( ZOYA CARDAN )

⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⁀➷｡˚⸙͎۪۫⋆ ༄

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*𝐙𝐎𝐘𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐘𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃. she had woken up on a school bus full of teenagers, and not in her bed at camp half-blood. she didn't know where percy, annabeth, rachel or will were. she was even tempted to call out for the stoll twins but opted against it knowing that if they were playing some trick on her the boys would never let her live it down.

now here she was at the grand canyon besides three demi-gods and a satyr fighting an anemoi thúellai, with no weapons by her side. considering the fact her mother was the most powerful goddess the fact that she had not inherited any powers to aid her in a battle was a bit of a let-down. she didn't even know who these people around her were but two of them claimed she'd been going to school with them for over a month.

"coach," jason said. jason was blonde with a shortly cropped hairstyle, quite lean, much taller than her around percy's height, with scarily blue eyes. much like the sky's in olympus on a good day, "let me go!"

"jason, zoya, leo, stay behind me," the coach ordered. "this is my fight. i should've known that was our monster."

zoya could smell the satyr on him the instant she woke up on the school bus, he wasn't doing the best of jobs at hiding his scent. she had a connection with animals, and since satyrs are half goat she knew what he was quicker than she could process where she was.

"what?" leo demanded. a rogue worksheet slapped him in the face, but he swatted it away. "what monster?"

leo looked like a latino santa's elf, with curly black hair, pointy ears, a cheerful, babyish face, and a mischievous smile that told you right away this guy should not be trusted around matches or sharp objects.

the coach's cap blew off, and sticking up above his curly hair were two bumps-like the knots cartoon characters get when they're bonked on the head. coach hedge lifted his baseball bat-but it wasn't a regular bat anymore. it had changed into a crudely shaped tree-branch club, with twigs and leaves still attached.

dylan, the anemoi thúellai, gave him that psycho happy smile. "oh, come on, coach. let the boy attack me! after all, you're getting too old for this. isn't that why they retired you to this stupid school? i've been on your team the entire season, and you didn't even know. you're losing your nose, grandpa."

the coach made an angry sound like an animal bleating. "that's it, cupcake. you're going down."

"you think you can protect four half-bloods at once, old man?" dylan laughed. "good luck. but then again, zoya's always been able to handle herself, haven't you?" the male's eyes turning to her.

the girl could feel her fists tightening, but she'd learnt years ago to not run into battle without a plan and a weapon, annabeth had taught her battle tactics and she was not going to throw her best friend's teachings out of the window because she was confused and angry.

dylan pointed at leo, and a funnel cloud materialized around him. leo flew off the skywalk like he'd been tossed. somehow he managed to twist in mid-air, and slammed sideways into the canyon wall. he skidded, clawing furiously for any handhold. finally he grabbed a thin ledge about fifty feet below the skywalk and hung there by his fingertips.

"help!" he yelled up at them. "rope, please? bungee cord? something?"

coach hedge cursed and tossed jason his club. "i don't know who you are, kid, but I hope you're good. keep that thing busy"-he stabbed a thumb at dylan-"while I get leo."

"get him how?" jason demanded. "you going to fly?"

"not fly. climb." hedge kicked off his shoes, and jason looked like he almost had a coronary.

"you're a faun," jason said. zoya turning to him confused on the roman name, sure some demi-gods got interested in roman mythology but never enough to rename.

"he's a satyr" zoya said at the same time hedge snapped "satyr! fauns are roman. but we'll talk about that later."

hedge leaped over the railing. he sailed toward the canyon wall and hit hooves first. he bounded down the cliff with impossible agility, finding footholds no bigger than postage stamps, dodging whirlwinds that tried to attack him as he picked his way toward leo.

"isn't that cute!" dylan turned toward jason. "now it's your turn, boy." jason threw the club. It seemed useless with the winds so strong, but the club flew right at dylan, even curving when he tried to dodge, and smacked him on the head so hard he fell to his knees.

zoya whacked the boy beside her on the arm, although still avoided his eyes "don't do anything stupid, kid" the nickname causing the boy to glare at her.

the girl on the floor piper wasn't as dazed as she appeared. her fingers closed around the club when it rolled next to her, but before she could use it, dylan rose. blood-golden blood-trickled from his forehead.

piper wore faded jeans, hiking boots, and a fleece snowboarding jacket. her chocolate brown hair was cut choppy and uneven, with thin strands braided down the sides. she wore no makeup like she was trying not to draw attention to herself, but it didn't really work. she was pretty, really pretty zoya noted.

