𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐂𝐄 - j. grace, ocxoc ¹ ✓

x. there are dragons in the sky !

X.      KAEN OKAYAMA   !
⋆ ★
there are dragons in the sky

Kaen was unsure about the entire flying on a fire breathing dragon idea. Especially when he had too many questions and none of them were answered. At least he managed to put on his leather jacket over his grey hoodie and jeans before he and Kaori rushed out the door.

First off, how did Leo even manage a fire-breathing metal dragon that went haywire as soon as Charles Beckendorf died? The idea that he, a scrawny elf-looking guy, could get past the fire made Kaen nervous. And is it even safe for them to be flying? Kaen was well aware that on his last quest, he had to be wary of the sky because of Zeus. Not that he complained, of course. He was a son of Demeter, the ground was his safe haven. And now he was thousands of feet up in the air, above water. Deep, deep water.

Two people he was familiar with being in front and behind him made Kaen's breathe to come up again. Delilah in front of them, his sister in the back. He wished Kaori was in front, especially knowing that Jason was right behind her.

Jason — who showed a clear interest in Kaori. If Kaori noticed the way Jason looked at her she paid no attention to it. She seemed too focused on the thousands of candies stuffed in her pocket and bag than the new boy who kept looking at her. It was cliché for Kaen to hate Jason just because he liked his sister — but his sister also didn't speak to just anyone.

And there was Piper, someone who Kaen barely got to know. He took note of the way Delilah acted, as if she was trying to convince Piper she wasn't anything like Drew but also being constantly annoyed at her new sister's stereotypes of children of Aphrodite. But Delilah clearly had a disliking for her.

"I promised myself I wouldn't go on any more quests," Delilah whispered to Kaen behind her. He nodded in agreement, resenting himself for letting Kaori convince him to join at the campfire. He glanced at at Delilah and noticed her smile, a smile he had loved since he met her. Delilah had her hands in front of her but Kaen could only assume they were shaking like the always did — he knew they were more calm than they usually were due to her medicine but Kaen knew it always made her self-conscious.

"They need us," Kaori had told him after the campfire when they were back in their cabin. "We can't just let them go off to die."

"I hate that you're right," replied Kaen.

"I just wanted to find Percy," Kaori mumbled behind Kaen.

Percy Jackson had become a good friend to Kaen since they met. Although the son of Poseidon was much closer to Kaori, Percy and him still shared many guy moments about many things — girls, boys, whether or not cereal was a soup, the idea that they'll probably die before the age of eighteen, childhood trauma — just best friends stuff.

Silence fell over all of them, each lost in their own thoughts. Kaen wished he was back in Japan, helping his dad with his flower shop and doing homework in the backroom. Now he was above the ocean risking his life for a guy he barely knew. And yet he also did that two years ago when he and Kaori first met Delilah.

"Shut up, me," Leo said aloud, surprising them all.

"What?" Piper asked.

"Nothing," he said. "Long night. I think I'm hallucinating. It's cool."

Kaori leaned forward behind Kaen, whispering to him, "I think the elf-boy is going to doom us all before we even begin."

Kaen sort of agreed. He was not pleased to have a sleepless, hallucinating dragon driver. Yet he felt Leo knew what he was doing, he was a son of Hephaestus. His powers literally included touching any machine and knowing how it worked.