Will I be updating multiple times a day everyday from now on? I have no idea, we'll see. I might keep it up as long as I'm over 100 chapters ahead. We shall see. And I hope you all enjoy this chapter, Leo really is awesome in this I gotta say.
Replies to reviews:
Weirdhead: Sally hasn't written Percy's story- I considered having her do that but I feel like it'd still hurt her too much to do that so it's just a made up series. And yeah, Drew and Piper will clash when they first meet I can tell you that much. Your vote is counted btw.
The Official Clarisse: Leo: Yeah so Demigods are real. Piper: Prove it! Leo: I'm just gonna casually set myself on fire. Also, yeah Isabel is in fact a bitch.
Undeath9087: There will be Povs from Jason and Piper but the bulk of the story will be more from Leo's pov cause I love my chaotic genius. And yeah, Protective Leo is amazing, and Piper is his best friend- he might have friends in camp but he's gotten very close to Piper so he is protective.
Diavolos: Your vote is counted.
Guest: Well I am sorry but Rhea won't be going to the Underworld.
JjlovesPJO: Well all I can say is that Percy's actually quite happy in the Underworld.
: I'd doing this because I am evillll don't you know! And yeah, Leo knowing does change some things.
Sorta poll for Sally's parentage/who she's a legacy of. I won't be including the vote for Vesta because she's a maiden.
Terra: 33
Nox: 9
Venus: 6
Saturn: 4
Ceres: 3
Baccus: 1
Jupiter: 1
Pluto: 1
Neptune: 1
Apollo: 1
Mars: 1
Caelus: 1
Tartarus: 1
Daughter of Venus: 22
Daughter of Ceres: 2
Daughter of Terra: 1
"All right, cupcakes," Coach Hedge announced. "You are about to see the Grand Canyon. Try not to break it. The skywalk can hold the weight of seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. If possible, try to avoid pushing each other over the edge, as that would cause me extra paperwork."
Then coach opened the doors, and they all stepped outside. The Grand Canyon spread before them, live and in person. Extending over the edge was a horseshoe-shaped walkway made of glass, so you could see right through it.
Leo's first thought was that Percy would have hated it- the canyon was bigger and wider than you could appreciate from a picture. They were up so high that birds circled below their feet. Five hundred feet down, a river snaked along the canyon floor. Banks of storm clouds had moved overhead while they'd been inside, casting shadows like angry faces across the cliffs, red and gray ravines cut through the desert like someone had taken a knife to it.
Thunder rumbled overhead and a cold wind almost knocked Leo off his feet- the storm was not normal- something was very wrong, and he glanced worriedly at Piper and Jason, who both looked nervous- clearly Piper had picked up on the fact that something was bugging Leo about the storm because she was looking up at the sky- and Jason slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out a-
"Is that a gold coin?"
"I- I don't know." Jason was examining it, "I... I just feel like I need it." he managed, his voice almost shaky, "But I don't know why." he slipped it back into his pocket- at which point Leo noticed Hedge waving to them, he was stood on the other side of the skywalk, keeping an eye on all of the kids as best as he could, and Leo grabbed Piper's arm gently and Jason's arm less gently.
"We need to go and talk to Hedge properly."
"Right." Jason nodded, "And what about after that?"
"After that we're probably going to have to head to Camp. It's a safe place, I'll explain more when we're on our way there- listen-" he saw doubt on Jason and Pipers faces, "I know you're both probably freaking out but I need you guys to trust me. Do you?"
"I do." Piper barely hesitated, "You're my best friend Leo, even if you're crazy."
"I-" Jason hesitated before nodding, "Might be crazy of me to trust you but I do- you seem to know a lot and my gut's telling me that I can trust you so sure. I'll follow your lead for now."
Leo blinked, "I feel like that was far to easy." he said after a moment, "Gods I am so not used to being the leader- but it's fine, it's fine." they reached Hedge, who eyed them with a scowl on his lips.
"Do you know what's causing the storm?" his question was directed at Leo, though he gave Jason a distrustful look.
"Not a clue." Leo pulled a face, "Listen we need to get to camp. I feel it-"
"I've sent a message asking for an extraction team." Hedge said quickly, "Not sure how long it'll be before anyone can get here though, or if it's even gotten though, Chiron hasn't texted back." he paused, "I'll hand it to you Valdez it is a lot easier now that everyone's got phones. Usually anyway."
