Inspired by some things happen (but not like this) by janigkale on ao3 (sorry ffnet is really bad with links)

... as for the "inspired fic"... inspired is put very loosly, because i was actually writing this before that fic came out BUT as far as i can recall, this is literally the only other valgrace fic that has to do with their kids? idk, send me the others if i'm wrong, but i think it's important to boost other writers here ESPECIALLY for something as deprived as valgrace. plus the fic seems super cute so far ahhhh!

… anyway i'm not really sure why i wrote this either lol. i used to hate OC's with a passion lol, but idk what's happening. i think the older i get, i feel like i have less time to write something super silly and self-indulgent like this.

this is a weird fic for me, also because i've never written pov's like this before, so i hope it goes well when i go back to read it again. i also don't use past tense too much, especially as of late, but i really wanted to emulate the lost hero and rick's writing lol. once again, hope it works... (also... this is ONCE again, one of those fics that will totally get me sued ajsbubliufbuss)

Disclaimer: i don't own pjo and/or any of it's characters. all rights belong to rick riordan.

Dylan Totally Sucks

Outside the window was nothing but endless dirt.

Leo didn't know what he had been expecting. The pathway the bus took to the Grand Canyon had turned rocky and bare over an hour ago, alerting the group ahead of time that yeah, this trip is going to be boring. However, the injustice of it all was ignored in favor of the few sweet hours of freedom from Wilderness.

The Grand Canyon was not the popular choice for the trip. Half of Leo's class had wanted to go to see the newest superhero movie. The other half had wanted to go to the trampoline park. Heck, even the teachers volunteered to chaperone, if only to go bowling. The Head of Wilderness quickly gave a swift no to all three and assigned Coach Hedge- the one with the most reluctance to go anywhere (buzzkill)- to take the sophomore class on an "Education Expedition" that related to their studies. Of course, they learned about rocks and the Earth's layers the year before, so the trip was nothing more than a waste of time.

It looked like it was going to rain too. Great. Stuck out in the desert that no one wanted to be at, and getting caught in a storm.

Leo turned from the window, only to be surprised by a girl sitting next to him. He jumped, and the girl smiled at him. Behind him, he heard Jason take a sharp intake as he woke up, and Piper ask if he was okay.

"Who are you?" Leo asked the girl, puzzled. He clearly remembered fighting for his lone seat on the bus, so the intrusion was not loved. Nevermind the fact that Leo knew his classmates, and this chick was definitely not one of them.

She looked crazy, being all wide-smiles and dirty faced. "Hi, Daddy!"

Leo's soul practically slipped out of his body and fell into another dimension. "What?"

She wrapped her arm around his like they were best buddies. "I said hi!"

Behind them, Jason said, "This is a mistake. I'm not supposed to be here." Leo sat up and turned around at that.

"Yeah, and neither is this crazy lady," He thumbed to her. The girl poked her head over the seat as well and smiled at Jason and Piper. Almost immediately, Piper frowned and Jason looked like he was going to faint.

Dang. Even bowling would be better than this.

A cold wind blew through the desert. Jason and Piper both shivered and Leo grinned.

"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo said. "We go to 'Wilderness-"

"No offense, Leo," Piper interrupted, "but are you going to introduce your friend?"

Leo sighed, having hoped that neither of the two would mention his current attachment. The girl stuck to his back peeked over his shoulder, only to duck behind him again. A vein popped out of Leo's neck. "I can't."

"And why not?"

"Because I don't know the crazy lady!" Leo stepped to the side, only for the girl to step with him. "She keeps following me for some reason." He began to circle around Jason and Piper, and the girl furiously followed after him.

"Is he normally like this?" Jason nudged Piper, watching Leo speed up.

"I would like to say no, but…" Piper winced. "That would be lying."

"Stop it!" Leo slammed to a stop and whirled around to yell at his stalker. "Go away!"

"No!" She yelled with just as much force. "I can't!"

"Agh!" Leo threw his hands in the air and speed walked around the Grand Canyon. He stomped around the grounds, slipping between groups and occasionally turning around to yell back at the girl, who followed insistently.

Piper sighed. "He'll come back soon. Is any of your memory coming back?"

"If anything, I'm more confused than before."

