The other Grace/HoO fanfiction

(13) Pikes Peak

When Layla woke up, she found herself next to a small river. She was soaked and felt so cold that even the warm, golden blanket that was wrapped around her couldn't warm her up. She subconsciously touched her chest in the spot where Lit had stabbed her. She was surprised realize that there wasn't even a scratch left. Gold must have healed it, she thought. At least something good came out.

"Great." She muttered sarcastically. "Now I can cross being turned into a golden statue from my to-do list."

"You wanted to be turned in to a statue?" Jason asked from behind startling her.

"Just a figure of speech. Where are the others?"

"Still statues." Jason pointed at their two friends. "I'm gonna need your help. Do you think we can fly from here to Pikes peak while carring Leo and Piper?"

"Perhaps we could, with the help of some storm spirits. Why Pikes Peak, though?"

"We are following the vapour trail. Aeolus palace might be there." Jason pointed at a faintly glowing trail in the sky.

She was right. With help from the venti they managed to carry Piper and Leo until Pikes peak. They landed near a small stream and used it to make Leo and Piper normal again.

Layla tried to lift Leo but as a golden statue he was even heavier than before. She ended up tripping and falling into the cold stream. Once she got out of the water she helped Leo out and gave him one of the two blankets Jason had gotten from Midas place. He couldn't, of course, predict that his sister would fall into the water again so he hadn't brought an extra blanket for her.

Piper took the second blanket but still looked awfully cold and as Dr. Grace decided, she had Hypothermia. Leo lit up a small fire and the sat around it eating sandwiches while Jason told what had happened in Midas' palace. How Lit fell to the floor and then turned into a golden statue after his father tried to help him stand up.

"The look on his face must've been priceless." Layla laughed. She wished she had been there to see that idiot being turned to gold.

Leo started cooking and took turn to explain his dream in which Hephaestus has spoken to him.

"I don't understand." Piper cut Leo off. "If demigods and gods have to work together to kill the giants, why would the gods stay silent? If they need us-"

"Well, that's not how Gods work." Layla interrupted. "They prefer it when mortals need their help and not the other way around. Father would rather be destroyed by the giants than have to admit his mistake. And I speak from experience."

"There's more, thought," Jason added. "When I dreamed about Hera in her cage, she said Zeus was acting unusually paranoid. And Hera- she said she went to those ruins because a voice had been speaking in her head. What if someone's influencing the gods, like Medea influenced us?"

"Yeah, Hephaestus said something similar, like Zeus was acting weirder than usual." Leo agreed. "But what bothered was the stuff my dad didn't say. Like a couple of times he was talking about the demigods, and how he had so many kids and all. I don't know. He acted like getting the greatest demigods together was going to be almost impossible- like Hera was trying, but it was a really stupid thing to do, and there was some secret Hephaestus wasn't supposed to tell me."

"Chiron was the same way back at camp. He mentioned a sacred oath not to discuss- something. Layla, have you heard anything about that? I mean, you were at the camp longest than any of us."

"Chiron's always like that, Jason. He knows much more than he let's on." His sister argued. "I'm pretty sure, however, that this oath has something to do with Jason and our quest."