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ELECTRIC LOVE

CHAPTER FIVE
[ N A T A L I A ]

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"NATALIA!" A VOICE yelled, storming into the Artemis Cabin.

Soft silver light surrounded the entire room from multiple moons that hung from the wall. Arrows decorated the walls as well, with pictures of Artemis' sacred animals scattered around. There was about ten beds, normally for when the Hunters stay at Camp. Natalia's bed was situated in the corner by a window, close to the bathroom.

She groaned, rolling over in her bed. "What time is it?"

"Seven," the voice said again, and Natalia groaned once more. "You're leaving for your quest soon and might want to get ready."

Natalia finally opened her eyes to see Annabeth standing there in full gear. She sat up while she yawned, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Thanks, Anna. Again, I'm really sorry I can't help you look for Percy."

"Don't worry about it," she said. "Go get dressed. I'll see you before you leave."

Annabeth left, and Natalia got up. She took a quick shower, changing into jeans, a dark gray t-shirt, and a silver parka given to her by her mother. Natalia quickly braided her hair, and made sure that her silver bracelet was strapped securely to her wrist.

She walked out of the bathroom and grabbed her backpack she packed the night before. Inside was an extra change of clothes, an extra parka, food, nectar and ambrosia for emergencies, a med kit, a flashlight, some extra arrows, and a dagger just in case.

Suddenly, screams were heard from outside. Natalia slung the backpack over her shoulders and ran outside to see what everyone was screaming out. Once she looked up, she stopped in her tracks next to Piper.

On top of the bronze dragon that Cabin Nine was trying to catch was Leo, yelling at everyone not to shoot him. Demigods wearing a mixture of pajamas and armor continued to run out.

"It's beautiful," Piper muttered.

Natalia raised an eyebrow at her, and she smiled sheepishly back.

The dragon reared it's head and shot flames into the sky, making the Demigods scream. Natalia flinched backwards, but continued to stare up at the sky.

Leo slid calmly off the dragon's back, holding up his hands in surrender with a crazy grin on his face. His hair was covered in grease, and he smelled strongly of Tabasco sauce. "People of Earth, I come in peace! Festus is just saying hello!"

"Festus?" Natalia questioned, her eyebrows raising.

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

"Stand down!" someone ordered.

Natalia turned her head to see Jason appear next to her. Nyssa and Annabeth followed, staring up at the dragon in amazement.

Jason shook his head. "Leo, what have you done?"

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

"It — has wings," Nyssa stammered, her jaw completely dropped.

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

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

Leo hesitated, and Natalia knew he was hiding something. "In . . . the woods. Repaired his circuits, too, mostly, so no more problems with him going haywire."

"Mostly?" Nyssa asked.

The dragon's head twitched. It tilted to the side and a stream of black liquid — hopefully oil — poured out of its ear and all over Leo.

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

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

"I'm quick," Leo said, and Natalia knew by know that he was definitely hiding something. "And 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?"

"Oh, I'm so in," Natalia said, her grin matching Leo's.

The dragon twitched and shuddered and flapped his wings.

"That's a yes, bro!" Leo said. "Now, um, I'd really suggest we get going, guys. I 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—"

"Go," Annabeth said, her face looking wistful like this reminded her of better times. "Jason, you've only got three days until the solstice now, and you should never keep a nervous dragon waiting. This is certainly a good omen. Go!"

Jason nodded. Then he smiled at Piper. "You ready, partner?"

"You bet," she said, flashing him a smile.

Jason turned to Natalia, who looked at him with a bright smile on her face. "And what about you, Nat?"

Her smile widened. "Ready as I'll ever be."

After hugging Annabeth goodbye with a wish of good luck, Natalia climbed on the dragon. Leo was in the front, with Piper, Jason, and Natalia behind him. Natalia was totally aware she could fall off any second, but she knew that at least someone would catch her.

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

"What if we get spotted?" Piper asked.

"The Mist," Jason said. "It keeps mortals from seeing magic things. If they spot us, they'll probably mistake us for a small plane or something."

"You sure about that?" Piper asked, turning to look at him.

"No."

Natalia then snapped her fingers. "There, now they won't see us. The Mist is completely concealing us."

"How did you do that?" Piper asked, amazed.

Natalia shrugged. "My friend Thalia taught me. Speaking of her . . ." she leaned forwards, closer to Jason who was holding a picture of her. "Where did you get that?"

