I 012. I

𝑮𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑮𝒐𝒓𝒆

❝ sewer ❞

SHE WAS LEFT WONDERING WHO WAS OUT TO GET HER. Monsters were always on her tail, but someone worse wanted her in the palm of their hand. She clenched her jaw at the thought. Becoming someone's puppet was not an option, not at all.

Ariadne sat behind Leo on the back of Festus. She leaned against her pack, holding onto her pearl necklace. Her heart was heavy with sadness and anger.

Through the whole situation with the Cyclopes, Percy's note to her slipped out of her pack. It fluttered away in the wind somewhere, and her heart went with it. Percy's last note to her was gone and she doubted she would ever find it again. Gods, she couldn't bear to even think about it without almost breaking down to tears.

But she couldn't. Not for the trio's sake.

Jason sat behind her, Piper behind him.

"Cyclops!"

She glanced back to see the blond's eyes open.

"Whoa, sleepyhead." Piper held his waist to keep him balanced. Leo sat in the front, driving. They flew peacefully through the winter sky as if nothing had happened.

"D-Detroit," Jason stammered. "Didn't we crash land? I thought—"

"It's okay," Leo said. "We got away, but you got a nasty concussion. How you feeling?"

"How did you—the Cyclops—"

"Well, Piper and I weren't much help," Ariadne said sourly. She looked upset, none of them questioned why. They were too afraid she would lash out. "Leo actually saved us. He summoned fire—"

"It was nothing," Leo said quickly.

Piper laughed. "Shut up, Valdez. I'm going to tell him. Get over it."

And she did—how Leo single handed my defeated the Cyclopes family; how they freed Jason, what they had said about Ariadne, then noticed the Cyclopes starting to reform; how Leo had replaced the dragon's wiring and gotten them back in the air just as they'd started to hear the Cyclopes roaring for vengeance inside the factory.

When Piper told him about the other kid the Cyclopes claimed to have eaten, the one in the purple shirt who spoke Latin, Jason looked as if his head was going to explode.

"I'm not alone, then," he said. "There are others like me."

"Jason," Piper said, "you were never alone. You've got us."

"I—I know...but something Hera said. I was having a dream..."

He told them what he'd seen, and what the goddess has said inside her cage.

"An exchange?" Piper asked. "What does that mean?"

Ariadne felt her heart pick up. "Exchange," she mumbled under her breath. A faraway look crossed her face. If Jason was sent to Camp Half-Blood, then Percy must've been picked by Hera to be sent somewhere else.

She didn't need anyone to tell her that.

Jason shook his head. "But Hera's gamble is me. Just by sending me to Camp Half-Blood, I have a feeling she broke some kind of rule, something that could blow up in a big way—"

"Or save us," Piper said hopefully. "That bit about the sleeping enemy—that sounds like the lady Leo told us about."

Leo cleared his throat. "About that...she kind of appeared to me back in Detroit, in a pool of Porta-Potty sludge."

Jason wasn't sure he'd heard that right. "Did you say...Porta-Potty?"

Leo told them about the big face in the factory yard. "I don't know if she's completely unkillable," he said, "but she cannot be defeated by toilet seats. I can vouch for that. She wanted me to betray you guys, and I was like, 'Pfft, right, I'm gonna listen to a face in the potty sludge.'"

"She's trying to divide us." Ariadne sat up straighter. Jason could see the tension in her back.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," the brunette said, a blank look on her face. "I'm more worried about Piper's look."

Piper but her lip. "I just...why are they toying with us? Who is this lady, and how is she connected to Enceladus."

"Enceladus?" Ariadne furrowed her brows, wondering how Piper knew one of their names.

"I mean..." Piper's voice quavered. "That's one of the giants. Just one of the names I could remember."

Ariadne got the feeling she was keeping something from them, but she decided not to press, it wouldn't solve anything.

Leo scratched his head. "Well, I dunno about Enchiladas—"

"Enceladus," Piper corrected.

