I WOKE AT A TABLE AT A SIDEWALK CAFÉ.
For a second, I thought I was still having the vision. It was a sunny morning. The air was brisk but not unpleasant for sitting outside. At the other tables, a mix of bicyclists, business people, and college kids sat chatting and drinking coffee.
I thought about my dream. I was not me. I was a girl called Hazel. It was the same girl I had seen in my other visions, but this time, I was an actor, not a spectator. I was her. I was Hazel.
I could smell eucalyptus trees. Lots of foot traffic passed in front of quaint little shops. The street was lined with bottle-brush trees and blooming azaleas as if winter was a foreign concept.
In other words: I was in California. I was home. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
My friends sat in chairs around me—all of them with their hands calmly folded across their chests, dozing pleasantly, apart from Piper, who was sitting in her chair, grumbling. And we all had new clothes on. I looked down at my own outfit and gasped.
"F*ck it!"
I yelled louder than I meant. Jason flinched, bumping the table with his knees, and then the rest of them were awake.
"What?" Hedge demanded. "Fight who? Where?"
"Falling!" Leo grabbed the table. "No—not falling. Where are we?"
Jason blinked, looking around. He then focused on Piper and made a little choking sound. "What are you wearing?"
Piper blushed. She was wearing a pretty turquoise dress, with black leggings and black leather boots. She had on a silver charm bracelet , and an old snowboarding jacket, which amazingly went with the outfit pretty well. She pulled out Katoptris, and judging from the reflection in the blade, she didn't like her new hair-do.
I hadn't been left out. I was now wearing a ridiculous jeweled black T-shirt, with grey denim shorts, and my choppy hair had been fashioned into a side plait, the end flicking over my shoulder.
"It's nothing," she said. "It's my—" She suddenly clamped her mouth, and shook her head. "It's nothing."
Leo grinned. "Aphrodite strikes again, huh? You're gonna be the best-dressed warrior in town, beauty queen. And Alex, I see you haven't escaped. I never thought you would let a goddess steal your precious hoodie, huh? "
I looked down, and discovered the unhappy truth of the statement.
"Oh crap." Then I pulled out a black hoodie with a rainbow streak down the front, and the words 'EVOLVE ImagineDragons' emblazoned on the back. Leo shook his head.
"I seriously think you have about a gajilion of these things. It's becoming a problem. At least I'm good."
"Hey, Leo. " Jason nudged his arm. "You look at yourself recently?"
"What … oh. "
He had been give a makeover too. Leo was wearing pinstriped pants, black leather shoes, a white collarless shirt with suspenders, and his tool belt, Ray-Ban sunglasses, and a porkpie hat.
"God, Leo. " Piper tried not to laugh. "I think my dad wore that to his last premiere, minus the tool belt. "
"Hey, shut up!"
"I think he looks good," said Coach Hedge. "'Course, I look better. "
The satyr was a pastel nightmare. Aphrodite had given him a baggy canary yellow zoot suit with two-tone shoes that fit over his hooves. He had a matching yellow broad-brimmed hat, a rose-colored shirt, a baby blue tie, and a blue carnation in his lapel, which Hedge sniffed and then ate.
"Well," Jason said, "at least your mom overlooked me. "
From the way Piper looked at him, I knew that wasn't exactly true. Looking at them together, I could immediately tell this was meant to be. I was starting to wonder if Apollo claimed me by mistake. Jason was dressed simply in jeans and a clean purple T-shirt. He had new track shoes on, and his hair was newly trimmed. His eyes were the same color as the sky. Aphrodite's message was clear: This one needs no improvement.
And I think Piper agreed.
"Anyway," she said uncomfortably, "how did we get here?"
"Oh, that would be Mellie," Hedge said, chewing happily on his carnation. "Those winds shot us halfway across the country, I'd guess. We would've been smashed flat on impact, but Mellie's last gift—a nice soft breeze—cushioned our fall."
"And she got fired for us," Leo said. "Man, we suck. "
"Just figured that out?" I asked him.
"Ah, she'll be fine," Hedge said. "Besides, she couldn't help herself. I've got that effect on nymphs. I'll send her a message when we're through with this quest and help her figure something out. That is one aura I could settle down with and raise a herd of baby goats. "
"I'm going to be sick," Piper said. "Anyone else want coffee?"
"Coffee!" Hedge's grin was stained blue from the flower. "I love coffee!"
"Um," Jason said, "but—money? Our packs?"
I looked down. Our packs were at our feet, and everything seemed to still be there. Piper reached into her coat pocket, felt about for something, then pulled out a wad of cash.