"Zeus Cabin," he responded quietly.

Natalia raised an eyebrow. "And why do you have it?"

"I, uh . . . I think she's my sister," he answered.

Natalia's eyes widened. "In all the years I've known Thalia, she's never mentioned a brother. How do you know she's your sister?"

"A feeling," he said. "How do you know Thalia?"

"Well, a few years ago she was brought back to life by the Golden Fleece after being a tree for a while. We became really good friends, and she even became one of my mother's Hunters."

"Nat . . . can you promise not to tell them? Not yet, at least," Jason said quietly.

She gave him a small smile. "Your secret's safe with me."

Piper turned back around and watched the two with a quizzical look. Jason blushed and placed the picture back in his pocket. "We're making good time. Probably get there by tonight."

"Where are we heading?" she asked.

"To find the God of the north wind," Jason said. "And chase some storm spirits."

The group was silent for a few minutes. Natalia twirled the bottom of her braid as she watched land pass by underneath them.

"Shut up, me," Leo suddenly said.

"What?" Piper asked.

"Nothing," he responded. "Long night. I think I'm hallucinating. It's cool."

Natalia's eyes narrowed. Hallucinating?

"Just joking," Leo said, changing the subject. "So what's the plan, bro? You said something about catching wind, or breaking wind, or something?"

Jason then began to explain the entire plan. First, they had to find Boreas, God of the northern winds, and get information from him.

"His name is Boreas? What is he, the God of boring?"

Natalia wanted to smack Leo upside the head.

Second, they had to find the Venti / Anemoi that were at the Grand Canyon.

"Can we just call them storm spirits? Venti makes them sound like evil espresso drinks."

Natalia now wanted to push him off the dragon. However, she refrained herself from doing so.

Finally, they had to find out who these storm spirits were working for so they could find Hera and free her.

"So you want to look for Dylan, the nasty storm dude, on purpose," Leo said. "The guy who threw me off the skywalk and sucked Coach Hedge into the clouds."

"That's about it," Jason said. "Well . . . there may be a wolf involved, too. But I think she's friendly. She probably won't eat us, unless we show weakness."

Jason told them about his dream — the big nasty mother wolf and a burned-out house with stone spires growing out of the swimming pool.

"Uh-huh," Leo said. "But you don't know where this place is."

"Nope," Jason admitted.

"There's also Giants," Piper added. "The Prophecy said the Giants' revenge."

"Hold on," Leo said. "Giants — like more than one? Why can't it be just one Giant who wants revenge?"

"I don't think so," Piper said. "I remember in some of the old Greek stories, there was something about an army of Giants."

"Great," Leo muttered. "Of course, with our luck, it's an army. So you know anything else about these Giants? Didn't you do a bunch of myth research for that movie with your dad?"

"Your dad's an actor?" Jason asked.

Leo laughed. "I keep forgetting about your amnesia. Heh. Forgetting about amnesia. That's funny. But yeah, her dad's Tristan McLean."

"Wait," Natalia said. "You mean the guy that's on the posters in the Aphrodite Cabin?"

"That's the one," Piper said in a monotone voice.

"Uh — sorry, what was he in?" Jason asked.

"That doesn't matter right now, sorry, Piper," Natalia said, but Piper looked glad that she changed the subject. "Anyways, there were lots of Giants in Greek Mythology. They can throw mountains and are nearly impossible to kill. Trust me, I've fought a couple. Each one is made to oppose a certain God or Goddess and are related to the Titans. After Kronos lost the First Titan War, they rose from the depths of Tartarus and tried to destroy Olympus. If it's happening again, that's what that line of the Prophecy means."

"Chiron said it was happening again," Jason remembered. "The last chapter. That's what he meant. No wonder he didn't want us to know all the details."

Leo whistled. "So . . . Giants who can throw mountains. Friendly wolves that will eat us if we show weakness. Evil espresso drinks. Gotcha. Maybe this isn't the time to bring up my psycho babysitter."

"Is that another joke?" Piper asked.

Leo then began to tell the story of his Tía Callida, who was actually Hera, and how she appeared at Camp. He also then told them of a strange woman in Earthen robes who was asleep but still seemed to know the future.

Natalia's eyes widened at that. She knew exactly who Leo was talking about, but with all her willpower, kept her mouth shut. She didn't want to believe it was true.

