"Goddess of the golden twine, why have you come? A beloved, honored friend, but it's been so long, your visits much too rare. Tell me what's on your mind. I'm eager to do it, whatever I can do...whatever can be done."
"There is mortal girl, a princess that the gods upon snowy Olympos holds dear. That wretched headstrong girl! My immortal rage shall toss her over with a vengeance. She claims equality to me. I have sacrificed much, and the undying gods must be laughing at me to be supplanted by a mortal! Twas me that kept the secrets of the gods safe from her mind and yet, she is held in higher esteem than I. Όχι, if she wants to live as a god, she can be judged by the gods."
"I see. Well, look, here is a potent drug. Take it to her halls - its power alone will give you what you seek. It a subtle craft. I will mix you a potion, lace the brew with drugs. Careful for it has strength to bewitch even you - this magic herb I give will do as you will."
"Careful, lovely-haired Kalupsṓ, for I know not if she is aware of the action you overtook towards her brother. If word reaches the seas, then the earthshaker's rage would threaten all that you hold dear. You have seen this when you first took the boy to bed."
"I did nothing that was not expected of me, but your words are wise, and I yield to your wisdom. Though I wonder, what have you done if her worth she proves?"
"Lḗthē s water shall withered her lips that she may forget all that she knew and my husband she shall never recall and his bed she shall never warm."
"So you speak it; so it shall be done."
Hermês could tell not recall how they ended in such a position.
Since the gates to Olympos were closed, all of the gods had been confined to the mountain. Some were able to return to their respective kingdoms, but even they were under heavy watch.
And yet somehow... some way... Hḗrē had been kidnapped and hidden away from the eyes of the gods. It struck such a fear in them especially since it twas only two years since Artemis had been taken herself.
Father was doing a remarkable job of holding in his growing worry, but his wrath exude from him in waves and his eyes were never the calm gentle winds, but the full range of a lightning storm sparking at each and every turn.
None but his own siblings and Aphrodítē could speak with him for they were the only ones to stand fast against his strength. The daughter of Ouranos dragged the King to the training fields many times when his worry for his wife began to overwhelm them.
Whenever he did calm, Father sent his hounds out onto the world to search for his wife; his attempts growing more desperate for each passing day.
And in that same instance, Percy went missing from his bed and Poseidón's rage took to the skies.
Careful they were to keep things unassuming to the mortal world, but Olympos knew no peace and the seas began to rise and take hold of man's land.
Hermês ignored it all as he moved to his own throne. His gaze moved to the expansive view of the world below allowing him to observe mankind from the heights. A pity that he could not go to his Leaneíras as her worry and anger rose in symphony of her Father and Uncle.
The mageia in her eyes sparked as she tore apart her cabin, desperate in her actions to search for her brother utilizing blood, water, and crystals in her scrying but it was all for naught. They played it up for the media that Percy was going to be spending time with their Father as a heir to the company; an "old" cause from their great-great grandfather's days where only men could inherit. It led to cries of misogyny until Leaneíras and her sisters stepped up themselves to say that they all made up the Board of Directors and/or heads of certain departments so it didn't really matter who was the face.
A glance over towards his Aunt Hestia showed that while the flames may have dimmed by two percent, the divine Hearth-fire was still ever-burning at the center of the hall. Ganymēdēs and Hêbê were making their rounds serving ambrosia and nectar to the various gods within the chamber room and those that linger out in the courtyard.
One of Hḗphaistos' screens had been interfaced with one of Îris' rainbows and thus, his Uncles were able to speak with Father and his Aunts about the things on in their own realm.
"What the—" came the voice of Aphrodítē and all eyes turned to her, but she was not looking around the room. Her attention was instead upon the earth, gazing amongst the mortals. It took but a glance to realize where she was looking for her daughter, Drew, stood with... a cry of relief came from Aletheia as she laid eyes upon her blessing.
"Piper," Aphrodítē murmured at the same time Hḗphaistos said: "Leo?"
The former lovers shared looks while their blessings scowled at their sides.
"What is the meaning of this," Iovis demanded as he laid his eyes upon his son speaking with that bloodthirsty satyr. Hermês' attention however was drawn by the sight of Lea climbing into the chariot alongside Annabeth and Eliza as they left the camp.
"Peace, brother," Aunt Vesta commented, moving to stand at the side of their king. "Let us observe the proceedings first before a ruling is given."
