━━ chapter twenty-four
building bridges
( and watching them burn )
( leo )

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

━━When Leo saw just how well Piper and Hedge were being treated, he was thoroughly offended.

Like, seriously.

He'd imagined them freezing their behinds off in the snow, like he was (even with his natural heat!), but the Hunter Phoebe had set up this silver tent pavilion thing right outside the cave. How she'd done it so quickly, Leo had no idea, but inside was a kerosene heater keeping them warm amongst a bunch of comfy throw pillows. Piper looked back to normal, decked out in a new parka, gloves and camo pants. Savreen rushed forward to latch her arms around Piper's shoulders, happy to see her alive and looking well. Piper hugged her back, setting her cheek against hers. She, Hedge and Pheobe were kicking back, enjoying a nice hot chocolate.

"Oh, no way," scoffed Leo. "We've been sitting in a cave and you get the luxury tent? Somebody give me hypothermia. I want hot chocolate and a parka!"

"Come here and I'll give you a punch in the face?" Piper offered innocently.

Leo scowled at her, "Glad you're back to your violent self."

She smiled sweetly.

Phoebe sniffed. "Boys," she said, as if that was the worst insult she could think of.

"It's all right, Phoebe," said Thalia. "They'll need extra coats. And I think we can spare some chocolate."

Phoebe grumbled, but soon enough, Leo, Jason and Savreen were also dressed in silvery winter clothes that were incredibly light-weight and warm. Sav tugged her sleeves so they covered her fingers, huddled up in her winter clothes like an oversized baby, clutching a hot chocolate that was (by Leo's standards) first-rate.

He smiled a little at her, feeling his heart warm up the most. Leo wished he could just tell her how he felt━how she made his days brighter, made him feel like he could think and breathe; made him feel like he wasn't alone. That even after all those years separated, growing up without the other, he still thought of her like she was an angel hovering over his shoulder. He joked, he called her nicknames and flirted aimlessly to any girl that passed by, including Sav, but he also cherished her unlike any other girl that grabbed his eyes. She was also his best friend, and that was more special than any feelings he had. That was why he made it seem like fun jokes, why he kept it down━a snuffed out flame by a wet cotton blanket. The last thing Leo wanted to do was lose Savreen, too; for her to abandon him like everyone else, and there he would be off again, running and running, always moving. He didn't want that. Leo wanted them to last, however form that took.

"Cheers!" said Coach Hedge. He crunched down his plastic thermos cup.

"That cannot be good for your intestines," Leo told him.

Thalia patted Piper on the back, "You up for moving?"

Piper nodded. "Thanks to Phoebe, yeah. You guys are really good at this wilderness survival thing. I feel like I could run ten miles."

Thalia winked at Jason. "She's tough for a child of Aphrodite. I like this one."

Something flashed across Piper's face, like she wanted to take that as a compliment, but couldn't help but feel a tense moment of bitterness.

It took Phoebe exactly six seconds to break camp━and yes, Leo is serious, and he cannot believe how. The tent self-collapsed into a square the size of a pack of chewing gum, and Leo wanted to ask her for the blueprints, but they didn't have time.

Thalia ran uphill through the snow, hugging a tiny little path on the side of the mountain, and soon, Leo was getting trying to look macho, because the Hunters left him in the dust. Coach Hedge leaped around like a happy mountain goat, coaxing them on like he used to do on track days at school. "Come on, Valdez! Pick up the pace! Let's chant: I've got a girl in Kalamazoo━"

"Let's not," snapped Thalia.

So, they ran in silence.

Leo fell in next to Jason at the back of the group. His friend hadn't stopped brooding since they left the cave. "How you doing, man?"

Jason's expression was enough of an answer: Not good.

He sighed and stared onwards, gaze fixed on his older sister leading the group. "Thalia ... takes it so calmly," he muttered. "Like━it's no big deal that I appeared. But ... it's a big deal for me. I don't know what I was expecting, but ..." he shrugged sadly, far more pained than he was letting on, "... she's not like me. She seems so much more together."

"Hey," Leo nudged him with his elbow, "dude, she's not fighting amnesia. Plus, she's had time to get used to this whole demigod thing. You've barely had a week. You woke up, not remembering a thing, expected to lead us on a quest to save all-mighty Tía, fight monsters and save the demigodly world. And yeah, you've just met your sister you haven't seen in years, and you've only started to remember━of course, it's a big deal! And Thalia is probably freaking out inside, but you know, after you fight monsters and talk to gods for a while, you probably get used to surprises ... or you get used to hiding how you feel."

Jason's brows furrowed. He had that sad look on his face he always had, but right now, it seemed miserable. "Maybe ... I ... I just wish I understood what happened when I was two, why my mom━" Leo heard his voice crack for a moment, "━why my mom got rid of me. Thalia ran away because of me."

Leo felt a pang in his chest. He knew what that was like. He knew what it was like for someone to hate the sight of you so much, that they couldn't stand the thought of keeping you━that they threw you out, the devil child, to fend for yourself.

