Where there's smoke // L.Valdez

Chapter forty-nine

Leo's improvised bullhorn was a success. Piper only needed a few words to convince the chopper to land on the mountain. The pilot lady immediately agreed that flying the group to the Oakland Airport was a fantastic idea... with a little help from Piper, of course.

Piper's dad, however, was the challenge. Getting him onboard the helicopter, to be more specific.

"No," Tristan McClean muttered as they picked him up off the ground. "Piper, what- there were monsters- there were monsters-"

Persephone limped out of Leo's hold, gesturing him to help Piper and Jason hold him, while she and Coach Hedge gathered their supplies. Well... she helped as much as she could, her strength was still slowly returning.

Fortunately for the group, they didn't have to explain Coach Hedge's goat legs to the pilot, as he had yanked his trousers and shoes back on beforehand.

Persephone found it hard to watch Piper's dad in this state, she could only imagine what the daughter of Aphrodite was going through. They would probably never know what exactly Enceladus had done to the man, but it was enough to break him.

"It'll be okay, dad." Piper said, voice soothing. Persephone could sense the charmspeak, but she knew Piper didn't have the heart to use the full force of her gift. "These people are my friends. We're going to help you. You're safe now."

He blinked and looked up at the helicopter rotors. "Blades. They had a machine with so many blades. They had six arms..."

Once the group had gotten him to the bay doors, the pilot came over to help. "What's wrong with him?" She asked.

"Smoke inhalation," Jason suggested. "Or heat exhaustion."

"We should get him to a hospital."

"It's okay," Piper said. "The airport is good."

"Yeah, the airport is good," The pilot agreed immediately. Then frowned, as though she was confused as to why she changed her mind so quickly. "Isn't he Tristan McClean, the movie star?"

"No," Piper said. "He only looks like him. Forget it."

"Yeah," the pilot said. "Only looks like him. I-" She blinked, confused. "I forgot what I was saying. Let's get going."

Jason raised his eyebrows at Piper, quite clearly impressed. Persephone knew Piper wasn't proud of herself, though. She'd known the girl long enough to know that she didn't enjoy manipulating people with her Charmspeak.

Finally, they got Tristan McClean on board and the chopper took off. Questions kept streaming through the pilot's radio, asking where she was going, but she paid them no mind. They veered away from the burning mountain and headed towards the Berkeley Hills.

Persephone made sure not to watch the exchange between Piper and her father, Instead, busying herself by fiddling with the broken pieces of her ring in her palm. Leo edged closer to her, if that were even possible, and gazed at the piece of jewellery.

"Your ring broke." He commented. She nodded, sighing. "I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "Someone special made it for me, they died in the Titan war."

"Beckendorf?" Leo guessed, remembering his conversation with Nyssa. Persephone took a sharp intake of breath, like a puzzle piece had fallen into place.

"Oh," she said. Leo wished he hadn't opened his mouth. "Yeah, Charles Beckendorf. He was a great guy; he'd always work with Tyson when he could, he's Percy's brother, I don't think he had a bad bone in him. Everyone loved him."

Leo shifted, uncomfortable.

He cleared his throat. "I could try fix it for you."

Persephone shook her head. "No, I think I'll keep it like that. That part of my life was over last summer, it's time for a change, don't you think?" She asked him, smiling softly. He nodded. "I'll figure out what to do when we get back to camp."

Camp. It seemed it was years ago when she last visited. The quest sure dragged out. So much had happened since they left. She sighed, closing her eyes, dropping her head onto Leo's shoulder.

He tensed but held her hand, gently, in his, the ring softly hidden inside their hands.

She didn't take long to fall asleep in the comfort of the boy's warmth and his gentle tapping against her hand, like he was trying to communicate with her, secretly.

When she next woke, Leo was shaking her awake. The chopper had landed, and everyone had climbed out, onto the tarmac. She groaned and gripped Leo's hand as he led her out of the chopper, catching her when she stumbled, tiredly. The group turned to Piper.

"What now?" Jason asked her.

Well, that was the easy, and the hard part. What now? Save Hera. They knew what they had to do, so that was the easy part. The hard part? Finding Hera and actually freeing her. Persephone was sure it wouldn't exactly be like a walk in the underworld.

"Fist thing," Piper started. "I- I have to get my dad home. I'm sorry, guys."

Persephone face fell. Of course she did, they couldn't blame her for wanting to take care of her dad. He needed help. But, selfishly, Persephone wished that Piper could come with them, instead. She couldn't do this without all of them beside her.

"Oh," Leo said. "I mean, absolutely. He needs you right now. We can take it from her."

"Pipes, no." Her father had been sitting in the helicopter doorway, a blanket around his shoulders. But he stumbled to his feet. "You have a mission. A quest. I can't-"

"I'll take care of him." Coach Hedge said.

The group stared at him. They never expected him to offer to do that. "You?" Piper asked.

"I'm a protector," Hedge said. "That's my job, not fighting."

Persephone realised that he sounded quite crestfallen. Maybe he was embarrassed about the fight on the mountain. Maybe the satyr wasn't always as tough as he made out to be.

But then he straightened and set his jaw. "Of course, I'm good at fighting, too." He glared at them, as though daring them to challenge that.

"Yes," Jason said."

"Terrifying," Leo agreed.

"Never known anyone to fight like you." Persephone confirmed.

The coach grunted. "But I'm a protector, and I can do this. Your dad's right, Piper. You need to carry on with the quest."

"But..." Piper's eyes had started to water, "Dad..."

He held out his arms and hugged him, the man visibly shaking.

"Let's give them a minute." Jason said, and they took the Pilot a few yards down the tarmac.