Leo had to admit that whoever this guy was he could move. After he and Calypso had argued for what seemed like ever, the crazy looking demigod had finally let them accompany him. Sort of. It had been more of a challenge. Or at least that was how Leo saw it. "You wouldn't be able to keep up anyways." Ryker had said before striding out of the garage without a backwards glance.

Calypso had watched him go with a look of anger that Leo had not seen since he had crashed and burned into Ogygia, breaking her dinner table. "How fast can Festus go?" She had demanded, turning to face him with a look of determination and a hand on her hip. Leo almost pitied the new demigod.

It was that question that had led them to their current situation. Leo and Calypso sat aside Festus's back as the bronze dragon struggled to keep up with Ryker as he blew through the forest. While Leo was worried about Jason he was even more worried about what it meant that Atlas was loose. It had been several months since he had blown Gaea to smithereens and subsequently come back to life, and he had been enjoying every second with Calypso. It might have been a little selfish for him not to tell the others that he was alive, but hey. They all had a boyfriend or girlfriend. He hadn't. He was entitled to some quality time with Calypso. But the thought of what might have been going down while he was having a blast fixing cars and hanging out with Calypso worried him. And Ryker did not seem like the type of dude who would tell him even if he did know. They had been flying for hours and hours and he had not given a single sign that he was fatigued at all. In fact arguing with Calypso had seemed to tire him out more than running did. Leo did not blame him at all. Calypso was absolutely fantastic in every way, but she hated being proven wrong or arguing over something she thought was stupid.

Festus creaked and clanked and Leo turned his attention down to the ground. Ryker had slowed considerably, only walking now. Leo pulled out a telescope he had built as a curiosity and gazed down to see what it was that the crazy demigod was doing. Ryker had a metal cube in his hand that projected an image of a silver arrow in the air. Ryker glanced in the direction that the arrow pointed, replaced the compass in his bag, and shot off in the direction. Festus groaned as he was forced to speed up again and Calypso's hold around Leo's waist tightened. "So what did you think of him?" Leo asked conversationally. They each wore earpieces fashioned out of celestial bronze and a tiny microphone that could cut out air interference for trips such as this.

"I don't like him." Calypso said. Leo wasn't sure but he thought he heard the evidence of her frowning in her tone. "Why would he turn down our help? And why is he alone?"

"Do you think that I should give Percy an Iris message?" Leo asked. "To see if this guy is actually on a quest? He might be-."

"No, he wasn't lying." Calypso cut him off, shifting her position on Festus's back. Leo made a mental note to add cushioned seats to where they usually sat on the bronze dragon. Metal was rather uncomfortable, it was a literal pain in the butt. Leo had a moment of pride in his equipment as it picked up Calypso's sigh of annoyance in excellent quality. They had better. He could not begin to guess how many times they had shocked him when trying to get them right. "It is very easy to tell when a mortal is lying. He wasn't. And even if you called Percy who knows if he would believe it was you?"

"What, you think there are two Leo's running around?" He asked, smirking at the thought.

"I really hope not."

"The world couldn't handle that much awesomeness."

"Not what I meant." But Leo was sure that she was smiling even as she said it. "Leo, you have been dead for the past several months."

"Thanks, I love being told by my girlfriend that I am dead. Really makes me happy. Really." Leo laughed. "But I get what you are saying. Percy and the others might not believe it's me."

"Exactly." Calypso nodded. "If my father is free, who knows what has been going on in our absence?"

"You'd think that my dad or maybe even Hermes would have dropped us a hint." Leo frowned. "'Hey, the world is going bonkers again. Would be great if you could come back from the dead.' But no."

"They probably just did tell us to come back." Calypso reasoned. "That compass thing that Ryker was using has really powerful magic. They probably sent Ryker to find us, even if he didn't know it."

"So why did he want to kill us?" Leo demanded, glaring down at him. It was impossible, but he was certain that he saw the demigod glance up at the sky and scowl. "I mean, come on, I don't exactly look like a monster. Maybe a monstrously good-looking guy, but not a monster. I wasn't even on fire."

"He did say that you smelled like Atlas." Calypso noted. "Probably because you have been around me so much. If he met my father his reaction is sort of understandable."

"Yeah, but how did he smell that?" Leo frowned as he considered Calypso's cinnamon scent. "Does your dad smell like cinnamon too?"

"I smell like cinnamon?"

"I know that I have said that at least once before."

"You certainly did not."

"Pretty sure I did."

"Regardless, I am sure that my father's scent and my own have some similarities." Calypso said, "Although as to how he picked up on the scent so adeptly I am not quite certain. I have… met many demigods. None of them act like him."

"So, what? Did one of the minor gods finally decide to have a kid?" Leo wondered, glancing back down at the demigod. Again, Ryker glanced up at them as he ran and scowled like he had heard every word of their conversation. "And how long is he planning on running for?"

"I do not know." Calypso, for perhaps the third time since Leo had known her, admitted rather grudgingly. "He must have ran several hundred miles by now and he has not yet shown any signs of growing weary. It is quite possible that the aura surrounding him grants him some form of accelerated speed and endurance."

"Aura?" Leo wondered. "What aura?"

