( STEPHANIE PHẠM )

⤹⋆⸙͎۪۫｡˚۰˚☽˚⁀➷｡˚⸙͎۪۫⋆ ༄

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*𝐉𝐀𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐃, that was for sure. waking up on the back of a school bus holding hands with a girl he didn't know and not even remembering his name was certainly not how he expected his morning to go. if it even was morning. the boys electric blue eyes shooting to the other side of the school bus passing the girl he currently held hands with and trying to figure out where he was.

two seats in front of him was stephanie phạm in all her glory, her nimble fingers harshly using the pink ipod she had borrowed from her roommate, all the songs currently playing were too retro for her liking. she wasn't exactly surprised though, poppy was an old soul. she contemplated for a second before turning to the small hispanic boy who was sat behind her and patting his shoulder.

"valdez, let me use your ipod" she requested catching the attention of the two behind him aswell. piper slightly shocked she was speaking to leo and jason just simply being confused on who the voice belonged to. boy was he glad he looked.

the girl was extremely pretty he thought to himself, her lips painted blood red well her eyes were slightly outlined by a thin layer of marroon. soft freckles kissing all around her cheeks, and her strong jaw clenching as she sat waiting patiently. jason wasn't done staring though as he became trapped by her forest green eyes, they seemed odd and unnatural with a thin circle of black on the edge slowly seeping in. he didn't think that should've been possible but what did he know. her face was covered by long thick black hair which was as straight as a pin.

"how about that date?" the boy named valdez in front of jason insisted as he began to lean closer to the asian girl who now looked like she was done asking, she didn't answer and instead grabbed it from his hands before turning to face the front again.

in the front of the bus, a teacher shouted, "all right, cupcakes, listen up!" the guy was obviously a coach. his baseball cap was pulled low over his hair, so you could just see his beady eyes. he had a wispy goatee and a sour face, like he'd eaten something moldy. his buff arms and chest pushed against a bright orange polo shirt. his nylon workout pants and nikes were spotless white. a whistle hung from his neck, and a megaphone was clipped to his belt. he would've looked pretty scary if he hadn't been five feet zero.

when he stood up in the aisle, one of the students called, "stand up, coach hedge!"

"i heard that!" the coach scanned the bus for the offender. then his eyes fixed on jason, and his scowl deepened.

a jolt went down jason's spine. he was sure the coach knew he didn't belong there. he was going to call jason out, demand to know what he was doing on the bus-and jason wouldn't have a clue what to say.

but coach hedge looked away and cleared his throat. "we'll arrive in five minutes! stay with your partner. don't lose your worksheet. and if any of you precious little cupcakes causes any trouble on this trip, i will personally send you back to campus the hard way."

he picked up a baseball bat and made like he was hitting a homer. jason looked at the girl next to him. "can he talk to us that way?"

she shrugged. "always does. this is the wilderness school. 'where kids are the animals.'" she said it like it was a joke they'd shared before.

"this is some kind of mistake," jason said. "i'm not supposed to be here."

"you and me both" stephanie muttered to herself as she tuned herself into the trio behind hers conversation. she didn't consider herself friends with any of them but they were the easiest to bare out of the school.

the boy in front of him turned and laughed. "yeah, right, jason. we've all been framed! i didn't run away six times. stephanie didn't try and rob the mayor. piper didn't steal a bmw." jason was confused on which girl was piper and which was stephanie but the one next to him replied before he could ask.

she 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. her eyes seemed to change color like a kaleidoscope-brown, blue, and green.

The girl blushed. "i didn't steal that car, leo!" jason could now put a name to piper's face and one to stephanie's who he assumed was the girl in front of leo valdez.

"oh, i forgot, piper. what was your story? you 'talked' the dealer into lending it to you?" he raised his eyebrows at jason like, can you believe her?

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. his long, nimble fingers wouldn't stop moving-drumming on the seat, sweeping his hair behind his ears, fiddling with the buttons of his army fatigue jacket. either the kid was naturally hyper or he was hopped up on enough sugar and caffeine to give a heart attack to a water buffalo.

"anyway," leo said, "i hope you've got your worksheet, 'cause i used mine for spit wads days ago. why are you looking at me like that? somebody draw on my face again?"

"i don't know you," jason said plainly in all honesty, stephanie flinging herself to narrow her eyes at the blonde boy who felt like shrinking back into his seat.

leo gave him a crocodile grin "sure. i'm not your best friend. i'm his evil clone." the boy joked turning to stephanie expecting a reaction from her.