Piper patted Jason's arm, consolingly. Of course, she didn't like Jason's sudden spout of amnesia- how could he forget her?- but she was starting to see this as an opportunity. This could be a new start for them.

"I suppose I can tell you the basics," Piper started, continuing to walk with the rest of the Wilderness kids. "We go to this boarding school named-"

"-Hell." Leo cut in. He leaned his elbow on Jason's shoulder, trying to catch his breath. He glanced behind him, saw the girl furiously approaching and groaned. Leo looked up at the sky. "I don't know what I did but take this girl away from me!"

"Leo," Jason said. "You're weird."

"You say that a lot," Leo said. The girl finally caught up, and latched herself to Leo's arm. Leo thew exasperated looks towards Piper and Jason. "That's it. Today's the day I'm gonna jump. Goodbye, it was nice knowing you."

"Leo," Piper slapped his elbow off of Jason, looking up at the blond to see his reaction. When finding nothing, she rolled her eyes at Leo. "Don't say stuff like that. Remember last time?"

Jason listened carefully. He didn't understand much of what was going on. He doubted at this point, he ever would. Jason glanced at the strange girl. She scowled. Okay, now Jason definitely didn't understand anything.

The group walked into the museum exhibit with their class. Most of the exhibits were about the Grand Canyon and the people that owned the museum, the Hualapai tribe. Piper whispered to Jason about the school they went to (Wilderness) and pointed out some of his supposed classmates. On the other side of him, Leo mumbled about how boring everything was and expressed just how much of his homework Jason did. (Jason did not believe him for a second.)

The girl that none of them knew followed behind them silently. She fiddled with a phone, quietly cursing under her breath. Whenever she and Jason locked eyes, the girl would glare.

"Hey, Piper, does your tribe run this place? Do you get in free if you do a rain dance?" A girl in a bright pink halter jacket sneered at them. The other girls with her laughed.

"My dad's Cherokee, not Hualapai," Piper said. "'Course you'd need a few brain cells to know the difference, Isabel."

Isabel's eyed widened in mock surprise. "Oh sorry! Was your mom in this tribe? Oh wait- you didn't know her."

Leo muttered a quick, bitch, and Piper clenched her fists. The adult of the group, Coach Hedge, who Piper had pointed out to Jason, eyed them all suspiciously. His eyes lingered on Jason before turning away, proudly pointing out rocks to other students.

The girls continued throwing looks at them, before snickering like hyenas. Even Jason grew annoyed, but Piper looked calm. Leo caught his incredulity. "Don't worry, man. If they knew who Piper's dad was, then they'll totally be on their knees begging for mercy."

"Who's her dad?"

"You don't remember?" Leo frowned at him. "How could you-"

"Leo!" The girl who was following them decided to make her presence known again. "Let's be partners."

"Uh, no thanks." Leo quickly looped his arm over Jason's shoulder. It's awkward for both of them because of the height difference. "I'm with my bro on this one, stalker."

"I'm not a stalker," she mumbled. "You're my dad!"

"Right, and I'm the kid of a famous actor." Leo rolled his eyes, nudging Jason as if saying can you believe this psycho? Piper pressed her lips together in a firm line. The girl's eyes widened and she quickly pressed her finger to her lips.

"C'mon, guys." Leo grabbed Piper's arm and steered his best friends away and down the walkway, "We've got some rocks to study."

She couldn't take a hint, but at least she wasn't obnoxious about it.

The three of them had sat down on the walkway overlooking the Grand Canyon, and the girl settled down only a yard or two away. Leo glared at her while pulling out pipe cleaners and fiddling with them in his lap. The girl only sighed and stared down at her own lap, fiddling with something there as well.

Yeah, Jason would've believed they were related if it wasn't for Leo's instant denial. Maybe cousins or something. They look alike, with the same crazy hair and brown eyes.

"Is there anything you remember?" Piper asked.

Jason wished he remembered someone as pretty as Piper being his girlfriend. His face grew hot. "Uh, not really. My name's Jason, and I think I'm sixteen?"

"Fifteen," Piper said. "Your birthday is in July, do you remember that?"

"Not until you told me. July… 1st?"