"That's . . . disturbing," Piper said.

"'Bout sums it up," Leo agreed. "Thing is, everybody says don't trust Hera. She hates Demigods. And the Prophecy said we'd cause death if we unleash her rage. So I'm wondering . . . why are we doing this?"

"She chose us," Jason said. "All four of us. We're the first of the eight who have to gather for the Great Prophecy. This quest is the beginning of something much bigger."

Natalia sighed. Of course she had to be involved in another Great Prophecy. Wasn't one enough?

"Besides," Jason continued, "helping Hera is the only way I can get back my memory. And that dark spire in my dream seemed to be feeding on Hera's energy. If that thing unleashes a king of the Giants by destroying Hera—"

"That wouldn't be good," Natalia finished. "As much as I despise Hera, losing her would throw the family of Olympians into chaos. She keeps peace in the family — well, not really — but if this raises Giants, it could be even more destructive than the two Titan Wars."

Jason nodded. "Chiron also talked about worse forces stirring on the solstice, with it being a good time for dark magic, and all — something that could awaken if Hera were sacrificed on that day. And this mistress who's controlling the storm spirits, the one who wants to kill all the Demigods—"

"Might be that weird sleeping lady," Leo finished, and Natalia shuddered. "Dirt Woman fully awake? Not something I want to see."

"But who is she?" Jason asked. "And what does she have to do with Giants?"

Natalia knew the answers. But she wanted to hope for the best, so once again, she kept her mouth shut.

The group sat in complete silence, besides the fact that wind was rushing besides their ears. The air got colder, and Natalia wrapped the silver parka around her tighter. She stared at the ground, only looking up when Jason tapped her knee.

She stared at him curiously until he spoke up. "Get some sleep, Nat."

"No, I'm fine," she said, but her closing eyes said otherwise.

"Yeah, right. I'll wake you up when we're there."

She gave him a soft smile before leaning forwards, immediately falling asleep the minute her head laid on his back.

»»---------------------►

IT FELT LIKE she had slept for five minutes when Jason shook her awake. She sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Glancing at her surroundings, she saw a city dusted with snow.

"Tell me that's Quebec and not Santa's workshop," Leo said.

"Yeah, Quebec City," Piper confirmed. "One of the oldest cities in North America. Founded around sixteen hundred or so?"

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Your dad do a movie about that too?"

Piper made a face at him, her Aphrodite blessing not quite worn off yet. "I read sometimes, okay? Just because Aphrodite claimed me, doesn't mean I have to be an airhead."

"Feisty!" Leo said. "So you know so much, what's that castle?"

"A hotel, I think."

Leo laughed. "No way."

But as they got closer, they saw she was right. The grand entrance was bustling with doormen, valets, and porters taking bags. Sleek black luxury cars idled in the drive. People in elegant suits and winter cloaks hurried to get out of the cold.

"The north wind is staying in a hotel?" Leo said. "That can't be—"

"Heads up, guys," Jason interrupted. "We got company!"

Natalia looked below and saw what Jason meant. Rising from the top of the tower were two winged figures — angry angels, with nasty-looking swords. Her eyes widened, and her hand went to go tap her bracelet. Jason noticed this and grabbed her hand. She glanced from their hands to his face. Her face burning, she pulled her hand away.

Festus bared his teeth and made a deep, rumbling noise in his throat. "Steady, boy," Leo muttered.

"I don't like this," Jason said. "They look like storm spirits."

However, as they got closer, Natalia noticed they were much more solid than Anemoi. They had icy white hair and feathery purple wings. Jagged bronze swords hung by their sides like icicles, and looked to be brothers. One was the size of an ox, with a red hockey jersey, baggy sweatpants, black cleats, two black eyes, and had several missing teeth. The other had a mullet, pointy leather shoes, tight designer pants, a silk shirt with the three top buttons opened, and had a bad case of acne.

The angels flew over to Festus and hovered there, their swords at the ready. "No clearance," the hockey ox grunted.

"'Scuse me?" Leo asked.

"You have no flight to plan on file," explained the other with a terrible French accent. "This is restricted airspace."

"Destroy them?" the hockey one asked.

Festus began to hiss steam. Jason then summoned his golden sword, and Natalia looked at him incredulously. He gave her a sheepish smile back, making her roll her eyes.

"Hold on!" Leo cried. "Let's have some manners here, boys. Can I at least find out who has the honor of destroying me?"

