━━ chapter two
blond superman
( jason )

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

━━It wasn't long before the storm had turned into a miniature, raging hurricane. The funnel clouds snaked towards the skywalk like monstrous vines; kids around Jason screamed and ran for the building as the wind snatched away their notebooks, jackets, hats and backpacks. Jason skidded across the floor.

Leo lost his balance and almost toppled over the railing, however, Jason and Savreen managed to grab him before he fell over the side. "Thanks!" he yelled, out of breath.

"Go, go, go!" Coach Hedge shouted over the wind, gesturing widely for the students to run for the doors.

Savreen glanced up at the storm, her eyes wide and fearful. "How is that ...?" she didn't finish, but she didn't need to. Jason knew what she was going to say: how is that even possible? And he wondered that, too.

Piper and Dylan were holding the doors open, herding the other kids inside. Jason pulled Savreen back onto her feet as she skid along the glass, her denim jacket flapping in her face. They, Leo and Coach Hedge tried to reach the doors, but it was like running through quicksand. Dylan and Piper pushed one more kid inside before losing their grip on the doors. They slammed shut, closing off the skywalk.

Piper tugged at the handles. Inside, the kids pounded on the glass, but the doors seemed to be stuck.

(Uh, glad to know they kind of cared, right?).

"Dylan, help!" Piper shouted.

However, Dylan just stood there. His Cowboys jersey rippled in the wind. He looked up at the storm with a grin on his face━as if enjoying it. "Sorry, Piper," he said. "I'm done helping."

He flicked his wrist and Piper flew backwards, slamming into the doors and sliding to the skywalk deck.

"Piper!" cried Savreen, horrified.

Jason surged forward to help, but Coach pulled him back. He frowned at him. "Let me go!"

Coach Hedge fixed up his baseball bat, "Jason, Leo, Savreen, stay behind me," he ordered. "I should've known that was our monster."

"What?" a stray worksheet slapped Leo in the face, but he swatted it away. "What monster?"

"Monster?" Savreen mumbled weakly, shivering.

The coach's hat blew off, showing two horns sticking up above his curly hair. He raised his baseball bat, but it was no longer a bat anymore. Somehow, it had changed into a crudely shaped tree-branch club, with leaves and twigs still attatched.

Dylan gave him a wide smile, "Oh, come on, coach. Let the boy attack me! After all, you're getting to old for this. Isn't that why they retired you to this stupid school? I've been on your team the entire season and you didn't even know. You're losing your nose, grandpa."

Coach made an angry sound, like an animal bleating. "That's it, cupcake. You're going down."

"Think you can protect four half-bloods at once, old man?" Dylan laughed. "Good luck!"

"Demigods?" Savreen looked like she might faint.

Dylan just laughed at her before pointing a finger at Leo. A funnel cloud materialised around him. Leo flew off the skywalk like he had been tossed. Jason and Savreen yelled his name, the latter far more of a shriek than anything, reaching out as if to try and catch him. Somehow, he managed to twist midair and slammed sideways into the canyon wall. He skidded, clawing furiously at the rocks for any handholds before finally, he grabbed a thin ledge about fifty feet below the skywalk and hung on there by his fingertips.

"Help!" he yelled up at them. "Rope, please? Bungee cord? Something?!"

"Leo!" Sevreen cried out again.

Coach Hedge cursed and tossed Jason his club. "I don't know who you are, kid, but I hope you're good. Keep that thing busy━" he stabbed a thumb at Dylan, "━while I get Leo."

"Get him how?" Jason couldn't help but think his words were a bit ridiculous. What was he planning on doing? How was he supposed to scale that cliff for Leo down below. "You going to fly?"

"Not fly. Climb," Hedge kicked off his shoes. Savreen choked at the sight of goat's hooves instead of feet.

Jason gaped. "You're a faun!"

"Satyr!" snapped Coach Hedge. "Fauns are Roman. But we'll talk about that later." With that said, he lept off the railing, sailing towards the canyon wall like a superhero in an explosion. He hit hooves first, immediately bounding down the cliff, finding footholes no bigger than postage stamps. He dodged wirlwinds, flipping and performing karate-faun moves as he picked his way towards Leo.

"Isn't that cute!" Dylan turned towards Jason. "Now it's your turn, boy."

Jason threw the club. It seemed useless with the winds so strong, but the club flew right at Dylan━even curving when he tried to dodge! Whack! It hit him right in the back of his head and he fell to his knees.

