Hey guys! So I'm doing a time skip to when they reach Chicago, because I cannot be bothered to write out all the speech, but here's the basic gist of it:

Leo: We crash landed into a row of porta-potties, Gaia appeared to me, and I chucked a porta-potty at her and UGGHH! My life sucks.

Jason: I know, right Dude! Like Hera appeared to me in a dream vision, and said something about doing the impossible, and heroes working together, and, like, the gods are Jerks!

Alex:I know, right, like they sooo mess up my life.

Piper:Guys...

Leo:Hey, bro, we should totally prove them-

Piper:Guys!

Leo Jason Alex:What?

ME: And tHanKyOUu Piper. Moving on,

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own PJO or HoO, Rick Riordan does, though I could totally do a better job, for starters, not killing off-! Oh, wait, sorry, you haven't read the Burning maze? Well hurry up, because the Tyrant's tomb is out soon!(I'm hoping to get this chapter published before it comes out tho:))


"Chicago." Jason said, looking down.

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

"Oh thank you for being oh-so optimistic, O-light-of-my-day."

Leo gave me a two-fingered mock salute. I suddenly saw a flash of movement below us. At first, I thought it was a small plane, and I was like, 'How high up are we?', but then I realised it was too small, too dark and too fast. The thing spiralled towards a skyscraper, swiftly moving and changing shape, and for a moment, I swear it was a horse. I turned back, and I saw Jason had seen it too. He pointed.

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

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

I was afraid we'd lose our target. The anemoi thuellai moved, well...like the wind.

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

"Wow bro! Just because I listen to really loud music, does not mean I appreciate you screaming in my ear."

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

"Slow down!" Piper storm spirit dived into a grid of down town streets. Festus tried to follow, but his wingspan was too wide. His left wing sliced of a building spire, before Leo could get him to go highter.

"Go up, we can track him from there." Jason said.

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

"There's two..." Piper commented. She was right. A second anemoi thuellai 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," I 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 threw him a confused look. "I wanna throw something at him." I keps focusing on the art installation. The closer we got to it, the faster my heart beat. It was a public fountain, but something about it just seemed 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 I watched closer, the face morphed into one I knew to well...dirt face.

"Leo..." I 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 the earth?" I feinged surprise.

"Oh my gods, Leo, you remembered that!" But in reality, I felt the same way. However, we had to follow. It was our only way forward. We had to find Hera, and we were two days away from the solstice.

"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 I 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 we 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 cuppa, and maybe the TV blaring on. My eyes stung so badly, I could barely see. We dis mounted, and 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 rumaged in his belt, but came up empty handed.

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

"Alright, Coach would be jealous! Okay, Festus, listen." He blew the mouthpiece, causing me to cover my ears, and squint.

"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 me and Jason rushed over to help her.

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

"It's fine," Piper shivered. I grabbed an Imagine Dragons hoodie out of my belt.

"Here," I said. She smiled knowingly, and took it.

"Woahkay, this obsession is real." I fake pouted.

"You don't like Night Visions?" Piper shook her head.

"Never heard of it. Origins is good though." I grinned, and then pulled out a radio tape. Piper shook her head in disbelief.

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

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

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

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

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

"Yeah, no kidding." We wrapped ourselves up as warm as we could, and we headed towards the fountain.

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

"Are all sewers this nice?" Piper wondered out loud. Me and Leo looked at eachother.

"No," we said in unison. "Trust us."

Jason frowned. "How do you know-"

"Hey man," Leo said. "We were on the run for over two months, we'd slept in some pretty weird places."

"Now which way do we go?" I asked.

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," I decided. "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) and then said,

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

"I thought you would never ask.


Hey guys! Sorry this chapter took too long. I don't know what to say.

The Tyrant's tomb is out!

Yours,

MilkandCheez