"nice try, boy." dylan glared at jason. "but you'll have to do better."

the skywalk shuddered. hairline fractures appeared in the glass. inside the museum, kids stopped banging on the doors. they backed away, watching in terror. dylan's body dissolved into smoke, as if his molecules were coming unglued. he had the same face, the same brilliant white smile, but his whole form was suddenly composed of swirling black vapor, his eyes like electrical sparks in a living storm cloud. he sprouted black smoky wings and rose above the skywalk.

"you're a ventus," jason said, though he had no idea how he knew that word. "a storm spirit." there it was again, the roman names.

"i'm glad i waited, demigod. leo and piper I've known about for weeks. could've killed them at any time. but my mistress said two more were coming. she'll reward me greatly for your death and the capture of the princess of the heavens!"

zoya hated that name, it reminded her so much of her mother's title. and her and her mother did not get along enough to even be in the same room together, let alone share a name.

two more funnel clouds touched down on either side of dylan and turned into venti-ghostly young men with smoky wings and eyes that flickered with lightning. piper stayed down, pretending to be dazed, her hand still gripping the club. her face was pale, but she gave jason and zoya a determined look, and they understood the message: keep their attention. i'll brain them from behind.

zoya made a run for dylan, the girl concentrating as much as possible at his form before shutting her eyes momentarily and then opening them as they glowed a blinding golden colour, making a parting motion with her hands. dylan's form flickered before ripping apart, the winds strong enough to send everyone around back a few steps.

although, it wasn't strong enough as the top half of dylan raised his hand, arcs of electricity running between his fingers, and blasted jason in the chest. his clothes clothes were smoking. the lightning bolt had gone straight though his body and blasted off his left shoe. his toes black with soot.

"jason!" zoya found herself screaming for the boy she didn't know. she knew what that much electricity could do to a demi-god, a mortal. the boy was as good as dead.

the storm spirits were laughing. the winds raged. piper was screaming defiantly, but it all sounded tinny and far away . out of the corner of her eye, she saw coach hedge climbing the cliff with leo on his back. piper was on her feet, desperately swinging the club to fend off the two extra storm spirits, but they were just toying with her. the club went right through their bodies like they weren't there. and dylan, a dark and winged tornado with eyes, loomed over jason.

"stop," jason croaked. he rose unsteadily to his feet, and he wasn't sure who was more surprised: him, zoya or the storm spirits.

"how are you alive?" dylan's form flickered. "that was enough lightning to kill twenty men!"

"my turn," jason said. who was this boy?

jason reached in his pocket and pulled out a gold coin. he let his instincts take over, flipping the coin in the air like he'd done it a thousand times. he caught it in his palm, and suddenly he was holding a sword-a wickedly sharp double-edged weapon. the ridged grip fit his fingers perfectly, and the whole thing was gold-hilt, handle, and blade.

zoya wished she had her sword with her at that moment, she felt weak and lost. she hadn't spent a day without her sword at her side, she hadn't spent a day without annabeth and percy at her side, a day without rachel and will. everything felt off, and when things felt off she only had one person to blame.

dylan snarled and backed up. he looked at his two comrades and yelled, "well? kill him!"

the other storm spirits didn't look happy with that order, but they flew at jason, their fingers crackling with electricity.

jason swung at the first spirit. his blade passed through it, and the creature's smoky form disintegrated. the second spirit let loose a bolt of lightning, but jason's blade absorbed the charge. jason stepped in-one quick thrust, and the second storm spirit dissolved into gold powder.

dylan wailed in outrage. he looked down as if expecting his comrades to re-form, but their gold dust remains dispersed in the wind. "impossible! who are you, half-blood?"

piper was so stunned she dropped her club. "jason, how-?" then coach hedge leaped back onto the skywalk and dumped leo like a sack of flour.

"spirits, fear me!" hedge bellowed, flexing his short arms. then he looked around and realized there was only dylan.

"curse it, boy!" he snapped at jason. "didn't you leave some for me? i like a challenge!"

leo got to his feet, breathing hard. he looked completely humiliated, his hands bleeding from clawing at the rocks. "yo, coach supergoat, whatever you are-I just fell down the freaking grand canyon! stop asking for challenges!"

dylan hissed at them, but zoya could see fear in his eyes. "you have no idea how many enemies you've awakened, half-bloods. my mistress will destroy all demigods. this war you cannot win." the way he said all not making zoya's stomach sit right.

above them, the storm exploded into a full-force gale. cracks expanded in the skywalk. sheets of rain poured down, and zoya had to crouch to keep his balance. a hole opened in the clouds-a swirling vortex of black and silver.

