xiv.

—ALL Savannah could remember from that moment was screaming and the raw throat that accompanied. The tears in her eyes no longer registered as they streamed down her face and to the ground, hitting the concrete and evaporating on impact. The chains coiled around her torso felt less constricting than the smoky air in that moment.

Shrieking had only ever created more issues than it solved, but Savannah could care less because Leo was probably dead and the fire was going to get her and her other friends next. Her head felt like splitting open in agony.

The horrific sound of a chain link snapping caused a nauseous feeling to return. And the sound of Ma Gasket's gurgled screech as something heavy crushed her did nothing to dull Savannah's delirium. As she finally opened her drowning eyes, she noticed the flames had overtaken much of the warehouse, fully enveloping the many cars, lifts ... and where Leo had stood. Things were toppling down around them, destroying Monocle Motors, Assembly Plant 1. Savannah's breath cut off as she noticed Piper leaning away from a particularly strong lick of flame.

No, no, no! Not Piper too, please!

Tend the fire. If ever there was a dire situation, this would be it!

Tend the fire? Tend it how?!

Savannah hiccuped uncomfortably through her tears as she tried her best to calm herself down, because maybe if she calmed down, the fire would do the same. It was a long shot and definitely not something easily accomplished when the threat of dying was two centimeters away. At first, nothing changed, and Savannah swore she could feel the resistance from the chaotic element. It pushed back against her mind because containing it should really be impossible.

  But she was hurt. Hurt that Leo had just died before her eyes and now Piper was at risk. Jason was fully unconscious and unaware of what was happening, therefore, he couldn't be the hero.

  "STOP!" Her lungs ached with her sudden will-power.

  Savannah was worried when nothing happened again. The firestorm continued to rage on for another moment as she heaved a tremendous breath. But it was as if the world stilled in a frozen picture as she blinked.

The life of the fire dwindled down with each shuttered breath Savannah took. Each inhale dragged the oxygen away from the fire and to her. Her head cleared up slowly but surely as the fire shimmered down to ashes, lapping up the rest of the kerosene.

As the remnants of heat disappeared, Savannah went limp in the chain's hold, her small pool of will-power completely depleted. Her eyes fell shut, fully prepared to pass out as all the blood collected in her head.

But a defiant voice echoed in Savannah's ears and she resisted the urge to seep into unconscious for just a minute longer.

"I warned you I'd destroy you with fire," the voice said, sounding distinctly like Leo. Savannah's heart wrenched, just knowing she was imagining it.

Because Leo was dead. He had burned up right in front of her.

With that final devastating thought, Savannah accepted an all consuming darkness, hoping to forget her awful reality that was now one-person too short.

—WHEN Jason mentioned his dreams, Savannah always wondered how he could be so lucid within them. She assumed it was a demigod thing, but now, as a world materialized around her, Savannah knew she was dreaming. She had her wits about her, but at the same time, everything just felt utterly out of her control now.

Dreams were manifested from the real world. Everything you saw asleep was something you'd seen awake whether you paid attention to it or not. At least, that was what scientists said; perhaps science wasn't all that reliable now that gods existed. But in this instance, Savannah was back in that temple. The one that ruined — no, changed everything for her.

Her grandmother was an old patron of the Mormon church in town and they had just constructed a temple, light gray granite, embellished with a golden statue of Angel Moroni on the spire. The church invited Savannah's grandmother to be one of the first to walk the grandiose halls and said her granddaughter was more than welcome.

Savannah always had mixed feelings about going to church. Her father had never wanted her to go, always saying he didn't want to disrespect the others. The girl never knew what it meant, but she hardly ever knew what her father's ramblings meant. Her grandmother, on the other hand, convinced the young Savannah that church and prayer would heal the man.

So the girl went, knowing it wouldn't hurt.

But it had been a mistake going to the temple that day.

The present day Savannah looked down at her trapeze dress, the same tan color it had been. Her matching Oxford shoes were covered in a paper film to protect the marble floors against scuffing. Before, she had thought they looked ridiculous, but had refrained from making any comments about it in her grandmother's presence.

Savannah thought they still looked laughable, and no one was around to scold her for her snorts now, but ... she just couldn't. Her mind was elsewhere, and her heart remained in the lull of reality.

The girl wandered the halls, purposefully avoiding the turns that would lead her to the expansive room ... where everything went wrong.