"Yeah, well I'm a genius." Leo muttered, "Maybe if I try to call now that they're both here it'll get thr-" he was interrupted by a bright flash of lightning overhead and the rumble of thunder that shook the world around them. The wind picked up with a vengeance. Worksheets flew into the Grand Canyon, and the entire bridge shuddered. Kids screamed, stumbling and grabbing the rails.
"Oh great, just what we needed," Hedge grumbled. He bellowed into his megaphone: "Everyone inside! The cow says moo! Off the skywalk!"
"I thought you said this thing was stable!" Jason shouted over the wind.
"Under normal circumstances," Hedge agreed, "which these aren't. Come on!"
The storm churned into a miniature hurricane- much like the one Leo could remember seeing Percy summon- he'd been on Festus' back a fair distance away but that sort of thing stuck in the memory. Funnel clouds snaked toward the skywalk like the tendrils of a monster jellyfish.
Kids screamed and ran for the building. The wind snatched away their notebooks, jackets, hats, and backpacks. Jason skidded across the slick floor until Leo lashed out and grabbed his arm, grabbing onto the railing to keep himself steady as Piper latched onto his wrist with a cry.
"Thanks!" Jason had to shout to be heard over the storm as Coach Hedge barked orders into his megaphone, telling everyone to get inside.
Leo, Piper and Jason started to try and make their way towards the doors- it didn't help that they were on the opposite side, and the wind seemed to be fighting them every step- but they were making progress- and by the doors was Dylan, holding them open as best as he could and ushering other kids inside- and huh, maybe he wasn't as much of a dick as Leo had thought- except nope because a moment later after the last student was inside the doors slammed shut, the wind slamming them with a crack sound that was loud enough to be heard over the wind.
And Leo's eyes narrowed- because Dylan just stood there, a smug grin on his lips as inside kids pounded on the glass and tried to open it. And then he shoved Jason and Piper behind him as Hedge moved to stand by his side.
Dylan looked almost crazed- completely unbothered by the wind. "Whoops."
"I should have known." Hedge growled, his baseball bat turning into a club, his cap blowing off. "You're the monster- Piper, Jason stay behind us, Leo-"
Dylan gave him that psycho happy smile as he cut the Satyr off. "Oh, come on, Coach. Let the boy attack me! After all, you're getting too old for this. Isn't that why they retired you to this stupid school? I've been on your team the entire season, and you didn't even know. You're losing your nose, grandpa-"
"Don't talk to him like that." Leo took a step forward- and okay so maybe Percy had been right he should have brought a dagger or something with him.
"Well aren't you a brave one. I know all about you Leo-" Dylan smirked, "Son of Hephaestus, the firestarter. You're not a fighter, you're a builder, you don't have the skills-"
"Oh I am going to kick your ass." Leo's hands ignited as he started to move forward, fighting against the wind- but Dylan just laughed and pointed at Leo, and Leo let out a yell as a funnel cloud materialized around him.
He flew off the skywalk like he'd been tossed and he screamed, twisting midair as he did- and he saw the panicked look on Hedges face and he screamed, "Protect them! I'll be fine!" and he could see Jason rushing to the edge of the sky walk, gripping the rails tightly as they watched Leo crash into the canyon wall- which was not fun- though he did manage to grip a thin ledge, holding himself up with shaking fingers, cursing under his breath, and he shifted, holding on tight with one hand as he tugged his tee up as much as he could, so he could slip his hand under it, grumbling under his breath.
"Can't believe this I liked this tee I'm gonna burn the stupid monster for that." he could see two more monsters- anemoi thuellai he realised- he'd never seen them in person before but he'd heard of them, touching down to face off against Hedge, Jason and Piper- that was bad, really bad- and Leo let out a yell when he watched Dylan send a bolt of lightning straight at Jason's chest.
In his shock Leo's grip on the ledge slipped and then he was falling and cursing colorfully under his breath as he plummeted.
