"Chicago," Jason said, looking down.

"One problem down. We got here alive. Now, how do we find the storm spirits?" Leo asked. Amoriel rolled her eyes.

"Oh thank you for being oh-so optimistic, Oh luz de mi dia."(oh light of my day)

Leo gave her a two-fingered mock salute. Amoriel suddenly saw a flash of movement below them. At first, she thought it was a small plane, and she was like, 'How high up are we?', but then she realized it was too small, too dark and too fast. The thing spiraled towards a skyscraper, swiftly moving and changing shape, and for a moment, she could've sworn it was a horse. Amoriel turned back, and she saw that Jason had seen it too. He pointed.

"How about we follow that one, and see where it goes?" Jason asked.

"Sounds like the sanest plan we've had all quest. Let's do this!" Amoriel grinned.


Amoriel was afraid that if they sped up some more then they'd become art splatter on the floor. The Venti moved, well...like the wind. And Jason kept urging Leo to speed up.

"Move faster!" Jason yelled. I covered my ears.

"Bro," Leo replied. "If I get any closer, it'll spot us. Bronze dragon ain't exactly a stealth plane."

Amoriel's head was spinning and she had both arms wrapped around Leo's waist tightly, hoping to the gods that they don't have another free fall like earlier. She still didn't know how to use her wings and she was sure this time they would most definitely die.

"Slow down!" Piper yelped.

Storm spirit dived into a grid of downtown streets. Festus tried to follow, but his wingspan was too wide. His left-wing sliced a stone gargoyle before Leo could get him to go higher.

"For gods sakes, Leo!" Amoriel reprimanded.

"Well, mi Corazon if you stop trying to block my circulation I can drive better." Leo retorted. Amoriel loosened her arms around him a bit but still held on as if her life depended on it. And currently, it was.

"Get above the buildings," Jason suggested. "We'll track him from there."

Leo grumbled, "You wanna drive this thing?" but he complied anyway. After a few minutes, they spotted the storm spirits.

"Oh great, there's two..." Piper commented. She was right. A second Venti blasted in out of nowhere, and it started swirling around the first one. They were batting down pedestrians, ruffling flags and making cars swerve. They bent a radio tower, sending it crashing down onto the street.

"Wow," Leo said. "Those guys really don't need more caffeine."

"I guess Chicago's a good place to hang out," Piper said. "Nothing like a couple of Storm spirits to brighten the mood."

"More than a couple," Jason said. "Look." He was right. Festus circled over a wide avenue, next to a lake-side park. Storm spirits were converging-at least a dozen of then, whirling around an art installation.

"Which one do you think is Dylan?" Leo asked. "I wanna throw something at him." Amoriel kept focusing on the art installation. The closer they got to it, the faster her heart beat. It was a public fountain, but something about it just seemed weird, five-story monoliths rose from either end of a long granite reflecting pool. The monoliths seemed to be built of video screens, combining to form the flashing image of a giant face, that spewed water into the pool. As she watched closely, the face morphed into one they knew too well...dirt face.

"Leo..." she said nervously.

"I see her," Leo said. "I don't like her, but I see her." Then the screens went dark. The storm spirits swirled together into a single funnel cloud and skittered across the fountain, kicking up a waterspout almost as high as the monoliths. They got to its center, popped off a drain cover, and went underground.

"Did they just go down a drain?" Piper asked. "How are we supposed to follow them?"

"Maybe we shouldn't," Leo replied. "That fountain is giving me seriously bad vibes. Aren't we supposed to, like beware of the earth?"

"I agree with Leo," Amoriel said. "The dirt woman on the screen gives me chills." But even as she said it, Amoriel knew that they had to follow. The solstice is fast approaching. It was their only way forward. They had to find Hera.

"Put us down in that park," Jason said, pointing. "We can check it out on foot."