But dreams could only be created from what you'd seen.

Each turn, no matter what direction, seemed to lead her closer to her final destination. The dread filled Savannah as she finally made it to the double doors that rose about fifteen feet up. Before, there had been two missionaries in their black and white ensemble who opened the doors. Now though, they swung open eerily on their own as if commanded by unseen ghosts.

Savannah did not want to further her trek into the room, knowing exactly what was in there waiting for her.

But a honey-filled voice called out to her from within. "Savannah."

The girl fiddled with the hem of her dress for a moment before stepping in, her eyes drawn to the basin at the end of the room, almost beckoning her. This time, she recognized the pull it had on her and she refused to listen to it, shuffling on the balls of her feet, antsy.

  There was something different in this room now, though. Where the rest of the temple had been empty, there was now a woman, her clothes dark brown and modest, though her presence illuminated an aura of beauty in its own way. She was inviting and ... home-y.

If the peaceful atmosphere didn't immediately tell Savannah who it was, her fixation on the burning coals did the trick.

  As if sensing her inner debate, the woman turned to face Savannah. "Savannah, sit with me."

  The girl obliged, albeit, not without caution. She found herself hesitating within a ten-foot radius of the fire's warmth.

  "Please, after the display you've just performed in that warehouse, I should think you have nothing to be scared of now," the woman said and Savannah's head filled with scenes of the fire, bold and destructive. And then her mind filled with Leo.

He was gone.

How could she not be scared when the very person who meant so much to her was just killed when she could have done something about it? She could have acted sooner. Could have prevented it from happening. And yet, here she was, dreaming in a world where he wouldn't be. She was guilt-ridden.

"I can assure you, Savannah May, you have no reason to feel laden with guilt. In fact, you should feel very proud of yourself. I am," the woman spoke gently, her hand outstretched to the girl in a welcoming gesture.

Savannah found it within herself to settle on the ground beside her, an overwhelming sense of both dread and apprehension intermingling within. The fire was steadily flickering, not at all like the force in the warehouse. This one was tame and Savannah had no doubt it was because of this woman.

"He's gone," Savannah breathed, her voice cracking with emotion.

As the pads of the woman's fingers made contact with Savannah's cheeks to wipe away a stray tear, the girl's eyes fell shut. Warmth radiated from her soft hands, and instead of smelling like smoke or burnt timber like Savannah had expected, they smelled like home — her father's home, when it was still filled with the promise of late night movies with caramel popcorn and game nights.

"This Leo Valdez means much to you," the woman concluded and Savannah opened her eyes again. The woman's eyes were filled with a recognition, as if reminiscing on a memory she'd forgotten.

Savannah didn't need to think about her answer — it was obvious, but she took a moment of silence. Meant, he meant so much to her. "Yes."

"I've felt a love much like yours before," the woman confessed. Savannah knew she should have said something like love was too strong a word, but truly, it wasn't. She loved all her friends; even Jason, who she didn't know anymore and didn't know her, she knew she could grow to love him again. She felt an undying love for both Leo and Piper. At first, the love she felt for them was the same, but it slowly molded to fit them in different ways.

Where Savannah loved Piper as a sister she never had, she couldn't love Leo in the same way. And something within her refused to admit that he was a brother, because that word just didn't seem fitting enough. Another type of love was reserved for Leo and she couldn't quite grasp the right word for it yet.

"Savannah, you know who I am, don't you?"

The red headed girl nodded, having known as soon as she entered the room. "Hestia," she answered.

A peaceful smile overtook the goddess's face. "Yes." Her eyes seemed to analyze every part of Savannah's face as she said, "You look like your father. And you have your mother's beauty."

Savannah didn't know what to say. She wasn't sure what to even feel.

"I feel as if I owe you an apology," the woman admitted after a moment.

"Why?"

"For many things. Your mother, your father. Your power, this quest," Hestia drawled. "There are many things I feel responsible for in your life."

  Savannah looked down, having never thought about blaming Hestia for what had come to pass. It always just felt like a bad stroke of luck, some sort of fate plucking away at her life.

  "I don't think you need to apologize."

  "No?" Hestia asked curiously.

  "No," Savannah replied. "It sounds like, thanks to you, I'm alive at all. And I don't think there's anything you could have done for my mother or father. As for the powers, I don't think it was your intention."

