True Blue ✷ Leo Valdez.

20: Content.

THE QUARTET OF QUESTGOERS rode in a taxi-cab toward the location of their probable demise. The car struggled up the large rocky cliff, it's radio blaring some corny pop song and it's AC blasting on high. As the vehicle lurched up the large mountain, it made odd spluttering sounds, and halfway up they found the ranger's station closed, a chain blocking the way.

Just their luck, Blaire thought bitterly.

"Far as I can go," the cabbie told them. "You sure about this? Gonna be a long walk back, and my car's acting funny. I can't wait for you."

"We're sure." Leo was the first one out of the car, so he took the liberty to pay the driver as his friends piled out behind him. The son of Hephaestus looked rather worried and demanded the man leave as quick as possible.

And he didn't argue. The second Blaire shut the door behind herself, he took off, leaving nothing but a dust trail in his wake.

The view from the mountain was pretty amazing. The whole inland valley around Mount Diablo was a patchwork of towns—grids of tree-lined streets and nice middle-class suburbs, shops, and schools. All these normal people living normal lives—the kind Blaire had never known.

"That's Concord," Jason told them, pointing to the north. "Walnut Creek below us. To the south, Danville, past those hills. And that way ..."

He pointed west, where a ridge of golden hills held back a layer of fog, like the rim of a bowl. "That's the Berkeley Hills. The East Bay. Past that, San Francisco."

Blaire, along with the others, spared him a funny glance. "Why do you know that? Do you remember something?"

Piper took a diffrent approach, gingerly touching his bicep, the one with the odd tatoo. "Have you been here, Jason?"

"Yes ... no." He gave her an anguished look, his face paling. "It just seems important."

"That's Titan land." Coach Hedge nodded toward the west. "Bad place, Jason. Trust me, this is as close to 'Frisco as we want to get."

Jason looked toward the basin with such admiration, Blaire almost felt uneasy. He seemed to feel very fond toward the supposed titan land— she thought maybe he came from there. Perhaps he was an enemy, just like her peers back at Camp Half-blood supposed.

Though she couldn't exactly think terribly of anyone for the morals and beliefs they weilded. Given her track record.

Shaking the negative thoughts out of her head, Blaire attempted to take a step forward, but the heel of her boot was deeply embedded into the mud.

"We should probably keep moving," Blaire huffed, nodding towards the sunken heel of her shoe.

The others noticed the problem at once.

"Gaea is stronger here," Hedge grumbled. He popped his hooves free from his shoes, then handed the shoes to Leo. "Keep those for me, Valdez. They're nice."

Leo snorted with humor, glancing to Blaire with raised eyebrows as if to say Look at this guy! "Yes, sir, Coach. Would you like them polished?"

"That's varsity thinking, Valdez." Hedge nodded approvingly, not catching his obvious sarcasm. "But first, we'd better hike up this mountain while we still can."

"How do we know where the giant is?" Piper asked.

Jason pointed toward the peak. Drifting across the summit was a plume of smoke. From a distance, Blaire had thought it was a mere cloud, but it wasn't. Something was burning.

"Smoke equals fire," Jason pointed out. "We'd better hurry."

Climbing a mountain while earth itself was trying to swallow her whole was one of the most difficult things Blaire had ever been tasked to do. Her feet sinking into the rocky terrain beneath had become annoying very quickly.