"leo valdez! stephanie phạm" coach hedge yelled from the front. "problem back there?"

stephanie phạm. pretty name for a pretty girl jason thought.

leo winked at jason. "watch this." he turned to the front. "sorry, coach! i was having trouble hearing you. could you use your megaphone, please?"

coach hedge grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse. he unclipped the megaphone from his belt and continued giving directions, but his voice came out like darth vader's. the kids cracked up. the coach tried again, but this time the megaphone blared: "the cow says moo!"

the kids howled, and the coach slammed down the megaphone. "valdez!"

piper stifled a laugh. "my god, leo. how did you do that?"

leo slipped a tiny phillips head screwdriver from his sleeve. "i'm a special boy."

"you're a menace" stephanie told the boy as she glared at him then piper, instantly shutting the girl up. noticing jason's intense stare she turnt her attention to him with a harsh glare "what?"

"guys, seriously," jason pleaded turning from stephanie "what am I doing here? where are we going?"

piper knitted her eyebrows. "jason, are you joking?"

"no! i have no idea-"

"aw, yeah, he's joking," leo said. "he's trying to get me back for that shaving cream on the jell-o thing, aren't you?" jason just stared at him blankly.

"no, i think he's serious." piper tried to take his hand again, but he pulled it away, the feeling of his hand in hers seeming unnatural and wrong to him.

"i'm sorry," he said. "i don't-i can't-"

"that's it!" coach hedge yelled from the front. "the back row has just volunteered to clean up after lunch!" the rest of the kids cheered.

"this is why i don't talk to you idiots" stephanie insulted the three before rolling her eyes

"well you can just turn around now then," piper retaliated as she was getting sick of the girls whining. stephanie held her glare before scoffing and plugging her earphones back in to leo's ipod.

"did you hit your head or something? you really don't know who we are?" piper's annoying voice which stephanie tried drowning out could be heard over the music.

jason shrugged helplessly. "it's worse than that. i don't know who I am."

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 them in front of a big red stucco complex like a museum, just sitting in the middle of nowhere. the national museum of nowhere, jason thought. a cold wind blew across the desert. jason hadn't paid much attention to what he was wearing, but it wasn't nearly warm enough: jeans and sneakers, a purple t-shirt, and a thin black windbreaker.

stephanie stayed besides leo as the energetic boy continued speaking to piper and jason, it was between him and dylan and she certainly wasn't going to willingly spend any time with dylan.

the girl wrapped her arms around herself as the winds picked up, the black leather jacket not doing much in the warmth section but she had refused to leave the school without it. her legs were clad in white knee high stockings and a red, black and white checkered skirt reaching her mid-thigh matched with a plain white t-shirt which she had slightly untucked under the jacket. not very ideal for the weather but she didn't care.

"so, a crash course for the amnesiac," leo said, in a helpful tone that made jason think this was not going to be helpful. "we go to the 'wilderness school'"-leo made air quotes with his fingers. "which means we're 'bad kids.' your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much trouble, so they shipped you off to this lovely prison-sorry, 'boarding school'-in armpit, nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats! and for a special treat we go on 'educational' field trips with coach hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. is it all coming back to you now?"

"no." jason glanced apprehensively at the other kids: maybe twenty guys, half that many girls. none of them looked like hardened criminals, but he wondered what they'd all done to get sentenced to a school for delinquents, and he wondered why he belonged with them.

leo rolled his eyes. "you're really gonna play this out, huh? okay, so the four of us started here together this semester. we're totally tight, except steph, she totally hates our guts. but you do everything i say and give me your dessert and do my chores-"

jason glanced at stephanie noticing how she was still content in listening to leo's music not even trying to involve herself making him wonder if leo's words were true.

"leo!" piper snapped

"fine. ignore that last part. but we are friends whether steph would admit it or not. well, piper's a little more than your friend, the last few weeks-"

"leo, stop it!" piper's face turned red. jason could feel his face burning too but not from embarrassment. something felt off about him and piper, like he was meant to be with someone else, someone he actually knew.

