***
WHEN LEO SAW HOW WELL PIPER AND ELENA were being treated, he was thoroughly offended.
He'd imagined them freezing their hindquarters off in the snow, but the Hunter Phoebe had set up this silver tent pavilion thing right outside the cave. How she'd done it so fast, Leo had no idea, but inside was a kerosene heater keeping them toasty warm and a bunch of comfy throw pillows. Piper looked back to normal, decked out in a new parka, gloves, and camo pants like a Hunter. Elena had also donned a new camp half-blood shirt and a parka of her own. Where was she getting the clothes from? She and Hedge and Phoebe were kicking back, drinking hot chocolate. Elena was chatting happily with Phoebe as they laughed at something she had just said.
"Oh, no way," Leo said. "We've been sitting in a cave and you get the luxury tent? Somebody give me hypothermia. I want hot chocolate and a parka!"
Phoebe sniffed. "Boys," she said, like it was the worst insult she could think of.
"It's all right, Phoebe," Thalia said, appearing out of nowhere. "They'll need extra coats. And I think we can spare some chocolate."
Phoebe grumbled, but soon Leo and Jason were also dressed in silvery winter clothes that were incredibly lightweight and warm. The hot chocolate was first-rate.
"Cheers!" said Coach Hedge. He crunched down his plastic thermos cup.
"That cannot be good for your intestines," Leo said.
Thalia patted Piper on the back. "You up for moving?"
Piper nodded. "Thanks to Phoebe, yeah. You guys are really good at this wilderness survival thing. I feel like I could run ten miles."
Thalia winked at Jason. "She's tough for a child of Aphrodite. I like this one.
"Hey, I could run ten miles too," Leo volunteered. "Tough Hephaestus kid here. Let's hit it."
Naturally, Thalia ignored him.
It took Phoebe exactly six seconds to break camp, which Leo could not believe. The tent self-collapsed into a square the size of a pack of chewing gum. Leo wanted to ask her for the blueprints, but they didn't have time.
Thalia ran uphill through the snow, hugging a tiny little path on the side of the mountain, and soon Leo was regretting trying to look macho, because the Hunters left him in the dust.
***
"Ella, if you ever wanna join the Hunt, I'm sure Artemis is more than willing-"
"I couldn't, even if I wanted to, I couldn't do that to Nico, not after Bianca, you know that Thalia." Elena interjected, smiling sadly.
Thalia shrugged, "Worth a try. You were one of Zöe's candidates to be lieutenant, besides Artemis adores you."
"Artemis adores any girl who hasn't fallen in love." Elena said, smacking Thalia on shoulder as they laughed lightly.
They continued running through the woods until they stopped, Elena glanced at Leo who was lost in thought. He slammed into Thalia and nearly sent them both down the side of the mountain the hard way. Fortunately, the Hunter was light on her feet. She steadied them both, then pointed up.
"That," Leo choked, "is a really large rock." He wasn't wrong though.
"We're not seriously crossing that," Leo said.
Thalia shrugged. "I'm not a big fan of heights, I'll admit. But if you want to get to Aeolus's fortress, this is the only way."
"Is the fortress always hanging there?" Piper asked. "How can people not notice it sitting on top of Pikes Peak?"
"The Mist," Thalia said. "Still, mortals do notice it indirectly. Some days, Pikes Peak looks purple. People say it's a trick of the light, but actually it's the colour of Aeolus's palace, reflecting off the mountain face."
"It's enormous," Jason said.
Thalia laughed. "You should see Olympus, little brother."
"You're serious? You've been there?"
Thalia grimaced as if it wasn't a good memory. "We should go across in two different groups. The bridge is fragile."
"Let's not talk about Olympus right now Jason. The bridge looks really thin," Elena said her face was similar to Thalia's.
"That's reassuring," Leo said. "Jason, can't you just fly us up there?"
Thalia laughed. Then she seemed to realise Leo's question wasn't a joke. "Wait ... Jason, you can fly?"
Jason gazed up at the floating fortress. "Well, sort of. More like I can control the winds. But the winds up here are so strong, I'm not sure I'd want to try. Thalia, you mean ... you can't fly?"
