Undeath9087: Yep, he was there. And he's not proud of what happened, poor Leo, that's all I say, poor Leo. But also, love Jason for being a good friend.
Quip Scarlet: He's trying to be a good leader so he's putting in some real effort not to cause trouble.
Guest: Leo makes a good leader, if he has the confidence, which he mostly does in this. And no, not too much conflict, after all Jason has amnesia and is pretty lost at the moment, and by the time he's got his memories back, well, he canonically never wanted to be a leader he was just pushed into the role. If anything he's grateful to Leo. And he doesn't think of Percy because she's dead, or Jason because, let's be honest, at this stage Leo hasn't seen Jason do anything truly impressive.
The Official Clarisse: You gotta feel sorry for him in a way, because his first quest as leader isn't even technically his quest but Jasons. But hey, Jason and Piper both know Leo's the leader.
Weirdhead: Leo makes lots of oaths, he knows what he's doing. He hopes.

Leo's first thought when he stepped into the throne room was something along the lines of 'AHHHHHH' because he was pretty sure that he'd never felt so cold before in his entire life- and he was a hot blooded boy, he didn't do the cold very much, it took every bit of control he had not to use his powers to warm himself and the room up.

Even his breath steamed as Leo looked around the room. Along the walls, purple tapestries showed scenes of snowy forests, barren mountains, and glaciers. High above, ribbons of colored light—the aurora borealis—pulsed along the ceiling. A layer of snow covered the floor, so Jason had to step carefully. All around the room stood life-size ice sculpture warriors—some in Greek armor, some medieval, some in modern camouflage—all frozen in various attack positions, swords raised, guns locked and loaded.

At least Leo thought they were sculptures. Then he tried to step between two Greek spearmen, and they moved with surprising
speed, their joints cracking and spraying ice crystals as they crossed their javelins to block their path.

From the far end of the hall, a man's voice rang out in a language that sounded like French. The room was so long and misty that couldn't see the other end; but whatever the man said, the ice guards uncrossed their javelins.

"It's fine," Khione said. "My father has ordered them not to kill you just yet." she looked rather disappointed when she said that, and Leo couldn't help but shoot her a cheeky grin.

"I'm sure you've very happy about that, after all I'm awesome."

"Keep moving-" when Leo glanced back at Zethes he saw that the annoying Boread was about to poke Jason in the back. "Jason Jr-"

"What?"

"You're a son of Zeus named Jason." Leo rolled his eyes, "They're probably comparing you to the original Jason."

"Golden Fleece guy?" Piper's expression was curious and Leo nodded. "Yeah, funny story actually, that's at camp-"

"Seriously?" Jason looked curious, but before Leo could respond Zethes was speaking again.

"My father is not a patient man," Zethes warned, "and the beautiful Piper, sadly, is losing her magic hairdo very fast. Later, perhaps, I can lend her something from my wide assortment of hair products."

"Thanks," Piper grumbled.

They kept walking, and the mist parted to reveal a man on an ice throne. He was sturdily built, dressed in a stylish white suit that seemed woven from snow, with dark purple wings that spread out to either side. His long hair and shaggy beard were encrusted with icicles, so that Leo couldn't tell if his hair was gray or just white with frost. His arched eyebrows made him look angry, but his eyes twinkled more warmly than his daughter's—as if he might have a sense of humor buried somewhere under that permafrost.

"Bienvenu," the king said. "Je suis Boreas le Roi. Et vous?"

Khione the snow goddess was about to speak, but Piper stepped forward and curtsied.

"Votre Majesté," she said, "Je suis Piper McLean. Et ce sont Leo fils Hephaestus et Jason, fils de Zeus.

The king smiled with pleasant surprise. "Vous parlez français? Très bien!"

"Piper, you speak French?" Jason asked.

Piper frowned. "No. Why?"

"You just spoke French." Leo grinned, "I forgot about that."

Piper blinked. "I did?" The king said something else, and Piper nodded. "Oui,Votre Majesté. "

The king laughed and clapped his hands, obviously delighted. He said a few more sentences then swept his hand toward his daughter as if shooing her away.

Khione looked miffed. "The king says—"

"He says I'm a daughter of Aphrodite," Piper interrupted, "so naturally I can speak French, which is the language of love. I had no idea." She shot Leo an annoyed look, "And clearly someone forgot to tell me-"

"I forgot! It's not like Drew or Silena talk French to me often."

"Anyway, his Majesty says Khione won't have to translate now. "

Behind them, Zethes snorted, and Khione shot him a murderous look. She bowed stiffly to her father and took a step back.

The king sized up Leo and Jason, and Leo bowed his head respectfully, "Thank you for welcoming us here. I'm Leo Valdez- uh, I was told that your master is annoyed with me. Sorry about that-"

"And I'm Jason Grace." Jason added quickly, shooting Leo a worried look, "May I ask … why does a Greek god speak French?"

