Jason woke up in the sky.

Emilia was exhausted, partially leaning onto Leo as she tried to stay awake. He steered quietly while Piper sat behind Jason to keep him balanced until the nectar did its job. Finally, he woke up with a start, "Cyclops!"

"Whoa, sleepyhead," said Piper with a light laugh.

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

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

Emilia looked over her shoulder as Jason blinked several times. "How did you–?" muttered Jason. "The Cyclops–?"

"Leo and Emilia ripped them apart," said Piper. She sounded proud. Emilia had never heard anyone's voice take a tone of pride when it came to her. Not good pride, anyway. "It was amazing. Emilia made a bad-ass storm of shadows around her and Leo can summon fire–"

"It was nothing," said Leo quickly. Emilia reached up to touch her own face, never having been aware that it could burn so much from a compliment.

Piper laughed. "Shut up, Valdez. I'm going to tell him. Get over it." She went into her own rendition about how it happened, describing things Emilia wasn't even aware that she or Leo did. At least not consciously.

According to Piper's perspective, Emilia looked like a battle demon, darkness swirling all around her, spear and shadows cutting into monsters. She said it was 'cold' in the most flattering way, which Emilia didn't understand, but from the way Jason raised his eyebrows, looking 'cold as fuck' during a fight was a good thing.

Jason seemed to be bummed out, but Emilia assumed it was because he was leading the quest and had been out of commission during a pretty dangerous situation. His face fell when Piper mentioned 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."

"I–I know... but something Hera said. I was having a dream..." He explained that while he was unconscious, he'd seen Hera in her prison. It was an earthen cage with tendrils of tree roots whirled together with stone, a set of bars holding the goddess.

She said some powers were greater than the gods, that her essence was caught and concealed from the others. She spoke of herself as being both Hera and Juno, both Greek and Roman. Jupiter/Zeus was apparently convinced he could withdraw from the world to lure their enemies back to sleep, convinced that he could get out of the promise Percy Jackson made him swear by, that he and the other gods would do better about claiming them. Jupiter seemed to think the problem was the Olympians becoming too involved in the affairs of mortals and the fates of their demigod children.

Hera had been lured into the trap by a voice she couldn't explain, a trap by the stirring earth. She said that the one who the giants served could not be defeated, only kept asleep. She spoke of an exchange, of it being the only way to bring peace, about how everyone couldn't sustain being divided, otherwise they'd be destroyed. Jason was a peace offering, a bridge to overcome a millennia of hatred.

The last thing she said was that Jason's 'sister' would help and that his most dangerous mortal enemy would be waiting in Chicago.

"An exchange?" asked Piper as gears turned in Emilia's head, a horrible realization beginning to dawn. "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," said Piper hopefully. "That bit about the sleeping enemy– that sounds like the lady Leo and Emilia both saw."

Leo cleared his throat awkwardly. "About that... she kind of appeared to me back in Detroit, in a pool of Porta-Potty sludge."

"She was there?" said Emilia incredulously. "I zoned out, I didn't even realize..."

Jason held up his hand. "Did you say... Porta Potty?"

Leo told them about this sleeping lady, who called him the most important of the eight, who said that without him the power of the others means nothing, insisting that if they can't reach her together they can't stop her. She called herself the First Mother, intent on her son Porphyrion rising and becoming king. She promised to ease Leo of his burdens.

"She wanted me to betray you guys," added Leo. "And I was like, 'Pfft, right, I'm gonna listen to a face in the potty sludge.'"

"She's trying to divide us," said Piper tensely.

"What's wrong?" asked Jason.

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

Jason blinked. "Enceladus?"

Piper's voice quivered, "One of the giants um, Emilia mentioned. The only one I could remember."

Leo scratched his head. "Well, I dunno about Enchiladas–"

"Enceladus," Piper corrected.

"Whatever. But what about the other one? Porpoise Fear, or something?"

"Porphyrion," said Emilia slowly. "The giant king. He and his siblings were born to avenge the Titans' defeat, to defeat the gods. He started the first war by kidnapping Hera. That's the most we learned in school, anyway. Atlas once told me that the gods were careful with what knowledge they let be carried on, what accounts could persist throughout history. Everyone has a different version. But Kronos confirmed a few of the facts, here and there."

