A.N: This chapter corresponds to chapter 2 of Heroes of Olympus, and there was something that I don't quite understand: in English, is "pegasus" the proper name of the mythological creature or species? Because in Portuguese it serves as both a proper name and the name of the species. Also, does two or more pegasus translate as "pegasi"? In Portuguese there is no numeral change, which left me very confused while making adjustments to the translation.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

Posted in: 11/15/2023

"Who will read it?" Percy asked. Piper raised her hand, and the son of Poseidon held out the book to her. "Here."

"Okay," Piper cleared her throat. "Chapter II: A thousand parts of wind."

The storm turned into a small hurricane. Funnel-shaped clouds approached the walkway like the tentacles of a monstrous jellyfish.

The teenagers screamed and ran towards the building. The wind carried notebooks, coats, caps and backpacks. Jason slid on the slippery floor. Leo lost his balance and almost fell over the guardrail, but Jason grabbed his coat and pulled him back.

"Thanks dude!" shouted Leo.

"Run, run, run!" said the coach.

Piper and Dylan held the doors open, calling the other students inside. Piper's coat flapped everywhere, her black hair hitting her face. Jason thought she must be freezing to death, but she seemed calm and confident—telling the others that everything would end well, encouraging them to keep walking.

Jason, Leo, and Coach Hedge were running toward them, but it was like walking through quicksand. The wind seemed to be against them, pulling them back.

Dylan and Piper managed to push one more student inside, then the doors slipped out of their hands and slammed shut, closing the path to the walkway.

"'Slipped out'" Piper scoffed, irritated.

Piper pulled the handles, the boys inside pushed the glass, but the doors seemed stuck.

"Dylan, help!" shouted Piper.

Dylan stood there, grinning goofily, his Cowboys sweatshirt flapping in the wind, as if he was suddenly enjoying the storm.

"I'm sorry, Piper," he replied. "I'm tired of helping."

Piper growled, her eyes twisting in very clear hatred. Jason squeezed her shoulder.

He swung his fist and Piper was thrown backwards, crashing into the doors and falling onto the glass walkway.

"Coach" said Jason. "Let me go!"

Everyone gave Jason smiles, who ignored his blush and just shrugged.

"Jason, Leo, stay behind me" ordered Hedge. "This is my war. I should have known he was our monster."

"What?" Leo asked. A worksheet hit him in the face, but he pushed it away. "What monster?"

The coach's cap flew off, and on top of his curly hair were two bumps — like the ones that appear on cartoon characters when something hits their head. He held up the baseball bat… which was no longer a normal bat. Somehow, it turned into a tree branch staff, still with buds and leaves.

Dylan smiled a psychotic smile.

"Ah, stop it, coach. Let the boy attack me! After all, you're getting too old for this. Isn't that why they retired you to this stupid school? I was in your class all semester and you didn't even notice. You're losing your sense of smell, Grandpa."

"Ooooooh" Hermes and Apollo shouted, and Ares sat on the edge of the throne, eager for the fight.

The trainer let out an angry sound, like an animal bleating.

"It's over, cupcake. You're done."

"Do you think you can protect three half-bloods at once, old man?" asked Dylan, mockingly. "Good luck."

Dylan pointed at Leo and a funnel-shaped cloud materialized around the boy, who flew off the walkway as if he had been pushed.

Hephaestus's beard began to glow, his eyes darkening as a scowl twisted his face further.

Somehow, he managed to spin in the air and crash into the canyon wall. He slid, trying to grab where he could. Finally he grabbed hold of a narrow rock, about fifty feet below the walkway, and hung there by his fingers.

"Help!" shouted. "A rope, please. A rope, anything."

The coach swore and left his staff with Jason.

"I don't know who you are, boy, but I hope you're good. Keep that thing busy" he said, pointing at Dylan. "While I rescue Leo."

"Rescue how?" Jason asked. "Go fly?"

"Not flying, climbing" said Hedge taking off his shoes, which almost killed Jason's heart. The coach had no feet. It had hooves, goat hooves. Which meant those things on his head weren't bumps. They were horns.

"You're a faun," said Jason.

Athena snorted, earning a glare from the son of Jupiter. She didn't deign to look back at him.

"Satyr!" scolded Hedge. "Fauns are Romans. But let's talk about that later."

Hedge jumped over the walkway guardrail. He planted his hooves on the canyon wall. He descended the cliff with incredible agility, bracing his hooves in holes the size of a postage stamp and dodging the gusts of wind that tried to hit him, heading towards Leo.

"Isn't that cute?" Dylan said to Jason. "Now it's your turn, boy."