Piper had another exchange with the king. "He speaks the language of his host country," Piper translated. "He says all gods do this.
Most Greek gods speak English, as they now reside in the United States, but Boreas was never welcomed in their realm. His domain was always far to the north. These days he likes Quebec, so he speaks French. "

The king said something else, and Piper turned pale.

"The king says- he says-"

"Oh, allow me," Khione said. "My father says he has orders to kill you all, not just the Valdez boy. Did I not mention that earlier?"
Leo's eyes widened and he stepped forward slightly, trying to stand between his friends and the god. "I get why you have orders to kill me, I do." he ignored his friends horrified expressions, "But why my friends they've done nothing wrong."

"Because," the king said, in heavily accented English, "my lord Aeolus has commanded it. "

Boreas rose. He stepped down from his throne and furled his wings against his back. As he approached, Khione and Zethes bowed. Jason and Piper followed their example, but Leo didn't, he was too tense, his body felt almost locked up with it.

"I shall deign to speak your language," Boreas said, "as Piper McLean has honored me in mine. Toujours, I have had a fondness for the children of Aphrodite. As for you, Jason Grace, my master Aeolus would not expect me to kill a son of Lord Zeus … without first hearing you out... and you-" his gaze focused on Leo, who swallowed hard, forcing himself to stay calm and cool, "Leonidas Valdez, son of Hephaestus. I will see how this meeting goes, yes?"

"Thank you Lord Boreas." Leo's tongue felt heavy and clumsy.

"Aeolus is the master of the winds, right?" Jason asked. "Why would he want us dead?"

"You are demigods," Boreas said, as if this explained everything. "Aeolus's job is to contain the winds, and demigods have always caused him many headaches. They ask him for favors. They unleash winds and cause chaos. But the final insult was the battle with Typhon last summer…" his eyes were glued to Leo as he said that and Boreas waved his hand, and a sheet of ice like a flat-screen TV appeared in the air. Images of a battle flickered across the surface—a giant wrapped in storm clouds, wading across a river toward the Manhattan skyline. Tiny, glowing figures swarmed around him like angry wasps, pounding the monster with lightning and fire.

Finally the river erupted in a massive whirlpool, and the smoky form sank beneath the waves and disappeared.

Leo felt what little color had been left in his face draining away as he watched- he hadn't seen any of that really- by the time Typhon had come close enough to Manhattan he'd been on Olympus trying to help Annabeth and Thalia with Grover.

Piper and Jason looked pale too, as they stared at the screen and Boreas spoke again. "The storm giant, Typhon," Boreas explained.
"The first time the gods defeated him, eons ago, he did not die quietly. His death released a host of storm spirits—wild winds that answered to no one. It was Aeolus's job to track them all down and imprison them in his fortress. The other gods—they did not help.
They did not even apologize for the inconvenience. It took Aeolus centuries to track down all the storm spirits, and naturally this irritated him. Then, last summer, Typhon was defeated again—"

"And his death released another wave of venti," Jason guessed. "Which made Aeolus even angrier."

"C'est vrai," Boreas agreed.

"But, Your Majesty," Piper said, "the gods had no choice but to battle Typhon. He was going to destroy Olympus! Besides, why punish demigods for that?"

"Demigods in general you mean?" The king shrugged. "Aeolus cannot take out his anger on the gods. They are his bosses, and very powerful. So he gets even with the demigods who helped them in the war. He issued orders to us: demigods who come to us for aid are no longer to be tolerated. We are to crush your little mortal faces. As for the Valdez boy in particular- it seems he's been keeping secrets from you. Will you tell them? Or must I?"

"I-" Leo could feel his friends gazes glued to him, and Jason stepped forward, a worried look on his face.

"Leo can tell us when he's ready." he said after a long moment- and Leo felt a rush of gratitude for him friend, "You haven't had your people kill us yet. Will you hear us out and maybe spare Leo? Whatever he did I don't think it could have been that bad-"

"Hah." Boreas laughed, "You shall see when he tells you-" and Leo looked away, a pained look on his face- how many people had Typhon killed on his way to Manhattan?

Sure, Hephaestus and Poseidon had told him and Percy that Kronos would have freed Typhon anyway, but would he? He and Percy had loosened the chains, would Kronos have had the time and resources to free Typhon is they hadn't done what they did? He'd probably never know for sure but he was pretty sure that the doubt would plague him for the rest of his life.

So he really didn't need the reminder of what he'd done from Boreas- and he was painfully grateful for Jason for standing up for him and trying to help him.

Then Boreas was speaking again.

