Haunted || Leo Valdez

47 - What Is a Wine God Doing in Kansas?

"Yo, Piper!" Leo knocked on the Daughter of Aphrodite's door. "We're landing!"

"Landing?" A groggy voice muttered from inside.

Leo opened her door and poked his head in, making sure to cover his eyes just in case. Then he peeked. "You decent?"

"Leo!"

"Sorry." He grinned. "Hey, nice Power Ranger jammies."

"They are not Power Rangers! They're Cherokee eagles!"

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, we're setting down a few miles outside Topeka, as requested. And, um..." He glanced out in the passageway, then leaned inside again. "Thanks for not hating me, about blowing up the Romans yesterday."

Piper rubbed her eyes. "That's okay, Leo. You weren't in control of yourself."

"Yeah, but still...you didn't have to stick up for me."

"Are you kidding? You're like the annoying little brother I never had. Of course I'll stick up for you."

Leo wasn't sure what to do with that information. "Uh...thanks?"

From above, Coach Hedge yelled, "Thar she blows! Kansas, ahoy!"

"Holy Hephaestus," Leo muttered. "He really needs to work on his shipspeak. I'd better get above deck."

Piper arrived above deck with a bagel for breakfast not long after.

"So!" Annabeth plucked the bagel out of Piper's hand and took a bite, but that didn't seem to bother Piper. Back at camp, they'd had a running joke about stealing each other's breakfast. "Here we are. What's the plan?"

"I want to check out the highway," Piper said. "Find the sign that says Topeka 32."

Leo spun his Wii controller in a circle, and the sails lowered themselves. "We shouldn't be far," he said. "Festus and I calculated the landing as best we could. What do you expect to find at the mile marker?"

Piper explained what she'd seen in the knife—the man in purple with a goblet.

"Purple shirt?" Jason asked. "Vines on his hat? Sounds like Bacchus."

"Dionysus," Percy muttered. "If we came all the way to Kansas to see Mr. D—"

"Bacchus isn't so bad," Jason said. "I don't like his followers much...."

Piper shuddered. Leo couldn't blame her. Their encounter with the maenads a few months ago had almost gotten them torn to pieces. Even so, it was probably the best day of his life, because after they'd saved the day, he'd gotten to talk to his mom for the first time in years. Then after that, he'd kissed Rebecca for the first time.

Leo slumped. He was going to go crazy thinking about Rebecca if he didn't see her soon. They were closer to Georgia than ever. If they had to talk to the wine god, Leo hoped they could make it snappy.

"But the god himself is okay," Jason continued. "I did him a favor once up in the wine country."

Percy looked appalled. "Whatever, man. Maybe he's better on the Roman side."

"But why would he be hanging around in Kansas?" asked Anne, whose green-streaked hair flashed in the sunlight. "Didn't Zeus order the gods to cease all contact with mortals?"

Frank grunted. The big guy was wearing a blue tracksuit this morning, like he was ready to go for a jog in the sunflowers.

"The gods haven't been very good at following that order," he noted. "Besides, if the gods have gone schizophrenic like Hazel said—"