He always thought━even at the Wilderness School with a strange fake memory━that he and Jason couldn't be more different. Now, all Leo could see was a kid just as broken as him.

So, Leo said, "Hey, whatever's happened, it wasn't your fault. And your sister is pretty cool. She's a lot like you."

Jason took that in silence. Leo wondered if he had said the right things. He wanted to make Jason feel better, but this was way outside his comfort zone.

He wished he could reach inside his tool belt and pick just the right wrench to fix Jason's memory━maybe a little hammer━bonk the sticking spot and make everything run right. That would be a lot easier than trying to talk it through.

He remembered what his father told him: Not good with organic life forms.

Great, Leo scoffed to himself. Thanks for those inherited traits, Dad.

He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn't realise the Hunters had stopped. He slammed into Thalia and nearly sent them both down the side of the mountain the hard way. Fortunately, the Hunter was light on her feet. She steadied them both, then pointed up.

"Huh," choked Leo, "that is a really large rock."

"Huge rock," added Savreen helpfully.

They stood near the summit of Pikes Peak. Below them, the world was blanketed in clouds. The air was so thin, Leo could hardly breathe. Night had set in, but a full moon shone through a light-show of stars. Stretching out to the north and south, peaks of other mountains rose from the clouds like islands━or teeth.

Giant Dirt Lady teeth.

Man, that thought was creepy.

But the real show was above them. Hovering in the sky, about a quarter a mile away, was a gigantic free-floating island of glorious, glowing purple stone. An entire ecosystem lived right there, hovering mid-air with rugged cliffs riddled with caves, frozen waterfalls and twisted oak trees covered in snow. Every once in a while, a gust of wind burst out of hidden caves with a sound like a pipe organ blast. At the top of the rock, brass wall ringed like some kind of a fortress.

The only thing connecting Pikes Peak to the floating island was a narrow bridge of ice that glistened in the dark like it was merely just an extension of the moonlight.

But perhaps that was because it is. The bridge wasn't exactly ice, because it wasn't solid. As the winds changed direction, the bridge flickered━it snaked around, blurring and thinking, in some places even breaking into a dotted like line the vapour trail of a plane.

Leo paled. He cursed in Spanish. "We're not seriously crossing that?"

Thalia shrugged. "I'm not a fan of heights, I'll admit. But if you want to get to Aeolus's fortress, this is the only way."

"Is the fortress always hanging there?" asked Piper. "How can people not notice it sitting on top of Pikes Peak?"

"The Mist," answered Thalia. "Still, mortals do notice it indirectly. Some days, Pike Peak looks purple. People say it's a trick of the light, but actually it's the colour of Aeolus's palace, reflecting off the mountain face."

"It's enormous," muttered Jason. Savreen tapped his shoulder to point at another gust of wind.

Thalia laughed. "You should see Olympus, little brother."

"You're serious? You've been there?"

She grimaced as if it wasn't a good memory. "We should go cross in two different groups. The bridge is fragile."

"That's reassuring," muttered Leo. "Jason, can't you just fly us up there?"

Thalia laughed again. Then, she realised Leo was serious. "Wait ... Jason, you can fly?"

Jason gazed up at the floating fortress. "Well, sort of. More like I can control the winds. But the winds up here are so strong, I'm not sure I'd want to try. But ... Thalia, you mean ... you can't fly?"

There was a moment where Thalia looked genuinely afraid before she took a deep breath and set her expression back to that of a stern hawk's. Leo realised she was a lot more scared of heights than she was letting on.

"Truthfully," she said, "I've never tried. Might be better if we stuck to the bridge."

Coach Hedge tapped the ice-vapour trail with his hoof, then jumped onto it. Amazingly, it held his weight. "Easy! I'll go first. Piper, come on, girl. I'll give you a hand."

"No, that's okay━hey!" Piper didn't get much of a choice, for the coach grabbed her hand and dragged her up the bridge with him.

When they were about halfway, the bridge still seemed to be holding them just fine.

Thalia turned to her Hunter friend. "Phoebe, I'll be back soon. Go find the others. Tell them I'm on my way."

"You sure?" Phoebe narrowed her eyes at Leo and Jason accusingly. Leo frowned at her, holding up his hands in surrender.

"It's fine," promised Thalia.

Phoebe was reluctant, but in the end, nodded and then raced down he mountain path, the white wolves at her heels.

"Jason, Savreen, Leo, just be careful where you step," said Thalia. "It hardly ever breaks."

"It hasn't met me, yet," muttered Leo, but he, Sav and Jason led the way up the bridge.

Everything was going all right━too good, in fact, which Leo knew because halfway, things started to go wrong, and of course, it was his fault. Piper and Hedge had already made it safely to the top and were waving at them, encouraging them to keep climbing, but Leo got distracted. He was thinking about bridges━how he would design something way more stable than this shifting ice-vapour business if this was his palace. He was pondering braces and support columns━

When a sudden revelation stopped him in his tracks.

"Why do they have a bridge?"