"he's got amnesia or something," piper said. "we've got to tell somebody."

leo scoffed. "who, coach hedge? he'd try to fix jason by whacking him upside the head." leo turnt to stephanie who still had her earphones in before pulling one of them out of her ear "what do you think we should do?"

she scowled at him before turning between the three "knock him out, maybe they'll all come rushing back" her suggestion would never work but the teasing tone under her voice showed she knew that already.

coach was at the front of the group, barking orders and blowing his whistle to keep the kids in line; but every so often he'd glance back at jason and scowl.

"leo, jason needs help," piper insisted. "he's got a concussion or-"

"yo, stephanie." one of the other guys dropped back to join them as the group was heading into the museum. the new guy wedged himself between leo and stephanie and knocked leo down. "don't talk to these bottom-feeders. you're my partner, remember?"

the new guy had dark hair cut superman style, a deep tan, and teeth so white they should've come with a warning label: do not stare directly at teeth. permanent blindness may occur. he wore a dallas cowboys jersey, western jeans and boots, and he smiled like he was god's gift to juvenile delinquent girls everywhere. jason hated him instantly.

the boy threw a heavy arm around stephanie's shoulder making the girl lift her small hands to whack his till it dropped itself "im with valdez today, go bother someone else" she said before moving so she was now on leo's other side.

dylan didn't seem happy with her answer as he grunted before turning to face piper, grabbing her wrist and pulling her closer to him "let's go piper"

"go away, dylan," piper grumbled. "i didn't ask to work with you."

"ah, that's no way to be. this is your lucky day!" dylan hooked his arm through hers and dragged her through the museum entrance. piper sent one last pleading look to leo and jason, ignoring stephanie before disappearing from sight.

leo got up and brushed himself off. "i hate that guy." he offered jason his arm, like they should go skipping inside together. "'i'm dylan. i'm so cool, i want to date myself, but I can't figure out how! you want to date me instead? you're so lucky!'"

"leo," jason said, "you're weird."

"yeah, you both tell me that a lot." leo grinned. "but if you don't remember me, that means I can reuse all my old jokes. come on!"

leo began to skip towards the museum but stephanie stayed behind staring at where the boy once stood and then turning to jason. "ladies, first" the blonde boy said making her roll her eyes and turn beginning to walk.

they walked through the building, stopping here and there for coach hedge to lecture them with his megaphone, which alternately made him sound like a sith lord or blared out random comments like "the pig says oink."

leo kept pulling out nuts, bolts, and pipe cleaners from the pockets of his army jacket and putting them together, like he had to keep his hands busy at all times.

jason was too distracted to pay much attention to the exhibits, but they were about the grand canyon and the hualapai tribe, which owned the museum. he was so interested by stephanie's face alone that he didn't even notice the girls staring and snickering at piper.

one of them said, "hey, piper, does your tribe run this place? do you get in free if you do a rain dance?"

the other girls laughed. even piper's so-called partner dylan suppressed a smile. piper's snowboarding jacket sleeves hid her hands, but jason got the feeling she was clenching her fists.

"my dad's cherokee," she said. "not hualapai. 'course, you'd need a few brain cells to know the difference, Isabel."

isabel widened her eyes in mock surprise, so that she looked like an owl with a makeup addiction. "oh, sorry! was your mom in this tribe? oh, that's right. you never knew your mom."

the girls words making stephanie's own fists clench, her and piper being in quite similar situations and the words not sitting well with her, before she could stop herself she stormed up towards isabel and pushed a finger into the girl's chest. "wanna say that again?"

isabel stumbled a little but only smirked as if finding amusement in this "sorry i forgot, i mean at least piper knows who her dad is" jason felt a natural instinct to grab the girl by her waist and pull her back and that's exactly what he did.

stephanie had tried to throw her fist towards isabel's face but jasons tight grip had pulled her back quick enough that her hand only sent a small wave of air to the girls face, isabel's confident features dropping.

"enough back there! set a good example or i'll break out my baseball bat!" the mans words causing stephanie to let out some unpleasant curses under her breath before she swatted jasons hands off her. storming off through the rest of the group so she was besides coach.

jason only stared at the back of her head as the group shuffled on to the next exhibit, but the girls kept calling out little comments to piper.

"good to be back on the rez?" one asked in a sweet voice. "dad's probably too drunk to work," another said with fake sympathy. "that's why she turned klepto."

jason felt his fists clench before leo caught his arm. "be cool. piper doesn't like us fighting her battles. besides, if those girls found out the truth about her dad, they'd be all bowing down to her and screaming, 'we're not worthy!'"

