RECLUSE - (n) a person who lives a solitary life and tends to avoid other people.
MAISIE ELLIOT WAS ANGRY.
Angry at the world.
Angry at the Gods.
Angry at the demigods who seemed to move on too fast.
And when forced onto a quest with three stranger...
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MAISIE'S CHEST HEAVED
What had she done? Now that they practically blew up Medea, she had no chance to get her friends back. She felt immense guilt for a part of her wishing she had let the boys kill each other, but she couldn't help it. She needed her family back. To be fair, nobody on this quest had really been kind to her, except for Leo, but she didn't consider relentless flirts and jokes as 'kindness'. Maisie wasn't a monster, but sometimes she felt like it.
"Good job, Festus." Leo patted the dragons metal hide. "You did awesome."
The dragon shuttered. Gears popped and clicked in his neck.
"I'll give you a tune up the next time we land," Leo promised. "You've earned some motor oil and Tabasco sauce."
Festus whirled his drill teeth.
"Leo?" "You feeling okay?" Piper asked, patting his shoulder.
"Yeah ... not bad for a brainwashed zombie." He seemed embarrassed. "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.
Maisie frowned. She noticed nobody had thanked or mentioned her help. To be fair, she didn't do much, but at least she was trying!
"We're going to have to touch 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," Piper agreed. "Coach Hedge probably wants out of his cage too, question is— where are we going?"
"The Bay Area," Leo guessed. "Didn't Medea say something about Oakland?"
"Piper's dad," Jason but in. "Something happened to your dad, and Maisie's 'Loved ones', right?"
"Look," Piper exhaled shakily. "Medea said you would both die in the Bay Area, plus that place is huge! We need to find Aeolus first and drop off the storm spirits. Boreas said he was the only one who knew where we should go."
"So how do we find Aeolus." Leo grunted.
Jason leaned forward. "You mean you don't see it?" He pointed ahead of them.
"Are you insane?" Maisie asked.
"That," he pointed. "Whatever that is. In the air."
"Right," Leo said. "Could you be more specific on the 'whatever-it-is' part?"
"Like a vapor trail," Jason said. "But it's 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 magic trail in the wind," Jason said. "Aeolus is the wind god. I think he knows we have prisoners for him. He's telling us where to fly."
"Or it's another trap." Piper added. She sounded broken and defeated.