Jason threw the staff. It seemed like a useless gesture in such strong winds, but the piece of branch came right at Dylan, even curving as he tried to dodge, and hit him in the head with such force that he fell to his knees.

"Very well, Jason" Thalia nodded to her brother, satisfied with the image that appeared on the page of the book. Jason gave her a smile.

Piper was not as stunned as she seemed. Her fingers grabbed the staff, which had rolled towards her, but before she could use it, Dylan stood up. Blood — golden blood — ran down his forehead.

"Nice try, boy," he said, looking at Jason. "But it will need to improve."

The catwalk shook. Hair-thin cracks appeared in the glass. Inside the museum, other students stopped shaking the doors. They took a step back, watching the scene in horror.

Dylan's body went up in smoke, as if his molecules had disintegrated. He had the same face, the same bright white smile, but his body was made of black vapor, his eyes were electric sparks in a living cloud. He opened his steam wings and flew above the catwalk. If angels could be evil, they would look exactly like that, Jason thought.

"Meh" The gods denied with a scoff. They have seen worse.

"You're a ventus," Jason said, not knowing why he knew that word. "A storm spirit."

Dylan's laugh sounded like a tornado ripping off a roof.

"I'm glad I waited, demigod. Leo and Piper I have known for weeks. I could have killed them at any time. However, my lady said a third would arrive. She will give me a great reward for your death!"

"You wanted" Jason scoffed, earning glares from his friends. He could also hold a bit of a grudge, apparently.

Two more funnels of wind approached and touched Dylan, one on each side, transforming into venti — ghostly young people with wings of smoke and eyes that sparkled.

Piper continued to lie down, pretending to be dazed, holding onto her staff. Her face was pale, but she looked at Jason, determined, and he got the message: Distract them. I'll attack them from behind.

Beautiful, intelligent and violent. Jason would love to remember that this was his girlfriend.

"Oh." Thalia cooed at her brother, who blushed and grumbled softly. The other demigods smiled at him, and Piper gave him a shy look, which he ignored.

Aphrodite, who had a thoughtful expression, asked: "Spanking?"

Jason and Piper blushed like cherries, earning laughter from Ares, Apollo and Hermes, while Artemis gave the Goddess of Love a look of disgust.

"She is your daughter."

"... So?"

"Mom!"

Jason clenched his fists, preparing for a fight, but he didn't stand a chance.

Boom! Jason fell backwards. In his mouth, the taste of burnt aluminum foil. He raised his head and saw that his clothes were smoking. The lightning ran through his body and exploded the shoe on his left foot. His fingers turned black with soot.

Thalia grimaced, remembering the time she was also struck by lightning. As if it wasn't enough to have looked like a smoker, she was also ashamed of having been her lightning. She shivered when she saw Annabeth's smile, who also knew this story and obviously saw her grimace.

The storm spirits smiled. Winds were blowing. Piper screamed, but everything sounded low and distant.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jason saw Coach Hedge climbing the cliff with Leo on his back. Piper was on her feet, desperately swinging her staff in an attempt to hit the two storm spirits beside Dylan, who were playing with her. The bat hit them, but it was as if they weren't there. And Dylan, a black tornado with eyes and wings, loomed over Jason.

"Stop," said the boy, standing up without balance, unable to decide who was more surprised: him or the storm spirits.

"How are you alive?" Dylan asked, frowning. "That discharge would be capable of killing twenty men!"

"The arrogance" Zeus scoffed. "As if twenty mortals were any measure."

Hades looked at Poseidon. "I think you have a disaster challenger, brother."

Zeus looked at Hades, but then looked away to Poseidon when he glared at him, with a frown.

"My turn" said Jason.

He reached into his pocket and took out the gold coin. He let himself be carried away by instinct, throwing the coin in the air as if he had already done it thousands of times. He took it in his palm and suddenly he was holding a sword—a dangerous, double-edged, razor-sharp weapon. His fingers fit perfectly on the handle. Everything was made of gold: hilt, blade and shaft.

Jason patted his pants pocket lovingly, where the coin was resting for now. Zeus and Hera were smiling at the image of Jason wielding his sword, which appeared at the top of the page.

Dylan growled and backed away. He looked at his two companions and shouted:

"So? Kill him!"

The other storm spirits didn't seem too happy with the order, but they flew towards Jason, their fingers charged with electricity.

"What a problem, huh, mate?" A voice sounded from Jason's side, making him jump scared and turn to the side.

"Serious? A jump? No pre-emptive stabbing?" Ares assessed critically. "Disappointing, Grace."

Thalia nodded in agreement, although she didn't put it into words to avoid siding with her least favorite half-brother.

