Where there's smoke // L.Valdez

Chapter forty-two

"Mother!"

Persephone jumped awake, nearly falling off her chair.

Since when was she in a chair...

The table in front of her bumped up, as Jason hit his knees on them.

"What?" Hedge demanded. "Fight who? Where?"

"Falling!" Leo grabbed the table. "No- not falling. Where are we?"

Persephone shook her head, trying to get her bearings. She shivered, rubbing her arms.

Jason made a choking sound, "What are you wearing?"

She snapped her head to him, watching his gaze on Piper. The daughter of Aphrodite was wearing a turquoise dress, black leggings and black leather boots. She had a silver charm bracelet on her wrist, and a snowboarding jacket. Her hair also got a makeover.

"It's nothing," she told them. "It's my-" She cut herself off. Persephone raised a brow at her, though decided that it wasn't important right now. "It's nothing."

Leo grinned in his chair next to Persephone. "Aphrodite strikes again, huh? You're gonna be the best-dressed warrior in town, beauty queen."

"Hey, Leo," Jason nudged his arm. "You look at yourself recently?"

"What... oh."

Aphrodite's gift to Leo was to dress him up in pinstriped trousers, black leather shoes, a white collarless shirt with suspenders and his toolbelt, Ray-Ban sunglasses and a porkpie hat.

"God, Leo," Piper stifled a laugh. "I think my dad wore that to his last premiere, minus the tool belt."

"Hey, shut up!"

"I think he looks good." Coach said. "Course, I look better."

Persephone wouldn't quite say that. The goat-man was dressed in a baggy canary-yellow suit with two-tone shoes fitted over his hooves. He had a matching yellow broad-brimmed hat, a rose-coloured shirt, a baby blue tie and a blue carnation in his lapel- which he then ate.

"Well," Jason said. "At least your mum overlooked me."

That wasn't entirely true; he was dressed in jeans and a clean purple t-shirt, exactly like he'd worn at the Grand Canyon. He had new trainers on, and his hair was newly trimmed.

Persephone caught Piper's blush and smirked. Then her gaze trailed to Leo, who was still pouting and messing with his suspenders.

"Cheer up, Smokey, I think you look great." She grinned. His eyes wondered to hers.

"Wow Persephone," Piper said.

She glanced down at herself. She'd been placed in light blue skinny jeans and a light grey cropped-top. She had white Docs on, and her hair was scraped into a high ponytail. Her hand immediately flew to her ring, making sure she still had it, sighing in relief and spinning it around her finger. Something crinkled in her pocket, letting her know that Aphrodite had made sure to keep the letter Aeolus returned to her.

The downside to her outfit, was the clear view of the frost. It had spread from her arms to her abdomen, some even spreading to her right hip.

"Is it just me or is the frost spreading faster?" She asked, quietly, watching as her left hip started to frost over.

She caught Leo's gaze, his cheeks red. She furrowed her brows at him, confused. He caught her eyes and turned away, ears following the colour of his cheeks. She swore she saw a lick of flame from the tip of his ear. She cleared her throat.

"Anyway, how did we even get here?"

"Oh, that would be Mellie," Hedge said, chewing happily on his carnation. "Those winds shot us halfway across the country, I'd guess. We would've been smashed flat on impact, but Mellie's last gift- a nice soft breeze- cushioned our fall."

"And she got fired for us," Leo said. "Man, we suck."

"Ah, she'll be fine," Hedge said. "Besides, she couldn't help herself. I've got that effect on nymphs. I'll send her a message when we're through with this quest, and help her figure something out. That is one aura I could settle down with and raise a herd of baby goats."

"I'm going to be sick." Piper gagged. "Anyone else want coffee?"

"Coffee!" Hedge's grin was stained blue from the flower. "I love coffee."

"Um," Jason said. "But- money? Our packs?"

Piper reached into her pockets and brought out a wad of cash. Persephone thought that if this was how Aphrodite treated all of her kids, then maybe she'd ask to get adopted.

Leo whistled. "Allowance? Piper, your mum rocks!"

"Wow Piper, hey can you ask your mum if she wants to adopt-"

The sky rumbled.

"You know what? Scratch that idea." Persephone laughed, nervously.

"Waitress!" Hedge called, clearly unbothered by the scenario. "Six double expressos, and whatever these guys want. Put it on the girl's tab."

Apparently, the team had landed at Café Verve, Walnut Creek, CA'. The waitress had told them that it was 9am on 21st December. Which, of course, meant that it was the winter solstice, meaning they had to be at Enceladus' place within three house.

On the plus side, Mount Diablo was right on the horizon at the end of the street. Compared to the Rockies, it wasn't very big, nor was it covered in snow. It seemed... peaceful, its golden creases marbled with grey-green trees. And supposedly, a big, evil giant was waiting for them on top of it, with Piper's dad.

Next to her, Leo pulled something out of his pocket; the old crayon drawing Aeolus had given him, it must've been important if even Aphrodite saved it for him.

"What is that?" Piper asked.

Leo folded it up gingerly and slid it back into his pocket. "Nothing. You don't want to see my kindergarten artwork."

"It's more than that," Jason guessed. "Aeolus said it was the key to our success."

Leo shook his head. "Not today. He was talking about... later."

"How can you be sure?" Piper asked. Persephone shot her a look.

"Trust me," he said. "Now- what's our game plan?"

Coach hedge belched. So far, he'd eaten an entire plate of doughnuts, three espressos, two napkins and another flower, this one from the vase at the table. He would've eaten the silverware, if Piper hadn't slapped his hand away.

"Climb the mountain," Hedge said, "Kill everything except Piper's dad. Leave."

"Thank you, General Eisenhower." Jason grumbled.

"Hey, I'm just saying!"

"Well, maybe let's not 'just say' anything," Persephone clipped in.

"Guys," Piper said. "There's more you need to know,"

She had their full attention.