ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES ༉‧₊˚.[THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS]
L E O
chapter twenty-five: wheel! of! fortune! & i also meet hephaestus, so i guess that's cool, too
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LEO KEPT looking back.
he half expected to see those nasty sun dragons toting a flying chariot with a screaming magical saleswoman throwing potions, but nothing followed them from her flaming store from hell. he steered the dragon toward the southwest. eventually, the smoke from the burning department store faded in the distance, but leo didn't relax until the suburbs of chicago gave way to nothing but snowy fields, and the sun began to set, casting them in a golden glow.
"good job, festus," he patted the dragon's metal hide with as much affection as he could muster. "you did awesome." the dragon shuddered in response, or leo assumed it was a response. gears popped, and clicked in his neck. the hephaestus boy frowned as he didn't like those noises. if the wires were failing again — no, hopefully, it was something minor. something he, or his older sister could fix. "we'll give you a tune-up next time we land," leo promised the dragon, trying to mask his nerves. he pasted on a smile, forcing his voice to sound lighthearted. "you've earned some motor oil, and tabasco sauce."
festus whirled his teeth, but even that sounded weak. he flew at a steady pace, his great wings angling to catch the wind, but he was carrying a heavy load. two cages in his claws, plus three people on his back, the more leo thought about it, the more worried he got. even metal dragons had limits.
"leo." piper patted his shoulder, trying to catch his attention from being hyper focused on his dragon. "you feeling okay?"
"yeah...not bad for a brainwashed zombie." he hoped he didn't appear as embarrassed as he felt deep in side, but he felt it showed anyway. his neck was burning hot, no doubt the flesh flushed beet red. gods, as if anything else could go wrong. "thanks for saving us back there, beauty queen," he said, his gaze focused on the reins steering festus. he couldn't even look her in the eye after what had happened. "if you hadn't talked me out of that spell—"
"don't worry about it," piper interrupted, trying to brush the entire thing aside, as if it weren't major at all. but leo worried a lot despite her words of assurance. he felt terrible about how easily medea had set him against his best friend. the hephaestus boy could admit, those feelings hadn't come from absolutely nowhere. his resentment of the way jason always got the spotlight, and didn't really seem to need him wasn't something new. leo did feel that way sometimes, even if he wasn't proud of it.
what bothered him more was the news about his mom. medea had seen the future down in the underworld. that was how her patron, the woman in the black earthen robes, had come to the machine shop seven years ago to scare him, to ruin his life. that's how his mother had died, because of something leo might do someday. so, in a weird way, even if his fire powers weren't to blame, his mom's death was still his fault. when they had left medea in that exploding store, he had felt a little too good. he hoped she wouldn't make it out, and would go right back to the fields of punishment, where she belonged. those feelings didn't make him proud, either.
and if souls were coming back from the underworld...was it possible leo's mom could be brought back? he tried to put the idea aside. that was frankenstein thinking. it wasn't natural, nor was it right. medea might've been brought back to life, but she hadn't seemed quite human with the hissing nails, and the glowing head, and whatnot. no, leo's mom had passed on. thinking any other way would just drive leo nuts. still, the thought kept poking at him, like an echo of medea's voice.
"we're going to have to put down soon," he warned his friends, trying to push his thoughts to the further corners of his mind. leo was ashamed to admit he was thinking of the resurrection of his mother when he shouldn't. he fiddled with the reins, for a moment, anxiously hoping the other quest members wouldn't be able to look at him, and know of his thoughts. not only would they know that he absolutely sucked as a friend, and a quest mate, he was also contemplating using such an awful situation to his advantage to bring his mother back to life. that wasn't what the heroes did. "couple more hours, maybe, to make sure medea's not following us. i don't think festus can fly much longer than that."
"yeah," piper agreed with him, and leo was relieved when he looked over to see that she couldn't read his mind, and was absolutely thankful for it. could never be too careful, especially since he now lived in a world of gods, monsters, and demigods. who's to say some demigod couldn't be born without the ability to read the minds of others? "coach hedge probably wants to get out of his canary cage, too. question is, where are we going?"
"the bay area," leo guessed, throwing in a small shrug. at first, he had no idea where the location came from, it just popped into his head. his memories of the department store were fuzzy, and unclear. but one thing stuck out like a thumbtack: the bay area. leo snuck a glance over his shoulder, "didn't medea say something about oakland?" the moment he said the words, leo felt horrible. piper's expression shut down completely, going totally blank. he knew immediately he had said something wrong, something to upset her as it had changed her mood drastically.
