{LORELAI}

"What we do know," Rachel said, "is that the first phase has begun. A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the queen of the gods, has been taken."

Shocked silence. Then fifty demigods started talking at once.

Chiron pounded his hoof again, but Rachel had to wait before she could get back their attention.

The mortal told them about the incident on the Grand Canyon skywalk—how Coach Hedge had sacrificed when the storm spirits attacked, and the spirits had warned it was only the beginning. They apparently served some great mistress who would destroy all the demigods.

Then Rachel told them about Piper passing out in Hera's cabin but she conveniently left out the part about Evangeline. She told them about Jason's vision in the living room of the Big House.

"Jason," Rachel said. "Um...do you remember your last name?"

He looked self-conscious but shook his head.

"We'll just call you Jason, then," The redhead said, "It's clear Hera herself has issued you a quest."

Rachel looked at Jason as if giving him a chance to protest his destiny. Everyone was focused on him. He set his jaw and nodded. "I agree."

"You must save Hera to prevent a great evil," She continued. "Some sort of kind from rising. For reasons, we don't yet understand, it must happen by the winter solstice, only four days from now."

"That's the council day of the gods," Annabeth said. "If the gods don't already know Hera's gone, they will notice her absence by then. They'll probably break out fighting, accusing each other of taking her. That's what they usually do."

"The winter solstice," Chiron spoke up, "is also the time of greatest darkness. The gods gather that day, as mortals have always, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the gods. It is a day when things...stir."

Lorelai couldn't help but notice the centaur glancing in Evangeline's direction when he said evil magic. She had a feeling it was related to whatever happened to the brunette in Hera Cabin.

"Okay," Evangeline glared at him. "Thank you, Captain Obvious. Whatever is going on. If John over here has been chosen to lead this quest, so—"

"Why hasn't he been claimed?" Somebody from the Ares cabin yelled. "If he's so important."

"He has been claimed," Chiron announced. "Long ago. Jason, give them a demonstration."

The blond stepped forward nervously, he glanced at Lorelai and she gave him a smile of encouragement. She mimicked flipping a coin.

Jason reached into his pocket. His coin flashed in the air, and when he caught it in his hand, he was holding a rod of gold about seven feet long, with a spear tip at one end.

The other demigods gasped. Rachel and Annabeth stepped back to avoid the point, which looked as sharp as an ice pack.

"Wasn't that..." Annabeth hesitated. "I thought you had a sword."

"Um, it came tails, I think," Jason said. "Same coin, long-range weapon form."

"Dude, I want one!" Somebody from the Ares cabin yelled.

"Better than Clarisse's electric spear, Lamer!" One of his brothers agreed.

"Electric," Jason murmured like it was a good idea. "Back away."

The daughter of Athena and the Oracle backed away. Jason raised his javelin, and thunder broke open the sky.

Goosebumps ran throughout Lorelai's body. Lightning arced down through the golden spear point and hit the campfire with the force of an artillery shell.

When the smoke cleared, and the ringing in the daughter of Iris's ears stopped, the entire camp sat frozen in shock, half-blind, covered in ashes, staring at the place where the fire had been. Cinders rained down everywhere. A burning log had impaled itself a few inches from a sleeping Clovis who hadn't even stirred.

Jason lowered his lance. "Um...sorry."

The activities director brushed some burning coals out of his beard. He grimaced as if his worst fears had come true. "A little overkill, perhaps, but you've made your point. And I believe we know who your father is."

"Jupiter," Jason said. "I mean Zeus. Lord of the Sky."

The rest of the camp broke into chaos, with dozens of people asking questions until Annabeth raised her arms.

"Hold it!" She yelled. "How can he be the son of Zeus? The Big Three...their pact not to have mortal kids...how could we not have known about him sooner?"

Chiron didn't answer, but the Warner girl had a feeling he knew something they didn't.

"The important thing," Rachel said, "is that Jason's here now. He has a quest to fulfill, which means he will need his own prophecy."

The redhead closed her eyes and swooned. Two campers rushed forward and caught her. A third ran to the side of the amphitheater and grabbed a bronze three-legged stool like they'd been trained for that. They eased Rachel onto the stool in front of the ruined hearth. Without the fire, the night was dark, but green mist started swirling around Rachel's feet.

When she opened her eyes they were glowing. Emerald smoke issued from her mouth. The voice that came out was raspy and ancient, the sound a snake would make if it could talk:

"Child of lightning, beware the earth,
The giants' revenge the ten shall birth.