For a second, Thalia looked genuinely afraid. Then she got her expression under control. Elena knew how uncomfortable Thalia was with heights so she squeezed the other's hand reassuringly.
"Truthfully," she said, "I've never tried. Might be better if we stuck to the bridge."
Coach Hedge tapped the ice vapour trail with his hoof, then jumped onto the bridge. Amazingly, it held his weight. "Easy! I'll go first. Piper, come on, girl. I'll give you a hand."
"No, that's okay," Piper started to say, but the coach grabbed her hand and dragged her up the bridge. Elena followed wincing as the stab wound throbbed. She made her way up slowly hoping to lessen the pain.
When they were about halfway, the bridge still seemed to be holding them just fine.
Thalia turned to Phoebe. "Phoebe, I'll be back soon. Go find the others. Tell them I'm on my way."
"You sure?" Phoebe narrowed her eyes at Leo and Jason, like they might kidnap Thalia or something.
"It's fine," Thalia promised.
Phoebe nodded reluctantly, "Elena," she shouted, "If you ever get bored of camp, come join the Hunt," then raced down the mountain path, the white wolves at her heels. Elena, who was already at the top, just smiled and waved her hand.
Elena waited with Piper and Hedge talking about nothing in particular until she saw the melting bridge.
"Oh my gods." She said in horror, the bridge was melting quickly as Leo and Jason ran up the steps.
They reached the top and Elena pulled them up just as the bridge vanished.
"What happened?" Elena demanded. "Leo, why are your clothes smoking?"
"I got a little heated," he gasped. "Sorry, Jason. Honest. I didn't—"
"It's all right," Jason said, but his expression was grim. "We've got less than twenty-four hours to rescue a goddess and Piper's dad. Let's go see the king of the winds."
They walked in twos, Hedge and Piper at the front, Leo and Elena in the middle, Jason at the end. Elena didn't know what happened on the bridge but she picked up on the mood and decided she would keep a distance.
Leo kept swatting his own legs, checking for signs that his pants were on fire. He wasn't steaming anymore, but the incident on the ice bridge had really freaked Elena out, her vision was great so she saw everything clearly. Leo hadn't seemed to realise that he had smoke coming out his ears and flames dancing through his hair. If Leo started spontaneously combusting every time he got excited, they were going to have a tough time taking him anywhere. Elena imagined trying to get food at a restaurant. I'll have a cheeseburger and—Ahhh! My friend's on fire! Get me a bucket! She found the thought ridiculous but nevertheless kept in the back of her mind for future use.
Finally they arrived at the top of the island. Bronze walls marched all the way around the fortress grounds, though Elena couldn't imagine who would possibly attack this place. Twenty-foot-high gates opened for them, and a road of polished purple stone led up to the main citadel—a white-columned rotunda, Greek style, like one of the monuments in Washington, D.C.—except for the cluster of satellite dishes and radio towers on the roof.
***
"That's bizarre," Piper said.
"Guess you can't get cable on a floating island," Leo said. "Dang, check this guy's front yard."
The rotunda sat in the centre of a quarter-mile circle. The grounds were amazing in a scary way. They were divided into four sections like big pizza slices, each one representing a season.
The section on their right was an icy waste, with bare trees and a frozen lake. Snowmen rolled across the landscape as the wind blew, so Jason wasn't sure if they were decorations or alive.
To their left was an autumn park with gold and red trees. Mounds of leaves blew into patterns—gods, people, animals that ran after each other before scattering back into leaves.
In the distance, Jason could see two more areas behind the rotunda. One looked like a green pasture with sheep made out of clouds. The last section was a desert where tumbleweeds scratched strange patterns in the sand like Greek letters, smiley faces, and a huge advertisement that read: watch Aeolus nightly!
"One section for each of the four wind gods," Jason guessed. "Four cardinal directions."
"I'm loving that pasture." Coach Hedge licked his lips. "You guys mind—"
"Go ahead," Jason said. He was actually relieved to send the satyr off. It would be hard enough getting on Aeolus's good side without Coach Hedge waving his club and screaming, "Die!