"Yeah. I wonder if you can recall all your memories if someone reminds you of them." Piper tugged on her hair, in thought. Behind her, Hedge stared at Jason with narrowed eyes. Above, thunder clapped and a cold chill flew over the class.

"I hope so," Jason said, looking back at Piper. The hairs on the back of his neck stood, and everything in his body was screaming Danger! Danger!

"Me too," Piper looked around, feeling disturbed as well. She raised an eyebrow. "Do you feel that-"

Then some kid behind her exploded into dust, swirling into a tornado. The entire bridge shuddered and tossed papers around. Piper screamed.

Okay, Piper thought as she jumped to her feet. Dylan had always been gross, but he had never turned into the wind before. He swirled in the air, and pointed at kids, laughing as funnel clouds blew their clothes up or as their papers flew around them.

Either Piper was going crazy, or her classmates paid no attention to the tornado-Dylan. They, instead, screamed as lightning struck and ran towards the glass doors of the museum. Coach Hedge stood at the doors, ushering people in with a fierce snarl on his face as he glared at Dylan.

"I should've known you were our monster!" He yelled at Dylan. His baseball cap flew off, exposing tiny nubs nestled in curly hair. When nearly everyone is safely in the museum, save for Jason, Piper, Leo and the girl who refused to move from Leo's side, he slammed the glass door and grabbed his bat. Except it wasn't his bat anymore- the stick had transformed into a tree branch club outfitted with pointy twigs and poisonous leaves.

Dylan sneered at him, his upper body materializing above the tornado. His Cowboy's jersey flapped in the wind. "You're losing your nose, grandpa. I've been on your team the entire season. You're getting too old for this game- but I guess that's why they retired you to this stupid school."

Besides her, Jason surveyed the sky in a tense stance. He looked like he was ready for an upcoming battle. Leo looked just as shocked as Piper, as he stared at Coach Hedge with wide eyes. The girl next to him gritted her teeth and took on a pose similar to Jason's.

Piper looked around. They were standing on an unsteady bridge that swayed with every twist of Dylan's hand. They needed to get to the museum somehow. But how could they bypass Cyclone Dylan and Goat Hedge?

Unfortunately, it seemed that Dylan hadn't forgotten about them. He glanced over his shoulder and whined. "Ugh. I should've gotten rid of you when I had the chance." He flicked his arm out and pointed to Leo. A funnel of air pushed him into the air and sent him flying over the bridge edge. "At least you won't be able to put gum in my hair again," Dylan said, peering over the edge as Leo screamed his way down the Grand Canyon.

Leo managed to twist in the air and slammed into the canyon wall. His fingers gripped a ledge nearly a hundred feet down. "Help!"

Coach Hedge made a bleating noise. He threw his club at Jason, kicked off his shoes, and dove in after Leo. He had hooves… hooves! Piper felt faint.

"You're a faun," Jason said. He looked at Piper with a smile, as if proud that he could remember something. "He's a faun!"

"Uh huh," Is all Piper could manage to say before Dylan scowled at the remaining teens, and thunder clapped in her ears.

"Y'all are next," Dylan pointed a smoking finger at Jason's chest.

Jason threw the club. It looked pretty light, but the club sailed through the air and followed the winds until it bonked Dylan on the noggin. He crumpled from the hit, winds still howling.

Meanwhile, the mystery girl seemed to be a lot more preoccupied with the way Hedge darted down the cliff walls and towards her proclaimed dad. She mumbled something under her breath and pulled something out of her jacket pocket. Was that a knife?

Piper's fingers closed around the club that rolled next to her. She gripped it tightly and winced as Dylan slowly stood to his feet. Gold trickled from his forehead.

"Nice try, boy," Dylan glared at Jason. "But you'll have to do better-"

A demonlike scream came from the girl who sprinted across the bridge with her knife in hand. The bridge shook violently as the glass started to crack. Dylan dissolved into a wispy dark vapor, as the girl neared, sending lightning along the canyon.

"A ventus," Jason said. He watched Piper tremble as she held the club close to herself. "Are you alright?"

His voice shook her out of her trance. She stopped shaking and gave Jason a weak smile. "Just surprised."

Jason nodded, but he didn't feel the same way. Somehow, someway, he knew this was inevitable. His nerves felt like they were attached to jumper cables- he's in his element. Excitement spread through him, a feeling that was both familiar and foreign.

