ILLICT AFFAIRS / Angel Flesh
©️TIGER3YES, 2024... oc x l. valdez
( death is not a lover. ) ( oh yes she is. )
THE LOST HERO ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ BOOK ONE A
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𝒙𝒊𝒙. Coach Hedge has the best lovelife out of the group? Since when?
[ michelle ]
MICHELLE HAD PROBABLY LOST HER pretty crush, for ever since there was no way she was ever going to see her again. She's had plenty of crushes before, like that one guy back at the wilderness school, yet those feelings fluttered away once he called her a twig, so yeah. She never really understood her feelings a lot. Especially lately, when people have been sending her so many confusing signs, and I think you know who I'm talking about.
Surely, the two are strictly platonic, she knew that. But then why did something in her ache for more, something in her wanted more than that. It was selfish, sure, but she couldn't help it. She didn't know what to actually feel. For example, back during her dream when Aphrodite visited her, she had been very suggestive about Leo, and it was all confusing. And for the record, she does not like him, alright?
Right?
Anyways, her mind kept wandering as they climbed the cliffs of the floating island, and there was way to many steps for her liking. I mean, they were wind spirits, couldn't they make a air elevator or something? Because there was no way that someone with human blood in their veins could climb without any problems. In front of her, Jason seemed also in his castle of thoughts, so she stayed silent even though that was difficult.
The only one that actually seemed to be in a good mood was Coach Hedge. He kept bouncing up and down the slipper steps and trotting around, like some king of happy horse. "Come on, cupcakes! Only a few thousand more steps!" he said, and Michelle internally groaned. Only a few thousand more? Was this guy insane?
Beside her, Leo had finally cooled down as he wasn't steaming constantly, so she had grasped his hand again. Poor guy kept apologizing over and over again, but it was no big deal, just a few blisters that ambrosia would fix. But the look on her best friends face when it happened, scared her. He looked terrified, but as himself for some reason. Leo also kept swatting at his own legs with his free hand, making sure they weren't lit on fire anymore. But he didn't seem to realize that smoke was coming from his ears and fire catching in his curls, which was kind of, well, cute.
But what he said about Jason being some kind of 'bridge' was for some reason, relieving. At least it wasn't Michelle who was some kind of bridge between two enemies, since if it was her she will collapse immediately under pressure. Meanwhile Jason, at least he could actually take it, and was more reliable. But at the same time, she didn't want to wish all this pressure on him.
They were stuck under the weight of the world just because they had ichor flowing through their veins, and especially Jason. If he was a bridge-an exchange, what was he connecting? Two enemies, sure. But still, what? She hoped that the answer would find her, as she needed something else to think about, and not the fate of the world.
Finally the arrived to the top of the island. Bronze walls marched all the way around the fortress grounds, though Michelle couldn't imagine who would have the strength to attack this place after the gazillion steps leading up to this place. Twenty-foot-high gates opened up for them, and a road of polished purple stones led up to the main citadel-a white-columned rotunda, Greek style, like one of those monuments in Washington, D.C.-expect got 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." he said. The rotunda sat in the center of a quarter-mile circle. The grounds were amazing in a scary way. They were divided in 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, and the poor Snowmen started to fall over. Yet Michelle couldn't tell if they were alive or not. To their left was a autumn park with gold and red trees, kind of like Central Park in the fall. Mounds of leaves blew into patterns-gods, people, animals that ran after each other before scattering back into leaves.
In the distance, Michelle could spot two more areas around the rotunda. One was a green pasture with blooming flowers and sheep made out of clouds, while the other looked like some kind of desert with tumbleweeds and scratched strange symbols in the sand like Greek letters, smiley faces and a huge advertisement that read : WATCH AEOLUS NIGHTLY! (for reference, Jason had to whisper to her what it read, since dyslexia sucks!)
"One section got 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. Michelle had let some breath that she didn't know was holding in out. Thankfully, Coach Hedge would be too preoccupied by the pasture to pull out his tree branch club and start yelling, "Die!" every five seconds.