Festus landed in an open area between the lake and the skyline. The signs said 'Grant Park', and Amoriel imagined it would be a nicer place in the summer, but right now...it was a field of ice, snow and salted walkways. The dragon's hot metal feet hissed as they completed touchdown. Festus flapped his wings unhappily, no doubt unhappy about setting down, and he shot fire into the sky, but there was no-one around to notice. Anyone with common sense would be safely tucked away inside, with a hot cup of tea, and maybe the TV blaring on. Amoriel's eyes stung so badly, she could barely see. Festus stomped the ground impatiently. One of his ruby eyes flickered, making it look like he was blinking.

"Is that normal?" Jason asked. Leo pulled a rubber mallet out of his tool belt and whacked the dragon's bad eye. It flickered a few times, and then went back to normal.

"Yes," Leo said. "Festus can't hang around here in the park for too long. They'll arrest him for loitering. Maybe if I had a dog whistle..." He rummaged in his belt but came up empty-handed.

"To specialized?" He asked to no-one in particular. "Okay, gimme a safety whistle. They got plenty of those in workshops." The tool belt obliged. This time, Leo pulled out a big orange whistle. He whistled.

"Alright, Coach Hedge would be jealous! Okay, Festus, listen." He blew the mouthpiece, the shrill sound probably rolled all the way across Lake Michigan.

"Hear that?" he asked. "Hear that again, and come back and find me, okay? Until then, fly about wherever you want, and just try not to barbecue any pedestrians." Festus snorted, hopefully in agreement, and then launched into the air.

Piper took one step and winced, "Ah!". Both Amoriel and Jason rushed over to help her.

"Your ankle?" Jason asked. Amoriel eased her down, so she could take a look at it.

"It's fine," Piper shivered. Amoriel grabbed a hoodie out of her bag.

"Here," Amoriel said. Piper smiled thankfully and took it.

"Here, drink some," Amoriel ordered, brandishing a canteen of Nectar.

"Thanks," Piper said, accepting it, and taking a swig. She tried standing up again. She managed to go a few steps, wincing only slightly. Amoriel put Piper's arm around her shoulders for support.

"Let's get out of the wind," Jason suggested. She nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

"Down a drain?" Piper asked. "Sounds cozy." Leo shook his head

"Yeah, no kidding." They wrapped themselves up as warm as they could, and headed towards the fountain.

According to a plaque, it was called the Crown fountain. All the water had emptied, except for some frozen patches here and there. It just seemed...off, that there would be any water in the fountain now. Then again, those giant monitors had flashed pictures of Dirt face. Nothing about this place was right.

They stepped into the center of the pool. No storm spirits tried to stop them. The giant monitor walls stayed dark. The drain hole seemed big enough for one person. Something told Amoriel that they were playing right into someone's trap, but they didn't really have a choice. Jason went in first. Amoriel followed, lowering herself in. As she climbed, she braced herself for that horrible sewer smell, but nothing hit. A maintenance ladder to the side dropped into brickwork running north to south. The air was warm and dry, with only a trickle of water on the floor. She heard a light thud behind her, and she turned to look. Piper and Leo had made it down, dusting themselves off.

"Are all sewers this nice?" Piper wondered out loud. Leo looked at her.

"No," Leo said. "Trust me."

Jason frowned. "How do you know-"

"Hey man," Leo said. " I ran away six times. I've slept in some pretty weird places, okay? Now, which way do we go?" He asked.

With each thing Amoriel learned about his past, her heart broke more and more.

Jason tilted his head, listening, and then pointed south. "That way," he said.

"How can you be sure?" Piper asked.

"There's a draft blowing," Jason replied. "Maybe the Venti went with the flow?"

It wasn't much of a lead, but no-one offered a better answer. Unfortunately, when Piper started walking, she stumbled. Jason caught her.

"Stupid ankle," she muttered.

"Let's rest," Amoriel suggested. "We could all use it. We've been going all over non-stop for a day." Jason nodded like it was a good idea (which it was).

"Hey, Leo, can you pull any food from the belt besides breath mints?" Jason said. Leo grinned like there was no tomorrow.

"I thought you would never ask."

Jason and Piper were sitting next to each other, talking in hushed tones, while Leo broke out with some cooking supplies. Amoriel and Leo sat there in silence before he said,

"Hey, Amorie?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna play 21 questions?" he asked. Amoriel raised her eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Because I'm bored, and if we want this dating thing to work, we need to get to know each other, right? So we're playing this now." Amoriel had to stifle a laugh.

