Act I - To The World Of Skies
Part VII - I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder, over, sideways and under, on a magic carpet ride.
After a horrible night's sleep, still no change: her hair was styled like a supermodel's and her skin was perfect. Piper wanted to die. She would've changed clothes, but she had nothing to change into.
Drew was sitting in front of a mirror. "So anyways, people, fifteen minutes until breakfast. The cabin's not going to clean itself! And Mitchell, I think you've learned your lesson. Right, sweetie? So you're on garbage patrol just for today, mm-kay? Show Piper how it's done, 'cause I have a feeling she'll have that job soon... if she survives her quest. Now, get to work, everybody! It's my bathroom time!"
Everybody started rushing around, making beds and folding clothes, while Drew scooped up her makeup kit, hair dryer, and brush and marched into the bathroom slamming the door shut.
Piper took another look around. The cabin was a life-size dollhouse, with pink walls and white window trim. The lace curtains were pastel blue and green, which of course matched the sheets and feather comforters on all the beds.
To make matters worse, there was The Poster. Piper's heart sunk and her cheeks started to burn. She wished she could rip it off the wall and eat it. It was the most ridiculous poster of all time. Piper and her dad had had a good laugh over it the first time they saw it. Then the movie made a bajillion dollars. The poster graphic popped up everywhere. Piper couldn't get away from it at school, walking down the street, even online.
KING OF SPARTA - yes, why the hell not? Piper stared at three-quarters shot of bare-chested bronze flesh, with ripped pectorals and six-pack abs that belonged to her father. Quickly, she turned away so no one would think she was staring at it. She tried to look busy, but she kept thinking of Lena, the only person who'd been genuinely nice to her after the claiming. Gods, she'd wanted to kiss her, but she'd seemed so uncomfortable, almost scared of Piper.
A girl with blond pigtails and braces raced up with a pile of clothes in her arms. She looked around furtively like she was delivering nuclear materials. "I brought you these," she whispered.
The boy on garbage patron, Mitchell, said: "Piper, meet Lacy."
"Hi," Lacy said breathlessly. "You can change clothes. The blessing won't stop you. This is just, you know, a backpack, some rations, ambrosia and nectar for emergencies, some jeans, a few extra shirts, and a warm jacket. The boots might be a little snug. But—well—we took up a collection. Good luck on your quest!"
Lacy dumped the things on the bed and started to hurry away, but Piper caught her arm. "Hold on. At least let me thank you! Why are you rushing off?"
Lacy looked like she might shake apart from nervousness. "Oh, well—"
"Drew might find out," Mitchell explained. "Last night, after you were claimed, I said you might not be so bad. See where I ended up. But even if it's worth nothing, welcome to Cabin 10."
"Thanks," Piper murmured.
"And there're worse punishments," Mitchell warned. "Drew can charmspeak, see? Not many Aphrodite kids have that power; but if she tries hard enough, she can get you to do some pretty embarrassing things. Piper, you're the first person I've seen in a long time who is able to resist her."
"Charmspeak..." Piper gulped. "You mean, like, you could talk someone into doing things? Or... giving you things?"
"Yeah," Mitchell said. "She could do that."
"So that's why she's head counselor," Piper guessed. "She convinced you all?"
"Nah, she inherited the post when Silena Beauregard died in the war. Drew was second oldest. Oldest camper automatically gets the post, unless somebody with more years or more completed quests wants to challenge, in which case there's a duel, but that hardly ever happens. Anyway, we've been stuck with Drew in charge since August. She decided to make some, ah, changes in the way the cabin is run."
"Yes, I did!" Suddenly Drew was there, leaning against the bunk. Lacy squeaked like a guinea pig and tried to run, but Drew put an arm out to stop her. She looked down at Mitchell. "I think you missed some trash, sweetie. You'd better make another pass."
Piper glanced toward the bathroom and saw that Drew had dumped everything from the bathroom waste bin all over the floor. Mitchell sat up on his haunches. He glared at Drew like he was about to attack, but finally he snapped, "Fine."
