Sorry to all the people who review what you thought were the cool pop-culture references after this, as I'm putting the answers here.
First one: The wrist gauntlet with a hidden blade. I mean… Assassins Creed. Obvious. I thought it would be cool.
Second one: The hyper-futuristic handle that temporarily emitted a laser beam. A broken lightsaber.
Third one: The multi-coloured fashionable armour. In Magnus Chase, Blitzen crafts that to compete in a competition against Eitri Jr.
Fourth one: The glowing coil was the Monowire, a legendary weapon from Cyberpunk 2077.
Fifth one: The massive sword was the Great Sword (Bone Blade) from Monster Hunter: World.
Sixth one: Hiccup's flaming sword from How to Train Your Dragon.
Seventh one: Azrael's blade from the TV series, Lucifer.
I love making written easter eggs like that. That was fun. Anyway, one of these will be added to Fayden's repertoire of weapons, so WhICh oNe Is iT?!
On with the story. Take it away, Piper:
Piper's POV
Piper woke up and immediately grabbed a mirror. There were plenty of those in the Aphrodite cabin. She sat on her bunk, looked at her reflection and groaned.
She was still gorgeous.
Last night after the campfire, she'd tried everything. She messed up her hair, washed the makeup off her face, cried to make her eyes red. Nothing worked. Her hair popped back to perfection. The magic makeup reapplied itself. Her eyes refused to get puffy or bloodshot.
She would've changed clothes, but she had nothing to change into. The other Aphrodite campers offered her some (laughing behind her back, she was sure), but each outfit was even more fashionable and ridiculous than what she had on.
Now, after a horrible night's sleep, still no change. Piper normally looked like a zombie in the morning, but her hair was styled like a supermodel and her hair was perfect. Even that horrible zit at the base of her nose, which she'd had for so many days she'd started calling it Bob, had disappeared.
She growled in frustration and raked her fingers through her hair. No use. The do just popped back into place. She looked like a Cherokee barbie.
From across the cabin, Drew called, "Oh, honey, it won't go away." Her voice dripped with false sympathy. "Mom's blessing will last at least another day. Maybe a week if you're lucky."
Piper gritted her teeth. "A week?"
The other Aphrodite kids- about a dozen girls and five boys- smirked and snickered at her discomfort. Piper knew she should play cool, not let them get under her skin. She'd dealt with shallow, popular kids plenty of times. But this was different. These were brothers and sisters, even if she had nothing in common with them, and how Aphrodite had managed to have so many kids so close in age…Never mind. She didn't want to know.
"Don't worry, hon." Drew blotted her fluorescent lipstick. "You're thinking you don't belong here? WE couldn't agree more. Isn't that right, Mitchell?"
One of the guys flinched. "Um, yeah. Sure."
"Mm-hmm." Drew took out her mascara and checked her lashes. Everyone else watched, not daring to speak. "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. Somebody inside yelped, and a girl about eleven was kicked out, hastily wrapped in towels with shampoo still in her hair.
The door slammed shut, but Piper noticed something strange. The girl had been pushed from the door, tears in her eyes, and quite obviously falling to her knees. Then in a split second, and small flash matching Drew's awful lipstick, she was on her feet, tears gone. In fact, she had a small smile, glancing back at the bathroom, as if she knew something was about to happen.
A couple of campers had gone over to comfort her, and wiped bubbles out of her hair, but she pushed them away, saying it was ok.
"Seriously?" Piper asked no one in particular. "You let Drew treat you like this?"
A few kids shot Piper nervous looks, like they might actually agree, but they said nothing.
The campers kept working, though Piper couldn't see why the cabin needed so much cleaning. It was a life-size dollhouse, with pink walls and a white window trim. The lace curtains were pastel blue and green, which of course matched the sheets and feather comforters on all the beds.
Piper blinked. A small flash, again, that fluorescent colour, and a note had appeared, stuck to the curtains. She walked over and read the glittering letters: I know, right? No taste. Pink. Plebs.
Piper stifled a laugh as she plucked it off, trying to figure out how the hell it appeared. She doubted her mom had insulted her own cabin.
A kid walked over, plucking the note out of her hand, and chucking it into the rubbish bin he had in his arms. Mitchell, she thought.
Piper glanced around at the rest of the cabin. The guys had one row of bunks separated by a curtain, but their section of the cabin was just as neat and orderly as the girls'. Something was definitely unnatural about that. Every camper had a wooden camp chest at the foot of their bunk with their name painted on it, and Piper guessed the clothes in each chest were neatly folded and colour coordinated.
Piper's look of disgust became surprise, as yet again, that weird flash appeared. Another note. You have good taste. No sense of autonomy. Sheep. Most are pretty cute, tbh. As artificial as a coke can, but cute. Notice the one thing individualistic.
Piper did see the only personal changes, the small desktops by each bed had belongings on them, all of which were just different celebrities all looking hot, but Piper was looking at the note. Informal. Very. Who was doing it?
Mitchell came by again, and held out his hand, his expression saying 'Stop having pieces of paper, please,' his mouth saying, "Can I take that? Thank, you," as he plucked it from her.
Piper went back to staring at the cabin, and her heart sank. Of course. A cabin full of hit celebrities. Over on the wall by the storage closet, in the middle of a collage of famous heartthrobs.
The title was lurid red: KING OF SPARTA. Under that, the poster showed the leading man- a three-quarters shot of bare-chested bronze flesh, with ripped pectorals and six-pack abs. He was clad in only a Greek war kilt and a purple cape, sword in hand. He looked like he'd just been rubbed in oil, his short black hair gleaming and rivulets of sweat pouring of his rugged face, those dark sad eyes facing the camera as if to say, I will kill your men and steal your women! Ha-ha!
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. It became The Poster, the most embarrassing thing in her life.
And, yeah, it was picture of her dad.
She turned away so no one thought she was staring at it. Maybe when everyone went to breakfast, she could tear it down and they wouldn't notice.
She tried to look busy, but she didn't have any extra clothes to fold. She straightened the bed, then realised the top blanket was the one Jason had wrapped around her shoulders last night. She picked it up and pressed it to her face. It smelled of wood smoke, but unfortunately not of Jason. He was only person who'd genuinely been nice to her after the claiming, like he cared about how she felt, not just her stupid clothes.
She muttered aloud, "Stupid mom. Stupid sign. Only Jason said it was fine…" and a variety of other obscenities that she thought no one heard. But no sooner had she turned to look at her pillow, a flash, and another note appeared. She picked it up, and frowned as she read it: Hey! I think Aphrodite is a right bitch! It must've sucked for you. But I had to run, so the seriousness kinda got taken away. If it's any consolation, you don't look as fake, even dressed as Barbie. You had a look going with the choppy hair.
