𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ~ j. grace¹

chapter ten

"SO, JACE," LYRA STARTED, turning to look at the blond boy, "you have a plan, or — are we just gonna wing it?"

"I have a plan," Jason said, "Kinda."

"Doesn't inspire much confidence," Leo quipped from the front, "Jace." he said causing Jason to glare at him.

"So, what's the plan?" Piper asked.

Jason laid out the game plan: First,
find Boreas, God of some wind thingy and grill him for information—

"His name is Boreas?" Leo asked, snorting, "What is he, the God of
Boring?"

Second, Jason continued, they had to find those venti that had attacked
them at the Grand Canyon—

"Anemoi thuellai," Lyra felt the need to correct.

"Can we just call them storm spirits?" Leo asked. "Venti makes them
sound like evil espresso drinks and Ane — whatever, is hard to pronounce."

"Welcome to Greek Mythology."

And third, Jason finished, they had to find out who the storm spirits
worked for, so they could find Hera and free her.

"So you want to look for Dylan, the nasty storm dude, on purpose,"
Leo said. "The guy who threw me off the skywalk and sucked Coach
Hedge into the clouds."

"That’s about it," Jason said. "Well. . .there may be a wolf involved, too. But I think she’s friendly. She probably won’t eat us, unless we show weakness."

"Of course." Lyra agreed.

Jason told them about his dream—the mother wolf and a burned-out house with stone spires growing out of the swimming pool.

"Uh-huh," Leo said. "But you don’t know where this place is."

"Nope," Jason admitted.

"There’s also giants," Piper added.
"The prophecy said the giants’
revenge."

"Of course it's giants." Lyra murmured, sighing.

"Hold on," Leo said. "Giants—like more than one? Why can’t it be just
one giant who wants revenge?"

"Hate to break it to you, fire boy," Lyra patted his shoulder sympathetically, "but I'm pretty sure we're dealing with an army of them."

"Great," Leo muttered. "Of course, with our luck, it’s an army. So you
know anything else about these giants, Ly? You're probably the only one of us who even remotely has a clue about what we're dealing with."

"The giants' were born of Gaea and Tartarus — that is mother earth and the deepest darkest pit of hell, weird couple, I know — after the Titans were defeated by the gods. They were each born to oppose the 12 Olympians. They were huge and almost impossible to kill. Extremely strong. Also, they can only be defeated by a god and demigod working together." Lyra explained.

"If we’re talking about the same giants—" Piper started.

"Chiron said it was happening again," Jason remembered. "The last chapter. That’s what he meant. No wonder he didn’t want us to know all the details."

"Lyra," Leo started, voice strained, "these giants, say, were they strong enough to perhaps— throw mountains or buildings?"

Lyra grimaced, "With ease."

Leo whistled. "So. . .giants who can throw mountains. Friendly wolves that will eat us if we show weakness. Evil espresso drinks. Gotcha. Maybe this isn’t the time to bring up my psycho babysitter."

"Is that another joke?" Piper asked.

Leo told them about Tía Callida, who was really Hera, and how she’d appeared to him at camp. And he told them about the strange woman in earthen robes who seemed to be asleep, and seemed to know the future.

"That’s. . .disturbing," Piper said.

"Earthen robes? And she looked like wet clay?" Lyra asked, "Basically melting into the earth?"

" 'Bout sums it up," Leo agreed. "You know her?"

"Unfortunately," Lyra confirmed, rubbing a hand over her face.

If she was right. . .

No, she couldn't be, they couldn't be that unlucky.

"Thing is, everybody says don’t trust Hera. She hates demigods. And the prophecy said we’d cause death if we
unleash her rage. So I’m wondering. . .why are we doing this?"

Lyra shrugged, "Hera can rot for all I care."

"I mean, no offense," Piper asked, "but why are you here then?"

"The prophecy, duh. The Fates adore me."

Jason drummed his fingers against his thighs, "Helping Hera is the only way I can get back my memory. And that dark spire in my dream seemed to be feeding on Hera’s energy. If that thing unleashes a king of the giants by destroying Hera—"

"Not a good trade-off," Piper agreed. "At least Hera is on our side— mostly. Losing her would throw the gods into chaos. She’s the main one who keeps peace in the family. And a war with the giants could be even more destructive than the Titan War."

Lyra grimaced. As much as she hated to admit it, Piper had a point.

Jason nodded. "Chiron also talked about worse forces stirring on the
solstice, with it being a good time for dark magic, and all—something that
could awaken if Hera were sacrificed on that day. And this mistress who’s
controlling the storm spirits, the one who wants to kill all the demigods—"

"Might be that weird sleeping lady," Leo finished. "Dirt Woman fully
awake? Not something I want to see."

"But who is she?" Jason asked. "And what does she have to do with giants?"

Both looked at Lyra who fidgeted slightly under the attention. "You said you knew who she was."

"Yeah." Lyra agreed, sighing in exhaustion, "She's Mother Earth, of course."

"Wait, as in Gaea?" Piper asked in disbelief.

"As in the nice, kind and loving mother earth?" Leo asked at the same time.

"Yep."

"How can we fight the earth?" Jason asked, vaguely gesturing to the ground. "She's one of the oldest deities."

"And equally as powerful."

"Well. . ." Leo dragged out, "We're screwed."

"Majorly, fucking screwed." Lyra confirmed.

They descended into a silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

Leo yawned and Lyra observed the tiredness marring his features. He was up all night yesterday. Placing a hand on his shoulder, she said,

"Sleep. I got this."

"Mhm," Leo murmured, already dozing off.

"Jace?" Jason hummed in response. "Sleep."

The blond shook his head, fighting back a yawn, "I'm fine."

"We can't do anything if you suddenly decide to fall asleep in the middle of a battlefield, Blondie." Lyra retorted.

"I'm supposed to be the leader. I should be awake." Jason protested.

"Well then, as a leader, aren't you supposed to make sure everyone is in tip top condition including yourself?"

". . . Yeah. Ok."

In moments, both the boys were asleep, leaving Lyra and Piper awake.

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