So uh, I'm getting closer to the break up chapter- which I will cry while I'm writing because it'll be painful- and I just keeping thinking 'Dear fucking god this one needs like, so much therapy. So much therapy. Also- Ethan probably does too- I literally have him talking to another character about how he sometimes thinking the world would have been better if he'd just died earlier and the one he's talking to is like 'Lol, I kinda wanna toss myself over the edge of this extremely high thing' (Just avoiding spoilers by being non specific. And Ethan's response is 'Please don't, I'd hate having to explain that'. Yeah, these kids need fucking therapy. They're so fucking traumatized!
Replies:
Guest: Afraid I cannot answer your questions as it would give potential spoilers- but you will not like the daughter's actions I will say that.
Guest: The break up will be temporary but it will last a lil while.
Undeath9087: I mean, I won't claim that I haven't considered having him pretending to be the seventh- that would have been some first rate angst because they'd all want to brutally murder him but if I'd done that he'd have spent time with the Romans and earned Octavians trust so it would have been like declaring war which they can't afford to do- fortunately I scrapped that idea (or did I?) And with the whole Percy Annabeth Tartarus thing I did consider it- it would have been super angsty cause, y'know, Percy in Tartarus, with monsters, not a good mix when she can't defend herself because she's a prisoner, but that one didn't work right for me so I scrapped it. And yeah I can imagine Luke going pretty dark, though, Alabaster... yeah that would make sense too.
The Official Clarisse: Yeah Dark Percy is fun, though by Dark I don't necessarily mean evil just, well, doing some real bad stuff, though honestly in Tartarus it's for survival y'know, still, there will be some dark scenes in the future.
PJO Fan 285: I will admit the idea of her demanding a divorce is funny, but Kronos isn't really even whole enough to ask it this stage- he was scattered after Percy killed him. And the Minific will take place over about five days I think, if I remember right, and it will be based after this one and before the next big fic if that helps you.
Guest: Hera doesn't have a Greek she can send to the Romans right now, it would need to be one of the seven and she can't send Annabeth, Piper or Leo so she's a bit stuck.

Leo wanted to ask what Aeolus was talking about- he didn't understand- he wanted to but he just couldn't understand what he was saying. He had to be talking about Hera- she was his grandmother after all. He couldn't think of anything else that could make sense. But- he doubted that she was even capable of really loving her family. Not really anyway. She only wanted a perfect family and she didn't care a bit about all of the pain she'd caused.

But- who else could Aeolus be talking about? And what could possibly give them hope? If he was being honest hope was something he hadn't really truly felt that much of lately. Not since everything had gone so horribly wrong.

And what did he mean about the daughter interfering? What daughter. Leo hated riddles like this.

So instead he took a deep breath, shaking himself. "Right, uh, thanks. I think." a part of him wanted to ask, wanted to demand the master of the winds explain what the Hades he was talking about- but they needed the man to be on their side- demanding more information probably wouldn't help them.

Besides, if it was anything to do with Hera... well. Leo wasn't sure he even wanted the answers. From the sound of it he'd understand eventually, if it was to do with the prophecy. He wondered what it meant- there needed to be seven- it had to be a person then. One of the seven of the prophecy. But... even if he asked Aeolus wouldn't give him the answers he so desperately wanted. So he took a deep breath and forced himself to speak.

"So, we were hoping you could help us. Y'know, since you know everything."

"Ah, yes, you wanted information. Are you sure about that? Sometimes information can be dangerous."

He smiled at Jason like he was issuing a challenge. Behind him, Mellie shook her head in warning.

"Yeah," Jason said. "We need to find the lair of Enceladus."

Aeolus's smile melted. "The giant? Why would you want to go there? He's horrible! He doesn't even watch my program!" and Leo resisted the urge to roll his eyes- honestly he wasn't even surprised, immortals did tend to be quite self centred- of course that was why Aeolus didn't like the giant- he'd probably sing his praises if he did watch his show.

Piper held up the photo. "Aeolus, he's got my father. We need to rescue him and find out where Hera is being held captive."

"Now, that's impossible," Aeolus said. "Even I can't see that, and believe me, I've tried. There's a veil of magic over Hera's location—very strong, impossible to locate."

