madness and ecstasy // leo valdez

-those fucking telly tubbies-

Apparently, underage teenagers could easily borrow a helicopter. Getting Piper's dad on board was not quite as easy.

Piper needed only a few words through Leo's improvised bullhorn to convince the pilot to land on the mountain. The Park Service copter was big enough for medical evacuations or search and rescue, and when Piper told the very nice ranger pilot lady that it would be a great idea to fly them to the Oakland Airport, she readily agreed.

"No," Piper's dad muttered, as they picked him up off the ground. "Piper, what—there were monsters—there were monsters—"

Teqi and Jason carried the muttering man to the helicopter, while Coach Hedge gathered their supplies. Fortunately, Hedge had put his pants and shoes back on, so they didn't have to explain the goat legs. Teqi couldn't quite decide if she would rather explain them or have to continue assaulting her eyes with his pastel outfit though.

"It'll be okay, Dad," Piper hushed in a soothing voice. "These people are my friends. We're going to help you. You're safe now." He blinked widely, and looked up at helicopter rotors. "Blades. They had a machine with so many blades. They had six arms ..."

When they got him to the bay doors, the pilot came over to help. "What's wrong with him?" she asked, looking concerned for the trembling man. "Smoke inhalation," Jason suggested, smiling awkwardly. "Or heat exhaustion." This guy, had he ever lied in his life?

"We should get him to a hospital," the pilot said.
"It's okay," Piper replied in a clear voice, obviously using her power. "The airport is good."
"Yeah, the airport is good," the pilot agreed immediately. Then she frowned, as if uncertain why she'd changed her mind. "Isn't he Tristan McLean, the movie star?"

"No," Piper said, her voice wobblier this time. "He only looks like him. Forget it."

"Yeah," the pilot accepted her answer, turning away. "Only looks like him. I—" She blinked, confused. "I forgot what I was saying. Let's get going." Finally, they got him on board, and the helicopter took off, rattling through the thick smoke. The pilot kept getting questions over her radio, asking her where she was going, but she steadily ignored them. They veered away from the burning mountain and headed toward the Berkeley Hills.

They were all careful not to watch as Piper tried to reassure her father that he was safe, that he was okay. When in reality, he wasn't okay, and the rest of them weren't safe, they would never be safe again. Teqi was used to it, she had accepted that she could die any day quite a while ago, but Piper and Leo, maybe even Jason, had been introduced to this world only a week ago, and were off to fight yet another giant that was trying to .

Leo fiddled with a lug nut from his tool belt in one hand and had his fingers curled through the belt loops of Teqi's leopard print cargo pants, purposely not looking in the broken movie stars direction. Jason gazed at the valley below —the roads backing up as mortals stopped their cars and gawked at the burning mountain. Gleeson chewed on the stub of his carnation, and for once the satyr didn't look in the mood to yell or boast.                                                                                                                    Teqi closed her eyes, and leant her head back, taking deep breathes. She was trying not to let the tipsiness she was feeling overtake her thoughts, she had used more power than she ever had before, and her double vision was tinted purple, a sure sign her eyes were glowing.

After she had pulled the giant into the pit with the grape vines and then snapped his brain, Teqi had collapsed for a good minute, only stirring when half of a water bottle was thrown on her face. They had all had some ambrosia and put bandages on the remaining cuts, and Teqi was holding a cloth from Leo's tool belt tightly so that she would bleed out too much from her mangled and shaking hands.