Daughter of rainbows, your path unfolds,
Where frost's embrace, your destiny holds.

The forge, the shadow, and the dove shall break the cage.
And death unleash through Hera's rage."

Right on the last word, Rachel collapsed, but her helpers were waiting to catch her. They carried her away from the hearth and laid her in the corner to rest.

"Is that normal?" Piper asked breaking the silence. "I mean...does she spew green smoke a lot?"

"Gods, you're dense!" Drew sneered. "She just issued a prophecy—Jason's prophecy to save Hera! Why don't you just—"

"Drew," Annabeth snapped. "Piper asked a fair question. Something about that prophecy isn't normal. If breaking Hera's cage unleashes her rage and causes a bunch of death...why would we free her? It might be a trap, or—or Hera will turn on her rescuers. She's never been kind to heroes."

Jason rose. "I don't have much choice. Hera took my memory. I need it back. Besides, we can't just not help the queen of the heavens if she's in trouble."

A girl from Hephaestus cabin stood up—Nyssa, the one with the red bandanna. "Maybe. But you should listen to Annabeth. Hera can be vengeful. She threw her own son—our dad—down a mountain just because he was ugly."

"Real ugly," snickered someone from Aphrodite.

"Shut up!" Nyssa growled. "Anyway, we've also got to think—why beware the earth? And what's the giant's revenge? What are we dealing with here that's powerful enough to kidnap the queen of the heavens?"

No one answered.

"It's Johnathan's quest," Evangeline announced. "so it's his choice. Obviously, he's the child of lightning. So he may choose any four companions."

"What about Annabeth?" A kid from the Hermes cabin called.

"No, Travis," Annabeth said. "First off, I'm not helping Hera. Every time I've tried, she's deceived me, or it's come back to bite me later. Forget it. No way. Secondly, I'm leaving first thing in the morning to find Landon."

"And Percy," Evangeline added sending a knowing look to the daughter of Athena.

"Right," Annabeth cleared her throat. "Landon and Percy."

"It's connected," Piper blurted out. "You know that's true, don't you? This whole business, Evangeline's boyfriend, and the other guy's disappearance—it's all connected."

"How?" Demanded Drew. "If you're so smart, how?"

Lorelai liked everybody but Drew was making it very hard to like her. She had seen her fair share of mean people and Drew seemed like she would be one of them.

"You might be right, Piper," Annabeth saved the McLean girl. "If this is connected, I'll find out from the other end—by searching for Landon and Percy. As I said, I'm not about to rush off to rescue Hera, even if her disappearance sets the rest of the Olympians fighting again. But there's another reason I can't go. The prophecy says otherwise."

"It says who I pick," Jason agreed. "Daughter of rainbows. It's obviously Lorelai. So," He turned to the blonde. "you wanna come with me?"

Lorelai fiddled with the bracelet Piper had made her and stayed quiet, she didn't have any experience fighting monsters so how would she be helpful, but this wasn't about her, this was about helping Jason. "Okay, I'll come with you."

Jason smiled and then said, "The forge is the symbol of Vul—Hephaestus."

Under the Cabin Nine banner, Nyssa's shoulders slumped, like she'd been given a heavy anvil to carry. "If you have to beware the earth," she said, "you should avoid traveling overland. You'll need air transport. "

"The flying chariot's broken," Nyssa continued. "and the pegasi, we're using some of them to search for Percy and now we'll send more to look for Landon. But maybe the Hephaestus cabin can help figure out something else to help. With Jake incapacitated, I'm the senior camper. I can volunteer for the quest." Lorelai got the feeling she wasn't too excited for the quest.

Then Leo stood up. The blonde had noticed his silence, which was not like him.

"It's me," He said.

His cabinmates stirred. Several tried to pull him back to his seat, but Leo resisted. "No, it's me. I know it is. I've got an idea for the transportation problem. Let me try. I can fix this!"

Jason studied the son of Hephaestus and then said, "We started this together, Leo. Seems only right if you come along too. You find us a ride, you're in."

"Yes!" Leo pumped his fist.

"It'll be dangerous," Nyssa warned him. "Hardship, monsters, terrible suffering. Possibly none of you will come back alive."

"Oh." Suddenly Leo didn't look as excited as he had been. Then he remembered everyone's attention was on him. "I mean...Oh, cool! Suffering? I love suffering! Let's do this."