"I am Cal!" the ox grunted, looking very proud of himself.

"That's short for Calais," the other said. "Sadly, my brother cannot say words with more than two syllables—"

"Pizza! Hockey! Destroy!" Cal offered.

"—which includes his own name."

"I am Cal," Cal repeated. "And this is Zethes! My brother!"

"Wow," Leo said. "That was almost three sentences, man! Way to go."

Cal grunted, obviously pleased with himself.

"Stupid buffoon," his brother grumbled. "They make fun of you. But no matter. I am Zethes, which is short for Zethes. And the ladies there—" He winked at Piper and Natalia, but the wink was more like a facial seizure. "They can call me anything they like. Perhaps they would like to have dinner with a famous Demigod before we must destroy you?"

Piper made a sound like gagging on a cough drop. "That's . . . a truly horrifying offer."

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to pass on that one," Natalia said.

"It is no problem." Zethes wiggled his eyebrows. "We are very romantic people, we Boreads."

"Boreads?" Jason cut in. "Do you mean, like, the sons of Boreas?"

"Ah, so you've heard of us!" Zethes looked pleased. "We are our father's gatekeepers. So you understand, we cannot have unauthorized people flying in his airspace on creaky dragons, scaring the silly mortal peoples."

He pointed below, and they saw that the mortals were starting to take notice. Several were pointing up — not with alarm, yet — more with confusion and annoyance, like the dragon was a traffic helicopter flying too low.

"Which is sadly why, unless this is an emergency landing, we will have to destroy you painfully."

"Destroy!" Cal agreed, sounding very enthusiastic about it.

"Wait!" Piper said. "This is an emergency landing."

Natalia nodded. "It is!"

"Awww!" Cal said, looking extremely disappointed.

Zethes studied Piper, then studied Natalia, and then looked back at Piper. "How do the pretty girls decide this is an emergency, then?"

"We have to see Boreas. It's totally urgent! Please?" Piper asked with a smile, her voice sounding richer in tone.

Zethes picked at his silk shirt. "Well . . . I hate to disappoint lovely ladies, but you see, my sister, she would have an avalanche if we allowed you—"

Natalia gave him her most charming smile. "But our dragon is malfunctioning. It could crash any minute!"

Festus shuddered, and turned his head, spilling gunk all over a black Mercedes in the parking lot.

"No destroy?" Cal whimpered.

Zethes pondered, and then gave Natalia and Piper another wink. "Well, you two are pretty. I mean, you're right. A malfunctioning dragon — this could be an emergency."

"Destroy them later?" Cal asked.

"It will take some explaining," Zethes decided. "Father has not been kind to visitors lately. But, yes. Come, faulty dragon people. Follow us."

The Boreads sheathed their swords and pulled smaller flashlights with orange cones from their belts. Cal and Zethes turned and swooped toward the hotel's tower.

Leo turned to his friends. "I love these guys. Follow them?"

Natalia's face showed nervousness, but she cleared her throat, trying to wash it away. "Well, we made it here, so sure. But Boreas is usually the kindest of the wind Gods . . . I wonder why he hasn't been friendly."

"Pfft, he just hasn't met us," Leo said. "Festus, after those flashlights!"

A section of the slanted roof slid open as the dragon got closer.

"This cannot be good," Jason muttered as Leo made Festus swoop in.

They landed in what must have been the penthouse suite; but the place had been hit by a flash freeze. The entry hall had vaulted ceilings forty feet high, huge draped windows, and lush oriental carpets. A staircase at the back of the room led up to another equally massive hall, and more corridors branched off to the left and right. But the ice made the room's beauty a little frightening. When they all slid off the dragon, the carpet crunched under their feet. A fine layer of frost covered the furniture. The curtains didn't budge because they were frozen solid, and the ice-coated windows let in weird watery light from the sunset. Even the ceiling was furry with icicles. The stairs looked like if someone tried to climb them, they would slip and break their neck.

"Guys, fix the thermostat in here, and I would totally move in," Leo said.

"No . . ." Natalia glanced around, and then stared at the staircase. "Something's not right."

Festus shuddered and snorted flames. Frost started toform on his scales.

"No, no, no." Zethes marched over. "The dragon must be deactivated. We can't have fire in here. The heat ruins my hair."