Drew smiled. "See, Piper, hon, we're a good cabin here. A good family! Silena Beauregard, though... take a warning from her. She was secretly passing information to Kronos in the Titan War, helping the enemy." Drew's eyes were as cold as steel. Piper got the feeling Drew was looking straight into her soul, pulling out her secrets. Helping the enemy. "None of the other cabins talk about it. They act like Silena Beauregard was a hero."
"She sacrificed her life to make things right," Mitchell grumbled. "She was a hero."
"Mmm-hmm," Drew said. "Another day on garbage patrol, Mitchell. But anyways, Silena lost track of what this cabin is about. We match up cute couples at camp! Then we break them apart and start over! It's the best fun ever. We don't have any business getting involved in other stuff like wars and quests. I certainly haven't been on any quests. They're a waste of time!"
Lacy raised her hand nervously. "But last night you said you wanted to go on a—" Drew glared at her, and Lacy's voice died.
"Most of all," Drew continued, "we certainly don't need our image tarnished by spies, do we, Piper?" Piper tried to answer, but she couldn't. Drew could read her like an open book. "It's too bad you won't be around. But if you survive your little quest, don't worry, I'll find somebody to match up with you. Maybe one of those gross Hephaestus guys. Or Clovis? He's pretty repulsive." Drew looked her over with a mix of pity and disgust. "Honestly, I didn't think it was possible for Aphrodite to have an ugly child, but... who was your father? Was he some sort of mutant, or—"
"Tristan McLean," Piper snapped. "My dad's Tristan McLean."
The stunned silence was gratifying for a few seconds, but Piper felt ashamed of herself. Everybody turned and looked at The Poster.
"Oh my god!" half the girls screamed at once.
"He is so hot for an old guy," a girl said, and then she blushed. "I'm sorry. He's your dad... That's so weird!"
"It's weird, all right," Piper agreed.
"Do you think you could get me his autograph?" another girl asked.
Piper forced a smile. "Yeah, no problem," she managed.
The girl squealed in excitement, and more kids surged forward, asking a dozen questions at once.
"Have you had your rite of passage?"
That one caught Piper off guard. "Rite of what?"
The girls and guys giggled and shoved each other around like this was an embarrassing topic. "The rite of passage for an Aphrodite child," one explained. "You get someone to fall in love with you. Then you break their heart. Dump them. Once you do that, you've proven yourself worthy of Aphrodite."
Piper stared at the crowd to see if they were joking. "Break someone's heart on purpose? That's terrible!"
The others looked confused. "Why?"
"Oh my god!" a girl said. "I bet Aphrodite broke your dad's heart! I bet he never loved anyone again, did he? That's so romantic! When you have your rite of passage, you can be just like Mom!"
"Forget it!" Piper yelled, a little louder than she'd intended. The other kids backed away. "I'm not breaking somebody's heart just for a stupid rite of passage!"
Which of course gave Drew a chance to take back control. "Well, there you go!" she cut in. "Silena said the same thing. She broke the tradition, fell in love with that Beckendorf boy, and stayed in love. If you ask me, that's why things ended tragically for her."
"That's not true!" Lacy squeaked, but Drew glared at her, and she immediately melted back into the crowd.
"Hardly matters," Drew continued, "because, Piper, hon, you couldn't break anyone's heart anyway. And this nonsense about your dad being Tristan McLean... that's so begging for attention."
Several of the kids blinked uncertainly. "You mean he's not her dad?" one asked.
Drew rolled her eyes. "Please. Now, it's time for breakfast, people, and Piper here has to start that little quest. So let's get her packed and get her out of here!" Drew broke up the crowd and got everyone moving.
Mitchell and Lacy helped Piper pack. They even guarded the bathroom while Piper went in and changed into a better traveling outfit. She strapped her dagger, Katoptris, to her belt. When Piper came out, she felt almost normal again. She also noticed that The Poster had been wadded up and thrown in the trash. She was relieved.
When Drew spotted her, she clapped in mock applause. "Very nice! Our little quest girl all dressed in Dumpster clothes again. Now, off you go! No need to eat breakfast with us. Good luck with... whatever. Bye!"
Piper shouldered her bag. She could feel everyone else's eyes on her as she walked to the door. "You know, you all don't have to follow Drew's orders," she told them.
The other kids shifted. Several glanced at Drew, but she looked too stunned to respond.
"Umm," one managed, "she's our head counselor."