"He wasn't attacked" Hera defended her champion. "He is not a barbarian to attack anyone."

Athena snorted, but said nothing, avoiding the looks she received from her father and stepmother.

A tall man was standing near where Jason was, wearing a honey-colored trench coat with a mustard shirt and faded blue skinny jeans. His hair was a shiny black, and his eyes were as green as emeralds, a pair of round glasses in front of them on a thin, upturned nose. His skin was as white as marble, which further accentuated her delicate and firm features. Jason could tell he was a pretty boy.

The image revealed at the top of the page showed a young man just as Jason had described, his image from the front. Hermes whistled. The boy was truly a piece of sculpture. Aphrodite seemed very interested.

"He really is a child of Hecate" Hades commented, noting the characteristics that the children of the Goddess of Magic inherited from their mother. Those eyes were, without a doubt, proof of her bond with his mother.

"I don't know" Apollo frowned, looking at the image carefully. "Something seems off about him…"

"Like chocolate sausage?" Hermes asked.

"First, ew" Apollo grimaced. "Second, more like mango soda."

Dionysus shuddered in his throne, and turned to glance at his half-brother. "Never repeat those words again."

"Who are you?" Jason asks, looking at the man who had appeared out of nowhere.

"Harry Potter, at your service" The man greeted him, bowing slightly. He looked up at the two wind spirits who had stopped, looking at the new figure in surprise. "Curious creatures, aren't they? Made of wind, but at the same time physical." His gaze was cold, analyzing the creatures with distant curiosity. "I wonder: what is the anchor for your shapes?"

Suddenly, the man's words caused all three wind spirits to freeze, staring at him in astonishment.

"Why were they scared out of nowhere?" Percy asked, confused.

"An anemoi thuellai is an air spirit," Annabeth explained. "They don't have a body to inhabit, so they need something to build on to create their physical bodies."

"Um," Percy hummed, making a blank expression.

Annabeth pursed her lips.

"...I think I should kill you." Dylan spoke calmly, taking a step forward, and the smaller spirits ran to hide behind him.

"Boo! Cowards!" Ares sneered.

"Hmm." Harry hummed, looking at Dylan's figure with an impassive expression, as if unraveling all the secrets behind him.

Dylan jumped on top of him, faster than a blink, and threw out his spear-like arms with hurricane-shaped tips.

"How fascinating. It seems that you can move instantly to any place where there is air." Harry spoke, behind the ventus, looking at his figure calmly.

"Is he faster than the wind?" Apollo looked genuinely incredulous, while Hermes bowed in curiosity.

"Ridiculous" Zeus denied, ending the doubts – at least verbalized.

"I wonder, is your anchor inside you?" Harry reflected, watching the monster disappear in front of him and appear on his side, trying to hit him in the flanks. "No, you wouldn't be able to rebuild so quickly if you had to move anything else. Your anchor is somewhere else, but close by."

Jason blinked, the man, Harry, having appeared at his side, arms crossed and a hand on his chin.

Zeus had a turbulent look, visibly irritated that the boy was able to overcome the speed of a stormy spirit – again .

"I bet he'll throw lightning before the chapter ends" Hades whispered to Poseidon.

"It won't last until the next page" The Sea God whispered back.

The man reached inside his coat and pulled out a small white box, taking out a cigarette and putting it to his lips. Snapping his fingers, a flame floated over his index finger and lit the cigarette, extinguishing it with a movement of his finger.

Taking a drag, he blew out the smoke and said, "What do you think about cutting off the air?"

"... I liked him." Leo spoke, looking at the image of Harry standing still, arms crossed, holding the cigarette in one hand and looking fearlessly at the monster in front of him.

"He's got it in him" Apollo nodded.

From his shirt sleeve slipped a black stick, as obscure as a volcanic stone. It had marks along the axis, extending across twenty-five centimeters of wood.

"... hot."

Artemis slapped Apollo on the head, earning a giggle from Hermes.

"A stick?" Dylan scoffed. "Are you going to stick it in my eye?"

"Oh, no, my colleague, it's going to be much more painful, I hope." Harry raised his wand, pointing it directly at Dylan. "Sectumsempra!"

A transparent beam shot from the tip of the wand faster than the rustle of a leaf, hitting the black cloud monster in the chest. His figure swelled from the inside out, the skin cracked like twisted wood, and from the tips of his fingers to the inside of his eyes, thousands of cuts randomly shredded him, as if hundreds of blades passed through and returned inside his body.

"AAAAAAH!" Dylan exploded, leaving nothing behind, no cloud where he stood, golden dust spreading through the air.