Her words were drawn out by a storm brewing around the monument, casting shadows like angry faces across the cliffs. Lightning crackled overhead. The wind picked up with a vengeance. Worksheets flew into the Grand Canyon, and the entire bridge shuddered. Kids screamed, stumbling and grabbing the rails.
Drew and her newly named sister were holding the doors as one of the satyr's students directed them into the building.
Pandeia tilted her head, and the daughter of Ζεύς and Selḗnē said: "That is an anemos thuella."
Aphrodítē tended, fury growing in her eyes at the thought of one of those monsters near her children.
Twas a shame, Hermês knew that she had not chosen which child of hers would become introduced to starry Ouranos. It was an honor, one not usually granted. It was a rarity after all that any of her children gained more of her more heavenly or sea-born powers.
The storm churned into a miniature hurricane. Funnel clouds snaked toward the skywalk like the tendrils of a monster jellyfish. Kids screamed and ran for the building. The wind snatched away their notebooks, jackets, hats, and backpacks.
The doors slammed shut, closing off the skywalk as Drew and Piper lost their grips.
Piper tugged at the handles. Inside, the kids pounded on the glass, but the doors seemed to be stuck.
"Dylan, help!" Piper shouted.
Dylan just stood there with an idiotic grin, his Cowboys jersey rippling in the wind, like he was suddenly enjoying the storm.
"Sorry, Piper," he said. "I'm done helping."
He flicked his wrist, and Piper flew backward, slamming into the doors and sliding to the skywalk deck.
"Piper!" Jason tried to charge forward, but the wind was against him, and Coach Hedge pushed him back. Not that it mattered, Drew's features hardened before she decked Dylan in the face quick and fast enough that it landed instead of sinking through. The ventus went flying.
"Coach," Jason said, "let me go!"
"Jason, Leo, stay behind me," the coach ordered. "This is my fight. I should've known that was our monster. Tanaka, you got your tools?""
"Never leave camp without them," she called back, tugging at her necklace. Her bow, affectionately named after Lētṓ, appeared in her hands. A wonderous mix of imperial gold and celestial bronze, tipped with adamantine and lined with salarian metal. Not that the girl knew all of that for the bow had been carefully painted to look bronze all over.
"What?" Leo demanded. A rogue worksheet slapped him in the face, but he swatted it away. "What monster?"
The coach's cap blew off, revealing his horns and his club shifted from its hidden form as a baseball bat to a crudely shaped tree-branch club, with twigs and leaves still attached.
Dylan gave him that psycho happy smile. "Oh, come on, Coach. Let the boy attack me! After all, you're getting too old for this. Isn't that why they retired you to this stupid school? I've been on your team the entire season, and you didn't even know. You're losing your nose, grandpa."
The coach made an angry sound like an animal bleating. "That's it, cupcake. You're going down."
"You think you can protect four half-bloods at once, old man?" Dylan laughed. "Good luck."
Drew scowled: "There are few men that claim that they've ever 'protected' me. More than half of them are gods. And unless you're one of them in a very hideous disguise, then I can tell you. I have never needed a man to protect me."
She took her shot just as Dylan pointed at Leo, and a funnel cloud materialized around him. Leo flew off the skywalk like he'd been tossed. Somehow he managed to twist in midair, and slammed sideways into the canyon wall. He skidded, clawing furiously for any handhold. Finally he grabbed a thin ledge about fifty feet below the skywalk and hung there by his fingertips.
Hḗphaistos growled in fury, his beard alight with flames.
"Help!" he yelled up at them. "Rope, please? Bungee cord? Something?"
Gleeson cursed and tossed Jason his club. "I don't know who you are, kid, but I hope you're good. Keep that thing busy"—he stabbed a thumb at Dylan—"while I get Leo."
"Get him how?" Jason demanded. "You going to fly?"
"Not fly. Climb." Hedge kicked off his shoes so that his hooves were free.
"You're a faun," Jason said.
"Satyr!" Hedge snapped. "Fauns are Roman. But we'll talk about that later."
Meanwhile Dylan turned into smoke, but even that didn't stop his hiss of pain as the arrow managed to firmly stick into his side.
"Do you like my new arrow? I named that one after my Mother." Drew smiled darkly. "Her Lady Aphrodite Ourania!"
Hedge leaped over the railing. He sailed toward the canyon wall and hit hooves first. He bounded down the cliff with impossible agility, finding footholds no bigger than postage stamps, dodging whirlwinds that tried to attack him as he picked his way toward Leo.