While the satyr ran off to attack the beautiful green springtime, Michelle, Leo, Jason and Piper walked down the road to the steps of the palace. Why was there even more steps? 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, like a ghost would. She was pretty in this elvish way that reminded Michelle of the pretty nymphs at Camp Half-Blood-petite, slightly pinky ears, and a ageless face that face that could've been either sixteen or thirty. Her brown eyes twinkled cheerfully. Even though there was no wind, her dark hair blew in slow motion, like a shampoo commercial. Her white gown billowed around like parachute material. She probably didn't have feet, since they weren't touching the floor. She held a white tablet computer in her hands.
"Are you from Lord Zeus?" she asked. "We've been expecting you." the nymph said. Something Michelle noticed about her, is that her figure kept fading in and out of reality, but not like how Michelle would. She actually looked translucent, while Michelle just became a ghost. "Are you a ghost?" she and Jason asked, weirdly in sync.
Immediately, she knew that she had offended the shampoo commercial girl. Her smile dropped and turned into a pout. "I'm an aura, sir. A wind nymph, as you might except, working for the lord of the winds. My name is Mellie. We don't have ghosts." she said, obviously salty because it f the comment.
But Piper came to their rescue. "No, of course you don't! My friends simply mistook you for Helen of Troy, the most beautiful mortal of all time. It's an easy mistake." she said, her voice was as smooth as honey. 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 and into another lobby, consulting her tablet as she floated. She didn't looked 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, like they should know what that meant. "I can fit you in right before his 11:12 spot." "Um, okay," Jason said.
The lobby was a pretty distracting place. Winds blasted around them, so Michelle felt like she was in the middle of a tornado, which was kinda giving her motion sickness but whatever. Doors blew open and slammed shut by themselves, which was freaky. If she squinted, she swore that she could see little ghosts from time to time, yet ignored them. But what she could fully see was even more bizarre.
Little notes and paper airplanes flew around them, and then occasionally the pretty nymphs would pick them out of the air, unfold and read them and then let them back into the air, and if it was a paper airplane then they would somehow fold itself back together and fly again, which was pretty cool.
A unsettling creature fluttered past. She looked like a mix of a old woman and some kind of bird on too much caffeine. She had a wrinkled face with black hair tied back in a hairnet, arms like a human yet with chicken feathers, and plump, feathered body with talons at her feet. It was amandine that she could fly around, as it looked like a good amount of her feathers were missing. She kept flying around and bumping into things like a parade balloon your parents would make you let go outside your apartment.
"Not an aura?" Jason asked Mellie as the creature wobbled by. Mellie laughed. "That's a harpy, of course. Our, ah, ugly stepsisters, I suppose you would say. Don't you have harpies on Olympus? They're spirited of violent gusts, unlike us aurai. We're all gentle breezes. She batted her eyes at Jason. " 'Course you are." he said.
"So," Piper prompted. "you were taking us to see Aeolus?" Mellie led them through a set of doors like an airlock. Above the interior door, a green light blinked. "We have a few minutes before he starts," Mellie said cheerfully. "He probably won't kill you if we go in now. Come along!"
TO SAY MICHELLE WAS SURPRISED, would be a total understatement. The central section of Aeolus's fortress was as big as a cathedral, with soaring domed roof covered in silver. Television equipment floated randomly through the air-cameras, spotlights, set pieces, potted plants. And there was no floor. Leo Alamo fell into the chasm before Michelle and Jason pulled him back.
"Holy-!" Leo gulped. "Hey, Mellie. A little warning next time!" he seethed. "Can't keep falling for me, Valdez." Michelle muttered with a smile, and he started stumbling on his words while his hair well, caught aflame slightly. She stiffled a laugh. "I'm joking, 'Eo." she clarified, and he just shoved her playfully.
Meanwhile, there was a enormous circular put plunged into the heart of the mountain. It was probably half a mile deep, honeycombed with caves. Some of the tunnels probably led straight outside. Michelle remembered almost being blown off of Pikes Peak by winds from said tunnels. Other caves were sealed with some kind of glistening material, like delicate glass. The whole cavern bustled with harpies, aurai, and paper airplanes. And for someone that couldn't fly, or become dead and float to the top, the drop was pretty fatal. Great, now the fear of heights came back!
"Oh, my," Mellies 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 sold one. Thanks."