As she stared, amazed, the note suddenly vanished, and reappeared in her hands with an extension: Watch out.
The next second, Piper was pushed gently as Mitchell accidently hit her, bending down. She stared at him as he picked out cards and chocolate wrappers from under the beds. A small part of her mind registered the fact that the Aphrodite kids might not be as nit-picky as she thought, but really, she just stared.
How had whoever been doing this know Mitchell was about to do that?
"'Scuse me," said a voice by her feet.
Mitchell was stopped from standing by her legs, and she hastily moved away, allowing him to stand.
"What'd you do to make Drew mad?" she asked.
He glanced over to the bathroom to make sure it was still closed. "Last night, after you were claimed, I said you might not be so bad."
It wasn't much of a compliment, but Piper was stunned. An Aphrodite kid had stood up for her?
"Thanks," she said.
Mitchell shrugged. "Yeah, well. See where it got me. But, for what it's worth, welcome to Cabin Ten."
A girl with blonde 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.
"Piper, meet Lacy," Mitchell said, still crawling around on the floor.
"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 her bed and started to hurry away, but Piper caught her arm. "Hold on. At least let me thank you! Why are you rushing off?"
"Drew might find out," Mitchell explained.
"I might have to wear the shoes of shame!" Lacy gulped.
"The what?" Piper asked.
Lacy and Mitchell both pointed to a black shelf mounted in the corner of the wall, like an altar. Displayed on it were a hideous pair of orthopaedic nurse's shoes, bright white with thick soles.
"I had to wear them for a week once," Lacy whimpered. "They don't go with any…where are you…?"
Piper had walked over to the boots. Another note lay pinned on the lace of the left shoe. She plucked it up, and read in her head: Oh, those poor, tormented souls! The shoes of shame! It really puts my torture session with a Titan to shame, doesn't it?
Piper could almost see a stupid male grin at that awful joke, but she was staring at the note. Whoever this was had been tortured by a Titan?!
But, seriously. These kids are the most shallow, transparent, dim-witted, surprisingly-not-fat-for-kids-who-like-chocolate-so-much annoyances. I feel for you. Wait. No, I don't. Never experienced it. But I can imagine it rather well. And I hate Drew, so…To-ma-to, To-mar-to.
Piper bit back a laugh, again, and then watched in amazement, as, like the last one, the letter was seemingly snatched away, and returned with new words: Look behind you. Wait…actually…you just did anyway, right? Got 'em.
Piper had turned, and saw Mitchell and Lacy standing there. Mitchell frowned at the letter, and said,
"Can I see that? That's the fourth one, and, no offence, no in here except us likes you very much."
Piper almost felt hurt, except she didn't really care. She handed Mitchell the note, before remembering what was written. His face contorted into an indignant scowl, and he looked up, passing it Lacy.
"Who wrote that? That is completely…" he blustered, as Lacy turned red while she read it.
Piper shrugged. "I have no idea. They've been appearing as we've been tidying."
The two kids frowned at each other, and Piper tried to change the subject.
"So…the shoes of shame, are the only punishments?"
Mitchell immediately followed along. I guess the mystery notes were right about shallow and transparent.
"Oh, no! You see, Drew can charmspeak. 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…well, no. Second person I've seen who can resist her."
"Charmspeak…" Piper remembered last night, the way the crowd at the campfire had been thrown back and forth between Drew's opinion and hers. "You mean, like, you could talk someone into doing things. Or…giving you things. Like a car?"
"Oh, don't give Drew any ideas!" Lacy gasped.
"But yeah," Mitchell answered. "She could do that."
"So that's how she got the job?" Piper asked. "She convinced everyone to give it to her?"
Mitchell gazed around at room. "Nah, she inherited the post when Silena Beauregard died in the war. Drew was second oldest…"
Mitchell had stopped, as a fifth not appeared stuck to his forehead. Piper peeled it off, and read it quietly: Vapid whore. No way could she ever dream of being Silena, the soulless…I'll stop. Psych.
Mitchell looked suddenly worried. "You need to get rid of that. Before…here, give it."
He snatched it and shoved it to the bottom of the rubbish bin. Looking around, he whispered,
"As you can see, Drew made some changes to this cabin after she became Head Councillor."
"Yes, I did!" Suddenly Drew was there, leaning against a bunk. Lacy squealed like a guinea pig and tried to run, but Drew but an arm out to stop her. She looked at Mitchell and his rubbish bin.
"I think you missed something back there, sweetie," she gestured to the bathroom, where the door was open. Piper could see the bin had been completely upturned, spilling its contents onto the floor- some pretty nasty things.
Mitchell glared at Drew as if he was about to hit her (which Piper would've paid to see), but finally he snapped, "Fine."
Drew smiled. "See, Piper, hon, we're a good cabin here. A good family! Silena Beauregard, though…you could take a warning from her. She was secretly passing information to Kronos in the Titan War, helping the enemy."
A flash, making Drew and Piper look up, and Piper grabbed another note, as it floated down from the air.
She keeps talking…I fucking dare her…
Piper glanced up, seeing Drew's face. Piper quickly scrunched it up and tossed it over to the bathroom. Drew didn't seem to care. She was smiling all innocent, with her glittery pink makeup, gold lipstick and blow-dried hair lush and smelling like nutmeg. She looked like any popular teenage girl from any hight school.
But her eyes were as cold as steel. Piper got the feeling she was pulling up secrets straight from her soul.
Helping the enemy.
"Oh, none of the other cabins talk about it," Drew confided. "They act like Silena was a hero."
"She sacrificed herself to make things right," Mitchell grumbled. "She was a hero."
"Mm-hmm," Drew said. "Another day on garbage patrol for you, Mitchell. But anyway…"
But a note had smacked her in the face. She flustered, and swatted it, and Piper caught it:
I SWEAR TO GOD. If she keeps talking, I'm going to emotionally scar her so hard you'll see it on her fucking fake-ass tanned skin!
Piper actually burst out loud for this, and it caught Drew's attention.
"What?!" she snapped. "What is it?"
She made to grab it, and Piper couldn't pull it away. She could see Drew's eyes widened then narrow during the length. Then lowered it, and looked around.
Her voice was dangerously quiet, and seemingly laced with charmspeak. Her tone was heavier, anyway. "Who, wrote, this? Who would dare insult me like this? I know it was one of you darlings."
Five seconds.
Then a final flash, a lot brighter than the notes appeared. Same colour, though. A bright, vibrant, powerful gold.
A voice replied from over by the collage of actors containing The Poster. Piper could hear the smirk.