Harry took another drag of his cigarette, looking idly at the dust that dissolved in the breeze that passed by them.

The Hall of Gods was silent, the gods stunned by what happened.

"He cut a wind spirit?" Annabeth looked equally shocked as her mother, both having the same funny owl expression.

"Yes" Percy nodded. "Was this supposed to be possible?"

"No," Hermes denied. "Was not. Only someone with dominion over the wind should be able to fight them."

Zeus was angered by this.

"Spirits, respect me!" Coach Hedge roared, leaping onto the walkway and placing Leo on the ground, flexing his short arms in a fighting stance. He looked around for the spirits. "Damm it!" He swore, then turned to Jason. "You left nothing for me, boy? I like challenges!" Then he noticed Harry. "Banzai!"

He immediately jumped on top of the boy, who just stepped aside and let the goat crash to the ground.

"Did he… just attack the stranger?" Hermes blinked. This was new to one of Pan's disciples.

"Such a good satyr" Ares sighed.

"On guard!" Hedge shouted again, standing up and jumping at Harry again. Harry just appeared next to Jason, letting Hedge crash into nothingness again.

"Is he always like this?" He asked Jason, looking at the coach's aggressive figure.

Jason, who was still absorbing what had happened in the last few minutes, turned his head towards him.

"I feel a moment of collapse" Percy commented, recognizing the look on Jason's figure in the image in the book. It was the same thing with him when he discovered he was a demigod.

Piper, who had been down until now, got up from the ground and went to join the boys, shaking. Before Jason could ask if she was okay, the girl threw herself into his arms, hugging him.

The couple's friends whistled, making both Jason and Piper blush. Hermes and Apollo gave Jason thumbs up, while Aphrodite gave her daughter a thumbs up.

"That thing Dylan turned into…" Piper said, shaking. "My God, I can't believe he would hit on me. And called us… what? Demigods?"

Leo lay on his back, looking up at the sky. He didn't seem to be in a hurry to get up.

"I don't know what 'demi' means, but I'm not feeling very 'god', no. And you?"

A few cracks followed, like branches snapping, and the cracks in the Skywalk began to widen.

"See, structural collapse" Harry commented lazily, taking another drag of his cigarette, while dodging a blow from Hedge. The satyr tripped as the bridge swayed, causing him to wobble.

"We have to get out of here," Jason said, getting nervous. "Maybe, if we…"

The bridge shook, the sound of cracking cutting through the structure in a crack at the bottom that was visible from above, which struck fear into the demigods. Hedge stopped his advances, staring at Harry with an expression that mixed suspicion and concern.

"I'll deal with you later, cupcake" The satyr threatened, turning his back and jumping to where the others were.

Harry scratched his head, taking the cigarette from his lips with his other hand. "... OK?"

"Coach Hedge can be a little eccentric" Piper commented lightly at the satyr's threat to the boy who saved them. Leo snorted.

"He would throw himself off the bridge if he couldn't threaten anyone somewhere in his sentences."

"It's a show of affection" Ares said with a smile, turning to Hephaestus. "I'm still going to break your legs, Heph."

The Blacksmith God snorted, not even responding.

"Guys" Leo called out. "Look up and tell me if what I see are flying horses."

At first, Jason thought Leo had hit his head hard, but then he saw a dark shadow descending to the east. Too slow to be a plane, but too big to be a bird. When the thing got closer, he noticed that they were winged animals: gray, four-legged, like horses, except they had wings with a wingspan of six meters. They carried a kind of shiny box, with two wheels: a carriage.

"Pegasus" Percy said lightly, smiling. The most faithful friends of a demigod.

"Reinforcements," Hedge grunted excitedly.

"Reinforcements?" asked Leo, standing up. "That sounds bad…"

"And where are they going to take us?" questioned Piper.

Jason watched the carriage land on the other side of the walkway. The flying horses retracted their wings and rode restlessly over the glass, as if they realized that it was about to crack. There were two teenagers in the carriage — a tall, blond girl, perhaps a little older than Jason,

Percy smiled at Annabeth, having recognized his girlfriend even with such a vague description.

and a strong boy with a shaved head and a face like a pile of bricks. They both wore jeans and an orange t-shirt, with shields hanging on their backs. The girl got out before the carriage even stopped. She quickly ran towards the group on top of the point. Meanwhile, the boy reined in the horses.

"Gleeson" The girl greeted Hedge, who was pulling Leo off the ground. "What happened here?"

She had an intense blue-gray gaze that made Jason find it difficult to look her straight in the eye.