"piper's dad," jason put in after some uncomfortable silence. he, too, must've remembered something through the haze of medea's magic. the honey blonde looked nowhere near as anguished as he usually did when trying to recall details of his past, but instead just embarrassed to have fallen under the influence of the sorceress in the first place. gods, was that a familiar feeling. jason looked to chandler momentarily, more than likely for some assurance to continue, but unlike usual, she didn't meet his eyes with that same interested glimmer. instead, she avoided his gaze all together. the blue eyed boy looked away from her quickly, trying not to let the small rejection show on his face. "something's happened to your dad, right? he got lured into some type of trap."
leo almost thought he imagined how quickly it happened. his sister offered a stealthy look around jason to look at piper. it was short, and almost undetected, but there was something odd in the way she looked at the daughter of aphrodite. as if sensing leo's eyes, the hephaestus girl quickly averted her eyes. she seemed absolutely lost in her own thoughts, detached from the quest, and in her own world. his sister had been a bit off since they left medea's, too. she'd been closed off, not talking. it was as if all that progress they made with getting to know her had gone down the drain in a matter of minutes.
piper let out a shaky breath, blinking fastly, as if she were fighting off having an entire breakdown from the words bay area alone. leo had no idea what to think as she fiddled when her fingers anxiously. "look, medea said you would all die in the bay area. and besides, even if we went there, the bay area is huge!" the aphrodite girl heaved a large, deep breath, trying to catch her bearings. "first, we need to find aeolus, and drop off the storm spirits. boreas said aeolus was the only one who could tell us exactly where to go."
leo grunted unhappily. "so, how do we find aeolus?"
jason leaned forward, past chandler, to look at leo with an odd expression. there was a slight tilt to his head that reminded the hephaestus boy of one of those confused puppies. the scrunch of his eyebrows, and slow blinks of puzzlement had the other questors looking at one another, wondering if they, too, were missing something. "you mean none of you see it?" the zeus demigod asked, pointing ahead of them. but leo didn't see anything except clouds, and the lights of a few towns glowing in the dusk.
"what?"
"that...whatever it is," the honey blonde said, gesturing to the open sky, as if they should see exactly what he was talking about. "in the air." leo glanced back, almost believing the zeus demigod was just pulling his leg. piper looked just as confused as he was. his sister however, she looked impassive. her expression was scarily even, she just looked to jason, simply waiting for an explanation.
"right," leo said slowly, nodding along to older boy's words carefully, as if he didn't want to make the honey blonde feel as if they didn't believe him. "could you be more specific on the whatever-it-is part?"
"like a vapor trail," the other replied, his blue eyes squinting as if he couldn't see very well, "except it's glowing. really faint, but it's definitely there. we've been following it since chicago, so i figured you saw it."
leo shook his head. "maybe festus can sense it. you think aeolus made it?"
"well, it's a magic trail in the wind," jason reasoned after a bit of contemplating. his lip quirked a bit, his scar twitching. "aeolus is the wind god. i think he knows we've got prisoners for him. he's telling us where to fly."
"or it's another trap," piper offered, looking around with an anxiety leo hadn't seen from her ever. the aphrodite girl didn't sound just nervous, or anxious. there was an underlying despair, like their fate had already been sealed somehow. all the hope the girl had the entire quest had been seemingly sucked out of her. leo was frustrated, because what happened at medea's that he couldn't seem to remember? that stupid haze.
"pipes, you all right?" leo murmured to her softly, trying not to call attention from the other quest members — just privately making sure she was alright without attention from everyone.
"don't call me that," the aphrodite girl snapped in response, her tone having an unfamiliar edge of malice, and anger. leo immediately went to his sister's face to gauge her reaction, and some type of explanation as to why piper was so upset. chandler was no help. whatever she knew, she was pretty adamant on keeping it to herself as she remained silent, and looked away as if she hadn't seen the interaction in the slightest.
"okay, fine. you don't like any of the names i make up for you," the hephaestus boy ceded, though a little hurt at the harsh treatment from the aphrodite girl. of course, he, and piper bickered. but she never outright snapped at leo before, he just wasn't ready for it. he hesitated before saying anything, "but if your dad's in trouble and we can help—" trying to amend what he said before.
"you can't," she said, her voice getting shakier, in fact, he was sure if he looked back, he'd find her colored eyes welling with tears. "look, i'm tired. if you don't mind..." piper leaned forward against leo, and closed her eyes. it was a pretty clear signal she didn't want to talk, but at least she wasn't angry with him for the comment.
they flew in silence for a while. festus seemed to know where he was going. he kept his course, gently curving toward the southwest, and hopefully aeolus's fortress. another wind god to visit, a whole new flavor of crazy — oh, boy, leo couldn't wait. he had way too much on his mind to sleep, but now that he was out danger, his body had different ideas. his energy level was crashing. the monotonous beat of the dragon's wings made his eyes feel heavy. his head started to nod.
