Blessings from Khaos

|My Heart Beats For You|

Getting them to borrow a helicopter was easy.

Once Drew managed to break away from Ethan and got Gleeson to do a little bit more nature healing on him, she gracefully took Leo's improvised bullhorn and just went played up the entire kidnapped heiress thing. The Park Service copter was big enough for medical evacuations or search and rescue, and with Drew throwing her fit as a snooty heiress with more money than god, the very nice ranger pilot lady had readily agreed to fly them to the Oakland Airport.

Drew had sent Lea an Iris-Message to camp and Lea was flying in with a few pegasi and a few campers that would shift to play the roles of the questers while they finished their quest.

Drew's foster dad had been immediately contacted and flown out and with a little makeup and some prayers, well... the headlines for the next few days were going to be massive. Father was already getting "his people" or in other words, Mercurius and a few of the other gods, in line. Hm, 13 Years Later, Missing Toddler, Jason Grace, Found Alive! It could use some work either way, he found it a bit hilarious how much his Lea had been irritated about nepotism and yet, she continuously found herself surrounded by people that came from affluent families.

Apollō was the one to point out that they were going to have to manipulate the information those at New Roma received if they were going with whatever Iūnō's plan was shaping itself to be. Truthfully a good idea since some of them were arguing with the Senate to investigate all that roaring that Enkélados had done, and the others were glued to the television and social media to figure it out.

With the right wording and a bit of charmspeak, Mercurius was sure that they could get Jason to be fostered by the same people— Mercurius didn't even know why he bothered. Aithrios Airlines just so happened to be making a landing at the Oakland Airport which was been timed right alongside the Park Service. Iovis was already breathing life into one of the statues that Annabeth made for him to parade around as the boy's actual Father. Alongside paperwork detailing a DNA test, "letters" from Beryl Grace, recorded phone calls, to justify that he was the Father of both children alongside a "hope" that they had found his Thalia.

He was good and people wondered where Mercurius learned how to be crafty.

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.

Either way, all of them gave Drew and Ethan as much privacy as they could. 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 satyr didn't look in the mood to yell or boast.

"Drew." Ethan grasped her hand and held on like he was afraid he'd fall. "It's you? They told me—they told me you would die. They said ... horrible things would happen. Worse than... worse than Kronos."

"I'm right here, Ethan. I'm not going anywhere," she swore.

"Mu lípis," he murmured, and Drew choked back a sob. "Kimi ga inakereba, boku wa ikite ikenai. Had to save you. Had to..." He coughed. "You deserve better than me but I had..." He took a shaky breath, then seemed to forget how to exhale. He couldn't stop shivering. "You're the reason that I will always...reason I will always believe in gentle souls, genuine intentions, and gorgeous hearts of gold. Can't die... can't let you die. Oh, Hades, take me instead. Let her live." But the words were muttered listlessly, in a semi-trance.

"No," she protested. "No! Oh, Thanny, you can't... you can't do this to me." She leaned her head against his chest. Aphrodítē cried for her child. "I'm supposed to be mad at you."