𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙇𝘼𝙈𝙀𝘿; heroes of olympus

dead fires and loneliness

ERITH JAY
THEY RODE IN quiet for awhile. They were all a little bit freaked out about what had happened. Erith could tell Piper was near hysteria, she kept inhaling sharply. Eventually, Erith reached behind her and grabbed the other girl's hands. She squeezed Erith's hands back and her chin bumped Erith's shoulder.

Erith was starting to like Piper. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. But, she supposed, as she thought about Khione and the Cyclopes, there were worse enemies to have than a child of Aphrodite.

Finally, Leo said, "I killed my mom."

It was a stunning thing to say, and Erith's heart jumped a beat. When she found the words, she said, "No, you didn't."

Because Erith had already figured out what had happened that night. Leo was a lot of things―namely, an idiot―but he was not a cold-blooded killer.

"Yes, I did," Leo said, his voice quivering. "You don't get it."

"I do get it," Erith said. "You set the workshop on fire. Your mom was inside. She died."

He shook his head. "Gaea was there. Goading me into it." Erith saw his fists clenched. "I want her dead."

"And she'll be dead," Erith said gently. "That's what you have to focus on. But you didn't kill your mom, Leo. I think if she was still alive, she'd be proud of you."

Leo lowered his head as Piper spoke. "Yeah, Leo, we're glad to have you on our team."

He was quiet for awhile. He sniffled. Finally, he said, "Thanks. I love you guys."

"We love you, too," Piper said.

They were quiet for awhile longer. Leo broke the silence again. "So, there's other people like Jason."

"Yeah," Piper said.

Erith said nothing; she wasn't sure if she was ready to have that conversation. Finally, she said, "I think we should wait for Jason to wake up. He deserves to know."

"I agree," Piper said. Leo nodded.

So they were quiet. Jason muttered in his sleep. Erith couldn't catch the words he spoke.

Finally, she heard his voice, and this time, it was a lot clearer than just mumbling: "Cyclops!"

"Woah, sleepyhead," Piper said from behind him.

"D-Detroit," Jason stammered. "Didn't we crash-land? I thought―"

"It's okay," Leo said. "We got away, but you got a nasty concussion. How you feeling?"

"How did you―the Cyclops―"

"Leo ripped them apart. Erith helped," Piper said. "They were incredible. Leo can summon fire, and Erith can summon this light―"

"It was nothing," Leo said quickly.

Piper laughed. "Shut up, Valdez."

"Seriously, it's not a big deal―" Erith tried.

"I'm going to tell him. Get over it," Piper replied. Erith sighed in defeat as Piper launched into the story.

Finally, Piper brought up the Roman demigod they had learned about in the factory. When Jason spoke, he seemed shaken and desperate. "I'm not alone, then. There are others like me."

"Jason," Piper said, "you were never alone. You've got us."

"I―I know... but something Hera said. I was having a dream..."

He filled them in on his dream, which left Erith with a deep sense of unease.

"An exchange?" Piper asked. "What does that mean?"

Jason shook his head. "But Hera's gamble is me. Just by sending me to Camp Half-Blood, I have a feeling she broke some kind of rule, something that could blow up in a big way―"

"Or save us," Piper said hopefully. "That bit about the sleeping enemy―that sounds like the lady Leo told us about."

Leo cleared his throat. "About that... she kind of appeared to me back in Detroit, in a pool of Porta-Potty sludge."

"So that's why you threw the toilet at me," Erith muttered.

"Did you say... Porta-Potty?" Jason asked, sounding incredulous.

Leo told them what had happened with his encounter with Gaea. "I don't know if she's completely unkillable," he said, "but she cannot be defeated by toilet seats. I can vouch for that. She wanted me to betray you guys, and I was like, 'Pfft, right, I'm gonna listen to a face in the potty sludge.'"

Erith had seen Leo at the incident. He had been a lot more shaken than he was letting on, but she let it go. She understood that this was how he coped, even if it was kind of annoying sometimes.

"She's trying to divide us," Piper said. Erith could hear the tension in her voice.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked, as if he sensed it, too.

"I just... why are they toying with us? Who is this lady, and how is she connected to Enceladus?" Red flags started blaring in Erith's mind. Enceladus? When had they heard that name on the quest? She knew he was a giant, but that was from her studies at camp. Piper hadn't been there long enough to have studies. Why would he be important if she had researched him? Surely there were other giants to bring up.

Again, Jason must have followed her mental track, because he asked, "Enceladus?"

"I mean..." Piper's voice quavered. "That's one of the giants. Just one of the names I could remember."

Erith could tell she was lying by the way her voice shook. If it was just a name, why did she sound so upset? "Are you sure?" Erith asked.

"Yeah," Piper said. Erith could tell she wasn't going to say anything in front of the group. She made a note to corner her later.

Leo scratched his head. "Well, I dunno about Enchiladas―"

"Enceladus," Piper and Erith corrected at the same time.

"Whatever. But Old Potty Face mentioned another name. Porpoise Fear, or something?"

"Porphyrion?" Piper asked. "He was the giant king, I think."

"Yeah," Erith agreed. "Super powerful. Not someone you want to encounter. What did she say about him?"

Leo shrugged. "Not much."

"I'm going to take a wild guess," Jason cut in. "In the old stories, Porphyrion kidnapped Hera. That was the first shot in the war between the giants and the gods."

"I think so," Piper agreed. "But those myths are really garbled and conflicted. It's almost like nobody wanted that story to survive. I just remember there was a war, and the giants were almost impossible to kill."

"True," Erith confirmed. She bit her lip, remembering her studies on that. Not a lot came to mind, but what did was pretty awful.

"Heroes and gods had to work together," Jason said. "That's what Hera told me." Erith nodded.

"Kind of hard to do," Leo grumbled, "if the gods won't even talk to us."

"Yeah," Erith said defeatedly. As dumb as he was, she missed talking to her dad sometimes. He could've explained her powers better, at least.

Erith tried to close her eyes, but every time she did, she saw the Cyclopes just behind her eyelids, waiting to kill her again. She shivered, opening her eyes.

They rode in silence for awhile. She wasn't sure how much time passed, but Festus dove through a break in the clouds, and below them, glittering in the winter sun, was a city at the edge of a massive lake. A crescent of skyscrapers lined the shore. Behind them, stretching out to the western horizon, was a vast grid of snow-covered neighborhoods and roads.

"Chicago," Jason said, breaking the long silence.

"One problem down," Leo said. "We got here alive. Now, how do we find the storm spirits?"

Erith spotted it at the same time Jason did. Before she could open her mouth, Jason gave them a suggestion: "How about we follow that one, and see where it goes?"