Dancing with Death

Part of the Plan

Eliza shivered and snuggled closer to Jason. Her clothes had mostly dried, but the wind was still bitter and wouldn't let her get warm. She had a sinking suspicion it was the Wind Spirits trying to make their job that much harder.

Leo was zonked out against Festus' head, Jason having finally convinced him to get some sleep. He'd been running on adrenaline for the passed two days.

Jason tightened his grip on her ever so slightly as he stared at the vaporous path in the sky that only he could see.

Eliza looked up at him. His blue eyes gazed intently at the night sky. His lips were pressed into a straight line, his small scar visible above his upper lip. The wind tossed his thick blonde hair, making him look like a movie star standing in front of a fan. He may not have had his memories, but he still acted exactly like the boy Eliza once knew.

Juno's words echoed in her mind "You were never part of my plan."

Eliza understood what the goddess meant now. She wasn't supposed to be here. Jason had been meant to go off on his own, but Eliza had insisted on coming with him. That's when Juno showed up and wiped his memories. Needless to say, she hadn't been happy to see Eliza there. She'd grumbled something about making things more complicated... and then Eliza was sitting on the bus headed to the Grand Canyon with completely different memories.

She still couldn't figure out why the goddess hadn't just wiped her mind. Why go through the trouble of giving her a new life? She sighed. Maybe the goddess just thought it would be less suspicious. Or maybe it had something to do with her personal vendetta against Eliza, however that had happened.

Eliza wanted to scream, but she was afraid she'd scare Leo awake and make him fall to his death. Not to mention he was the only one who could control Festus. She did not want to have that chat with a fire-breathing mechanical dragon.

As if sensing her discomfort, Festus' whole body creaked. Not a good sign. He made a weird metallic whimpering sound and the gears in his body stopped.

Eliza's stomach jumped into her throat as a feeling of weightlessness took over her body and Festus began to plummet towards the ground... again.

Leo jolted awake as the wind whipped past him, pulling at his clothes and hair. It took him all of five seconds to assess the situation. He looked at Jason. "GET THE GIRLS OUT OF HERE!!!!" He had to yell to be heard over the wind. "I'LL FIX THE DRAGON!"

A little hesitantly, Jason wrapped one arm around each of the girls and bent the winds to support them and carry them away from the ground instead of towards it.

Eliza watched as Leo and Festus rushed towards the streets below. Leo steered the dragon towards a mansion, trying to crash land in the massive empty yard. It would've been a great plan, if there hadn't been laser cannons mounted to the walls surrounding the property. They shot Festus out of the sky. All Eliza could see was a fiery explosion as pieces of Celestial Bronze collided with the snowy ground.

"Leo!" Jason sped towards the mansion. He managed to slip between the cannons without being detected and landed lightly on the ground.

They spotted Leo lying on the ground unconscious, surrounded by bits and pieces of metal and gears.

Piper and Jason immediately went to work reviving their friend. It wasn't long before he gasped and sat up, scanning his surrounding in confusion.

He noticed a little, scorched, bronze cog lying in the snow beside him. "Festus." He turned to see the carnage littering the yard.

Festus' body had almost completely vaporized. His head lay on the snow, his red eyes no longer glowing.

Leo rushed over and crouched down, placing a hand against the dragon's snout. "You can't go." It sounded like he was fighting back tears. "You're the best thing I ever fixed."

Eliza walked up behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. She dropped down next to him. "I'm sorry, Leo." She knew it didn't help. People had been apologizing to her her entire life. It never made her feel better; it never fixed anything.

Leo forced back his tears, but his voice still cracked when he spoke. "I didn't know you cared."

She met his defeated gaze. She knew that look. She saw it almost every time she looked in the mirror. She wanted to say something, make him feel better, but she couldn't. There was nothing she could say to fix this. So, for a lack of anything better to do, she wrapped him in a hug and said the one thing she wished people had told her. "This isn't your fault." She pulled away and leveled him with what she hoped was a comforting gaze.

He obviously didn't believe her, but he forced a small smile and nodded. "Thanks." It seemed to take all of his strength to say that single word.

Eliza stood and walked away, giving Leo some space. If she knew one thing, it was that people needed time to mourn on their own. Other people didn't always help.

Jason placed an arm around her shoulders and sighed. "Are you warm enough?"

Eliza shot him an annoyed look, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. "I haven't been warm since we got to Quebec."

He smiled sadly.  His eyes drifted to the house. "We should rest for the night." He looked back at Eliza. "Maybe we can find you some new clothes."

She tried to keep her teeth from chattering as she smiled. "That would be nice."

Piper talked to Leo and they approached the front porch. Leo disarmed the security and they walked into the dark house.

The living room was adorned with several couches. They each claimed one and crashed. It had been a long two days.