Hurricane ~ L. Valdez

1.30- Hooray, the Ground Wants to Eat Us!

     I was slightly concerned about the taxi's ability to take us to the top. And to be fair, I had a right to be. The cab made terrible, lurching sounds throughout the ride, and I hung onto Leo for dear life. I was getting major flashbacks from middle school when we rode with the Gray Sisters. they weren't good flashbacks either. Halfway up, when we reached the ranger's station, it was closed. Just fricking great.

       "Far as I can go," the cabbie said. Oh of course. "You sure about this? Gonna be a long walk back, and my car's acting funny. I can't wait for you." Something in my head wanted to scream, 'No! We're not sure! Let's go home now.' But, I didn't. Instead, I just nodded meekly.

       "We're sure," Leo said for me, hopping out. He ran a hand through his chocolate curls before extending it to help me out. While we all settled out of the cab, Leo paid the cabbie. He paid the cabbie a lot. Like much more than he should've. "Keep the change," he told him, before adding. "And get out of here. Quick."

       The driver didn't have to think about it twice. Coward. Soon all we could see was his dust trail. The view from the mountain was practically perfect and was making me wish we were here in better circumstances. I imagined a picnic date, overlooking the inland valley around Mount Diablo, which was a patchwork of towns— grids of neighborhoods, shops, and schools, and sighed. That was a life I didn't exactly get.

       "That's Concord," Jason said, pointing to the north. "Walnut Creek below us. To the south, Danville, past those hills. And that way..." He pointed west, where a ridge of golden hills in a bowl-like shape was covered in fog. "That's the Berkeley Hills. The East Bay. Past that, San Francisco."

       "Jason?" Piper touched his arm, causing him to tense a bit. "You remember something? You've been here?"

      "Yes...no." He presided, the same 'I remember something' look crossing his face. "It just seems important." Knowing Jason's scattered memory disease thing, it most likely was and we wouldn't find out about it until later. His memories tended to have terrible timing.

       "That's Titan land." Coach Hedge nodded toward the west. "Bad place, Jason. Trust me, this is as close to 'Frisco as we want to get."

       Coach was right. I had heard many a bad thing about San Francisco. There are certain areas we're just supposed to stay away from as demigods. We don't ask questions. Well, we do, we just don't act on them. Usually.

       But Jason kept looking back there in a way that was becoming slightly unnerving to me.

      Suddenly, Leo shuffled next to me, and it was only then that I realized the ground was trying to eat us. Just great. "Hey, guys," he said, moving a hand to my back to guide me forward. "Let's keep moving."

       The others seemed to have just noticed the problem as well. "Gaea is stronger here," Hedge grumbled. He took his hooves out of the shoes (haha that rhymed), then handed the shoes to Leo. "Keep those for me, Valdez. They're nice."

       Leo snorted. "Yes, sir, Coach. Would you like them polished?" He asked sarcastically.

        "That's varsity thinking, Valdez." Hedge nodded approvingly. "But first, we'd better hike up this mountain while we still can."

       Leo's face dropped and I nudged him grinning, "Keep 'em nice, Valdez." I mocked.

       Leo threw the shoes down the mountain.

      "How do we know where the giant is?" Piper asked. Jason pointed toward the peak, where I could see smoke.

       "Smoke equals fire," Jason said. "We'd better hurry."