"Heroes and gods had to work together to defeat them the first time," added Jason. "That's what Hera told me."

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

"We'll make do in the meantime," said Emilia. "All of this... it makes me think. I'm almost sure who this sleeping woman is. Gaea, it has to be. She specifically called Porphyrion her son. As for this gamble, the purple shirts, the Roman gods, working together... I have a theory."

They were silent, waiting. Emilia gulped, "Kronos once said something that didn't make sense. When I was reaching out, spreading discord, recruiting demigods, he told me to focus on the ones like me. The Greek demigods. I figured that was the only kind but I remember overhearing him say to Atlas that the ones in 'purple' would be unnecessary. He thought we could defeat the gods without them and it ran too much of an 'interference' risk. Jason's been called a son of Jupiter too many times at this point. He recognized the Roman forms and even Boreas shifted into another state, right? I think there are Roman demigods, too."

"And they're probably not supposed to make contact," deduced Jason. "Which is why what Hera did was a gamble. Breaking a rule."

"Which implies the existence of all sorts of other forms. My mother, Eris, I've heard her Egyptian counterpart is Apophis and her Norse counterpart is Loki, but Loki's Greek equivalent is, like, Prometheus or something, and his Egyptian counterpart is Set... nevermind, the point is that we have proof of Greek and Roman sides existing in our gods like... a coin. They can appear in different forms, siring two different groups of demigods."

She leaned onto Leo, covering her mouth. "Oh. An exchange, you said before, Jason. Percy. That could be where Percy is. The other camp with the other demigods."

"In other words," said Jason quietly, "we're screwed if Hera took this gamble too far."

No one was in the mood to talk after that. They were quiet, replenishing as they flew steadily west. Emilia couldn't have slept even if she tried. She was too on-edge, especially after having fallen asleep last time and dreaming about her family, about Gaea.

Yes, she was trying to divide them. She promised to leave Leo alone, she promised Emilia her family back. The approach was different than it'd been with Kronos. He plucked her away from her home and focused on her dissatisfaction, on her bitterness. He promised her power over her fate, over her family, against the gods. He promised her glory and recognition, a new kingdom of her own creation where she would be respected for what she was.

And now after months at Camp Half-Blood, having somewhat learned to feel appreciated and like she was part of something, Gaea didn't come with more promises of destroying the gods. No, she swore she could abandon her amends and have her old life back– a better life where her father and siblings would be involved. She thought Emilia would betray these demigods that she now knew to make it happen. She'd been a traitor before when she knew no other demigods. Yet Gaea now expected her to turn her backs on them willingly, because, what, making amends was too hard?

Righting a wrong was never easy. Especially not a wrong as great as the one Emilia committed. She had a duty to leave something better behind. Why? At first, it hadn't made much sense. Then she grew to dislike the way people looked at her when they remembered why she was in Camp Half-Blood at all.

She didn't want to be remembered that way. She didn't want their first thought to consist of the words 'traitor,' 'evil,' or gods forbid 'Kronos lover.' If what Gaea had shown her was real (and now she doubted it), she had to have something better to tell her family when they welcomed her back. She couldn't just say she'd served the Titan King and then have nothing good to offer. Maybe this way, they'd really care for her. Admire her without it needing to be forced.

Not to mention it felt good to feel wanted. To hear Piper gushing about how she and Leo saved them. To have Jason agreeing with her and believing her knowledge was important. To have Leo care enough to give her advice about the things she could improve upon. She missed Will, Pollux, Annabeth, and Percy. In their own ways, they cared. She may have felt she wasn't doing enough, but if that was the case, they wouldn't have treated her so kindly... right?

She wasn't as bad as she'd once been. Not as bad as she thought. Kronos was to blame, it was all him, and now his stupidmother was trying to stir the pot further.

You know what you're capable of. You served me once and you can serve her, too. She will reward you greatly. You're tempted, I know it.

Emilia acknowledged that she was capable of terrible things but Atlas and Kronos found her with nothing in her head but myths she thought were simply that. She had no other understanding but the one they gave her. She had her set tasks and that was it and Kronos had made sure there was a veil that kept her from realizing the gravity of the situation.

