Where there's smoke // L.Valdez

Chapter fifty-three

"Y'know, you should write poetry, 'cause that was seriously depressing." Persephone commented. "Or maybe you should leave that up to Apollo."

"Persephone Rose, you'd think after dying you'd be humbled." Hera spit.

"Humbled? Why would I need to be humbled. The last I knew, you abducted me, dumped me on a bus full of strangers and told one of my friends to collect me... but oh wait, I didn't know who she was. Because some goddess, I'm not sure if you're aware, decided to take away my memories. Now tell me, oh Queen of the Gods, what I needed to be humbled for?"

Silence followed.

Leo frowned at the giant's spire. "Can't we blow it up or something?"

"Without me, you do not have the power," Hera said. "You might as well try to destroy a mountain."

"Done that once today." Jason said.

"Just hurry up and let me out!" Hera demanded.

Jason scratched his head, "Leo, can you do it?"

"I don't know." He admitted. "Besides, if she's a goddess, why hasn't she busted herself out?"

Hera paced furiously in her cage, cursing in Ancient Greek. "Use your brain, Leo Valdez. I picked you because you're intelligent. Once trapped, a god's power is useless. You own father trapped me once in a golden chair. It was humiliating! I had to beg- beg for my freedom and apologise for throwing him off Olympus."

"Sounds fair," Leo said.

Hera gave him the godly stink-eye. "I've watched you since you were a child, son of Hephaestus, because I knew you could aid me at this moment. If anyone can find a way to destroy this abomination, it is you."

"But it's not a machine. It's like Gaia thrust her hand out of the ground and..." The spark in his eyes returned. He knew what to do. "Hold on. I do have an idea. Piper, I'm going to need your help. And we're going to need time."

The air turned brittle with cold. The temperature dropped so fast, Persephone felt her lungs ache. Her breath changed to mist in an instant. Frost coated the walls of the Wolf House. Venti rushed in- but instead of winged men, these were shaped like horses, with dark storm-cloud bodies and manes that crackled with lightening. Some had silver arrows sticking out of their flanks. Behind them came red-eyed wolves and the six-armed Earthborn.

Piper drew her dagger. Jason grabbed an ice covered plank off the pool floor. Persephone readied her hands in front of her. Leo reached into his toolbelt, drawing a tin of breath mints, which Persephone thought were highly inappropriate in their current situation. He shoved them back in and drew a hammer instead.

One of the wolves padded forward. It was dragging a human-sized statue by the leg. At the edge of the pool, the wolf opened its maw and dropped the statue for them to see- an ice sculpture of a girl, an archer with short pikey hair and a shocked look on her face.

"No!" Persephone yelled, Leo grabbing her to stop her from rushing forwards.

"Thalia!" Jason rushed forward as well, but Piper caught him and pulled him back. The ground around Thalia was already webbed with ice. One touch, and Persephone guessed anyone would turn into ice.

"Who did this?" Jason yelled. His body crackled with electricity. "I'll kill you myself!"

From somewhere behind the monsters, a girl's laughter rung out, clear and cold. She stepped out of the mist in her snowy white dress, a silver crown atop her long black hair. She regarded them with icy deep brown eyes. Persephone's blood ran cold.

"Bon soir, mes amis." Said Khione, the goddess of snow. She gave Leo a frosty smile. "Alas, son of Hephaestus, you say you need time? I'm afraid time is one tool you do not have."

A glittering dagger of ice grew in her hand.

"What've you done?" Jason demanded.

"Oh, so many things," The goddess purred. "Your sister's not dead, if that's what you mean. She and her Hunters will make fine toys for our wolves. I thought we'd defrost them one at a time and hunt them down for amusement. Let them be the prey for once."

The wolves snarled, appreciatively.

"Yes, my dears." Khione kept her eyes on Jason. "Your sister almost killed their king, you know. Lycaon's off in a cave somewhere, no doubt licking his wounds, but his minions have joined us to take revenge for their master. And soon Porphyrion will arise, and we shall rule the world."

"Traitor!" Hera shouted. "You meddlesome, D-list goddess! You aren't worthy to pour my wine, much less rule the world."

Khione sighed. "Tiresome as ever, Queen Hera. I've been wanting to shut you up for millennia."

Khione waved her hand, and ice encased the prison, sealing in the space between the earthen tendrils.

"That's better," The snow goddess said. "Now, demigods, about your death-"

"You're the one who tricked Hera into coming here," Jason said. "You gave Zeus the idea of closing Olympus."

The wolves snarled, and the storm spirits whinnied, ready to attack, but Khione held up her hand. "Patience, my loves. If he wants to talk, what matter? The sun is setting, and time is on our side. Of course, Jason Grace. Like snow, my voice is quiet and gentle, and very cold. It's easy for me to whisper to the other gods, especially when I am only confirming their own deepest fears. I also whispered in Aeolus' ear that he should issue an order to kill all demigods. It is a small service for Gaia, but I'm sure I will be well rewarded when he sons the giants come to power."

"You could've killed us in Quebec," Jason said. "Why let us live?"

Khione wrinkled her nose. "Messy business, killing you in my father's house, especially when he insists on meeting all visitors. I did try, you remember. It would've been lovely if he'd agreed to turn you to ice. But once he'd given you guarantee of safe passage, I couldn't disobey him. My father is an old fool. He lives in fear of Zeus and Aeolus, but he's still powerful. Soon enough, when my new masters have awakened, I will depose Boreas and take the thrown of the North Wind, but not just yet. Besides, my father did have a point. Your quest was suicidal. I fully expected you to fail."

"And to help us with that," Leo said. "You knocked our dragon out of the sky over Detroit. Those frozen wires in his head- that was your fault. You're gonna pay for that."

"You're also the one who kept Enceladus informed about us," Piper added. "We've been plagued by snowstorms the whole trip."

"And you cursed me!" Persephone growled. "As if this quest wasn't hard enough, you decided to freeze me to death!"

"Yes, I feel so close to all of you now!" Khione said. "Although I'm a bit disappointed you're standing here, in front of me." She turned to address all four of them. "Once you made it past Omaha, I decided to ask Lycaon to track you down so Jason could die here, at the Wolf House." Khione smiled at him. "You see, Jason, your blood spilled on this sacred ground will taint it for generations. Your demigod brethren will be outraged, especially when they find the bodies of these three from Camp Half-Blood. They'll believe the Greeks have conspired with giants. It will be... delicious."