"catch a few z's," jason encouraged, reaching over chandler. the girl had finally fell asleep once more, reluctantly leaning on the honey blonde. leo didn't know what was going on with them, but things seemed different. of course, he'd noticed the slight flirting they'd been doing the entire quest, but his sister seemed so much more cold, and reserved since they left medea. it made him want to know what happened more, and more. jason seemed to notice, too. every so often, his gaze would dip down to her, and make sure she was still there, and hadn't vanished in smoke. "it's cool. hand me the reins."
"nah, i'm okay—"
"leo," the zeus demigod insisted, "you're not a machine. besides, i'm the only one who can see the vapor trail. i'll make sure we stay on course."
leo's eyes started to close on their own. "all right. maybe just..." he didn't finish the sentence before slumping forward against the dragon's warm neck.
in his dream, he heard a voice full of static, like a bad a.m. radio: "hello? is this thing working?" his vision came into focus — sort of. everything was hazy, and gray, with bands of interference running across his sight. he'd never dreamed with a bad connection before.
he seemed to be in a workshop. out of the corners of his eyes, he saw bench saws, metal lathes, and tool cages. a forge glowed cheerfully against one wall. it wasn't the camp forge — too big. not bunker nine, much warmer, and more comfortable, obviously not abandoned. what really surprised him was chandler standing next to leo, looking a bit more cheerful than he'd seen her before she fell asleep.
then, leo realized something was blocking the middle of his view — something large, and fuzzy, and so close, leo had to cross his eyes to see it properly. it was a large ugly face. "holy mother!" he yelped.
the face backed away, and came into focus. staring down at him was a bearded man in grimy blue coveralls. his face was lumpy, and covered with welts, as if he'd been bitten by a million bees, or dragged across gravel. or, possibly both. "humph," the man said, mildly amused by the words that came out of leo's mouth. "holy father, boy. i should think you'd know the difference."
chandler snorted loudly, and began to laugh under her breath. leo blinked in surprise. "hephaestus?" being in the presence of his father for the first time, leo probably should've been speechless, or awestruck, or something. but after what he'd been through the last couple of days, with cyclopes, and a sorceress, and a face in the potty sludge, all leo felt was a surge of complete annoyance. "oh, now you show up?" he demanded, giving his father the third degree. "after fifteen years? great parenting, fur face. where do you get off sticking your ugly nose into my dreams?"
the god raised an eyebrow. a little spark caught fire in his beard. then, he threw back his head, and laughed so loudly, the tools rattled on the workbenches. "you sound just like your mother," hephaestus wheezed. "i miss esperanza," then, he glanced at chandler, amusement trying to crack through his hard expression. "why did all of mine come out this way?"
"she's been dead seven years." leo's voice trembled, completely ignoring his comment to chandler. he couldn't believe the audacity of hephaestus to even bring his mother up to his face after years of her assuring leo they'd meet. and yet, fifteen years, and nothing. "not that you'd care."
"but i do care, boy. about both of you."
"uh-huh," leo's nod was slow, and a bit more sarcastic. " which is why i never saw you before today." the god made a rumbling sound in his throat, but he looked more uncomfortable than angry. he pulled a miniature motor from his a pocket in his jumpsuit, and began fiddling absently with the pistons, just the way leo did when he was nervous. chandler sat comfortably on one of the nearby tables, fiddling with one of the many unfinished projects lingering around the workshop.
"i'm not good with children," the god confessed, his gaze averted from the boy. "or people. well, any organic life forms, really. i thought about speaking to you at your mom's funeral. then again, when you were in fifth grade...that science project you made, steam-powered chicken chucker. very impressive."
"you saw that?"
hephaestus pointed to the nearest worktable where a shiny bronze mirror showed a hazy image of leo asleep on the dragon's back. the camera moved slightly to show chandler sleeping on jason's chest, him hugging her close while holding the reins. "is that us?" leo inquired, leaning forward interestedly, blinking at the machine in amazement. "like, me right now, having this dream, looking at me having a dream?"
hephaestus scratched his beard unsurely. "now, you've confused me. but yes, it's you. i'm always keeping an eye on you guys. but talking to you is, um...different."
"you're scared," leo acknowledged, his eyebrows going up in surprise at the truth of his own words.
"or nervous," chandler offered, from a bit farther away. it was nice that she allowed them space to speak to one another for the first time, but was still close enough to support them if needed.