"Whatever. But Old Potty Face mentioned another name. Porpoise Fear, or something?"

"Porphyrion?" Piper asked. "He was the giant king, I think."

Ariadne pursed her lips. "Giants and Gods first began the war when Porphyrion kidnapped Hera. Much of the story is lost, as if nobody wanted it to survive. But Giants are incredibly hard to kill."

"Heroes and gods had to work together," Jason said. "That's what Hers told me."

"Kind of hard to do," Leo grumbled, "if the gods won't even talk to us."

They flew west, and Ariadne became lost in her thoughts—all of them bad. She wasn't sure how much time passed before the dragon dove through a break in the clouds, and below them, glittering in the winter sun, was a city at the edge of a massive lake. A crescent of skyscrapers lined the shore. Behind them, stretching out to the western horizon, was a vast grid of snow covered neighborhoods and roads.

"Chicago," Jason said.

"One problem down," Leo said. "We got here alive. Now, how do we find the storm spirits?"

Ariadne saw a flash of movement below them. At first, she thought it was a small plane, but it was too small, too dark and fast. The thing spiraled toward the skyscrapers, weaving and changing shape—and, just for a moment it became the smoky figure of a horse.

"How about we follow that one," Jason suggested, "and see where it goes?"

Jason seems afraid they'd lose their target. The ventus moved like...well, like the wind.

"Speed up!" he urged.

"Bro," Leo said, "if I get any closer, he'll spit us. Bronze dragon ain't exactly a stealth plane."

"Slow down!" Piper yelped.

The storm spirits dove into the grid of downtown streets. Festus tried to follow, but his wingspan was too wide. His left wing clipped the edge of a building, slicing off a stone gargoyle before Leo pulled up.

"Get above the buildings," Jason suggested. "We'll track him from there."

"You want to drive this thing?" Leo grumbled, but he did what Jason asked.

After a few minutes, Jason spotted the storm spirit again, zipping through the streets with no apparent purpose—blowing over pedestrians, ruffling flags, making cars swerve.

"Oh, great," Ariadne said. "There's two."

She was right. A second ventus blasted around the corner of the Renaissance Hotel and linked up with the first one. They wove together in a chaotic dance, shooting to the top of a skyscraper, bending a radio tower, and diving back down toward the street.

"Those guys do not need anymore caffeine," Leo said.

"I guess Chicago's a good place to hang out," Piper said. "Nobody's going to question a couple more evil winds."

"More than a couple," Jason said. "Look."

The dragon circled over a wide avenue next to a lakeside park. Storm spirits were converging—at least a dozen of them, whirling around a big public art installation.

"Which one do you think is Dylan?" Leo asked. "I wanna throw something at him."

It was just a public fountain, but it was unpleasantly familiar to a dream Ariadne had had when Hera first made contact. Two five story monoliths rose from either end of a long granite reflecting pool. The monoliths seemed to be built of video screens, flashing the combined image of a giant face that spewed water into the pool.

As she watched, the image on the screens changed to a woman's face with her eyes closed.

"Leo..." Jason said nervously.

"I see her," Leo said. "I don't like her, but I see her."

The woman tried to open her eyes, but they seemed stuck. Ariadne was hit with a wave of pain rolling off her body. It began at her head, all the way down to her toes. Jason's rapped an arm loosely around her waist to prevent her from falling overboard as she cringed and tried to fight it.

Then the screens went dark. Her pain was gone. The venti swirled together into a single funnel cloud and skittered across the fountain, kicking up a waterspout almost as high as the monoliths. They got to It's center, popping off a drain cover, and disappeared underground.

"Did they just go down a drain?" Piper asked. "How are we supposed to find them?"

"Maybe we shouldn't," Leo said. "That fountain thing is giving me seriously bad vibes. And aren't we supposed to, like, beware the earth?"

Ariadne rubbed a hand at her temples, shaking Jason off. She couldn't think straight.