Great, great just what he needed- he managed to get his hand to his right shoulder, flicking a strap that had been hidden under his shirt, and he heard the fabric of his shirt ripping as a bronze metallic wing sprung out of the enchanted backplate that he had strapped on, and he yelped as the wing caught the wind and knocked him spiralling- but he managed to get to the left strap and flick it open and then the second wing tore its way through his shirt- and he was seriously so grateful for Daedalus' laptop as he spread his arms and the wings caught- and then he wasn't falling anymore he was flying, he twitched his shoulders just so and the wings let out a slow but powerful flap and he was soaring upwards, it was a struggle with the winds, but Leo was good at this- he'd practised a lot- and gods but he hoped Jason was still alive by the time he got back to the skywalk- and not just because the boy was half of the reason reason he'd been sent to this school. Leo felt oddly responsible for the memoryless teen.
As he rose Leo heard Dylan's voice again, "You have no idea how many enemies you've awakened, half-bloods. My mistress will destroy all demigods. This war you cannot win. "
Above them, the storm exploded into a full-force gale. Cracks expanded in the skywalk. Sheets of rain poured down, and Leo was nearly knocked back down- it took all of his skill to keep flying upwards, and he could only just hear over the sound of the storm as a hole opened in the clouds—a swirling vortex of black and silver.
"The mistress calls me back!" Dylan shouted with glee. "And you, demigod, will come with me!"
There was the sound of a struggle, Leo let out a frustrated scream. As Leo got higher up he saw that Dylan was gripping Piper's arm, she was struggling uselessly- she looked battered and bruised- and he was flying up as the storm spun faster, pulling them upward like a vacuum cleaner.
"Help!" Piper screamed. "Somebody!"
And Coach Hedge was leaping up before Jason- who'd been knocked off his feet and was clinging to the railings of the sky walk with one hand, almost falling over, could regain his balance, and Leo couldn't help but notice the golden sword in his other hand, his eyes narrowing. He didn't like gold weapons- they reminded him of Alabaster but... he highly doubted that Jason was like Alabaster.
And the Satyr was almost climbing up Piper as they got higher and higher, and then he managed to head-butt Dylan and he got the monster to loosen his grip and Piper dropped down- which probably would have been fine, she'd have landed on the sky walk- except the Skywalk had already taken a battering and the force of Piper dropping from so far above caused it to shatter beneath Piper and she was screaming as she fell, and Leo heard Coach Hedge yelling, "Valdez! Catch her-" and Leo could see Jason sprinting towards the hole but Leo was already there, flying towards Piper with a great flap of the bronze wings- and he caught her, admittedly not as gracefully as he'd have liked, he managed to grab her arm and yank her in close and Piper was screaming just as loud as any of her sisters could as she flung her arms around his neck, and then he was soaring upwards, heart pounding in his chest- and he reached the skywalk as the storm stopped almost as suddenly as it had begun, flying up through the hole Piper had made when she'd smashed through.
"Oh my gods." Jason's voice was stunned, he was a short distance from the hole- his eyes wide, "You- wings-"
"Made them myself." Leo managed, as Piper's screamed stopped. "You're okay Pipes I'm not gonna drop you."
And Piper opened her eyes, shaking violently, "You're flying you're- you're actually-"
"An upgraded version of Icarus' wings." he said quickly, "I would put you down but I don't trust the skywalk right now- Jason are you stable enough?"
"Uh- for now?" it was almost a question, and Jason looked very nervous as he looked at the cracks beneath him. "Don't suppose you could carry me too."
"Doubt it- of my many gifts, strength isn't one of them." he looked around, "Where's Hedge?"
"He-" Jason hesitated, "He didn't come back down."
"He saved me." Piper pressed her face into Leo's shoulder, "God is- what were they?"
"Ventus." Jason shook his head, "Don't ask me how I know that."
"I have a better question." Leo eyed Jason, "How did you survive that lightning."
"I have no idea-" Jason's shoulders slumped, "I wish I did."
"Right. Deal with that later." Leo had to keep trying to play the leader didn't he? Oh boy this was gonna be fun. "We need to get you off the skywalk, Pipes and I are safe for now but you're sure as Hades not."
"We're still locked out here." Jason nodded towards the glass doors- where the kids from the school were staring out the glass doors in horror. Security guards were working on the locks, but they didn't seem to be having any luck.
"Great." Leo let out a huff. "Shame Luke isn't here, he'd have those doors open in no time."
"What do we do?" Piper lifted her head, "How do we-"
"Wait-" Leo cut her off, a smile spreading across his lips, his heart soaring, because in the distance he could see a dark shape descending from the east. A familiar shape- two pegasi pulling a familiar chariot- "Oh thank the gods. Here comes rescue."