While the satyr ran off to attack springtime, Jason, Leo, and Piper walked down the road to the steps of the palace. They passed through the front doors into a white marble foyer decorated with purple banners that read olympian weather channel, and some that just read ow!
"Hello!" A woman floated up to them. Literally floated. She was pretty in that elfish way Jason associated with nature spirits at Camp Half-Blood—petite, slightly pointy ears, and an ageless face that could've been sixteen or thirty. Her brown eyes twinkled cheerfully. Even though there was no wind, her dark hair blew in slow motion, shampoo-commercial style. Her white gown billowed around her like parachute material. Jason couldn't tell if she had feet, but if so, they didn't touch the floor. She had a white tablet computer in her hand. "Are you from Lord Zeus?" she asked. "We've been expecting you."
Jason tried to respond, but it was a little hard to think straight, because he'd realised the woman was see-through. Her shape faded in and out like she was made of fog.
"Are you a ghost?" he asked.
Elena looked horrified to hear his question but that look wasn't necessary. Right away he knew he'd insulted her. The smile turned into a pout. "I'm an aura, sir. A wind nymph, as you might expect, working for the lord of the winds. My name is Mellie. We don't have ghosts."
Piper came to the rescue. "No, of course you don't! My friend simply mistook you for Helen of Troy, the most beautiful mortal of all time. It's an easy mistake."
Wow, she was good. The compliment seemed a little over the top, but Mellie the aura blushed. "Oh ... well, then. So you are from Zeus?"
"Er," Jason said, "I'm the son of Zeus, yeah."
"Excellent! Please, right this way." She led them through some security doors into another lobby, consulting her tablet as she floated. She didn't look where she was going, but apparently it didn't matter as she drifted straight through a marble column with no problem. "We're out of prime time now, so that's good," she mused. "I can fit you in right before his 11:12 spot."
***
They walked through the lobby which Elena found distracting, the paper planes flew quickly making her feel dizzy, through into the central section of Aeolus' fortress, large and very news channel set-like. Of course, it had no floors. Leo almost fell into the chasm before Jason pulled him back.
"Careful Leo," she said looking ahead.
"Holy—!" Leo gulped. "Hey, Mellie. A little warning next time!"
"Oh, my," Mellie gasped. "I'm so sorry." She unclipped a walkie-talkie from somewhere inside her robes and spoke into it: "Hello, sets? Is that Nuggets? Hi, Nuggets. Could we get a floor in the main studio, please? Yes, a solid one. Thanks."
A few seconds later, an army of harpies rose from the pit—three dozen or so demon chicken ladies, all carrying squares of various building materials. They went to work hammering and glueing—and using large quantities of duct tape, which didn't reassure her. In no time there was a makeshift floor snaking out over the chasm. It was made of plywood, marble blocks, carpet squares, wedges of grass sod—just about anything.
"That can't be safe," Jason said.
"Oh, it is!" Mellie assured him. "The harpies are very good."
Easy for her to say. She just drifted across without touching the floor, but Elena decided she had the best chance at surviving, since she could fly, so she stepped out first. Amazingly, the floor held. Jason followed
Piper gripped his hand and followed him. "If I fall, you're catching me."
"Uh, sure." Jason said, blushing brighter than Apollo's car.
Leo stepped out next. "You're catching me, too, Superman. But I ain't holding your hand. Elle you're my fly buddy now"
Leo said nothing but went to grip Elena's hand tightly as they walked. She hoped she was doing a better job of not blushing than Jason. Mellie led them to the centre of the room where a man stood.
The man in the centre was talking into an earpiece phone. He had a remote control in each hand and was pointing them at various screens, seemingly at random.
He wore a business suit that looked like the sky—blue mostly, but dappled with clouds that changed and darkened and moved across the fabric. He looked like he was in his sixties, with a shock of white hair, but he had a ton of stage makeup on, and that smooth plastic-surgery look to his face, so he appeared not really young, not really old, just wrong—like a Ken doll someone had halfway melted in a microwave. His eyes darted back and forth from screen to screen, like he was trying to absorb everything at once. He muttered things into his phone, and his mouth kept twitching. He was either amused, or crazy, or both.
