The Winds Of Heaven (Annabeth Chase x Male Reader)

20. Quaeque ipse miserrima vidi

Borrowing the helicopter was easy. Getting Piper's dad on board was not.

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," her dad muttered, as they picked him up off the ground. "Piper, what—there were monsters—there were monsters—"

Both Leo and Jason had to help Piper to hold him, while Y/N, Annabeth, Ethan and Coach Hedge gathered their supplies. Fortunately Ethan and Hedge had their pants and shoes on, so they didn't have to explain the goat legs.

Tristan McLean's state was concerning—he'd been pushed beyond the breaking point and cried like a little boy. Y/N didn't know what the giant had done to him exactly, how the monsters had shattered his spirit, and he didn't really want to find out.

"It'll be okay, Dad," Piper said, making her voice as soothing as possible. "These people are my friends. We're going to help you. You're safe now."

He blinked, 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.

"Smoke inhalation," Annabeth suggested. "Or heat exhaustion."

"We should get him to a hospital," the pilot said.

"It's okay," Piper said. "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. "He only looks like him. Forget it."

"Yeah," the pilot said. "Only looks like him. I—" She blinked, confused. "I forgot what I was saying. Let's get going."

Finally they got Piper's dad on board, and the helicopter took off. The pilot kept getting questions over her radio, asking her where she was going, but she ignored them. They veered away from the burning mountain and headed toward the Berkeley Hills.

Along the way to the airport, Piper talked with her father, trying to comfort him. Mr. McLean was shell-shocked, unable to forget the monsters and all the horrors he had seen. Aphrodite had apparently never told him anything about the mythical side of the world; he had never even imagined that his daughter might be a demigoddess.

Y/N and the others were careful not to watch. Annabeth rested her head on Y/N's shoulder, and he rested his own on hers as they looked out the window. Ethan had put his banana sunhat on his face and was taking a nap—at least, he pretended to. Leo fiddled with a lug nut from his tool belt. 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 old satyr didn't look in the mood to yell or boast.

Piper's dad couldn't stop shivering. Shakily he said they were all heroes, that Piper was a real hero—not like him, who only played a part. He muttered the words listlessly, in a semi-trance, as Piper held his hand.

Piper started speaking to him about small things—her time at the Wilderness School, her cabin at Camp Half-Blood. She told him how Coach Hedge ate carnations and got knocked on his butt on Mount Diablo, how Leo had tamed a dragon, how Y/N had fought off storm spirits, and how Jason had made wolves back down by talking in Latin. They all smiled reluctantly as she recounted their adventures. Her dad seemed to relax as she talked, but he didn't smile. He might not even have heard his daughter.