"grommet, and gears!" the god yelled, leo imagined he was flushing red underneath all the bruised, and calloused skin. "of course not!"
"yeah, you're scared." but leo's anger seeped away. he'd spent years thinking about what he'd say to his dad if they ever met, how leo would chew him out for being a deadbeat. now, looking at that bronze mirror, leo thought about his dad watching his progress over the years, even his stupid science experiments. maybe hephaestus was still a jerk, but leo kind of understood where he was coming from. he knew about running away from people, not fitting in. he knew about hiding out in a workshop rather than trying to deal with organic life forms. "so," leo grumbled, "you keep track of all your kids? you've got like twelve back at camp. how'd you even — never mind. i don't want to know."
"well, my mom was only into the personality, so he got lucky," she told leo amusedly, tucking some of her curly hair back. she tinkered mindlessly with something on the table. her nimble fingers moved swiftly with efficiency while she talked casually, "twice."
hephaestus might've blushed, but his face was so beat up and red, it was hard to tell. "gods are different from mortals, children. we can exist in many places at once — wherever people call on us, wherever our sphere of influence is strong. in fact, it's rare our entire essence is ever together in one place, our true form. it's dangerous, powerful enough to destroy any mortal who looks upon us. so, yes...lots of children. add to that our different aspects, greek, and roman—" the god's fingers froze on his engine project. "er, that is to say, being a god is complicated. and yes, i try to keep an eye on all my children, but you two especially."
leo was pretty sure hephaestus had almost slipped, and said something important, but he wasn't sure what. "why contact us now?" he asked his dad, choosing to note the slip up, and keep the god talking. who knew? maybe he'd accidentally add to the thought. it might've been helpful to their quest. "i thought the gods had gone silent."
"we have," hephaestus grumped to them, even going as far as rolling his eyes. "zeus's orders...very strange, even for him. he's blocked all visions, dreams, and iris-messages to, and from olympus. hermes is sitting around bored out of his mind because he can't deliver the mail. fortunately, i kept my old pirate broadcasting equipment." the god patted a machine on the table. it looked like a combination satellite dish, v-6 engine, and espresso maker. each time hephaestus jostled the machine, leo's dream flickered, and changed color.
"used this in the cold war," the god said fondly, patting it with care. "radio free hephaestus. those were the days. i keep it around for pay-for-view, mostly, or making viral brain videos—"
"viral brain videos?" chandler questioned, blinking at her father. the more thought she thought about it, the less she wanted to know. she offered a shrug, and shook her head, "nevermind. i don't want to know."
"but now it's come in handy again. if zeus knew i was contacting you, he'd have my hide."
"why is zeus being such a jerk?" chandler wondered out loud.
"hrumph. he excels at that, girl." hephaestus called them boy, girl, and children, as if the pair were an annoying machine part, an extra washer, maybe, that had no clear purpose, but that hephaestus didn't want to throw away for fear he might need it someday. not exactly heartwarming. then again, leo wasn't sure he wanted to be called son. leo wasn't about to start calling this big, awkward, ugly guy dad.
hephaestus got tired of his engine, and tossed it over his shoulder. before it could hit the floor, it sprouted helicopter wings, and flew itself into a recycling bin. "it was the second titan war, i suppose," hephaestus explained to them, already picking something else off his worktable to tinker with. "that's what got zeus so upset. we gods were...well, embarrassed. don't think there's any other way to say it."
"but you won," leo blinked at him, not understanding the gods' angle.
the god grunted, it sounded half disbelieving, half annoyed. "we won because the demigods of," again he hesitated, as if he'd almost made a slip, "of camp half-blood took the lead. we won because our children fought our battles for us, smarter than we did. if we'd relied on zeus's plan, we would've all gone down to tartarus fighting the storm giant typhon, and kronos would've won. bad enough mortals won our war for us, but then, those young upstarts, percy jackson, and —"
"hephaestus, i'm right here, you know," chandler said, her expression not exactly happy that her own father referred to herself, and her best friend as upstarts. hephaestus cleared his throat in embarrassment, and moved on.
"the guy who's missing," leo clarified, he'd heard the name percy jackson much too often for him to be just some camper who had gone missing.
"hmph. yes. him. he, and chandler here, had the nerve to turn down our offer of immortality, and tell us to pay better attention to our children. er, no offense."
"oh, how could i take offense? please, go on ignoring me," leo said sarcastically. chandler simply held up her palm, and he slapped it with as much nerve as he could muster.
