Silver | HoO

ONE

If you asked Emilio how he had been dragged onto a flying chariot flying over the Grand Canyon, he would point to Eleanor Gold.

Elle was his best friend but as he gripped the side of the chariot, he cursed her in both Latin and the few Greek curses he'd been taught. After the incident on Olympus, Emilio was no longer a fan of heights.

"You're looking a little green," said demigod pointed out, jokingly mocking him as she stood at the front, the wind blowing through her blonde hair, whipping around like the rope whip she had tied around her wrist.

Emilio glared at her. He couldn't blame her fully though. He had offered to come with after hearing about the tip Hera had given Annabeth. See, Percy Jackson just had to go missing three days ago. Two days ago, Annabeth had iris messaged Elle in a panic, telling her how he hadn't turned up to their meeting and no one had seen him. One day ago, Elle convinced Emilio to follow her to camp and help look for the son of Poseidon.

And now he was here, stuck on a chariot, hundreds of feet in the air.

So really, it was Percy Jackson's fault.

Emilio was the first one off of the chariot when it landed on the skywalk, grateful to be solid ground again. He fell to his knees, maybe a little dramatically, "Oh thank the gods it's over."

"We still have to go back," Eleanor unhelpfully reminded him as she helped him to his feet. Her eyes scanned the skywalk before landing on three figures. The duo got a little closer to get a better look at them.

The first, was best described as a Latino Santa's elf, with curly black hair, pointy ears, a cheerful, babyish face, and a mischievous look that told you right away this guy should not be trusted around matches or sharp objects. The kid was fiddling with the buttons of his army fatigue jacket as he made eye contact with Emilio. Emilio almost questioned whether he too was a Hermes kid.

Next was a beautiful girl. Emilio may be gay but he can see just how stunning this girl was. She wore faded jeans, hiking boots, and a fleece snowboarding jacket. Her chocolate brown hair was cut choppy and uneven, with thin strands braided down the sides. It looked like she had done it herself, almost to try and hide how pretty she was.

Last was someone that immediately took Emilio's breath away. Not in a 'oh gods, he's the most beautiful guy he'd ever seen', it was a painful gut punch. He couldn't believe his eyes, he couldn't believe he was here. Emilio didn't need to get close to see every detail about his face, it was committed to memory. His blonde hair, his stunning electric blue eyes, the small scar on his lip he'd had for as long as he could remember.

Jason Grace, his best friend, the boy he had-

"Where is he?" Annabeth demanded as they got closer, snapping Emilio out of his thoughts. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the look of concern that Elle was sending his way. He shot her a quick smile to try and reassure her that he was okay but she didn't buy it.

"Where's who?" Jason asked. His voice sent sparks up Emilio's spine, it had been years since he heard it. The last time had been Jason begging him not to leave.

Annabeth frowned like his answer was unacceptable. Then she turned to other two. "What about Gleeson? Where is your protector, Gleeson Hedge? "

The elf cleared his throat. "He got taken by some ... tornado things."

"Venti," Jason said. "Storm spirits."

Elle arched an eyebrow. "Anemoi thuellai? That's the Greek term anyways," Elle eyed him like she was putting the pieces together, "Who are you, and what happened?"

Jason did his best to explain, though it seemed like it was hard to meet Annabeth's intense gray eyes. Emilio understood, Annabeth was intimidating.

About halfway through the story, Jason finally made eye contact with Emilio and paused. Emilio waited for yelling, for Jason to attack him and calling him a traitor but nothing came. Instead he got a confused look, like he was trying to figure out where he recognized him from. That hurt so much worse.