[ chapter eleven: hermia ]
° • ° • °
Hermia had gotten lost in her thoughts again when she heard Jason say, "All four of us. We're the first of the eight who have to gather for the Great Prophecy. This quest is the beginning of something much bigger."
That didn't make Hermia feel any better. She did feel like this was the start of something big and Hermia had a feeling she was right in the middle of the Great Prophecy. But she didn't know if she was part of the evil side or the good side. At least not yet anyway.
"Besides," Jason continued, "helping Hera is the only way I can get back my memory. And that dark spire in my dream seemed to be feeding on Hera's energy. If that thing unleashes a king of the giants by destroying Hera-"
"Not a good trade-off," Piper agreed. "At least Hera is on our side-mostly. Losing her would throw the gods into chaos. She's the main one who keeps peace in the family. And a war with the giants could be even more destructive than the Titan War."
Jason nodded. "Chiron also talked about worse forces stirring on the solstice, with it being a good time for dark magic, and all-something that could awaken if Hera were sacrificed on that day. And this mistress who's controlling the storm spirits, the one who wants to kill all the demigods-"
"Might be that weird sleeping lady," Leo finished. "Dirt Woman fully awake? Not something I want to see."
Hermia looked down at her hands as she listened to the group. She didn't bother saying anything because she knew she had no right to. Not when it had been Gaea who gave Mia back her freedom. Mia knew she was the dark magic the prophecy was talking about. Mia knew she was the one Gaea wanted to kill all demigods. But it terrified her to think about it. Hermia wasn't a killer, and yet just because Gaea woke Mia up she wanted to turn Hermia into a killer.
"But who is she?" Jason asked. "And what does she have to do with giants?"
Mia sat quietly and waited for someone to say something, but no one did. The only thing Jason couldn't stop doing was staring at Mia. He didn't know why Hermia hadn't said anything. He wanted to ask her what was going on, but he didn't. He noticed something was bothering her and it upset him to know she didn't trust them enough to say anything.
With the only sound being the air, Festus kept flying through the sky. The wind got colder, and below them snowy forests seemed to go on forever. Mia was fighting so hard to stay awake, but her eyes kept shutting close.
Jason noticed how tired she looked and whispered in her ear, "You should get some sleep." Mia didn't want to close her eyes because she feared she'd have another nightmare. But sleeping sounded so good to her she couldn't protest.
Mia only nodded in reply, but didn't make a move to sleep. How could she when she couldn't fall asleep sitting up. Jason noticed how uncomfortable she looked and said, "You can just use me as a pillow."
Mia couldn't help but smile shyly. But soon her smile fell and she cleared her throat. She turned to glance at him and said, "Thanks, Jason but I can't do that."
Jason smiled back while shaking his head. "It's okay, if you're worried about falling, I'll be here." Hermia sighed while glancing back to the front.
"That's not what I'm worried about." She said quietly, as she leaned on to Jason's chest. Jason smiled as he wrapped one arm around her middle. He'd be lying if he said he just did it to keep her from falling.
° • ° • °
To Hermia it seemed like she slept for a couple seconds, but when Jason shook her awake, Mia noticed the daylight was fading.
"We're here," Piper said to the group.
Mia rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sat forward. Below them, a city sat on a cliff overlooking a river. The plains around it were dusted with snow, but the city itself glowed warmly in the winter sunset. Buildings crowded together inside high walls like a medieval town, way older than any place Mia had seen before. In the center was an actual castle with massive red brick walls and a square tower with a peaked, green gabled roof.
"Tell me that's Quebec and not Santa's workshop," Leo said.
"Yeah, Quebec City," Piper confirmed. "One of the oldest cities in North America. Founded around sixteen hundred or so?"
Mia didn't know what Piper or Leo were talking about. Back in 1862 Mia never bothered with traveling. Not that her mother and father would let her anyway. Back then Mia was just 16 years old and now, well she was still 16. But her parents never wanted her to leave the nest. They did want her to move out, but only when she married Lysander.