A few seconds after, a army of harpies fuse from the pit-three dozen or so demon chicken ladies, all carrying squares of various building material. They went to work hammering and gluing-and using large quantities of duct tape, which didn't reassure Michelle in slightest. I'm no time there was a makeshift floor stretching over the chasm. It was made of plywood, marble blocks, carpet squares, wedges of grass sod-just about anything.
"This can't be safe," Jason said. "Oh, it is!" Mellie assured him. "The harpies are very good." she said. Well, easy for her to say as she just floated over the thing. But Michelle decided the fact that she was probably going to survive the fall, if she didn't become a ghost on the way down, so she went to step on it first but Jason beat her too it. Amazingly, the floor held him. Michelle peered at the floor, before hoping on and again, it held.
Piper griped Jason's hand and followed him. "If I fall, you're catching me." she said, directed to Jason who wa a bright red. Leo stepped out next, still holding onto Michelle. "You're catching me, too, Superman. But I ain't holding your hand." he said. "I got you, Repair boy." Michelle said with a small smile, and Jason from beside them smirked. "Bet you'll hold her hand though, right Leo?" he smirked, and once again Leo's hair caught aflame.
Mellie led them toward the middle of the chamber, where a loose sphere of flat-panel video screens floated around a kind of control center. A man hovered inside, checking monitors and reading paper airplane messages. The man paid them no attention as Mellie brought them forward. He pushed a forty-two-inch Sony out of their way and led them into the control area. Leo whistled. "I got to get a room like this."
The floating screens shows all kind of television programs, like the countless ones that Michelle watched in the courtrooms. The news, entertainment shows which looked like gladiators fighting and of course, Family Feud with empousai. Maybe they were actually movies, but it seemed like normal shows. At the far end of the sphere was a silky blue backdrop like a cinema screen, with all kinds of equipment around it.
The man in the centre was talking into a earpiece phone. He had a remote control in each hand ancestry as pointing them at random screens. He wore a business suit the colour of the sky-blue mostly, but decorated with little clouds that changed and darkened along the fabric. He liked like he was in his sixties, with a shock of while hair, but he had a ton of stage makeup on, and that smooth plastic surgery look to his face, so he appeared not too young yet not too old, just really wrong-like a Ken doll someone had melted halfway in a microwave. His eyes darted back and forth from screen to screen, like he was trying to absorb everything all at once. He muttered things into his phone, and his mouth kept twitching. He was either a lunatic, it really amused, or both.
Mellie floated towards him. "Ah, sir, Mr. Aeolus, these demigods-" "Hold it!" He held up a hand to silence her, then pointed at one of the screens. "Watch!" It was one of those storm-chaser programs, where insane thrill-seekers drive after tornados. As Jason watched, a Jeep plowed straight into a funnel cloud and was thrown into the sky. Aeolus's meanwhile, shrieked with delight. "The Disaster Channel. People do that on purpose!" He turned to Jason with a mad grin. "Isn't that amazing? Let's watch it again!"
"Um, sir," Mellie said. "this is Jason, son of-" "Yes, yes, I remember," Aeolus said. "You're back. How did it go?" the man asked. Jason hesitated. "Sorry? I think you've mistaken me-" "No, no, Jason Grace, aren't you? It was-what-last year? You were on your way to fight a sea monster, I believe." "I-I don't remember."
Aeolus laughed. "Must not have been a very good sea monster! No, I remember every hero who's ever come to me for aid. Odysseus-god, he docked at my island for a month! At least you stayed only for a few days. Now, watch this video. These ducks get sucked straight into-" "Sir!" Mellies interrupted. "Two minutes to air."
"Air!" Aeolus exclaimed. "I love air. How do I look? Makeup!" he called out. Personally, Michelle would've probably called him a rejected Ken doll, but she didn't get too as a small tornado of brushes, blotters and cotton balls descended on Aeolus. They blurred across his face in a cloud of flesh-tone smoke until his coloratura was even more gruesome than before. Wind swirled through his hair, and left it sticking up like a frosted Christmas tree.
"Mr. Aeolus." Jason slipped off the golden backpack. "We brought you these rogue storm spirits." the blonde said. "Did you!" Aeolus looked at the bag like it was a gift from a fan-something he didn't really want. "Well, how nice." he muttered. Leo nudged Jason, and Jason offered the bag. "Boreas sent us to capture them for you. We hope you'll accept them and stop-you know-ordering demigods to be killed."