"the mistress calls me back!" dylan shouted with glee. "and you, demigod, will come with me!"

he lunged at Jason, but zoya tackled the monster from the side before he could reach. even though he was made of smoke, zoya made sure to stay connected. both of them went sprawling.

leo, piper, jason, and the coach surged forward to help, but the spirit screamed with rage. he let loose a torrent that knocked them all backward. jason and coach hedge landed on their butts. jason's sword skidded across the glass. leo hit the back of his head and curled on his side, dazed and groaning. piper flew until her back slammed on the floor.

zoya got the worst of it. she was thrown off dylan's side and hit the railing, tumbling over the side until she was hanging by one hand over the abyss. jason started toward her, but dylan screamed, "i'll settle for this one!"

he grabbed piper's arm and began to rise, towing a half-conscious piper below him. the storm spun faster, pulling them upward like a vacuum cleaner. "help!" piper yelled. "somebody!"

jason contemplated as he looked between the girl meant to be his girlfriend and the one he had just learnt the name of who was hanging from her death. zoya's gripped seemed to go and she began falling, jason had already made his mind up though.

"jason, go!" hedge yelled. "save her!" but again jason's instincts had already won. he ran to the railing, thinking, i'm a lunatic, and jumped over the side.

the coach launched himself at the spirit with some serious goat fu-lashing out with his hooves, knocking piper free from the spirit's grasp. piper dropped safely to the floor, but dylan grappled the coach's arms instead. hedge tried to head-butt him, then kicked him and called him a cupcake. they rose into the air, gaining speed.

coach hedge shouted down once more, "save her! i got this!" then the satyr and the storm spirit spiralled into the clouds and disappeared.

zoya wasn't scared of dying, she'd thought about it more than enough times in her life. but she expected to die saving the people she loved, not from falling off the grand canyon because of a bunch of kids she'd just met. she hadn't even gotten to say a goodbye to percy or annabeth, rachel or will, travis and connor, even drew tanaka. not even her dreaded mother.

jason wasn't scared of heights. he was scared of being smashed against the canyon floor five hundred feet below. he figured he hadn't accomplished anything except for dying along with zoya, but he tucked in his arms and plummeted headfirst. the sides of the canyon raced past like a film on fast-forward. his face felt like it was peeling off.

in a heartbeat, he caught up with zoya , who was flailing wildly. he tackled her waist and closed his eyes, waiting for death. zoya screamed. the wind whistled in jason's ears. he wondered what dying would feel like. he was thinking, probably not so good. he wished somehow they could never hit bottom. suddenly the wind died. zoya's scream turned into a strangled gasp. jason thought they must be dead, but he hadn't felt any impact.

"am i dead?" zoya whispered softly to herself, not yet focusing on the boy holding her close who had just launched himself off a cliff for her. maybe she was now in the underworld, her relationship with hades wasn't that bad so maybe she could convince him to give her another chance at life.

she slowly opened his eyes. they weren't falling. they were floating in mid-air, a hundred feet above the river. jason was hugging zoya tight, and she repositioned herself so she was hugging him too. they were nose to nose. her heart beat so hard, jason could feel it through her clothes.

zoya was a girl he didn't know, she had shown up right when the school bus doors were shutting, piper and leo claiming she was a nice girl who they usually spoke to. the way she looked at everyone around her though said otherwise, she was like him. she had no idea where she was.

as he held her closely he could start to smell her breath, it smelt of pomegranate. "who the hell are you and how are you doing this?" she said softly as she stared up at him, she looked cautious of the boy who just saved her life.

"i didn't," he said. "i think I would know if I could fly" but then he thought: i don't even know who I am.

he imagined going up. zoya yelped as they shot a few feet higher. they weren't exactly floating, jason decided. he could feel pressure under his feet like they were balancing at the top of a geyser.

"the air is supporting us," he said, the girl wanted to slap him right across the face for jumping off a cliff for her without knowing if he'd even make it but instead found herself wrapping her arms tighter around his neck.

"tell the air to get us out of here" jason looked down. the easiest thing would be to sink gently to the canyon floor. then he looked up. the rain had stopped. the storm clouds didn't seem as bad, but they were still rumbling and flashing. there was no guarantee the spirits were gone for good. he had no idea what had happened to coach hedge. and he'd left leo up there, barely conscious and piper mid-abduction.

if piper really was his girlfriend he'd suspect he'd be in top place for worst boyfriend of the year.