Mellie floated toward him. "Ah, sir, Mr. Aeolus, these demigods—"
Elena tuned out of the conversation because she knew when a conversation with a god was not going to go very far and this was one of them, she looked around at the set in interest watching harpies go by and paper aeroplanes whizz past. Then she looked at Leo, she studied his facial features, pointy ears and brown skin.
She had learned early on how to read people from the way they looked when they thought no one was looking, Leo looked sad, he looked disappointed with himself and angry. She looked at Jason; he looked so confused, even when no one's watching, he carried himself like a leader, her eyes turned to Piper; she looked stressed and scared, her beauty was all natural and real, she didn't try hard but she had a way of catching people's eyes when she talked or walked. Elena suspected that if she ever told anyone about her analysis, they'd tell her to go to therapy. She flinched when she heard Aeolus speak (yell).
"HELLO, OLYMPUS! Aeolus, master of the winds here, with weather every twelve! We'll have a low-pressure system moving over Florida today, so expect milder temperatures since Demeter wishes to spare the citrus farmers!" He gestured at the blue screen, but when Jason checked the monitors, he saw that a digital image was being projected behind Aeolus, so it looked like he was standing in front of a U.S. map with animated smiley suns and frowny storm clouds. "Along the eastern seaboard—oh, hold on." He tapped his earpiece. "Sorry, folks! Poseidon is angry with Miami today, so it looks like that Florida freeze is back on! Sorry, Demeter. Over in the Midwest, I'm not sure what St. Louis did to offend Zeus, but you can expect winter storms! Boreas himself is being called down to punish the area with ice. Bad news, Missouri! No, wait. Hephaestus feels sorry for central Missouri, so you all will have much more moderate temperatures and sunny skies."
Aeolus kept going like that—forecasting each area of the country and changing his prediction two or three times as he got messages over his earpiece—the gods apparently putting in orders for various winds and weather.
"This can't be right," Jason whispered. "Weather isn't this random."
Mellie smirked. "And how often are the mortal weathermen right? They talk about fronts and air pressure and moisture, but the weather surprises them all the time. At least Aeolus tells us why it's so unpredictable. Very hard job, trying to appease all the gods at once. It's enough to drive anyone ..."
She trailed off, but Elena knew what she meant. Mad. Aeolus was completely mad. I would be too if I were him.
She tuned out again looking at her fingernails, Drew said she'd help me repaint them, I wonder what she'll do this time. Her mind wandered lazily from one topic to another. Sometimes hearing bits of the main conversation.
"-I'm always helping! Well, sometimes I'm destroying, but mostly I'm helping, and sometimes I'm asked to do both at the same time! Why, Aeneas, the first of your kind—"
I wonder what Ere's doing right now, probably sleeping.
"-And don't get me started on Amelia Earhart! I'm still getting angry calls from Olympus about knocking her out of the sky!"
The conversation was starting to turn sour judging from Aeolus' tone.
"Yes," Aeolus said. "All things lost in the wind eventually come to me. The photo blew away when the Earthborn captured him."
"The what?" Piper asked.
Aeolus waved aside the question and narrowed his eyes at Leo. "Now, you, son of Hephaestus ... yes, I see your future." Another paper fell into the wind god's hands—an old tattered drawing done in crayons.
Leo took it as if it might be coated in poison. He staggered backward. Elena patted his hand reassuringly. She had a feeling the paper was important.
"Leo?" Jason said. "What is it?"
"Something I—I drew when I was a kid." He folded it quickly and put it in his coat. "It's ... yeah, it's nothing."
Aeolus laughed. "Really? Just the key to your success—YOU!!" He pointed to Elena who jerked her head up in response "... the firstborn of Death. Interesting. The child with thousands of blessings, loved by all your family, you have a hard path ahead of you, you are destined for greatness, Erebus sends her regards little demigodling"
He said looking at Elena. He waved something over to her, it was a letter black as the void with blood red wax sealing her heart fastened as she opened it, read the letter and almost threw up. Her face blanched. Elena scrambled to open her bag and put the envelope inside. She swallowed thickly as she staggered over to her right holding her stomach as though her wound would split open and her insides would fall out. Leo held her upright to stop her fainting.
