Umbra

Chapter 10

They flew in silence.

No one wanted to talk, at least not until they were sure Medea was gone and unable to get back her cages or take their lives from them.

Finally, Leo announced, "We're going to have to put down soon. Couple more hours, maybe, to make sure Medea's not following us. I don't think Festus can fly much longer than that."

"Yeah," Piper agreed. "Coach Hedge probably wants to get out of his canary cage, too. Question is– where are we going?"

"The Bay Area," mused Emilia. "Medea mentioned it. Oakland specifically, I think. Rang a bell because I was thinking about the Wolf House and Jack London Square the other day."

Jason hesitated, then said, "Piper's dad. Something happened to your dad, right? He got lured into some kind of trap?"

Emilia's memories weren't the sharpest with the charmspeak and necessity to fight it off, but she vaguely remembered something about an assistant named Jane and yes, a trap. Piper let out a shaky breath, "Look, Medea said all three of you would die in the Bay Area. And besides... even if we went there, the Bay Area is huge. First we need to find Aeolus and drop off the storm spirits. Boreas said Aeolus was the only one who could tell us exactly where to go."

Leo grunted. "So how do we find Aeolus?"

Jason leaned forward. "You mean you don't see it?"

Emilia blinked several times, and the others did too. "Are you... okay, Jason?"

Jason gestured again. "That... whatever it is, in the air."

"Right," said Leo slowly. "Could you be more specific on the 'whatever-it-is' part?"

"Like a vapor trail. Except it's glowing. Really faint, but it's definitely there. We've been following it since Chicago, so I figured you saw it."

Leo shook his head. "Maybe Festus can sense it. You think Aeolus made it?"

"Well, it's a magical trail in the wind," reasoned Jason. "Aeolus is the wind god. I think he knows we've got prisoners for him. He's telling us where to fly."

Piper whispered. "Or it's another trap." She didn't just sound nervous, she sounded broken with despair. Emilia could sense a fight within her, a choice she was avoiding.

"Pipes," said Leo, "you all right?"

"Don't call me that." It wasn't angry, it was hurt. As if being called 'Pipes' brought up terrible memories.

"Okay, fine," said Leo. "You don't like any of the names I make up for you. But if your dad's in trouble and we can help–"

"You can't," said Piper, voice shaking. "Look, I'm tired. If you don't mind..." She leaned back against Jason and closed her eyes.

They went back to silence while Festus followed the course. Eventually, Jason coaxed Leo into getting some rest. He was the one who could see the vapor trail, after all. Emilia would've liked to sleep more, but she didn't think it was possible. She helped Jason keep a lookout, sensing Festus shuddering beneath them. Maybe he was tired of carrying them and the two cages.

She thought about her family for a moment. Her aunt was a devout Catholic but she'd never discriminated against people who liked the same sex. In her eyes, everyone was a child of God and he made them all in his image.

She didn't believe it wrong for men to love men or for women to love women, so long as they followed the Ten Commandments and were overall good people. If Emilia ever saw her again, she probably wouldn't mind if she liked both men and women, so long as she didn't have any premarital relations on either end. That is if they were ever given permission to marry. She wasn't sure it would happen.