"She's a tyrant," Piper corrected. "You can think for yourselves. There's got to be more to Aphrodite than this."
Some kids echoed her words like a mantra.
"Think for ourselves," a second muttered.
"People!" Drew screeched. "Don't be stupid! She's charm-speaking you."
"No," Piper said. "I'm just telling the truth."
Drew sneered at her. "You may have a little power, Princess of Sparta. But you don't know the first thing about Aphrodite. You have such great ideas? What do you think this cabin is about, then? Tell them."
"Not this," Piper managed. "Aphrodite can't be about this." Then she turned and stormed out before the others could see her blushing. Piper promised herself she would never ever go back to that cabin. She stormed across the green, not sure where she was going... until she saw the dragon swooping down from the sky. "Leo?"
There he was, sitting atop a giant bronze death machine and grinning like a lunatic. Even before he landed, the camp alarm went up. A conch horn blew. All the satyrs started screaming, "Don't kill me!"
The dragon set down right in the middle of the green, and Leo yelled, "It's cool! Don't shoot!"
Hesitantly, the archers lowered their bows. The warriors backed away, keeping their spears and swords ready. Nobody seemed anxious to get close.
The dragon was huge. It glistened in the morning sun like a living penny sculpture. "It's beautiful," Piper muttered. The other demigods stared at her like she was insane.
Leo slid calmly off the dragon's back. He held up his hands like he was surrendering, except he still had that crazy grin on his face. "People of Earth, I come in peace!" he shouted. He looked like he'd been rolling around in the campfire and his eyes were bloodshot. He looked like he hadn't slept all night. But he was absolutely delighted. "Festus is just saying hello!"
"That thing is dangerous!" an Ares girl shouted, brandishing her spear. "Kill it now!"
"Stand down!" someone ordered. To Piper's surprise, it was Lena. She pushed through the crowd, flanked by Anthony and that girl from the Hephaestus cabin, Nyssa. Lena gazed up at the dragon and shook her head in amazement. "Leo, what have you done?"
"Found a ride!" Leo beamed. "You said I could go on the quest if I got you a ride. Well, I got you a class-A metallic flying bad boy! Festus can take us anywhere!"
"It... has wings," Nyssa stammered.
"Yeah!" Leo said. "I found them and reattached them."
"But it never had wings. Where did you find them?"
Leo hesitated, and Piper could tell he was hiding something. "In... the woods," he said. "Repaired his circuits, too, mostly, so no more problems with him going haywire."
"Mostly?" Nyssa asked.
The dragon's head twitched. It tilted to one side and a stream of black liquid, maybe oil, poured out of its ear, all over Leo. "Just a few kinks to work out," Leo said.
"But how did you survive...?" Nyssa was still staring at the creature in awe. "I mean, the fire breath..."
"I'm quick," Leo shrugged. "And lucky. Now, am I on this quest, or what?"
Lena scratched her head. "You named him Festus? You know that in Latin, 'festus' means 'happy'? You want us to ride off to save the world on Happy the Dragon?"
The dragon twitched and shuddered and flapped his wings. "That's a yes, girl!" Leo said. "Now, um, I'd really suggest we get going. I already picked up some supplies in the... um, in the woods. And all these people with weapons are making Festus nervous."
Lena frowned. "But we haven't planned anything yet. We can't just—"
"Go," Anthony said. He was the only one who didn't look nervous at all. His expression was sad and wistful, like this reminded him of better times. "Lena, you've only got a few days until the solstice now, and you should never keep a nervous dragon waiting. This is certainly a good omen. Go!"
Lena nodded. Then she smiled at Piper. "You ready?"
"You bet."
Flying on the dragon was the most amazing experience ever, Piper thought. Up high, the air was freezing cold; but the dragon's metal hide generated so much heat, it was like they were flying in a protective bubble. They sat single file: Leo in front, then Piper, then Lena, and Piper was very aware of Lena right behind her.
Leo used the reins to steer the dragon into the sky like he'd been doing it all his life. "Cool, right?" He glanced back and smiled at them.
"Any idea where we're heading?" Piper asked, somewhat fearing the answer.
"To find the god of the North Wind," Lena said readily. "And chase some storm spirits."
