The other Grace/HoO fanfiction

(8) From Quebec To Chicago (Hopefully Without Being Destroyed)

"You have fooled my father, girl." Khione, the cold woman from before, said to Piper as the walked into the hall Leo and Layla were at. "And you Jason Grace, I will see you as a statue in the throne room soon enough."

"Boreas is right," Jason said. "You're a spoiled kid. See you around, ice princess."

"Be careful," Zethes warned them. "Khione never forgets an insult."

"Bad sister." Cal agreed.

"She's the goddess of snow," Layla said. "What's she going to do, throw snowballs at us?"

"What happened up there? You made her mad? Is she mad at me, too? Guys, that was my prom date!" Leo looked genuinely upset. Was not making Khione angry the only thing he cared about?

"We'll explain later." Piper said glancing at Jason.

"Yeah," Jason agreed. "We'll explain later."

"Be careful pretty girl." Zethes said. "The wind between here a Chicago are bad-tempered. Many other evil thing are stirring. I am sorry you will not be be staying. You would make a lovely ice statue in which I could check my reflexion."

"Thanks, but I'd sooner play hockey with Cal." Piper said.

"Hockey?" Cal said with hope in his eyes.

"Joking," Piper said. "And the storm winds aren't our worst problem, are they?"

"Oh, no they aren't." Zethes said. "Something else. Something worse."

"Worse." Cal echoed. There it was again. They were talking about a thing much stronger than everything they have already faced. Even a Greek mythology nerd like Layla couldn't think of something like that.

Cal patted Leo in the back. "Don't get destroyed." Probably the biggest, and also the nicest, sentence he had formed. "Next time hockey. Pizza."

"Come on, guys." Jason said. "Let's go to Chicago and try not to get destroyed."

"You were amazing." Layla heard Jason say to Piper. She said something in French which for better or worse nobody else understood.

"What?" 

"I said I only talked to Boreas. I wasn't so amazing."

"Hey." He replied. "You saved me from joining Khione's subzero collection. I owe you one."

Leo took sandwiches from his bag and gave one to each of them. For something he had found in the woods as he said it was pretty good. While they were eating Jason explained what had happend in the throne room. How Boreas talked with Piper in French and then turned into Aquilion, his Roman equivalent, and how Khione got mad thst he decided to let them go and threatened to turn them into statues.

"I still can't believe Khione." Leo said disappointed. "She looked so nice."

"Yeah, snow may be pretty, but up close it's cold and nasty." Layla spat. She heard she heard Piper giggle at something Jason had said in her ear and she was pretty sure it had to do with her.

The Dragon went fast again and soon they couldn't see the city lights anymore. There, away from the city, the stars were easily visible. Layla who was admiring the view while listening to Piper talking about constellations eventually fell asleep leaning on Leo's back. She deserved some sleep. It had been a very tiring day after all.

In her dream, she was sitting on the couch of a cozy living room. A guy with a red t-shirt and deep scars in his face was sitting in an armchair across her. They were both laughing loudly probably at a joke he had said.

Then the door opened and a boy with a book in his hand walked in. It was... Leo? An older version of Leo for sure. With a glance at her reflexion at a window, she realized that she was an older version of helself, too. So, this dream was showing the future? What was Leo doing in her future, though? And who was that dude with the scars?

"So, I've been reading Geography and-" Leo said.

"Wait, wait." Layla cut him of still laughing from the joke. "You were reading Geography? Phlegeton will freeze over."

"Ha, ha funny. And for you information, yes, I was reading. But that's not the point. I noticed that most mountains have really weird names. Like for example, you remember mount Diablo in California? This means devil's mountain. Who names their mountain devil's mountain."

Her dream self froze as she remembered something. She finally had the piece that was missing from the puzzle. "Wait." She said. "Devil's mountain is in California?"

"Well, duh. We've been there on our first quest together. And you said I'm the one who doesn't study Geography." Leo said. Layla didn't need hear more. She shot up and stormed of the room.

"Layla, where are you going?" The scar dude with the red t-shirt shouted.

"Back to camp." She replied. "Frank and Reyna will need all help they can get.

The dream shifted. She was now sitting in a top bunk in apollo cabin. Her best friend, Lee, was playing a song in his guitar while singing. Being a son of Apollo, he was pretty good at playing guitar and had an amazing singing voice.

They were alone at the cabin. All his siblings were eating dinner as did the rest of the campers but the two friends weren't hungry.

Once he finished the song he put his guitar aside and moved to sit next to Layla.

"You have an amazing voice." She complimented looking him straight in the eyes.

"Why, thank you." He replied with a small smile. And then there was silence. Layla could feel her face heat up as a blush creeped up to her cheecks due to the boy's intense stare.

Suddenly, she grabbed both his hands and started leaning forward. He leaned in as well. Her 13 years old hopeless romantic self was very excited about what was going to follow. She closed eyes waiting for their lips to meet. Waiting to finally kiss the guy she had a crush for so long.

Only she didn't.

A sound of someone coughing interrupted them. James had opened the door so quietly that neither his half brother nor Layla heard him get in. He had both his in the door frame and his eyebrow raised.

"Sorry to interrupt you but sing-along starts in a few minutes and, well, we need Lee to play the guitar at the Campfire."

"Yeah... I-I also have to go." Layla said to the two sons of Apollo. She stormed out of the cabin not knowing that this would be the last time she saw Lee alive.

She chose a perfect time to wake up. When she opened her eyes they no longer were on Festus's backs, instead they were falling to their deaths, with loud screams.