Now she couldn't help but think how disappointed her parents would be if they knew she was flying somewhere in North America.
"Your dad do a movie about that too?" Leo asked Piper.
Mia could tell Piper made a face at him, because of the look he sent back to her. "I read sometimes, okay? Just because Aphrodite claimed me, doesn't mean I have to be an airhead."
"Feisty!" Leo said. "So you know so much, what's that castle?"
"A hotel, I think."
Leo laughed. "No way."
Hermia couldn't picture this big castle as a hotel. It was way too big, but as they got closer, Mia saw Piper was right. The grand entrance was bustling with doormen, valets, and porters taking bags. Sleek black luxury cars idled in the drive. People in elegant suits and winter cloaks hurried to get out of the cold.
"The North Wind is staying in a hotel?" Leo said. "That can't be-"
"Heads up, guys," Jason interrupted. "We got company!"
Hermia looked below and saw what Jason meant. Rising from the top of the tower were two winged figures-angry angels, with nasty-looking swords. Hermia gazed down at Festus in confusion when she noticed he swooped to a halt in midair. His wings were beating and his talons bared, while making a rumbling sound in his throat.
"Steady, boy," Mia heard Leo mutter as she turned to gaze at Jason. He sent her a reassuring smile before she turned back around.
"I don't like this," Jason said after taking his eyes off Mia. "They look like storm spirits."
At first Mia thought he was right, but as the angels got closer, she could see they were much more solid than venti. They looked like regular teenagers except for their icy white hair and feathery purple wings. Their bronze swords were jagged, like icicles. Their faces looked similar enough that they might have been brothers, but they definitely weren't twins.
One was the size of an ox, with a bright red hockey jersey, baggy sweatpants, and black leather cleats. The guy clearly had been in too many fights, because both his eyes were black, and when he bared his teeth, several of them were missing.
The other guy had ice-white hair that was long and feathered into a mullet. He wore pointy-toed leather shoes, designer pants that were way too tight, and a god-awful silk shirt with the top three buttons open.
Mia watched as the angels pulled up in front of the dragon and hovered there, swords at the ready. Hermia was also ready to cast a spell if she needed to.
The hockey ox grunted. "No clearance."
"'Scuse me?" Leo said.
"You have no flight plan on file," explained the groovy love god. Hermia couldn't really understand the guy because of his really bad French accent. But she did try really hard to keep up with what he was saying. "This is restricted airspace."
"Destroy them?" The ox showed off his gap-toothed grin.
The dragon began to hiss steam, ready to defend them. Jason summoned his golden sword, while Hermia held her hand up ready to cast a spell. But suddenly Leo's voice cried, "Hold on let's have some manners here, boys. Can I at least find out who has the honor of destroying me?"
"You've got to be kidding me." Mia mumbled as the ox grunted. Hermia lowered her hand as she watched the god speak.
"I am Cal!" He looked very proud of himself, like he'd taken a long time to memorize that sentence.
"That's short for Calais," the love god said. "Sadly, my brother cannot say words with more than two syllables-"
"Pizza! Hockey! Destroy!" Cal offered.
"-which includes his own name," the love god finished.
"I am Cal," Cal repeated. "And this is Zethes! My brother!"
"Wow," Leo said. "That was almost three sentences, man! Way to go." Mia couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips while Cal grunted, obviously pleased with himself.
"Stupid buffoon," his brother grumbled. "They make fun of you. But no matter. I am Zethes, which is short for Zethes. And the ladies there-" He winked at Hermia and Piper, but the wink was more like a facial seizure. "They can call me anything they like. Perhaps the fiery red head would like to have dinner with a famous demigod before we must destroy you?"
Mia raised her eyebrows in surprise before saying, "Sounds fun," she said sarcastically. "But I actually already have a boyfriend." Jason looked away in annoyance while watching Zethes flirt with Mia. And it didn't really help his case when he heard her talk about her boyfriend.
