The Lost Heroine (Heroes of Olympus/Kane Chronicles crossover) [2016]

Chapter 19: Frank

EGYPTIAN PORTALS WERE WEIRD. That's all I could say. I wasn't sure what I'd been expecting, but it definitely wasn't a giant vortex of purple sand.

We landed at Cleopatra's Needle in Central Park. Carter closed his eyes. "We've got two minutes till noon, people!" he announced. "Get ready!"

Annabeth and Zia turned their amulet birds back into amulets. Percy told Blackjack and Porkpie to return to camp. Hazel did the same with Arion after feeding him some precious metal, and Leo did the same with Festus. I let Will Solace off my back and turned back into a human.

"Wait, Leo!" Annabeth yelled.

"What?" Leo asked. Festus paused before taking off.

"Take the scrying bowl," she said. "We need an Egyptian relic in order to get back."

He raised his eyebrows. "Smart!"

We were all wearing winter coats. Mine was red. Hazel's was yellow. Percy's and Jason's were both blue. Leo's was orange. Annabeth's was gray. Carter's was white, Sadie's was green, Zia's was brown and Walt's was black. Calypso's was rose colored.

Zia explained to Annabeth how to make a portal. Then Annabeth took out a long staff carved with an owl, and slammed it against the Needle, yelling, "Antarctic Peninsula!"

"Perfect timing!" Carter yelled. A giant purple mass of sand and dust formed, suspended about two feet in the air, its center right where Annabeth's staff had struck the Needle.

"Won't it be a problem if we just say, Antarctic Peninsula?" Annabeth asked after lowering her staff. "Don't we have to be specific?"

"Normally, yes," Zia explained. "But Khione will probably have planned ahead, if she knows what she's doing. How many Egyptian artifacts do you think there are in Antarctica?"

"When you say 'portal'," Leo said, "I think of that machine from Big Hero 6. I was not expecting this."

I rolled my eyes. "Only you would think of that."

"I loved that movie!" Sadie exclaimed.

"Me too!" Leo replied. "Hiro is awesome. We've got a lot in common. We like building stuff, we both have a mechanical flying ride, and..." He faltered. "That's about it." I knew that he was thinking about his mom, but he didn't want to go there.

"Personally, I like Gogo," Sadie said. "Always in action, aggressive."

"Sounds like you," Carter mumbled. 

Sadie punched him on the shoulder. "Well, you're definitely Wasabi."

"I liked that movie, too," Percy said. "Not as much as Finding Nemo, but it's good."

I had to admit I enjoyed it too, but I wasn't going to admit that I had something in common with Leo Valdez. We'd grown to respect each other after he gave me the fireproof pouch, but he's still annoying.

"Hey, what if Hiro's a child of Hephaestus?" Leo asked. "It never mentions his parents, except when it said they died when he was three. What if he's actually a demigod, but doesn't know it? He could be my half brother!"

I stared at him. "I didn't know it was physically possible for you to think that hard, Valdez."

"Shut up, Zhang," he snapped.

"The portal is going to fade!" Zia warned, having heard nothing of our conversation. She jumped into the swirling vortex. Sadie and Walt went next. 

Carter yelled, "I'll stay behind and make sure you come through safely."

Annabeth leaped in. Percy followed her. Then Jason. Then Nico and Will. I glanced at Hazel. "You ready?"

"As ready as you can get," she sighed, her beautiful golden eyes glowing in the sunlight. "Come on, Frank." I grabbed her hand, and together we jumped into the void.