Chapter 10

The plane

Snow Sabrina

When we got to the airport, we were so involved with the movie that we didn't want to get out. We were there for an extra 30 minutes because of that. When we finally got to the airport, we saw Steve. He was waiting for us with a smirk on his face. Topaz and me walked over to him, and his smile grew wider. "Hello, are you Snow and Topaz?"

"Yes." He looked us over. "You look just like your pictures. You are really pretty." Topaz groaned. "Great, here's your money, now let us get on the plane." I shot her a look 'Be nice, he's going to help us'

"Could you try to do it inconspicuously, I think there will be many angry people on the plane." He gave that fake smile again. It reminded me of Apollo, it almost blinded me.

"Of, course, you know, I'll be on the plane with you." Somehow, that didn't reassure me. He seemed like a monster. I exchanged a look with Annabeth. She seemed to be having similar thoughts. "Please follow me," He said with a blinding smile.

I was starting to wish we had brought Tyson or Grover or one of the other satyrs so they could sniff him out and tell what he was. But we had no choice but to follow him. He made up an excuse to the passengers that there was a problem with fueling, and they were now ready to take off. Luckily, there were many other people coming in, probably trying to pass the time outside until the plane took off, so we weren't singled out and blamed. I sat between Nico and Topaz.

"Hey, sweetie, your dress is cute."

I huffed. "You know you're not allowed to call me that."

"I know, I'm sorry, but sometimes it's fun to annoy you." I kicked him.

"Ouch, whadja do that for honey."

I say back in my seat. "Okay, now you're just asking for it."

"Nico, did you still want to watch Dracula?" Topaz asked, trying to change the subject.

"You stole it?" I asked.

"She smiled. "I stole ALL the movies, well, except Dora."

"Hmm, actually, I think I want to watch the Shining."

At "I'm not gonna hurt ya Wendy," Steve came up behind us. "Can I interest you in some refreshments, maybe a smoothie or a burger and fries?"

"No thank you," I said. I was actually quite hungry, but I didn't want to eat anything Steve gave me. Maybe we could eat at San Francisco.

"Okay." He said, then walked away. I thought he had left, but he came up behind me, and grabbed my neck. My reflexes kicked in. I ducked and grabbed his wrist and threw him over the seat. Nico tried to stab him in the neck, but it went right through him. "A storm spirit." I said.

"How do we defeat it?"

"We have to surprise him."

He swirled around in a gust of wind to the other side of the plane. Everyone but Annabeth was asleep. I had been right not to take the food he had offered. Most of the mortals were passed out, too, but the ones that weren't were screaming loudly. I breathed on my necklace. It turned blue, and then I faded.

Annabeth did the same with her hat. I pulled a knife out of my bracelet. I was about to stab him, but I noticed more wind spirits coming through the plane doorway. One knocked over a row of seats, nearly crushing Nico. His legs were pinned. I had to start killing them fast. I noticed a few falling, probably Annabeth.

"So," Topaz began. "Could you tell us who you are and why you're trying to kill us please?" One of the female ones laughed. It was pleasant, but crackly, like fire. "We are the followers of the Storm god Notus. He is the bringer of storms in late summer and autumn. He is also known as one of the fire gods. He instructed us to come here."

"So, Notus is helping the monsters now, too? I thought he was on good terms with the gods." She cackled. "This is the fight for all the misfits, all the unwanted of Olympus. We will tear the Olympians down for what they have done to our master."

"So, why does he want us dead? Why are we involved in this?"

A different one spoke. He was a young boy, with fire-red hair and freckles. 'a demon ginger'. "He does not wish you two dead. When the Titans come back, you will be offered."

"How lovely. You know what would be nice? Letting us go. Your numbers are already decreasing. It would be better just to stop, before all of you die. You don't want your family to die, do you? We're not really worth it are we? If Lord Notus really liked you, he wouldn't blame you for one small fail." She paused, letting the charmspeak wash over them.

"Yes, we should let them go." The others muttered in agreement.

"IDIOTS! Do not let the girl's silver tongue trick you! Just kill the demigods and grab the other two! We must please Lord Notus!"