"Sorry, Drew. Wrong suspects. Wrong cabin, but then again, with the number of brain cells you contain, I suppose I'd be impressed if you blamed a demigod, not a mortal…or a catfish."
Drew rounded on the noise.
A teenager stood there. All dressed in black and gold, with tousled, neat brown hair and freckly gold-brown eyes. A golden hourglass keychain hung from his belt. Piper grinned.
Fayden Thatch. In the Aphrodite Cabin. Chatting shit to Drew.
"You?! You're not allowed in here!" Drew yelled.
Fayden looked around, arms raised. "Oh! I'm so sorry. Who'll escort me out? I got lost on my way to weight-watchers…oh wait…"
Piper actually laughed. The insult had instantaneous effect. Every single Aphrodite kid had looked down at their belly to see if they looked fat. Fayden laughed.
"Like I said- shallow."
Drew looked as if her head was about to explode. She took a deep breath, and spoke in her calm, sweet voice, albeit with a string of tension underlying the tone.
"Fayden. Leave."
Even Piper could feel the charmspeak, and waited for Fayden to embarrassingly walk out, his fun over.
But he didn't.
To Piper's astonishment, Fayden just tilted his head, looking amused.
"You know that doesn't work on me?"
Piper remembered how Mitchell had said she was the second person to be immune to Drew's charmspeak, then heard said Drew mutter, "Worth a shot."
Piper's day was made. Drew had lost. Both Fayden and Drew knew it. They were waiting for everyone else to realise. But you know…shallow. Drew seemed lost for words, so retorted, "Fayden, I'll tell Chiron you're in here. You're not allowed in someone else's cabin."
Fayden snorted, in disappointment, which was a first for Piper.
"Really? Come on, Drew. I expected better. At least be accurate. It's banned for any two campers, to be alone, by themselves, in a cabin. See how that was vague. Because you have the IQ of a cow…so I have to dumb it down for you."
Drew flushed, again having lost a bout of insults. The Aphrodite cabin was watching it like a tennis game, heads bobbin backwards and forwards. Piper noticed not all of them seemed to be wanting Drew to win.
Fayden served. "Right, I'm hear to make sure you don't bully Piper, because Leo and his dragon got boring. Now that's covered, I hear you were insulting Silena? Say it again, come on."
His voice had changed. It wasn't a joke anymore. That was a challenge. Piper didn't really notice that though. Leo and his dragon?! Also, Piper thought back to his notes, or at least, she guessed it was him. He was tortured by a Titan? He kept that hidden? How many people knew?
Drew spluttered, then drew (ha) in a deep breath, and said, "Silena was a traitor. She passed information over to Kronos. She was not a he…ah!"
Fayden had seemingly teleported to right next to her. He breathed down her neck, "Say it again. Fucking dare you."
Drew immediately backed off, literally and mentally, which was the first smart thing Piper had ever seen her do. Fayden's face had reverted to sarcastic the moment she back into the clothes closet, and he smiled at Piper, who was a little disconcerted by his weird mood changes. Either he was actually pissed, or the best actor ever.
Judging by the small glint in Fayden's eye, regardless of his sarcastic smile, Piper guessed a bit of both.
"It's nearly breakfast. Came to tell you personally, because, well. I wanted to emotionally beat Miss Bitch. Hobby of mine."
Drew looked likes steam was rising from her palms, but said nothing. Piper smiled, and said,
"Yeah, Hang on. I'll get dressed out of this." She gestured to her awful dress.
Fayden smiled and just stood there as she walked into the bathroom. What was he going to do, just stand there? She pulled off her dress, leaving herself feel very cold, and not just in the literal sense. Being half naked in a place so alien made her feel vulnerable, which in turn sucked, as this was supposed to be her home. She should be comfortable wearing anything.
Pulling on the clothes Lacy had gotten her, she examined herself in the mirror, and smiled. She looked almost back to normal. The clothes weren't even remotely fancy, thank god. Just well-worn jeans, a T-shirt, a comfortable winter coat and hiking boots that fitted perfectly. She strapped her dagger, Katoptris, to her belt.
When Piper came out, she was shocked. Fayden had just been standing there. He seemed to have air pods in, and was humming something that sounded suspiciously like 'Hall of Fame' by The Script. Fitted his personality well.
His confidence still astonished Piper. Here he was, alone in a cabin full of people, one of which despised him, and the others probably didn't like him. And yet, he stood around like he owned the place, turning the awkward silence into something everyone else coughed and shuffled their feet about, while he chilled to some tunes, leaning against a window like he didn't have a care in the world.
Piper wished she could have some of that confidence: To honestly believe that you are better than everyone else.
Fayden glanced up, and pulled the air pods out, smiling.
"There! Aren't you fabulous," he overexaggerated a hair toss and Piper laughed as he continued, "Nearly back to not looking like an action man! Or, well…action woman."
She grinned, and liked the look in his eyes. He openly acknowledged he thought she was pretty, but his eyes showed absolutely zilch in the feelings department. It was like she was his sister.
He strode to the door, opening it, and she walked out, breathing in the crisp morning air. In fact, it was pretty lame, as morning airs go, and not very crisp. But it almost crackled compared to the perfumed environment of Cabin Ten. She shouldered her bag, glanced at Fayden, who grinned, and followed him. But she stopped, turning. All the Aphrodite kids were by the door.
"You know, you don't all have to follow Drew's orders."
The other kids shifted. Several glanced at Drew, but she was too stunned to respond.
"Umm," one managed, "she's our head councillor."
"She's a tyrant," Piper corrected. "You can think for yourselves. There's got to be more to Aphrodite than this." She gestured emptily at the cabin.
"More than this," one kid echoed.
"Think for ourselves," a second muttered.
"People!" Drew screeched. "Don't be stupid! She's charmspeaking you!"
"No," Piper insisted. "I'm telling the truth."
At least, Piper thought that was the case. She didn't understand how this charmspeaking thing worked, but she didn't feel herself put any power into her words. She didn't want to win an argument by tricking people. That was something Drew did. Piper simply meant what she said. Besides, even if she could charmspeak, she doubted it would work on another charmspeaker like Drew.
Drew sneered at her. "You may have a little power, Dumpster Queen. 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. Then maybe I'll tell them a few things about you, huh?"
Piper wanted to make a withering retort, but her rage, but her anger turned to panic. She was a spy for the enemy, just like Silena Beauregard. An Aphrodite traitor. Did Drew know about that, or was she just bluffing? Under Drew's glare, her confidence began to crumble.
"No this," Piper managed. "Aphrodite is not about this."
Then she turned and stormed past Fayden before anyone could see her blushing.
Behind her, she heard Drew laughing. "Not this? Hear that, people? She doesn't have a cl…ah!"