The girl with the curly hair flew into the air following Dylan who swirled around above them. He laughed, the noise sounding painful. "I'm glad I waited, demigods. I've known about Piper and Leo for weeks, but my mistress warned me that third was coming. But a fourth? I've hit the jackpot."

Two more mini tornadoes apparated next to Dylan, one on either side. The two venti glared with lightning filled eyes. They howled and shrieked with agony.

Piper stayed low, face pale. Still, she gave Jason a determined look, and the club tightened in her hands. He understood: Keep their attention, and I'll brain them from behind.

Wow. She's great.

Jason sprung up, ready to attack, only to fly back with bursts of lightning hitting his chest. At the same moment, the girl jumps and slashes through Dylan. Dylan disappeared into black smoke and the girl rolls onto her knees.

Jason's clothes were smoking, and his left shoe had blasted off. Despite being hit with lightning, he felt fine. Better than fine!

Piper fought the best she could with the obnoxious club, but her weapon went through the two venti like they were nothing. They cackled at her and shocked her with tiny zaps to the face. On the side of the bridge, Hedge had laid Leo on the ground. The girl kicked and sliced at Dylan until she was blown away by a gust of wind. Her body slammed into the ground and her knife clattered a few feet away. She didn't get back up.

Dylan laughed. He stuck out his fingers and lightning zapped the girl. Piper fell to her knees. Coach Hedge bleated. Leo shook violently as he crawled towards Piper.

"Stop," Jason croaked, catching the storm spirits' attentions. He rose unsteadily to his feet.

"How are you alive?" Dylan screamed at him. "That should've killed you!"

He reached into his pocket, pulling out a gold coin. He had pulled it out earlier, to which Leo had said, "Dang, you've been holding out on us!". But know Jason knew it wasn't just a pretty metal. He flipped the coin in the air- almost like he had done it a million times- and caught it in his palm until he was suddenly holding a sword. The golden blade glinted and felt so right in his hand.

Dylan snarled and looked at his two companions. "Well? Kill the boy!"

They charged at him, fingers crackling with lightning. Jason grinned.

Every bone in Leo's body felt like they had exploded. Slamming into the Grand Canyon was not a smart idea, even if it saved his life. And after that, he had to be saved by Coach Hedge? How embarrassing!

At least Piper was fighting. Not great, but that was expected. But at least she was doing something. And Jason- Jason's insane! His body moved like it was born and bred for this type of fighting. He expertly slashed and sliced with his sword (where did he get that?), until the two storm spirits dissolved into gold dust.

"Impossible!" Dylan shrieked. "Who are you, half-blood?" Rain began to pour at his yell, soaking the canyon.

Leo finally managed to crawl to Piper. She seemed relatively unhurt but her hair was burning. Leo quickly patted it out for her, but she barely noticed. She was instead staring at Jason with wide eyes. "How did he…"

"EAT THIS, SPIRITS!" Hedge bellowed and charged. He then paused and looked around, surprised that there was only Dylan left. He scowled at Jason. "Didn't you leave some for me? I like a challenge!"

"Yo, Coach Supergoat!" Leo yelled at him. "I just fell down the freaking Grand Canyon! Stop asking for challenges!"

Hedge galloped towards the two of them. Leo blinked at the hooves. He had thought he had gone crazy when dangling off the cliff, but apparently, Hedge actually was part goat. The coach crouches next to Piper and Leo.

"You two alright?" He said gruffly. He reached into his sweatpants pocket and pulled out a roll of gauze bandages. He tossed it at Piper and gestured to Leo's hands. They were bloody from his attempts at trying to hold on. "Make sure to stay hydrated!" He yelled and began to charge to where Dylan and Jason were fighting.

"Stay hydrated," Leo mocked, allowing Piper to wrap his hand. "We're in the freaking desert!"

"Do you know what's happening?" Piper asked, quickly unraveling the gauze. She looked like she knows what she's doing.

"No clue. Coach Hedge is a goat, and Jason is fighting an angry cloud." Leo was missing something. There's something very important that he's missing.

"Just a normal Tuesday at Wilderness," Piper said. She patted Leo's hands and picked up the club lying at her side. Her fingers were covered with blood, but they gripped the club so tightly that Leo was afraid it would crack.

