Jason Grace felt terrible. There's an insurmountable pit of guilt swirling in his stomach that only seemed to grow every time Klein Maddox turned to look over her shoulder in the direction of the department store that was long gone. She's situated in front of him this time - Jason had just barely caught the girl when she launched herself over the railing of the second floor, hazily pulling her onto the seat in front of him as he was worried she was fall off the back of the dragon amidst their rushed escape. And she's unhappy to be sitting there, that much he knows, but she hadn't asked to switch.
In fact, Klein hadn't said anything since they took off into the sky. Not a word as the smoking department store disappeared behind them and Chicago's busy streets turning into rolling snowy fields. Jason wished she would, because the silence that overlapped them all only make the venomous words echoing in the back of his mind seem even louder.
Your camp is right, he had spat at her, you're not even a good person. Cruel words that spilled from his mouth not even hours after he sat beside her in the sewer tunnel and swore that unlike the demigods of Camp Half-Blood, he didn't think she was bad.
Jason wasn't familiar with much at that point, the sound of his own name not even sounding like his. But that cruelty, that spite and detest in his tone, even his body that recognized not a single memory rejected the notion of those words even festering inside of him.
Yet Klein didn't say anything. Not as she sat there, not as she turned to peer over her shoulder and around Jason's frame to make sure there were no sun dragons flying after them, and certainly not as she avoided acknowledging Jason's eyes on her whenever she looked back.
He thought her angry, but all Klein Maddox felt was guilty. What she had said to Jason, what she had said to Leo... it was every ounce as cruel and steely as the campers of Camp Half-Blood expected of her. And for every time she let each of those cabins paint her as the problem and acted just as they said she would, she hadn't meant any of it in that store. That cruelty, that spite and detest in her tone, even her lips that were all too familiar with her brutal remarks let those words sour on her tongue.
"Leo." Piper placed a hand on the boy's shoulder as Festus whirred beneath them, "You feeling okay?"
"Yeah... not bad for a brainwashed zombie." Leo tries to let out a chuckle, "Thanks for saving us back there, beauty queen. If you hadn't talked me out of that spell-"
"Don't worry about it."
Klein Maddox was extremely worried about it.
"We're gonna have to put down soon. Couple hours, maybe, to make sure Medea isn't following us." Leo clears his throat as the bronze dragon gives another flap of his wings, "I don't think Festus can fly much longer than that."
Piper nodded, "Yeah, Coach Hedge probably wants out of his canary cage, too. Question is - where are we going?"
"The Bay Area." Leo answered, one of the only memories standing out amidst the haze the princess had inflicted upon the group, "Didn't Medea say something about Oakland?"
It's silent for a long moment, and faintly in the back of her head Klein can hear Medea cooing 'well that's where they'll die, isn't it?'.
"Piper's dad." Jason said, "Something happened to your dad, right? He got lured into some kind of trap."
"Look, Medea said you would die in the Bay Area. And, besides... the Bay Area is huge." Piper looked like she's swallowed an entire shaker full of salt, "First, we need to find Aeolus and drop off the storm spirits. Boreas said that Aeolus was the only one who could tell us exactly where to go."
"So how do we find Aeolus?" Leo asked.
"You mean you don't see it?" Jason leaned forward, pointing out to open sky ahead of them. Klein barely turned her head to face him, realizing he was far closer than she expected given his leaning, "Uh... you mean the clouds?"
"No, I mean that... whatever it is." Jason shook his head, "In the air."
"Yeah, could you be more specific about the 'whatever-it-is' part?" Leo glanced back, seeing everyone looking just as confused as he felt.
"Like a vapor trail, except it's glowing." Jason explained, "It's really faint, but it's definitely there. We've been following it since Chicago, so I figured you saw it."
Leo didn't find the boys explanation much help, "Maybe Festus can sense it. Do you think Aeolus made it?"
"Well, it's a magic trail in the wind. Aeolus is the wind god. I think he knows we've got prisoners for him, and he's telling us where to fly."
"Or it's another trap."
"Yeah, a trap is definitely more likely." Klein nodded in agreement.
Leo sighed, "Pipes, are you alright?"
"Don't call me that."