"Yes, yes," the king agreed. "You see, Aeolus also said that a son of Zeus might seek my aid, and if this happened, I should listen to you before destroying you, as you might—how did he put it?—make all our lives very interesting. I am only obligated to listen, however. After that, I am free to pass judgment as I see fit. But I will listen first. Khione wishes this also. It may be that we will not kill you, and I may indeed spare the Valdez boy. Perhaps."

Jason let out a relieved breath at that. "Great. Thanks. "

"Do not thank me. " Boreas smiled. "There are many ways you could make our lives interesting. Sometimes we keep demigods for our amusement, as you can see." that made Leo grit his teeth- he hated the gods who acted like that- which was most of them, and Boreas gestured around the room to the various ice statues.

Piper made a strangled noise. "You mean—they're all demigods? Frozen demigods? They're alive?"

"An interesting question," Boreas conceded, as if it had never occurred to him before. "They do not move unless they are obeying my orders. The rest of the time, they are merely frozen. Unless they were to melt, I suppose, which would be very messy." his gaze swung to Leo, "I would not advise you to use your powers here son of Hephaestus."

"I've already swore on the Styx that I won't use my powers unless my friends are put in danger." Leo said firmly, pushing down his guilt to focus on the present, shooting Knione a warning look when she went to touch Jason, "And if you touch my friend I will take that as a threat Princess."

"Hmph. I was just going to ask him to join my court- father you always give me such lovely presents"

"What?" Zethes broke in. "If Khione gets this one, then I deserve the girl. Khione always gets more presents!"

"Now, children," Boreas said sternly. "Our guests will think you are spoiled! Besides, you moved too fast. We have not even heard the demigod's story yet. Then we will decide what to do with them. Please, do tell us your story."

Leo glanced at Jason, who looked frozen- he wasn't much better himself but Leo forced himself to breath, to stay calm, "Queen Hera sent us on this quest." his voice was firm, "She sent me to Piper weeks ago. And then yesterday Jason appeared on our school bus- with no memories of his life before he met us. We were at the Grand Canyon and we were attacked by three storm spirits-" he explained everything that had happened, their fending off of the Storm Spirits- Gleeson Hedge's abduction, how they'd been picked up by other demigods after the attack- right up to the prophecy and their decision to track down the storm spirits to try and find answers, and when Leo was finished Piper spoke up.

"All we ask for is guidance," Piper concluded. "These storm spirits attacked us, and they're working for- we think they're working for Gaea. If we find them, maybe we can find Hera. "

The king stroked the icicles in his beard. Out the windows, night had fallen, and the only light came from the aurora borealis overhead, washing everything in red and blue.

"I know of these storm spirits," Boreas said. "I know where they are kept, and of the prisoner they took. "

"You mean Coach Hedge?" Jason asked. "He's alive?"

Boreas waved aside the question. "For now. But.. you plan on standing against Gaea herself… It would be madness to oppose her. You would be better staying here as frozen statues. "

"Hera's in trouble," Jason said. "In three days she's going to be—I don't know—consumed, destroyed, something. And a giant is going to rise."

"Yes," Boreas agreed, shooting Khione an angry look. "Many horrible things are waking. Even my children do not tell me all the news they should. The Great Stirring of monsters that began with Kronos—your father Zeus foolishly believed it would end when the Titans were defeated. But just as it was before, so it is now. The final battle is yet to come, and Gaea is terrible than any Titan. Storm spirits—these are only beginning. The earth has many more horrors to yield up. When monsters no longer stay in Tartarus, and souls are no longer confined to Hades … Olympus has good reason to fear."

"So you'll help us?" Jason asked the king.

Boreas scowled. "I did not say that. "

"Please, Your Majesty," Piper said.

Everyone's eyes turned toward her. She had to be scared out of her mind, but she looked beautiful and confident—and it had nothing to do with the blessing of Aphrodite. She looked herself again, in day-old travelling clothes with choppy hair and no makeup. But she almost glowed with warmth in that cold throne room. "If you tell us where the storm spirits are, we can capture them and bring them to Aeolus. You'd look good in front of your boss. Aeolus might pardon us and the other demigods. We could even rescue Gleeson Hedge. Everyone wins. "

"She's pretty," Zethes mumbled. "I mean, she's right. "

"Father, don't listen to her," Khione said. "She's a child of Aphrodite. She dares to charmspeak a god? Freeze her now!"

"Don't you fucking dare." Leo's eyes glinted as he stepped forward, "She's had no training and no practised she means no insult."

"Calm down son of Hephaestus-" Boreas spoke up, "I may consider her proposal. But you will be the one to present the storm spirits to Aeolus if I do. It would be fitting."

"Fine." Leo's voice didn't waver, "Fine I'll do it."

"Father." Khione's eyes narrowed, "You cannot be planning on letting them leave-"

"I have not decided yet." Boreas eyed them, "They have not finished entertaining me quite yet."