"After all those years on the streets, I finally feel like I'm home"
"You're lying" Leo didn't even have to look up, he knew her better than anyone.
"You're right, I was always at home with you"
In which there's an unlikely friendship (... and ma...
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Alex woke up next to a warm campfire. She remembered her awful dream of King Midas turning her into a gold statue.
"Turning into a gold statue- do not recommend" She said to no one in particular.
She blinked, trying to figure out where they were. Next to her, a campfire blazed, turning the air sharp with smoke. Firelight flickered against rock walls. They were in a shallow cave, but it didn't offer much protection. Outside, the wind howled. Snow blew sideways. It might've been day or night. The storm made it too dark to tell.
She then realised she was in Leo's arms wrapped in blankets. His body heat along with the blankets made her feel like the snow outside was unnatural.
"Leo?" She asked.
"Sucks turning into gold huh?" He chuckled though he seemed shaken, he pulled her closer and Alex gladly obliged.
"Where are we?" Piper's voice grabbed Alex's attention.
"Pipes..." She greeted, and then noticed Jason. "Grace"
"Jackson." Jason nodded and then answered Piper's question. "Pikes Peak, Colorado."
"But that's, what-five hundred miles from Omaha?"
"Something like that," Jason agreed. "I harnessed the storm spirits to bring us this far. They didn't like it-went a little faster than I wanted, almost crashed us into the mountainside before I could get them back in the bag. I'm not going to be trying that again."
"Why are we here?" Alex asked.
Leo sniffed. "That's what I asked him."
Jason gazed into the storm as if watching for something. "That glittery wind trail we saw yesterday? It was still in the sky, though it had faded a lot. I followed it until I couldn't see it anymore. Then-honestly I'm not sure. I just felt like this was the right place to stop."
"'Course it is." Coach Hedge spit out some cudgel splinters. "Aeolus's floating palace should be anchored above us, right at the peak. This is one of his favourite spots to dock."
"Maybe that was it." Jason knit his eyebrows. "I don't know. Something else, too..."
"The Hunters were heading west," Piper remembered. "Do you think they're around here?"
Jason rubbed his forearm as if the tattoos were bothering him. "I don't see how anyone could survive on the mountain right now. The storm's pretty bad. It's already the evening before the solstice, but we didn't have much choice except to wait out the storm here. We had to give you some time to rest before we tried moving."
"We have to get you warm." Jason sat next to Piper and held out his arms a little awkwardly. "Uh, you mind if I.."
