The Blazing Fate

Chapter Fifteen

Astrid was on edge. She didn't remember much from their time with Medea. She kept going in and out of her brain. She had a massive headache. Astrid missed camp. She missed Connor and Annabeth. She missed Will.

Astrid patted Leo's shoulder, trying to distract herself. 'Leo, you feeling okay?'

'Yeah... not bad for a brainwashed zombie.' Leo turned to Piper. 'Thanks for saving us back there beauty queen. If you hadn't talked me out of that spell—'

'Don't worry about it,' Piper said.

Astrid could literally feel everyone's worry. Festus kept making weird creaking noises and they had almost been defeated by an ancient witch.

How did Medea come back to life? That was a Hades question. Something must be going on in the Underworld. Is that why the gods have disappeared? Can they no longer control the souls they killed? Astrid didn't like any of this. And she hadn't had any time to dissect the dream she had before meeting Medea. She still doesn't really understand what she saw.

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

'Yeah,' Astrid agreed. 'Coach Hedge probably wants to get out of his canary cage, too. Question is—where are we going?'

'The Bay Area,' Leo guessed. 'Didn't Medea say something about Oakland?'

Piper didn't answer for a really long time.

'Piper's dad,' Jason put in. 'Something's happened to your dad, right? He got lured into some kind of trap.'

Piper let out a shaky breath. 'Look, Medea said you would all 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?' He pointed ahead of them, but Astrid didn't see anything.

'What?' Leo asked.

'That...whatever it is,' Jason said. 'In the air.'

Leo glanced back, and Astrid looked at Piper. Each seemed as confused as she was.

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

'Like a vapor trail,' Jason said. 'Except its 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,' Astrid said. 'Aeolus is the wind god. I think he knows we've got prisoners for him. He's telling us where to fly.'

'Or it's another trap,' Piper said.

Astrid was worried for her friend. She sounded broken. Like they'd already sealed their fate, and it was her fault.

'Pipes, you, all right?' Leo asked.

'Don't call me that.'

'Okay, fine. You don't like the names I make up for you. But if your dad's in trouble and we can help—'

'You can't,' she said, her voice even shakier. 'Look, I'm tired. If you don't mind...'

She leaned back against Jason and closed her eyes. They flew in silence for a while. Astrid had so much to think about. Her mind was reeling.

'Catch a few Z's,' Jason said, suddenly. 'It's cool. Hand me the reins.'

'Nah, I'm okay—'

'Leo,' Astrid said, 'you're not a machine. Besides, Jason's the only one who can see the vapor trail. He'll make sure we stay on course, and I'll wake you if anything seems janky.'

'Alright, maybe just...'

Leo didn't finish his sentence. He just slumped forward against the dragon's warm neck and was out like a light. Astrid felt a little relieved. Jason didn't seem to be in the mood to talk any more than she was. Astrid needed to think.

She tried to remember as much from her dream as she could. She took a notepad out of her bag and began to write as much as she could remember.

One of the things that scared her most was Jason being Roman. Astrid didn't know if that was a thing, but it made sense. It made sense that there was another camp out there. A trade. A leader for a leader. Percy was definitely Camp Half-Blood's leader. And Jason had the aura of a leader. Was this Hera's plan? Get the camps together and simply hope for the best?

The Romans and Greeks were vastly different. The gods had complete opposite personalities. And her dad did seem unlike himself. Almost sickly, she thought. Could getting these two camps together affect which version of the gods they appear as?

Astrid didn't know, and she figured it would be best to not spend hours thinking about it. She didn't have any books that could help her, and she'd only drive herself mad. So, she moved on to the other portion of her dream.

Nico was supposed to be out searching for Percy, but nobody had heard from him since he left. And Nico is a flight risk, he's never at camp for longer than a day. Where was that? And why did he act like he had never met Percy? Whose side is he on?

Not to mention the fact Percy couldn't remember anything. Just like Jason. He may not have been plopped down on a school bus but they were the same. Or at least very similar. What was Hera's plan?

And according to Nico and that girl it was Gaea that was waking. If that were true... Astrid didn't know what would happen. All she knew was that it would be worse than the first war. And she was so tired of fighting all the time.

And then there was Piper. Astrid had no idea what that girl was hiding but it couldn't be good. She barely remembers her time with Medea. She felt too focused on remembering her name. Who took Piper's dad? And why did she seem so miserable anytime something went wrong?

Could they trust her? Astrid didn't know, but she hoped they could. Piper had become a fast friend and she's powerful. They needed her. Astrid couldn't take another betrayal.

All this proved is that she really didn't know anything. She was as in the dark as everyone else despite this extra information. And that is when Festus made a really weird noise, obviously malfunctioning, and they started to fall.

Astrid thought these events were starting to bea bit too ironic.