Aeolus laughed, again and looked incredulously at Mellie. "Demigods be killed-did I order that?" he asked in disbelief. Mellie checked her computer tablet. "Yes, sir, fifteenth of September. 'Storm spirits released by the death of Typhon, demigods to be held responsible', etc...yes, a general order for them all to be killed." "Oh, pish," Aeolus said. "I was just grumpy. Rescind that order, Mellie, and um, who's on guard duty-Teriyaki?-Teru, take these storm spirits down to cell block Fourteen E, will you?"
A harpy swooped out of nowhere, snatched the golden bag, and spiralled into the abyss. Aeolus grinned at Jason. "Now, sorry about that kill-on-sight business. But gods, I was really mad, wasn't I?" His face suddenly darkened, and his suit did the same, looking like a thunderstorm. "You know...I remember now. Almost seemed like a voice was telling me to give that order. A little cold tingle on the back of my neck."
Michelle probably paled. A mysterious voice-pushing you to drastic measures, where have we heard this before? "A...um, voice in your head, sir?" Jason questioned. "Yes. How odd. Mellie, should we kill them?" "No, sir," she said patiently. "They just brought us the storm spirits, which makes everything all right." "Of course." Aeolus laughed. "Sorry. Mellie, let's send the demigods something nice. A box of chocolates, perhaps."
"A box of chocolates to every demigod one the word, sir?" "No, too expensive. Never mind. Wait, it's time! I'm on!" Aeolus flew toward the blue screen as newscast music started to play. Michelle looked at Leo and Piper, who looked just as confused as her. "Mellie," Jason said. "is he...always like that?"
She smiled sheepishly. "Well, you know what they say. If you don't like his mood, wait five minutes. That expression 'whichever way the wind blows'-that was based on him." "And that-whatever thing about the sea monster and Jason, was he here before?" Michelle budded in, slightly suspicious now. Mellie turned to Michelle and blushed. "I'm sorry, I don't remember. I'm Mr. Aeolus's new assistant. I've been with him longer than most, but still-not that long."
"How long do his assistants usually last?" Piper asked. "Oh..." Mellie thought for a moment. "I've been doing this for...twelve hours." "What?!" Michelle choked on her spit, and Piper and Leo snorted. A voice blared from the floating speakers. "And now, weather every twelve minutes! Here's your forecaster for Olympian Weather-the OW! channel-Aeolus!"
Lights blazed on Aeolus, who was now standing in front of the blue screen. His smile was unnaturally white, like Dylan, and he looked like he had so much caffeine his face was about to explode. "Hello, Olympus! Aeolus, master of the winds here, with weather every twelve! We'll have a low pressure systems moving over Florida today, so expect mild temperatures since Demeter wishes to spare the citrus farmers!" He guestered at the blue screen, but there was nothing on the screen as it was some kind of digital image being projected behind Aeolus, so it looked like he was standing in front of the map of the U.S that was drawn on by toddlers.
"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 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 at it-forecasting each area of the country and second guessing himself before changing it as he got messages over his ear piece-the gods apparently putting in orders for various winds and weather. "They can't be right," Jason whispered. "Weather isn't this random."
Mellie smirked. "And how often are 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. "Cray-cray?" Michelle said, probably louder than she should as Piper scolded her. " 'Elle, not now." she seethed, and Michelle's shoulders shrunk. But he definitely was crazy, just look at him!
"And that's the weather," Aeolus concluded. "See you in twelve minutes, because I'm sure it'll change!" and with that, the lights shut off, the video monitors went back to random coverage, and just for a moment, Aeolus's face sagged with weariness. Then he seemed to remember he had guests, and he put a smile back on.
"So, you brought me some rogue storm spirits," Aeolus said. "I suppose...thanks! And did you want something else? I assume so. Demigods always do." he said. Mellie said, "Um, sir, this is Zeus's son." "Yes, yes. I know that. I said I remembered him from before." Aeolus waved her off. "But, sir, they're here from Olympus."
Aeolus looked stunned. Then he laughed so abruptly, Michelle almost disappeared into thin air. "You mean you're here on behalf of your father this time? Finally! I knew they would send someone here to negotiate my contract!" "Um, what?" Jason asked.
