Spirit of the Panther (House of Hades/Frank Zhang Fanfic)

XIV. Malta

We made it to the dock and we made it to dry land. I grabbed Frank's hand and walked closer to him. We found Leo sitting at a table at some open-air café.

Piper nearly knocked Leo out of his chair. "Leo! Where have you been?"

"Valdez!" Hedge grinned then he scowled. "You disappear like that and I'll knock you into next month."

I stood behind Leo's chair and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. "You scared us, Leo. Don't do that again or I'll cast a curse."

Leo chuckled, though it sounded sad. "I wouldn't cross you, Esmeralda."

I frowned. Something was up with Leo. I, however, ruffled Leo's hair. "Of course you wouldn't, Valdez."

I sat next to him and Frank sat at my other side.

Hazel kissed Leo's cheek. "Don't do the whole disappearing act again. We thought you were dead."

Leo gave us a faint smile. "Hey. Nah, nah, I'm good."

He wasn't. I reached into his mind and saw why. He had met the one and only Calypso. And he loved her dearly. I could see why. Calypso was so beautiful and so amazingly nice.

Through our thoughts, I asked, "Hey, Leo, are you okay?"

Leo looked bewildered but thought, "Yeah, yeah. I'll talk to you about it later. Don't worry about me."

Leo looked at everyone else. "For starters, I got marooned. Long story. How about you guys? What happened with Khione?"

Coach Hedge went into the whole story of how Piper defeated Khione except it was completely different. Fortunately, Piper interrupted.

"Coach!" Piper exclaimed. "That didn't happen. Any of it. I really couldn't have done any of it if it hadn't been for Festus."

Leo looked surprised. "Festus was deactivated."

"About that," Piper said. She explained her version of how it happened. Piper had awoken the dragon with charmspeak.

Leo tapped his fingers against the table. "That shouldn't be possible. Unless he responds to voice commands because of the upgrades. If he's permanently activated, that means the navigation system and the crystal . . ."

"Crystal?" I asked. I suddenly got an image of a very old crystal on a navigational system of some sorts. I looked at Leo and he met my gaze. He raised an eyebrow.

Hazel continued our story. The waitress came and gave us menus. We ordered and we soon were eating actual food. We looked like regular teenagers. It was so weird that to mortals, I was regular, but I wasn't.

Despite it being a happy occasion, everyone was quieter. Leo had always been the jokester but now he was quieter.

"So then Jason harnessed the venti," Hazel finished. "And here we are."

Leo whistled. "Hot-air horses? Dang Jason, it's like you released one large fart to get here."

I laughed. "Doesn't sound so heroic but it's funnier."

"Well, yeah. I'm an expert on hot air. I'm still curious as to why Malta. I just kinda ended up here but I can't be sure if it's random or -"

"Maybe it's this." Frank tapped his brochure. "Says Malta was where Calypso lived here."

Leo's face drained. "W-what now?"

I looked at the brochure. "It says Calypso's original home was an island called Gozo north of here."

Coach rubbed his hands together. "Maybe we could fight her! I could do that."

Leo shook his head. "No, we can't."

I looked down at my nails. "Leo's right. Calypso isn't bad. She's one of the good sorceresses. Every Hecate kid knows that."

"Still," Piper said. "Leo, did something happen?"

Leo shot to his feet. "No, of course not. Guys, we should go. I've got to check on Festus. Earth goddess to defeat. What are we waiting for? Leo's back!"

I smiled, standing up. "Let's go. We've got shit to do."

Everyone started cleaning up. My senses tingled and I looked up, my heart beating faster. I looked over the horizon and saw a streak of darkness.

"Guys," I said. I pointed at the horizon. "Look."

"I don't see anything," Coach grumbled.

"Me neither," Piper mumbled.

I looked around. No one else saw it. Only Jason, Hazel, and Nico saw it.

"That can't be . . ." Nico muttered. "Greece is still miles away."

The darkness flashed again, momentarily taking the color out of the sky.

"You think it's Epirus?" I asked, my world spinning. My senses were on high alert and whatever that darkness was wasn't good.

Nico nodded. "The House of Hades is open."

A rumbling sound washed over us like distant artillery.

"It has begun," Hazel said.

"What has?" Leo asked.

The next flash happened and I felt like my whole entire person was darkening. "Gaea's final push. The Doors are working overtime. Her forces are entering the mortal world on the double."

"We'll never make it," Nico said. "By the time we arrive, there'll be too many to fight."

I raised my jaw. "I can help us. I can teleport us closer. We can do this." I grinned and looked at Leo. "Besides, we have Leo. We'll be just fine."

Leo gave us a crooked grin. "Time to fly, boys and girls. Uncle Leo's back and he has a few tricks up his sleeve."