Thalia frowned. "Leo, this isn't a good place to stop. What do you mean?"

"They're wind spirits," he said. "Can't they fly?"

"Yes, but sometimes they need a way to connect to the world below."

"So, the bridge isn't always here?"

She shook her head. "The wind spirits don't like to anchor to the earth, but sometimes it's necessary. Like now. They know you're coming."

Leo's mind was racing. He felt his heart speed up. He was so excited he could almost feel his body temperature rising━he couldn't quite put his thoughts into words, but he knew he was onto something important.

"Leo?" asked Savreen, confused. "What are you thinking?"

"Oh, gods," Thalia gasped. "Keep moving! Look at your feet!"

Leo shuffled backwards. With horror, he realised his body temperature really was rising, just as it had years ago at that picnic table under the pecan tree, when his anger had got away from him. Now, excitement was causing the reaction. His trousers steamed in the cold air. His shoes were literally smoking━and underneath, the bridge smouldered ... it started to thin.

"Leo, stop it," said Jason, breath hitching with sudden fear. "You're going to melt it."

"Dude, I'm trying," said Leo, but his body was overheating on its own, running as fast as his thoughts. "But━listen, Jason, what━what did Hera call you in that dream? She called you a bridge."

"Leo," Sav stretched her fingers towards him, "just take a breath before you tell us━"

"No, no, just listen, okay?" he hated to cut her off, but he needed to get this all out before he lost it. It was running a fast stream, and Leo was swimming after it. "If━if Jason is a bridge, right? What is he connecting? Maybe two different places that normally don't get along━like the air palace and the ground. You had to be somewhere before this, yeah? And Hera said you were an exchange."

Savreen's lips parted. Her eyes jetted off, the realisation hitting her too━she looked as though this had occurred to her before, but not like this. Not with this sudden breath of understanding. "An exchange ..." she echoed. She met his gaze, and he nodded, glad she was on the same page. "Percy Jackson. He's one end of the bridge, Jason is the other. And now ... now they've swapped ends."

Thalia's eyes widened, "Oh, gods━" she whispered a flurry of words in Ancient Greek: something like a prayer.

Jason eyed all three of them, still trying to catch on. "What are you guys talking about?"

"I understand now why Artemis sent me here," said Thalia. "Jason━she told me to hunt for Lycaon and I would find a clue about Percy. You are the clue. Artemis wanted us to meet so I could hear your story."

"You're the clue to finding Percy," Savreen told him. "Claire said━she said she had a dream about a boy with one shoe, telling her it would lead her to Percy."

"But I don't understand," Jason protested, starting to get frustrated. "I don't have a story. I don't remember anything!"

"But they're right," said Thalia. "It's all connected. If we just knew where━"

A thought occurred to Leo. He snapped his fingers. "Jason, what did you call that place in your dream? The ruined house? The Wolf House?"

Thalia nearly choked. "The Wolf House?" she said. "Jason, why didn't you tell me that?! That's where they're keeping Hera?"

Jason held up his hands, "How was I supposed to━? Wait," he stopped, "you know where that is?"

That was when the bridge dissolved. Leo would've fallen to his death, but Jason grabbed his coat and pulled him back up to safety. The two of them and Savreen scrambled up the bridge, and, when they turned, Thalia was on the other side of a thirty-foot chasm. The bridge was continuing to melt━turning to nothing but mist and stars.

"Go!" shouted Thalia, backing down the bridge as it crumbled. "Find out where the giant is keeping Piper's dad. Save him! I'll take the Hunters to the Wolf House and hold it until you get there. We can do both!"

"But where is the Wolf House?!" yelled Jason.

"You know where it is, little brother!" she was so far away now that they could barely hear her voice over the wind. "I'll see you there! I promise!"

Then she turned and raced down the dissolving bridge.

Leo, Sav and Jason had no time to stand around. They climbed for their lives, the ice vapour thinning under their feet. Several times, Jason grabbed either Sav or Leo (or both of them) and used the winds to keep them aloft, but it was more like bungee jumping rather than flying.

When they reached the floating island, Piper and Coach Hedge pulled them aboard just as the last of the vapour trail vanished. They stood, grasping for breath at the base of a stone stairway chiselled into the side of the cliff, leading all the way up to the fortress.

Leo glanced back down. The top of Pikes Peak floated below them in a sea of clouds, but there was no sign of Thalia. And Leo had just burned their only exit.

"What happened?" demanded Piper. "Leo, why are your clothes smoking?"

"I got a little heated," he gasped. "Sorry, Jason. Honest. I━I didn't━"

"It's all right," said Jason, but his expression was grim. It didn't make Leo feel any better. Instead, all he felt was more guilt. "We've got less than twenty-four hours to rescue a goddess and Piper's dad. Let's go see the king of the winds."

✿✼:*ﾟ:༅。.。༅:*·ﾟﾟ·⭑

a/n: said this before, and I'll scream it forever: WALKER IS PERFECT CASTING FOR PERCY JACKSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YEAH, COS PERCY HAS BEEN CASTED!!!!!!!