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Ch.7

Frank

I stared in shock at the child in front of me. Leo had told me about Khione, and judging from his story, she wasn't someone I ever wanted to meet. Leo had said she was a minor goddess, and I hadn't ever thought she had kids.

I stumbled back along Festus's slippery metal back as Clarisse growled,"What's your name, punk?" The kid glared at her before answering,"My name is Hiver. That's French for winter," he added proudly. "Anyway, Mom sent me here so you wouldn't get any further. Failure is not an option. Good day!"

Hiver flicked his wrist in the general direction of Peleus and the dragon was instantly frozen in midflight. He plummeted toward the ground and the riders, who were only frozen from the waist down, screamed at us to help. My heart jolted as I saw Hazel's large golden eyes, usually so bright and intelligent, gleaming with fear. The pegasi dove down towards the frozen Peleus and his rider, but with a flick of his fingers, Hiver frosted them over, sending the screaming girls hurtling straight for the ground.

The others taken care of, Hiver turned back to Festus and the remaining demigods, myself included. He had a mischievous grin on his face, almost like Leo's, but the look in his eyes was as cold as his mother's. "I will ice your dragon and the girl, but I want Frank Zhang and Percy Jackson alive. Wait scratch that- Zethes asked me for Piper McLean alive. But Jason Grace, my mother wants you as a statue for her collection."

I glanced down at the icy demigods below us, and I panicked upon seeing they were nearing the ground quickly. Piper had noticed this too, and was talking rapidly, her charmspeak confusing the son of Khione. He seemed to be wavering, and just when I thought Piper had won him over, he glared at her and a layer of frost covered her and froze her mid-sentence. "I don't know why I don't just ice her completely," Hiver grumbled. He flicked his wrists, and Percy was glazed with a light frost, while Jason was frozen over. He turned and glared at me."Now Frank Zhang, it is your turn." Hiver snapped his fingers, and a layer of frost zipped toward me, but just as it made contact with my outstretched hand, a hot light flared next to me, melting the frost instantly, and a bright, misshapen figure emerged from the glow. Hephaestus turned to me and winked. "Miss me?"

Hephaestus

I had been watching the quest to find my son with the utmost concern, and I was happy that they had made it this far, but when Khione sent her only child to defend against some of the most powerful demigods in history, it really showed how little she cared about anything. I hadn't thought Hiver would freeze half of the heroes and frost the rest. I had to step in as he was about to frost Frank Zhang. I melted the frost that was about to hit Frank and winked at him. "Miss me?" I teased. The relief on the kid's face was evidence enough, and he replied,"Yes, Lord Vulcan." "Hephaestus," I corrected. "Yes, Lord Hephaestus, but what of the others?" I glanced down and saw what he meant. With a snap of my fingers, the frozen substances melted off everyone and Peleus was able to pull up just before hitting the ground, the pegasi following suit. Then I turned to Festus and unfroze his riders.

"There, that's taken care of," I said with satisfaction. Festus creaked his appreciation. Such a beauty, that dragon. I'm glad Leo had the guts and skills to fix him. Speaking of Leo….

I turned to Hiver, who was cowering inside a cloud of snow. A flick of the wrist and his snowcloud became a raincloud. He screamed and cursed at me. "I am a child of the daughter of the North Wind! The South Wind has the rainstorms. TURN MY CLOUD BACK RIGHT NOW!"

I raised an eyebrow. "Did you, a child of a lesser goddess, just try to tell me what to do?" Hiver turned red with rage. "My mother is not a LESSER GODDESS! She is the one who keeps the mortals from destroying the atmosphere with their global warming," he sneered. I rolled my eyes. Puny mortals. Always thinking they know everything.

Frank tapped my shoulder. "Lord Hephaestus, forgive me, but may I suggest you just banish him to the South? We need help with our quest." "Yes, yes, I must get this over with." I spoke an ancient incantation, and a fiery funnell whisked Hiver a bit higher, but just as the trap prepared to leave, an icy wind swept over us, and the tornado was frozen. It exploded in a flurry of ice shards, and I floated over to check it. Hiver was gone, and all that remained was a perfect sphere of smooth, glassy ice.