"Okay, fine. You don't like any of the names I make up for you. But if your dad's in trouble and we can help-"
Upon the mention of her father again, Piper leaned forwards on Leo's back and pretended to fall asleep. It was an effective enough out, even if Leo looked slightly offended that the McLean girl had chosen him as her pillow.
It didn't take long for Leo's own heard to start to nod as he shook himself awake.
"Catch some Z's, man." Jason said, "It's cool."
"Nah, I'm okay-"
"You're not a machine, Leo." Klein said, "Come on, hand me the reigns."
"But-"
"Go to sleep, Leo." It's Piper who speaks, earning a wide eyed look from the Valdez boy as he hands the reigns to Klein with a sigh.
He practically slumps forward against Festus, and after that him and Piper are both asleep almost immediately.
It's awkward then, up in the air. Jason doesn't know what to say to the girl in front of him, and she doesn't seem inclined to say much at all.
"You can get some sleep too, if you want." Jason offered, the first to break the silence.
"I'm fine." She shook her head, raising her arms a bit to show the reigns in her hands, "Gotta keep us on track, anyway."
"But I can see the trail, so if you want-"
"It's fine, Jason." Klein repeated, "If you wanna get some sleep it seems like Festus can sense the trail anyway."
This is all your fault, she had told him. Not even hours after they sat in the sewer tunnel and she asked why he wasn't furious that the gods had done this to him.
She couldn't look at him without feeling like she had in the department store - like she meant it. Because really, it wasn't true.
Part of her - a generously large part - was angry that she was on a quest that never would have been on her radar had the Grace boy not shown up at her camp. Part of her, the rational part of herself, knew that Jason himself did not have a choice in the matter. He was little more than she was - a soldier.
"I'm sorry, that was kinda rude." Klein said. But Jason didn't seem to take it personally, or he at least didn't show it. She spared a glance over her shoulder, noticing the almost forlorn expression on the boy's face. "Are you okay?"
Jason hesitated for a long moment, "I feel like an idiot."
"Yeah, well... that makes two of us."
"I just can't believe Medea screwed with us that easily. I shouldn't have let it happen. I should have realized who she was and what she-"
Klein shook her head as she cut him off, "Look, Jason - I'm sure you were some kind of superstar or something wherever you're from, but you're not 'not realizing' on purpose. You don't have any memory of this stuff, I do. If anyone should have realized anything, it's me."
"You shouldn't have to. It's not your quest."
"Unfortunately, the whole 'child of truth' part of your little prophecy kinda disagrees."
Jason winced, "I guess you're right."
The silence that time wasn't for lack of either of their trying, but rather because there was a low mechanical rumble that drew both of their attention. Both demigods froze, Jason tensing in his seat and Klein's hands going rigid around the reigns she held.
"Did you hear that?" Jason asked, eyebrows furrowed.
Klein nodded, "Please tell me it wasn't-"
She didn't get to finish. There was a low bang! and Festus's wings stilled.
And once again they were in free fall.
The seatbelt around her waist is the only thing that kept Klein tumbling straight off the dragon. That was a lie, Jason had an arm locked around her.
"Not again!" Leo shouted, the sun stinging at his eyes as he frantically began to pull at the control panel on the dragon's neck. "You can't fall again!"
Unfortunately, Festus didn't seem to agree.
"Jason! Fly Piper and Klein out of here!"
"What?"
"We need to lighten the load! I might be able to reboot Festus, but he's carrying too much weight!"
"What about you?" Piper cried, "If you can't-"
"I'll be fine! Go!" Leo yelled, and immediately Klein wanted to start yelling that he was insane, but Jason wastes no time. He unbuckles her harness, leans even closer as he grabs ahold of Piper as well, and he shoots them into the sky.
It's nauseating, the feeling of rushing to the ground after Leo as he yanked and tugged at different wires as the dragon spiraled towards the snowy ground that was just too far away.
Klein is overwhelmed with the horrible feeling that he won't survive the crash, a feeling that is only reinstated when Festus becomes riddled with holes as bright shots rang across the sky.
When Festus hits the ground, Klein's eyes are closed.
When Leo comes to, Jason and Piper are hovering over him. There's tears in Piper's eyes and Jason looks terrified, but it's only when he turns his head to the side and see's Klein Maddox's face paled with an all too readable concern that Leo realized what just happened.