"why? what about her dad?"

leo laughed in disbelief. "you're not kidding? you really don't remember that your girlfriend's dad-" the word girlfriend making jason feel uncomfortable inside.

"look, I wish I did, but I don't even remember her, much less her dad." he sighed out, his eyes finding the back of stephanie's head again as her black hair swayed slightly. it was really long he noted and there were two small plaits in the front.

leo's hands snapped in front of jasons face making the blonde turn to glance at leo with furrowed brows as leo only frowned "snap out of it. piper will be upset if she catches you, she doesn't even like steph" jason not saying anything but hesitantly nodding.

they reached the far end of the exhibit hall, where some big glass doors led out to a terrace. "all right, cupcakes," coach hedge announced. "you are about to see the grand canyon. try not to break it. the skywalk can hold the weight of seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. if possible, try to avoid pushing each other over the edge, as that would cause me extra paperwork"

the coach opened the doors, and they all stepped outside. the grand canyon spread before them, live and in person. extending over the edge was a horseshoe-shaped walkway made of glass, so you could see right through it.

stephanie found herself besides leo and jason once again, her hands instantly gripping the sleeves of her jacket out of instinct, heights not being her bestfriend.

"man," leo said. "that's pretty wicked." jason had to agree. despite his amnesia and his feeling that he didn't belong there, he couldn't help being impressed.

the canyon was bigger and wider than you could appreciate from a picture. they were up so high that birds circled below their feet. five hundred feet down, a river snaked along the canyon floor. banks of storm clouds had moved overhead while they'd been inside, casting shadows like angry faces across the cliffs. as far as jason could see in any direction, red and gray ravines cut through the desert like some crazy god had taken a knife to it.

"you all right?" leo asked jason. "you're not going to throw up over the side, are you? 'cause I should've brought my camera."

stephanie felt herself go to reach for the rail the same time jason did, their hands brushing as they both held on for dear life. he was shivering and sweaty, but it had nothing to do with heights. he blinked, and the pain behind his eyes subsided. stephanie however felt her skin go cold.

"i'm fine," jason managed. "just a headache." he said before turning to the girl besides him. thunder rumbled overhead. a cold wind almost knocked him sideways so he slightly hit stephanie who only tightened her grip if that was possible.

"i hate heights" the girl said lowly which the boys suspected they weren't meant to hear but they did, and by the stark white her hands had become they knew she wasn't over-exaggerating

"this can't be safe." leo squinted at the clouds. "storm's right over us, but it's clear all the way around. weird, huh?" jason looked up and saw leo was right. a dark circle of clouds had parked itself over the skywalk, but the rest of the sky in every direction was perfectly clear.

"all right, cupcakes!" coach hedge yelled. he frowned at the storm like it bothered him too. "we may have to cut this short, so get to work! remember, complete sentences!"

the storm rumbled, and jason's head began to hurt again. not knowing why he did it, he reached into his jeans pocket and brought out a coin-a circle of gold the size of a half-dollar, but thicker and more uneven. stamped on one side was a picture of a battle-ax. on the other was some guy's face wreathed in laurels. the inscription said something like ivlivs.

"dang, is that gold?" leo asked. "you been holding out on me!" jason put the coin away, wondering how he'd come to have it, and why he had the feeling he was going to need it soon.

"it's nothing," he said. "just a coin." leo shrugged. maybe his mind had to keep moving as much as his hands. "come on," he said. "dare you to spit over the edge."

they didn't try very hard on the worksheet. for one thing, jason was too distracted by the storm and his own mixed-up feelings. and then there was stephanie who looked ready to pass out. or another thing, he didn't have any idea how to "name three sedimentary strata you observe" or "describe two examples of erosion."

leo was no help. he was too busy building a helicopter out of pipe cleaners. "check it out." he launched the copter. jason figured it would plummet, but the pipe-cleaner blades actually spun. the little copter made it halfway across the canyon before it lost momentum and spiralled into the void.

"how'd you do that?" jason asked. stephanie now deciding to sit down as she brought her legs to her chest wrapping her arms around them.

leo shrugged. "would've been cooler if I had some rubber bands."

"seriously," jason said, "are we friends?" his stare now questionable as he looked at leo.

"you two are bestfriends. the most annoying best friends i've ever met" stephanie spoke up, her tone resentful but wavering as she felt her teeth begin to chatter from the cold.

"she says it best" leo grinned as he stared at stephanie before making a joke "looking a bit green there steph" earning a shove from the asian girl, strong enough to make leo stumble a little.