"Oh thank goodness!" Aeolus sighed with relief. "It's been what, three thousand years since Zeus made me master of the winds. Not that I'm ungrateful, of course! But really, my contract is so vague. Obviously I'm immortal, but 'master of the winds'. What does that mean? Am I a nature spirit? A demigod? A god? I want to be god of the winds, because the benefits are so much better. Can we start with that? Oh, and the death girl over there!"-he wiggled his finger towards Michelle, "is she my plaything? Zeus knows I love playing with Thanatos children, especially those Morte siblings!"
Michelle furrowed her eyebrows. "Oh hell no." she muttered, backing up as if he was about to grab her randomly, and into Leo of course. Aeolus cocked a eyebrow at her. "She's hesitant? That's fine! I'll even make her some kind of cage, very comfortable!" he squealed, looking at Michelle like she was some kind of dog he'd gotten for Christmas. "She's not your plaything, alright? That's sick." Leo said out of no where, his hair smoking slightly and wrapping a arm around her, which was appreciated as the master of the winds looked like he was going to kidnap her.
Aeolus pouted. "Oh, bummer. Zeus knows I love those kids! Maybe she'll be willing by the end of this, but that's water under the bridge! Anyways, about my title-"
"Dude, " Leo said, "you think we're here to promote you?" "You are, then?" Aeolus grinned. His business suit turned completely sky blue-not a single cloud in sight. "Marvelous! I mean, I think I've shown quite a bit of initiative with the weather channel, eh? And of course I'm in the press all the time. So many books have been written about me: Into Thin Air, Up in the Air, Gone with the Wind-" "Er, I don't think those are about you," Jason said, before Mellie started shaking her head at them aggressively.
"Nonsense," Aeolus said. "Mellie, they're biographies of me, aren't they?" "Absolutely, sir," she squeaked. "There, you see? I don't read. Who has time? But obviously the mortals love me. So, we'll change my official title to god of the winds. Then, about my salary and staff-" "Sir," Jason said, "we're not from Olympus."
Aeolus blinked. "But-" "I'm the son of Zeus, yes," Jason said, "but we're not here to negotiate your contract-and not to give you my friend as a 'plaything'. We're on a quest and we need you help." he said. Aeolus's expression hardened. "Like last time? Like every hero who comes here? Demigods! It's always about you, isn't it?@
"Sir, please, I don't remember also time, but if you helped me once before-" "I'm always helping! We'll, sometimes I'm destroying, or stealing and placing bets on kids, but mostly I'm helping, and sometimes I'm asked to do both at the same time! Why, Aeneas, the first of your kind-" "My kind?" Jason asked. "You mean, demigods?"
"Oh please!" Aeolus said. "I mean your line of demigods. You know, son of Venus-the only surviving hero of Troy. When the Greeks burned down his city, he escaped to Italy, where he founded the kingdom that would eventually become Rome, blah, blah, blah. That's what I meant." "I don't get it," Jason admitted.
Aeolus rolled his eyes. "The point being, I was thrown in the middle of that conflict, too! Juno calls up: 'Oh, Aeolus, destroy Aenea's ship for me. I don't like him.' Then Neptune says, 'No, you don't! That's my territory. Calm the winds.' Then Juno is like, 'No, wreck just ships, or I'll tell Jupiter you're uncooperative!' Do you think it's easy juggling request like that?"
"No," Jason said. "I guess not." "And don't get me started on Amelia Earhart! I'm still getting angry calls from Olympus about knocking her out of the key!" the wind guy whined. "We just want information," Piper said in her most calling voice, like she was talking to a toddler. "We hear you know everything."
Aeolus straightened his lapels and looked slightly mollified. "Well... that's true, of course. For instance, I know that the Thanatos girl over there, Michelle Fontaine is it?"-he wiggled his finger at Michelle- "is being followed by something, haunted if you will. By what? I can't say. And that this business here"-he waggled his hands at the four of them-" this harebrained scheme of Juno's to bring you all together is likely to end in bloodshed. As for you, Piper Mclean, I know your father is in serious trouble." He held out his hand, and a scrap paper fluttered into his grasp.