"Mi princesa are you okay?" he asked, looking down at the girl leaning into his arms.
"I'm fine, just a bit dizzy," she lied, "My wound hurts that's all." She could tell no one was convinced but she was fine, truly. Because the truth is, her world was slowly crumbling around her, the happy life she imagined was falling and it was way out of her grasp. She was floating around untethered in a space she'd never explored and she was terrified of it. But that was her normal, she'd get her shit together and complete her quest, forget and move on from it until relevant.
She straightened her posture leaning away from Leo. She missed the lack of warmth his body provided immediately, there was only so much cold a demigod could take before they died of pneumonia
"Do you wanna have some more ambrosia?" Piper asked concerned, "I have some more in my-"
"Now, where were we? Ah, yes, you wanted information. Are you sure about that? Sometimes information can be dangerous"
He smiled at Jason like he was issuing a challenge. Behind him, Mellie shook her head in warning.
"Yeah," Elena said, speaking to the god directly for the first time her voice wobbled as she spoke. "We need to find the lair of Enceladus."
Aeolus's smile melted. "The giant? Why would you want to go there? He's horrible! He doesn't even watch my program!"
Piper held up the photo. "Aeolus, he's got my father. We need to rescue him and find out where Hera is being held captive."
"Now, that's impossible," Aeolus said. "Even I can't see that, and believe me, I've tried. There's a veil of magic over Hera's location—very strong, impossible to locate."
"She's at a place called the Wolf House," Jason said.
"Hold on!" Aelous put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. "I'm getting something! Yes, she's at a place called the Wolf House! Sadly, I don't know where that is."
"Enceladus does," Elena persisted, finding her voice. "If you help us find him, we could get the location of the goddess—"
"Yeah," Leo said, catching on. "And if we save her, she'd be really grateful to you—"
"And Zeus might promote you," Jason finished.
Aeolus's eyebrows crept up. "A promotion—and all you want from me is the giant's location?" Piper nodded confidently.
"Well, if you could get us there, too," Jason amended, "that would be great."
Mellie clapped her hands in excitement. "Oh, he could do that! He often sends helpful winds—"
"Mellie, quiet!" Aeolus snapped. "I have half a mind to fire you for letting these people in under false pretences."
Her face paled. "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."
***
"It wasn't her fault," Jason said. "But about that help ..."
Aelous tilted his head as if thinking. Then Jason realised the wind lord was listening to voices in his earpiece.
"Well ... Zeus approves," Aeolus muttered. "He says ... he says it would be better if you could avoid saving her until after the weekend, because he has a big party planned—Ow! That's Aphrodite yelling at him, reminding him that the solstice starts at dawn. She says I should help you. And Hephaestus... yes. Hmm. Very rare they agree on anything. Hold on ..."
Jason smiled at his friends. Finally, they were having some good luck. Their godly parents were standing up for them.
Back toward the entrance, Jason heard a loud belch. Coach Hedge waddled in from the lobby, grass all over his face. Mellie saw him coming across the makeshift floor and caught her breath. "Who is that?"
Jason stifled a cough. "That? That's just Coach Hedge. Uh, Gleeson Hedge. He's our ..." Jason wasn't sure what to call him: teacher, friend, problem?
"Our guide."
"He's so goatly," Mellie murmured.
Behind her, Piper poofed out her cheeks, pretending to vomit. Elena giggled silently as the two girls tried to feel better about their horrible luck.
"What's up, guys?" Hedge trotted over. "Wow, nice place. Oh! Sod squares."
"Coach, you just ate," Jason said. "And we're using the sod as a floor. This is, ah, Mellie—"
"An aura." Hedge smiled winningly. "Beautiful as a summer breeze."
Mellie blushed.
"And Aeolus here was just about to help us," Jason said.
"Yes," the wind lord muttered. "It seems so. You'll find Enceladus on Mount Diablo."
