The Blazing Storm Within Our Hearts

II

Y/n

     I rushed over to the side in full shock. I see both Piper and Jason falling. Their gone, I think as they both fall farther down the cliff. I was about to turn around to see if Leo was ok until something unexpected happens. I rub my eyes to make sure I wasn't hallucinating. It looked like Jason and Piper were flying. No that isn't possible. Is it? After what I've just experienced I'm open to anything by now so I'm not sure.
I backed up as the two of them landed on the skywalk, my mouth hanging open. "Are you ok?" Jason asked. I just nod my head unable to form words.
Piper ran over to Leo with Jason and I behind her. Piper turned Leo over, and he groaned. His army coat was soaked from the rain. His curly hair glittered gold from rolling around in monster dust. But at least he wasn't dead.
"Stupid ... ugly ... goat," he muttered.
"Where did he go?" Piper asked.
Leo pointed straight up. "Never came down. Please tell me he didn't actually save my life. "
"Actually he didn't that time." Jason pointed out placing a hand on my shoulder.
Leo looked up at me, "Thank you."
I could feel my face burn red. "Don't mention it." I say wanting the attention off of me.
What happened? The tornado guy, the gold sword ... I hit my head. That's it, right? I'm hallucinating?"
I had forgotten about the sword. My brain still needs time to process everything. Jason walked over to where the sword was lying and picked it up. He flipped it like he's done it many times before. Mid-spin, the sword shrank back into a coin and landed in his palm.
"Woah" I mutter under my breath.
"Yep," Leo said. "Definitely hallucinating. "
Piper shivered in her rain-soaked clothes. "Jason, those things—"
"Venti," he said. "Storm spirits. "
"Okay. You acted like ... like you'd seen them before. Who are you?"
He shook his head. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. I don't know. "
I opened my mouth to say something but decided against it. I don't even know these kids and I still don't think I can form proper sentences at the moment.
The storm had dissipated. The other kids from the Wilderness School were staring out 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 three 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 lay on his back, staring at the sky. He didn't seem anxious to get up. "Don't know what demi means," he said. "But I'm not feeling too godly. You guys feeling godly?"
I didn't like any of this. It all sounded like gibberish to me but honestly I don't care. I just wanted to get out of here away from these kids and be left alone with my thoughts.
There was a brittle sound like dry twigs snapping, and the cracks in the skywalk began to widen.
We need to get off this thing," Jason said. "Maybe if we—"
"Ohhh-kay," Leo interrupted. "Look up there and tell me if those are flying horses. "
At first I thought Leo had hit his head too hard but when I looked up I saw a dark shape descending from the east—too slow for a plane, too large for a bird. As it got closer I could see a pair of winged animals—gray, 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," Jason said. "Hedge told me an extraction squad was coming for us. "
"Extraction squad?" Leo struggled to his feet. "That sounds painful. "
"And where are they extracting us to?" Piper asked.
I watched as the chariot landed on the 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. Two teenagers stood in the chariot—a tall blond girl maybe a little older than me, and a bulky dude with a shaved head and a face like a pile of bricks. They both wore jeans and orange T-shirts, with shields tossed over their backs. The girl leaped off before the chariot had even finished moving. She pulled a knife and ran toward Jason's group while the bulky dude was reining in the horses.
"Guys, I really think we should get out of here. Preferable now." I start to say.
"Where is he?" the girl demanded. Her gray eyes were fierce and a little startling.
"Where's who?" Jason asked.
She frowned like his answer was unacceptable. Then she turned to Leo, Piper, and me. "What about Gleeson? Where is your protector, Gleeson Hedge?"
The coach's first name was Gleeson? I might've laughed if the morning hadn't been quite so weird and scary. Gleeson Hedge: football coach, goat man, protector of demigods. Sure. Why not?
Leo cleared his throat. "He got taken by some ... tornado things. "
"Venti," Jason said. "Storm spirits. "
The blond girl arched an eyebrow. "You mean anemoi thuellai?"
"Anema-what?" I ask confused.
"That's the Greek term. Who are you, and what happened?"
Jason did his best to explain. About halfway through the story, the other guy from the chariot came over. He stood there glaring at them, his arms crossed. He had a tattoo of a rainbow on his biceps, which seemed a little unusual but I'm not one to judge.
When Jason had finished his story, the blond girl didn't look satisfied. "No, no, no! She told me he would be here. She told me if I came here, I'd find the answer. "
"Annabeth," the bald guy grunted. "Check it out. " He pointed at Jason's feet.
I hadn't noticed it before but he was missing his left shoe. His foot looked like a lump of charcoal. I winced in sympathy for him.
"The guy with one shoe," said the bald dude. "He's the answer. "
"No, Butch," the girl insisted. "He can't be. I was tricked. " She glared at the sky as though it had done something wrong. "What do you want from me?" she screamed. "What have you done with him?"
     "I- is she ok?" I point to the blond girl.
The skywalk shuddered, and the horses whinnied urgently.
"Annabeth," said the bald dude, Butch, "we gotta leave. Let's get these three to camp and figure it out there. Those storm spirits might come back. "
She fumed for a moment. "Fine. " She fixed Jason with a resentful look. "We'll settle this later. "
She turned on her heel and marched toward the chariot.
Piper shook her head. "What's her problem? What's going on?"
"Seriously," Leo agreed.
"We have to get you out of here," Butch said. "I'll explain on the way. "
"I'm not going anywhere with her. " Jason gestured toward the blonde. "She looks like she wants to kill me. "
"Plus we don't even know you guys. I don't even know you guys," I gesture towards Leo, Piper, and Jason. "How do I know I can trust any of you?"
"You can't I guess but it's your decision to make. And Annabeth-" Butch hesitated. "Annabeth's okay. You gotta 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 her problem. "
"What problem?" Piper asked.
"She's been looking for one of our campers, who's been missing three days," Butch said. "She's going out of her mind with worry. She hoped he'd be here. "
"Who?" Jason asked.
"Her boyfriend," Butch said. "A guy named Percy Jackson. "