Leo whistled. "Allowance? Piper, your mom rocks!"
"Waitress!" Hedge called. "Six double espressos, and whatever these guys want. Put it on the girl's tab. "
It didn't take us long to figure out where we were. The menus said "Café Verve, Walnut Creek, CA. " And according to the waitress, it was 9 a. m. on December 21, the winter solstice, which gave us three hours until Enceladus's deadline.
We didn't have to wonder where Mount Diablo was, either. We could see it on the horizon, right at the end of the street. After the Rockies, Mount Diablo didn't look very large, nor was it covered in snow. It seemed downright peaceful, its golden creases marbled with gray-green trees. But size was deceptive with mountains, I knew. It was probably much bigger up close. And appearances were deceptive too. Here they were—back in California—supposedly my home—with sunny skies, mild weather, laid-back people, and a plate of chocolate chip scones with coffee. And only a few miles away, somewhere on that peaceful mountain, a superpowerful, super-evil giant was about to have Piper's dad for lunch.
Leo pulled something out of his pocket—the old crayon drawing Aeolus had given him. Aphrodite must've thought it was important if she'd magically transferred it to his new outfit.
"What is that?" I asked.
Leo folded it up gingerly again and put it away. "Nothing. You don't want to see my kindergarten artwork. "
"It's more than that," Jason guessed. "Aeolus said it was the key to our success. "
Leo shook his head. "Not today. He was talking about… later. "
"How can you be sure?" Piper asked.
"Trust me," Leo said. "Now—what's our game plan?"
Coach Hedge belched. He'd already had three espressos and a plate of doughnuts, along with two napkins and another flower from the vase on the table. He would've eaten the silverware, except Piper had slapped his hand.
"Climb the mountain," Hedge said. "Kill everything except Piper's dad. Leave. "
"Thank you, General Eisenhower," I grumbled.
"Hey, I'm just saying!"
"Guys," Piper said. "There's more you need to know. "
Piper seemed to be struggling for words, but in the end, she told us our true enemy :Gaea.
"Gaea?" Leo shook his head. "Isn't that Mother Nature? She's supposed to have, like, flowers in her hair and birds singing around her and deer and rabbits doing her laundry. "
"Leo, that's Snow White," I said.
"Okay, but—"
"Listen, cupcake. " Coach Hedge dabbed the espresso out of his goatee. "Piper's telling us some serious stuff, here. Gaea's no softie. I'm not even sure I could take her. "
Leo whistled. "Really?"
Hedge nodded. "This earth lady—she and her old man the sky were nasty customers. "
"Ouranos," Piper said. I couldn't help looking up at the blue sky, wondering if it had eyes.
"Right," Hedge said. "So Ouranos, he's not the best dad. He throws their first kids, the Cyclopes, into Tartarus. That makes Gaea mad, but she bides her time. Then they have another set of kids—the twelve Titans—and Gaea is afraid they'll get thrown into prison too. So she goes up to her son Kronos—"
"The big bad dude," Leo said. "The one Alex and the missing guy, Percy defeated last summer. "
"Right. And Gaea's the one who gives him the scythe, and tells him, 'Hey, why don't I call your dad down here? And while he's talking to me, distracted, you can cut him to pieces. Then you can take over the world. Wouldn't that be great?'"
Nobody said anything. My chocolate chip scone didn't look so appetizing anymore. Even though I'd heard the story before, I still couldn't quite get my mind around it. I tried to imagine a kid so messed up, he would kill his own dad just for power. Then I imagined a mom so messed up, she would convince her son to do it.
"Definitely not Snow White," I decided.
"Nah, Kronos was a bad guy," Hedge said. "But Gaea is literally the mother of all bad guys. She's so old and powerful, so huge, that it's hard for her to be fully conscious. Most of the time, she sleeps, and that's the way we like her—snoring. ""But she talked to me and Al," Leo said. "How can she be asleep?"
Gleeson brushed crumbs off his canary yellow lapel. He was on his sixth espresso now, and his pupils were as big as quarters. "Even in her sleep, part of her consciousness is active—dreaming, keeping watch, doing little things like causing volcanoes to explode and monsters to rise. Even now, she's not fully awake. Believe me, you don't want to see her fully awake. "
"But she's getting more powerful," Piper said. "She's causing the giants to rise. And if their king comes back—this guy Porphyrion—"
"He'll raise an army to destroy the gods," Jason put in. "Starting with Hera. It'll be another war. And Gaea will wake up fully. "
Gleeson nodded. "Which is why it's a good idea for us to stay off the ground as much as possible. "