Festus growled and spun his drill-bit teeth."'S'okay, boy." Leo turned to Zethes. "The dragon's a little touchy about the whole deactivation concept. But I've got a better solution."

"Destroy?" Cal suggested.

"No, man. You gotta stop with the destroy talk. Just wait."

"Leo," Piper said nervously, "what are you—"

"Watch and learn, Beauty Queen. When I was repairing Festus last night, I found all kinds of buttons. Some, you do not want to know what they do. But others . . . Ah, here we go."

Leo hooked his fingers behind the dragon's left foreleg. He pulled a switch, and the dragon shuddered from head to toe. Everyone backed away as Festus folded like origami. His Bronze plating stacked together. His neck and tail contracted into his body. His wings collapsed and his trunk compacted until he was a rectangular metal wedge the size of a suitcase.

Leo tried to lift it, but the thing weighed about six billion pounds. "Um . . . yeah. Hold on. I think — aha."

He pushed another button. A handle flipped up on the top,and wheels clicked out on the bottom. "Ta-da!" he announced. "The world's heaviest carry-on bag!"

"That's impossible," Jason said. "Something that big couldn't—"

"Stop!" Zethes ordered. He and Cal both drew their swords and glared at Leo.

Leo raised his hands in surrender. "Okay . . . what'd I do? Stay calm, guys. If it bothers you that much, I don't have to take the dragon as carry-on—"

"Who are you?" Zethes demanded, shoving the point of his sword into Leo's chest. "A child of the south wind, spying on us?"

"What? No! Son of Hephaestus. Friendly blacksmith, no harm to anyone!"

Cal growled, putting his face up to Leo. "Smell fire. Fire is bad."

"Oh," Leo responded. "Yeah, well . . . my clothes are kind of singed, and I've been working with oil, and—"

"No!" Zethes yelled, putting Leo back at sword point. "We can smell fire, Demigod. We assumed it was from the creaky dragon, but now the dragon is a suitcase. And I still smell fire . . . on you."

Leo looked extremely nervous.. "Hey . . . look . . . I don't know—" He glanced at the other three. "Guys, a little help."

Jason had his gold coin in his hand. "Look, there's been a mistake. Leo isn't a fire guy. Tell them, Leo. Tell them you're not a fire guy."

"Um . . ."

"Zethes?" Piper asked, putting on her most dazzling smile, though she looked nervous. "We're all friends here. Put down your swords and let's talk."

"The girl is pretty, and of course she cannot help being attracted to my amazingness; but sadly, I cannot romance her at this time."

He poked his sword farther into Leo, and frost began to spread across his shirt.

"Destroy him now?" Cal asked.

Zethes nodded. "Sadly, I think—"

"No," Jason insisted. "Leo's just a son of Hephaestus. He's no threat. Piper here is a daughter of Aphrodite. Natalia is a daughter of Artemis—"

"Artemis?" Zethes asked increduously. "Not possible."

Natalia glared at him. "Well, it apparently is possible, because here I am, buddy."

"And I'm the son of Zeus. We're on peaceful . . ."

His voice faltered because both Boreads had suddenly turned on him.

"What did you say?" Zethes demanded. "You are the son of Zeus?"

"Um . . . yeah. That's a good thing, right? My name is Jason."

Cal looked surprised. "Can't be Jason. Doesn't look the same."

Zethes stepped forward and squinted at Jason's face, and Natalia's hand itched to tap her bracelet. "No, he is not our Jason. Our Jason was more stylish. Not as much as me — but stylish. Besides, our Jason died millennia ago."

"Wait. Your Jason . . . you mean the original Jason? The Golden Fleece guy?"

"Of course," Zethes responded. "We were his crewmates aboard his ship, the Argo, in the old times, when we were mortal Demigods. Then we accepted immortality to serve our father, so I could look this good for all time, and my silly brother could enjoy pizza and hockey."

"Hockey!" Cal agreed.

"But Jason — our Jason — he died a mortal death. You can't be him."

"I'm not," Jason said.

"So, destroy?" Cal asked.

"No," Zethes said. "If he is a son of Zeus, he could be the one we've been watching for."

"Watching for?" Leo asked. "You mean like in a good way: you'll shower him with fabulous prizes? Or watching for like in a bad way: he's in trouble?"

A girl's voice that was terribly familiar to Natalia sounded from the top of the staircase. "That depends on my father's will."

★彡

Who's ready to meet the bitch we all hate?