THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES [J. GRACE]

THIRTY-SEVEN

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ THE HOUSE OF MEMORIES ༉‧₊˚.[THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS]

l e o

chapter thirty-seven: gaea doesn't appreciate us hiking her mountain in new outfits

LEO HOPED the taxi could take them all the way to the top.

there was no such luck. the cab began to make lurching, grinding noises as it climbed the coarse mountain road. halfway up, they found the ranger's station closed with a chain keeping the rest of the way blocked off. "far as i can go," the cabbie said, not sounding particularly concerned as to why four teenagers were trying to get to the top of a closed off mountain. "you sure about this? it's gonna be a long walk back, and my car's actin' funny. i can't wait for you."

"we're sure," leo said quickly, opening the door, and stepping out fluidly. he'd been the first one to get out, a bad feeling eating at his stomach as to why the car had suddenly been acting up. when he inspected the tires, he found he was right. the wheels were sinking into the road like it was made of quicksand. it wasn't quickly enough to make them worry, but just enough to make the driver think he had some sort of transmission problem, or a bad axle, but leo knew different.

the road was hard-packed dirt, there was no reason at all it should have been soft enough to sink tires, but even leo's chucks had already starting to sink into the mush. gaea was messing with them – no surprise there. while his friends got out, leo paid the cabbie, and rather generously because why not? it was aphrodite's money, plus, he had a feeling it was the last time he'd need money either way. he didn't picture himself leaving the mountain.

"keep the change," leo told the man, "and get out of here, man. quick." the cabbie driver didn't argue. he pulled off without an argument, and pretty soon, the only thing left of the driver was his dust trail.

the view from the mountain was pretty amazing despite the circumstances of their visit. the entire inland valley around mount diablo was a patchwork of towns – grids of tree-lined streets, and nice, middle-class suburbs, shops, and schools. all filled with normal people leading normal lives, the kind of lives leo had never known to exist.

"that's concord," jason explained to them, pointing north. "walnut creek is right below us. to the south is danville, past those hills. and that way. . ." he pointed west where a ridge of golden hills held back a layer of fog like the rim of a bowl, "that's berkeley hills. the east bay. past that, san

"jason," chandler looked to him with a soft, attentive look leo couldn't say he'd ever seen before from her. she studied his expression, encouraging him to say what he was thinking, "do you remember something? maybe you've been here before?" and leo could understand where the questions were coming from, the honey blonde felt awfully familiar with the area. either that, or he went above and beyond in his geography studies.

"yes. . ." he started, then hesitated, "no. i. . . it just seems really important, i don't know why." the look he gave her was anguished.

"titan land," hedge nodded toward the west. his expression was grim, "bad place, jason. trust me. this is as close to 'frisco as we want to get."

at coach hedge's words, and the looks of confusion going around, leo was glad that chandler decided to give them a bit of a better explanation. "we're near mount tam, where the titan's palace used to be," she told them, the silver in her hair seemed to catch the sunlight. "it's where atlas holds the sky, where artemis, and annabeth was kept prisoner, forced to hold the weight of the sky."