Piper didn't turn, but heard a crash, so pictured Drew falling into a wall, or smacked against the door. Those thoughts made her happy. But she promised herself she would never go back into that cabin. She blinked away her tears and stormed across the green, not sure where she was going…
Until she heard Fayden shout in delight.
She turned, annoyed that someone was being happy, and saw his gaze fixed on the sky. Other campers had started gasping and yelling in shock and fear.
Piper looked up, and nearly fainted.
Because there was a dragon swooping down from the sky.
Fayden's POV
"Leo!" he yelled. "You good?"
Fayden could see him grinning like a lunatic from atop the dragon's back, and waved like a maniac.
"Yo! Fayden! This is sooooo much fuuuuuun!"
Fayden laughed as he circled around to the ground. He glanced to his left. Piper was staring slack-jawed at the golden beast, her arms by her sides. He grinned at her reaction, before noticing everyone else's reaction.
The camp alarm had gone up. A conch blew. All the satyrs had started screaming, 'Don't kill me!'. Half the camp ran outside in a mixture of pyjamas and battle armour as the dragon settled down right in the middle of the green. Leo slid further forward so he could be seen, and yelled, "Don't shoot! It's ok! Don't shoot!"
Hesitantly, the archers lowered their bows as Fayden ran forward. Festus titled his head to look at him, and almost gave a submissive snort, like, 'Fine. I won't eat you.'
Seeing this as the friendliest the beast got, He jumped onto its forelegs, toes in the small layers between bronze plates, and reached forward in a handshake. Leo clasped it, still grinning like mad.
"Isn't this awesome! He flies!"
Fayden laughed at the kid's enthusiasm. "Yes. Yes, he does. You fixed him alright?"
Leo snorted, waving his hands. "Do sons of Hephaestus build things for a living?"
Fayden raised an eyebrow, and Leo waved his hands, this time in a 'eh' sort of way. "Ok, fair enough. It was hard, but he's mostly perfect."
"Leo, it's a dragon. What's mostly?"
But Fayden had to jump down as Festus leaned forward, otherwise his foot would've been crushed between metal plates. He looked around, and saw all the campers nervously standing around, weapons half raised. He waved his arm down, saying,
"It's fine! Lower them."
This seemed to be a final point, as most the warriors lowered their swords and shields. Fayden saw Piper admiring Festus, and grinned. The dragon was beautiful, in a mechanical, modern sort of way. Not 'Grand Canyon pretty', more…'Newest iPhone pretty'. Technology.
As Fayden looked at the finished thing, he noticed how Leo had polished and cleaned the metal everywhere, so it looked like a living penny sculpture- different shades of copper and bronze. A sixty-foot-long serpent with steel talons and drill-bit teeth and glowing ruby eyes, that seemed to glow brighter. Festus wings had been added, bat-shaped, twice it's length and unfurled like metallic sails, making a sound like coins cascading out of a slot machine every time they flapped.
"It's beautiful," he heard Piper mutter.
Fayde grinned, noticing how everyone else was staring at her like she was insane.
The dragon reared its head and shot a column of fire into the sky. Campers scrambled away and hefted their weapons, but Leo slid calmly off the dragon's back. He held up his hands like he was surrendering, except his maniacal grin remained firmly on his face.
"People of Earth, I come in peace!" he shouted. He looked like he'd been rolling around in the campfire, and Fayden wondered what the hell he'd had done after Fayden had left. His army coat and his face were smeared with soot. His hands were grease-stained, and he wore a new tool belt Fayden didn't recognise. His eyes were bloodshot, which was understandable. His curly hair was so oily it stuck up in porcupine quills, so much so that Fayden walked over and flicked them, only to get oil stains smeared on his face. He mock-glared at Leo, before hastily wiping his face, hoping the grease was lost in his black hoodie. Leo still smelled strongly of Tabasco sauce.
"That thing is dangerous!" Clarisse yelled, brandishing her spear. "Kill it now!"
Fayden opened his mouth and yelled, "No!" as someone else cried out, "Stand down!"
Fayden looked around, and so did Piper and Leo. It was Jason. He pushed through the crowd, flanked by Annabeth and the head of Cabin Nine, Nyssa. Fayden like Nyssa. She didn't like him. Apparently, he was irritating. I mean, sure, he sabotaged one magical bow…under payment of the Apollo cabin, not that he needed the drachma. Ok, fine. Four magical bows, all different attempts. Nyssa caught him on his fourth reconnaissance, and he fled from her, the little Harley kid and three miniature automaton centaurs, firing pins at his back. That wasn't fun. He had smelled like petrol for at least three days.
Anyway, complete pointless information aside, Fayden watched as Jason stared at the dragon.
"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!"
Fayden could tell from the happy creak that Festus like the 'class-A' description.
"It…has wings," Nyssa stammered. Her jaw looked like a millimetre from dislocating. Fayden beamed at her, saying, "Your new cabinmate is a genius. Found 'em and reattached them."
Nyssa spared time for a short glare at Fayden. Ok, maybe she was still rather salty. Then she turned to Leo and replied, "But it never had wings. Where did you find them?"
Fayden and Leo's hesitation was far from conspicuous, as was their simultaneous, "In…the woods!"
Leo continued, "Repaired his circuits, too, mostly, so no more problems with him going haywire."
"Mostly?" Nyssa asked.
The dragon's head twitched, and Fayden didn't have time to step away, before oil came pouring out over himself and Leo, flooding from the dragon's ear.
"Uh! Leo!" He sopped the stuff off his arms, shaking the liquid away from his very not water (or oil) proof jumper. "Thanks!"
Leo gave a sheepish grin, and replied, "Just a few kinks to work out."
"But how did you survive…?" Nyssa was still staring at the creature in awe. "I mean, the fire breath…"
Fayden jumped in, trying to ignore the steady black drip off his nose. "He had help, obviously."
Nyssa glared at him. "And how did you escape the scorching fire, hmm?"
Fayden paused, then tilted his head in thought. "Do I even need to answer that?"
Classic. Act on his ego while giving him time to come up with an excuse. Nyssa frowned, saying, "Yes. It has fire capable of scorching rock to some degree. You meddle with time. You're telling me you reversed the scorch marks off your face?"
Fayden frowned. "Why do you hate me so…?"
"You know why!"
He raised his hands. "Ok, ok. Sorry I screwed up your bow designs. But you know, you blame the employer, not the employee."
He pointed at Will Solace, who looked at him like, dude. Nyssa rounded on Will, and opened her mouth, but Jason interrupted.
"That's not important. We need to…"
Then he frowned. "Wait…you named him Festus. You know, in Latin, that means happy? You want us to go on a quest to save the world on Happy the Dragon?"