"jason, we have to help the others" zoya said snapping the boy out of his little trance, basically reading his thought "can you-"

"let's see." jason cut her off by thinking up, and instantly they shot skyward.

the fact he was riding the winds might've been cool under different circumstances, but he was too much in shock. as soon as they landed on the skywalk, they ran to leo and piper.

leo had turned piper over, and she groaned. their coats was soaked from the rain. leo's curly hair glittered gold from rolling around in monster dust. but at least they weren't dead.

"stupid, ugly goat," leo muttered to himself making zoya smile a little at the fact he could insult the satyr who saved his life.

"where did he go?" piper asked, her voice strained and forced.

leo pointed straight up. "never came down. please tell me he didn't actually save my life."

"twice" jason and zoya said at the same time making them share a quick glance before zoya averted her eyes.

leo groaned even louder. "what happened? the tornado guy, the gold sword, i hit my head. that's it, right? i'm hallucinating?"

jason had forgotten about the sword. he walked over to where it was lying and picked it up. the blade was well balanced. on a hunch he flipped it. mid spin, the sword shrank back into a coin and landed in his palm.

"yep," leo said. "definitely hallucinating." zoya placed a hand on his shoulder as a sign of comfort knowing how confusing this all must've been.

"how did you- how did you. you know-" piper asked as she gestured to something splitting apart with her hands as she turnt to zoya quickly, the annoyance from her "boyfriend" saving her instead of herself quickly disappearing.

zoya tilted her head to the side as the three stared at her "one of the only things my mother's given me" her words were full of resentment and an undetectable emotion making leo and piper share a confused look. as far as they could remember zoya had two loving parents.

piper shivered in her rain-soaked clothes. "jason, those things-"

"venti. storm spirits" jason said at the same time zoya said "anemoi thúellai" the two sharing confused looks full of judgement.

"okay. you acted like, like you'd seen them before. who are you?" leo asked turning to jason.

the boy shook his head. "that's what I've been trying to tell you. i don't know." great. zoya had an amnesiac blonde on her hands who could fly and survive lightning meant to kill the average demi-god.

the storm dissipated. the other kids from the wilderness school were staring out the glass doors in horror. security guards were working on the locks now, but they didn't seem to be having any luck. zoya didn't know if she'd be able to cover this up, she had an obligation down on earth and that was to keep the existence of the gods a secret.

"coach hedge said he had to protect four people," jason remembered. "i think he meant us."

"and that thing dylan turned into-" piper shuddered. "god, i can't believe it was hitting on me. he called us... what, demigods?"

leo lay on his back, staring at the sky. he didn't seem anxious to get up. "don't know what demi means," he said. "but I'm not feeling too godly. you guys feeling godly?"

"everyday of my life" zoya muttered low enough no one heard "listen. i don't know who you guys are but we need to go. too much has happened and we're most definitely in danger" she said addressing the three.

there was a brittle sound like dry twigs snapping, and the cracks in the skywalk began to widen.

"we need to get off this thing," jason agreed . "maybe if we-"

"ohhh-kay," leo interrupted. "look up there and tell me if those are flying horses." thank the gods zoya thought as she threw her head up.

she could see a pair of winged animals-gray, four-legged, exactly like horses-except each one had a twenty-foot wingspan. and they were pulling a brightly painted box with two wheels: a chariot. zoya prayed it was will, the boy being the only apollo cabin member responsible enough to control it. she was going home she told herself.

"reinforcements," jason said. "hedge told me an extraction squad was coming for us."

"extraction squad?" leo struggled to his feet. "that sounds painful." zoya grabbed onto the boys shoulders from behind before slightly shaking him from excitement.

"and where are they extracting us to?" piper asked as they all ignored leo's small yelps from how hard zoya was holding his shoulder's.