"You're bored? What with the impending gloom and doom of the end of the world? How?"

Leo shrugged. "I'm a special boy. My turn first. What's your favorite color and do you have any hobbies?"

"Purple, I guess and I don't remember." Amoriel answered, "my turn. Why did you hide your powers from us?"

Leo closed his hand and the fire went out. "Didn't want to look like a freak."

"Mi amore, I have wings and deadly accuracy," Amoriel reminded him. "Piper can charm people into giving her BMWs. And Jason has lightning and wind powers. You're no more a freak than we are. And, hey, maybe you can fly, too. Like jump off a building and yell, 'Flame on!'"

"Oh, no. All you would see is a flaming boy falling to his death. And trust me, I would be yelling something a little stronger than FLAME ON!" Leo snorted.

"No, you wouldn't. I would jump after you and save you while looking like an angel." Amoriel gave him a smile that made his heart flutter.

"Well, you are my guardian angel. But trust me, the Hephaestus cabin doesn't see fire powers as cool. Nyssa told me they're super rare. When a demigod like that comes around, bad things happen. Really bad."

"Well, maybe it's the other way around," Amoriel suggested. "Maybe people with special gifts show up when bad things are happening because that's when they're needed the most."

Leo kept making tacos. "Maybe. But I'm telling you … it's not always a gift."

Amoriel fell silent. "You're talking about your mom, aren't you? The night she died."

Leo didn't answer. He didn't have to. The fact that he was quiet, not joking around—that told Amoriel enough.

"Leo, her death wasn't your fault. Whatever happened that night—it wasn't because you could summon fire. This Dirt Woman, whoever she is, has been trying to ruin you for years, mess up your confidence, take away everything you care about. She's trying to make you feel like a failure. You're not. You're important."

"That's what she said." Leo looked up, his eyes full of pain. "She said I was meant to do something important—something that would make or break that big prophecy about the seven demigods. That's what scares me. I don't know if I'm up to it."

Amoriel held his hand and looked into his eyes, "Everything will be okay in the end, Leo. If it's not ok then it's not the end. We'll figure it out together."

Leo didn't say anything just smiled. He brought her hand joined with his to his lips and kissed the back of it and kept working.

Minutes later he held up four plates of beef tacos. Or was that...tofu?

"Food's ready!" He smirked.

They got up and started to walk over to the other two.

"And bingo!" Leo yelled over. Jason and Piper looked up and marveled. Amoriel couldn't blame them. The food looked really good.

"Leo," Piper said in amazement. "How did you-"

"Chef Leo's taco garage is fixing you up!" Leo said proudly. Amoriel snorted at the name. "And it's tofu, not beef, so don't freak, Beauty Queen. Just dig in!"

She wasn't too sure about the tofu, but the tacos tasted just as good as they smelled. While they eat, she and Leo tried to goof around lightening the heavy air around us. But something had passed between the two opposite them, that wasn't exactly...great news. Jason looked at her and Leo gratefully. Amoriel guessed them being around made it a little less awkward with Piper. Amoriel was pretty good at reading people, their love life at least and was that...he wanted to be alone with Piper at once. She knew just how much this whole 'amnesia' thing was affecting him. He was split between this old life he couldn't remember and a new life he wanted to live. Amoriel wanted to remember too because this whole not knowing herself really started to annoy her. She turned away after a while because both Piper and Leo noticed she was studying Jason with a worried look in her eyes. After they finished, Jason told Piper to get some sleep. Without saying anything, she curled up in his lap and closed her eyes. In two seconds, she was snoring gently. Jason looked up at Leo and Amoriel and then went red in the face because the couple was trying (and failing) not to laugh.

They sat in silence, drinking lemonade Leo had made from canteen water and powdered mix.

In the end, Amoriel curled up into Leo's warm arms and fell asleep. She could hear Leo and Jason talking in hushed whispers, but even they were fading away. Sleep had claimed her, drawing her into the world of dreams.