Piper wasn't as dazed as she apperaed. Her fingers closed around the club when it rolled next to her, but before she could use it, Dylan rose. Blood━golden blood━trickled down from his forehead.

Savreen's breath hitched in the back of her throat. Jason didn't know how he thought he could protect her, but he moved to stand in front of her without even thinking━heck, he barely knew how to fight any more than she did! How was he supposed to take this dude on?

"Nice try, boy," he glared at Jason. "But you'll have to do better."

The skywalk shuddered. Harline fractures appeared in the glass. Inside the museum, kids stopped banging on the doors. They backed away, watching in terror. Dylan's body then dissolved into smoke, disspiating and morphing from the form he held now to something frightening. Swirling black vapour wrapped around, like a small tornado to configure into a silhouette of nightmares; an angel, but with lightning in his eyes, smoke for wings and thunder for a laugh.

Dylan rose up into the sky, and Jason let out━not even realising━, "You're a ventus." (Where had that name even come from?) "A storm spirit."

Dylan laughed, thundering a chill down Jason's spine. "I'm glad I waited, demigod. Leo, Piper and Savreen I've known about for weeks. Could've killed them at any time. But my mistress said a fourth was coming━someone special. She'll reward me greatly for your death!"

"Death?" Savreen echoed weakly, meeting Jason's gaze with a tear-filled blink. She was terrified.

Two more funnel clouds touched down on either side of Dylan━more venti coming to kill them (yay, Jason thought to himself sarcastically). Piper stayed down, pretending to be dazed, her hand still gripping the club. Her face was pale, but she gave Jason a determined look, one that said: Keep their attention. I'll brain them from behind!

(Cute, smart and violent; Jason really wished he remembered having her as his girlfriend).

With a deep breath, Jason clenched his fists and got ready to charge, but he never got the chance.

Dylan raised his hand, arcs of electricity running between his fingers, Jason only had time to shout, "Savreen━get out of the way━!" when bang!

Jason found himself flat on his back. His mouth burned; tasing like aluminium foil ... not that he knows what aluminium foil tastes like. He wondered if he opened up his mouth, smoke would come out, his clothes were sure smoking. The lightning bolt had gone straight through his body and blasted his left shoe off. His toes were black with soot.

The storm spirits were laughing. The winds raged. Savreen was crying. Piper was screaming defiantly, but it all sounded tinny and far away. Out of the corner of his eye, Jason saw Coach Hedge climbing the cliff with Leo on his back. Piper was on her feet, desperately swinging the club to fend off the two extra storm spirits, but they were just toying with her. The club went right through their bodies like they weren't even there. Dylan loomed over Jason━a dark-winged tornado with eyes. Savreen shouted something through her tears, managing to find a broken part of the skywalk barrier to throw.

Dylan wasn't expecting it. It hit him in the side of the face, shattering at the force. Amongst golden blood, he turned to glare at Savreen, who gasped and got to her feet, surprised at what she had been able to do.

Before he could hurt her, Jason croaked out a, "Stop."

He rose unsteadily to his feet, and he wasn't sure who was more suprrised: him, Sav, Piper, or the storm spirits.

"My turn," said Jason.

Reaching straight into his pocket, he flipped the coin into the air. It as second nature to him━he didn't even look as he caught it, and in his hand, was suddenly a gleaming, golden, double-edged sword. Jason spun it in his wrist and readied himself in a stance━not even thinking about it.

Dylan snarled and backed up. He looked at his two comrades and yelled, "Well? Kill him!"

His storm spirit friends didn't seem to like the idea, but obliged. They charged Jason, fingers crackling with electricity.

But Jason━somehow━was ready.

He swung at the first spirit. His blade passed right through like butter, and the creature's smoky form disintegrated. The second spirit let loose a bolt of lightning, but with a thrust, Jason's blade absorbed the charge. He stepped in━another thrust and the second storm spirit was gone in a pile of gold powder.

Dylan wailed in his outrage. "IMPOSSIBLE! Who are you, half-blood?!"

Piper was so stunned she dropped her club. Savreen was gaping. "Jason, how...?"

(Honest? He had no idea).

Then Coach Hedge leaped back onto the skywalk and dumped Leo like a sack of flour. Savreen gasped and rushed to him, checking whether he was okay.

