Hey guys! Second update today! So I hope you guys all appreciate it. Please keep reviewing! And I am leaning towards option 2 I'm not gonna lie, I feel like it'd be more interesting to explore- also the idea of Octavian and Percy being like, the best friends ever and Octavian just being there like 'You are so not good enough for my best friend Grace.' Though their friendship would be purely platonic- I've said it before I'll say it again there will be no Percy/Octavian.
Replies:
Undeath9087: It's Medea who said that- just as she did in canon- and lets face it we all know she's a lying bitch. And I'm afraid not- he will briefly be in the minific but he won't be a central character really I'm afraid.
Weirdhead: Medea is horrible and we all hate her! But hey, at least Leo has his friends to help him.
Despartax: Your vote has been counted!
HJ: I'm glad you're enjoying- there should definitely be more fem Percy as far as I'm concerned- especially that go through the series if that makes sense- it definitely changes things. And I have counted your vote!
Akantha: Yep, Leo and Piper both learned some painful things in this one, and I has counted your vote.
Dark: I've counted your vote- and I will consider it, if I go for option 2 they will definitely not be close at first I know that much.
Guest: I get it- she is important in it, but it's not her fic so to speak, though it does show some development for her and you get to know more of how she's feeling. And again I can't say too much- but I will say it will have some Leo pov, some Nico pov, some Bianca pov and a surprise pov.
The Official Clarisse: It's an easy misunderstanding lol, don't worry, yeah it's part of the Roman AU I'm planning, though I feel like it works even better with Option 2 because there's just so much more possible reason for anger and resentment that way. And yeah, Medea deserves a beating.
Poll:
Option 1: 18
Option 2: 21
"Let him go." Piper's voice sounded stronger than she felt- she'd never felt so outclassed before in her entire life. It was terrifying. And Leo- gods but he looked so... he didn't look like Leo to her.
Leo, her best friend, had always seemed somehow larger than life, he never stopped moving, and now he was so very still, he looked smaller somehow.
"Oh please dear." Medea laughed, "Why would I do that? Now I think I'll keep-"
And Piper cut her off, lunging forward, her dagger gripped tightly in her hand, and as she did she heard Jason's startled gasp- and Piper grabbed Leo with her free hand, gripping the back of his shirt as she tried to stab Medea in the shoulder.
Her plan half worked- Medea had anticipated her attack, she dissolved into smoke just as Piper's dagger should have gone through the womans shoulder, reappearing over by the escalator.
Fortunately for Piper Medea hadn't expected her to grab onto Leo the way she did- and thanks to Piper's grip on Leo she had to let go if she wanted to get away.
Which meant Piper had to drop her dagger to quickly grab Leo before his body could hit the ground, staggering under the sudden weight as Jason rushed to join her, taking
Leo from her arms as they both shifted to look towards Medea.
"You-" the woman ground out the words, "Are pests. Well it doesn't matter, it seems I'll just have to collect payment another way."
She pressed one of the mosaic tiles on the floor, and the building rumbled.
Jason let go of Leo, snatching his sword off of the ground and lunging for the woman, but she dissolved again- this time reappearing halfway up the escalator.
"You're slow, hero!" She laughed. "Take your frustration out on my pets!"
Before Jason could go after her, the giant bronze sundials at either end of the fountain swung open. Two snarling gold beasts—flesh-and-blood winged dragons—crawled out from the pits below. Each was the size of a camper van, maybe not large compared to Festus, but large enough.
"Oh no." Piper breathed the words, trying to push down her panic.
The dragons spread their wings and hissed. Piper could feel the heat coming off their glittering skin. One turned his angry orange eyes on her.
"Don't look them in the eye!" Jason warned. "They'll paralyze you. "
"Indeed!" Medea was leisurely riding the escalator up, leaning against the handrail as she watched the fun. "These two dears have been with me a long time—sun dragons,
you know, gifts from my grandfather Helios. They pulled my chariot when I left Corinth, and now they will be your destruction. Ta-ta!"
Piper shifted her grip on Leo, panic rising in her chest as the dragons lunged and Jason rushed to intercept them- she couldn't do anything like this, not when she was having to keep her best friend from hitting the ground hard- if only he'd wake up- she froze, her eyes widening- was it possible? Could she? "Wake up." she pushed all of her desperation into her voice, "Wake up Leo. Wake up right now." she focused as hard as she could- and the surge of relief that flooded through her when Leo groaned and opened his eyes was almost overwhelming.