  Hestia's smile never faltered. "You're a bright young woman. I regret not doing more for you within these years of your youth. I thought that maybe the rules would be different as you weren't my daughter, but my brother, Zeus, forbid my contact with you."

  "It's okay," Savannah amended quietly, her eyes dimly watching the fire as Hestia stoked it again.

  "I do not wish to keep you here for very long as I know there are people waiting for you when you wake."

"I'm not quite sure I want to wake up," Savannah muttered, silently wishing she could stay in this place forever. What once felt like a bad memory was now a peaceful escape from a darkened world.

Hestia only stroked a few strands of hair from Savannah's face. "Child, you have so much light and warmth in you. You have to live to use it."

  The girl wasn't so sure she could be warm and light after everything. She felt devastated, empty. But she nodded. "Will I see you soon?" Savannah asked with hope.

  "Very soon," Hestia promised.

  And Savannah was lost to the bleak black of limbo.

—CHALLENGING a Cyclops had been a pretty dangerous idea, he hadn't exactly thought it through ( when did he ever? ). He had been fully prepared to take on a firestorm, but he hadn't thought about how to control it, how to stop it once the deed was done. It was reckless, and most definitely stupid, but he knew it was the last resort he needed to save his friends.

  One moment, he was the fuel to the flame, melded with the kerosene. He had let loose and there was no end in sight. Leo burned up everything within his vicinity, including a chain that dropped a lift on Ma Gasket — killing her dead. Served her right for throwing part of a crane at him.

But then suddenly there was this overpowering sense of calm, a warmth unlike any other he'd felt — and he was literally in a swirling pit of fire. This heat was comfortable, not scalding. The fire around him had disappeared and he was left unscathed in the middle of the crumbling warehouse, heart hammering.

  He added in a taunt to the golden dust that was the ugly cyclops for good measure. Don't mess with Leo Valdez.

He had gotten his friends down relatively easy, a spare crane in a corner still in working order. All three of them were covered in soot much like himself and Piper got to work on wiping her face off as she marveled over Leo's feat.

  The boy played it off, not exactly proud that he had almost killed his friends in the process of saving them. As she tended to a stirring Jason, Leo sat beside Savannah, willing her to wake up.

  It had to have been her, she had to have been that warmth. Because, even now, as the cold night air seeped into the smoke filled building, he could feel it emanating from her sleeping form. He had always felt it, always loved the feeling that would sweep over him when she was near. And now he understood just what it meant.

  "Come on, Savi," he whispered, his hand finding hers. They had laid her up in a sitting position to hopefully direct blood to her limbs and away from her head. Her face was still a blooming tomato and Leo couldn't help but chuckle. "You can't just save all of us then sleep for ages, we still got a world to save. There will be plenty of time to sleep when this quest is over, mi reinita."

Leo spent the next few minutes just tapping away a sequence on the back of her hand.

Wake up.

Savi.

Wake up.

Savi.

Leo straightened out when he suddenly felt a returned series of taps.

Leo.

"Savannah." He nudged her.

L-e-

She never made it to the last letter, her body suddenly going stiff as her eyes blinked open. "Leo," she breathed. Her eyes scanned over his form, unconsciously squeezing his hand in shock.

Savannah wasted no time pulling him into a breathtaking embrace. Her hands flew all over his shoulders, neck, and back, almost as if she was checking that he was in one piece. Leo's face burned with a fierce blush, not knowing — yet, not caring — why she was flushed up to him in desperation.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," he murmured. One of his hands settled down on the back of her head as she stuffed her face in the crook of his neck.

"You're alive."

The words had him stumped. Of course, he was alive. He'd never felt more alive. But then he realized, she must have passed out before getting the chance to see him in all his glory. She would have thought he burned to crisp, because surviving that was impossible, should have been impossible.

"Yeah, I'm okay, Savi." Leo's mind flew through the many responses he could give that would lighten the mood, maybe make her laugh, but he found himself unwilling to ruin a moment of tenderness. He couldn't bring himself to say anything that would make her release the hold she had on him. For now, he just wanted to sit within her company, her warmth. "We're okay."

The moment of their separation came all too soon. Savannah lifted her head from his shoulder, finally finding his eyes. "How ... how are you?"