"She's at a place called the Wolf House," Jason told him.

"Hold on!" Aelous put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. "I'm getting something! Yes, she's at a place called the Wolf House! Sadly, I don't know where that is." and Leo really had to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

"Enceladus does," Piper persisted. "If you help us find him, we could get the location of the goddess—"

"Yeah," Leo said, catching on. "And if we save her, she'd be really grateful to you—"

"And Zeus might promote you," Jason finished.

Aeolus's eyebrows crept up. "A promotion—and all you want from me is the giant's location?"

"Well, if you could get us there, too," Jason amended, "that would be great."

"I mean, the gods would definitely be appreciative." Leo remarked lightly, "It wouldn't be the first time that they've given out rewards- during the last war
they rewarded like, my entire family and some of my friends. We have a fair bit of influence-"

"Leo even convinced Lord Zeus to show mercy and allow him to rescue me from my island," Calypso said quickly, giving a winning smile, "They definitely have influence Lord Aeolus."

"Yes- yes you do." Aeolus was eyeing Leo thoughtfully, "I heard about that."

"So yeah, if you could help us-"

Mellie clapped her hands in excitement. "Oh, he could do that! He often sends helpful winds—"

"Mellie, quiet!" Aeolus snapped, his mood shifting suddenly. "I have half a mind to fire you for letting these people in under false pretences. " Her face paled.

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. "

"It wasn't her fault," Jason said. "But about that help …"

Aelous tilted his head as if thinking. Then Leo realized the wind lord was listening to voices in his earpiece.

"Well … Zeus approves," Aeolus muttered. "He says … he says it would be better if you could avoid saving her until after the weekend, because he has a big party planned—Ow! That's Aphrodite yelling at him, reminding him that the solstice starts at dawn. She says I should help you. And Hephaestus… yes. Hmm. Very rare they agree on anything. Hold on…" and Leo glanced at Piper, who straightened up, her eyes wide and hopeful at the mention of her mom.

He was grinning when Jason nodded at them both, all of them were thinking along the same lines- it was about time that they had some luck with this insane quest

Back toward the entrance, they heard a loud belch. Coach Hedge waddled in from the lobby, grass all over his face. Mellie saw him coming across the makeshift floor and caught her breath. "Who is that?"

Leo blinked. "That? That's just Coach Hedge. Uh, Gleeson Hedge. He's a Satyr from Camp Half-blood- a protector."

"He's so goatly," Mellie murmured.

Behind her, Piper poofed out her cheeks, pretending to vomit.

"What's up, guys?" Hedge trotted over. "Wow, nice place. Oh! Sod squares. "

"Coach, you just ate," Jason said. "And we're using the sod as a floor. This is, ah, Mellie—"

"An aura. " Hedge smiled winningly. "Beautiful as a summer breeze. "

Mellie blushed.

"And Aeolus here was just about to help us," Jason said.

"Yes," the wind lord muttered. "It seems so. You'll find Enceladus on Mount Diablo. "

"Devil Mountain?" Leo groaned. "That doesn't sound good. Just once you'd think we could go somewhere named something like 'Party Mountain. That would be much better."

"Leonidas." Calypso's lips twitched, "If you went to a Party Mountain it would probably be some kind of trap and you'd end up in even worse trouble- at least we know that this place is going to be horrible yes?"

"Hm, you may be right." he gave a goofy grin, "My girlfriend is super smart."

"I remember that place!" Piper said. "I went there once with my dad. It's just east of San Francisco Bay. "

"The Bay Area again?" The coach shook his head. "Not good. Not good at all. "

"Now …" Aeolus began to smile. "As to getting you there—"

Suddenly his face went slack. He bent over and tapped his earpiece as if it were malfunctioning. When he straightened again, his eyes were wild. Despite the makeup, he looked like an old man—an old, very frightened man. "She hasn't spoke to me for centuries. I can't—yes, yes I understand. "

He swallowed, regarding Jason as if he had suddenly turned into a giant cockroach. "I'm sorry, son of Jupiter. New orders. You all have to die. "

Mellie squeaked. "But—but, sir! Zeus said to help them. Aphrodite, Hephaestus—"

"Mellie!" Aeolus snapped. "Your job is already on the line. Besides, there are some orders that transcend even the wishes of the gods, especially when it comes to the forces of nature. "

"Whose orders? Gaea's?" Jason demanded. "Zeus will fire you if you don't help us!"