She could feel the sting of tears, hugging Leo tightly as the boy lifted his head and let out another groan.
"Wha?"
"Are you okay Leo?"
"My head hurts-"
"You two!" Jason's voice was panicked, "I need help here." Jason was flying around, desperately trying to distract the golden dragons.
Leo managed to stand up with Piper's help, his eyes darting around as he took in the situation, narrowing. "Right- okay this should be fun-" and with that he pulled himself away from Piper and charged towards one of the dragons- Piper would have followed him- even if she had no idea how to really fight- but she caught some movement out of the corner of her eyes and her gaze focused on Medea, who was heading away- and in a store this size she was undoubtedly looking for some form of weapon she could use against the three demigods.
Piper took off after her, a determined grim expression on her face as she moved, her heart pounding in her chest.
"Oh no you don't."
When Medea spotted Piper, she started climbing in earnest. She was quick for a three-thousand-year-old lady. Piper climbed at top speed, taking the steps three at a time, and still she couldn't catch her. Medea didn't stop at floor two. She hopped the next escalator and continued to ascend.
The potions, Piper thought. Of course that's what she would go for. She was famous for potions.
Down below, Piper heard the battle raging. Leo was blowing his safety whistle, and Jason was yelling to keep the dragons' attention. Piper didn't dare look—not while she was running with a dagger in her hand. She could just see herself tripping and stabbing herself in the nose. That would be super heroic.
She grabbed a shield from an armored manikin on floor three and continued to climb. She imagined Coach Hedge yelling in her mind, just like back in gym class at Wilderness School: Move it, McLean! You call that escalator-climbing?
She reached the top floor, breathing hard, but she was too late. Medea had reached the potions counter.
The sorceress grabbed a swan-shaped vial—the blue one that caused painful death—and Piper did the only thing that came to mind. She threw her shield.
Medea turned triumphantly just in time to get hit in the chest by a fifty-pound metal Frisbee. She stumbled backward, crashing over the counter, breaking vials and knocking down shelves. When the sorceress stood from the wreckage, her dress was stained a dozen different colors. Many of the stains were smoldering and glowing.
"Fool!" Medea wailed. "Do you have any idea what so many potions will do when mixed?"
"Kill you?" Piper said hopefully.
The carpet began to steam around Medea's feet. She coughed, and her face contorted in pain—or was she faking?
Below them Piper heard a scream- she couldn't tell if it was from Jason or Leo, and when she risked a quick look she almost sobbed in despair- Jason was sprawled out on the ground- scrambling to his feet, and Leo had clearly shoved him down- and he was on his knees, hand pressed over his already injured shoulder- and Piper was pretty sure that even from this distance she could see blood- and then there was fire and Piper forced down the urge to scream herself at the sight- even if she knew about Leo's powers there was something incredibly terrifying about seeing him bathed in flames like that- and Jason was rushing forward quickly with an enraged battle cry, lightning sparking from his sword.
Her attention was drawn away from that by Medea's voice. "You've doomed us all!" she screamed. Smoke was rolling across the carpet as the stain spread, throwing sparks and setting fires in the clothing racks. "You have only seconds before this concoction consumes everything and destroys the building. There's no time—"
CRASH! The stained glass ceiling splintered in a rain of multicolored shards, and Festus the bronze dragon dropped into the department store.
He hurtled into the fray, snatching up a sun dragon in each claw. Only now did Piper appreciate just how big and strong their metal friend was.
"That's my boy!" Leo yelled the words, staggering to his feet.
Festus flew halfway up the atrium, then hurled the sun dragons into the pits they'd come from. Leo raced to the fountain and pressed the marble tile, closing the sundials.
They shuddered as the dragons banged against them, trying to get out, but for the moment they were contained.
Medea cursed in some ancient language. The whole fourth floor was on fire now. The air filled with noxious gas. Even with the roof open, Piper could feel the heat intensifying.
She backed up to the edge of the railing, keeping her dagger pointed toward Medea.
"I will not be abandoned again!" The sorceress knelt and snatched up the red healing potion, which had somehow survived the crash. "You want your boyfriend's memory restored? Take me with you!"