"Spirits, fear me!" bellowed Hedge, flexing his short arms. Then he looked around and realised there was only Dylan. "Curse it, boy!" he snapped at Jason. "Didn't you leave some for me? I like a challenge!"

Leo got to his feet, pulling Sav up with him. He was breathing hard. He looked completely humiliated; his hands were bleeding from clawing at the rocks. "Yo, Coach Supergoat, whatever you are━I just fell down the freaking Grand Canyon! Stop asking for challenges!"

Dylan hissed at them, but there was fear flickering in his eyes. "You have no idea how many enemies you've awkwaned, half-bloods. My mistress will destroy all demigods. This war you cannot win."

"What?" muttered Sav.

Above them, the storm exploded into a full-force gale. Cracks expanded in the skywalk. Sheets of rain poured down; they had to crouch to keep their balance. Savreen clung onto Leo with everything she had. A hole opened in the clouds━a swirling vortex of black and silver.

"The mistress calls me back!" Dylan shouted with glee. "And you, demigod, will come with me!"

He lunged at Jason, but Piper tackled the monster from behind. Even though he was made of smoke, Piper made contact. Both of them went sprawling. Leo, Savreen, Jason and the coach surged forward to help, but the spirit let loose a torrent that knocked them all backwards. Jason and Coach Hedge landed on their behinds. Jason's sword skidded along the glass. Leo hit the back of his head and curled on his side, dazed and groaning. Savreen landed on top of them, coughing and rolling off, winded. Piper got the worst of it, though. She was thrown off Dylan's back and hit the railing, tumbling over the side until she was hanging by one hand over the abyss.

Jason started towards her, but Dylan screamed. "I'll settle for this one━!"

He grabbed Leo's arm and began to rise. Sav screamed and reached up, gripping Leo's leg and tugging back━soon, she was being dragged up into the air, too. The storm spunf aster, pulling them upward like a vacuum cleaner.

"Help!" Piper yelled. "Somebody━!"

She slipped, screaming as she fell.

"Jason, go!" Hedge yelled. "Save her!"

Not giving Jason a chance to answer, he launched himself up at the spirit with some serious goat-fu━lashing out with his hooves, knocking Leo and Sav free from the spirit's grasp. Savreen hit the glass, and Leo fell right ontop of her. She coughed again, startled by the sudden weight on her stomach. However, Dylan grabbed the coach's arms instead. Hedge tried to head-butt him, then kicked him and called him, "CUPCAKE!" They rose into the air, gaining speed.

Coach Hedge shouted down once more. "Save her! I've got this!" then the satyr and storm spirit disappeared into the clouds.

"Save her?!" let out Jason, crazed. "She's gone!"

But his instincts won. Running to the railing, he thought, well, I'm an absolute lunatic, and jumped over the side.

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

━━Feeling the wind of the gale face-on was different than feeling it falling around him. Jason shot through it, like a vortex wrapping around his legs and torso━pulling and shoving him left and right. He didn't know whether someone was supposed to feel wind this way, as if hands were on his windbreaker and jeans, but he just tucked in his arms and plummeted headfirst.

He caught up with Piper in a matter of seconds. She was flailing wildly, screaming. He just grabbed her waist and closed his eyes, waiting for their death. At least she wouldn't die alone━nor would Jason. They were in this together, even if he barely knew who she was. The wind whistled in his ears, and he gritted his teeth at the wind that continued to shove against his body. He wanted it to stop, to just give him some peace as he died━to give Piper peace. Actually, he wished somehow they could never even hit the bottom.

And then, just like that, the wind died. Piper's screams turned into a strangled gasp. Jason wondered whether they were dead, but he hadn't felt any impact.

"J━J━Jason," managed Piper, and he opened his eyes.

They weren't falling. No, no, they were floating. In midair; a hundred feet above the river.

Jason hugged Piper tight, and she repositioned herself so she was hugging him, too. His heart fluttered, feeling her breath tickle his lips as they became nose-to-nose. Her heart beat so hard Jason could feel it through her clothes. Her breath smelled like cinnamon. She was stunning.

Focus, Jason!

"How ... how did you?" Piper finally spoke, her voice no louder than a breathy whisper.

"I didn't," said Jason. "I think I would know if I could fly..."

But then he realised: I don't even know who I am.

Jason imagined going up. Piper yelped, startled, as they shot a few feet higher. Under his feet, he felt the wind again━pushing, pulling, wrapping, like it was forming a landing right under them that followed his bidding.

"The air is supporting us," he decided.