Leo had expected a question, a lot of questions actually. He knew she was going to wonder how he was alive, how the fire hadn't melted him down to soup. But he wasn't expecting this question to come first.

Leo cracked a grin. "I feel like a million dollars. How are you feeling?"

Her face slowly morphed into a smile. "Like a billion dollars."

"That's what I like to hear," he beamed. "Do you think you can stand?"

Savannah wiggled her legs and nodded. Leo helped her up to her feet, his hand wrapped around her elbow to keep her from keeping over.

They made their way over to Piper and Jason, the latter having come to a few minutes ago, just like Savannah. Piper looked up and suppressed a grin, turning back to Jason to retell the events he missed.

"Leo ripped them apart," Piper enthused. "He was amazing. He can summon fire —"

"It was nothing," Leo said quickly. Savannah was tense at his side, but she wasn't moving away from him and he counted that as a win.

Piper laughed. "Shut up, Valdez. I'm going to tell him. Get over it."

And she did — how Leo single-handedly — though, not really, because he was sure Savannah had done the actual saving — defeated the Cyclopes family. Piper also mentioned that the Cyclopes talked about a boy in a purple shirt who spoke Latin. Jason's eyes flew to a wall, deep in thought.

"I'm not alone, then," he said. "There are others like me."

"Jason," Piper said, "you were never alone. You've got us."

"I — I know ... but something Hera said. I was having a dream ..."

Jason relayed his dream, telling them about Hera being constrained in a cage of black, her power useless against whatever held her there.

"An exchange?" Piper asked. "What does that mean?"

Jason shook his head. "But Hera's gamble is me. Just by sending me to Camp Half-Blood, I have a feeling she broke some kind of rule, something that could blow up in a big way —"

"Or save us," Piper said hopefully. "That bit about the sleeping enemy — that sounds like the lady Leo told us about."

Leo cleared his throat. "About that ... she kind of appeared to me back in Detroit, in a pool of Porta-Potty sludge." He could feel Savannah squeeze his hand in confusion.

Jason wasn't sure he'd heard that right. "Did you say ... Porta-Potty?"

Leo told them about the big face in the factory yard that he had seen after Savannah left. "I don't know if she's completely unkillable," he said, "but she cannot be defeated by toilet seats. I can vouch for that. She wanted me to betray you guys, and I was like, 'Pfft, right, I'm gonna listen to a face in the potty sludge.'"

This didn't gain any laughs like he hoped, but Savannah did step closer to wrap both hands around his arm.

"She's trying to divide us," Piper mumbled, turning in on herself.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked.

"I just ... Why are they toying with us? Who is this lady, and how is she connected to Enceladus?"

"Who's Encela — Enecel — who is that?" Savannah finally asked.

"Enceladus. I mean ..." Piper's voice quavered. "That's one of the giants. Just one of the names I could remember."

Leo scratched his head. "Well, I dunno about Enchilada —"

"Enceladus," Piper corrected again.

"Whatever. But Old Potty Face mentioned another name. Porpoise Fear, or something?"

"Porphyrion?" Piper asked. "He was the giant king, I think."

Leo had to admit, Piper was way more versed in this Giant business than he thought. She must have done some major reading on this.

"I'm going to take wild guess," Jason said. "In the old stories, Porphyrion kidnapped Hera. That was the first shot in the war between the giants and the gods."

"So whoever this is, they're trying to start a war?" Savannah asked, her voice high pitched in nerves.

"Possibly," Piper said, trying to ease the girls fretting. "But those myths are really garbled and conflicted. It's almost like nobody wanted that story to survive. I just remember there was a war, and the giants were almost impossible to kill."

"Heroes and gods had to work together," Jason said. "That's what Hera told me."

"Kind of hard to do," Leo grumbled, "if the gods won't even talk to us."

  They all nodded to themselves. Savannah looked deep in thought herself and Leo wondered if she had a dream of her own that she wasn't disclosing. But, he supposed, if something was bothering her, she would tell them in her own time.

He just hoped she would come to him sooner rather than later.

NOTES;

HOW IS IT I CAN LOVE A BOOK AND
CHARACTER SO MUCH BUT I JUST
GET THE WORST WRITER'S BLOCK?

I AM SO SORRY FOR KEEPING YOU
ALL WAITING FOR SO LONG OVER
THIS BOOK.