Piper glanced behind her. Leo and Jason were on board Festus's back. The bronze dragon flapped his mighty wings, snatched the two cages with the satyr and the storm spirits in his claws, and began to ascend.
The building rumbled. Fire and the smoke curled up the walls, melting the railings, turning the air to acid.
"You'll never survive your quest without me!" Medea growled. "Your boy hero will stay ignorant forever, and your father will die. Take me with you!"
For one heartbeat, Piper was tempted. Then she saw Medea's grim smile. The sorceress was confident in her powers of persuasion, confident that she could always make a deal, always escape and win in the end.
"Not today, witch. " Piper jumped over the side. She plummeted for only a second before Jason caught her arm, hauling her aboard the dragon.
She heard Medea screaming in rage as they soared through the broken roof and over downtown Chicago. Then the department store exploded behind them and Piper let out a slow shaky breath, her whole body trembling- Leo was at the front, and Piper was between him and Jason- she'd been right, she had seen the red of blood, Leo looked pale when he looked back at her, his grin was strained- and she could see that he was covered with blood- there was so much that she couldn't actually tell what had caused the blood- some sort of injury obviously but she couldn't see it- but she could see that it was across his chest and his shoulder- she shifted, slinging her backpack off her shoulder and pulling a bag of ambrosia out, holding it out with a glint in her eyes, "Leo, eat."
"Y'know." Leo gave a wry smile as he took the ambrosia, "You are very bossy Piper Mclean." and he popped it into his mouth, his shoulders lowering slightly as some tension eased out of them, "But smart too. Very smart. That feels a lil bit better."
"What happened?"
"One of the dragons got behind me." Jason spoke up, his voice thick with guilt, "I couldn't handle them both at once, Leo shoved me out of the way and the dragons claws caught him."
"I'll be fine." Leo waved a hand dismissively, "It caught my already bad shoulder so I still have one good arm anyways."
"One good arm isn't actually good." Jason pointed out, a worried look on his face, "And that is a lot of blood Leo. You should have no way near that much blood outside of your body."
"Eh, we're demigods, it happens." Leo pointed out, "I'm fine okay? You two don't need to worry about me."
"Sorry, too late for that I'm worrying." Piper declared, eyeing him carefully- there was more color in his cheeks now that he'd had the ambrosia, but he still didn't look great- then again he had just got slashed at by a golden dragon, that was probably to be expected. "Did we at least get what we needed?"
"Yep, you probably can't see them and I wouldn't recommend leaning down and trying to look but we have our asshole spirits and Coach Hedge, Festus has the cages in his claws."
"Leo." Jason's voice was confident, "Have I ever told you that you are amazing-"
"Huh?"
"You saved my life down there and without your Dragon we'd have never made it this far. And Piper- you were awesome, seriously. I was pretty useless-"
"Nah." Leo waved a hand, "We all have our strengths, none of us could pull this off alone.
"Well, we definitely couldn't do it without you. We need you full strength Leo." Piper decided, "And you're hurt. You need to rest."
"We haven't even decided where we're going next-"
"We need to find Aeolus." Jason pointed out.
"And how do we do that?" Leo raised an eyebrow.
Jason leaned forward. "You mean you don't see it?" He pointed ahead of them, but Leo didn't see anything except clouds and the lights of a few towns glowing in the dusk.
"What?" Leo asked. "That … whatever it is," Jason said. "In the air. "
Piper raised an eyebrow, a confused look on her face.
"Right," Leo said. "Could you be more specific on the 'whatever-it-is' part?"
"Like a vapor trail," Jason said. "Except it's glowing. Really faint, but it's definitely there. We've been following it since Chicago, so I figured you saw it. "
Leo shook his head. "Maybe Festus can sense it. You think Aeolus made it?"
"Well, it's a magic trail in the wind," Jason said. "Aeolus is the wind god. I think he knows we've got prisoners for him. He's telling us where to fly. "
"Or it's another trap," Piper said, "Boreas said he doesn't like Leo- if he knows about him-"
"Oh this isn't gonna go well." Leo closed his eyes, letting out a shaky breath, "This won't be fun."
"We'll handle it." Jason paused, "You look like crap Leo. Get some sleep, I'll make sure we stay right-"
"I-" Leo hesitated before he caught Piper's eye and he sighed, "Fine, fine I'll try to sleep."