piercing a whole in the back of Zethes’ shirt as he pushed the weapon against his spine. From the corner of his eye, a glint of gold flashed through the air as Jason also summoned his sword. “Look, there’s been a mistake, Leo isn’t a fire guy,” the blonde boy scoffed. “Leo, tell them. Tell them you’re not a fire guy.”
“Uh…”
Kit huffed. How stupid could this boy be?
“Hey, Zethes,” Piper spoke up with a nervous yet dazzling smile. “We’re all friends here. Put down your swords and let’s talk.”
“The girl is pretty,” Zethes grunted, relaxing for an instant before tensing up as Kit’s sword pressed harder. Piper shot him a pleading glare but he paid it no attention, eyes locked with Leo’s over Zethes’ shoulder. Kit was the only other person who knew the truth, who knew how important it was for Leo’s abilities to go undetected. They couldn’t be discovered so soon. “And of course, she cannot help being attracted to my amazingness. But sadly, I cannot romance her at this time.”
“Destroy him now?” Cal asked his brother.
“Right, that’s it,” Kit snarled, beginning to advance on the boy as Zethes voiced his agreement.
But once again, Jason stepped into Kit’s path with an imploring stare. “Leo’s just a son of Hephaestus,” he insisted. “He’s no threat. Piper here is a daughter of Aphrodite, Kit’s a son of Ares, and I’m the son of Zeus. We’re on a peaceful--”
Suddenly, both swords were turned on him. Leo heaved a sigh of relief, scurrying behind Kit’s back before Zethes could change his mind. Kit would’ve pushed him away had a knot of relief not formed in his stomach now that he knew Leo was safe. He immediately scoffed to himself, forcing his attention back onto the Boreads.
“What did you say?” Zethes asked. “You are the son of Zeus?”
“Um, yeah,” Jason nodded. “That’s a good thing, right? My name is Jason.”
“Can’t be Jason,” Cal immediately denied. “Doesn’t look the same.”
Zethes stepped forward and squinted at Jason’s face, lost in a memory long forgotten. Finally, he spoke, “No, he is not our Jason,” he agreed with Cal. “Our Jason was more stylish. Not as much as me, but stylish. Besides, our Jason died millennia ago.”
Millennia ago? Did they mean…
“Wait,” Jason gasped. “Your Jason… you mean the original Jason? The Golden Fleece guy?”
“Why of course,” Zethes said with a prideful grin. “We were his crewmates aboard his ship, the Argo, in the old times, when we were mortal demigods. Then we accepted immortality to serve our father, so I could look this good for all time, and my silly brother could enjoy pizza and hockey. But Jason -- our Jason, he died a mortal death. You can’t be him.”
“I’m not.”
For a moment, nobody moved, nor said anything. Jason and Zethes were staring at each other with new understanding, all the while Cal looked between them like his two brain cells were running on fumes. Leo shifted behind Kit again, not-so-subtly poking his head over the taller boy’s shoulder to check if the coast was clear. Kit rolled his eyes before stepping away. For now, at least, he decided Leo was safe.
“So, destroy?” Cal asked.
Kit didn’t even have the energy to retort anymore. It was getting clearer and clearer that Cal knew nothing else.
“No,” Zethes said with a regretful sigh. “If he is a son of Zeus, he could be the one we’ve been watching for.”
“Watching for?” Leo echoed warily. “You mean like in a good way… you know, like you’ll shower him with fabulous prizes? Or watching for, like, in a bad way… he’s in trouble?”
“Well, that all depends on my father’s will.”
Kit spun around at the sound of a new voice, this one feminine. At the top of the staircase stood a girl not much older than them in a long white dress that reminded him of what a bride would wear to her wedding. He couldn’t deny she was beautiful, with skin the colour of snow and hair darker than ink. But like Piper, she was not his type. Granted, no woman would ever be his type, but there was something about this one in particular that made him uneasy. Her coffee eyes were calculating, sweeping over each one of them like she knew all their secrets. They lingered on Kit for a moment before an almost vicious smile tugged at her red lips. But just as quickly as the look came, it faded as she moved onto Jason and Piper.
“Father will want to see the one called Jason,” she declared, her soft yet deadly voice echoing around the chamber.
“Then it is him?” Zethes beamed.
“We’ll see,” she hummed. “Zethes, bring our guests.”
Leo was the first to move. He grabbed onto Festus’ handle and attempted to rush forward, only to be stopped when he realised that the previously thousand pound dragon was just as heavy in suitcase form as he was in his normal form. Kit would’ve laughed had it not been for the dazed smile on Leo’s face, like a little boy in love for the first time. Of course he’d find someone like this attractive.
“Not you, Leo Valdez,” she sneered, causing his grin to drop.
“Why not?” Kit tried not to be happy about her rejection as she explained, “You cannot be in the presence of my father. Fire and ice -- it would not be wise.”
Jason immediately shook his head. “We’re going together, or not at all.”
Her eyes flared with undiluted anger, like she wasn’t used to people refusing her orders. It didn’t help that Kit started laughing. Jason’s glare be damned. He did not like this girl. She reminded him of a petulant toddler, throwing hissy fits left and right. “He will not be harmed, Jason Grace, unless you make trouble.”
Now, that, made Kit’s laughter fade. Jason Grace… Kit knew that name, and he knew it did not belong to Jason. The girl noticed his shock and smiled with glee.
“The Kronos supporter can stay with him too,” she hissed. “My father will strike him dead before he can so much as beg for his life.” When the group remained stunned into silence, she turned to her brothers. “Cal, keep Leo Valdez and Kit Dempsey here. Guard them, but do not kill them.”
“Just a little?” Cal pouted.
“No,” she growled. “And take care of the son of Hephaestus’ interesting suitcase, until father passes judgement.”
With that, she turned on her heel ready to leave Kit, Leo and her brother behind. But still, Jason and Piper refused to move. They looked over at their friends -- well, more Leo than Kit -- with hesitation, waiting for their permission before splitting up. Kit felt gratitude swell in his chest before he smothered it to death. There was no room for sentiment on this mission.
Not when he knew how it would end.
“It’s fine, guys,” he heard Leo inform them, still rather breathless from the presence of a pretty face. “No sense in causing trouble if we don’t have to. You go ahead.”
“Kit?” Piper turned to him next.
“Leo’s right,” he shrugged, and that was it.
“Listen to your friends,” the girl cut in with a sadistic chuckle. “Leo Valdez and, to a degree, Kit Dempsey will be perfectly safe. Though I wish I could say the same for you, son of Zeus.”
“Now come, King Boreas is waiting.”