"Put us down in that park," he suggested. "We'll check it out on foot."

Festus landed in an open area between the lake and the skyline. The signs said Grant Park, and she assumed it would've been a nice place in the summer; but now it was a field of ice, snow, and salted walkways. The dragon's hot metal feet hissed as they touched down. Festus flapped his wings unhappily and shot fire into the sky, but there was no one around to notice. The wind coming off the lake was bigger cold. Anyone with sense would be inside. Her eyes stung so badly, and it didn't help her small headache.

They dismounted, and Festus the dragon stomped his feet. Ariadne felt Piper hold onto her, seeing as she could barely stand. One of the dragon's ruby eyes flickered, so it looked like he was blinking.

"Is that normal?" Jason asked.

Leo pulled a rubber mallet from his tool bag. He whacked the dragon's bad eye, and the light went back to normal. "Yes," Leo said. "Festus can't hang around here, though, in the middle of the park. They'll arrest him for loitering. Maybe if I had a dog whistle..."

He rummaged in his tool belt, but came up with nothing.

"Too specialized?" he guessed. "Okay, give me a safety whistle. They got that in lots of machine shops."

This time, Leo pulled out a big plastic orange whistle. "Coach Hedge would be jealous! Okay, Festus, listen." Leo blew the whistle. The shrill sound probably rolled all the way across Lake Michigan. "You hear that, come find me, okay? Until then, you fly wherever you want. Just try not to barbecue any pedestrians."

The dragon snorted—hopefully in agreement. Then he spread his wings and launched into the air.

Piper took one step and winced. "Ah!"

"Your ankle?" Jason asked.

Ariadne pulled away from the girl, seeing as she was basically dead weight for her. She just had to tough her pain out for the sake of her friends. She needed to stay strong.

"It's fine." Piper shivered.

The brunette dug into her bag, trying to find if she packed anything else, but was sadly mistaken. She unzipped her parka and wrapped it over Piper's shoulders, crossing her own arms to save her warmth. Piper took a few more steps with only a slight limp, but they could tell she was trying not to grimace.

"Let's get out of the wind," Jason suggested.

"Down a drain?" Piper shuddered. "Sounds cozy."

They wrapped themselves up as best they could and headed toward the fountain.

According to the plaque, it was called Crown Fountain. All the water had emptied out except for a few patches that were starting to freeze. Leo kept an arm around Ariadne for support, but he was also keeping her warm.

They stepped to the center of the pool. No spirits fried to stop them. The giant monitor walls stayed dark. The drain hole was easily big enough for a person, and a maintenance ladder led down into the gloom.

Jason went first. As he climbed, he braved himself for horrible sewer smells, but it wasn't that bad. The ladder dropped into a brickwork tunnel running north to south. The air was warm and dry, with only a trickle of water on the floor.

Piper and Leo helped Ariadne onto the first ladder rungs. She slowly climbed down, wincing every few moments when pain washed over her again. Jason gripped her hand and let her step down, allowing her to lean against the wall while her friends climbed down.

"Are all sewers this nice?" Piper wondered.

"No," Leo said. "Trust me."

Jason frowned. "How do you know—"

"Hey, man, I ran away six times. I've slept in some weird places, okay? Now, which way do we go?"

Jason tilted his head, listening, then pointed south. "That way."

"How can you be sure?" Piper asked.

"There's a draft blowing south," Jason said. "Maybe the venti went with the flow."

It wasn't much of a lead, but nobody offered anything better.

Unfortunately, as soon as they started walking, Piper stumbled. Jason had to catch her.

"Stupid ankle," she cursed.

"Let's rest," Jason decided. "We could all use it. We've been going nonstop for over a day. Leo, can you pull any food from that tool belt Besides breath mints?"

"Thought you'd never ask. Chef Leo is on it!"