"Isn't that cute!" Dylan turned toward Jason. "Now it's your turn, boy."
Jason threw the club. It seemed useless with the winds so strong, but the club flew right at Dylan, even curving when he tried to dodge, and smacked him on the head so hard he fell to his knees.
Piper wasn't as dazed as she appeared. Her fingers closed around the club when it rolled next to her, but before she could use it, Dylan rose. Blood —golden blood—trickled from his forehead.
"Nice try, boy." He glared at Jason. "But you'll have to do better."
The skywalk shuddered. Hairline fractures appeared in the glass. Inside the museum, kids stopped banging on the doors. They backed away, watching in terror.
Dylan's body dissolved into smoke, as if his molecules were coming unglued. He had the same face, the same brilliant white smile, but his whole form was suddenly composed of swirling black vapor, his eyes like electrical sparks in a living storm cloud. He sprouted black smoky wings and rose above the skywalk.
Drew didn't give him the chance to try anything, shooting arrow after arrow at him.
"You're a ventus," Jason said. "A storm spirit."
Dylan roared in pain, groaning as he said: "I'm glad I waited, demigod. Leo and Piper I've known about for weeks. Could've killed them at any time. But my mistress said more were coming—one of them was special. She'll reward me greatly for your deaaagghhh!"
Drew's arrow pierced him right through the throat. He only had the second to blink as the glittering pink arrow exploded trapping into a small marble that dropped to the ground. On the other hand, three more funnel clouds touched down on either side of marble and turned into venti—ghostly young men with smoky wings and eyes that flickered with lightning.
Piper stayed down, pretending to be dazed, her hand still gripping the club. Her face was pale and her eyes wide with terror as she looked around her.
One of the new venti raised their hand, arcs of electricity running between his fingers, and blasted Jason in the chest.
Aletheia screeched and Olympos rumbled in response.
Meanwhile Drew yanked at her necklace, a quarrel dropped into her hand that she twirled around. The celestial bronze glinted under the flashes of lightning. The other ventus lunged at her. Drew ducked, rolled and came up on the other side of it. Before it could dissolve into a cloud, she drove the quarrel into his chest. It let out a scream as it was vanquished.
Looking over, Mercurius could see his half-brother lying flat on his back. His clothes were smoking, toes black with soot as his left shoe had been blasted away. The remaining ventI laughed while the winds raged. Piper was screaming defiantly from where she was desperately swinging the club at the storm spirits while Gleeson was climbing the cliff with Leo on his back.
"Stop," Jason croaked. He rose unsteadily to his feet as Drew stood to her feet, hair loose from its braid as it settled around her shoulders and then she just froze, eyes wide as she looked at him.
"How are you alive?" the creature flickered. "That was enough lightning to kill twenty men!"
"My turn," Jason said, reaching into his pocket and pulled out the gold coin, IVLIVS. The weapon that Iovis had crafted for him by the Verus family when the boy had befriended a griffin of all things when he was just a year old. Jason flipped the coin and caught it in his palm, and suddenly he was holding a sword—a wickedly sharp double-edged weapon. The ridged grip fit his fingers perfectly, and the whole thing was gold—hilt, handle, and blade.
The ventus snarled and backed up, but it was obvious to him that unless he called down some more friends then he and his friend were outnumbered. Piper still had the wooden club in hand, Drew had another and sharper arrow already knocked and Jason was already swinging his sword. He managed to dodge it by a split second, but not before a large cut drew golden ichor. The second spirit let loose a bolt of lightning, but Jason's blade absorbed the charge. Jason stepped in—one quick thrust, and the second storm spirit dissolved into gold powder. "Impossible! Who are you, half-blood?"
Piper was so stunned she dropped her club. "Jason, how ... ?"
Then Gleeson leaped back onto the skywalk and dumped Leo like a sack of flour.
"Spirits, fear me!" Hedge bellowed, flexing his short arms. Then he looked around and realized there was only one left. "Curse it, boy!" he snapped at Jason. "Didn't you leave some for me? I like a challenge!"
Dionysos sighed.
Leo got to his feet, breathing hard. He looked completely humiliated, his hands bleeding from clawing at the rocks. "Yo, Coach Supergoat, whatever you are—I just fell down the freaking Grand Canyon! Stop asking for challenges!"
The ventus hissed at them, but there was fear in his eyes. "You have no idea how many enemies you've awakened, half-bloods. My mistress will destroy all demigods. This war you cannot win."
