𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕎𝕒𝕣||HoO

𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈

"SHUT UP, me," Leo said, causing everyone to look over at him.

"What?" Piper asked.

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

Maisie quirked an eyebrow. It probably wasn't good to have a sleep deprived, hallucinating pilot flying them to Canada.

"Just joking," Leo said, although Maisie wasn't totally sure if she believed him. "So what's the plan, bro? You said something about catching wind, or breaking wind, or something?"

As they flew over New England, Jason laid out the game plan: First, find Boreas, the god of the North Wind, to get information about where the Anemoi were, and who their mistress was.

"His name is Boreas?" Leo asked. "What is he, the God of Boring?"

"No, he's the god of the North Wind," Maisie corrected. "Or the Winter wind."

Second, Jason continues, they had to find the venti that had attacked them at the Grand Canyon. Maisie felt a bit weird when Jason called them Venti instead of Anemoi. Something just felt off.

"Can we just call them storm spirits?" Leo asked. "Venti makes them sound like evil espresso drinks."

And third, Jason finished, they had to find out who the storm spirits worked for, so they could find Hera and free her. Super simple and easy to do in three days.

"So you want to look for Dylan, the nasty storm dude, on purpose," Leo said. "The guy who threw me and Maisie off the skywalk and sucked Coach Hedge into the clouds."

"That's about it," Jason said. "Well...there may be a wolf involved, too. But I think she's friendly. She probably won't eat us, unless we show weakness."

Jason then explained about his dream - a large wolf goddess named Lupa and a burned house with stone spires growing in a pool.

"Do you know where this place is?" Maisie asked.

"Nope," Jason admitted.

Maisie sighed. This was starting to seem more impossible than every other quest she'd been on.

"There's also giants," Piper added. "The prophecy said the giants' revenge."

"Hold on," Leo said. "Giants - like more than on? Why can't it be just one giant who wants revenge?"

"I don't think so," Piper said. "I remember in some of the old Greek stories, there was something about an army of giant."

"Great," Leo muttered. "Of course, with our luck, it's an army. So you know anything else about these giants. Didn't you do a bunch of myth research for that movie with your dad?"

"Your dad's and actor?" Jason asked.

Leo laughed, "I keep forgetting about you amnesia. Heh. Forgetting about amnesia. That's funny. But yeah, her dad's Tristan McLean."

"Uh - sorry, what was he in?"

"It doesn't matter," Piper said quickly, clearly wanting to change the subject from her dad. Maisie knew how she felt. When she was younger she would tell everyone about how her mom was the huge country star, Naomi Solace, but now it was kind of embarrassing. "The giants - well there were lots of giants in Greek mythology. But if I'm thinking of the right ones, they were bad news. Huge, almost impossible to kill. They could throw mountains and stuff. I think they were related to the Titans. They rose from the earth after Kronos lost the war - I mean the first Titan was, thousands of years ago - and they tried to destroy Olympus. If we're talking about the same giants-"

"Chiron said it was happening again," Jason remembered. "The last chapter. That's what he meant. No wonder he didn't want us to know all the details."

Maisie realized what Jason meant. The second Titan war had ended a few months ago, so now the second Giant war was just starting again. She wasn't particular thrilled for another war, considering she had been killed in the last one.

Leo whistled, "So...giant who can throw mountains. Friendly wolved that will eat us if we show weakness. Evil espresso drinks. Gotcha. Maybe this isn't the time to bring up my psycho babysitter."

"Is that another joke?" Piper asked.

Leo then told them about his babysitter, Tis Callida, aka Hera, and how she'd appeared to him at camp. He told them about how a strange woman in earthen robes who seemed to be asleep and seemed to know the future and how right after he had seen her, his mom's machine shop collapsed.

There was a long pause before any of them spoke.

"That's...disturbing," Piper said.

Welcome to the life of a demigod, Maisie thought

"'Bout sums it up," Leo agreed. "Thing is, everybody says don't trust Hera. She hates demigods. And the prophecy said we'd cause death if we unleash her rage. So I'm wondering...why are we doing this?"

There was a flash of pain in Maisie's side. She raised her shirt and found the bandage had a spot of blood on it, meaning it was bleeding again. That couldn't be a good sign. She grabbed a square of ambrosia and ate it, hoping that would help.

"She chose us," Jason said. "All four of us. We're the first of the seven who have to gather for the Great Prophecy. This quest is the beginning of something much bigger."

Maisie knew she was supposed to feel better at Jason's words, but she didn't. He had said that Hera had chosen them, but why had she chosen Maisie. Maisie didn't like Hera. She had practically cursed her best friend when Annabeth didn't agree with her, and was most likely the one who had taken Lina and Percy. She wouldn't be on this quest if her life wasn't literally in danger. Okay, she may go if Hera would give Lina and Percy back, but that wasn't the point.

"Besides," Jason continued, "helping Hera is the only way I can get back my memory. And that dark spire in my dream seemed to be feeding on Hera's energy. If that thing unleashes a king of the giants by destroying Hera-"

"Not a good trade-off," Piper agreed. "At least Hera is on our side - mostly."

"She is the main one who keeps the peace in the family," Maisie said, although she was partially trying to convince herself. "Losing her would throw the gods into chaos."

"And a war with the giants could be even more destructive than the Titan War," Piper pointed out.

Jason nodded, "Chiron also talked about worse forces stirring on the solstice, with is being a good time for dark magic, and all - something that could awaken if Hera were sacrificed on that day. And this mistress who's controlling the storm spirits, the one who wants to kill all the demigods-"

"Might be that weird sleeping lady," Leo finished. "Dirt Woman fully awake? Not something I want to see."

"But who is she?" Jason asked. "And what does she have to do with giants?"

Maisie wished Annabeth was here. She had studied the myths more than anyone else she knew, and would probably be able to figure out who this sleeping dirt lady was, and how she was connected to the giants. 

Maisie felt weird not having none of her friends on this quest with her. She had never gone on a quest without Percy, Lina, Annabeth, or Grover. It felt wrong to be going on a quest with three random strangers.

So I'm going to continue updating on Saturdays or Sundays. I have the whole rest of the Lost Hero written, but after that updates might slow down a bit. As always, comment! Love you guys!

~Lavinia