"I doubt it. " Aeolus flicked his wrist, and far below them, a cell door opened in the pit. Jason could hear storm spirits screaming out of it, spiralling up toward them, howling for blood.

"Even Zeus understands the order of things," Aeolus said. "And if she is waking—by all the gods—she cannot be denied. Good-bye, heroes. I'm terribly sorry, but I'll have to make this quick. I'm back on the air in four minutes."

"Zeus might not fire you." Leo snarled the words, hands flaring up into flames, "But I'll kill you if you try and hurt my friends- I'm a Jackson gods damn it! I might not have the name but I sure as Hades am one!" he stepped forward, away from the others so that he wouldn't risk burning them as the fire spread across the rest of his body.

Jason summoned his sword. Coach Hedge pulled out his club, and Piper pulled out her dagger as Calypso let out a panicked noise- since she had no weapons.

Mellie the aura yelled, "No!"

She dived at their feet just as the storm spirits hit with hurricane force, blasting the floor to pieces, shredding the carpet samples and marble and linoleum into what should've been lethal projectiles, had Mellie's robes not spread out like a shield and absorbed the brunt of the impact. The five of them fell into the pit, and Aeolus screamed above them, "Mellie, you are so fired!"

"Quick," Mellie yelled. "Son of Zeus, do you have any power over the air?"

"A little!"

"Then help me, or you're all dead!" Mellie grabbed his hand, and Leo saw realisation on Jason's face, even as Leo managed to put out his flames and grab
Piper and Calypso's arms. The storm spirits were following them down, closing rapidly, bringing with them a cloud of deadly shrapnel.

Jason grabbed Piper's other hand. "Group hug!"

And Hedge managed to grab Mellie's hand and they all huddled together as best as they could, clinging to each other as they fell.

"JASON! Do something!" Leo yelled the words.

"Bring it on, gas bags!" Hedge yelled up at the storm spirits. "I'll pulverize you!"

"He's magnificent," Mellie sighed.

"Concentrate?" Jason prompted.

"Right!" she said.

The two of them channelled the wind so their fall became more of a tumble towards the nearest open chute- but Leo could tell that they weren't quite going to make it- it wasn't quite going to be enough and he fought to turn his head, his eyes focusing on Calypso, who looked terrified, her eyes meeting his.
That was understandable- she'd been immortal- and Leo felt incredibly guilty. At least if she was on her Island she wouldn't be risking her life now. She wouldn't be about to die.

"I love you." the words were barely more than a whisper, and Leo saw Calypso's eyes going soft before they hardened and she closed her eyes tightly. And then the winds around them seemed to strengthen- Leo felt a rush of shock rip through him when he realised what was happening and he tightened his grip on his girlfriends hand. It made no sense. She was supposed to be fully mortal now- but- well, he wasn't going to complain. He knew Calypso did miss her powers even if she had been more than willing to give them up along with her immortality for a chance of freedom.

Still, even with Calypso's magic helping Jason and Mellie, they slammed into the tunnel at painful speed and went rolling over each other down a steep vent that was not designed for people. There was no way they could stop.

Mellie's robes billowed around her. the whole group clung to her desperately, and they began to slow down, but the storm spirits were screaming into the tunnel behind them.

"Can't—hold—long," Mellie warned. "Stay together! When the winds hit—"

"You're doing great, Mellie," Hedge said. "My own mama was an aura, you know. She couldn't have done better herself. "

"Iris-message me?" Mellie pleaded.

Hedge winked.

"Could you guys plan your date later?" Piper screamed. "Look!"

Behind them, the tunnel was turning dark. Leo could feel his ears pop as the pressure built.

"Can't hold them," Mellie warned. "But I'll try to shield you, do you one more favor. "

"Thanks, Mellie," Jason said. "I hope you get a new job. "

She smiled, and then dissolved, wrapping them in a warm gentle breeze. Then the real winds hit, shooting them into the sky so fast that Leo found the world around him going black.