Festus squeaked in frustration. " I know, old boy," I sighed. "But now that the immediate threat has been dealt with, we can focus on the quest. Oh, look, here's your friends." Peleus and the pegasi had made it back to 20,000 feet and pulled up beside Festus. The demigods were shivering, their teeth chattering. "Perfect, now we can get down to business. If you don't listen to what I am about to tell you, you have no chance of succeeding on this quest."

The demigods listened intently as I explained about a magical artifact I had created a few hundred years ago, in case of a run-in with Khione or Boreas, and any other winter immortals. "It's called The Freeze Blaster. I know, I know, it's an odd name, but it does the trick. If you can find it, it will have a few fire-proof coats, about ten, maybe, in an orange cloth bag hanging off the side. Those will be helpful. It's located in Kirtland, Ohio. I hid it there because the gods don't go there a lot. The Freeze Blaster might be your only chance to save Leo."

Khione

I growled as I watched that... that... that hot-headed fire god interfered with Hiver's plan. Of course my idiot son had to waste time bragging. But someone had to save his désolé hide. So as soon as he was about to be banished to the south, I sent my winds to bring him back. Ugh, I am not proud to have a son who is such a mannequin.

I fetched him and brought him to Octavian. In the old days I would have called for Apollo, but since the war with Gaea, when I joined the side I was sure would win, the gods have cast me out. Deep down, I admit I would like to visit Olympus again, and make amends with the gods, but I am far too proud. My past actions have not helped matters, either.

I approached the room Octavian was staying in, dragging my son along behind me and ignoring his complaints and excuses. As we came up to the former augur's room, I turned and cut Hiver off with an icy hiss,"You idiot, just shut your vain mouth, or I will freeze you into a statue and remove your head!" He gulped and nodded meekly, and I turned my attention to the door in front of me. I glared at Hiver and growled,"Stay here, or I will make good on that ice statue threat." He averted his eyes and gave a small nod, and I couldn't help but notice the sad, wistful look in his large coffee brown eyes. I felt a pang of guilt, but quickly pushed it away, down into that tiny cavern where my yearning, sad feelings were. I had no time to waste on petty feelings.

I opened the door and stormed in. The twisted figure of Octavian lay in his bed, but his wild blue eyes still stared at me calmly, intelligence and malice glittering in the icy depths. I liked this mortal. He was like me- bitter and angry, bent on revenge on those who betrayed us and cast us out. I had rescued him from death when he was launched from the onager. I let loose an icy wind that put out the fire that was consuming him, then took him back to Quebec. I used nectar and ambrosia and magic to heal him the best I could. My father, Boreas, felt sympathetic towards the wounded Octavian and gave him the energy to heal. The spell was still working on him, as he was so badly wounded that it would still take him over a year and a half to heal. But Octavian refused to wait that long, and he was only nine months into the spell. He had shown himself to be as intelligent as before, though, and while he was still healing, I had agreed to help him until he was healed. Even as violent as I knew he was, his plan had still caught me off guard with its ruthlessness.

I approached his bedside and looked at his burned, twisted face. "Octavian, the tortures are ready to begin. I will leave to collect the artifact Hephaestus mentioned in one hour. When I return, I will begin the interrogation." Octavian nodded, and answered in a low, raspy voice,"Good. What news does your son bring back?" I grimaced. "The dolt got Hephaestus involved and now the heroes have the help of the Olympians. He only managed to slow them down. I believe if we can remove the, ah, Freeze Blaster, then we may be able to stop them. Hephaestus said it might very well be the last hope to save Leo. If we can retrieve it first, we may be able to get rid of Leo Valdez forever, as well as those pesky heroes. It's as those mortals call it.. a win-win." Octavian's blue eyes gleamed. "After they are dead, we can proceed with the plan. We can storm Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter, and use that mind control spell Hecate gave you. With the tools of the Olympians behind us, we can march on Olympus and overtake it. We will rule the world side by side!"

Whew! That was a doozy! Went for a loop there. Review and tell me what you think! Sorry I didn't put it in on Friday, but the italics are French words, and don't worry, none of them are cuss words. Happy late 4th for those who are American!