"Well, tell it to support us more! Get us out of here!"

The easiest solution would to sink to the ground; settle on the canyon floor. But Jason looked up; Savreen and Leo were still up there, and he had no idea what had happened to Coach Hedge. The storm clouds seemed to have calmed down, but there was no guarantee the storm spirits were gone.

"We have to help them," said Piper, as if reading his thoughts. "Can you━?"

"Let's see ..." Jason murmured. Up, he thought, and instantly, they shot skyward. While the thought of being able to fly sounded pretty cool, that wasn't what was on Jason's mind. As soon as the two of them touched the glass, they ran to Savreen who was busy keeping Leo propped up, shaking and stiffling back her sobs.

Then she saw them and her face lit up with relief. "You're alive!" she cried out.

Piper crouched down next to her, rubbing her back and glancing down at Leo, "Is he━?"

Sav nodded and gave him a small nudge. He groaned. His army coat was soaked from the rain and his curly hair glittered gold from the monster dust. But at least he wasn't dead.

"Stupid ... ugly ... goat ..." he muttered.

"Where did he go?" Piper asked Savreen.

She glanced straight up. "He━he never came back down."

"Ugh, please don't tell me he didn't actually save my life," grumbled Leo.

"Twice," said Jason.

Leo groaned again, louder this time. "What happened? The tornado guy, the gold sword ... I hit my head. That's it, right? I'm hallucinating?"

Jason will admit, he had completely forgotten about the sword. Standing up, he walked over to where it was lying and picked it up. It was well balanced━on a hunch, he flipped it. Midspin, the sword shrank back into a coin and landed in his palm.

"Yep," mumbled Leo. "Definitely hallucinating."

Piper shivered in her rain-soaked clothes. She huddled closer next to Savreen, wrapping an arm around her friend to try and keep the both of them warm. "Jason, those things━"

"Venti," he said automatically. "Storm spirits."

"Okay. You acted like ... like you'd seen them before. Who are you?"

Jason sighed. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. I don't know."

The storm around them dissipated. The other kids from the Wilderness School were staring out of the glass doors in horror. Security guards were working on the locks now, but they didn't seem to be having any luck.

"Coach Hedge said he had to protect four people," Jason remembered. "I think he meant us..."

"And that thing Dylan turned into..." Piper shuddered. "God, I can't believe it was hitting on me. He called us ... what, demigods?"

Leo leaned into Savreen, mumbling something in Spanish before he realised they didn't understand. "Don't know what demi means," he said. "But I'm not feeling too godly. You guys feeling godly?"

"No," agreed Savreen, wiping the tears from her red, puffy eyes. "Absolutely not." Her gaze flickered down to Jason's feet, and the bronze glow in her skin left, making her look suddenly very sick. Her eyes widened in recognition of something━what that was, Jason didn't know.

There was a brittle sound━like dry twigs snapping underfoot, and the hairline fractures in the skywalk began to widen.

"We need to get off this thing," Jason said. "Maybe if we━"

"Oohhh━kay," Leo cut him off. "Look up there and tell me if those are flying horses."

At first Jason thought that maybe Leo had done something more than hit his head too hard, but then he saw a dark shape descending from the east━too slow for a plane, too large for a bird (and definitely not Superman━though Jason can't even remember whether he's seen Superman...) As it got closer, he could make out a pair of winged animals━grey, four-legged, exactly like horses━except each one had a twenty-foot wingspan. And they were pulling a brightly painted box with two wheels: a chariot.

"Reinforcements," realised Jason. "Hedge told me an extraction squad was coming for us."

"Extraction squad?" Leo struggled to his feet. Sav and Piper were right behind him. "That sounds painful."

"Where are they extracting us to?" asked Savreen nervously.

Jason didn't answer. They were asking him questions he felt like he should know the answer to, but didn't, and he hated it. He was scared, and he was vulnerable, and he felt like he was stark naked in a crowd of people and with all of that, was a terrible bout of guilt. These people acted as though they knew him like the back of their own hands, and he could just barely remember their names. One of them thought he was their boyfriend━what kind of person does that make him? Jason was terrified, and if he wasn't surrounded by people he didn't know, and had to show himself to be strong, he might shed a tear or two. He was missing something, but he didn't know what, and that caused a great big aching chasm in his chest.

