Changing the Future

Chapter 13

According to Aphrodite, I had to be gone by noon and have Chiron send them a report that I had made it to camp. A little overkill if you ask me, but I promised her that I'd get that done. Before I left, however, I stopped by Athena's library and pulled out one of her many enchanted maps from storage.

"Leo Valdez," I told the parchment, smiling giddily to myself as the map shimmered and revealed a red dot located somewhere near Houston, Texas. Great, so I'd head out to Texas after checking in with Chiron, but I still pocketed the map on the off chance that Leo moved away from Houston in the next few hours.

My sendoff was extremely anticlimactic as Aphrodite had pushed me out of her palace and I made my way to the elevator by myself. However, Reginald seemed much more relaxed about my sudden appearance, glancing at me briefly before returning to his computer, which I thought was real progress in our relationship.

Gods, I need some friends.

My check in at camp went rather smoothly, and after confirming via Iris-message that I was physically standing next to Chiron in the Big House, I was allowed to leave. Of course, I was postponed after a couple of the kids I saved went ahead and latched themselves onto me like leeches, refusing to let go until I gave them hugs and told them stories about their parents.

"Didn't know you were so popular," Cleo said sarcastically, nudging my shoulder to get my attention.

"Neither did I," I laughed, pulling her in for a hug.

She was thirteen now, but she acted so much older, especially since she was now the director of the infirmary. I thought it was a stressful post to have at the tender age of thirteen, but Cleo didn't seem to mind, content to spend her days suturing wounds and setting broken bones.

We caught up for a little bit before I told her I had made plans for the day. Cleo had asked when I'd be coming back, which I happily replied that I should be back later tonight or early tomorrow depending on how my plans went today. She had been pleasantly surprised by the information, as the last time the two of us had seen each other two days in a row had been five years ago.

Before the word could really spread around about my presence, I tried to mist-travel to Houston, feeling a little bit of pride when I felt myself dissolve into water vapor. The hard part was forcing all the vapor particles back into a solid state, but this form of traveling drained me a whole lot less than shadow-traveling did.

I wandered around Houston, feeling right at home in another concrete jungle packed with people and skyscrapers. The only thing I really hated was the unbearable heat and humidity, having the need to pull my hair into a high ponytail so that it was off my neck while also going to change into a tank top in a gas station bathroom.

Every couple of blocks, I'd pull out my map, and seeing that I was much closer to Leo's location, the map showed blocks and street names now instead of a single dot in one of the biggest states in the country.

I finally took a right on Cyprus Edge Drive and looked up, frowning at the plaza I'd been brought to. The map must've made some sort of mistake, but sure enough, there was that stubborn dot fixated at my location, telling me that Leo was here.

I looked up, only to almost be run over seconds later by a little boy clutching a plastic bag to his chest while two cops weren't far behind, yelling, "Come back here, kid!" while waving around their batons uselessly.

All it had taken was a glimpse of the boy's unruly brown curls for me to understand the situation, and as the cops almost caught up to the boy, a root from a nearby tree tripped the both of them, sending them sprawling against the sidewalk. Other people walked around the cops without sparing them a second glance, too invested in their own conversations or phones to pay attention to the chase scene that had been unfolding in front of them.