"That's too bad." Zethes said before turning his gaze to Piper. "And what about you?" The way he asked that made Mia believe he wasn't really interested in Piper. It's like he just asked because Mia had said no.
Piper made a sound like gagging on a cough drop. "That's ... a truly horrifying offer."
"It is no problem." Zethes wiggled his eyebrows at Hermia. "We are a very romantic people, we Boreads." His gaze stayed on Mia while saying, "You're missing out."
Mia rolled her eyes as Jason looked back at Zethes and cut in saying, "Boreads? Do you mean, like, the sons of Boreas?"
"Ah, so you've heard of us!" Zethes looked pleased. "We are our father's gatekeepers. So you understand, we cannot have unauthorized people flying in his airspace on creaky dragons, scaring the silly mortal peoples."
He pointed below, and Mia saw that the mortals were starting to take notice. Several were pointing up-not with alarm, yet-more with confusion and annoyance.
"Which is sadly why, unless this is an emergency landing," Zethes said, brushing his hair out of his acne-covered face, "we will have to destroy you painfully."
"Destroy!" Cal agreed, with a lot more enthusiasm then Mia liked.
"Wait!" Piper said. "This is an emergency landing."
"Awww!" Cal looked so disappointed, Hermia almost felt sorry for him. But then she remembered that he wanted to kill her so that feeling went away quickly.
Zethes studied Piper, and then went back to studying Hermia which of course he'd already been doing before. "How does the pretty girl's friend decide this is an emergency, then?"
"We have to see Boreas. It's totally urgent! Please?" She forced a smile, which Mia figured must've been killing her. Mia also noticed something different about Piper's voice. Mia found herself believing every word. And when Mia turned to look at Jason she saw him nodding, looking absolutely convinced.
When she looked back she saw Zethes picking at his silk shirt, probably making sure it was still open wide enough. "Well ... I hate to disappoint the friend of the lovely lady, but you see, my sister, she would have an avalanche if we allowed you-"
Piper nugged Hermia while she turned to glare at her. Mia didn't know what Piper wanted from her, but when Piper mationed behind her, Mia understood what she had to do. Piper wanted Mia to convince Zethes to let them see Boreas.
Mia shut her eyes in annoyance while saying, "Zethes, our dragon is malfunctioning! It could crash any minute! Can you please help us?" Festus shuddered helpfully, then turned his head and spilled gunk out of his ear, splattering a black Mercedes in the parking lot below.
"No destroy?" Cal whimpered.
Zethes pondered the problem. Then he gave Mia another spasmodic wink. "Well, you are pretty. I mean, you're right. A malfunctioning dragon-this could be an emergency."
"Destroy them later?" Cal offered, which was probably as close to friendly as he ever got.
"It will take some explaining," Zethes decided. "Father has not been kind to visitors lately. But, yes. Come, faulty dragon people. Follow us."
The Boreads sheathed their swords and pulled smaller weapons from their belts-or at least Mia thought they were weapons. Then the Boreads switched them on, and Mia realized they were flashlights with orange cones. Cal and Zethes turned and swooped toward the hotel's tower.
Mia noticed Leo turn to look at them and said, "I love these guys. Follow them?" Hermia wasn't too eager to say yes and from the looks of it so did Jason and Piper.
"I guess," Jason decided. "We're here now. But I wonder why Boreas hasn't been kind to visitors."
"Pfft, he just hasn't met us." Leo whistled. "Festus, after those flashlights!"
As they got closer, Mia worried Leo would crash them into the tower. The Boreads made right for the green gabled peak and didn't slow down. Then a section of the slanted roof slid open, revealing an entrance easily wide enough for Festus. The top and bottom were lined with icicles like jagged teeth.
"This cannot be good," Jason muttered, as Mia turned to see his worried face. When she turned back she noticed Leo spurred the dragon downward as they swooped in after the Boreads.
The chapter was supposed to be longer but I really wanted to get another chapter out for you guys so here it it!
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