So, Jason just watched as the chariot landed ont he far end of the skywalk. The flying horses tucked in their wings and cantered nervously across the glass, as if they sensed it was near breaking. Three teenagers stood in the chariot━a tall blonde girl maybe a little older than Jason, and another a little smaller, and hair a bit lighter aside from the tips, that were a dark purple, like she was growing out colour; before finally was a bulky dude with a shaked head and a face like a pile of bricks. They all wore jeans and orange T-shirts, with shields tossed over their backs. The shorter blonde leaped off the chariot before it had even finished moving. She spun a necklace with the pendant of a key and in her hands appeared a bow. She stormed towards Jason, eyes narrowed fiercly.

"Where is he?" she demanded.

Jason stepped back, startled. "Where's who?"

She frowned like this answer was unacceptable. Then, she turned to Leo, Savreen and Piper. "What about Gleeson? Where is your protector, Gleeson Hedge?"

Wait, does she mean Coach Hedge? His first name was Gleeson? Jason might've laughed if the morning hadn't been so weird and scary. Gleeson Hedge: football coach, goat man, protector of demigods. Sure. Why not?

Leo cleared his throat, eyeing the girl nervously. "He got taken by some ... tornado things."

"Venti," said Jason. "Storm spirits."

The second blonde jumped from the chariot and approached the other. She arched a brow, her gaze a striking grey. "You mean anemoi thuellai?" she prompted. "That's the Greek term. Who are you, and what happened?"

Jason did his best to explain, though it was hard to meet their gazes. The others helped a little, aside from Savreen, who stared at the people with a shocked gaze. Jason didn't know whether he should ask her what was wrong or not. He guessed she was still in horror over everything that had just happened, and he couldn't blame her. About halfway through the story, the dude from the chariot came over. He stood there, glaring with his arms crossed. He had a tattoo of a rainbow on his bicepts, which seemed a little unusual.

When Jason had finished his story, the shorter blonde girl didn't look satisfied. "What? No. That can't be right."

"Um ... I mean, it is, we were there," Leo raised his hand up as if answering a question in class. The girl ignored him, glaring up at the sky.

"You told me he would be here!" she yeled up at it. "You told me if I came here, I'd find the answer!"

"Claire," the bald guy grunted. "Check it out," he pointed at Jason's feet.

Jason hadn't thought much about it, but he was still missing his left shoe. His bare foot felt okay, but it looked like a lump of charcoal. The other girl frowned at it, like it was a missing piece to a blueprint she was reading.

"The guy with one shie," went on the bald guy. "He's the answer."

"No, Butch," Claire turned to him. "He can't be. I was tricked! What do you want from me?!" she screamed up at the sky. "What have you done with him?!"

The skywalk shuddered and the horses whinnied urgently.

The other blonde girl reached for the hand of her friend, "Claire," she said, "we have to leave. Let's get these four to camp and figure it out there. The storm spirits might come back."

"Annabeth━" Claire fumed for a moment, but Jason saw something else in her eyes. Desperation, fear, worry ... Annabeth titled her head, and the two of them shared a silent conversaiton before she sighed. "Fine." She fixed Jason with a new resentful look. "We'll settle this later."

She spun on her heel and stormed back to the chariot.

Piper shook her head. "What's her problem? What's going on?"

"Seriously," agreed Leo.

"Yeah," muttered Savreen.

"We have to get you out of here," said Butch. "Annabeth and I'll explain on the way."

"I'm not going anywhere with her," Jason gestured towards Claire. "She looks like she wants to kill me."

Annabeth winced. "Look," she said, "Claire's okay. You just have to cut her some slack. She had a vision telling her to come here to find a guy with one shoe. That was supposed to be the answer to our problem."

"What problem?" asked Piper.

"They've been looking for one of our campers," said Butch, "who's been missing for three days. Claire's been going out of her mind with worry. She hoped he'd be here."

"Who?" asked Savreen.

"Her boyfriend, and my best friend," said Annabeth sadly. "Percy Jackson."

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

a/n: i need to focus on other books after this chapter lol. but i had to get out the chapter where claire comes back. AHHHHH CLAIREEEEE!!!!!!!! MY BABES IT FEELS SO WEIRD NOT TO WRITE YOUR PERSPECTIVE AND SEE YOU FROM AN OUTSIDERS VIEW GAHHHHHHHHHHH.

also i'm shipping leo and savreen already so hard. i have so much planned for them.

btw this is edited well, so there are going to be grammar mistakes and such. sorryyyyyyy.