Catching Lightning | Jason Grace

xii

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They managed to get Jason out of the warehouse and onto Festus without too many complications. They placed him between Piper and Aurora to prevent the only one of them that could fly from falling. They took off and continued their journey towards Chicago. After a while of flying, the nectar finally started to kick in and Aurora could breathe without feeling like she was stabbed. It had been pretty quiet until Jason shot awake.

"Cyclops."

"Morning, Sparky," Aurora's arms were wrapped around his waist to keep him balanced. "How was your nap?"

"D-Detroit," Jason stammered. "Didn't we crash land? I thought-"

"It's okay," Leo said. "We got away, but Rory's rib is still healing and you got a nasty concussion. She's not very good at those hymn things."

"Hey!"

"How you doing?"

"How did you-" Jason asked, "the Cyclops-"

"Leo ripped them apart," Piper said. "He was amazing. He can summon fire-"

"It was nothing," Leo said quickly.

"It was awesome," Aurora countered.

Piper laughed. "Shut up, Valdez. I'm going to tell him. Get over it."

Piper told Jason how Leo single-handedly defeated the Cyclops family; how they freed Jason, then noticed the Cyclops starting to re-form; how Leo had replaced the dragon's wiring and gotten them back in the air just as they'd started to hear the Cyclopes roaring for vengeance inside the factory.

"I'm not alone then," Jason said. "There are others like me."

"Jason," Piper said, "you were never alone. You've got us."

"I- I know... but something Hera said. I was having a dream..."

He told them what he'd seen, and what the goddess had said inside her cage.

"An exchange?" Piper asked. "What does that mean?"

Jason shook his head. "But Hera's gamble is me. Just by sending me to Camp Half-Blood, I have a feeling she broke some kind of rule, something that could blow up in a big way-"

"Most things she does could end up that way," Aurora said.

"Or save us," Piper said hopefully. "That bit about the sleeping enemy- that sounds like the lady Leo told us about."

Leo cleared his throat. "About that.... she kind of appeared to me back in Detroit, in a pool of Porta-Potty sludge."

"Did you say... Porta-Potty?" Jason asked.

"It's gross," Aurora gave a mischievous smile. "Like her."

"How old are you?"

Aurora stuck her tongue out at Jason, his mouth hung open in shock for a moment before he did the same.

Leo told them about the big face in the factory yard. "I don't know if she's completely unkillable," he said, "but she cannot be defeated by toilet seats. I can vouch for that."

"Next time try the whole toilet," Aurora suggested.

"She wanted me to betray you guys, and I was like, 'Pfft, right, I'm not gonna listen to a face in potty sludge'."

"She's trying to divide us," Piper said. Aurora and Jason glanced at each other, they could tell something was bothering her.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked.