"Cyclops!" Jason yelled. 

"Whoa, lightning head," Apollonia sat behind him on the bronze dragon, holding his waist to keep him balanced. They flew peacefully through the winter sky as if nothing had happened. 

"D-Detroit," Jason stammered. "Didn't we crash-land? I thought—" 

"It's okay," Leo said. "We got away, but you got a nasty concussion. How are you feeling?" 

"How did you— the Cyclops—" 

"Leo and Apollonia ripped them apart," Piper said, "Leo, especially was amazing. He can summon fire—" 

"It was nothing," Leo said quickly. 

Piper laughed, "Shush, Valdez. You were awesome! Get over it!" 

Piper told Jason about how Leo and Apollonia defeated the Cyclops family; how they freed Jason, then noticed the Cyclopes starting to re-form; how Leo had replaced the dragon's wiring and gotten them back in the air just as they'd started to hear the Cyclopes roaring for vengeance inside the factory.

Then Piper told him about the other kid the Cyclopes claimed to have eaten, the one in the purple shirt who spoke Latin. 

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

"Jason," Piper said, "you were never alone. You've got us. Hell, you even have a fated soulmate, you lucky guy!" 

"I—I know... but something Hera said. I was having a dream..."  He told them what happened in his vision, and what the goddess had said inside her cage. 

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

"Hera is truly testing me this time," Apollonia mumbled.

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 and Apollonia back in Detroit, in a pool of Porta-Potty sludge." 

"Did you say... Porta-Potty?" Jason asked. 

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

"She's trying to divide us." Piper choked up. 

"What's wrong?" Jason asked. 

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

"Enceladus?" Jason asked. 

"How do you know that name?" Apollonia asked sharply.

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

Apollonia got the feeling there was a lot more bothering her, but she decided not to press her right now. She had a rough morning for someone new to this world.

Leo scratched his head, "Well, I dunno about Enchiladas—" 

"Enceladus," Piper and Apollonia corrected. 

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

"Porphyrion," Apollonia said, "He was the giant king... I fought him in the first giant war" 

"Wait— legit?" Leo asked incredulously. Apollonia just nodded her head grimly.

"I'm going to take a 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." 

"Exactly," Apollonia agreed.

Piper nodded, "But those myths are 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." 

"They didn't. The gods were humiliated that they need us," Apollonia confirmed.

"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." 

"Well, for the sake of their lives, they need to swallow their pride. They always needed us, they will just never admit it," Apollonia said solemnly.

As they flew west, Apollonia became lost in her thoughts— all of them bad. She laid her head resting it on Jason's back. Jason grabbed her hands resting on his abdomen and lightly squeezed them, sensing her off mood ever since telling them she's fought them before.

She wasn't sure how much time passed before the dragon dove through a break in the clouds, and below them, glittering in the winter sun, was a city at the edge of a massive lake. A crescent of skyscrapers lined the shore. Behind them, stretching out to the western horizon, was a vast grid of snow-covered neighbourhoods and roads. 

"Chicago," Jason said in awe. 

"One problem down," Leo said, "We got here alive. Now, how do we find the storm spirits?" 

Apollonia saw a flash of movement below them. At first, she thought it was a small plane, but it was too small, too dark and fast. The thing spiralled toward the skyscrapers, weaving and changing shape— and, just for a moment, it became the smoky figure of a horse. 

"How about we follow that one," Apollonia suggested while pointing at the storm spirit, "and see where it goes?"

Apollonia was afraid they would lose their target.

"Speed up!" Jason urged. 

"Dude," Leo said, "if I get any closer, he'll spot us. Bronze dragon ain't exactly a stealth plane." 

"Slow down, don't listen to Jason he got brain damage!" Apollonia yelped.  The storm spirit dove into the grid of downtown streets. Festus tried to follow, but his wingspan was way too wide. His left wing clipped the edge of a building, slicing off a stone gargoyle before Leo pulled up. 

"Get above the buildings," Jason suggested. "We'll track him from there." 

"You want to drive this thing?" Leo grumbled, but he did what Jason asked.  After a few minutes, they spotted the storm spirit again, zipping through the streets with no apparent purpose— blowing over pedestrians, ruffling flags, and making cars swerve. Over pedestrians, rand ruffling flags, making cars swerve.

"Oh great," Piper said. "There're two." 

She was right. A second storm spirit blasted around the corner of the Renaissance Hotel and linked up with the first. They wove together in a chaotic dance, shooting to the top of a skyscraper, bending a radio tower, and diving back down toward the street. 

"Those guys do not need any more caffeine," Leo said. 

"I guess Chicago's a good place to hang out," Piper said, "Nobody's going to question a couple more evil winds."

"More than a couple," Apollonia said, "Look." 

The dragon circled over a wide avenue next to a lake-side park. Storm spirits were converging—at least a dozen of them, whirling around a big public art installation.

"Which one do you think is Dylan?" Leo asked. "I wanna throw something at him." 

Apollonia focused on the art installation. Two five-story monoliths rose from either end of a long granite reflecting pool. The monoliths seemed to be built of video screens, flashing the combined image of a giant face that spewed water into the pool. As Apollonia watched, the image on the screens changed to a woman's face with her eyes closed.  Apollonia felt her body shaking in anger. Jason tightened his grip on her hands and drew calming circles.

"Leo..." Piper said nervously. 

"I see her," Leo confirmed, "I don't like her, but I see her." 

Then the screens went dark. The venti swirled together into a single funnel cloud and skittered across the fountain, kicking up a waterspout almost as high as the monoliths. They got to its centre, popped off a drain cover, and disappeared underground. 

"Did they just go down a drain?" Piper asked,

"How are we supposed to follow them?" 

"Maybe we shouldn't," Leo said. "That fountain thing is giving me seriously bad vibes. And aren't we supposed to, like, beware the earth?" 

"As much as I hate it, we have to follow," She said.

Apollonia felt the same way, but they had to follow. It was their only way forward. They had to find Hera, and they now had only two days until the solstice. 

"Put us down in that park," Jason suggested, "We'll check it out on foot." 

Festus landed in an open area between the lake and the skyline. They dismounted, and Festus the dragon stomped his feet. One of his ruby eyes flickered, so it looked like he was blinking. 

"Is that normal?" Jason asked.  Leo pulled a rubber mallet from his tool bag. He whacked the dragon's bad eye, and the light went back to normal.

Apollonia flinched, "Woah, animal abuse alert."

"Festus can't hang around here, though, in the middle of the park. They'll arrest him for loitering. Maybe if I had a dog whistle..."  

Leo rummaged in his tool belt, but came up with nothing,  "Too specialised?" he guessed, "Okay, give me a safety whistle. They got that in lots of machine shops." 

This time, Leo pulled out a big plastic orange whistle, "Coach Hedge would be jealous! Okay, Festus, listen."  Leo blew the whistle. The shrill sound probably rolled across the country.

"You hear that, come find me, okay? Until then, you fly wherever you want. Just try not to barbecue any pedestrians." 

The dragon snorted—hopefully in agreement. Then he spread his wings and launched into the air. 

Piper took one step and winced. "Ah!" 

"Shoot! I forgot to check your ankle! How are you feeling?" Apollonia felt bad she'd forgotten about her injury back in the Cyclops factory.

"That nectar we gave you might be wearing off," Jason said.

"It's fine," She shivered. She took a few more steps with only a slight limp, but they could tell Piper was trying not to grimace. 

"Let's get out of the wind," Jason suggested.

"Sounds like a cosy idea," Apollonia mumbled.

They wrapped themselves up as best they could and headed toward the fountain.  According to the plaque, it was called Crown Fountain. All the water had emptied except for a few patches that were starting to freeze. It didn't seem right to Apollonia that the fountain would have water in it in the winter anyway. Then again, those big monitors had flashed the face of their biggest enemy, Mother Nature herself. Nothing about this place was right. They stepped to the centre of the pool. No spirits tried to stop them. The giant monitor walls stayed dark. The drain hole was easily big enough for a person, and a maintenance ladder led down into the dark.

"I'm immortal so I'll go in first," Apollonia said to the other three.

"What if something is waiting down there? You might get hurt—" Jason said worriedly.

Apollonia spun to the blonde boy behind her, "That's why I am going in first and not you," she tapped his nose, which momentarily stunned him.

Apollonia jumped in first. Jason immediately went in next not wanting to leave his soulmate alone for long, just in case. As they climbed, they braced themselves for horrible sewer smells, but it wasn't that bad. The ladder dropped into a brickwork tunnel running north to south. The air was warm and dry, with only a trickle of water on the floor.

"Are all sewers this nice?" Piper wondered.

No," Leo said, "Trust me." 

Jason frowned, "How do you know—" 

"Hey, man, I ran away six times. I've slept in some weird places, okay? Now, which way do we go?" 

Jason tilted his head then pointed south, "That way." 

"How can you be sure?" Piper asked. 

"There's a draft blowing south," Jason said tilting his head, "Maybe the venti went with the flow." 

It wasn't much of a lead, but nobody offered anything better. Unfortunately, as soon as they started walking, Piper stumbled. Apollonia had to catch her. 

"Stupid ankle," she cursed. 

"Let's rest," Jason decided. "We could all use it. We've been going nonstop for over a day. Apollonia, can you pull any food from that charm bracelets?" 

"Of course, I can—" Apollonia said, about to tap her food charm until Leo started to take food and a grill out of his tool belt.

"Thought you'd never ask. Chef Leo is on it!" 

Piper and Jason sat on a brick ledge while Leo shuffled through his pack. Apollonia started to heal Piper's ankle with a healing hymn to her father. The two watched in wonder as her hands started to glow as she was quietly singing the hymn. Piper's foot looked brand new.

"Thank you so much, Apollonia," Piper thanked the girl in front of her.

"No problem but it's important to rest it so don't be hopping on it," Apollonia gave her a small smile and stood up to sit near the fire.

Jason sighed and ruffled his hair. 

"It wasn't your fault," Piper said. 

He looked at her blankly, "What?" 

"Getting jumped by the Cyclopes," she said. "It wasn't your fault." 

He looked down at the coin in his palm. "I was stupid. I left you alone injured and walked into a trap. I should've known..."  He didn't finish. 

"Hey," Piper nudged his arm, "Cut yourself some slack. Just because you're the son of Zeus doesn't mean you're a one-man army." 

A few feet away, Leo lit a small cooking fire. He hummed as he pulled more supplies out of his pack and his tool belt.

Over at the fire, Leo stirred some sizzling bell peppers and meat in a pan, "Yeah, baby! Almost there." 

Apollonia felt a huge kink at the back of her neck and winced as she tried to massage it out. Sitting on a dragon for multiple hours a day wasn't as comfortable.

"And bingo!" Leo announced. He came over with four plates stacked on his arms like a fine-dining server. Apollonia had no idea how he'd put it together so fast, but it looked amazing: pepper and tacos with chips and salsa. 

"Leo," Piper said in amazement. "How did you—?" 

"Chef Leo's Taco Garage is fixing you up!" he said proudly, "And by the way, it's tofu, not beef, beauty queen, so don't freak. Just dig in!" 

The tacos tasted as good as they smelled. While they ate, Leo tried to lighten the mood and joke around.

After they finished eating, Leo asked Apollonia if she could sing a song.

"I guess I can," Apollonia said, "Any preferences?" They all shook their heads.

"Do you have any songs written about you?" Piper asked making the immortal pause for a second.

"I do actually," Apollonia said softly, "My sister, Beth Crowley, wrote many about me and my adventures," She said with a small smile on her face as she thought back to her sister.

"Wait, hold up— Beth Crowley? The singer? I thought her songs were based on books, movies, and shows?" Piper said in shock.

"That's her cover-up to the mortal world," Apollonia said, "many of her songs were based on my real-life stories."

"Can you sing one?" Jason asked shyly as if he was thinking she'd reject the idea because he was the one to bring it up.

"Sure," Apollonia then paused, "there's this one song about my Roman side, I'll sing that one tonight. After that, you go to sleep, you need all the rest you can get."

Apollonia took a moment to together the melody in her head and took a breath. Her eyes never strayed from the fire in front of her.

I have no heart, just ice and stone

Made up of nails and teeth and bone

And I know exactly what I'm for

To hurt and destroy and nothing more

And if it's true that I was made

I still don't know if I can change

But something has stirred

A beast has awakened

Opened a door

There's no mistaking

Waging a war

It's fighting inside of me

So hear my battle cry

I'm out for blood to claim what's mine

Finally questioning

If I am my own worst

I am my worst,

I am my own worst enemy

I never thought that I could love

Strangers at night were good enough

But love's not a thing you get to choose,

Try to resist, you'll always lose

I made a deal to sell my soul

But lately, I have dared to hope

That something has stirred

A beast has awakened

Opened a door

There's no mistaking

Waging a war

It's fighting inside of me

So hear my battle cry

I'm out for blood to claim what's mine

Finally questioning

If I am my own worst

I am my own worst

I am my own worst enemy

Tell my secrets to the wind

Flying, I feel infinite

But something has stirred

A beast has awakened

Opened a door

There's no mistaking

Waging a war

It's fighting inside of me

So hear my battle cry

I'm out for blood to claim what's mine

Finally questioning

If I am my own worst

I am my own worst

I am my own worst enemy

Apollonia's last note echoed throughout the sewer and there was silence between the four. Her voice was full of hidden pain and the others seemed to sense that.

"Your sister wrote that about you? Seems a bit... offensive," Piper brought up carefully.

Apollonia only shook her head, "She has captured me so perfectly. I am in a constant battle with myself every day."

"With your two forms?" Leo asked.

Apollonia only nodded.

"Why do you hate your Roman form so much?" Jason asked quietly, not wanting to spark her other form.

"It's because of how I gained that form, Is the reason why my Roman and Greek forms collide so constantly..." Apollonia trailed off. She looked far away as if she was replaying memories.

"May we ask how you gained your Roman form? I've been curious because you aren't a god," Piper said.

There was a pregnant silence before the immortal spoke up again, eyes never tearing from the fire, "They killed someone dear to me."

The three were confused.

"Killed who?" Jason asked softly, he wanted to reach out to her and pull her in the biggest hug. Jason had a feeling that this "someone" was not a lover but someone bigger than that.

Jason slowly stood up from his spot and hesitantly went to pull her into his lap. Not caring if he gets shoved off, he just wants to show her that he's there for her.

Jason made eye contact with the other two and they immediately knew what he meant. He wanted them to sleep while he would stay up with his silent distraught soulmate. The two quickly fell asleep.

Jason switched her position so she was facing him and hugged her tightly again. Her face hid in the nape of his neck and her arms wound around his waist to hug out her pain.

The two just sat there hugging each other. One silently let her pain run through while the other just held on protectively.

"I'm sorry," Apollonia said, taking her face out of the nape of his neck and just resting her head on his shoulder.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," Jason said softly while kissing her temple, "Now, I think I saw you trying to massage out a kink in your neck?"

Before Apollonia could say anything, Jason's fingers found the huge kink in the back of her neck and gently started massaging it out making her wince in relief. Apollonia tried to look immune to the effects but slowly but surely starts to slump against him, he massages better than she does.

"How did you know I had a kink in that part of my neck?" She asked him with her eyes closed, her cheek against his shoulder.

"I saw you trying to massage it earlier. I was concerned when you were wincing," Jason said, continuing to massage his soulmate.

"You don't have to... you must be tired," Apollonia said slowly lifting her head from his shoulder, moving to get off him.

Jason just pushed her head back onto his shoulder and went back to massaging her neck, "Of course, I can give my soulmate a massage if she needs it, don't be silly. Plus, I've been sleeping the whole way here, I'm fine. You should sleep."

"No, I'm not tired," Apollonia said against his shoulder.

There was a long period of silence between the two. Jason was happy that Apollonia finally let him hold her of her own will and in such a position. Maybe she's giving in...

"Thank you," Apollonia said in a near whisper.

"For what?" Jason said, playing with the ends of her hair, the kink now long gone.

"For being so good to me. When I don't deserve it," Apollonia said quietly.

"I'm going to keep fighting for you. No matter how much you push me away," Jason said quietly, "I may not remember much but... what I do know is that my heart has been waiting for you my whole life."

She never said anything back. They just let the silence consume them as they both were too comfy to move. Neither spoke nor moved until they saw Piper stirring to wake up. Apollonia stood up from Jason's lap, making the boy pout slightly from the loss of warmth, and silently walked over to wake her up first.

Piper woke up rather quickly thankfully. Leo on the other hand— was not as easy. After the first two shakes, Apollonia resorted to slapping his face which made the other two burst out laughing.

"You couldn't have woken me up properly?" Leo asked, rubbing the red spot on his face where she slapped.

"It wasn't working. I tried two times. You brought this upon yourself," Apollonia said while rolling her eyes.

They all quickly cleaned up camp and got onto walking in the sewers for about half an hour or so before they came to a stop in front of an elevator.

"Not exactly what I expected", Jason mumbles out loud. 

Apollonia gotta agree with Jason. It wasn't anything she had expected. She expected some sewer monster but instead, they found polished steel elevator doors, in a sewer, each one engraved with a cursive letter M. Next to the elevator was a directory, like for a department store. 

"M for Macy's?" Piper guessed, "I think they have one in downtown Chicago." 

"Or Monocle Motors?" Leo said, "Guys, read the directory. It's messed up." 

Apollonia's eyes had already landed on Leo's suggestion, scanning the wordings. 

Parking, Kennels, Main Entrance: Sewer Level  Furnishings and Café M: 1 

Women's Fashion and Magical Appliances: 2  Men's Wear and Weaponry: 3 

Cosmetics, Potions, Poisons & Sundries: 4

"What the—" Apollonia says, completely confused at the weird-ass directory, "Potions? Magical Appliances?" 

"Kennels for what?" Piper said, "And what kind of department store has its entrance in a sewer?" 

"Or sells poisons," Leo said, "Man, what does 'sundries' even mean? Is that like underwear?" 

"Not important but no, it isn't underwear," Apollonia said, still looking at the directory.

Jason took a deep breath, "When in doubt, start at the top."

Apollonia stared at Jason for a second, "Where'd you get that nonsense from? Sounds like"

Jason just shrugged and pushed the button.

They all walked into the fancy elevator. Apollonia walked in last, all her instincts telling her to get the fuck outta there. When the doors opened Apollonia's instinct intensified and held her guarded walls up high.

"I'll go first—" Apollonia was saying but Jason beat her to it, Jason stepped out first, the sword now in hand.

She saw Jason's eyes furrow, "You've got to see this." 

Apollonia joined him and the sight caught her breath. The sight in front of her gave her bad chills.

Apollonia can see sunlight streaming in which made her feel a tad bit better but did not put her guard down. The sunlight streamed through the stained glass and washed everything in different colours. The upper floors made a ring of balconies around a huge central atrium, so they could see down to the ground floor. Gold railings glittered brightly, apart from the elevator, Apollonia couldn't see any other doors or open exits.

Leo stepped to the railing and looked down, "Check it out." 

In the middle of the atrium, a fountain sprayed water twenty feet into the air, changing colour from red to yellow to blue. The pool glittered with gold coins, and on either side of the fountain stood a gilded cage— like an oversize canary cage. 

Inside one of the cages, a miniature hurricane swirled, and lightning flashed. Somebody had imprisoned the storm spirits, and the cage shuddered as they tried to get out. In the other, frozen like a statue, was a short, buff satyr, holding a tree-branch club. 

"Coach Hedge!" Piper said, "We've got to get down there." 

"Definitely don't miss that guy," Apollonia mumbled but not quiet enough because she was given glares by Jason and Piper.

A voice suddenly spoke from in front of them, "May I help you find something?"

~💕~
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I absolutely love Beth Crowley! You'll be seeing her songs quite a bit in my two books! Just want to give her to recognition she deserves💚

Do you think Apollonia will know this upcoming villain? Stay tuned!🌙