Jason looked toward the daughter of Hades who was glaring daggers at him. "I think the shadow might be you."

"Oh, gee, I never would've guessed it," Evangeline deadpanned.

Annabeth nodded. "Then, Jason, you only need to choose the fifth quest member. The dove—"

"Oh, absolutely!" Drew was on her feet and flashing the son of Zeus a smile. "The dove is Aphrodite. Everybody knows that. I am totally yours."

Piper then stepped forward. "No."

Drew rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, Dumpster girl. Back off."

"I had the vision of Hera; not you. I have to do this."

"Anyone can have a vision," Drew said. "You were just at the right place at the right time." She turned to Jason. "Look, fighting is all fine, I suppose. Summoning the dead is weird but okay. And people who build things..." She looked at Leo with disdain. "Well, I suppose someone has to get their hands dirty. And whatever Lorelai has to do on this quest is all fine. But you need charm on your side. I can be very persuasive. I could help a lot."

Campers started murmuring about how the daughter of Aphrodite tended to be pretty persuasive. Lorelai could see her winning them over. Even Chiron was scratching his beard like her participation suddenly made sense to him.

"Well..." Annabeth said. "Given the wording of the prophecy—"

"No!" Piper's voice sounded more insistent, richer in tone than her normal one. "I'm supposed to go."

Something made everyone start nodding and muttering that Piper's point of view made sense too. Drew looked around, incredulous. Even some of her campers nodded.

"Get over it!" The daughter of Aphrodite snapped at the crowd. "What can Piper do?"

Piper didn't answer.

"Well," Drew said smugly, "I guess that settles it."

Lorelai wondered what would happen to Drew's face if she threw a rock straight at it.

The daughter of Iris snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a collective gasp. She saw everyone staring at Piper and snapped her head toward the McLean girl and stared.

"What?" Piper demanded. She looked above her, but she didn't have the same burning symbol as the one that appeared over Leo. Then she looked down and yelped.

The McLean girl was adorned in a beautiful white sleeveless gown that went down to her ankles, and delicate gold armbands circled her biceps. An intricate necklace of amber, coral, and gold flowers glittered on her chest and her hair...

"Oh, god," she said. "What's happened?"

A stunned Annabeth pointed at Piper's dagger, which was now oiled and gleaming, hanging at her side on a golden cord. The girl hesitantly unsheathed the blade.

Her hair was perfect: lush and long and chocolate brown, braided with gold ribbons down one side so it fell across her shoulder. She was even wearing makeup—subtle touches that made her lips cherry red and brought out all the different colors in her eyes.

"You look beautiful!" Lorelai exclaimed and it was true, Piper looked beautiful.

Drew's face was full of horror and revulsion. "No!" She cried. "Not possible!"

"This isn't me," Piper protested. "I—don't understand."

Chiron the centaur folded his front legs and bowed to her, and all the campers except Evangeline followed his example.

"Hail, Piper McLean," He announced gravely as if he were speaking at her funeral. "Daughter of Aphrodite, lady of the doves, goddess of love."

Lorelai sat on the roof of cabin fourteen staring at the night sky. She used to climb a lot of trees while growing up so this was easy. She lay down and stared up at the stars, slowly counting each one.

Piper had been moved into Cabin Ten. Jason had moved into Cabin One which looked like it hadn't been lived in for years. And Leo, well, she had no idea where he was.

She heard a faint creaking and then saw a bald head looking down at her. "Hey, Butch," she greeted. "Here to take me to Camp detention?"

Butch shook his head and sat down next to her. "There's no camp detention, you get chores or eaten by the harpies, if they find you."

"Oh," she said sitting up. "So how do you guys explain to someone that their child got eaten by magic fairies because they didn't go to bed on time?"

"Make up an excuse or something," Butch shrugged. "What are you doing up here?"

"I couldn't sleep."

The son of Iris pursed his lips. "You're nervous about tomorrow?"

Lorelai shrugged one shoulder. "A little, I mean I have no training, no cool powers, no experience, and last but not least, how am I going to be able to help Jason?"

"You're going on this quest because you're a part of the prophecy not to help Jason," he told her.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Lorelai grumbled. "Olivia told me about all this prophecy stuff. But why me? Why now? Iris had so many years to reach out to me but she didn't, and now suddenly I'm a demigod who has to go on a quest and save the world. It's been one day, Butch. One day."