"mighty understanding of you ..." hephaestus frowned, then sighed wearily at his children's quick exchange "that was sarcasm, wasn't it? machines don't have sarcasm, usually. but as i was saying, the gods felt ashamed, shown up by mortals. at first, of course, we were grateful. but after a few months, those feelings turned bitter. we're gods, after all. we need to be admired, looked up to, held in awe, and admiration."
"even if you're wrong?" chandler scoffed at him in disbelief.
"especially then! and to have you, and jackson refuse our gift, as if being mortal were somehow better than being a god...well, that stuck in zeus's craw. he decided it was high time we got back to traditional values. gods were to be respected. our children were to be seen, and not visited. olympus was closed. at least that was part of his reasoning. and, of course, we started hearing of bad things stirring under the earth."
"the giants, you mean. monsters re-forming instantly. the dead rising again. little stuff like that?" leo asked their father.
"aye, boy." hephaestus turned a knob on his pirate broadcasting machine. leo's dream sharpened to full color, but the god's face was such a riot of red welts, and yellow, and black bruises, leo wished it would go back to black, and white. chandler screamed loudly at the wild change in definition, and fell off the table with a loud thud.
"zeus thinks he can reverse the tide," the god sighed, ignoring the dramatics of his children, "lull the earth back to sleep as long as we stay quiet. none of us really believes that. and i don't mind saying, we're in no shape to fight another war. we barely survived the titans. if we're repeating the old pattern, what comes next is even worse."
"the giants," leo said aloud, his gaze faraway. "hera said demigods, and gods had to join forces to defeat them. is that true?"
"mmm. i hate to agree with my mother about anything, but yes. those giants are tough to kill, boy. they're a different breed."
"breed? you make them sound like racehorses," chandler comments after climbing back onto the table, rubbing at her temples. the bright colors must've been giving her a bit of a headache.
"ha!" the god offered nothing more than a bitter, humorless laugh. it sounded dry, more like a cough. "more like war dogs. back in the beginning, y'see, everything in creation came from the same parents, gaea, and ouranos, earth, and sky. they had their different batches of children, your titans, your elder cyclopes, and so forth. then kronos, the head titan, well, you've probably heard how he chopped up his father, ouranos, with a scythe, and took over the world. then, we gods came along, children of the titans, and defeated them. but, that wasn't the end of it. the earth bore a new batch of children, except they were sired by tartarus, the spirit of the eternal abyss, the darkest, most evil place in the underworld. those children, the giants, were bred for one purpose — revenge on us for the fall of the titans. they rose up to destroy olympus, and they came awfully close."
hephaestus's beard began to smolder. he absently swatted out the flames. "what my blasted mother hera is doing now, she's a meddling fool playing a dangerous game, but she's right about one thing: you demigods have to unite. that's the only way to open zeus's eyes, convince the olympians they must accept your help. and that's the only way to defeat what's coming. you're both a big part of that, children. "
the god's gaze seemed far away. leo wondered if really could split himself into different parts, where else was he right now? maybe his greek side was fixing a car, or going on a date, while his roman side was watching a ball game, and ordering pizza. leo tried to imagine what it would feel like to have multiple personalities. he hoped it wasn't hereditary.
"why me?" he asked, and as soon as he said it, more questions flooded out. "why claim me now? why not when i was thirteen, like you're supposed to? or you could've claimed me at seven, before my mom died! why didn't you find me earlier? why didn't you warn me about this?" leo's hand burst into flames.
hephaestus regarded him sadly. "hardest part, boy. letting my children walk their own paths. interfering doesn't work. the fates make sure of that. as for the claiming, you were a special case, boy. the timing had to be right. i can't explain it much more, but—" leo's dream went fuzzy. just for a moment, it turned into a rerun of wheel of fortune. then, hephaestus came back into focus.
"blast," he scoffed. "i can't talk much longer. zeus is sensing an illegal dream. he is lord of the air, after all, including the airwaves. just listen, children: you have a role to play. your friend jason is right, fire is a gift, not a curse. i don't give that blessing to just anyone. they'll never defeat the giants without you, much less the mistress they serve. she's worse than any god or titan."
"who?" leo demanded.
hephaestus frowned, his image becoming fuzzier. "i told you. yes, i'm pretty sure i told you. just be warned: along the way, you're going to lose some friends, and some valuable tools. but that isn't your fault, leo. nothing lasts forever, not even the best machines. and everything can be reused."
"what do you mean? i don't like the sound of that."
"no, you shouldn't." hephaestus's image was barely visible now, just a blob in the static "tell that little blonde boy to keep his hands to himself, or i'll kill him. oh! and watch out for—" leo's dream switched to wheel of fortune just as the wheel hit bankrupt and the audience said, "awww!"
then, leo snapped awake to jason, chandler, and piper screaming.