Daughter of Mother Earth

Chapter Fourty-Five

"Leo, help!" Crystal called out.

The small bridge began falling to the earth. Leo reached out and attempted to grab her hand. His fingertips brushed hers  and missed her hand by a millimeter. Leo's wide brown eyes met with Crystal's terror-stricken green eyes. 

"Crystal!" Leo screamed, watching helplessly as Crystal disappeared into the clouds below.

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Piper scurried to the edge of the island. "What happened? Where's Crystal?"

Jason grabbed her waist before Piper could topple over the edge. He set her upright before hugging her, trying to calm her down.

Leo gripped his hair, freaking out. "I got a little heated and the bridge started melting and Crystal didn't make it. I should've her go first! It's all my fault, I-"

Jason placed a hand of Leo's shoulder. "Leo, it'll be okay. Crystal can fly, I'm sure she's fine."

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"I am not fine!" Crystal yelled, gripping onto a vine. 

Just after the bridge collapsed, Crystal shot out a vine from the island to catch herself before it was too late. She had also obtained a good sized burn across her palm from the friction of stopping herself suddenly. She hung on the vine for a moment to catch her breath. Winds whipped around her, causing baby hairs to fall out her bun. 

"Why does this always happen to me? Honestly!" Crystal grumbled.

Crystal blew a strand of brown hair out of her face. She slowly started to pull herself up the vine. It was a good thing she wasn't too bad at rope climbing back when she was in school, before she came to Camp Half-Blood. Although, she did have to stop to take a break for a moment.

"Why is this so difficult?" Crystal huffed. "I literally did this everyday in school!"

She continued to climb after her small break. As she got closer to the edge, Crystal heard the voices of her friends. 

"Leo, calm down. We don't need you to burst into flames." Crystal heard Jason said.

Crystal peeped over the edge of the cliff. The group had their backs turned away from her. Leo was pacing back and forth, hands gripping his curly hair. 

"I can't!" Leo cried out. "She could be dead and it'd be all my fault."

"I'm not dead," A voice called out.  

Leo cried out. "I can still hear her voice. Wait!"

The group whipped around to see Crystal hoisting herself up and dusting off her hands. Before she could say anything else, her face was smothered into a warm chest. 

"¡Dios mio! Pensé que estabas muerto. ¡No vuelvas a asustarme nunca más!" Leo gripped Crystal close to his body, ranting in Spanish.

Crystal hugged Leo back. "Leo, I don't understand what you're saying. Besides, you can't get rid of me that easily."

Jason and Piper engulfed Crystal in a hug also. However, they couldn't celebrate for very long, they had a mission to finish. They began to make their way up to the top.

"How many cliffs are on this stupid island?" Leo wheezed.

However, it didn't take very long for the group to reach the top of the island. At the top, there was a rotunda. The land was separated into the four seasons. They actually looked quite stunning. Suddenly, Coach Hedge was galloping off to the spring section to graze. While the satyr ate, the demigods made their way up to a set of doors. A beautiful young lady opened the door. Her feet were floating a few inches off the ground and her hair flowed around her slowly. 

Leo yelped, "A ghost!" 

The woman chuckled. "No, sir! I am an aura. I presume you are the demigods we've been waiting for?"

Piper nodded, "I supposed so, ma'am."

The aura smiled. "Wonderful! My name is Mellie. Follow me, please."

Mellie led the group into a lobby. Winds blew around the group, which nearly knocked Leo down. In the air was dozens of flying paper airplanes. A harpy flew past, mumbling something incoherently. 

"This way!" Mellie cheerfully motioned the four toward a closed door. "If we enter now, Aeolus won't kill you. Er, hopefully."

"Wait, what?"