The dragon twitched again, shuddered, then flapped his wings.
"That's a yes, bro!" Leo said. "Now, um, I'd really suggest we get going guys. I already picked up some supplies in the- um, in the woods. And all these people with weapons are making Festus nervous."
Jason frowned. "But we haven't found anything yet. We can't just…"
"Go," Annabeth said. Fayden noticed that she was the only one not even remotely interested in the dragon. Her expression was sad and wistful, like this reminded her of better times, questing with Percy. "Jason, you've got only three days until the solstice now, and you should never keep a nervous dragon waiting. This is certainly a good omen. Go!"
Jason nodded. Then he smiled at Piper. "You ready, partner?"
Fayden watched Piper stare at Festus, watching his razor-sharp talons and gleaming red eyes. He knew what she was thinking. It was the same thing he thought before every quest. Well no. She was probably having an internal nervous breakdown. He was thinking, 'Welp. Here we go again.'
"You bet."
Jason turned to Fayden and nodded. "You got a plan for that oil?" he smiled.
Fayden laughed and shuddered gold, like he was lagging out of reality. Then he returned, somewhat tired after the Aphrodite cabin escapades, but perfectly clean.
"Let's go, son of Zeus."
Fayden glanced around as he climbed the dragon. He saw Thalia in the crowd, and she didn't try and surge forward for a goodbye. She knew how urgent this was. Nodding and waving, he replied with by blowing a kiss, causing everyone laugh.
All four of them climbed onto Festus' back, and he soared into the sky.
Piper's POV (I'm kinda using her POV a lot, tbh. Oh well).
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. Talk about seat warmers! And the grooves in the dragon's back were designed like high-tech saddles, so they weren't uncomfortable at all. Fayden decided to put that to the test, strapping himself to the dragon's back with some rope and falling asleep, pressed against Piper's front, the back of his head occasionally brushing her face. The nerve of that kid. It was rather disconcerting having Fayden with them. They were all 15, and then there's this 19-year-old, virtually an adult snoring while strapped to Piper's back. Still, he was by far the most experienced in this sort of thing, if a little eccentric. Piper decided she like Fayden. He was cool, and that scene in Cabin Ten had boosted her opinion of him, a lot. Even if he kept making her eat hair.
Festus tilted slightly, and Piper watched the ground sail by under them. Leo used the reins to steer the dragon like he'd down it his whole life. The metal wings worked perfectly, and soon the coast of Long Island was just a hazy line behind them. They shot over Connecticut and climbed into the grey winter clouds.
Leo grinned back at them. "Cool, right?"
"What if we get spotted?" Piper asked.
"The Mist," Jason said. "It keeps mortals from seeing magic things. If they spot us, they'll probably mistake us for a small plane or something."
Piper glanced back over her shoulder, ignoring the thoughts rushing through her head about having Jason so close behind her, and how much she wanted him to wrap his arms around her.
"You sure about that?"
"No," he admitted.
Piper noticed how he was deliberately not putting his arms near her, as if she'd be offended. She wished boys weren't so fricking dense.
"Where are we heading?" she eventually asked.
"To find the god of the North Wind," Jason said. "And chase some storm spirits."
A voice upfront mumbled sleepily, "Well that was dramatic."
Everyone laughed at Fayden's dumb comment as Leo pulled the reins and soared over another grey cloud.
Leo's POV
Leo was totally buzzing.
The expression on everyone's face when he flew the dragon into camp? Priceless! He thought his cabinmates were going to bust a lug nut.
Festus had been awesome, too. He hadn't blowtorched a single cabin or eaten any satyrs, even he did dribble a little oil from his ear. Okay, a lot of oil. Leo could work on that later.
So maybe Leo didn't seize the chance to tell everybody about Bunker 9 or the flying boat design. He needed some time to think about all that, and was grateful Fayden played along. Leo could tell Fayden didn't care either way, and juts thought that a giant Bunker full of weapons in the woods was awesome. Leo went over to where Fayden was rummaging after the demi-titan had left, and saw all the prototype weapons.
Some were just plain dumb, like the fashionable armour, but others looked badass, like the weird laser beam in a handle. If he could get that to work…there was a small crystal thing inside that was broken and cracked. The obvious source of power.
But Leo noticed Fayden fawning over the weird gauntlets, and thought they were just armour. When Leo pulled on the ring, he had yelped and massaged a bruised wrist for about an hour. He'd decided to try and fix the mechanics. It was rather easy. Smooth the sliding track, sharpen the blade, make sure the spring mechanics were up to scratch. Then he polished the entire weapon, until it looked good as new.
The gauntlet was a smooth cylinder of brown leather, with interlocking patterns of diamonds weaved into the material. Nestled in the middle, the actual blade was a lot more sophisticated. It was a mixture of silver and gold: A main silver body, with silver mechanical pieces, but all the designs and engravings were a secondary colour of bright gold. The blade was a gleaming silver, shooting dead straight out of the 'scabbard', and staying perfectly still, as not to break when used while quivering.
Leo had chucked the pair of them, for he had found two, into his supply bag, thinking they'd be useful.
If he got back, he'd tell his cabinmates about Bunker 9.
Nah, he'd come back. He'd scored a sweet magic tool belt from the bunker, plus a lot of cool supplies now safely stowed in his backpack on top of the blades. Besides, he had a fire-breathing, only slightly leaky dragon on his side. What could go wrong?
Well, the control disk could bust, the bad part of him suggested. Festus could eat you.
Okay, so the dragon wasn't quite as fixed as Leo might've let on. He'd worked all night attaching those wings, but he hadn't found an extra dragon brain anywhere in he bunker. Hey, they were under a time limit! Three days until the solstice. They had to get going. Besides, Leo had cleaned the disk pretty well. Most of the circuits were still good. It would just have to hold together.
His bad started to think, Yeah, but what if…
"Shut up, me," Leo said aloud.
"What?" Piper asked.
"Nothing," he said. "Long night. I think I'm hallucinating. It's cool."
Sitting in front, Leo couldn't see their faces, but he assumed from their silence that his friends weren't pleased to have a sleepless, hallucinating dragon driver.
"Leo…" Fayden began, in a 'You better be joking right now' voice.
"Just joking." Leo decided it might be good to change the subject. "So, what's the plan, Jason? You said something about catching wind, or breaking wind, or something?"
As they flew over New England, Jason laid out the game plan: First, find some guy named Boreas and grill him for information…
"His name is Boreas?" Leo had to ask. "What is he, the god of boring?"
Second, Jason continued, they had to find those venti that had attacked the at the Grand Canyon…
"Anemoi thuellai," interrupted Fayden.