She was tempted to see her family again but not like this. She wouldn't betray anyone else.

You would've betrayed anyone if I asked it of you. It's why you still hear me, isn't it?

'I hear you because I don't know any better,' thought Emilia. 'I have no other voices to make up my conscience. The only person I could think to replace you with would be Will and I won't have a fifteen-year-old kid sounding alarm bells in my head each time I do something wrong.'

Admit it. You loved me.

'I don't know if I'm capable of love. I've never felt that anyone really loved me, or that I felt strongly enough about anyone to say that I love them. It wasn't like I had friends I could claim to care that much about. I'm a child of the furthest reaches of the Underworld, of Tartarus. My mother didn't love my father to create me. She was told to.'

Being a child of the Underworld does not remove your ability to feel. Your senses are altered because of your own discord.

'And because of you. You, telling me to mask everything for two years. I didn't know what was real and what wasn't. I still can't control it.'

But you feel. And you felt for me, even with the veil.

'I didn't love you. I have never loved anyone.'

He said no more and she huffed, loud enough that Leo flinched as if she blew a jet of hot air into the back of his neck. Festus drove through a break in the clouds, sailing over a city at the edge of a massive lake. A crescent of skyscrapers lined the shore, glittering in the winter sun.

"Chicago," said Jason.

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

Jason gestured to a flash of movement, a dark spiral of wind weaving and changing shape. "How about we follow that one and see where it goes?"

They followed the ventus, taking different forms– at one point, Emilia swore it looked like a horse– from a distance. Jason wanted them to stick closer, but Leo insisted they had to be stealthy; it would disappear if it sensed they were in pursuit. Festus was too large to dart between buildings, and they resorted to cruising over the buildings, much to Jason's despair.

They caught sight of it zipping through the streets with no apparent purpose– blowing over pedestrians, ruffling flags, making cars swerve. A second ventus blasted around the corner of the Renaissance Hotel and linked up with the first, weaving alongside it as if trapped in a chaotic dance. They shot to the top of the skyscraper, bent over a radio tower, then dove back toward the street without a case.

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

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

"More than a couple," said Jason. "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. It was a public fountain, a long granite reflecting pool with two five-story monoliths rising on either side, seemingly built of video screens that flashed the combined image of a giant face that spewed water into the pool.

"Isn't that the sleeping lady?" whispered Emilia. "Isn't that... Gaea?"

"I see her," confirmed Leo. "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 center, popped off a drain cover, and disappeared underground.

"Did they just go down a drain?" said Piper, frustrated. "How are we supposed to follow them?"

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

Emilia agreed. She wouldn't say it aloud, but what if there was an earthquake right after they slipped down there? Gaea could kill them all in one fell swoop.

"Put us down in the park," said Jason, knowing they had no other choice but to go along. "We'll check it out on foot."

Festus landed in an open area between the lake and the skyline, a park filled with ice, snow, and salted walkways. Festus was not pleased to make contact with the ground, stomping his feet and shooting fire into the sky before one of his ruby eyes flickered, as if he was winking erratically.

Jason frowned at him. "Is that normal?"

Leo pulled a rubber mallet from his tool bag. He whacked the dragon's bad eye, and the light went back to normal. "Yes. 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.." His belt provided nothing. "Too specialized? Okay, give me a safety whistle. They got that in lots of machine shops."

He conjured up a plastic orange whistle. He grinned, "Coach Hedge would be jealous! Okay, Festus, listen." Emilia covered her ears as the shrill sound shot out. "You hear that, come find me, okay? Until then, you fly wherever you want. Just try not to barbecue any pedestrians."

Festus snorted and launched himself into the air. As they stepped toward the fountain, Piper winced. Jason asked, "Your ankle? That nectar we gave you might be wearing off."

"Take a bit more," said Emilia, removing her backpack. The nectar felt too cold, so she settled for offering her a quarter of a square of ambrosia. "So... the drain, then?"

Unfortunately, yes. They stepped into the Crowd Fountain, all the water emptied out except for a few patches that were starting to freeze. A maintenance ladder went down the drain hole, large enough to fit one person at a time. Emilia went first, being the only one able to see perfectly in the dark.

