Anti-Hero || Leo Valdez

46 - We Find the Beauty Queen

An hour later, they'd arrived in Tahlequah, and Via was left wondering, now what? They had no idea where Piper lived, and this town, while definitely smaller than Los Angeles where she used to live, was still too big to find her by just wandering around and asking for her.

Leo suggested they land, and Via started to experience that feeling of panic again. What if they couldn't find Piper and left the Hunters waiting? And what if they just decided to move on and tell Artemis, "Whelp, they didn't show up," and Artemis would be like, "Bruh, I tried to help her. Oh well," and they had to face Lamia all by themselves? What were they supposed to do then? It was just the three of them, and sure, they had Festus, but three people and a fire-breathing dragon automaton could only do so much.

Via took a deep breath and agreed, yes, they probably should land. It would probably do them some good to stop and spend some time walking around. Her legs felt stiff and her feet had that tingly sensation that came right before numbness. They flew until they saw a lake with a mini island inside it where (hopefully) no one would see them.

It was awkward trying to land, as they had to set Pat's truck down very slowly and gently so Festus wouldn't accidentally crush Pat's truck by accident. Luckily, Festus seemed to know what he was doing, though, and they were able to land without issue. Via' legs were extremely wobbly when she descended, and she couldn't tell whether that was from the panic attack earlier or from sitting for hours. She stretched, her shoulders and hips popping, and shook out her wrists. Pat headed over, humming "King of New York" from Newsies. It was kind of funny to think that the two of them had had completely opposite experiences during this particular trip. While Via had succumbed to her panic, Pat had been compartmentalizing his own by jamming out to his theater playlist.

"So, there's been a change of plans," Leo announced. "We're going to Oklahoma."

Pat frowned and stopped humming. "Oh? And the reason for this is?"

"I had another conversation with Artemis last night," Via told him.

"She said, way too casually."

"Shut up." Via rolled her eyes, though he kind of had a point. How many people had a badass hunting goddess backing you up? She wondered if this was how Odysseus felt when Athena adopted him as her warrior brain child and backed him up during battles. She probably had, like, telepathic conversations with him where she shared battle strategies and witty comebacks. Via wondered if she'd get to do the same thing with Artemis when she fought Lamia.

"Is that not... normal?" Leo asked, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Via blinked. "Is what not normal? Having conversations with random gods in your dreams? No, not really."

"I mean, we get demigod dreams, same as everyone else." Pat shrugged. "But not gods."

"Oh. I had tons of interactions with the gods last summer."

"Probably because you were saving the world from a crazy earth goddess. You're part of a prophecy. A main character, if you will. Normally the gods don't pay attention to background characters like us."

"Oh."

"Well? Don't leave me hanging, what'd Artemis have to say?"

"Oh, right." Via grinned sheepishly. "She said that she's sending her hunters to help during our fight with Lamia. And possibly Piper McLean."

Pat's eyes went wide as saucers. "Shut the fuck up."

"I'm serious."

Pat threw his hands up, a wide grin overtaking his face. "Yes! Finally! Some fucking good news!"