𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕎𝕒𝕣||HoO

𝐗𝐈𝐈

MAISIE LET out a groan as she regained consciousness. She felt like she had been run over by a herd of wild centaurs, then used as a cyclops' punching bag. Her entire body ached.

Her head was throbbing in pain, like all her blood had been stuck in her head and was just now returning to the rest of her body.

"Oh my God," Piper pulled her into a hug. "We weren't sure if you were going to wake up. You were barely breathing!"

"I'm okay," Maisie said, although it was probably a lie. "Just a headache."

Maisie then realized they were no longer in the car factory back in Detroit. They were back on Festus, flying again. She didn't remember much after she had gone outside. 

"How - what happened?" she asked. "All I remember was going outside. And something was following me."

"It's okay," Leo assured her. "We got away, but both you and Jason got pretty bad concussions."

That explained why she couldn't remember anything. She had gotten a concussion once before, when she first tried the climbing wall back at camp. She hadn't lost any of her memory then, but she had a headache for a week after that.

"What happened?" she asked again. "How did you guys get away?"

Piper explained how Leo had single-handedly defeated a family of three cyclopes. She explained how he could summon fire, and he ripped them apart with the robotic arms in the factory.

She then explained how they had freed both Jason and Maisie. Both of them were unconscious, and Maisie was barely breathing.

When they mentioned that she couldn't help but reach for her side. It probably played a part in why it took so long for her to wake up.

Piper continued the story, how Jason had woken up right before they noticed the cyclopes reforming.

"Reforming?" Maisie interrupted. "But that's impossible. When monsters die they go to Tartarus. It takes years for them to reform again."

"I know," Piper admitted. "We were confused to. But Boreas said something back in Quebec: 'When monsters no longer stay in Tartarus, and souls are no longer confined to Hades.' We think that might be connected."

The last line repeated itself in Maisie's mind as Piper continued the story of how Leo had replaced Festus' wiring and gotten them back in the air just before the cyclopes reformed.

Souls are no longer confined to Hades. She was supposed to be dead, but she wasn't. Her being alive was connected to why the monsters could reform. She didn't know how though. She had never heard of people coming back to life, or monsters reforming. It was impossible. And yet it was happening right now.

Maisie did feel bad about not helping them at all. If she had just been paying attention both her and Jason would have probably been fine. She was supposed to be the experienced demigod on this quest, and yet everyone else was doing everything, while she just kept herself from dying.

Jason interrupted her thoughts by telling her about his dream. He explained how he'd seen Hera in her cage. How she explained that he was and exchange of some sort.

"An exchange?" Piper asked. "What does that mean?"

Jason shook his head, "But Hera's gamble is me. Just by sending me to Camp Half-Blood, I have a feeling she broke some kind of rule, something that could blow up in a big way-"

"Or save us," Piper said hopefully. "That bit about the sleeping enemy - that sounds like the lady Leo told us about."

Leo cleared his throat. "About that...she kid of appeared to me back in Detroit, in a pool of Porta-Potty sludge."

Maisie furrowed her eyebrows and stared at Leo, not sure if she'd heard him right.

"Did you say...Porta-Potty?"

Leo told them about the big face in the factory yard. "I don't know if she's completely unkillable," he said, "But she cannot be defeated by toilet seats. I can vouch for that. She wanted me to betray you guys, and I was like, 'Pfft, right, I'm gonna listen to a face in the potty sludge.'"

Maisie wasn't sure if she should tell them about her dream. She was pretty sure the woman in her dream was the same as Leo had seen. But she also didn't want to worry her friends about her condition.

"I also saw her, in a dream right before we crashed," Maisie spoke up. "She also wanted me to betray you guys."

Maisie didn't mention the fact that she might die if she didn't. Or that she had been considering it.

"She's trying to divide us," Piper said. She seemed tense.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked.

"I just...Why are they toy with us? Who is this lady, and how is she connected to Enceladus?"

"Enceladus?" Maisie repeated the name. It was familiar, like she had heard it before, but it hadn't been super important, so she hadn't remembered.

"I mean..." Piper's voice quavered. "That's one of the giants. Just one of the names I could remember."

Maisie could tell there was a lot more bothering her, but decided not to ask. She had a pretty bad morning, and Maisie didn't want to make it worse.

Leo scratched his head. "Well, I dunno about Enchiladas-"

"Enceladus," Piper corrected.

"Whatever. But Old Potty Face mentioned another name. Porpoise Fear, or something?"

"Porphyrion?" Piper and Maisie said at the same time.

"He was the  giant king, I think," Piper explained.

Maisie nodded, "He's the only one of the giants' names I actually remember."

"I'm going to take a wild guess," Jason said. "In the old stories Porphyrion kidnapped Hera. That was the first shot in the war between the giants and the gods."

"I think so," Piper agreed. "But those myths are really garbled and conflicted. It's almost like nobody wanted that story to survive. All I remember is there was a war and the giants were almost impossible to kill. "

"That's probably why they don't teach about them at camp," Maisie explained. "The gods don't really like everyone to know that they had trouble defeating an enemy."

"Heroes and gods had to work together," Jason said. "That's what Hera told me."

"Kind of hard to do," Leo grumbled, "if the gods won't even talk to us."

They flew west, and Maisie became in her thought - none of them good. She wasn't sure how long it was until the dragon dove through a break in the clouds. Maisie smiled at the sun hit her skin, warming her skin. Down below, glittering in the winter sunlight, was a city at the edge of a massive lake. A crescent of skyscrapers lined the shore. Behind them, stretching out to the western horizon, was a vast grid of snow-covered neighborhoods and roads.

"Chicago," Jason said.

"One problem now," Leo said. "We got here alive. Now, how do we find the storm spirits?"

Maisie noticed a flash of movement below them. At first she thought it was a small plane, but it  was too small, too dark and fast. The thing spiraled toward the skyscrapers, weaving and shape changing - and, just for a moment it became the smokey figure of a horse.

"How about we follow that one," Jason suggested, "and see where it goes?"

Hey everyone! Hope you're enjoying the story so far! Sorry I updated late again. Sorry. But anyway, Happy Pride Month🏳️‍🌈! Are you guys going to any pride events? There's not a lot in my area, because I live in a more conservative part, but my family and I are planning on going to a Pride Comic Convention! Anyway, have a good week and Happy Pride🏳️‍🌈!