²OLDEN CROWN. heroes of olympus

022.

OLDEN CROWN
━━ chapter twenty-two

━━ THERE WAS A list Leo tried to abide by. It was only a list he started after learning he was a demigod, a son of Hephaestus. He called it Things I Never Thought I'd Be Crazy Enough to Do. And this entire quest pretty much covered the entire list.

Now he can add flying a helicopter to that list.

The sun was going down as they flew north over the Richmond Bridge, and Leo couldn't believe the day had gone so quickly. Once again, nothing like ADHD and a good fight to the death to make time fly.

Piloting the chopper, he went and forth between confidence and panic. If he didn't think about it, he found himself automatically flipping the right switches, checking the altimeter, easing back on the stick, and flying straight. If he allowed himself to consider what he was doing, he started freaking out. He imagined his Aunt Rosa yelling at him in Spanish, telling him he was a delinquent lunatic who was going to crash and burn. Part of him suspected she was right.

"Everything okay up?" Delaney leaned forward, looking more nervous than Leo was. Maybe it had to do with being up in the air with her dad being a god of the Underworld ( or maybe it was just the fact it was Leo who was flying that made her so nervous ).

He tried putting on a brave face for her. "Aces. So, Elisa—what was up with that blonde lady?"

The daughter of Dionysus sighed, and looked aside. "A Maenad, Leo. She's one of Dionysus's followers."

"Oh." Leo focused on flying the helicopter for a moment, but realized that wasn't good either. But he didn't want to exactly think about what the Maenad meant. "She didn't seem too ..."

"Crazy?" Piper offered. "Well, she was crazy cool for taking out that last Earthborn for us. If she hadn't, it would've killed me and my dad."

"That's what the Maenad was for," replied Elisa. She went on to explain it all—one of the masks to her bracelet breaking, the Maenad folding out like a piece of origami, and how Dionysus had given it to her, saying that it'd be with her.

"Thoughtful," Leo said, glancing back at her.

Elisa snorted. "Hardly. He sent the Maenad to also try and ... help me."

"Yeah, with the battles," said Piper.

"No." Elisa shook her head. "With madness. With my powers. Said I should rely on them more and shit."

"Well, maybe the Maenad was right," said Delaney. "It would be useful if you turned all our enemies mad."

"Yeah, but what if Elisa accidentally turns us mad?" offered Jason. He sent her an apologetic look. "Sorry, Elisa."

"No, you're right," she agreed. "Besides, something drastic needs to happen for me to use them. That's how it's always been."

Leo frowned. "Well, isn't a drastic situation fighting to stop the end of the world?"

"You'd think," responded Elisa. "No, what I mean is ... Last time I used the powers, someone—close to me died. It was like a surge of emotions. And before ... I was, like, thirteen, and it was life or death for me. I was all alone. I had no other choice."

Silently, Leo saw Delaney wince like she knew what Elisa was talking about. Leo frowned, ready to ask, but Piper beat him to the punch, "Could we, like, entice it out of you? The madness?"