The son of Iris didn't say anything and silence settled over the two, Lorelai could hear some rustling and noises that she guessed belonged to monsters in the woods. "You're going to be fine, just don't doubt yourself. When you feel that something is wrong, you trust that gut feeling."

"What if my feeling is wrong?"

"Well, then you throw your rock at it." Butch smiled.

He looked oddly peaceful once he smiled. Lorelai noticed the rainbow shirt he was wearing, she had never thought that rainbows would make someone look scary. "I like your tattoo." She pointed to the tattoo on his bicep.

Butch hummed. "Thanks, kid."

"When did you get it?"

"After I got claimed," He explained. "Thought it'd be nice to have a small appreciation to mom,"

The blonde pursed her lips. "Can I get one?"

"No."

Lorelai sighed, "That's not fair."

"You're—" he stopped himself. "how old are you again?"

"Fifteen," she said. "But I'll turn sixteen in two days."

"You can get one,"

"Really?"

"In two years, if you're alive by then." He gave her a pat on the back and got to his feet.

Lorelai was about to say something when she heard a soft thud on the roof behind them, the children of Iris turned their heads to find Leo stretching with a backpack slung over his shoulder. "Hey," he greeted out of breath. "Man, this is a nice view." He looked around.

Leo shot Butch a wink. "Nice jammies," he pointed at the rainbow t-shirt.

The Walker boy clenched his jaw. "Don't get into trouble," he told his sister as he climbed down the roof.

"Leo, what are you doing here?" Lorelai asked.

"I'm on my way to find us a ride for the quest," He panted, kneeling next to her and opening his backpack. "I was on my way then I figured why not take my favorite blonde."

"I'm your favorite?"

"Till Jason gets his memories back," Leo mumbled as he rummaged through his bag.

She scowled. "Well, I don't see Jason giving you any gum."

"Why do you carry gum around everywhere?" The son of Hephaestus asked.

"I might need it if I forget to brush my teeth or something," She shrugged.

"Well, whatever," he said, pulling out a flashlight and handing it over to her. "Let's go find a ride."

"Do I have to?" Lorelai asked spinning the flashlight in her hand.

"You're my sidekick,"

"I'm not you're sidekick," The daughter of Iris got to her feet.

Leo smiled and slung his backpack over his shoulder. "Right, you're my assistant." He said as he climbed down the roof.

Lorelai rolled her eyes and followed after the son of Hephaestus and the two went into the woods to find and fix the dragon. She wasn't sure if they could, but seeing a dragon would be a fun story to laugh about in a few years, that is if the dragon didn't eat her.

{JASON}

Jason slipped on his new shoes, ready to get out of the cold, empty cabin one. Then he spotted something he hadn't noticed the night before. A brazier had been moved out of one of the alcoves to create a sleeping niche, with a bedroll, a backpack, and even some pictures taped to the wall.

Jason walked over. Whoever had slept there, it had been a long time ago. The bedroll looked musty. The backpack was covered with a tun film of dust. Some of the photos once taped to the wall had lost their stickiness and fallen to the floor.

One picture showed Annabeth—much younger, maybe eight. She stood next to a sandy-haired guy about fourteen or fifteen, with a mischievous smile and ragged leather armor over a T-shirt. He was pointing to an alley behind them like he was telling the photographer, Let's go meet things in a dark alleyway and kill them!

A second photo showed Annabeth and the same guy at a campfire, laughing hysterically. Finally, the son of Zeus picked up one of the photos that had fallen.

It was a strip of pictures like you'd take in a do-it-yourself photo booth: Annabeth and the sandy-haired guy but with another girl between them. She seemed about fifteen, with choppy black hair, a black leather jacket, and silver jewelry, so she looked kind of goth, but she was caught mid-laugh, and it was clear she was with her two best friends.

"That's Thalia," Someone said.

Jason turned. Evangeline was peering over his shoulder. "She's the daughter of Zeus, she lived here but not for a long time. I should've knocked, sorry."

"It's fine," he said. "Not like I think of this place as home."

The brunette was dressed for travel, with a navy blue hoodie over her camp clothes. She had a backpack slung over her shoulder, but she didn't seem to have any weapons on her, just a black snake pendant hanging from a silver chain around her neck.

Jason said, "You're not carrying any weapons?"

"You're just not seeing any weapons," she said as she moved her gaze from the picture and onto the hippie Zeus statue, as if she knew about his nervousness she said, "Don't worry, I'll be there to help guide you with my wisdom." she sighed dramatically.