"are you sure? what was the first day we met? what did we talk about?"

"it was-" leo frowned. "i don't recall exactly. i'm adhd, man. you can't expect me to remember details."

"but I don't remember any of you at all. i don't remember anyone here. what if-" he kept to himself the part of him wishing he remembered a girl like stephanie.

"you're right and everyone else is wrong?" leo asked. "you think you just appeared here this morning, and we've all got fake memories of you?" a little voice in jason's head said, that's exactly what I think . but it sounded crazy. everybody here took him for granted. everyone acted like he was a normal part of the class-except for coach hedge.

"take the worksheet." jason handed leo the paper. "i'll be right back." he promised the two although stephanie didn't pay attention as she rubbed her hands along her legs, muttering small incantations under her breath.

she knew she shouldn't be using her powers out in public but as she sat looking over the grand canyon in a storm she needed some thing to seem calm and to make sense, so she didn't even think about anyone noticing the small red glow emitting from her palms.

leo however had a very good eye and felt himself grow curious as to why she was freaking glowing "hey, steph" the boys words making her turn before lightning crackled overhead. the wind picked up with a vengeance. worksheets flew into the grand canyon, and the entire bridge shuddered. kids screamed, stumbling and grabbing the rails.

stephanie's hand flinging out to grab onto one rail and the other hand onto leo's arm, the girl slowly lifting her body up as the bridge only shook harder. leo's hand finding her own and pulling her closer away from the edge.

"everyone inside! the cow says moo! off the skywalk!" coach hedge's word were drowned out by the loud winds.

the storm churned into a miniature hurricane. funnel clouds snaked toward the skywalk like the tendrils of a monster jellyfish. kids screamed and ran for the building. the wind snatched away their notebooks, jackets, hats, and backpacks. jason skidded across the slick floor as he tried to reach the others.

stephanie lost her balance from leo and almost toppled over the railing, but jason grabbed her arm and pulled her back firmly against his chest, the girls eyes sealed shut not wanting to see if she was falling or not

"got you. i got you" he said loudly to her as he began dragging her away from the edge and towards the bus, leo close behind.

"go, go, go!" said coach hedge.

piper and dylan were holding the doors open, herding the other kids inside. piper's snowboarding jacket was flapping wildly, her dark hair all in her face. jason thought she must've been freezing, but she looked calm and confident-telling the others it would be okay, encouraging them to keep moving.

jason, stephanie, leo , and coach hedge ran towards them, but it was like running through quicksand. the wind seemed to fight them, pushing them back. dylan and piper pushed one more kid inside, then lost their grip on the doors. they slammed shut, closing off the skywalk. piper tugged at the handles. inside, the kids pounded on the glass, but the doors seemed to be stuck.

"dylan, help!" piper shouted. dylan just stood there with an idiotic grin, his cowboys jersey rippling in the wind, like he was suddenly enjoying the storm.

"sorry, piper," he said. "i'm done helping." he flicked his wrist, and piper flew backward, slamming into the doors and sliding to the skywalk deck.

"piper!" jason tried to charge forward, but the wind was against him, and coach hedge pushed him back. "coach," jason said, "let me go!"

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

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

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. somehow it had changed into a crudely shaped tree-branch club, with twigs and leaves still attached.

dylan 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." 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.

"leo!" stephanie found herself yelling as she stared at the spot the annoyingly elfish looking boy once stood, her legs running as close to the edge as they'd allow her before peaking over seeing him dangling. an unwanted relief spreading through her.

"help!" he yelled up. "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 almost had a coronary. the coach didn't have any feet. he had hooves-goat's hooves. which meant those things on his head, jason realized, weren't bumps. they were horns.

"you're a faun," jason said in realisation

"satyr!" hedge snapped offended "fauns are roman. but we'll talk about that later. stephanie get over here! " and with that hedge leaped over the railing.

stephanie could only stare at the small man as confusion washed over her, her legs running to jason's side as coach had told her. she really didn't want to use her powers against whatever dylan was but didn't trust jason to take him down using just his club.

"isn't that cute!" dylan turned toward jason and steph "now it's your turn." 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.

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.

"nice try, boy." he 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. if angels could be evil, jason decided, they would look exactly like this.