"What-"
"Lie still." Piper shook her head at him, "You rolled pretty hard when - when Festus-"
"Where is he?" Leo shot upwards, spitting the remaining chunks of dirt from his mouth as his eyes tore wildly across the land around them.
"Seriously, Leo. You could be hurt. You shouldn't-"
Leo whacks Jason's outstretched hand of warning away as he pushes himself to a stand, though the ache of his bones is quickly masked with a new sort of pain. The yard around them is covered in wreckage, bronze limbs scattered about and still smoking from... whatever the fuck actually happened.
Festus' tail hung from the fence like a twisted sort of Christmas decoration, the main section of his body carving a trench into the ground in front of the mansion, his head crushing a nearby rose bush.
"No." Leo's voice is wrecked with devastation, dropping to the ground beside the dragon's head with no care about the oil leaking from it's ears. "You can't go - you can't. You're the best thing I've ever fixed."
No one else says a word.
"It's not fair." Leo's voice broke. Festus creaked in response - one long click followed by two short ones. It didn't mean anything to the rest of the group, but Leo nodded, "I understand. I will, I promise."
The glowing red of Festus' eyes go dark, and Leo cried out in protest. It's loud and honest and it burns the inside of his chest as the hot tears streaked down his face. Klein has to withhold the urge to cover her ears because it's a cry she'd grown so used to hearing.
It's not fair, Leo shakes his head. It's not fair. It's not fair.
Surprisingly, it's Klein who eases a hand into Leo's shoulder. Her actions are slow, her voice the softest anyone had heard come from her lips the entire quest. Jason and Piper watch, expecting for Leo to turn into her hold and sob.
And Leo does sob, but it's not as expected.
He yanks himself away from the girl, a distressed 'get away from me!' escaping him as his eyes flash red. Hurt flashes across Klein's face, but she's all too understanding as she quickly retracts her hand and steps away.
There's familiarity in it to her, in reaching out only to be shut down, but something tugs at Jason's heart at the way her face falls and she takes an extra step away.
"I'm so sorry, man." Jason only spoke once Leo's body stopped shaking, "What did you promise Festus?"
"Something my dad told me. Everything can be reused."
"Your dad talked to you? When?"
Leo doesn't answer. He works at the hinges of the dragon's neck until the head detaches, holding it up to the night sky in his shaking arms, "Take him back to the bunker, Dad. Please, until I can reuse him. I've never asked you for anything."
And in the most shocking turn of events, the wind lifts Festus' head out of Leo's arms and it flies through the sky until it disappears from their sight.
Piper looks up at the night sky in the same shock the other demigods felt, "He answered you?"
"I had a dream. Tell you later." Leo shakes his head, finally letting himself recognize the mansion they sat in front of. "Where are we? I mean, what city?"
"Omaha, Nebraska. I saw a billboard as we flew in. But I don't know what this mansion is." Piper answered, "We came in right behind you, but Leo - I swear it looked like... I don't know-"
"Lasers." To demonstrate, Leo picked up a piece of metal and tossed it in the air. Immediately a beam shot out of the brick wall, incinerating it on sight.
Jason whistled, "Some defense system. How are we even alive?"
"Festus." Leo muttered, "He took the fire. The lasers sliced him to bits as he came in so they didn't focus on you guys. I led him into a death trap."
No one seemed to know where to go from there. The devastation weighed heavy in the air, mixed with guilt that was stemming from each individual demigod.
Leo gives what was likely not their best option, but one of the only available choices now that their ride out was gone. He looks up the walkway that leads to the giant mansion with a frown, "Since we can't go out, we'll have to go in."
Piper leads the way up the path, Leo trudging directly behind her. Jason lags behind, intending to wait for Klein to go first but she seems far more set on staying out in the yard. Her hands are twisted into the cuffs of her Henley shirt, eyes downcast out towards the wreckage of the bronze dragon that's steaming against the snowy yard.
"Klein..."
He's waiting for her, of that much she knows. Maybe for her to cry like Leo had, maybe for her to storm past him and push him into a pile of snow. But either way, he's waiting.
As of late, there aren't many people who wait for her.
She doesn't stop walking as she passes him, but she slows down just enough that the crunch of the snow beneath her shoes is less harsh. Jason barely has the chance to hear her before she continues past him as she says, almost under her voice, "I'm sorry for what I said."