"I have a feeling this isn't your first quest." He guessed.

"It's not," she said, "This place looks exactly how I imagined." the brunette mumbled to herself.

"I, um...had a weird dream last night," He told her. It seemed like a stupid thing to confide in, but Evangeline looked unbothered.

"You're not special relax, it happens all the time to demigods," she said. "What'd you see?"

He told her about the wolves and the ruined house and the two rock spires. As he talked, Evangeline started chewing on her bottom lip looking more annoyed with him than usual. "You don't remember where the house is?"

The son of Zeus shook his head. "But I'm sure I've been there before."

"Redwoods," The brunette furrowed her eyebrows together. "Could be northern California. Annabeth's the smart one but she already left and I've never heard of Lupa."

"She said the enemy was a 'her'. I thought maybe it was Hera, but—"

"I wouldn't put too much trust in Hera, but she might not be the enemy. That thing that's rising out of the earth, we have to stop it."

"You know what it is, don't you?" he asked. "Or I'm hoping you have a guess."

"The less you know the better," she said, "It's important for your quest."

"That bad, huh?"

"Not if we succeed," Evangeline met his gaze.

"Where do we even start?" Jason asked.

"We follow the monsters," she said.

Jason thought about what she said. The storm spirit who'd attacked him at Grand Canyon had said he was being recalled to his boss. If he could track the storm spirits, he might be able to find the person controlling them. And hopefully lead him to Hera's prison.

"Okay," the blond said. "How do we find storm winds."

"Ask a wind god," she shrugged. "Aeolus is the master of all winds, but he can be a little...unpredictable. No one finds him unless he wants to be found. So we can try one of the four seasonal wind gods that work for him. The nearest one is Boreas, the North Wind."

"So if I looked him up on Google Maps—"

"He's settled in North America like all the other gods, the oldest north settlement, about as far north as we can go."

"Maine?" He guessed.

"Farther."

Jason tried to envision a map. What was farther than Maine? The oldest north settlement...

"Canada," Evangeline spoke up. "We have to go to Quebec."

When she said the words Jason actually felt a spark of excitement.

"Thanks, Evangeline." The blonde shifted on his feet, "So, what happened to her?" He asked pointing to the raven-haired girl in the photo.

Evangeline rolled her eyes. "Thalia's fine, she's a Hunter of Artemis—one of the handmaidens of the goddess. They roam the country killing monsters. We don't see them at camp very often."

Jason glanced over at the huge statue of Zeus. He understood why Thalia had slept in the alcove. It was the only place in the cabin that was out of Hippie Zeus's line of sight. And even that hadn't been enough. She'd chosen to follow Artemis and be a part of a group rather than stay in the cold drafty temple alone with their twenty-foot-tall dad glowering down at her.

He didn't have any trouble understanding Thalia's feelings. He wondered if there was a Hunters group for guys. "Who's the other kid in the photo?" he asked. "The sandy-haired guy."

The daughter of Hades' expression hardened. "That's Luke," she said. "He killed himself, a tragedy, truly."

Jason could hear the sarcasm in her voice clearly, he figured she wasn't exactly fond of the guy. "So he's dead?"

"Yup," she said.

The blond pursed his lips. "Oh,"

"I mean he deserved it, he killed a bunch of people, started a war, schemed, let our grandfather possess him, you know, normal evil guy stuff." She shrugged like it was no big deal. "Any more questions?" She raised a brow.

"No," Jason shook his head. "thanks."

Evangeline nodded as she observed him as if she was trying to read his mind. Jason cleared his throat. "So, our dad's our brothers, right? That makes us—"

"Cousins," she finished with an annoyed tone. "Welcome to the family, Jeremiah, you're going to be tried to kill by my father at least once."

"What? Why?"

"It's tradition," she shrugged. "Zeus tried to kill me and my siblings, and my father tried to kill Thalia so I'm guessing you're next, you know to keep up the pattern."

"I don't like the sound of that," He said.

"Oh, well," she waved a hand lazily and Jason caught sight of the black veins on her wrist that had yet to disappear even after being healed.

"You're siblings," he started, "where are they? Because Drew didn't mention any more Hades kids were here."

"My sister, Bianca, she's dead," Evangeline said, her voice low. "My brother, Nico is off somewhere, I don't know, I don't keep track, occasionally he visits me in my dreams."