Above them, the storm exploded into a full-force gale. Cracks expanded in the skywalk. Sheets of rain poured down, and Jason had to crouch to keep his balance.
A hole opened in the clouds—a swirling vortex of black and silver.
"The mistress calls me back!" the ventus shouted with glee. "And you, demigod, will come with me!"
He lunged at Jason, but Piper tackled the monster from behind. Even though he was made of smoke, Piper somehow managed to connect. Both of them went sprawling, kicking the marble that held Dylan across the skywalk. Leo, Jason, Drew, and the coach surged forward to help, but the spirit screamed with rage. He let loose a torrent that knocked them all backward. Jason and Coach Hedge landed on their butts. Jason's sword skidded across the glass. Leo hit the back of his head and curled on his side, dazed and groaning. Drew slammed all the way back into the doors, hitting her head harshly against the doors and slumped over. Piper got the worst of it. She was thrown off the creature's back and hit the railing, tumbling over the side until she was hanging by one hand over the abyss.
Each of their respective parents and patrons and blessing in the case of Jason screamed in fury.
Jason started toward her, but the ventus screamed, "I'll settle for this one!"
He grabbed Leo's arm and began to rise, towing a half-conscious Leo below him. The storm spun faster, pulling them upward like a vacuum cleaner.
"Help!" Piper yelled. "Somebody!"
Then she slipped, screaming as she fell.
"Jason, go!" Hedge yelled. "Save her!"
The coach launched himself at the spirit with some serious goat fu—lashing out with his hooves, knocking Leo free from the spirit's grasp. Leo dropped safely to the floor, but the storm spirit grappled the coach's arms instead. Hedge tried to head-butt him, then kicked him and called him a cupcake. They rose into the air, gaining speed.
Coach Hedge shouted down once more, "Save her! I got this!" Then the satyr and the storm spirit spiraled into the clouds and disappeared.
Jason ran to the railing before jumping over the side.
"Aphrodítē," Aletheia drawled. "I do so hope that your daughter gain no ideas."
Their brother tucked in his arms and plummeted headfirst. The sides of the canyon raced past like a film on fast-forward. In a heartbeat, he caught up with Piper, who was flailing wildly. He tackled her waist and Piper screamed.
The wind died as they continued to float midair as Piper stopped screaming. "J-J-Jason," Piper managed.
He hugged Piper tight, and she repositioned herself so she was hugging him too. They were nose to nose. It was a very romantic and he could understand why Aletheia was giving off extremely murderous emotions.
The two of them eventually shot back up towards the skywalk as the rain stopped though the storm clouds didn't dissipate.
Leaneíras and the other two were closing in pretty quickly, and even from atop of Olympos, he could see the way that her eyes were flickering with mageia.
As soon as they landed on the skywalk, they ran to Leo.
"Go to your sister," Aphrodítē murmured as Piper turned Leo over, and he groaned. His army coat was soaked from the rain. His curly hair glittered gold from rolling around in monster dust. But at least he wasn't dead.
"Stupid ... ugly ... goat," he muttered.
"Where did he go?" Piper asked.
Leo pointed straight up. "Never came down. Please tell me he didn't actually save my life."
"Twice," Jason said.
Leo groaned even louder. "What happened? The tornado guy, the gold sword ... I hit my head. That's it, right? I'm hallucinating?"
Jason walked over to where his sword was lying and picked it up. When he flipped it, the sword shrank back into a coin midspin and landed in his palm.
"Go get my daughter," Aphrodítē hissed, eyes alight with fury that was matched by Apóllōn. "Did they forget that she helped them also?"
"Yep," Leo said. "Definitely hallucinating."
Piper shivered in her rain-soaked clothes. "Jason, those things—"
"Venti," he said. "Storm spirits."
"Okay. You acted like ... like you'd seen them before. Who are you?"
He shook his head. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. I don't know."
The storm dissipated. The other mortals from the school that Gleeson was chaperoning and from Drew's archery team were staring out of the glass doors in horror. Security guards were working on the locks now, but they didn't seem to be having any luck though that may be because of their own shock.
"Coach Hedge said he had to protect three people," Jason remembered. "I think he meant us."
"And that thing Dylan turned into ..." Piper shuddered. "God, I can't believe it was hitting on me. He called us... what, demigods?"
Leo lay on his back, staring at the sky. He didn't seem anxious to get up. "Don't know what demi means," he said. "But I'm not feeling too godly. You guys feeling godly?"