Leo shook his head. "Can't we just call them storm spirits? Venti makes them sound like evil espresso drinks. And…whatever Fayden said is just unpronounceable."
Fayden stared at him. "You can't pronounce anemoi thuellai, but you can pronounce unpronounceable?"
Jason interrupted, continuing on with the plan. They had to find out who the storm spirits worked for, so they could find Hera and free her.
"So, you want to look for Dylan, the nasty storm dude, on purpose," Leo said. "They guy who threw me off the skywalk and sucked Coach Hedge into the clouds."
"That's about it," Jason said. "Well…there may be a wolf involved, too. But I think she's friendly. She probably won't eat us, unless we show weakness."
"Perfect," Fayden commented.
Jason told them about his dream- the big nasty mother wolf and a burnt-out house with stone spires growing out of the swimming pool.
"Uh-huh," Leo said. "But you don't know where this place is?"
"Nope," Jason admitted.
"There are also giants," Piper added. "The prophecy said the giants' revenge."
"Thanks, Piper," Fayden's sarcasm wasn't easy to miss.
"Get your hair out of my face."
"Nah. It's comf…ahhh!"
Leo couldn't see what happened, but he guessed Piper had pushed Fayden, who then slipped to the side of the dragon. Judging from the yells from Piper and Jason, she'd immediately regretted it. Leo swivelled to see Fayden, and saw him grinning, laying against Festus' belly, glowing as gold as the dragon.
"They're going to kill you for that," Leo told him.
Fayden grinned. "She pushed me off."
"Fayden? Where the hell are you?! We're on a dragon!"
Leo lost sight of him as scaled the plates of Festus' underbelly, and heard a loud, "Boo!" and a girly shriek.
"Fayden! I'm going to kill you the moment we land!"
He heard Fayden laugh, and Jason chuckle slightly, but judging from the heavy breathing, Piper wasn't amused.
"Hang on," Leo suddenly remembered. "Giants'? As in, more than one? Why can't it be just one giant who wants revenge?"
"I don't think so." Piper was still quite obviously glaring at Fayden, Leo didn't even need to see it. "I remember some the old Greek stories, there was something about an army of giants."
"Great," Leo muttered. "Of course, with our luck, it's an army. So, you know anything else about these giants? Didn't you do a bunch of myth research for that movie with your dad?"
Leo heard both Fayden and Jason say, "Your dad's an actor?"
He could almost hear Piper's uncomfortable expression. Leo laughed, then said, "I keep forgetting you have amnesia, Jason. But yeah, her dad's Tristan McLean."
Jason had frowned. "Uh…sorry, what was he in?"
Fayden had swivelled to look at Piper, eyes wide. Leo could see her annoyance. "Your dad's the King of Sparta?"
Piper was glaring. "Yes…" then she saw his grin, and frowned.
Fayden laughed. "I knew that'd be your reaction. You hate being famous, don't you?"
Piper scowled again. "I swear to god Fayden, you are the single most annoying person I have ever met!"
"Hey! What about me?" Leo called back, and everyone laughed.
Piper shook her head, smiling, then said, "Anyway. There were lots of giants in Greek mythology…"
Fayden leaned forward suddenly. "Wait…you mean…like Polybotes and such?"
Piper nodded, looking surprised. Leo called back, "Poly-what now?"
Fayden nodded for Piper to take the reins, and she coughed, saying, "Um, yeah. He's one of them. The Giant's, capital G, were bad news. Huge, almost impossible to kill. They could throw mountains and stuff. I think they were related to the Titans. They rose from the earth after Kronos lost the war- and they tried to destroy Olympus. If we're talking about the same giants…"
"Then it must be happening again," Fayden continued. "Kronos was beaten last summer. It's repeating itself."
Jason nodded. "Chiron said something about this. The last chapter. That's what he meant. No wonder he didn't want us to know the details."
Leo whistled. "So…giants who can throw mountains. Friendly but not so friendly wolves. Evil espresso drinks. Gotcha. Maybe this isn't the time to bring up my pyscho babysitter."
"Is that another joke?" Piper asked.
Leo told them about Tía Callida, who was really Hera, and how she appeared to him at camp. He didn't tell them about his fire abilities. That was still a touchy subject, especially after Nyssa had told him fire demigods tended to destroy cities and stuff. Besides, then Leo would have to get into how he'd caused his mom's death and…No. He wasn't ready to go there. He did manage to talk about the night she died, not mentioning the fire, just saying the machine shop collapsed. It was easier without having to look at his friends, just keeping his eyes straight ahead as they flew over another state.
And he told them about the strange woman in earthen robes who seemed to be asleep, and seemed to know the future. Leo estimated the whole state of Massachusetts passed below them before his friends spoke.
"That's…disturbing," Piper said.
"'Bout sums it up," Leo agreed. "Thing is, everybody says don't trust Hera. She hates demigods. And the prophecy said we'd cause death if we unleash her rage. So I'm wondering…why are we doing this?"
"She chose us," Jason said. "All four of us…"
"Big whoop of joy, that," Fayden mumbled. Leo had to agree.
"We're the first of the seven who have to gather for the Great Prophecy. This quest is the beginning of something much bigger."
Leo turned, and saw Fayden open and close his mouth. Unfortunately, Piper noticed.
"What?"
Fayden shrugged. "Jason's mostly right. Only, I'm not part of the seven."
Piper frowned. "You don't know that…"
"Yes, I do," Fayden cut her off. "Hera told me in my dream."
Leo listened as Fayden explained how Hera had appeared to him, saying he was her wild card, and how, while he must go on this quest, he was not part of the seven. Leo had a feeling that, like him, Fayden wasn't explaining his whole experience with Hera.
"Ok," Jason said. "That's weird. But…I don't know. Maybe…I have no idea. But you're here now. And another reason to help Hera," he turned back to Leo. "Is she's the only way I can have my memory back. And that dark spire in my dream seemed to be feeding on Hera's energy. If that thing unleashes a king of the giants by destroying Hera…"
"Not a good trade-off," Piper agreed. "At least Hera is on our side…mostly. Losing her would throw the gods into chaos. She's the main peacekeeper in the family. And a war with the giants could be even more destructive than the Titan War."
"Well, that's just great. As the only present witness, that is not a good thing," Fayden said. Leo frowned, then realised, this guy was almost twenty. If the second Titan War happened last summer, he was most definitely in it.
Jason nodded. "Chiron also talked about worse forces stirring on the solstice, with it being a good time for dark magic and all- something that could awaken if Hera was sacrificed on that day. And this mistress who's controlling the storm spirits, the one who wants to kill all the demigods…"
"Might be weird sleeping lady," Leo finished. "Dirt woman fully awake? Not something I want to see."
