the great wave | percy jackson

𝑖𝑥 - leonidas

It seemed like he only slept for a few seconds, but when Ash shook him awake, the daylight was fading.

"We're here," she told him.

Leo rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Below them, a city sat on a cliff overlooking a river. Buildings crowded together inside high walls like a medieval town, and in the center was a castle, like an actual castle. Or at least Leo assumed it was.

"Tell me that's Quebec and not Santa's workshop," Leo said.

"Santa lives in San Francisco," Ash informed.

"Yeah, Quebec City," Piper spoke up with something actually helpful. And sensical. "One of the oldest cities in North America. Founded about 1600 or so?"

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Your dad do a movie about that too?"

Ash smacked him on the arm. "I read sometimes, okay?" Piper huffed. "Just because Aphrodite claimed me doesn't mean I have to be an airhead."

"¡Chicas luchadoras!" Leo exclaimed. "Since you know so much, what's that castle?"

"A hotel, I think."

Leo laughed. "No way."

But as they got closer, he saw she was right. "The North Wind is staying in a hotel?" Leo asked in bewilderment. "That can't be–"

"Heads up, guys," Jason interrupted. "We got company!"

Leo looked below and saw what his friend meant. Rising from the top of the tower were two decidedly not nice-looking angels brandishing nasty swords. Festus didn't like them and Leo didn't either. He swooped to a halt midair, making a rumbling sound that Leo recognized as the precursor to fire.

"Steady, boy," Leo muttered.

"I don't like this," Jason said. "They look like storm spirits."

At first Leo thought he was right, but as the angels got closer he could see they were much more solid than venti. One was the size of an ox, decked out in hockey gear with a killer black eye, while the other looked like he'd just stepped out of a 1980s rock album cover. Both had icy-white hair, feathery purple wings, and carried bronze swords that were jagged like icicles.

Ash flew out into the air in front of Festus to meet them, startling her companions.

Hockey ox grunted. "No clearance."

"'Scuse me?" Leo said.

"Hi," Ash said cordially. "My name's–"

Groovy love god cut her off in a French accent so bad Leo was sure it was fake. "You have no flight plan on file. This is restricted airspace."

"Destroy them?" The ox showed off a gap-toothed grin.

Festus began to hiss steam and Jason summoned his golden sword, but Ash held out her hands and cried, "Hold up, hold up! Let's have some manners here, boys. And who might I have the pleasure of being destroyed by today?"

"I am Cal!" the ox grunted, looking proud of himself for memorizing the sentence.

"Nice to meet you, Cal!"

"That's short for Calais," the other filled in. "Sadly, my brother cannot say words with more than two syllables–"

"Pizza! Hockey! Destroy!" Cal offered helpfully.

"—which includes his own name," off-brand Billy Idol finished.

"I am Cal," Cal repeated. "And this is Zethes! My brother!"

"Wow," Leo said. "That was almost three sentences, man! Way to go." Ash shot him a nasty glare but Cal grunted, obviously pleased with himself.

"Stupid buffoon," his brother grumbled. "They make fun of you. But no matter. I am Zethes, which is short for Zethes. And the lady there—" He winked at Piper, but it came out more like a facial seizure. "She can call me anything she likes. Perhaps she would like to have dinner with a famous demigod before we destroy you?"