"Don't tell me you're going over there." Leo gestured behind Piper.

Piper eyed the scene. A hole had opened up in the clouds- a swirling vortex of black and silver. Dylan laughed maniacally, as he thwarted the attacks given by Hedge and Jason. "I have to help."

"Of course you do," Leo said, watching Piper sprint towards them. She tackled Dylan from behind, causing them both to tumble to the ground. Leo jumped to his feet, adrenaline rushing at the sight of his hurt best friend. "Piper!"

Dylan screamed and waved her off, sending a giant wave of wind rippling through the air. Leo's head slammed into the wall of the glass bridge, and he groaned, curling up. Hedge and Jason skidded backward, looking unharmed. Piper, however, was tossed over the side of the bridge, and she held on to the side of the railing with one hand. With the rain, her fingers began to slide.

Dylan's dark form thundered. Leo could barely see but even he could sense the sinister presence nearing him. "I'll settle for this one!"

Leo felt himself lift off in the air. The storm spiraled him upwards, heading towards the ominous hole in the sky. In the corner of his eyes, he sees a dark blur stumble to its feet. Piper screamed for help in the far distance.

"My mistress will be disappointed that I didn't get all three of you," Dylan muttered to Leo. A soft wind brushed Leo's face, caressing him softly in the middle of the chaos. Leo whimpered, head swimming and vision flashing in and out. "A nasty concussion you've got. But my mistress will be pleased. She had taken a liking to you."

Piper's yelling turned to screams. Below, Hedge yelled. "Jason, go! Save her!"

Piper, Leo thought. He began to struggle against the winds. If she's hurt, he'll kill Dylan. Stupid, untouchable tornado or not, Leo would find a way to kill him.

Suddenly, Dylan gasped in pain. Leo fell through the sky, only to be caught in someone's arms.

"Hi, daddy!" Big eyes smiled at him, gently dropping him to the floor. The girl's clothes were tattered, but she seemed happy. "Don't go to sleep, okay?"

Above them, Coach Hedge yelled as he viciously tried to fight back against the wind, sailing up into the clouds. A few moments later, Jason flew over the bridge with Piper in his arms.

OhmyGod. Leo blinked. His life is insane.

"Stupid… ugly… goat," Leo was mumbling to himself, "Crazy… stalker… girl."

"Where'd he go?" Piper asked, once her feet touched the ground. The past few minutes were a blur. One moment she was falling, then Jason swooped in to grab her like a superhero. She had always known Leo's nickname for Jason was Superman but she never assumed him to actually be the titular character.

Leo pointed wildly, his eyes dilated. "Up. Please tell me he didn't save my life."

Piper jumped when a voice speaks. She had forgotten about the girl in the chaos. Her rainsoaked jacket opens up to a dark purple shirt, looking nearly black from being drenched. She looked like a drenched cat- hair sticking to her face, and clothes being bigger than her frame. Piper probably didn't look much better.

"He did. Twice."

Leo groaned. "I'm dreaming. Are you a part of the dream? There's two of you. You look like me."

The girl pinched him. Leo weakly swatted her away and looked up where he must've thought Piper was. "Did Jason have a sword? Tell me he didn't have a sword."

"He did," Piper said. "And he flew."

"Dios Mio," Leo rubbed his head. A few feet away, Jason picked up his sword. He flipped it, and the sword disappeared.

"How'd you do that?" Piper asked. She stepped away when he came closer. "Jason… you acted like you saw those… things before-"

"Venti," he corrected. "Storm spirits."

"Sure. Who are you?" Piper then turned to the girl who looked patiently up at the sky. "And you! Who are you?" She paid no mind to Piper.

Jason shook his head. His fingers ran over something in his hand- a golden coin. When catching Piper staring, he slipped the coin in his pocket. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. I don't know." He looked towards the other girl, his eyes analyzing her purple shirt. "Hey-"

"I don't like you." The girl glared at Jason. She folded her arms, defiantly.

Piper gaped. She had appeared sweet, if not creepy at the beginning of the trip, but now it was as if the fight had made her cocky.

"What's your name?" Piper tried. Luckily, she happened to like Piper a bit more than Jason. Not as much as she loved Leo but it was something.