There was a brittle sound like dry twigs snapping, and the cracks in the skywalk began to widen.
"We need to get off this thing," Jason said. "Maybe if we—"
"Ohhh-kay," Leo interrupted. "Look up there and tell me if those are flying horses."
In that same instance, Leaneíras and her crew were descending from the east on their chariot. There was a crazed look in her eyes as she gazed down onto the skywalk, one hand already casting a spell the closer that they got near.
"Reinforcements," he said. "Hedge told me an extraction squad was coming for us."
"Extraction squad?" Leo struggled to his feet. "That sounds painful."
"And where are they extracting us to?" Piper asked.
The chariot landed on the far end of the skywalk, but Leaneíras had already jumped down before it could fully settle. The pegasi tucked in their wings and cantered nervously across the glass, as if they sensed it was near breaking. Eliza and Annabeth, dressed in their camp attire with shields tossed over their backs, leapt off before the chariot had even finished moving. Eliza pulled out her violin bow, the tip of it sharpened and coated in celestial bronze. She fiddled with the adjusting screw that Hermês knew Apóllōn and Hḗphaistos fixed to poison anyone that the girl turned the tip onto.
"Where is he," all three girls demanded in unison.
"Where's who?" Jason asked.
They frowned at him before Annabeth turned to Leo and Piper. "What about Gleeson? Where is your protector, Gleeson Hedge?"
Leaneíras and Eliza looked around them before both of them inhaled sharply. "DREW!" Annabeth turned also and the three of them rushed to her side. Lea's moved her hand over her. "A concussion and a hairline fracture on her fifth rib. Bit worried with how much blood she's losing." Her eyes were suddenly a poisonous green as Eliza and Annabeth worked to clean her headwound before wrapping her head while Lea' mageia sank into her ribs. Lea wasn't a fan of head wounds so they would do just enough to move her back to camp where the healers could look over her. "What happened? Where's the satyr?"
Leo cleared his throat. "He got taken by some ... tornado things."
"Venti," Jason said. "Storm spirits."
Annabeth arched an eyebrow. "You mean anemoi thuellai? That's the Greek term. Who are you, and what happened?"
Jason did his best to explain, though it was obvious that it was hard to meet either of their eyes as their expressions darkened with each sentence. Each sentence that didn't reveal Percy who they were undoubtedly looking for.
"No, no, no! She said he would be here. She said if we came here, we'd find the answer."
"Annabeth," Eliza murmured, eyes moving over them before staring at Jason, or more accurately his feet with growing horror and fury. "Check it out."
"The guy with one shoe," said Eliza. Leaneíras inhaled sharply, tears gathering in her eyes. "He's the answer."
"No, 'Liza," Annabeth insisted. "He can't be. We was tricked." She glared at the sky as though it had done something wrong. "What do you want from us?" she screamed. "What have you done with him?"
The skywalk shuddered, and the horses whinnied urgently.
"Annabeth, Lea," said Eliza, wiping her face as the tears streamed down it, "we-we gotta leave. Let's get these three to camp and figure it out there. Those storm spirits might come back."
Lea turned her eyes away, standing to her feet as she and Eliza took hold of Drew. Annabeth fumed for a moment as she turned to help them. "Fine." She fixed Jason with a resentful look. "We'll settle this later."
The blessings carried the champion of Apóllōn over to the chariot as Leaneíras stared blankly at the skywalk.
Piper shook her head. "What's her problem? What's going on?"
"Seriously," Leo agreed.
"We have to get you out of here," Lea said at last. "I'll explain on the way."
"I'm not going anywhere with her." Jason gestured toward the blonde. "She looks like she wants to kill me."
Lea smiled with all teeth. "Trust me. Out of the three of us, I'm the one you should watch out for." She stalked closer to him and her mageia attacked the bridge, creating cracks that glowed until they finally shattered under the onslaught. "My best friend is hurt because of something that was after you. One of our satyrs is missing in action. And now, when we finally get an answer to our problem... to find a guy with one shoe. We don't get what we expected. We get you instead." She sneered that last sentence, eyes still glowing and not seeming to notice the way the cracks in the skywalk began to grow wider.
"What problem?" Piper asked.
Leaneíras hesitated. "We've been looking for one of our... our campers. Her and 'Liza's soulmate. We hoped he'd be here."
"Who?" Jason asked.
"My twin brother," Leaneíras said. "A guy named Percy Jackson."