"you're a ventus," jason said, though he had no idea how he knew that word. "a storm spirit."

dylan's laugh sounded like a tornado tearing off a roof. "i'm glad i waited, demigod. leo , stephanie and piper I've known about for weeks. could've killed them at any time. but my mistress said a fourth was coming-someone special. she'll reward me greatly for your death!"

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.

dylan raised his hand, arcs of electricity running between his fingers, and blasted jason in the chest. bang! jason found himself flat on his back. his mouth tasted like burning aluminium foil. he lifted his head and saw that his clothes were smoking. the lightning bolt had gone straight though his body and blasted off his left shoe. his toes were black with soot.

the storm spirits were laughing. the winds raged. piper was screaming defiantly, but it all sounded tiny and far away . out of the corner of his eye, jason 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, or the storm spirits.

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

before jason could answer a voice behind dylan called out "my turn" stephanie stood there staring at dylan with deadly eyes as she felt her anger rise and settle inside of her, lifting her hands slightly and collecting as much negative energy inside of her palms and throwing them forward, noticeable red waves emitting and throwing dylan yards back. the venti's wings spinning and dirtying underneath his body as he rolled in the dirt

jason only being able to stare at stephanie as she stopped besides his body, small flickers of red flickering beneath her palms. gorgeous and deadly. this girl was a knockout jason told himself. "how?" he found himself muttering before pushing himself to his feet.

the girl didn't have time to answer as dylan started charging for them again. jason found himself pushing her slightly behind him and reaching in his pocket and pulling out the 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.

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 jason 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."

above them, the storm exploded into a full-force gale. cracks expanded in the skywalk. sheets of rain poured down, and jason had to crouch to keep his balance dragging stephanie with him. 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 piper tackled the monster from behind. even though he was made of smoke, piper somehow managed to connect. both of them went sprawling. leo, stephanie, 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. stephanie got the worst of it. she was thrown backwards as piper was thrown off dylan's back into her causing steph to 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 leo's arm and began to rise, towing a half-conscious leo below him. the storm spun faster, pulling them upward like a vacuum cleaner.

"somebody come and fucking help me!" stephanie's strained voice could be heard over the railing as she felt her fingers gripping onto the rocks as though her life depended on it, which it did. her eyes clenched shut from the fear of the abyss underneath of her and her hair whipping her face harshly. then she slipped, screaming as she fell.

jason didn't even need to think, his legs making their way for the edge of the railing before throwing his body over. he could hear piper yelling his name, but he didn't care. he was a lunatic he told himself, throwing himself off the grand canyon for a girl he didn't even remember. 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.

stephanie's screams only got louder as jason got closer, the girls arms flapping around wildly in front of her, small blasts of red shooting from her palms only speeding up the process if anything. she didn't want to die, she wasn't ready. she felt her heart speed up and her stomach twist,

in a heartbeat, he caught up with her, she was still flailing wildly. he tackled her waist and closed his eyes, waiting for their shared death. stephanie's arms stopped waving as she wrapped them around whoever was holding her. the wind whistled in jason's ears. he wondered what dying would feel like.

suddenly the wind died. stephanie's breath stilled, a gasp leaving her lips as she felt her body jolt. jason thought they must be dead, but he hadn't felt any impact. he opened his eyes. they weren't falling. they were floating in mid-air, a hundred feet above the river.

stephanie hesitantly opened one eye, only to see jason staring beneath her with wide eyes. the girl didn't say anything as she hugged him, her fingers squeezing the back of his neck as if he'd ever drop her. although, a part of her knew he'd never. he hugged stephanie tight. they were nose to nose, their breaths mixing. her heart beat was so hard, jason could feel it through her clothes.

her breathing calmed down although still ragged, and jason noticed how her breath smelled like cherries as she spoke "how are you doing this?"

"i didn't," he said. "i think I would know if I could fly" the girls eyes slightly widening at the fact that he didn't even know if he could fly but he still shot himself off a cliff to maybe catch her.

he imagined going up. stephanie shutting up 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.

"i mean, thanks, but get us back up. right now" the girl ordered him as she stared him dead in the eye, the fear behind her green eyes very evident.

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 injured.

"jay, get us up" the nickname leaving her lips before she could think, she had never used it but it seemed so natural for her as if she'd said it in a dream or something. one of those dreams she'd have at night where she was a little older.

"let's see." jason thought 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 the boy let stephanie stand.

all she could do as he ran to leo and piper was stare at the blonde superman she was sure was nothing more than average not even a full hour ago.