Penelope Orion: Prophecies

Chapter 13

Jason's P.O.V.

I watched as the two of them fell asleep. She trusts Leo a lot to do that. I thought, my cheeks getting hot. Piper looked back at me.

"You're jealous of him." She said quietly.

"Why would I be jealous?" I asked her, my cheeks feeling hotter.

"Because she's around him more," Piper whispered. "Look, when the two of you mysteriously appeared in the bus and we had our fake memories..."

"Yeah?" I asked.

She looked away, towards the two of them. "Penelope was the youngest and Leo kinda adopted her as his sister. The two were inseparable - like now. Even when Coach held Leo back, she would always be there, by his side. But whenever he wasn't around she would always cling onto you. You couldn't go anywhere. She would freak out whenever you tried to leave. As if something had happened a long time ago and she didn't want you to leave her..."

Wow, I thought, so that's why Leo's acting like that to her. "Okay, but how would I leave?"

"Whenever she fell asleep, you would always hand her to me so you could go somewhere. You always timed it right when you got back." She continued. "When you sat back down she would wake up. It's as if you've been doing it for a long time. It would always surprise me when it happened."

I didn't need to see her face. I knew she was smiling by her voice. Something told me that Penelope did this to someone else, but as I tried to remember, I head started pounding. I hope that, when we rescue Hera, Penelope and I will get our memories back.

Penelope's P.O.V.

I woke to the sound of Festus rumbling and Leo's voice, "Steady, boy." I sat up and I suddenly got light headed.

"I don't like this," I heard Jason say." They look like storm spirits."

I was still lightheaded and my head was hurting as if I have a serious migraine. I leaned back onto Leo, praying for this headache to go away. He held me gently as if he knew I wasn't feeling well.

After awhile, I felt Festus shudder. I must've fell back to sleep because the next thing I knew, I was in Leo or Jason's arms.

"Guys," I heard Leo say. "Fix the thermostat in here, and I would totally move in."

"Not me." Jason said. "Something here feels wrong. Something up there..." I realized that Jason was the one holding me. I felt his voice as he spoke. I buried my face in the crook of his neck and closed my eyes.

I heard Festus snort flames. I looked up and looked around. I saw two crazy looking boys and one of them was making faces at Piper, which she clearly didn't like. "I want down." I whispered. He didn't object. He placed me on the ice covered ground.

"No, no, no." The thinnest boy marched over, though how he could walk on the frozen ground, I had no idea. "That dragon must be deactivated. We can't have fire in here. The heat ruins my hair." Festus growled and spun his drill-bit teeth. I walked - well, slid - over to him.

"It's okay, buddy." I told him, rubbing his metal nose. "Leo won't let them deactivate you."

"Watch and learn, beauty queen. When I was repairing Festus last night, I found all kinds of buttons." Leo said walking over to Festus and I. "Some, you do not want to know what they do. But others... Ah, here we go." He hooked his fingers behind the dragon's left foreleg. He pulled a switch, and the dragon shuddered from head to toe. I backed away as Festus folded like origami. His bronze metal plating stacked together. His neck and tail contracted into his body. His wings collapsed and his trunk compacted until he was a rectangular metal wedge the size of a suitcase.

I smiled as he tried to lift it. I made a motion of pressing a button. "The button, Leo."

"Um... yeah. Hold on. I think - aha." Leo pushed another button and a handle flipped up on the top, and wheels clicked out on the bottom.

I had also decided to check out the rest of the area. The whole place was covered in ice and snow. It's a miracle that anyone could walk on the floor. l gazed at the pictures hanging on the walls. There were many men and women. I also wondered why the place was covered in ice. It wasn't natural, none of this was. Just like Jason said, something's wrong here. For some time, all I heard was Jason and the others talking to the boys.

But soon enough, I heard a girl's voice. "That depends on my father's will."

I turned around and saw a girl in a silk dress, her skin that was unnaturally white - like snow, her hair was a beautiful black, and her eyes the color of coffee. She focused on Leo with no expression, no smile, no friendliness. I knew immediately that I didn't like her. Then the girl looked at Piper and Jason. She knew what the situation was immediately.

"Father will want the ones called Jason and Penelope," she said.

"Then it is them?" Asked one of the boys excitedly.

"We'll see," the girl said. "Zethes, bring our guests."

I took off towards Jason. I didn't want to be close to her. He grabbed my hand. "You're freezing, Pen." He said, circling his thumb on my hand.

"Not you, Leo Valdez." I heard the girl say.

Why not, part of me asked. He's a part of our group.

"Why not?" Leo asked, sounding like a little kindergartner.

"You cannot be in the presence of my father," the girl said. "Fire and ice - it would not be wise."

"We're going together," Jason insisted, tightening his grip on my hand and putting his other hand on Leo's shoulder, "or not at all."

The girl tilted her head, like she wasn't used to people disobeying her. "He will not be harmed, Jason Grace, unless you make trouble. Calais, keep Leo Valdez here. Guard him, but do not kill him."

Calais pouted. "Just a little?"

"No," the girl insisted. "And take care of his interesting suitcase, until father passes judgement."

We looked at Leo. I didn't want to leave him here with Calais. I wanted him to come with me - with us. But I knew why they didn't want him to go. He was a fire user, a pyrokinetic.

"It's fine guys," he said. "No sense in causing trouble if we don't have to. You go ahead."

"Listen to your friend," the pale girl said. "Leo Valdez will be perfectly safe. I wish I could say the same for you son of Zeus and daughter of Poseidon. Now come, King Boreas is waiting."