It was a photo of Piper with a guy who must've been her dad. It was Tristan Mclean, the guy with really nice abs, that's pretty much it. Piper took the photo. Her hands were shaking. "This-this is from his wallet." "Yes," Aeolus said. "All things lost in the wind eventually come to me. The photo blew away when the Earthborn captured him." "The what?"
Aeolus waved aside the question and narrows 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 was if it might be coated in poison. He staggered backwards, and Michelle had to catch him the third time today.
The man turned to Michelle with a creepy smile. "Oh, and you! Where is it-was pretty hard to find this after the Titan war and all-some pesky storm spirits took it from the Ramìrez household." He said with a smirk, and another paper flew into his hands, and then flew to Michelle.
It was nothing but a small drawing back when she was younger, scribbled in black and purple crayon. It was of her, Alison and Eury, but something was scary about it. Behind Michelle, little drawings of this group of black figures was scribbled, and it was unsettling. She had left this behind, why was it coming back to haunting her? Why was her life coming back to her? This drawing was a sliver of her past life, yet it scared her.
She'd drawn this back before the accident, back when's he was innocent. Sometime she still felt thirteen, the guilt fresh. And what do you know, this dumbass wind god just had to bring her aching past back to her, so fun! She grasped the paper, practically crushing under her grip. Her whole body shook, she felt herself pale. She left that part of her life for a reason, and now her trauma was some gods entertainment.
"Leo? Michelle?" Jason asked. "What is it?" the blonde said. Leo was the only one to answer, while Michelle kept staring at the drawing in horror. "Something I-I drew when I was a kid." He folded it quickly and put it into his coat. "It's...yeah, it's nothing."
Aeolus laughed. "Really? Just the key to your success! And Michelle, you can't leave it all behind like that. Now, where were we? Ah, yes, you wanted information. Are you sure about that? Sometimes information can be dangerous?" That was the last thing Michelle heard him say, before she lost it. 'You can't leave it all behind,' who was he to tell her what to do? Was he the one who dealt with having their lights knocked out every night?
"I'm gonna fucking kill you." Michelle muttered, slipping her ring off her finger and swiping at the god, who looked genuinely surprised. He seethed as the silver sword ran across his face, a small cut against his face, leaking ichor. But she wasn't done, she was going to kill him for that. The girl had to be held back by all three of them, who was practically fuming right now. "No, you're not, Mich." Jason seethed.
Her expression darkened and she swore she felt some kind of surge of power go through her, while the wind gods face paled. And, Aeolus looked pained-for some reason. "Tell the girl to calm down, boy! Stealing life force-is very painful! Those Thanatos children, always so sensitive." Aeolus whined, now wrapping a bandage around his head with the help of three harpies. Sensitive? Okay, now she was really going to destroy him. "Leo, get her to calm down already." Piper seethed. "I'll try." was all he said before pulling her back while Jason and Piper dealt with that monster.
"Michelle, calm down." He said, but she had lost it by now. "I'm going to kill a god." she muttered, eyeing down the god. Leo became flustered randomly. "No, no your not! You know what-just put the sword away. We can't have you being struck by lightning, can we?" He said with that stereotypical smile, and she practically melted. "Fine." she muttered, slipping her ring back on before leaning onto him.
Jason had been staring at the god, who was smiling now at Jason with a smirk, ichor dripping down his face while his expression looked as if he was challenging him. Mellie, desperately shook her head behind them. "Yeah," Jason said. "We need to find the liar of Enceladus." and with that, Aeolus's smile melted away. "The giant? Why would you want to go there? He's horrible! He doesn't even watch my program!"
Piper held up a 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!" Aeolus put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes aggressively. "I'm getting something! Yes, she's at a place called the Wolf House! Sadly, I don't know where that is." he said with fake sympathy. "Enceladus does," Pier persisted. "If you help us find him, we could get the location of the goddess-" "Yeah," Leo said, catching in. "And if we save her, she'd be really grateful to you-" "And Zeus might promote you, and maybe even no angry Michelle." Jason finished, and Michelle was still glowering at the god.
Aeolus's eyebrows crept up. "A promotion-and all you want from me is the giant's location? Could I even get the girl? Not scary, of course." "Uhm, absolutely not 'the girl'. But we'll, 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 pretenses." he said, and the wind spirit flinched. Her face paled. "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."