Piper and Jason sat on a brick ledge while Leo shuffled through his pack. Ariadne leaned against the wall and held her pack tightly, taking deep breaths as the pain began to subside.

She didn't hear any of Piper and Jason's conversation, and she supposed that was all right. Some conversations between people needed to stay between them.

A few feet away, Leo lit a small cooking fire. He hummed as he pulled supplied out of his pack and his tool belt.

"Back in he factory," Jason said, "you were going to say something about your dad."

Piper traced her finger over the bricks, almost like she was writing out a scream she didn't vocalize. "Was i?"

"Piper, he said, "he's in some kind of trouble, isn't he?"

Over at the fire, Leo stories some sizzling bell peppers and meat in a pan. "Yeah, baby! Almost there."

Piper looked on the verge of tears. "Jason...I can't talk about it."

Ariadne leaned forward. "Piper, we're your friends. Let us help."

That seemed to make her feel worse. She took a shaky breath. "I wish I could, but—"

"And bingo!" Leo announced.

He came over with four plates stacked on his arms like a waiter. Ariadne had no idea where he'd gotten all the food, or how he'd put it together so fast, but it looked amazing: pepper and beef tacos with chips and salsa.

"Leo," Piper said in amazement. "How did you—?"

"Chef Leo's Taco Garage is fixing you up!" he said proudly. "And by the way, it's tofu, not beef, beauty queen, so don't freak. Just dig in!"

Her headache was gone, thankfully. Ariadne reached into her bag and grabbed her canteen of nectar. She let Piper take a sip before pulling out her pill bottle and taking her medicine along with it. The others gave her confused glances.

"IED," she said. "I need my medicine for it."

They just nodded.

While they ate, Leo tried to lighten the mood and joke around. Ariadne mentioned how he would love her friend Grover because he would provide him with a stomach that never turned away enchiladas. Leo smiled at that.

After Piper ate, Jason encouraged her to get some sleep. Without another word, she curled up and out her head in his lap. In two seconds, she was snoring.

Jason looked up at Leo, who was obviously trying not to laugh.

Ariadne held a small smile on her face with eyes full of pain. She was lost in her own world, imagining the old times of her own quest group, remembering when it was her and Percy having deep conversations and falling asleep next to one another.

Leo cleared away the plates. "Maybe. But I'm telling you...it's not always a gift."

Jason fell silent. "You're talking about your mom, aren't you? The night she died."

Leo didn't answer. He didn't have to.

"Leo, her death wasn't your fault." Ariadne shifted to face him. Her eyes glistened in the firelight, making her seem dangerous, and a bit of a mystery. Which, considering how they barely knew her, she could've been just that. "Look, I don't know whatever happened that night. But I do know it wasn't just because you could summon fire. Whoever this Dirt Woman is, she's been trying to ruin your life for years, mess up your confidence, destroy everything you have. It's all an effort to make you feel like a failure. You're not. You're important."

"That's what she said." Leo looked up, his eyes full of pain. "She said I was meant to do something important—something that would make or break that big prophecy about the eight demigods. That's what scares me. I don't know if I'm up to it."

Leo poked at the remnants of his fire, turning over red hot coals with his bare hands. "You ever wonder about the other four demigods. I mean...if we're four of the ones from the Great Prophecy, who are the others? Where are they?"

"I don't know," Jason said at last. "I guess the other four will show up when the time is fight. Who knows? Maybe they're on some other quest right now."

Leo grunted. "I bet their sewer is nicer than ours."

Ariadne smiled. "I think two of them are Annabeth and Percy," she said. "They've both been on as many quests as I have. And Percy's disappearance has to mean something. Annabeth is smart enough to know what this is about."

Jason nodded. "Get some rest," he said. "I'll take first watch.

Ariadne didn't complain. The second she closed her eyes, she was out like a light.

authors note:

Bada bing bada boom

Here ya go

Hope y'all enjoy

Not much to say really

Q: Favorite TV show?
A: probably Criminal Minds at this point

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