"Espie," She said. Leo mutters the name, his face scrunching up in thought. She didn't seem to want to answer anything more after that, so Piper turned to the others.

"That thing Dylan turned into..." Piper shuddered. "God, I can't believe it was hitting on me. He called us- what, demigods?"

"I don't know what demi means, but I don't feel very godly." Leo brushed off some of the gold dust that had covered him. That's what the venti had burst into- gold. Even Dylan had bled gold blood.

"Demigod means part god, part mortal," Espie announced. Her eyes slid over the three of them. "We're all demigods. Sort of." She didn't explain that part either.

Jason nodded. "I don't know why, but I think she's telling the truth."

"Okay… say we are." Leo mumbled. "Let's say Espie is right… what gods are we from?"

She held her finger to her lips- Piper recognized it to be the motion that she did earlier in the museum when Leo mentioned her dad. "Up," she whispered, but only Piper seemed to hear it.

However, maybe Leo did hear her."Look up there and tell me if those are flying horses," Leo said, deliriously. Jason and Piper looked up. Piper had thought him to be crazy, but he was right. A pair of winged animals- horses, actually pulled along a chariot.

"Extraction squad," Jason said. "Hedge mentioned it when we were fighting."

"Sounds painful," Leo stumbled to his feet. Espie and Piper catch him, hooking his arms over their shoulders. Piper grunted under his weight- it wasn't much but she was still exhausted from her own fight against the venti.

"And where are they extracting us to?" She said.

The chariot landed on the cliff, horses nervous about the breaking glass bridge. A tall girl hops off the chariot and ran towards Piper and her friends, knife pulled out. Back at the chariot, a built guy tried to control the horses. They both share the same blinding orange tee.

"Where is he?" The girl demanded, raising her knife to Jason's neck.

"Where's who?" Jason backed away. His hand was instinctually at his pocket again, and Piper feared he would pull his sword out. It was one thing to fight a monster, but to fight another teen? However, Piper had a feeling that this girl would be able to hold her own.

The blond girl turned to Piper and Leo. "What about Gleeson? Where is your protector?"

"He got taken by those tornado thingies," Leo said. The girl analyzed him, trying to see if he was lying.

"Venti," Jason provided. The girl's head spun to face him. "Uh. Storm spirits."

"You mean anemoi thuellai? That's the Greek term. Who are you, and what happened?"

As Jason tried to explain the best his amnesiac mind can, the burly teen came from the chariots. He offered to hold Leo. Piper was initially cautious, but at the sight of those muscles and the Rainbow tattoo residing on his biceps, she figured there was no harm. It was better than being crushed with arms like that.

He held Leo in a bridal's carry. Leo looked too out of it to be humiliated. The orange-clad teen gestured between the two girls. "Are you Piper, or is she?"

Piper raised her hand. "That's me. Are you the extraction team?"

"Yes." The bald guy grunted. " And who are you?"

Espie didn't look inclined to speak. If anything, she shrunk back to her shyer self and stepped behind Piper.

"She's a friend- one of those demigods," Piper said. "She saved Leo's life."

Espie gave her a smile. It wasn't necessary. Piper owed her that much. She had seen the girl fight against Dylan and she seemed genuinely concerned with their well-being (or at least Leo's. Piper didn't understand the hate towards Jason). Piper nodded at her.

"Annabeth," the guy said to the blonde. "We gotta leave- the bridge is about to shatter. We can figure everything out at camp."

Camp?

anyway, the hardest part of this was literally figuring out the name of Espie. i guess my question for the chapter is to ask: do you think demigods would name their kids after their mortal parents or dead friends?

i see a lot of fics with percabeth's kids being silena or charlie depending on the gender, or maybe even nico's kid being bianca... it's not fairly uncommon to see frank or hazel's kids being named emily or sammy either, respectively. anyway. just a thought. how do you guys feel about it?

i personally feel like something like charlie/silena is a bit of a stretch for percabeth, but i can see silena going for maybe piper's kid. i don't think sammy would be good for hazel's kid either, especially when she knows how leo feels about the comparison... seems a little unfair. (it's even worse if you make is a frazel fic, because we all know how jealous frank was over sammy/leo). i guess nico would name his bianca? but like? i guess.