The sound of a snarl below them immediately brought their attention back to the ground. Ryker had stopped running and was glaring up at them with his arms crossed. In front of them was yet another city, San Francisco if Leo wasn't mistaken. He blinked in surprise as he realized the distance that they had traveled in only about sixty hours. Then he shifted in his seat and the groan of his legs told him that he could, in fact, definitely believe that they had been flying for so long. Thank goodness for the invisible servants that constantly followed Calypso around and their ability to make food appear out of nothing. Their food wasn't as good as Calypso's but it was still pretty good. Then again no one was as good as Calypso in Leo's opinion. He might be a little biased though. Festus began to descend on the trees, his wings stirring up the trees and dirt as he touched down. Ryker was definitely scowling. Leo and Calypso leapt off of the bronze dragon's back and gave simultaneous groans of pain and relief as their bones and muscles protested their sudden use. Leo looked to Ryker, expecting some sort of sympathy, and was surprised to see that he was no longer even paying attention to them. He was walking in a slow circle around Festus, studying the dragon with a serious expression. He reached a hand forward and pressed it to the dragon's head. Festus leaned into the touch and Ryker's eyebrows shot up. "He's alive." He stated, glancing to Leo and Calypso as they stretched. "How?"

"Uh, magic?" Leo suggested.

"Magic." Calypso echoed, stretching her back.

"I can sense animals." Ryker murmured, almost to himself. "And yet he isn't one. But I can sense him."

"Yeah, well, welcome to being a demigod where nothing makes sense and you are constantly surprised." Leo told him. "By the way, what's your deal? How can you move like that?"

"Move like what?" Ryker asked.

"You were running like no one's business man."

"It is no one's business how I run." Ryker said, the words clearly intending that such an answer should be obvious.

Leo paused, unsure if he was being made fun of. But Ryker's eyes were hard and devoid of any humor. "No, I mean you were tearing up the forest man."

"I was most certainly not." Ryker growled threateningly.

Leo shot Calypso an Are-you-serious look and then turned his attention back to Ryker. "Okay, you were running really fast. How?"

Ryker didn't answer. He turned his attention back to the city and frowned intensely. Calypso rolled her eyes as she finished stretching and crossed her arms. "So why are we here?" She asked bluntly.

"I don't know why you are here." Ryker said coldly. "I'm here to retrieve Jason Grace."

"Alright, so how do we save Lightning boy?" Leo asked, rubbing his hands together. "He's at Mount Orthys right?"

"Yes." Ryker said shortly. "And 'we' aren't doing anything. I don't need you two to be following me around like a couple of lost pups. It will only make this harder than it is already going to be."

"What do you mean?" Calypso asked, glaring at Ryker's back. "'Harder than it is already going to be'? What do you sense?"

"Something is off about this city." Ryker admitted. "I'm not sure what it is, but something is wrong here. This smell… it's like nothing I have ever encountered. It is certainly not human."

"Well, good thing you got two extra people right?" Leo asked brightly, adjusting his magical tool belt and patting Festus fondly. "And a certifiably awesome-sauce metal dragon that is pretty much indestructible."

"Like I said, neither of you are coming with me." Ryker said coldly, starting his way to the city. He didn't run however, and his hands transformed into claws before Leo's eyes. "Do whatever you please."

Calypso watched him go with a glare before striding over to Leo and slipping an arm around his waist. "Tell Festus to keep an eye on us from the sky." She muttered to him. "You and I are going to follow him."

"I thought he just said not to follow him." Leo said uncertainly. Ryker made him nervous. Nervous like he was about to be attacked at any point. This guy was bad news, but who he was bad news for Leo was not sure. "He doesn't seem like he is someone we should provoke."

"He won't hurt us." Calypso said confidently. "He's wild but he isn't a bad person. He's kind of like a deer. Flighty and easily spooked. The best thing to do is just keep him used to us being around him. Besides, he did say to do whatever we want. Well, I want to go to the city. It's not my fault if our path just happens to follow the exact same route his does, right?"

Leo looked at his girlfriend in awe and respect. "You are a devious little genius, you know that?" He grinned. He smiled further when she leaned in to kiss him.

"Yes, it is one of the reasons why you love me." Calypso said confidently, flipping her long hair over her shoulder. "Now let's go. You have your wrench, right?"

Leo opened a hatch on Festus's back leg he had made and withdrew a large wrench that he had modified and an ornate imperial gold and celestial bronze sword that he had built himself. He placed the wrench across his back with its specially designed holster and gave the sword to Calypso, who quickly belted it into place. He closed the hatch on Festus's leg and patted the dragon. "Alright buddy, get going. Come help us if I call, alright?" Festus creaked and groaned and Leo rolled his eyes. "Yes, we will be careful."

Festus took to the air, leaving them behind. Leo and Calypso turned and hurried after Ryker, quickly catching up to him. He gave a loud sigh when they came along either side of him and matched his pace. In the distance the city loomed imposingly. "What part of don't follow me did you not understand?" Ryker snapped, his claws clanging slightly as he fluttered his fingers.

"We aren't following you." Calypso told him immediately, raising her chin in defiance. Leo absentmindedly found the way she worked around rules was really hot. And he would know hot, combustible as he was. "We're going to the same place. We just chose to take this route as well."

"Choose a different one." Ryker demanded, snarling at them. Leo wanted to leap away, but Calypso's words echoed in his ears and he remained at the angry demigod's side.

"Now come on." Leo said, throwing an arm around Ryker's shoulder. "Don't be like that. We're all friends here, why don't we all just rescue Jason together and then we will leave you alone."

Ryker very slowly turned to look at Leo, his eyes flashing murderously. "If you don't move your arm you aren't going to make it to Jason. That's a promise."