"But who is she?" Jason asked. "And what does she have to do with gi…Fayden?"
Leo swivelled again, and saw Fayden, who usually had a pretty decent poker face, pale. Like, pale.
"Fayden…" Piper's voice was accusatory. "If you know something…"
Suddenly, he shook his head. "Nope, nothing. I thought…its not. It can't be. Impossible."
Leo laughed somewhat humourlessly. "Dude, that was a dreadful performance. What is it?"
Fayden shook his head again. "Nothing. Like I said, I thought it was something, but…it's not."
Leo started thinking about the prophecy as they flew ever closer to Quebec. There were still miles away, but whatever.
Help from time is a must, and The forge and dove shall break the cage. Fayden knew something, Leo could see that. Considering that the three of them would be responsible for actually freeing Hera, it ticked Leo that Fayden didn't tell them. Then, after they'd freed Hera, they'd unleash her rage. Fun! Leo had seen Tía Callida in action; she like knives, snakes and putting babies in roaring fires. Yes, definitely let's unleash her rage. Great idea.
Festus kept flying. The wind got colder, and below them snowy forests seemed to go on forever. Leo didn't know exactly where Quebec was. He'd told Festus to take them to the palace of Boreas, and Festus kept going north. Hopefully the dragon knew the way, and they wouldn't end up at the North Pole.
"Why don't you get some sleep," he heard Fayden say from right behind him. "You were up all last night playing with a dragon."
Leo didn't even have time to smile at the joke, because the word sleep sounded really good. "You won't let me fall off?"
Fayden laughed. "No promises."
Leo didn't like the sincerity in his voice, but leaned against the warm neck of the dragon anyway, closing his eyes.
It seemed like he slept for seconds, but when Fayden shook him awake, the daylight was fading.
"We're here," he said.
Leo rubbed the sleep out his eyes. Below them, a city sat on a cliff overlooking a river. The plains around it were dusted with snow, but the city itself glowed warmly in the winter sunset. Buildings crowded together inside high walls like a mediaeval town, way older than any place Leo had seen before. In the centre was an actual castle- at least Leo assumed it was a castle- with massive red brick walls and a square tower with a peaked, green gabled roof.
"Tell me that's Quebec and not Santa's workshop," Leo said.
"Yeah, Quebec City," Piper confirmed. "One of the oldest cities in North America. Founded around sixteen hundred or so?"
Leo raised an eyebrow. "Your dad do a movie about that, too?"
She made a face at him, which Leo was used to, but it didn't quite work with her new glamourous makeup. "I read sometimes, okay? Just because Aphrodite claimed me doesn't mean I have to be an airhead."
"Feisty!" Leo grinned. "Since you know so much, what's that castle?"
"A hotel, I think."
Leo laughed. "No way."
But, as the got closer, Leo saw she was right. The grand entrance was bustling with doormen, valets and porters taking bags. Sleek black luxury cars idled in the drive. People in elegant suits and winter cloaks hurried to get out of the cold.
"The North Wind is staying in a hotel?" Leo said. "That can't be…"
"Heads up, guys," Jason interrupted. "We've got company!"
Leo looked below and saw what Jason meant. Rising from the top of the tower were two, winged figures- angry angels with nasty looking swords.
Festus didn't like the angel guys. He swooped to a halt in mid-air, wings beating and talons bared, and he was making a rumbling noise in his throat that Leo recognised. He was getting ready to blow fire.
"Steady, boy," Leo muttered. Something told him these angels would not take kindly to be torched.
"I don't like this," Jason said. "They look like storm spirits."
At first, Leo thought he was right, but as the angels neared, he could see they were much more solid than venti. They looked like regular teens except for their icy white hair and feathery purple wings. Their bronze swords were jagged, like icicles. Their faces were similar enough that they might have been brothers, but they definitely weren't twins, identical or otherwise.
One was the size of an ox, with a bright red hockey jersey, baggy sweatpants and black leather cleats. The guy had clearly been in too many fights, because both his eyes were black and when he bared his teeth, several of them were missing.
The other guy looked like he'd just stepped off one of Leo's mom's 1980's rock album covers- Journey, maybe, or Hall & Oates, or something even lamer. His ice white hair was long and feathered into a mullet. He wore pointy-toed leather shoes, designer trousers that were way to tight and a god-awful silk shirt with the top three buttons open. Maybe he thought he looked like a groovy love god, but the guy couldn't have been more than ninety pounds, and he had a bad case of acne.
The angels pulled up in front of the dragon and hovered there, swords at the ready.
The hockey ox grunted. "No clearance."
"'Scuse me?" Leo said.
"You have no flight plan on file," explained the groovy love god. On top of his other problems, he had a French accent so bad, Leo thought it was fake. "This is restricted airspace."
"Destroy them?" The ox showed off his gap-toothed grin.
It was then that Fayden decided to wake up. "Destroy who? Then he looked around, 'ahhed', and said, "Wake me back up when an interesting immortal's hijacking our flight," then laid back against Festus, amidst outcries from the two angels.
"Hey! We are interesting enough, insolent boy!"
Festus began to hiss steam, ready to step in on the defence. Jason summoned his golden sword, and Piper kicked Fayden. "What? Oh, fine."
Leo cried out, "Hold on! Let's have some manners here, boys. Can I at least find out who has the honour of destroying me?"
"I am Cal!" the ox grunted. He looked very proud of himself, like he'd taken a long time to memorise that sentence.
"That's short for Calais," the love god said. "Sadly, my brother cannot say words with more than two syllables…"
"Pizza! Hockey! Destroy!" Cal offered.
"…which includes his own name," the love god finished.
Leo heard Fayden mutter, "Hmm, yeah. Low IQ is a contagious disease. As long as he doesn't go near me, I wouldn't want to catch it."
Leo hacked a cough to cover his laughing fit, and the love god glared at him. Cal had caught none of this, and said, "I am Cal. And this is Zethes! My brother!"
"Wow," Leo said. "That was almost three sentences, man! Way to go."
Cal grunted, obviously pleased with himself.
"Stupid buffoon," his brother grumbled. "They make fun of you. But no matter. I am Zethes, which is short for Zethes. And the lady there…" he winked at Piper, but it looked more like a facial seizure. "She can call me whatever she likes. Perhaps she would like to have dinner with a famous demigod before we must destroy you?"
Piper made a sound like gagging on a cough drop. "That's…a truly horrifying offer."
Fayden had leaned backwards, and rather over-affectionately grabbed Piper's waist. "Besides, Joan Jett, she's taken. Back off."
Leo couldn't hold back the snort of laughter this time, and could even see Jason's look of annoyed amusement. He heard Piper lean into Fayden's ear and whisper-yell, "What are you doing?"
