Leo was really glad that the crazy lady didn't chase them on some kind of chariot. He was not glad about what he had done. Leo didn't want to attack his friends. That wasn't him. Now, it was his fault that Reyna wasn't saying anything.
Reyna had her back to them. Her head rested in her hands. She was extremely tense as well. It only made Leo feel worse.
"It's not your fault," Piper whispered. She placed a hand on his shoulder. They had whispered everything that had happened. Leo sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"It was my fault," Leo muttered. He looked at Reyna who still didn't move. There was no way that she could have killed her father. Reyna wasn't that type of person.
"Leo, you can't blame yourself for something you couldn't control," Piper said. She grabbed his arm. "It is not your fault at all."
"Yeah, I guess you're right for once," Leo teased after a moment. It still didn't shake the horrible feeling that he had. Piper gently punched his shoulder. "You should be thanking Festus. He did pull our butts out of the fire."
"Thank you Festus," Piper said. She placed a hand to the dragon's neck. In response, Festus shuddered, and a gear in his neck popped. That probably wasn't good.
"I'm going to have to give him a tune-up," Leo commented. He tried to glance at the two metal cages that Festus was carrying. It really worried him. He didn't want to push Festus beyond his limits.
"What happened to your father?" Reyna asked. She slowly looked back at them. It was clear that she had been crying. Reyna focused on Piper's face and seemed to clear all other emotions away.
"I don't want to talk about it," Piper whispered. "We should focus on the Bay Area. That's where we should be going."
"It is," Leo promised. "We're going to have to rest in a few hours. Festus needs maintenance."
Reyna watched Piper for a few moments. She finally looked down and rubbed her eyes. Reyna spoke, "We need to find Aeolus. I guess we follow the trail."
"What trail?" Leo questioned as he looked ahead and squinted. He must have hit Reyna harder than he thought.
"The trail in the wind," Reyna answered. "Can you two not see it?"
"No," Piper responded. "How can you?"
"Aeolus," Reyna replied with a small shrug. Conversation seemed to be the last thing on her mind.
"It might be a trap," Piper said. She seemed horribly nervous. Reyna glanced at her.
"What makes you think that?" Reyna wondered. There was something else to her voice. It almost seemed like distrust. Leo watched the two of them closely. "Piper, what makes you think that?"
"It just makes sense," Piper said quickly. She finally laid down and turned away from them. Leo sighed and focused on flying. They couldn't survive if they couldn't work together. Bad stuff was going to happen.
Leo tried to ignore how tired he was. Fighting had taken its toll, and the nap in the sewer was not the best that he could have gotten. The sound of Festus' wings were also starting to lull him into sleep. His eyes slowly closed.
"Sleep," Reyna ordered. She moved to Leo's side and grabbed the reigns. When Leo opened his mouth, he received a glare. "Don't argue with me."
Leo closed his mouth and nodded. He moved away and laid down. After a few moments, he slowly managed to fall asleep.
When Leo opened his eyes, he was in a library. It wasn't really the place that he wanted to find himself. Leo looked around.
There was bookshelves surrounding him on all side. He almost missed the door because of the lack of light. Leo spoke, "This is the worst dream ever."
Someone cleared their throat. Leo jumped and turned. He also grabbed the nearest book and tried to use it as a weapon. A woman watched him quietly.
The woman scared him. She had gold armor that covered her white robe. One hand held a spear. That caught Leo's attention. He then stared at the woman's grey eyes. She ran a hand through her black hair as she watched him.
"Um, hi. Is this your library?" Leo wondered. He looked around and inched away from the spear. Even though Leo was new to this whole demigod thing, he knew that the woman was a goddess. He had also seen those grey eyes before.
"You must be Athena," Leo began.
"Sit," Athena ordered. Leo opened his mouth, closed it, and then finally nodded. He quickly sat down and looked around. "We must talk."
"Can I ask why you've taken time out of your busy schedule to talk to me?" Leo questioned. He didn't think he was important enough to warrant a call from a goddess.
"Things are changing for the worst," Athena answered. "I will explain, and you will not interrupt. My patience is already worn extremely thin."
Leo nodded. He realized that Annabeth was missing, and she was a daughter of Athena. Leo bit his tongue and settled in his seat. Athena watched him closely.
"After the second Titan war, we were embarrassed. We were saved by demigods who have no business existing," Athena began. Leo frowned confused. If Athena had children at Camp Half-Blood, why would she be mad about their existence, or was she talking about someone else?
"Then, Percy Jackson declined a chance at immortality," Athena continued. "He requested that we pay more attention to our children. Most of the gods were happy for a few months. Then, they started to think that they should be respected more. Zeus believed we needed to go back to the older days."
"Zeus is scared of the earth," Athena stated. "He knows that things are stirring, and that includes the giants. His plan is to stay silent and hope the earth isn't interested in destroying us while we are weakened."
"There lies the problem. If Olympus is closed, we cannot contact our children. A demigod and god must work together to destroy a giant. All of these giants were created by Gaea after the war with the Titans as a way of getting revenge on us. We were almost defeated by them, and their victory may happen this time."
"Hera then decides that the time is right for her to commit an atrocity. She meddles in business that does not involve her. Even though I know the demigods must unite, this is not the way to do it. We can find another way to convince Zeus," Athena finished.
Leo sat back and processed everything. He slowly spoke, "Do you know where Annabeth is?"
"Yes," Athena answered. Her voice was full of such anger and grief that Leo thought he would burn up on the spot. "I will not speak of it. Watch your friend Reyna. She is not to be trusted."
"Hey, I trust Reyna. She can be trusted," Leo promised. "That stuff about her dad probably isn't true."
"It is true," Athena hissed. She stood. "It is the second greatest sin she has committed."
"What's the first," Leo asked in a small voice. He forced himself to sit up straight and meet Athena's eyes. The goddess studied him for a long moment.
"Being born," Athena finally answered. Leo stared. That was really harsh. "Oh, your father wanted me to tell you some things."
"You are going to lose friends and valuable tools, and you can't prevent that. Nothing lasts forever, and everything can be reused," Athena recalled. "Now, you should wake up before you die."