"my home" zoya said for the three of them, ignoring the odd looks they gave her as she hopped to her feet and began jumping up and down and waving her arms.

jason watched as a sense of hope filled her eyes, it was calming he found out. the chariot landed on the far end of the skywalk. the flying horses tucked in their wings and cantered nervously across the glass, as if they sensed it was near breaking. two teenagers stood in the chariot-a tall blond girl maybe a little older than jason, and a bulky dude with a shaved head and a face like a pile of bricks. they both wore jeans and orange t-shirts, with shields tossed over their backs.

the girl leaped off before the chariot had even finished moving. she pulled a knife and ran toward jason's group while the bulky dude was reining in the horses. jason watched as zoya made a run for the blonde and found himself wanting to reach out to stop her.

zoya threw her arms around annabeth as quickly as possible, she never wanted to let the blonde go. it had been an hour away but she already felt like it'd been a lifetime without her bestfriend by her side. her life was starting to feel normal again, now all she had to do was get back to camp. back to her family.

annabeth pulled back first, her free hand finding zoya's cheek as she looked the girl over quickly making sure no injuries were there. the only things she found were zoya's bloody hands which she had acquired from holding onto the cliff. "gods, you're alive" annabeth said so softly zoya almost hadn't heard.

"i have no clue how i got here, but i just want to go home" and home is where she promised herself she'd return.

"where is he?" annabeth suddenly demanded as she looked over zoya's shoulder. her gray eyes were fierce and a little startling.

"where's who?"jason asked, the question was also one zoya needed answered.

annabeth frowned like his answer was unacceptable. then she turned to leo and piper. "what about gleeson? where is your protector, gleeson hedge?"

zoya was still confused on who annabeth was looking for, though the look in her eyes was only reserved for one person. one person who annabeth held as close to her heart as she did zoya cardan. a person zoya herself found herself unable to live without. percy jackson. she could only pray her guess was wrong though, percy also seemed to be in the most life-threatening situations.

leo cleared his throat. "he got taken by some tornado things."

"venti," jason said. "storm spirits."

annabeth arched an eyebrow before looking at zoya who just nodded "you mean anemoi thuellai? that's the greek term. who are you, and what happened?"

jason did his best to explain, though it was hard to meet those intense gray eyes. about halfway through the story, the other guy from the chariot, butch, came over. he stood there glaring at them, his arms crossed. he had a tattoo of a rainbow on his biceps.

when jason had finished trying to explain his story, annabeth didn't look satisfied . "no, no, no! she told me he would be here. she told me if I came here, I'd find the answer."

zoya's worries only grew in her chest as she turnt to butch who only gave her a sorry look, she turnt back to annabeth who looked ready to breakdown and cry and never get back up.

"annabeth," butch suddenly grunted. "check it out." he pointed at jason's feet. he was still missing his left shoe, which had been blown off by the lightning. his bare foot felt okay, but it looked like a lump of charcoal.

"the guy with one shoe," said butch. "he's the answer." the answer to what?

"no, butch," annabeth insisted. "he can't be. i was tricked." she glared at the sky as though it had done something wrong. "what do you want from me?" she screamed. "what have you done with him?"

the skywalk shuddered, and the horses whinnied urgently. "annabeth," butch said, "we gotta leave. let's get these three to camp and figure it out there. those storm spirits might come back."

"anna, who's gone?" zoya asked determined as she placed her bloodied hands onto annabeth's cheeks, the girls face going cold at her touch. the blonde hesitated for a second before letting a stray tear slip.

"percy's gone" she whispered so only zoya heard. was the universe punishing her zoya wondered, she woke up with no idea where she was with no friends by her side only to get the chance to return home but with the worry of one of her best friends missing.

zoya fumed for a moment. "let's go." zoya grabbed annabeth's hand before dragging the girl towards the chariot.

piper shook her head. "what's her problem? what's going on?" she asked referring to annabeth, but by the way zoya had just reacted to what annabeth told her she doubted zoya was in a good mood either.

"seriously," leo agreed.

"we have to get you out of here," butch said. "i'll explain on the way."

"i'm not going anywhere with her." jason gestured toward the blonde. "zoya, maybe. but she looks like she wants to kill me." he said nodding towards annabeth. sure zoya and annabeth seemed like they knew eachother, but should he let the girl go off with a random blonde.

butch hesitated. "annabeth's okay. you gotta cut her some slack. she had a vision telling her to come here, to find a guy with one shoe. that was supposed to be the answer to her problem."

"what problem?" piper asked.

"she's been looking for two of our campers, they've been missing three days," butch said. "she'd been going out of her mind with worry. she found zoya and she hoped that he'd be here as well."

leo and piper shared confused glanced. how had zoya been missing for three days if she'd been at the wilderness school for over a month? nothing was adding up and the two doubted zoya even had an answer.

"who?" jason asked.

"her boyfriend," butch said. "a guy named percy jackson."