Jason focused again on Thalia's face. He kept thinking that this photo of her was important. He was missing something. He felt like she would understand his confusion, and maybe even answer some questions.

But another voice inside him, an insistent whisper, said: Dangerous. Stay away.

"How old is she now?" he asked. "Thalia, I mean."

Evangeline took a deep breath as she stared at the ceiling, mumbling something. "I think about twenty, or she would've been had she not turned into a tree then immortal."

"What?"

The daughter of Hades tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Don't worry, you're not going to turn into a tree too, let's hope it's something worse."

Jason froze, he saw the corner of Evangeline's lips twitch. "Relax, twinkle toes," she said. "I'm messing with you."

The son of Zeus looked on the ground. "Oh, right," he found himself asking, "What's Thalia's last name?"

The brunette rolled her left shoulder like it was bothering her. "She didn't really use her last name, had some problems with her mom, not that I blame her mine wasn't any better either."

The amnesiac waited.

"Grace," she answered. "Her name is Thalia Grace."

Jason's fingers went numb. The picture fluttered to the floor.

"Hey?" Evangeline asked. "You okay?"

A shred of memory had ignited—maybe a tiny piece that Hera had forgotten to steal. Or maybe she'd left it there on purpose, just for him to remember that name, and know that digging up his past was terribly dangerous.

You should be dead, Chiron had said. It wasn't a comment about the blond beating the odds as a loner. The centaur knew something specific—something about his family.

The she-wolf's words in his dream made sense to him, her clever joke at his expense. He could imagine Lupa growling a wolfish laugh.

"What is it?" The daughter of Hades pressed.

Jason knew he couldn't keep it to himself. It would be the death of him, and he had to get Evangeline's help, even if she hated his guts. If she knew Thalia maybe she could help him.

"You have to swear not to tell anyone else," he glanced up at her meeting her gaze.

"I—"

"Swear it," he urged. "until I figure out what's going on, what this all means—" he rubbed the burned tattoos on his forearm. "You have to keep a secret."

"Well, looks like you chose the right person to tell then," she said. "I kept a secret for sixty-four years,"

"What?"

"Never mind."

Jason picked up the photo from the floor. "My last name is Grace," he told her. "This is my sister."

Evangeline looked at him like he'd killed her dog. "Okay." She said blankly like she'd seen this film before.

Then the doors of the cabin burst open. Half a dozen campers spilled in, led by Lorelai's brother, Butch. "Hurry!" He said, and Jason couldn't tell if his expression was excitement or fear. "The dragon is back."

They ran out of the cabin and Jason saw Piper who yelled, "Leo? Lorelai?"

Sure enough, the two were, sitting on top of a giant bronze death machine grinning like lunatics.

Even before the two children of Iris and Hephaestus landed, the camp alarm went up. A conch horn blew. All the satyrs started screaming. "Don't kill me!" Half the camp ran outside in a mixture of pajamas and armor.

The dragon sat down in the middle of the green, and Leo yelled, "It's cool! Don't shoot!"

Hesitantly, the archers lowered their bows. The warriors backed away, keeping their spears and swords ready. They made a loose wide ring around the metal monster. Other demigods hid behind their cabin doors or peeped out the windows. Nobody seemed to get close.

The dragon was huge. It glistened in the morning sun like a living silver penny sculpture—different shades of copper and bronze—a sixty-foot-long serpent with steel talons and drillbit teeth and glowing ruby eyes. It had bat-shaped wings twice its length that unfurled like metallic sails. making a sound like coins cascading out of a slot machine every time they flapped.

"It's beautiful," Piper muttered. The other demigods stared at her like she was insane.

The dragon reared its head and shot a column of fire into the sky. Camper scrambled away and hefted their weapons, but Leo and Lorelai slid calmly off the dragon's back. Leo held up his hands like he was surrendering, except he still had a crazy grin on his face, Lorelai seemed to have the same expression as him.

"People of Earth, we come in peace!" He shouted. Leo and Lorelai looked like they'd been rolling around in the campfire. Leo's army coat and face were smeared with soot. His hands were grease-stained, and he wore a new toolbelt around his waist. His curly hair was so oily it stuck up in porcupine quills.

Lorelai looked a little better than the son of Hephaestus, her blond hair was frizzy, and she had ashes on her nose, she was wearing light blue jeans with a black shirt and a lavender zip-up. Jason also noticed that there was a silver butterfly clip in her hair, and the two smelled strangely of Tabasco sauce. But they looked absolutely delighted. "Festus is just saying hello!"

