Hey guys I hope you enjoy this chapter, in which Leo freaks out Piper and Jason a lil bit, he really should be careful what he says. After all this is a kid who literally could blow up.
Undeath9087: Quests never go as simply as you'd like, but hey, what can you do? And yeah, you'll enjoy one of the later chapters of this fic if you want someone calling Hera out.
The Official Clarisse: Leo's more mature but he's still Leo, it's a defence mechanism with him. There's gotta be lighter moments or they'd all break down.
Guest: The three Leo was referring to are Nico, Thalia and Bianca, Leo's counting her still because even if they're not really talking or close she is still Nico's sister which sorta makes her family. He didn't include Percy because she's no longer around.
PJ fan 285: I will probably be doing the Roman AU next as that's what won the voting. And yes it's been four months- and I get what you mean, people are definitely grieving, but they also kind of have to get on with life, after four months you do have to try and start moving on if that makes sense. But it's definitely still affecting people- and I do also think a lot of people would feel bad about showing the grief too much around the other Jacksons because I mean, that's quite a natural thing. If you've lost a friend while someone else has lost their sister you're going to feel bad about getting too upset in front of them because their loss is considered worse if that makes sense.
The trio spent a lot of the journey talking, making rough plans, Leo telling them stories of his own adventures- and he did notice the way Jason's brows furrowed when Leo mentioned Mount Orthys, telling them about how he'd found out he was a demigod, explaining how he'd been captured and held captive, though he left out the part about Atlas and the sky, which Leo had already figured was a sign that Jason should know something, but he couldn't remember whatever it was.
That did slightly concern Leo- after all Mount Orthys had been the Titans base, was there a chance that Jason had been on the enemies side? But if they had had a son of Zeus there was no way he wouldn't have been used- and Jason just didn't strike Leo as the type to work under someone like Alabaster.
But still, it was worrying- Leo was definitely going to keep an eye on that. If it turned out Jason had been one of Alabaster's followers he might be a threat- those who had surrendered had all come to camp but Jason definitely hadn't been one of them.
Still, the journey was fairly peaceful, if boring in places, and Leo found himself drifting off after a while- it had been a fairly late night and a fairly early morning too.
Piper must have noticed that he was exhausted because she leaned forward slightly when his head started drooping and said "You can sleep, we'll keep an eye on things right Jason?"
"Of course, you were probably up a lot later than us- I saw you heading down to the beach and it sounds like you spent a while talking things out."
"You guys are lifesavers." Leo let out a little huff, letting himself lean forward slightly- and the next thing he knew he was being shook lightly and he heard Piper's voice.
"I think we're here." the daylight was fading. And Leo lifted his head slowly, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the sleep. 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 medieval town, In the center was a castle, with massive brick red walls and a square tower with a peaked, green gabled roof.
"Is it just the sleep talking or does that look like Santa's workshop?" Leo asked, trying to stifle a yawn as he straightened up. "We are sure it's Quebec right? Festus hasn't taken us to the North Pole because while I've seen some crazy shit if I find out Santa's real I will explode-"
"Does-" Jason's voice was hesitant, "Piper do you think he means that literally?" he stage whispered the words and Piper started to speak before faltering.
"Leo can you- can you literally blow up?"
"I mean-" Leo gave a devilish grin, "I can burst into flames completely- Calypso and I had to spend ages working together to make me fireproof clothes- she did make me some before but they're too small now and she doesn't have magic any more."
"You've definitely led an interesting life." Piper declared, "Please don't blow up on us. And yes, yes it is Quebec. One of the oldest cities in North America. Founded around sixteen hundred or so?"
"How do you even know that?" Leo huffed before grinning teasingly, "Did your dad do a movie like that too?"
"Do you want me to stab you Leo, because I will stab you-"
"Remind me not to let you spend too much time with Annabeth, Rachel, Clarisse, Thalia or Calypso." Leo grinned, "Prolonged exposure would definitely make you terrifying-"
"You saying she isn't already?" Jason had an amused look on his face as he said that.
"She's definitely feisty." Leo grinned, "So you know so much, what's that castle?"
"A hotel, I think. "
Leo laughed. "No way. That does not look like a hotel-"
But as they 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.
After a moment Leo sighed loudly, "Of course. Of course the North Wind is staying in a hotel. I guess it's not much weirder than some of the stuff I've heard of."
"Heads up, guys," Jason interrupted. "We 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 midair, wings beating and talons bared, and made a rumbling sound in his throat that Leo recognized. He was getting ready to blow fire.
"Steady, boy," Leo muttered. Something told him the angels would not take kindly to getting torched.
"I don't like this," Jason said. "They look like storm spirits. "
"I don't think so." Leo said slowly, at first glance maybe but, but as the angels got closer, he could see they were much more solid than venti. They looked like regular teenagers except for their icy white hair and feathery purple wings. Their bronze swords were jagged, like icicles. Their faces looked similar enough that they might've been brothers, but they definitely weren't twins.
One was the size of an ox, with a bright red hockey jersey, baggy sweatpants, and black leather cleats. The guy clearly had been in too many fights, because both his eyes were black, and when he bared his teeth, several of them were missing. His attitude reminded Leo of some of the Ares kids he'd met.
The other guy looked like he'd just stepped off one of Leo's mom's 1980s 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 pants that were way too 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 weighed more than ninety pounds, and he had a bad case of acne.
Honestly Leo was pretty sure he was hotter than that guy and he knew full well that he wasn't exactly hot- well, other than to Calypso anyway.
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 was
sure it was fake. "This is restricted airspace. "
"Destroy them?" The ox showed off his gap-toothed grin.