Fayden grinned and mumbled back, "This is the most boring quest I've ever been on. I'm spicing it up!"
Piper's face was the epitome of 'I'm totally done'. Zethes had frowned.
"That is no matter. I am a Boread, so I think I may come out victorious in this one, little halfling."
Fayden yawned, and leaned into Piper, who looked like she was restraining herself from stabbing him. "I doubt it. We're pretty close. She's a great kisser."
"Fayden, I swear to god," her whisper was audible to all those on Festus. "You just keep adding to the list of things I want to kill you for, hmm?"
Fayden grinned, but before Zethes could cut across them again, Jason cut in. "Boreads? Do you mean, like, the sons of Boreas?"
"Ah, so you've heard of us!" Zethes looked pleased. "We are out father's gatekeepers. So you understand, we cannot have unauthorised people flying in his airspace on creaky dragons, scaring the silly mortal people."
"How do you know we're unauthorised?" interrupted Fayden, his eyebrow raised. Zethes frowned.
"Because it is our job, half-blood."
Fayden raised his hands. "Hey, just checking. Your CV has been updated, so I was making sure you followed the latest criteria."
Now, even Leo thought this was a stupid joke, and was surprised to see Zethes suddenly frown. "We haven't had a change in our résumé…have we?"
Fayden shrugged. "Like you said. Your jobs."
Zethes was looking scared now. He waved his hand, a pad of papers as white as his hair appeared. He licked his fingers, and began flicking through them. Leo stared at Fayden, who just grinned. The message was clear, 'Even when I'm being dumb as shit, I'm still amazing!'.
Piper rolled her eyes, but still waited to see what happened. Zethes reached the end of the papers, frowned, then looked up.
"We haven't a change at all. You lied. What did you think you could do? Distract us and sneak in?"
Fayden grinned. "Honestly? I didn't even know you guys had a CV. I was just messing, cause this quest is boring AF."
Zethes' eyes widened. "Ah! You're all on a quest! I should have known. However, unfortunately, jokester and his friends, and girlfriend who will soon be mine…"
Piper didn't seem to know which idea sickened her the most.
"…unless you require an emergency landing, me and my brother will have to destroy you painfully."
Fayden raised his arms. "Well, that's not very nice. Why does it have to be painful?"
Zethes frowned. "Well, I suppose…it doesn't have to be. I just prefer it."
Piper glared at Fayden, who smiled and puckered his lips, to which he got smacked around the face. Piper turned on Zethes, and said, "But this is an emergency landing!"
"Aww!" Cal looked so disappointed at not getting to destroy them, Leo almost felt sorry for him.
Zethes studied Piper, which of course he'd already been doing.
"How does the pretty girl decide this is an emergency, then?"
"We have to see Boreas! It's totally urgent! Please?" She forced a smile, which Leo figured must have been killing her, but she still had that blessing of Aphrodite thing going on, and she looked great. Something about her voice, too- Leo found himself believing every word. Jason was nodding, looking absolutely convinced.
Zethes picked his silk shirt, probably making sure it was still open wide enough. "Well…I hate to disappoint a lovely lady, but, you see, my sister, she would have an avalanche if we allowed you too…"
"Ooh, and avalanche? Sounds kinky," grinned Fayden, and got 'Are you serious' looks from every demigod in a ten-mile radius. And Leo, Piper and Jason, obviously. Zethes grumbled.
"That is not funny, little demigod. My sister would…"
"Our dragon is malfunctioning!" Piper suddenly cried, trying to save the situation. "It could crash at any minute!"
Festus shuddered helpfully, then turned his head and spilled gunk out of his ear, splattering a black Mercedes in the parking lot below.
"No destroy?" Cal whimpered.
Zethes pondered the problem. Then he gave Piper another spasmodic wink. "Well, you are pretty. I mean, you're right. A malfunctioning dragon- this could be an emergency."
"Destroy them later?" Cal offered, which Leo figured was the closest to friendly he ever got.
"It will take some explaining," Zethes decided. "Father has not been kind to visitors lately. But, yes. Come, faulty dragon people. Follow us."
The Boreads sheathed their swords and pulled smaller weapons from their belts- or at least Leo thought they were weapons. Then the Boreads switched them on, and Leo realised they were flashlights with orang cones, like the ones traffic controller guys use on a runway. Cal and Zethes turned and swooped towards the hotel's tower.
Leo turned to his friends. "I love these guys. Follow them?"
Jason and Piper didn't look eager. Fayden looked as excited as Leo.
"I guess," Jason decided. "We're here now. But I wonder why Boreas hasn't been kind to visitors."
Fayden snorted. "Please. He's a god. We're Half-Bloods. They're genetically designed to hate us and need us."
Jason opened his mouth, then closed it. "You know what? Fair enough."
As Leo swooped down after the Boreads, he could hear the spat between Fayden and Piper.
"If you ever do that again…"
"You'll what? Spank me?"
Leo could almost hear Piper's look of outrage. "No, I'll beat the crap out of you."
This time, Leo could hear Fayden's smirk. "Really? I'd like to see you…ow!"
A loud slap sounded out, and Leo swivelled in his seat. Jason was watching the pair, amused. Fayden had brought his hand down face, and Piper was glaring at him, but Leo had known her long enough to tell when she was holding back a smile.
Fayden leaned in and said, "That was a pretty good smack. Fair enough. However, darling, domestic abuse is a…watch it!"
Piper had raised her hands, but her smile escaped as she tried to glare at Fayden. Fayden noticed, and pointed. "Ha! Gotcha! Give it up, babe. You love me."
He lifted his head in the air proudly as Piper burst out laughing, giving him one final smack as they approached the opening in the castle roof that had just appeared. The bottom and top half were lined with jagged icicles, like vicious teeth.
"This cannot be good," muttered Jason, as they descended into the home of the North Wind.
Well. That took quite a while as well. Just a heads up. My pre-order of Skulduggery Pleasant: Dead or Alive, arrived yesterday, so the next chapter will take a while. Nothing beats reading Skulduggery Pleasant on my priorities list.
I loved writing the Aphrodite cabin scene at the start of the chapter, with Piper and Fayden getting closer. I've decided who's going to hate Fayden. Basically, the entire Roman camp. Yep. Nearly every roman is going to be annoyed by him, except Reyna, considering the fact that this was originally going to be a Fayden/Reyna fic. She'll hate him more than others at first, then tolerate him, then be a sort of source of jealousy for Thalia, then when she joins the Hunt in Trials of Apollo, she'll be a friend. But, yeah. Most of the Romans are going to find Fayden a pain in the ass, which will effectively solve the 'Too many people like Fayden problem'.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I sure did writing it.