° ~ •. ♆ chapter thirty-four ♆ .• ~ °
"our third crash-landing of the quest and hera needs to shut up"
"What's going on?" Mari yelled, grabbing the seats for balance.
"Honestly, no idea!" Leo replied, frantically flipping switches on the control panel as hail pelted the helicopter.
The helicopter lurched forward, losing more altitude by the second, Below them, the ground was a dark quilt of trees and fog. The ridge of a hill loomed in front of them and Leo yanked the stick, just clearing the treetops.
"There!" Jason shouted.
A small valley opened up before them, with a murky shape of a building in the middle. Leo aimed the helicopter straight for it. All around them were flashes of light that reminded Mari of the tracer fire at Midas's compound. Trees cracked and exploded at the edges of the clearing. Shapes moved through the mist. Combat seemed to be everywhere.
Leo set the helicopter down in an icy field about fifty yards from the house and killed the engine. Mari was about to relax when she heard a whistling sound and saw a dark shape hurtling toward them out of the mist.
"OUT!" Leo screamed.
They leaped from the helicopter and barely cleared the rotors before a massive BOOM shook the ground, knocking Mari off her feet and splattering ice all over her.
She got up shakily and saw what was possibly the world's largest snowball completely flatten the helicopter.
"You all right?" Leo ran up to her, while Piper helped Jason up.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Not like we almost died or anything." Mari groaned. "Just like old times."
"Just like old times." Leo repeated sarcastically. "Well, I guess we owe that ranger lady a new helicopter."
Piper and Jason ran over to the two. "Fighting's over there." Piper pointed south, but soon a frown grew on her face. "No... it's all around us."
She was right. The sounds of combat rang across the valley. The snow and mist made it hard to tell for sure, but there seemed to be a circle of fighting all around the Wolf House.
Behind them loomed Jack London's dream home— a massive ruin of red and gray stones and rough-hewn timber beams. Mari could imagine how it looked before it burned down— some weird combination of a log cabin and a castle, like a billionaire lumberjack might build. But in the mist and sleet, the place had a lonely, haunted feel. Mari could totally believe the ruins were cursed.
"Jason!" a girl's voice called.
Thalia appeared from the fog, her parka caked with snow. Her bow was in her hand, but her quiver was almost empty. She ran towards them, but made it only a few steps before a six armed ogre— one of the Earthborn— burst out of the storm behind her, a raised club in each hand.
"Watch out!" Leo yelled.
They rushed to help, but Thalia had it under control. She launched herself into a flip, notching an arrow as she pivoted like a gymnast and landed in a kneeling position. The ogre got a silver arrow right between the eyes and melted into a pile of lay.
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misplaced || l. valdez
Fanfictionshe shouldn't be here. she really, really shouldn't be here. but when a goddess saves your life and asks for something in return, you can't really deny her, can you? DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters or the story, all rights reserved t...