Festus began to hiss steam, ready to defend them. Jason summoned his golden sword, but Leo cried, "Hold on! Festus, Festus calm down buddy. Let's have some manners here, boys. Can I at least find out who has the honor of destroying me?" he gave a cocky grin.
"I am Cal!" the ox grunted. He looked very proud of himself, like he'd taken a long time to memorize 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.
"I am Cal," Cal repeated. "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 the wink was more like a facial seizure. "She can call me anything she likes. Perhaps she would like to have dinner with a famous demigod before we must destroy you?"
"She's already had dinner with a famous demigod, sorry for disappointing you." Leo remarked lightly as Piper screwed up her face.
"That's … a truly horrifying offer. "
"It is no problem. " Zethes wiggled his eyebrows. "We are a very romantic people, we Boreads. "
"Boreads?" Jason cut in. "Do you mean, like, the sons of Boreas?"
"Ah, so you've heard of us!" Zethes looked pleased. "We are our father's gatekeepers. So you understand, we cannot have unauthorized people flying in his airspace on creaky dragons, scaring the silly mortal peoples. "
He pointed below, and Leo saw that the mortals were starting to take notice. Several were pointing up—not with alarm, yet—more with confusion and annoyance, like the dragon was a traffic helicopter flying too low.
"Which is sadly why, unless this is an emergency landing," Zethes said, brushing his hair out of his acne-covered face, "we will have to destroy you painfully. "
"Destroy!" Cal agreed, with a little more enthusiasm than Leo thought necessary.
"Wait!" Piper said. "This is an emergency landing. "
"Awww!" Cal looked so disappointed, 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've been killing her; but she still had the blessing of Aphrodite thing going on, and she looked great. And if Leo wasn't mistaken then he was pretty sure that Piper was using her Charmspeak- he wondered if she was doing it on purpose or if she wasn't aware of what she was doing- she hadn't exactly had much time to train, though Drew might have managed to give her a crash course.
He did notice that Jason was nodding frantically looking very convinced by Pipers words- was that because he was trying to win them over or because of the Charmspeak- Leo had more resistance than most- he had practise from dealing with Drew so often since she was one of his sisters best friends.
Zethes picked at 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—"
"And our dragon is malfunctioning!" Piper added. "It could crash 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 was probably as close to friendly as 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 realized they were flashlights with orange cones, like the ones traffic controller guys use on a runway. Cal and Zethes turned and swooped toward the hotel's tower.
Leo let out an amused noise, shaking his head, "Well so far these guys aren't actually too bad, I've definitely met worse. So, we gonna follow them? I mean, we did come here to see Boreas and they're our best bet."
"You're the one with experience." Piper looked reluctant, unsurprisingly given how much Zethes was hitting on her, "Jason?"
"I guess," Jason decided. "We're here now. But I wonder why Boreas hasn't been kind to visitors.
"Pfft, he just hasn't met us. " Leo whistled. "Festus, after those flashlights!"
As they got closer, Leo worried they'd crash into the tower. The Boreads made right for the green gabled peak and didn't slow down.
Then a section of the slanted roof slid open, revealing an entrance easily wide enough for Festus. The top and bottom were lined with icicles like jagged teeth.
"This cannot be good," Jason muttered, but Leo spurred the dragon downward, and they swooped in after the Boreads. He'd headed head first into far more dangerous situations.
They landed in what must have been the penthouse suite; but the place had been hit by a flash freeze. The entry hall had vaulted ceilings forty feet high, huge draped windows, and lush oriental carpets. A staircase at the back of the room led up to another equally massive hall, and more corridors branched off to the left and right. But the ice made the room's beauty a little frightening. When Leo slid off the dragon, the carpet crunched under his feet. A fine layer of frost covered the furniture. The curtains didn't budge because they were frozen solid, and the ice-coated windows let in weird watery light from the sunset. Even the ceiling was furry with icicles.
As for the stairs, Leo was sure he'd slip and break his neck if he tried to climb them.
"Guys," Leo said, "fix the thermostat in here, and I would totally move in. It's so cool, pun intended."
"Not me. " Jason looked uneasily at the staircase. "Something feels wrong. Something up there …"
Festus shuddered and snorted flames. Frost started to form on his scales.
"No, no, no. " Zethes marched over, though how he could walk in those pointy leather shoes, Leo had no idea. "The dragon must be deactivated. We can't have fire in here. The heat ruins my hair."
Festus let out an angry growl but Leo held up his hands quickly, "Hole your horses buddies, I have a better plan, Pipes, Jase, off we get." and as soon as they were all off the dragons back he was moving quickly, glad that he and Beckendorf had fixed up one specific feature.
Leo hooked his fingers behind the dragon's left foreleg. He pulled a switch, and the dragon shuddered from head to toe. Everyone backed away as Festus folded like origami. His bronze plating stacked together. His neck and tail contracted into his body. His wings collapsed and his trunk compacted until he was a rectangular metal wedge the size of a suitcase.
Leo didn't even try picking it up, he'd done that once and it had ended in him breaking his toe, instead he pushed another button. A handle flipped up on the top, and wheels clicked out on the bottom.
"Ta-da!" he announced. "The world's heaviest carry-on bag!"
"That's impossible," Jason said. "Something that big couldn't—"
"Stop!" Zethes ordered. He and Cal both drew their swords and glared at Leo.
Leo raised his hands. "Okay … what'd I do? Stay calm, guys. If it bothers you that much, I don't have to take the dragon as carry-on—"
"Who are you?" Zethes shoved the point of his sword against Leo's chest.
"A child of the South Wind, spying on us?"
"What- no!" Leo let out a slightly panicked noise, "I'm a son of Hephaestus, Leo Valdez, no harm to anyone!"