"That thing is dangerous!" An Ares girl shouted, brandishing her spear. "Kill it now!"

"Stand down!" Jason ordered as he and Evangeline pushed through the crowd followed by Nyssa and Butch.

The son of Zeus gazed up at the dragon and shook his head in amazement. "Leo, what have you done?"

"Hey, I helped!" Lorelai said blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

"We found a ride!" Leo beamed. "You said I could go on the quest if I got you a ride. Well, Laur and I got you a class-A metallic flying bad boy! Festus can take us anywhere!"

"It—has wings," Nyssa stammered. Her jaw looked like it might just drop off her face.

"Yeah!" Leo said. "I found them and reattached them."

"But it never had wings. Where did you find them?"

The children of Iris and Hephaestus shared a knowing look and Lorelai said, "In the...woods."

"In the woods?" Butch arched a brow.

"Yup," The two said in unison.

"I repaired his circuits, too, mostly, so no more problems with him going haywire," Leo said.

"Mostly?" Nyssa asked.

The dragon's head twitched. It tilted to one side and a stream of black liquid—maybe oil, hopefully oil—poured out of its ear, all over the children of Iris and Hephaestus.

"Just a few kinks to work out," Leo said.

"But how did you two survive..." Nyssa was still staring at the creature in awe. "I mean, the fire breath..."

"I'm a bit quick and Lorelai can run like really, really fast," Leo said. "And we're lucky. Now, am I on this quest, or what?"

Jason scratched his head. "You named him Festus? You know that in Latin, 'Festus' means 'happy'? You want us to ride off to save the world on Happy the Dragon?"

"You got a problem with that?" Lorelai asked narrowing her eyes.

"What? No—no." Jason quickly denied it.

The dragon twitched and shuddered and flapped his wings.

"That's a yes, dude!" Leo said. "Now, um, I'd really suggest we get going, guys. We already picked up some supplies in the—um, in the woods. And all these people with weapons are making Festus nervous."

Jason frowned. "But we haven't planned anything yet. We can't just—"

"Yes we can," Evangeline interrupted him. She almost looked proud of Leo. "We have only three days until the solstice now, and it's rude to keep a nervous dragon waiting. This might be a good omen." She grabbed his arm. "Now come on."

Butch sighed. "Be safe kid," He ruffled Lorelai's hair causing it to become more of a mess than before.

She gave him a nod, "Bye Butch,"

The son of Zeus made his way toward her and smiled at the blonde. "You ready?"

"I'm always ready," she smiled back. "I have my rock and everything."

"Personally," Evangeline said walking past them. "I think Festus is a great name,"

"Why, thank you," Lorelai gave her a pleased look.

Flying on the dragon was an interesting experience.

Up high, the air was freezing cold; but the dragon's metal hide generated so much heat, it was like they were flying in a protective bubble.

The grooves in the dragon's back were designed like high-tech saddles, so they weren't uncomfortable at all. Leo showed them how to hook their feet in the chinks of armor, like in stirrups, and use the lather safety harnesses cleverly concealed under the exterior plating. They sat single file, Leo in the front, Evangeline, Piper, Lorelai, and then Jason.

Lorelai kept fiddling with her new silver clip in her hair like it was bothering her that it was there, Jason wondered where she'd gotten it from.

Leo used the reins to steer the dragon into the sky like he'd been doing it all his life. The metal wings worked perfectly, and soon the coast of Long Island was just a hazy line left behind. They shot over Connecticut and climbed into the gray winter clouds.

Leo grinned back at them. "Cool, right?"

"What if we get spotted?" Piper asked.

"The Mist," Evangeline said. "It keeps mortals from seeing all of the non-mortal things. If they see us, they'll probably see something else."

Lorelai moved her attention from the clip and onto the daughter of Hades. "Are you sure about that?"

"I'm very sure." The brunette answered.

"Where are we heading?" The McLean girl asked.

"To find the god of the North Wind," Jason said. "And chase some storm spirits."

------✧-----

A/N: Why were Dove Cameron and Damiano David lowkey giving Hades and Persephone at the Met Gala tell me I'm not the only one who sees it.

Also writing Leo and Lorelai's friendship is like my favorite thing to do after traumatizing Evangeline...

Jason and Evangeline bonding time (sort of). I switched POVs just so I could hate on Luke, I would never give up an opportunity to hate on him.