There were no terrible sewer smells, and the floor wasn't a large puddle. The tunnel running north to south was made of bricks, with warm and dry air and a small trickle of water. "Come on," she urged the others. "Nothing in here. Not even... grime."

Piper was impressed. "Are all sewers this nice?"

"No," said Leo. "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, listening, then pointed south. "That way."

"Why?" asked Emilia. "Can you sense where they went?"

"There's a draft blowing south. Maybe the venti went with the flow."

She wasn't sure if that was the best way of judging it, but she couldn't offer evidence to the contrary. "Okay. Have that flashlight, Leo?"

He held it up, lighting the way for the rest of them. Emilia swept her hands out, moving the darkness as far behind as possible and lighting up as much of the tunnel as she could. They hadn't made it very far before Piper stumbled again. She would've face planted on the floor if Jason hadn't caught her.

"Stupid ankle," groaned Piper.

"This isn't just the injury at this point, you're exhausted," mumbled Emilia.

"Let's rest," offered Jason. "We could all use it. We've been going nonstop for over a day. Leo, can you pull any food from that tool belt besides breath mints?"

He grinned, up to the task. "Thought you'd never ask. Chef Leo is on it!"

Emilia set herself up with her backpack as a pillow while Leo started a small fire, withdrawing supplies from his pack and tool belt. Emilia probably would've starved if not for his preparedness. She sort of figured they'd always be able to buy food wherever they went. She had plenty of money but hadn't packed a single snack.

Leo happily came forth with four plates of delicious-smelling food. He'd made them what looked like pepper and beef tacos with chips and salsa.

"Leo," said Piper 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!"

"Thank you," said Emilia, bewildered. It'd been way too long since she ate Mexican food that she didn't cook herself. She took one bite and teared up. She turned away, but Leo noticed.

"¿Está muy caliente?" he asked. "¡Tienes que soplarle!" (T: Is it too hot? You have to blow on it!)

She wanted to pretend that's all it was. She wished she could say it was just that they were too hot, or maybe that the salsa was too spicy. But seeing Leo's concerned face, she knew she couldn't lie to him. She had to trust him to know things about her. After all, it could be made easy– Jason and Piper didn't speak Spanish. She could start small, confess something to just him and then work her way up.

"Me recuerda a la comida de mi tía," she said honestly. "No me había dado cuenta cuánto extraño comer en su casa."(T: It reminds me of my aunt's cooking. I hadn't realized how much I miss eating at her house.)

Instead of making fun of her, instead of judging, he just smiled gently, as if to say he was glad she liked it that much. She ate the rest in silence, listening to Leo crack jokes left and right. How he came up with them, she didn't understand. She even managed a small laugh, and though it was clear from their faces that it still sounded hollow, Leo seemed to think nothing of it.

She curled up on her own, while Piper planted her head on Jason's lap and knocked out almost instantly. She didn't mean to eavesdrop, but she heard Leo speaking about his fire powers, how Nyssa said it was rare and that when a demigod like that came around, bad things happened. Jason thought it was the other way around; those sorts of demigods came around when bad things happened because it's when they were needed most. Leo didn't appear to believe it.

It saddened her to think of him believing his mother's death was his fault, all because he could summon fire. Even to Emilia it was clear that Gaea had had a hand in it, trying to destroy his confidence so that he couldn't play his part in this prophecy.

As she felt him laying down a few feet from her, she gave her wrist a weak turn, the opposite way she normally did when she was intentionally sowing discord in a person. Usually, she had to give it a few counterclockwise turns to exacerbate the negative feelings already swirling in someone, as if churning them to the surface and bringing them their own internal conflict. Between people or large groups, she turned both hands the same way, literally stirring the pot.

This time, she tried to turn it clockwise. She imagined the guilt, the frustration, the confusion, the anger, all of it sinking down into a pot of soup, settling at the bottom in a place Leo couldn't think of it too hard. She imagined holding it down so that positive feelings could bubble to the surface, so that he could think of happy things, maybe a fond memory with his mother.

She heard him snoring lightly seconds later and was left to wonder if it worked or not.

-

A/N: Happy 100 pages! Comment for more :)