"It wasn't her fault," Jason said. "But about that help.." he trailed off. Aeolus tilted his head as if thinking. But then Michelle could see he was listening to voices in his earpiece. "Well... Zeus approved," 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 are the agree on anything... And Hades-he vouches for the girl, so does his son, and daughter, and says I can't have her-Aww! Hold on..."
Jason smiled back at them, while Michelle felt kinda stunned. After cussing out the ruler of the underworld, he still vouched to save her? That was appreciated right now. And his son? That Nico guy? He was nice-a bit emo, but nice. And who was his daughter? Because all she heard of was his son, Nico Di Angelo. Yet finally, they were having some good luck!
Back towards the entrance, Michelle heard a loud belch. Coach Hedge waddled in from the lobby, grass all over his face. Mellie saw him comb across the makeshift foot and caught her breath. "Who is that?" she said, her eyes practically hearts. Jason stifled a cough. "That? That's just Coach Hedge. Uh, Gleeson Hedge. He's our..." he looked like there was many answers to that statement, yet not all were flattering. "Our guide.
"He's so goatly," Mellie murmured. Behind her, Piper poofed out her cheeks, pretending to vomit. "There's no way-that's just-gross." Michelle shivered, and Leo snorted. "How does Coach Hedge-out of all people-have a better love life than us? That's not fair." Leo muttered, and then Michelle practically cackled before shutting up because some harpy glared at her.
"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 said winningly. "Beautiful as a summer breeze." Mellie blushed at this. "I'm gonna hurl." Leo muttered, and Michelle's nose scrunched. "Not on me!" Ah seethed, and the boy just broke out laughing.
Jason cleared his throat dramatically, eyeing the two down. "Sorry, Grace." Leo whispered with a guilty smile. "And Aeolus here was just about to help us," Jason said. "Yes," the wind lord muttered. "It seemed so. You'll find Enceladus on Mount Diablo."
"Devil Mountain?" Leo asked. "That doesn't sound good." Wait a second, didn't Leo name the hellhound Diablo. "Wait, you named my hellhound 'the devil'-" "I remember that place!" Piper said. "I went there once with my dad. It's just east of San Franscisco 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-" 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-and old, scaredy-cat 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." he said, with even more fake sympathy this time. Mellie squeaked. "But-but, sir! Zeus said to help them. Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Hades for the gods sake-" "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 even death can't stop himself." he said the rest glaring at Michelle, even if he didn't look that scary at all.
"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. Michelle could hear the angry screeches of storm spirits being freed, spiralling up to them and looking for bloodshed. "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 and finally, Michelle got a chance at killing the bastard as she slipped her ring off as it transformed into her trusty sword, Avenger. 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 six 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 Jason's hand, meanwhile Michelle was struggling to stay well, human. Her body kept flickering in and out of reality, and Coach Hedge huffed. "Fontaine! Control your damn powers!" He aether, trying to grab onto her. "Sorry, Coach!" she squealed.
Jason grabbed Piper's hand. "Group hug!" And with that, Hedge, Michelle, 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 pulverize you!" "I do not want to die at the hand of evil espressos!" Michelle squealed, holding on for dear life.
"He's magnificent," Mellie sighed, like she wasn't in charge of four teenagers lives right now. "Concentrate?" Jason prompted. "Right!" and with that, the winds made their fall become more of a tumble into the nearest open chute. Still, it wasn't that helpful as they slammed into the tunnel at painful speed and went rolling over each other down a steep vent that was not designed for people. Honestly, this would probably be the day Michelle died, and she accepted it slightly.
Mellie's robes billowed around her. Michelle and the others clung to her for dear life, 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, and Michelle practically hurled. "Could you guys plan your date later?" Piper screamed. "Look!"
Behind them, the tunnel was turning dark. Michelle could feel her ears pop from the pressure building up, and it really hurt. "Can't hold them," Mellie wanted. "But I'll try to shield you, do you own more favour." "Thanks, Mellie," Jason said. "I hope you get a new job." he said that, and she smiled, then dissolved, wrapping them in a warm gentler breed. Then the real wind hit, shooting them into the sky so fast, Michelle's eyes fluttered and she passed out.
TIGER3YES, 2024