"Devil Mountain?" Leo asked. "That doesn't sound good."
"I remember that place!" Piper said. "I went there once with my dad. It's just east of San Francisco Bay."
"The Bay Area again?" The coach shook his head. "Not good. Not good at all."
"Now ..." Aeolus began to smile. "As to getting you there—"
"There's gotta be a catch." Elena murmured under her breath,
Suddenly his face went slack. He bent over and tapped his earpiece as if it were malfunctioning. When he straightened again, his eyes were wild. Despite the makeup, he looked like an old man—an old, very frightened man. "She hasn't spoken to me for centuries. I can't—yes, yes I understand."
He swallowed, regarding Jason as if he had suddenly turned into a giant cockroach. "I'm sorry, son of Jupiter. New orders. You all have to die."
"Andddd, there's the catch. Great, murder. Always murder." Elena whined.
Mellie squeaked. "But—but, sir! Zeus said to help them. Aphrodite, Hephaestus—"
"Mellie!" Aeolus snapped. "Your job is already on the line. Besides, there are some orders that transcend even the wishes of the gods, especially when it comes to the forces of nature."
"Whose orders?" Jason said. "Zeus will fire you if you don't help us!"
"I doubt it." Aeolus flicked his wrist, and far below them, a cell door opened in the pit. Jason could hear storm spirits screaming out of it, spiralling up toward them, howling for blood.
"Even Zeus understands the order of things," Aeolus said. "And if she is waking—by all the gods—she cannot be denied. Good-bye, heroes. I'm terribly sorry, but I'll have to make this quick. I'm back on the air in four minutes."
Jason summoned his sword. Coach Hedge pulled out his club. Mellie the aura yelled, "No!"
She dived at their feet just as the storm spirits hit with hurricane force, blasting the floor to pieces, shredding the carpet samples and marble and linoleum into what should've been lethal projectiles, had Mellie's robes not spread out like a shield and absorbed the brunt of the impact. The five of them fell into the pit, and Aeolus screamed above them,
"Mellie, you are so fired!"
"Quick," Mellie yelled. "Son of Zeus, do you have any power over the air?"
"A little!"
"Then help me, or you're all dead!," Mellie grabbed his hand, and an electric charge went through Jason's arm and into Elena's. He understood what she needed. They had to control their fall and head for one of the open tunnels. The storm spirits were following them down, closing rapidly, bringing with them a cloud of deadly shrapnel.
Jason grabbed Piper's hand. "Group hug!"
Elena, Hedge, Leo and Piper tried to huddle together, hanging on to Jason and Mellie as they fell.
"This is NOT GOOD!" Leo yelled.
"Bring it on, gas bags!" Hedge yelled up at the storm spirits. "I'll pulverise you!"
"He's magnificent," Mellie sighed.
"NOT THE TIME MELLIE!!" Elena yelled as they hurtled to the ground.
They channelled the wind so their fall became more of a tumble into the nearest open chute. Still, they slammed into the tunnel at painful speed and went rolling over each other down a steep vent that was not designed for people. There was no way they could stop.
Mellie's robes billowed around her. Jason and the others clung to her desperately, and they began to slow down, but the storm spirits were screaming into the tunnel behind them.
"Can't—hold—long," Mellie warned. "Stay together! When the winds hit—"
"You're doing great, Mellie," Hedge said. "My own mama was an aura, you know. She couldn't have done better herself."
"Iris-message me?" Mellie pleaded.
Hedge winked.
"Could you guys plan your date later?" Piper screamed. "Look!"
Behind them, the tunnel was turning dark. She could feel her ears pop as the pressure built.
"Can't hold them," Mellie warned. "But I'll try to shield you, do you one more favour."
"Thanks, Mellie," Jason said. "I hope you get a new job."
She smiled, and then dissolved, wrapping them in a warm gentle breeze. Then the real winds hit, shooting them into the sky so fast, Jason blacked out. I could have flown us out. Elena realised dimly before closing her own eyes.
As an apology for not updating frequently, I've speed copied all the chapters so far from my AO3 to Wattpad. Long chapter for today. :)
-Author