"Poor Percy" Poseidon commented, receiving a look from Athena. Annabeth blushed, while Percy felt a little comforted by his father.

but Hedge was quick to explain the situation.

"We were attacked" The coach said. "An anemoi thuellai attacked us as soon as we got on the bridge, he was disguised among the students." The satyr then grunted. "I've been smelling it for weeks, but I couldn't understand who it was. Damn sinusitis."

"And what happened to him?" The girl asked, oblivious to the trainer's grumbling.

"The kid got rid of him" Hedge pointed at Jason, who froze in his place. The girl turned to face him.

"It wasn't me" Jason was quick to get out of the way of the bus.

The demigods laughed, while Annabeth was a little shy. She wasn't so much bad.

Percy kissed his girlfriend's cheek. "I think you're beautiful."

Annabeth slapped his arm lightly, smiling.

"It was him!" He pointed to Harry, who was behind the group invisibly.

"And who are you?" The girl asked, discreetly moving her hand closer to the knife kept at her waist.

"Good reflexes" Athena praised, giving a nod. Annabeth smiled.

"Harry Potter, lady, at your service" Harry introduced himself, bowing slightly.

"What do you do here?" The blonde demanded, her fingers twitching slightly in a grabbing motion pointing to the handle of the knife.

"I was driving up 89A so I could get to Las Vegas and I saw a big storm going on here. The last time I heard the jornal on the radio this morning, when I passed through Bitter Springs, the weather forecast indicated a major heatwave with a very high UV incidence rate." Harry said. "I'm on a mission, I arrived in the United States almost three weeks ago in Portland and travelled to Ohio. I ended up making a terrible instructional mistake, as I don't really know my way around your country, and a good-humoured mate in Cleveland had told me to look for directions in Las Vegas, so I had to make my way back west. I thought I could offer help in the midst of the storm that had appeared in this region, as it could only be caused by some creature active in the area."

The boy had never stopped to breathe, narrating successively and effortlessly, in a soft tone of voice and with his British accent evident.

"All the British charm" Apolo joked. "It's amazing how they always seem to want to talk a lot to show off their accent to the girls."

"Like you?" Artemis commented lazily.

"Yes." Apollo nodded. "But I do it well."

The blonde's hand stopped flexing on the knife handle.

"Boo!" Ares sneered.

"Who is your parent?" She asked, but was interrupted by the boy who landed the carriage, who had approached them. He had a curious rainbow tattoo on his bicep.

"Butch" The demigods spoke at the same time. Poor boy.

"Bleh" Ares grunted, looking in disgust at the tattoo on the arm of Butch's figure, who appeared holding Annabeth in his arm.

"Annabeth" The boy grunted. "Look this." He pointed to Jason's feet.

Jason hadn't paid much attention, but he still didn't have the shoes on his left foot, which had been destroyed by the lightning. He didn't feel any different, but his foot felt like a snail's shell.

"The boy with one shoe. He is the answer."

"No, Butch," the girl, Annabeth, insisted. "It can't be him. I was deceived." She looked up at the sky, as if something was wrong. "What do you want from me?" shouted. "What did you do to him?"

The walkway shook, the horses neighed urgently.

"Annabeth," The bald man, Butch, said. "We need to leave. We took these three to the camp and there we sorted everything out. The storm spirits may return."

She was irritated for a moment.

"Right." She looked at Jason somewhat resentfully. "We'll sort it out later."

"A bit aggressive?" Piper commented softly. Annabeth just gave a shy look.

Annabeth turned around and walked to the carriage.

Piper shook her head.

"What's her problem ? What is happening?"

"Honestly…" agreed Leo.

"We need to get you out of here," Butch said. "I explain everything along the way."

"I'm not going anywhere with her" Jason said, pointing at the blonde. "She seems determined to kill me."

"Sorry?" Annabeth offered, embarrassed.

"Okay" Jason said. It had already passed.

Percy was silently amused by his girlfriend's shyness.

Butch hesitated.

"Annabeth is fine. Give her a discount. She had a vision that she should come here, find a one-shoes guy. And that would be the answer to your problem."

"What problem?" Piper asked.

"She's looking for one of our campers who's been missing for three days," Butch said. "She's crazy with worry, and she was hoping to find him here."

"Who?" Jason asked.

"Her boyfriend. A guy named Percy Jackson."

"The chapter is over" Piper said, finishing reading.

"A good take" Apolo praised. The book was well-written so far.

Annabeth and Percy were in a silent discussion.

"Sorry" The boy whispered, squeezing the blonde's hand. Annabeth squeezed even tighter.

"It's okay" He whispered softly.

"Who wants to read next?" Piper asked.

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