"Where is the other one?" Steve said. "Oh, wait, I smell her! " He struck me and I fell to the ground, dazed. I rolled out of the way before he could grab me. I picked a bad day to wear perfume.

Steve got crushed by a black rock. The only 2 left were the ginger and his mother. He had revealed Annabeth in a gust of hot air. I knew it was only a matter of time before the heat killed her. I ran over, and ginger kid stopped his storm. Annabeth collapsed. I ran over to help her. Then ginger kid grabbed me, not really being a gentleman about it. Nico threw his sword, impaling Ginger Kid. His mother was absorbed in shock, giving Annabeth a chance to go over and decapitate her.

I breathed a sigh of relief, then remembered Nico, who was still trapped under those seats. I went over to help him, but Topaz was already working on it. I pushed the other seats off him. He groaned. "Let me see." I pushed up his jeans. It was red and bruised. "Can you move it?"

"No, I don't think so." Annabeth came over. "I have some Unicorn Drought and Nectar." She dug through her backpack, and pulled out a flask with unicorn drought from Reyna. "Do you have the water?"

"Yes, but it wouldn't heal the bone. It could heal you if your leg fell off and we put it on the bone and the skin-"

"EW!" Annabeth said. "-So unless you want us to amputate you, you'll have to wait 2 hours for the unicorn drought to kick in. If you want some nectar, that might ease the pain." I brought out a flask with the godly drink in it. He wiped his mouth. "Thanks." I helped him up and leveled the seats. I got out the incense board. "What's that?" Annabeth asked.

"Incense potion from Morpheus. When I light it, it will wake up the everyone and erase the mortal's memories of what happened, Topaz, can you go check on the pilot?" She left to make sure he was okay.

The mortals started to wake up, as did our friends. Percy opened his eyes. "What happened?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "You guys are idiots is what happened. I told you not to eat the food. I told you he probably put something in it. I told you he was probably a monster. But did you listen? No."

He threw his head back. "We were STARVING! We hadn't eaten for 2 hours!"

"You were not 'starving' Not having eaten for two hours is not a very long time. You would be fine. You could have eaten something when we got there. You could have HELPED us instead of lying there."

That sobered him up a bit. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you in danger. I love you."

"I love you, too, Seaweed Brain."

He started to smile, but then he noticed the flaming head on the floor. I would have thought the flames were connected to her life source, and they would die with her. Somehow, they wern't burning the floor, either.

I picked it up, as I was the only one besides Leo who could touch it without being burned. (Topaz wouldn't die, but it would hurt her.)

"We can use it for light. We can put a stick through it, for those of you who can't see in the dark or summon your own flames."

"That's a good idea. Disgusting, but good." Percy said.

I picked up a broken board from some of the plane wreckage, and put the flaming head on it, and stuck it in my bag.

Topaz came back. "The pilot said he wanted to thank us for saving them from the 'terrorist attack' He said he would cover up the story for us."

"Wait, what?" Leo asked.

"He's a demigod. His co-pilot is not. He said we'll, be there in 27 minutes." Nico looked at the others. "Any idea why those 3 are still sleeping?" Percy shook his head. "No clue. I had way more food than them."

"We know you did, Percy." Annabeth said.

"Maybe they had a stronger dose." Topaz suggested. "Probably." Annabeth agreed.

"I'm going to see if I can find the sleeping drought they used. We may be able to make use of it for the quest." I told them.

I walked to the storeroom, where I presumed they made the food for the passengers. There was a lot of things in here, a burger grill, a fryer, a pretzel heater, A nacho cheese dispencer, a couple blenders, a stove, and several refrigerators. There was a rack of cabinets above one of the stoves. There were trays, plates, silverware... Bingo. Pill bottles.

I was about to take it, but something clapped it's hand over my mouth. Leftover storm spirits. Apparently Ginger Kid had a twin brother.

I bit him, and I guess he wasn't expecting that. He let go, and I slashed him through the stomach. I had gotten away, but not unscathed. There were claw marks on my arms, and they didn't seem to be fading like usual. I felt my strength wanning. I grasped the bottles, and ran quickly back to the seats where my friends were before I collapsed.