Home|| Leo Valdez

13

—As they flew over New England, Jason laid out the game plan: First, find some guy named Boreas and grill him for information-

"His name is Boreas?" Leo had to ask. "What is he, the God of Boring?"

Alex chuckled, but no one else did.

Second, Jason continued, they had to find those venti that had attacked them at the Grand Canyon-

"Can we just call them storm spirits?" Alex asked. "Venti makes them sound like evil espresso drinks."

This time Leo chuckled.

And third, Jason finished, they had to find out who the storm spirits worked for, so they could find Hera and free her.

"So you want to look for Dylan's siblings...  on purpose," Alex said. "The guy who threw Leo off the skywalk and sucked Coach Hedge into the clouds."

"That's about it," Jason said. "Well... there may be a wolf involved, too. But I think she's friendly. She probably won't eat us, unless we show weakness."

Jason told them about his dream-the big nasty mother wolf and a burned-out house with stone spires growing out of the swimming pool.

"Uh-huh," Leo said. "But you don't know where this place is."

"Nope," Jason admitted.

"And there's also that thing about me dying, why is no one else worried about that?" Alex exclaimed. 

"You act like I'd let you die Lex, remember our promise- I'm never leaving you..." Leo said, then realising it was too heartfelt he added. "I mean, you aren't getting rid of me that easily"

"There's also giants," Piper added. "The prophecy said the giants' revenge."

"Hold on," Leo said. "Giants-like more than one? Why can't it be just one giant who wants revenge?"

"I don't think so," Piper said. "I remember in some of the old Greek stories, there was something about an army of giants."

"Great," Alex muttered. "Of course, with our luck, it's an army. So you know anything else about these giants? Didn't you do a bunch of myth research for that movie with your dad?"

"Your dad's an actor?" Jason asked.

Leo laughed. "I keep forgetting about your amnesia. Heh. Forgetting about amnesia. That's funny. But yeah, her dad's Tristan McLean."

"Uh-Sorry, what was he in?"

"It doesn't matter," Piper said quickly. "The giants-well, there were lots of giants in Greek mythology. But if I'm thinking of the right ones, they were bad news. Huge, almost impossible to kill. They could throw mountains and stuff. I think they were related to the Titans. They rose from the earth after Kronos lost the war-I mean the first Titan war, thousands of years ago-and they tried to destroy Olympus. If we're talking about the same giants-"

"Chiron said it was happening again," Jason remembered. "The last chapter. That's what he meant. No wonder he didn't want us to know all the details."

Leo whistled. "So... giants who can throw mountains. Friendly wolves that will eat us if we show weakness. Evil espresso drinks. Gotcha. Maybe this isn't the time to bring up my psycho babysitter."

"Is that another joke?" Piper asked.

Leo told them about Tia Callida, who was really Hera, and how she'd appeared to him at camp. He didn't tell them about his fire abilities though and Alex didn't push him.

And he told them about the strange woman in earthen robes who seemed to be asleep, and seemed to know the future.

Leo estimated the whole state of Massachusetts passed below them before his friends spoke.
"That's... disturbing," Piper said.

"Guys.. I had a dream last night, I mean the night before Grand Canyon and all that- There was a woman, who looked like Leo described. And she said I was important in the war but I had to prove myself first" Alex told them. 

"You know... the prophecies make no sense. One says you'll die and the woman says you're important!" Leo exclaimed. Then he turned a bit serious "Thing is, everybody says don't trust Hera. She hates demigods. And the prophecy said we'd cause death if we unleash her rage. So I'm wondering... why are we doing this?"

"She chose us," Jason said. "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 Alex feel any better, but she couldn't argue with Jason's point. It did feel like this was the start of something huge. She just wished that if there were four more demigods destined to help them, they'd show up quick. Alex didn't want to hog all the terrifying life-threatening adventures.

"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."

"But who is she?" Alex asked. "And what does she have to do with giants?"

Good questions, but none of them had answers. They flew in silence.

Festus kept flying. The wind got colder, and below them snowy forests seemed to go on forever. Alex didn't know exactly where Quebec was. Leo had told Festus to take them to the palace of Boreas, and Festus kept going north. Hopefully, the dragon knew the way, and they wouldn't end up at the North Pole.

"Why don't you get some sleep?" Piper said in Alex's ear. "You were up all night."

Alex wanted to protest, but the word sleep sounded really good. "You won't let me fall off?"

Piper patted his shoulder. "Trust me, Alex. Beautiful people never lie."

"Right," she muttered. She leaned forward against Leo's back while trying to ignore her thumping heart and soon she drifted into a deep sleep. 

Hey...

Quick question though, what do you guys think would be Alex and Leo's ship name?

That's all I wanted to ask... Bye... 

Don't forget to chuck me that vote and maybe slide over a comment or two- it would make my day. 

~Jax